"You must hold on..."

Zhao Shouzheng put his hands on Zhao Hao's shoulders and looked at him with pity on his face.

Zhao Hao's heart twitched, and he couldn't help but wonder: "Could it be that I'm not his biological child?"

His mind was in a mess when Zhao Hao suddenly heard bursts of sobbing in the yard outside. There were both male and female voices, and it seemed that they had heard some terrible news.

Fortunately, Zhao Shouzheng did not show off his knowledge and used the simplest language to let Zhao Hao understand the current situation.

"Your grandfather suffered a great loss during the imperial examination. He has been detained in Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate for three days. Your uncle sought help everywhere and finally met with the Minister of the Ministry. Minister Guo told him that if he could pay back the deficit of 100,000 taels within three days, he could try to cover it up."

Zhao Shouzheng was actually a pampered young man. How could he have experienced such a drastic change in his life? He was already in a state of panic and didn't know what to do.

"If you can't pay it back, then everything is over..."

"So what?" Zhao Hao asked dully, still holding onto a last glimmer of hope in his heart, hoping that it would not affect his life too much.

"So, your uncle decided to sell off the family property, including our land and this house. He also put in the price of all the valuables, but even so, there was still a deficit of 50,000 taels that could not be filled..."

"So..." Zhao Hao's mouth was dry and he pointed at the valuable furnishings in the house. "All of these are not ours anymore?"

"Yes, none of that. Within five days, we will have to move out of the house and all the servants will be dismissed." After Zhao Shouzheng finished speaking, he couldn't help but sigh with heartache: "Flowing water, falling flowers, spring is gone, heaven and earth..." Then he turned his head away sadly, not wanting his son to see him looking like he had lost his parents.

Zhao Hao stood there in a daze. What kind of sudden reversal was this?

He wished he could hit the pillar again and go back.

.

After noon, the warm sunshine sprinkled on the back garden of Zhao's house.

Although it is the end of winter in February, the beauty of the rockery, flowing water, pavilions and towers in this garden cannot be concealed.

"Unfortunately, these belong to others..."

Zhao Hao and his son sat huddled on the stone bench by the pool, thinking the same thing at the same time.

It was not too warm even though the sun was shining at this time of year, but the father and son had no choice but to stay here. Because the people who were going to take over the property in the house had arrived, and they were now moving out the valuables in the room one by one, counting and packing them in front of the father and son.

"A pair of Yuan Dynasty blue and white dragon-shaped double-handled pan-mouthed vases."

"A set of Wen Zhengming's "Orchid and Bamboo Scrolls"..."

"Two pieces of top-quality Tianhuang stone carvings..."

"Be careful, these all belong to our Zhang family..."

A middle-aged man with a goatee and who looked like an accountant reminded in a shrill voice while counting the harvest.

Every time he counted a sentence, it was like a knife cutting into Zhao Shouzheng's heart, making him tremble involuntarily.

Zhao Hao understood Zhao Shouzheng's pain very well.

Even someone like him, who had only enjoyed a life of luxury for less than half an hour, found it hard to accept. Moreover, these things were all collected by Zhao Shouzheng one by one.

The father and son just sat in the garden like this, not even noticing when those people left.

.

It was not until the sun set that Zhao Shouzheng was awakened by the cold breeze. Looking at Zhao Hao who was still silent, he slapped his forehead.

"Damn it, how could you only care about your own sadness and forget about your son!"

Zhao Hao came back to his senses after hearing this and forced a smile, "I'm fine..."

"As the saying goes, 'When you reach the end of the water, sit and watch the clouds rise.' Son, look at it more positively." Zhao Shouzheng patted Zhao Hao's shoulder and whispered to comfort him, "Your father has just thought of a way out. Believe me, the difficulties are only temporary, and we still have a backup plan."

"What's the back-up plan?"

Zhao Hao's eyes lit up when he heard this. From the sound of it, it seemed that God would not abandon us!

"Have you forgotten? Last year, your grandfather arranged a marriage for you. Your future father-in-law is a wealthy businessman from Suzhou who lives in Nanjing. His assets are no less than one million!"

"Really?" Zhao Hao couldn't help but gasp. This million is not comparable to the million four hundred years later! This is the meaning of one million taels of silver. If you have to make an analogy, it is at least something that a billionaire in the future can achieve.

"How could it be false? Haven't you heard of 'Dongting Lake is as vast as the sky'? Your future father-in-law is the vice president of Suzhou Dongting Chamber of Commerce. He is a wealthy man who can compete with us Hui merchants!"

"Ah..." Zhao Hao couldn't help but exclaimed. He didn't expect his father-in-law to be so fierce! But then he thought about it. His grandfather was the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and held great power. It seemed that his family background was higher than that of the other party, so it was nothing strange.

"When I get back to you, I'll urge my in-laws to get married soon. My daughter-in-law will definitely have a generous dowry. Then you and your husband and wife will be one, and my son will have nothing to worry about." Zhao Shouzheng planned for his son seriously, and he didn't seem to be ashamed of letting his son live off his wife.

"But our family has suffered a disaster. Can they still recognize this marriage?"

Zhao Hao actually thought about the feasibility of this matter. It is true that if you are not from the same family, you will not marry in the same house.

"Of course I have to accept it. The engagement has been signed in black and white, how can I break it?" Zhao Shouzheng's eyes widened.

"What if?" Zhao Hao was not so blindly optimistic. After all, he had never had good luck in his two lifetimes.

"I'm not afraid of anything just in case!" But Zhao Shouzheng smiled reservedly and said mysteriously, "Let me tell you a secret. Your grandfather has also arranged a marriage for me!" He cupped his fists and said proudly, "My future father-in-law is the chief academic officer of the Imperial College in Nanjing! He is a distinguished Hanlin scholar and will never shamelessly regret the engagement."

After saying this, Zhao Shouzheng said confidently: "So don't worry, son. You won't be left with nothing."

"Oh..." Zhao Hao let out a long sigh of relief, then put aside his worries about his livelihood and began to care about the fate of his adoptive grandfather.

"Grandpa, how could he be so cruel? He actually took a hundred thousand taels of silver?"

According to what Zhao Hao learned in his previous life, the Ming Dynasty's tax revenue was mainly in kind, and the silver collected was not much. In addition, the Japanese pirates were rampant in the past few years, and the court's tax revenue dropped sharply. It seems that the annual revenue of the country was only more than 2 million taels...

How dare Minister Zhao hack so many people by himself? Doesn’t he know how to write the word death?

"Well, the old man is indeed family-oriented, but he is definitely not a reckless person." Zhao Shouzheng shook his head and said, "Look at our family. We have been accumulating wealth for 20 years, but we have only saved 50,000 taels. How can he get so much?"

"That is..." Zhao Hao asked with a frown.

"In fact, it was the Ministry's accounts that found a hole of 100,000 taels." Zhao Shouzheng spread his hands and said, "In addition to the salt permits, your grandfather was also in charge of the Ministry's accounts, so naturally he cannot escape the blame."

"Oh, so the old man is just an accountant. There are higher-ranking officials above him, and there are also people who are in charge of the matter below him." Zhao Hao was very puzzled and asked, "How come he is the only one responsible in the end?"

"Uh..." Zhao Shouzheng was stunned at first, then nodded in agreement, "Yes! There are Shangshu and Zuo Shilang above, and a group of officials below. These people usually 'look for peas in quail crops and chop meat from egret legs'. Which one of them earns less than a penny? Now your grandfather is the only one who has suffered. How abominable!"

Zhao Shouzheng was so angry that he kicked the rockery next to him hard. The pain made him hold his foot and hissed and gasped.

"Don't tell me you just thought of this now..." Zhao Hao looked at Zhao Shouzheng in disbelief. Even he, who had just arrived, felt that something was wrong. Could it be that this native second-generation official had never thought about this?

"You know, my father only reads books of sages and never takes care of the family." Zhao Shouzheng couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed, and answered in a low voice: "I don't know exactly what happened..."

"Then grandpa will agree to it?" Zhao Hao thought to himself, Minister Zhao has been in officialdom for thirty years, so he can be so blind that he can see through things, right?

"Oh, don't mention it..." Zhao Shouzheng said with a worried look on his face: "After the incident, your grandfather was locked up in the Censorate. Your uncle and I haven't seen him until now..."

"Oh?" Zhao Hao couldn't help but sit up straight, folding his arms and thinking.

Zhao Shouzheng really doted on Zhao Hao. Seeing that Zhao Hao was pretending to think, he did not interrupt him but just watched quietly beside him.

Suddenly, a heavy sound of footsteps came from the direction of Chuihua Gate.

ps. As usual, I will update twice a day, about one chapter in the morning and one chapter at noon.

ps2. Everyone is enthusiastic in speaking and voting, and I don't rule out the possibility that I will be moved and update more chapters.