Chapter 196 Honest and Fair Dealing
Seeing that his mother had fallen silent, Hongzhao naturally understood that the Imperial Household Department had lost its only advantage in this matter.
On a superficial level, this was nothing short of embezzlement by the Imperial Household Department. Forty taels of pastries could be bought for only four hundred coins in the common people's homes—four hundred coins! That's less than half a tael of silver, and the quality and taste were just as good. This was blatantly treating the Emperor like a fool.
But if we delve deeper, the Imperial Household Department was essentially a domain of bondservants; the profit margin on just a single pastry was this huge, imagine what the other items...
The Imperial Household Department was quite large, employing many people, many of whom came from the same family and were called servants. However, the people in charge were influential and held official positions of varying ranks. These people were interconnected, and the money was added layer by layer. By the time it reached the Emperor, this was the situation.
If we eliminate these corrupt elements in the coating industry, we may not have to worry about the national treasury for many years to come.
Hongzhao pondered in his heart that there was still too much to be done with pastries, and that it was too time-consuming and laborious to achieve a comprehensive result. He thought that since his father had become suspicious, he should find a pastry that would make people see the difference at a glance and place it in front of his father so that he could strike a chord with him.
His gaze shifted and he saw a pot still steaming in front of him, from which wafted the aroma of brown eggs floating in the air.
"Father, let's buy some tea eggs. Your son can smell the aroma even from this far away." Hongzhao tugged at his father's sleeve and pointed to the stall in the distance.
There was no reason not to grant this small request. Yinzhen led Hongzhao and his entourage to a stall selling tea eggs. This time, he deliberately tested the waters and did not let Su Peisheng speak directly, but asked the question himself first.
"Old man, how much is one of your tea eggs?"
A tattered cloth hung on the stall, with two large, crooked characters written on it: "Zhang Ji," clearly indicating that the old man's surname was Zhang.
Before speaking, Old Zhang squinted his aged eyes and subtly sized up the people in front of him. Clearly, the three in front were a family: the master, his wife, and their beloved son. The ones behind, dressed slightly less well, were maids and servants.
Dressed in fine clothes and adorned with head ornaments, he was clearly from a wealthy family who didn't lack money.
Since he's not short of money, it's only right that he earns a few more coins.
He squinted and grinned – “Sir, you have good taste. I dare say there’s no tea egg on the whole street that can compare to mine. Honest and fair, ten coins each! How many would you like, sir?”
Ten coins...
Now Yinzhen was completely speechless. If it was a matter of different processes and ingredients in pastries, what was different about tea eggs? If he remembered correctly, a tea egg in the palace would cost at least seven or eight taels of silver.
Seven or eight taels, that's seven or eight thousand coins. Who gave them the audacity to ask for prices up a hundredfold?
Seeing that the imposing old man was staring intently at him with wide, fierce eyes, and that his face was visibly growing darker and darker, Old Zhang felt increasingly uneasy. He thought to himself, "This is bad!"
He assumed that wealthy people wouldn't know the exact price difference of a tea egg. Even if they did know, they wouldn't care. But who would have thought that this well-dressed man was someone who wouldn't take a single extra penny?
Surrounded like this, he grew increasingly anxious. He was an old man with a weak constitution. If the master got really angry, he could have his servants surround him and kick him a few times. It wouldn't take many hits before he was sent to the Western Paradise to fetch the scriptures. It was really not worth it for a few coins. Seeing this, he quickly waved his hand.
"Oh, I was just joking with you, sir. How could I really ask you for ten coins? That would be making money against my conscience. You're not stupid, sir, you saw through that right away." He bowed and smiled obsequiously, saying these words that only fueled Yinzhen's anger.
"Our tea eggs are all five coins each, no cheating the young or old. How many would you like, sir?"
Yinzhen couldn't even hear the end of his words; he only felt waves of emotion surging up inside him.
Seeing that even his usually composed father was about to lose his temper, Hongzhao quickly gave his mother a look, and together they gently coaxed him back to the nearby carriage.
"Outrageous! Utterly outrageous!"
Perhaps it was the old man's words, "Master, you're not stupid enough to see it at a glance," that struck a nerve with Yinzhen. He naturally understood that the old man had seen through their wealth and was deliberately trying to rip them off. Even if he were trying to rip them off, he only dared to double the price by ten coins, but the Imperial Household Department added several hundred times the amount, which was practically like directly taking money from the national treasury!
Hongzhao could tell from the violent heaving of his father's chest that he must be very angry. In the end, it is the unintentional words of others that are most effective and hurtful.
“Father, shall we take another look? We’ve really made a lot of progress today.” Hongzhao’s tone became serious. When it came to politics, Lü Jiaying would become silent as usual. She rarely got involved in such matters, so pretending not to be involved and letting Hongzhao take the lead was the best way.
“My son always remembers what Father said: ‘If the water is too clear, there will be no fish.’ He also knows that the people in the Imperial Household Department usually receive more rewards and there are some jobs that can be quite lucrative. But they have gone too far. Do they really think they can cover up the sky?”
Yinzhen closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before speaking again, his voice still trembling slightly with anger—"We must return to the capital immediately."
"Have Xiaxia stay here and give me a detailed list of the prices of all the daily necessities, clothing, and household items. I want to see just how big the appetite of my Imperial Household Department is, and how much it can consume!"
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