Whether it was a matter of affection or not was secondary. What Yinzuo was most curious about now was how big of a matter it was that could have made his father so angry that he made his brothers kneel outside for so long in the middle of winter.
"What are you talking about, second brother? What's our relationship? We're brothers, even if we're together, how could I just sit back and watch you guys get into trouble? Anyway, what big event happened today that could have angered Khan Ama so much?"
As soon as Yinzuo said this, the atmosphere that had just relaxed became solemn again. Yinreng and Yinzhen looked at each other, and then sighed helplessly.
"What else could it be? It's all about the arrears of the national treasury. A few days ago, officials from the Ministry of Revenue reported that there was very little silver left in the national treasury. Khan Ama sent people to investigate, and wow, the tens of millions of taels of silver in the national treasury had actually been borrowed by officials of all ranks in the capital. Of course, this includes the royal family, eldest brother, third brother, eighth brother, ninth brother, tenth brother, and twelfth brother. They all have a stake. If it weren't for you at eldest brother's place today, he would probably be kneeling in the garden with us today..."
If you ask why Yinreng, Yinzhen, Thirteenth and Fourteenth were fined even though they did not borrow money from the national treasury, it can only be said that they were unlucky. It was because they had a father who liked to punish others. Kangxi's main strategy today was to treat everyone equally. No matter whether you borrowed money or not, I will not have a good life anyway, and no one else will have a good life. As for Yinzhi, what Fourteenth said was absolutely right. He was purely benefiting from Yinzuo.
Fourteenth's words silenced Yinzuo. His eyes wandered over the people Fourteenth named, and then he looked at Yin'er who had kept his head down and remained silent.
"Xiaojiu, come here, have a good talk with Sixth Brother. What are you thinking? Are you short of money? It seems you're called the God of Wealth Nine for nothing. I think you've been itching for trouble again. If I had known this, I should have hit you harder."
Yinzuo could actually understand why Yinzhi, Yinzhi, and Yinsi borrowed money from the national treasury. Take Yinzhi for example. He was a prince, and his annual salary and miscellaneous income added up to only 10,000 taels at most. This amount was an astronomical figure for ordinary people, but for people like them, it was really not enough to spend. He had to support his wives, spend money on his children, and have to serve people inside and outside the mansion. If he had any ambitions, he had to win over the people below. Of course, he also spent a lot on social interactions throughout the year. Adding up all these sums of money, if there was no extra income, his life would be miserable.
But Yinzhen is different. He really has a good business mind, just like in history. Over the years, Yinzuo has been responsible for coming up with ideas, and Yinzhen has been responsible for execution. The two brothers have done a lot of work and made a lot of money. Not to mention anything else, just this year's trade with foreigners is enough for the two brothers to do nothing and sit at home and lose money for several years.
Yinzuo's question left Yinzhen with no real answer. After all, he had no shortage of money. But then again, who in the world would complain about having too much money? Everyone could borrow money from the treasury, so why couldn't he? But Yinzhen knew that if he dared to say that, his sixth brother would probably beat him to death on the spot, so he could only hesitate and come up with a reasonable-sounding excuse.
"Sixth brother, don't be angry. I'm not short of money, but I'm out and about all the time, so don't I have to maintain good relationships with everyone? Everyone is borrowing money from the national treasury, so if I don't lend money, won't I seem out of place?"
When Yin'er said this, not only Yinzuo, but even Yinzhen, who had been keeping a cold face since just now, couldn't help but roll his eyes at him. "Haha, do you believe what you said? You are using this to fool people. You might as well say that your greedy nature has come back and you couldn't help but take advantage of this little advantage."
"Okay, it's getting late now. We have to get up early tomorrow to go to Khan Amana. Let's go back and rest early today. We can talk tomorrow if we have anything to say."
Yinreng's speaking at this time saved Yin'er's life. If it had been a little later, Yinzuo would have slapped him. Yin'er also knew that it was not advisable to stay here for long. He bowed to his brothers, pulled Yinzuo and ran towards the place where they would rest tonight.
"Second brother is right. It's getting late today. Sixth brother, you've been tired all day, go back and rest early. We can talk about this tomorrow. Don't worry, Sixth brother, I will go to the Ministry of Revenue to return the silver tomorrow..."
Yinzuo looked at Yinzhen, who had already dragged Yinyi away before he could finish his words, and for a moment he didn't know what to say. No, was he really that scary? He had made this kid run away in such a hurry... After Yinzhen and Yinyi left, Yinreng and his brothers didn't delay. They exchanged a few words and then went their separate ways to their own residences for the night.
"Fourth brother, tomorrow when Khan Ama asks who is willing to go to the Ministry of Revenue to collect the debts, you must not be the first one to ask for help. This is not an easy job. If anyone takes this job, they will probably offend a lot of people. You see, Qingxi Book House will probably be very lively tomorrow."
Yinzhen was originally going to go to the West Garden to rest as arranged, but was forcibly dragged to his Shufengxuan by Yinzuo halfway. In Yinzuo's words, there was not even a ground heating in the West Garden, and it was nowhere as comfortable as his Shufengxuan. It was not like there was no place for him to stay, so why did he go to the West Garden to suffer? You asked why Yinzuo called Yinzhen instead of Fourteenth, who were brothers, it was actually very simple. That guy was very shameless and had been staying in his Shufengxuan for eight hundred years.
Yinzhen did not respond to what Yinzuo said just now. Yinzuo was not stupid. He knew from his brother's attitude that he did not take his words seriously at all. Yes, although Yinzuo's arrival in this life has changed Yinzhen's temperament a lot, the essential things cannot be easily changed by others. In fact, he is still the black and white person in later generations who cannot tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes.
"Well, it seems that Fourth Brother has made up his mind. In that case, I won't say much. Let's go back and rest first. We have to get up early tomorrow."
The next morning, when Yinzuo was woken up by Dexi, he was completely dazed. Looking at the candles still on in the room, he knew that it was definitely not yet fully light outside. By the time he finally finished packing and went to the flower hall, Yinzhen and Fourteenth were already sitting there having breakfast.
"Good morning, Sixth Brother! Come here quickly! The kitchen made your favorite lean meat porridge today. Look, they even added salted egg yolks to it."
Yinzuo greeted Yinzhen and Fourteen in a daze, then wandered over to the table and sat down. He took a spoon and stirred the porridge in the bowl for a long time, but he didn't take a single sip.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com