Xu Yixing saw that she spoke so seriously, and he thought that she must have discovered some clues in the past, otherwise Yan would not be willing to take care of these things.
"Okay, thank you for the advice, aunt. I'll chat with you for a while." Xu Yixing raised the corners of her mouth, revealing a few teeth. This smile wasn't the ladylike smile favored by women in the capital, but when she made this expression, Yan Shi thought it was quite beautiful.
In order to wait for his uncle to come back, Xu Yixing stayed in Bai Mansion for a long time. It was almost dinner time before he saw his uncle rushing back exhausted.
"Oh! You are so silly! Your niece has been waiting for a long time, and you just came back!" Yan complained slightly, but her tone was full of love. She helped her husband change his armor, and her meticulous and considerate look made Xu Yixing feel happy.
"There are so many things going on in the palace today, so I stayed for a while longer. Yan'er, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long!" Uncle Bai changed into his casual clothes and took Xu Yi into the inner room. After sending everyone away, he began to explain.
"Your aunt has just told me the reason for your visit. Actually, if you ask her about this matter, she won't know much."
Uncle Bai sat upright, and Xu Yixing sat on the guest seat next to him. He felt happy in his heart: There is a way!
"It seems that my uncle does know something, but I don't know if it's convenient for him to tell me."
"Of course you can, otherwise I wouldn't have asked you in." Uncle Bai took a big gulp of tea and tried to drink it like alcohol.
"After I took over the Bai family business, I really had no idea what to do for the first one or two years. I just followed your grandfather's rules. It was only later that I gradually discovered some unusual expenses."
"Yes, but is it for the sacrifice?" Xu Yixing pinched his handkerchief. It was getting dark outside, but his uncle had driven everyone away from the room, so no one lit a lamp.
"No." Bai Yu shook his head. "Although the annual expenses for offering sacrifices to the ancestral tombs are high, everything is done according to the rules of our ancestors. Even your grandfather didn't make any major changes back then, so it's naturally not the ones above."
Eh? That's strange. My aunt clearly said that only the expenses for sacrificial offerings continued, but not this one?
Uncle Bai didn't beat around the bush and pointed out, "It's the lists of those shops that are a little strange."
"Shop?"
"Yes, you know that the government in Beijing doesn't allow businesses, so the aristocratic families all look for side branches or trading companies to act as agents. When our family was doing a lot of business in the early years, the agency fees were as high as ten thousand taels a year!"
This was all information Xu Yixing already knew, so she nodded and listened to her uncle continue.
"At first, I discovered that there were some shops similar to weapon shops in our business industry, but they were disguised as iron shops.
Most of these weapon shops were located in the northern and southern border areas, far from the capital. They were not very large, and their annual profits were average, making them quite insignificant. But Yan'er, you should know how strictly the imperial court controlled the salt and iron industries, and even the weapon shops were not allowed to be dabbled in by merchants or ordinary people.
So later I did some research and found that the annual profits of these nominal blacksmith shops were definitely more than what they paid to the government."
Xu Yixing frowned as she listened. Until now, she still hadn't figured out what this matter had to do with the shadow guard.
Bai Yu noticed her confusion and continued, "Of course, I didn't make it public. After all, it's an illegal business. If it were exposed, the Bai family wouldn't benefit. But I did pay close attention to the industries across the border. Guess what I discovered?"
Xu Yixing's palms were sweating: "What is it?"
"Our family has businesses across the northern border, southern border, and the East China Sea, and they're incredibly diverse. But without exception, those fruit and vegetable shops, food and oil stores, kerosene and firewood stores only pay half of their net profit to the palace each year; the other half never reaches our family."
Xu Yixing seemed to know what was going on. What she wanted to ask was the source of the Shadow Guards' money. Now she happened to hear that some of the money that should have belonged to the Bai Mansion had disappeared. Could this be the money left by her grandfather to train the Shadow Guards?
"Where did the money go? Have you checked?"
Bai Yu suddenly stopped talking and smiled an unfathomable smile, which made Xu Yixing shudder.
"Where did the money go, Yan'er, don't you know?"
As expected! My uncle knew about the Shadow Guard!
It's just not clear whether he discovered it himself or learned about it from someone.
"Um...I..."
"Don't worry. I know exactly where the money went. Just listen to me. Later, I chose to ask Aunt Bai directly. After all, she is the one who knows the Bai family's past accounts best."
Xu Yixing nodded again and wiped the sweat off his face with a handkerchief.
"Madame Bai gave me a letter that your grandfather had written himself. It could be considered a suicide note. It detailed what he had done and hoped that I would continue to complete it. Madame Bai also revealed some of the details to me.
Later, because of this matter, we sold most of the shops in Beijing, but we kept the shops in the distant border areas. Although the profit was less, it was enough to make ends meet.
"So, the reason for selling the business was not because of poor management, but just to create a cover?" With that said, Xu Yixing couldn't help but admire his uncle's courage. He could sell such a large business just like that.
"It's a combination of both. Firstly, my wife and I don't really manage the business and are truly unable to run it. Secondly, it serves as a cover. Those shops in the border areas are far from the emperor and no one will easily investigate them. However, the shops in the capital are doing so well that they are attracting envy. We are also afraid that some people will become jealous and harm our family."
"My uncle is wise." As a distant relative from the outside, he has not only kept the Bai family safe and sound for so many years, but has also not let anyone find any evidence against him. This is really not easy.
"Your grandfather has been kind to me. Since I have the opportunity to be his heir, I, as his son, should serve him wholeheartedly. It's a pity that the old man had such a difficult life. He was already frustrated enough, and he had to go through the tragedy of losing his son."
Bai Yu said this with great regret, and Xu Yixing felt very uncomfortable after hearing it.
"Then uncle, how did the money end up in the hands of those people?"
"I don't know about that either." Bai Yu did not hide it: "At first I checked, it was only because I found that the amount was too large. I thought that the old man was raising private soldiers, hahaha! Later, Nanny Bai said that it was not the case, so I didn't investigate further.
It seems that half of the profits from these stores go to our government, and the other half goes to a non-existent "second boss." Every year, the money is remitted from the border and eventually transferred to various banks. Interest is then generated, ensuring that the monthly interest reaches a certain amount, and then it is taken away by others.
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