After returning, Old Master Ren rested in bed for three days, and his condition finally improved. Except for the time when he coughed up blood in the middle of the night on the first day he returned, he did not cough up blood again in the following days.
It may be because Old Master Ren is old, his body does not have the recovery ability of a young man. Although he can get out of bed after resting for a few days, his mental strength is far worse than before. Seeing this, Old Lady Ren's hidden worries have never dissipated.
However, Old Master Ren was still concerned about things outside. After he was able to get out of bed, he began to deal with the things that had accumulated during the days he was away from the Ren family.
Although Old Master Ren worked hard to cultivate his eldest son, Master Ren, he himself was a person with a strong desire for control. He was still the actual person in charge of the Ren family. When he was not around, there were many things that Master Ren could not handle.
Old Madam Ren and Master Ren were worried that Master Ren's body, which had just recovered some strength, would not be able to hold on, but Master Ren insisted and they had no way to stop him.
On the fifth day after Old Master Ren came back, the Ren family called together people from each branch to discuss matters. Because Ren Shijia and his wife were still staying in the Ren family and had not returned to Yunyang City, Old Master Ren made an exception and asked Lin Kun to come as well. This time when the Ren family was in trouble, Lin Kun also helped the Ren family a lot and did not turn a blind eye to the matter to avoid suspicion like other relatives and friends. This made him gain the favor of most people in the Ren family.
Old Master Ren sat at the head of the table, his eyes sweeping over his son, son-in-law, and nephew one by one. Everyone stood respectfully with their heads bowed. Old Master Ren nodded with satisfaction. He placed the account book in his hand on the small table beside him and said to Master Ren, "Boss, tell them about the current situation of the Ren family."
Upon hearing this, Master Ren stepped forward and said respectfully, "Yes, father."
He looked at the others and said slowly, "The Ren family must pay 1.5 million taels of silver by April of next year, and they've already paid 500,000. We can certainly come up with this amount, but it will still be a significant loss. Therefore, we must not allow any major disruptions to our business operations within the next three years. Otherwise, we'll have trouble cashing in, and the Ren family might even be devastated."
Everyone looked at each other in surprise when they heard this.
Master Ren Wu hesitated and said, "Brother, is it really that serious?"
Master Ren sighed and said, "Our Ren family is now considered a wealthy and powerful family. Although we are not the richest in Yanzhou, we are at least in the top ten in terms of assets. However, although the Ren family's assets far exceed 1.5 million taels, the money we can use is limited. This is because maintaining such a large family business requires a large amount of money that can be used at any time. Otherwise, our coal mines and coal warehouses will not be able to survive. Some of you, like my third brother, have little exposure to this and may not understand it. To put it simply, if our Ren family wants to maintain our existing assets, most of the money cannot be used."
Everyone felt heavy-hearted when they heard this.
Master Ren continued, "As for the consequence of taking out 60% of all annual income, the Ren family will probably not be able to make significant progress within the next ten years."
Although she had some idea of what was going on, Mrs. Ren still felt a bit overwhelmed. "How could it be so serious? Isn't this like someone is strangling me?"
Everyone was speechless when they heard this. The impact of this incident on the Ren family was more serious than they had originally imagined.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com