Chapter 1864 Card Money
Zhou Silang's eyes slid across Manbao, and he actually saw her nod.
Zhou Silang immediately became dissatisfied and said, "Let's not talk about Manbao. No one in my family can compare to her, but among us brothers, I am the smartest, right?"
Who knew Bai Shan would just shake his head and say with a smile, "Brother Zhou Si, none of you brothers are stupid, it's just that everyone has their own strengths. If I were to say, besides Manbao, only your aunt is the wisest in your family. She can not only see inside the room, but also outside."
Manbao nodded vigorously and agreed repeatedly.
Seeing Zhou Silang's reluctance, Bai Shan said, "Brother Zhou Silang, ever since you left our village, you've been driven by your own desires and the people around you. When your luck is good, everything goes smoothly, but when your luck is bad, everything goes wrong. This is because you only see within your own small space, and you don't see the dangers or opportunities beyond it."
"I just want to ask you four questions. In the future, do you want to separate this branch and start a business?"
Zhou Silang, who had never thought about splitting up the family, widened his eyes.
Zhou Silang then asked the second question, "If someone offered you ten thousand taels of gold one day to transport salt and iron across the border, would you do it or not?"
Zhou Silang wanted to just say that he was unlucky. Was he the kind of person who would sell out his country for money?
Manbao fished in his sleeve and pulled out a golden ingot, placing it in Zhou Silang's palm, saying, "About two thousand ingots of this kind."
Zhou Silang held the gold in his arms, swallowed his saliva, and became speechless.
Bai Shan smiled, glanced at Man Bao, and then continued with the third question, "If one day the imperial court wants to forcibly confiscate your property and relocate you to another place, will you obey or not?"
Zhou Silang asked directly, "Why did the court relocate me?"
"For your wealth and power." Bai Shan said, "Even noble families can be relocated, let alone a commoner like you?"
Zhou Silang frowned and felt uncomfortable for the first time.
Bai Shan asked, "One last question. If your descendants want to take the imperial examinations and become officials in the future, what will you do?"
Zhou Silang was stunned for a moment. He didn't know much. He didn't understand what Bai Shan meant by forcibly confiscating his property and moving him away from his hometown, but he did know that the sons of merchants could not take the imperial examinations.
Bai Shan pointed at the book in his arms and said, "While not everything written in the book can be trusted, it does represent the thoughts of our ancestors and wise men, and there are some things that are worth learning from. Brother Zhou Si might as well read it. Those who don't think about the future will inevitably have immediate worries. You can try to look further ahead. Once you know what you want to leave behind in the future, you can determine the path you want to take now."
Manbao nodded repeatedly, and seeing that he was still holding on to her gold, she took it out with force and stuffed it into her sleeve.
Zhou Silang couldn't help but follow the gold with his eyes, frowning and asking, "How can you put gold in your sleeve? What if it falls?"
Man Bao said firmly: "It won't fall off."
"You can't carry it with you, what if it gets robbed?" Zhou Silang said, "You don't have much use for it, so copper coins are enough for daily trips."
Manbao nodded perfunctorily, "I know, Fourth Brother, when have I ever lost any money? If I hide money, sometimes even I forget where I hid it, and no one else can find it."
Zhou Silang: ...
Her eyes fell on the book in his arms and she said, "Don't change the subject. Go back and read. If you have any words you don't know, ask Li Zhong and the others. There are many people at home, and Li Xue and Li Gu are at home every day when they go to and from school. You can ask them too."
This is a storybook in the encyclopedia, which tells the legendary story of how a man in a country called Ming Dynasty went from nothing to becoming the richest man in the country.
He did a lot of things in his life, some good and some bad, but in the end he did not die from the bad things he did, but from the emperor's suspicion and the officials' fear.
Manbao said to Zhou Silang meaningfully, "Watch carefully and understand his final state of mind."
Zhou Silang looked at them with a puzzled expression as they turned and left. He also heard Li Jun ask, "Auntie, are you going to let Fourth Uncle compare you to Shen Wansan?"
Man Bao shook his head, “How can Fourth Brother compare to him? So if he doesn’t understand reason, he will be worse off than Shen Wansan, and then people like me being his sister and you being her niece will be implicated, and none of them will be able to think about it.”
Zhou Lijun: "...Auntie, you dare to scare me? Although I'm not well educated, I know that the crime is not committed by a married woman. We're already married, so what does it have to do with us?"
"Forget it, these are all lies. The emperor was furious and directly punished the three clans. Do you think we are among them?"
Zhou Lijun: ...It’s so scary!
Bai Shan smiled and said, "Don't scare me. Except for treason and rebellion, other crimes will not implicate the three clans."
Zhou Lijun breathed a sigh of relief.
Manbao asked quietly, "Your parents and brothers have been implicated. Are you heartbroken?"
Zhou Lijun: "...Aunt, just say whatever you want to say."
Manbao said, "Keep a tighter control on the money. Any large expenditure must be approved by the whole family at a meeting. We can't let Fourth Brother do whatever he wants."
Manbao suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, is Fourth Brother's private money also with you?"
Zhou Lijun was startled. He looked around but didn't see Fourth Aunt. Then he asked in a low voice, "Aunt, how did you know?"
Manbao felt very pleased with herself. Was there anything in this family that she didn't know?
She didn't even need Koko's help; she could figure it out with just her toes. "I heard Fourth Sister-in-law and Eldest Sister-in-law say that they were looking through Fourth Brother's things, and Fourth Brother didn't have a single penny on him. Even Fifth Brother in our family would hide his own money, so how could Fourth Brother not hide it? Fourth Sister-in-law couldn't find it, so the money must not be in Fourth Brother's hands. He didn't hide it for me, so he must have hidden it for you."
Ever since Manbao entered the palace, Zhou Wulang and Zhou Liulang rarely left their private money with Manbao. Even Zhou Lizhong and Zhou Ligu took out half of the money and hid it for themselves.
They were just afraid that Manbao would be in the palace when they needed money urgently, and they would have no choice but to worry.
Needless to say, Zhou Silang took the money away early. At first, she thought he had given it to his fourth sister-in-law for safekeeping.
Zhou Lijun breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "Fourth Uncle doesn't have much private money. Aunt, please don't tell Fourth Aunt, or they will definitely quarrel."
Manbao nodded, "I'm not stupid."
Her father hid some private money, and she didn't even tell her mother.
Of course, she didn't tell her father about her mother's hidden secret money, hehehe...
Manbao said, "Keep a close eye on his private money and don't let him spend large sums."
Zhou Lijun: "...That's not good, the money isn't mine. I'm just keeping it for you."
"Just ask him if he's finished reading the book. If he has, ask him what he thinks."
Zhou Lijun agreed with a smile.
When they arrived at the entrance of the garden, Zhou Lijun went to the garden, while Manbao and Bai Shan turned and went to the study in front.
Bai Shan smiled and said to her, "Brother Zhou Si and Princess Chang Yu, doesn't this look like you're in love with me and I'm in love with you, just what you want?"
Manbao understood what he meant and said seriously, "They will not have a good ending."
I don't want to add more today, I want to eat all kinds of delicious food, so I will add it tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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