The Fourth Prince did not pressure the Ninth Prince. He simply patted the Ninth Prince on the shoulder and said, "Ninth Brother, the more money you earn, the more tax revenue the court will have."
In this way, when the ministers borrow money from the Emperor, the Emperor can lend them more.
Think about it carefully. The silver that those courtiers borrowed all belonged to the Aisin Gioro family. Why would they lend out their own silver when they could never get it back?
Ninth Brother, you're truly admirable, working yourself to the bone here to earn money, only for Father to lend it all out so easily, and those people don't even pay it back!
Hearing what the Fourth Prince said, the Ninth Prince felt extremely aggrieved. He hadn't been back to the palace for days because of the greenhouse vegetables, and he was so busy that he hadn't had a moment to rest. Why should he lend out the money he had worked so hard to earn?
His imperial father is such a spendthrift! He has no idea how hard it is to earn money. He lent out money just to be a good person, and now he can't get it back. Paying back debts is a matter of course; he's determined to get the Aisin Gioro family's money back this time.
The Ninth Prince stopped arguing and joined in with the Fourth Prince and the First Prince.
Instead of directly demanding money from people, the Fourth Prince sent someone to notify those who had borrowed money, giving them ten days to repay their debts, and promising to reduce the amount by 10%.
As it turned out, these people didn't take it to heart at all. They looked down on the Fourth Prince and his two companions from the bottom of their hearts. Even Emperor Kangxi couldn't do it, so how could the Fourth Prince and his two companions do it?
Five days have passed since the deadline, and no one has returned the money owed.
The Fourth Prince decided to start with Tong Guowei; once someone made the first move, things would be much easier.
The Fourth Prince first spoke with the Imperial Noble Consort, who then gave him a box of jewelry and instructed him to give it to Tong Guowei, telling him to pawn the jewelry through Tong Guowei to repay the debt.
The Fourth Prince, accompanied by the jewelry given to him by the Imperial Noble Consort, went straight to Tong Guowei's residence.
Everyone in the capital received the news that the Fourth Prince had gone to Tong Guowei's residence, and they wanted to see if he could get the money back from Tong Guowei.
When Tong Guowei saw the Fourth Prince arrive, he knew what was going on, so he started to plead poverty to the Fourth Prince.
The Fourth Prince relayed the Imperial Noble Consort's words to Tong Guowei. Lady Tongjia then gave Tong Guowei a good scolding, saying that he didn't care about the lives of his daughter and grandson, that he actually made his daughter use her savings to pay off his debts, and that he was making things difficult for the Fourth Prince just like outsiders.
The Fourth Prince knelt directly in front of Tong Guowei and kowtowed three times. He told Tong Guowei that he was not forcing him, but because Tong Guowei was his maternal grandfather and everyone was watching. He hoped that Tong Guowei would be the first to repay the money.
He wanted to earn some respect for the Imperial Noble Consort, but he didn't have enough money. If he did, he would help Tong Guowei pay it back; this money was a loan from Tong Guowei, and he would definitely repay it in the future.
Seeing that the Fourth Prince had already gone this far, Tong Guowei could no longer delay, so he returned the 100,000 taels he had borrowed. Because a 10% discount was offered, he only returned 90,000 taels.
With Tong Guowei as the starting point, some people gradually returned the money. The main reason was that if they didn't return it, the Fourth Prince would stay in the mansion and refuse to leave.
The Ninth Prince then began to wander around the mansion, pricing the items and having the First Prince lead the men from the Infantry Commander's Office to move the items until they were all moved.
Of course, some people hid all their valuables and followed the Fourth Prince and others in feigning poverty.
The eldest prince directly took away the ministers' beloved sons or grandsons and brought them to the military camp for training. These people were all pampered and spoiled, and they couldn't stand the hardships of the military camp! After only a few days, they couldn't take it anymore and urged their families to pay back the money.
Of course, there were also families that were genuinely struggling financially, and the borrowing of money was simply to make ends meet. The Fourth Prince and the others did not pressure these people and gave them enough time to repay the money.
That day, when the Fourth Prince was chasing after the debtor, he saw a familiar figure.
"Fourth Brother, isn't that Ling Pu?" The Ninth Prince also saw him. "Why did he go to the pawnshop?"
"Let's follow him and see!" The Fourth Prince felt that Lingpu's sneaky behavior must be suspicious. The main reason was that everyone knew about Lingpu's relationship with the Crown Prince, and he was worried that Lingpu might do something that would implicate the Crown Prince.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
