Chapter 421: Unable to Pay the Price Demanded by the Marquis
Tang Gang couldn't achieve his goal, and Xin An was worried that he would do something secretly.
But Xin Kuan said that Tang Gang had already gained enough benefits from this trip. Xin Kuan had been building up momentum for Tang Gang ever since he arrived in Huaijiang. Especially when Tang Gang was sick this time, Xin Kuan had publicized his righteousness and completely put him in a difficult position. Now he had the leverage over him.
"No official can resist reaching out for the charity money, and he is no exception. The Yao family and I delivered the banknotes to him. Officials of all ranks in the city are involved. Fortunately, they all know the importance of this and are not too greedy."
"Even if he is dissatisfied with me in his heart, he will still have some reservations."
At this point, Xin Kuan couldn't help but sigh. The more he knew, the more heartbroken he felt. Those court officials did not treat the people as human beings. If the court allocated one million taels, 900,000 would be eaten up by all levels, and the remaining 100,000 could barely be used for the people.
This time these officials only asked for 10%, and he actually felt that they were very conscientious.
Xin An said: "If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Those officials will not contribute if they don't get benefits. If they don't contribute, they won't get more donations. I'm afraid that even the emperor won't have a good solution for this matter. As long as most of it can be implemented, the desired effect will be achieved."
Xin Kuan was not too pretentious. He had no ability to change the rules, so he could only go with the flow and try not to lose himself.
The father and daughter discussed for a while, and Xin Kuan told Xin An the news he had just received, "My people have already arrived in Songyang County. Even if that person is outstanding, he is just a rich young man who has not experienced any storms. How many tricks can he have seen?"
"Just wait for the news."
Xin An can wait, "Please help me keep an eye on this matter, Dad."
She felt relieved that her father was doing it personally.
From that night on, Xin Kuan never mentioned the matter again in front of Tang Gang. He even went to Zhou's house in person and did not hide the truth. Mr. Zhou bowed and thanked him for his frankness. He also reduced the gift he was going to send to Tang Gang by half and just paid a personal visit as a roundabout way.
At that time, Tang Gang thought that Mr. Zhou came to ask him for help in person, but he just asked about his well-being for a while and then left. Tang Gang began to have some guesses in his mind.
No one mentioned the matter again for the next two days. Tang Gang was waiting, waiting for Xin Kuan to give in. He decided in his heart that as long as Xin Kuan came to ask him for help again, he would lower his demands and agree to this matter.
But Xin Kuan was very busy. In addition to his own business, he also had to take care of the affairs of the charity hall. With so much donations coming in, he had to come up with the details of how to spend them as soon as possible, so as not to let the people think that this was just another case of selling dog meat under the guise of selling mutton.
Tang Gang can just walk away, but the Xin family will have to stay here for a long time.
"The Yao family won the right to name the charity hall, and for this, the Yao family is willing to donate an additional 300,000 taels."
"Merchants from other places have also arrived. In addition to the 4 million taels that were taken away, a total of more than 6.7 million taels of charity have been raised so far. There is still half a month before the donations are settled. When the adults from the Hanlin Academy arrive, it should be able to motivate some people to donate."
"This is the account book, please have a look, my lord."
Tang Gang glanced at it for a few seconds and handed it back to him, then stared at him and spoke.
Xin Kuan bowed and said, "If the Marquis hadn't told me to do anything, I would have gone to do it."
"Are you angry with me because of the Zhou family's affairs?"
Since the other party refused to give him a way out, Tang Gang had no choice but to speak first.
Xin Kuan said, "Your Majesty, you worry too much. I have already informed the Zhou family of this matter. The Zhou family is indeed as I expected, too cautious, and worried that what I do in the future will violate their family precepts. To be honest, I am not thoughtful enough, and I have embarrassed you, Your Majesty."
Tang Gang was speechless for a moment. This was completely different from what he expected.
"Why, the Zhou family is not planning to pursue a career in government?"
He has already spoken on his own initiative. If you have the chance, take the opportunity to step down and beg me for help. I will not make things difficult for you.
Unfortunately, Xin Kuan could not hear his voice and even tried to back out. "Of course I want to leave, but they can't afford the price, so they can only do their best and leave the rest to fate. I also feel very sorry. If I had the support of the Marquis, I would have avoided many detours. Alas~"
"You want to gain my support but don't want to pay the price?"
Tang Gang found it ridiculous.
Xin Kuan said, "I can't afford the price the Marquis wants. I can't afford the gamble. You don't need to bother with them. The Zhou family is used to being cautious."
The Zhou family backed out, so the Xin family naturally couldn't have 200,000 left. Tang Gang's eyes were cold, "If that's the case, then forget it."
He was so mad.
Feeling dizzy, Tang Gang thought he should lie down for a while.
Xin Kuan left decisively. Tang Gang was the most unhonest person he had ever met. The old marquis was such a hero, how could his son be such a person?
Three days later, the senior officials from the Hanlin Academy arrived. Several experienced ones brought seven or eight young people with them. When they learned that they were there to write biographies of those businessmen, they were quite dissatisfied and felt that writing anything would be an insult to the books of sages that they had read.
When they learned that they could get ten taels of silver for writing a biography, and an additional five taels of silver for writing three, they didn't say anything but secretly found Xin Kuan, telling him how good their handwriting was and how fast they wrote books, and asked him to give them more.
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The Hanlin Academy just sounds good, there is not much money in it, and the word "noble" is just the "noble" part, but everyone has to be supported by a family, especially some who have been supported by the whole family by tightening their belts, and they are all waiting for his reward.
Ten taels is enough to make them excited.
"The hand keeps talking, and the pen keeps writing."
Xin Huan found it very interesting. "I used to think that the Hanlin Academy was such a noble place, but now I feel that no matter how many books he reads, he is still a human being. He cannot become a god. He still has worldly desires and needs to eat grains."
"It shows that these people are not pedantic because they have read too much. You should learn from them while they are here."
These past few days, Xin An either accompanied Wang out shopping or accepted invitations to go out to banquets. She experienced the joy of being the one with the highest status a few times. She didn't have to flatter or try to please anyone, and the boring banquets became interesting.
Because of this, she is even more eager for power.
No one is born to like to curry favor with others.
Xin Huan asked a boy standing in the distance to come over, then turned to Xin An and said, "Didn't Aunt Cuiping say that she wanted to adopt a child? Let's see if this is okay."
The chubby six-year-old boy came closer and kowtowed to Xin An, "Yiu Sheng greets the young lady."
"Yagyu?"
Xin An asked him to get up, but Xin Huan said that the boy's family was all gone. "I found him on the way to transport sugar during the Spring Festival. He came from the northwest with his parents and met with disaster on the way. This kid hid behind an old willow tree and escaped. So I called him Liu Sheng."
"Do you know what the family does and who else is there?"
Why did she feel so familiar with the child from the northwest encountering misfortune?
(End of this chapter)
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