"But this matter..."
"Old lady."
Yang Zhao interrupted Madam Shen softly, "The account books of each courtyard are here now. Madam, you can take a look first."
"Old Madam, you said back then that our Shen family is of the same blood and shares weal and woe. So, over the years, your granddaughter-in-law has always followed your wishes and tried her best to meet the food, clothing and other expenses of each courtyard. However..."
"Business has been tough in recent years."
Yang Zhao pointed to a red-covered account book and said, "That red account book contains the accounts of our family's profits over the past few years. Old Madam, please take a look. The income from our shops and farms in Beijing is only enough to cover our family's expenses for now."
Old Madam Shen picked up the red account book and began to flip through it. The more she looked, the more shocked she became. Finally, she couldn't help but exclaim, "This is nearly 50,000 taels of net profit every year, and it's all just to maintain the family's expenses?"
She remembered that when the Shen family had not encountered any problems and she was in charge of the finances, the Shen family's shops and other businesses only made a profit of more than 20,000 taels a year. Now, they made 50,000 taels a year, and it was said that this was only enough for daily expenses temporarily?
They eat gold?
When the clan members present heard about the profit of 50,000 taels a year, their eyes lit up! !
"Madam, the silver we give to Auntie every year for her porridge charity, plus the silver and items borrowed from various charity halls and Auntie every month, adds up to almost ten thousand taels. Not to mention the items and servants borrowed from home for the Chen family's annual banquets..."
Yes, Shen Sulan's external reputation for goodness was almost entirely earned through her generosity towards others.
"What? More than ten thousand taels?"
Third Uncle's grandmother's voice suddenly became sharp: "Lan Jie'er, a married woman, actually returns to her parents' home every year and takes away so much money and other things? Sister-in-law, are you crazy?"
Second Uncle's grandmother's face darkened with anger: "Sister-in-law, no matter how much you dote on Sister Lan, you can't empty our Shen family's wealth to subsidize her like this!"
No wonder even with an annual profit of 50,000 taels, they had to reduce the share of their courtyard. It turned out that it was because Shen Sulan, the married woman, came back to become a "house thief". Everyone looked unhappy when they thought about how she took so much money to subsidize her husband's family.
The eyes staring at Old Madam Shen were full of dissatisfaction and blame.
Old Madam Shen was also surprised. She really didn't know that Shen Sulan took so much money in a year. Even if she loved her, she couldn't really ignore her own children and grandchildren. "Could this be a miscalculation..."
"Every entry in these account books is clearly recorded. How could there be a mistake? Even I can see it clearly. Sister-in-law, don't try to make excuses for Sister Lan."
Third Uncle's grandmother interrupted Old Madam Shen's dry words directly; "This silver money belongs to our Shen family. If it was a small amount of silver, it would be easy to deal with, but it's more than 10,000 taels every year. I won't talk about other things, but this is 'borrowed' and must be returned."
"That's right. How could a woman who married out take money from her parents' home to support her husband's family? There's no such thing as that in the world."
"Yes, we must get back everything we borrowed..."
Everyone spoke excitedly.
Old Madam Shen frowned deeply. She wanted to ask for the money and other things she had given away back? How would her daughter survive in her husband's family in the future?
Yang Zhao then said gently, "Madam, the money and other items that my aunt took away are only part of the reason. There is another reason for reducing the allowances for each courtyard."
When the old lady heard this, she immediately asked, "What's the reason?"
"All the men in our family have returned now. This man will eventually have to find a job outside. Our Shen family has been a family of integrity for a hundred years, so it is impossible for him to become a merchant or condescend to teach in a private school."
"So my grandson's wife thought about preparing more money and finding a way to bribe people up and down the country to get some official positions in the court for the men in the clan."
Everyone was happy when they heard it.
"A Zhao, good boy, you are really far-sighted!"
"A Zhao, you're absolutely right. Every member of our Shen family has ambitions. The court is where they truly belong. You'll have to think of ways to help them..."
"A Zhao, your uncle..."
Everyone started talking at once, and their eyes looking at Yang Zhao were full of kindness and flattery.
Old Madam Shen also looked happy.
Because she felt that Yang Zhao would definitely take care of her husband and father-in-law first, after all, they were the real family.
Yang Zhao lived up to expectations. He took the wooden box from Xia Ying and opened it. "Old Madam, these past two days I asked Xia Ying to sell all the gold and silver shops and restaurants in the capital and exchanged them for some silver. I'm also planning to sell the big farm in the suburbs of the capital..."
"I heard that Lord Lu, the Minister of Personnel, is about to retire. Many people are secretly interested in this. After all, the Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the transfer and promotion of officials. If we can make some efforts, there is a chance that the male members of our Shen family will return to the court."
"But this matter is not easy to handle, because it is not easy to meet Lord Lu. Even if we meet him, he would not openly accept bribes, so we need to make arrangements, which will inevitably require money."
"But even if I sell the Gold and Silver House and the big farm outside Beijing, the money I have on hand still won't be enough..."
Everyone looked at the thick stack of silver bills in the wooden box, with a face value of one thousand.
"It looks like there are at least 100,000 taels in there, right? Isn't that enough?" asked my uncle's grandmother, frowning.
Yang Zhao said helplessly, "Third Uncle's grandmother probably doesn't know that in the capital, where there are many powerful and wealthy people and royal relatives, using 100,000 taels to bribe people can only get you a ninth-rank official position at best, and it's very likely that he won't have any real power."
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