Chapter 213: Frightened Snake
Tao Qizhong smiled and agreed, and brought up the matter of the betrothal gift with Song Yichun: "...The Wang family has been doing a lot of business in recent years. The Duke has made up his mind, so I can talk to the people in the Yan'an Marquis' Mansion."
Song Yichun said with a little displeasure: "This concerns the dignity of the Duke of Ying's Mansion. Would I treat my own daughter-in-law badly?"
This was the most important sentence for Tao Qi. He apologized repeatedly and discussed a rough number with Song Yichun. Just as he was about to leave, Chang Huwei asked to see him.
Song Yichun signaled him not to leave for the time being and asked the servant to bring in the guards.
Guard Chang bowed respectfully to Song Yichun and Tao Qi, and whispered, "Yan Chaoqing from Yizhitang has brought a lot of gifts to Princess Ningde's residence."
Song Yichun's eyes fixed.
He had a good personal relationship with the third son-in-law Shi Chonglan, and Song Mo was well-liked by the Lu family because of his mother, the old lady Lu of the Duke of Ying's mansion. Hearing that there was a rift between Song Mo and him, Lu Fuli and Lu Zhili even came to his house to ask what was going on. Although he evaded the question, he couldn't say anything bad about Song Mo in front of the Lu family. Song Mo knew it well, and if he had any request for the Queen Mother or the Empress, he would ask Princess Ningde, who was married to the Lu family, to help pass on the message.
What does Song Mo want to ask Princess Ningde for this time?
Song Yichun pondered.
Tao Qi stood up again, bowed respectfully to him, and said, "My Lord, I will go and find out what Yan Chaoqing's intention is in coming to the Princess's residence!"
Song Yichun nodded, and Tao Qizhong and Chang Huwei retreated.
The room returned to silence.
Song Yichun's eyes fell on Song Han's homework book again.
He couldn't help but frown and threw the homework book hard on the corner of the kang.
※※※※※
Gu Yu invited Wang Qinghuai to drink and wanted to withdraw part of the funds for repairing the old course of the Yellow River.
No one knew better than Wang Qinghuai the plight of the noble families, which seemed to be prosperous but were actually stretched to the limit. This was why he gritted his teeth and dealt with the officials from the six ministries. Moreover, Gu Yu had always been a big spender and once lost half a street in gambling in one night.
"Sure!" He said without hesitation, "Is ten thousand taels of silver enough?"
In Wang Qinghuai's opinion, it was already autumn, and the beginning of winter would come in two months. The farm owners and chief treasury managers of each mansion would have to return to their mansions to settle accounts. Ten thousand taels of silver would be more than enough to support Gu Yu until the beginning of winter.
Who knew that Gu Yu shook his head and asked, "Is there any way to transfer 50,000 taels of silver?"
Wang Qinghuai was shocked.
Gu Yu did not ask him in a negotiating tone, "Can you transfer 50,000 taels of silver?" Instead, he used a determined tone to ask him to find a way to transfer 50,000 taels of silver.
Wang Qinghuai's first thought was that Queen Wan wanted money.
But he immediately dismissed the idea.
Jie Jincheng, the director of the Salt Tax Bureau, is Empress Wan's man. If Empress Wan is short of money, Jie Jincheng will help her. Why would she look for Gu Yu?
But it is also possible that Gu Yu took the initiative to help.
His mind was racing.
If he could get in touch with Queen Wan through Gu Yu...
Wang Qinghuai smiled and said, "The repair of the entire Yellow River course cost no more than 90,000 taels of silver. What urgent matter do you have that requires so much silver? I'm afraid they can't transfer it, but I still have some of my own money, and my father can also make some. I just need to think of a good reason, otherwise my father will think I'm trying to fool him!"
Gu Yuhe didn't know what was going on. He thought for a moment and said, "How about that, Brother Tianci and I both withdraw! But we can still say that we are in partnership in front of people outside. I will also help collect the money from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Revenue as before."
Wang Qinghuai was shocked.
In May of next year, the repair of the old Yellow River course will be completed, and there will be at least 120,000 taels of silver in revenue. Before, Gu Yu and Song Mo invested a total of 60,000 taels of silver and 50,000 taels of silver, but they didn’t even get their principal back, and all the subsequent profits will belong to him alone... This is like a poisonous snake biting your finger and a strong man cutting off his arm.
What on earth happened to Gu Yu and Song Mo that they were forced into such a situation?
The reason why he could get along well with both civil and military officials was that he knew how to leave a way out for everything. Not to mention that the Duke of England intended to become a relative of the Wang family, Song Mo might become his brother-in-law, and Gu Yu was the nephew of Queen Wan. Even if it was just an ordinary official, he couldn't just break up with him. If he really did that, although it made sense, it lacked some human touch, and the other party would inevitably be suspicious, and might even never deal with him again, let alone help him when something good happened in the future.
I just don’t know if this time it’s about Gu Yu or Song Mo?
If it was about Gu Yu, Song Mo was so smart and capable that he could help Gu Yu without hesitation, so why would he hesitate? If it was about Song Mo, it was probably related to the British government... Then he had to find out more about it.
"How can this be possible!" Wang Qinghuai refused firmly, "It's just 50,000 taels, why is it so difficult? I also have a house in Baodafang, which is worth at least 10,000 or 20,000 taels of silver." At this point, he pretended to smile awkwardly and said, "But everyone knows that I am doing business. If they knew that I want to sell my private house, they would probably suspect that I am short of money. I still have several sums of money on my account that have not been settled! It's best to find a broker to sell it quietly, but in that case, I may only be able to sell it for a few thousand taels of silver at most..."
Gu Yu knew that he was just trying to curry favor with Wang Qinghuai, but he still felt that Wang Qinghuai was a very righteous man. He thought for a moment and said, "Sir, I want to tell you something, but you can't tell anyone."
Finally, we get down to business!
Wang Qinghuai was delighted, but he remained calm and said, "We have been dealing with each other for a long time. Don't you know who I am?"
Gu Yu smiled and said, "Of course I trust the prince, but this matter has not been finalized yet. If the news leaks out, it will cause trouble. It is better to be cautious." Then he lowered his voice and said, "Concubine Ning has taken a fancy to Brother Tianci. The emperor also has this intention and has asked Brother Tianci to question him. It is estimated that there will be an order in the next two days. Because we don’t know when the wedding will be set, Brother Tianci is afraid that he will be in a hurry at that time, so he wants to prepare more money in advance..."
It was as if a thunderclap exploded in Wang Qinghuai's ears, causing his voice to change: "Are you serious? Yantang wants to marry a master?"
"Yeah!" Gu Yu smiled, "The Duke of Ying's Mansion is famous, and Princess Jingyi has reached the marriageable age. My aunt didn't even think about it. I heard that it was Concubine Ning who asked the emperor for help and she regretted it very much. But in the end, it's still unclear whether Brother Tianci will marry Princess Jingyi or Princess Jingfu, but it's certain that he will marry the princess." He teased again, "Brother Tianci is very upset now - my aunt is the most protective person. She was afraid that he would marry Princess Jingyi, so she asked me to go to the palace and whisper a few words for him in front of my aunt, and promised to buy me a house in Shichahai after the matter was settled..."
There was no way Wang Qinghuai could sit still!
"In that case, I will quickly help Yantang collect the silver."
He had a quick meal with Gu Yu and hurried back home, pulling a servant to ask, "Where is the Marquis?"
The servant hurriedly said, "The Marquis is talking to Mr. Tao from the Duke of Ying's Mansion!"
Wang Qinghuai was so anxious that sweat broke out all over his forehead. He hurried to the study room where the Marquis of Yan'an met guests and called the servant who was serving outside the study room, "Go in quickly and tell him that I have an urgent matter and ask the Marquis to come out to see me no matter what. I will wait for him in the small study room at the back."
The servant responded and left.
Wang Qinghuai was anxiously waiting for his father in the small study.
After a while, Marquis Yan'an walked in with a smile on his face.
"Da Hai, what's the hurry?" He said with satisfaction, "The Duke of Ying has come to our house to propose marriage again, and promised a betrothal gift of 20,000 taels of silver, which shows how much they value your sister. I think we can't let your sister be looked down upon by the Song family, so we are preparing a dowry of 40,000 taels of silver for your sister. I was just about to discuss this with you..."
"Dad," Wang Qinghuai interrupted his father anxiously, sent all the servants away, and even told them to "serve tea later." He whispered to Marquis Yan'an about the news he had just heard, "How did you talk with the Duke of Ying? Did they agree?"
"No way!" Marquis Yan'an was stunned after hearing this, and after a while he said, "Song Yantang is the prince of the Duke of Ying's mansion, how could he possibly marry a princess? It was possible in the early years, but who is willing to marry a princess in recent years?"
"Don't forget that the relationship between the Song father and son is not very harmonious!" Wang Qinghuai reminded his father.
Marquis Yan'an suddenly realized.
Wang Qinghuai asked hurriedly: "Have you agreed to the Song family?"
Marquis Yan'an was embarrassed.
Wang Qinghuai thought for a moment and said, "Didn't the family of Dai Tianyi, the right commander of the Five Military Commands Office, send a matchmaker to propose marriage to my younger sister two days ago? When you return to the study, just say that you didn't know that mother had already agreed to Dai's matchmaker, and the matter is over. When the imperial edict comes down in a few days, the Song family will naturally know what's going on. We should quickly settle the marriage with the Dai family before the imperial edict comes down, so that if there are any more rumors, we can get ourselves out of it."
If it weren't for the Duke of England's sudden proposal to the Wang family, the Wang and Dai families would have already arranged the marriage.
Marquis Yan'an nodded and went to the study for receiving guests.
※※※※※
"You said that Marquis Yan'an had originally agreed, but as soon as the prince came back, he changed his mind?" Song Yichun stared at Tao Qizhong with eyes wide open, his face full of disbelief.
"Yes!" Tao Qizhong was ashamed to face the elders of Jiangdong again after failing to accomplish such a simple task. He whispered, "I have sent someone to find out what happened. There should be news back in the next two days."
"Hurry up!" Song Yichun's face was gloomy, "I'm afraid things are not that simple!"
Taoqi nodded his head with mixed feelings and said "yes".
※※※※※
In the wing room assigned to Song Mo in the Summer Palace, Gu Yu was lying on the big kang by the window, eating an apple while looking at the furnishings in the room. He said with a sigh, "It seems that the emperor really intends to recruit you as his son-in-law. Look at your wing room, facing south and north, spacious and bright. I'm afraid that Yao Shizhong doesn't live as well as you."
The emperor was in the summer palace, and the chief minister Liang Jifang was ordered to assist the prince in governing the country. The Minister of Revenue and the Grand Academician of the Jianshen Palace Yao Shizhong accompanied the emperor in the summer palace to handle state affairs.
Song Mo, who was sitting at his desk practicing calligraphy, smiled.
His calligraphy was certainly not comparable to those of the cabinet scholars who had passed the imperial examinations twice, but it was superior in terms of structure and style. The emperor liked it very much and often called him to copy Buddhist scriptures or travel notes these days. He would practice calligraphy in his room when he had free time.