Hai Tang immediately left upon receiving the order.
Turning her gaze to Long Xuanmo, whose face was clouded with displeasure, Yang Mengchen leaned in to plant a kiss on his cheek, "Alright, getting angry over someone who doesn’t matter isn’t worth it."
"His crooked heart won’t die, and he still covets my Ah Jiu." His wife’s initiative was well-appreciated by Long Xuanmo, but his face remained sullen.
Wrapping her arms around Long Xuanmo’s neck, Yang Mengchen pecked at his lips, "We belong only to each other, and no one can separate us."
"You are mine, and I am yours, no one can separate us!" Long Xuanmo embraced his wife firmly, delivering a passionate, lengthy kiss. After a long while, he released his wife and said breathlessly, "Ah Jiu, let’s have a daughter."
"You don’t want a son?" Yang Mengchen raised her eyebrow.
Having a son to compete for Ah Jiu’s affection was certainly not to his liking, but this thought Long Xuanmo would never confess to his wife, "It’s not that I don’t like sons, but I prefer daughters. I would like a daughter as wise and beautiful as Ah Jiu. Besides, aside from the Eldest Imperial Sister, the other families have all had sons. It would be nice for us to have a daughter instead."
"Mhm." Yang Mengchen also favored the notion of a sweet and delicate daughter and resolved never to let her daughter endure the loneliness she experienced in her previous life.
With his wife’s consent, Long Xuanmo was overjoyed and carried her off to ’create’ their daughter.
The Hai family was genuinely a Literary family. Not to speak of the illustrious figures it had produced before, even currently, Old Hai held the position of Imperial Teacher and was also ennobled as Duke of Zhongguo. The Princely Heir of the Hai family was a Second Rank scholar from the Hanlin Academy, and his brothers were also pillars of the Imperial Court. The Hai family was indeed a respectable household.
Given Hai Ruofeng’s demure and composed demeanor and her commendable performance at the four-nation contest, suitors had practically broken the threshold to the Hai family’s door. Lady Hua, fearful of losing a daughter-in-law so desirable, went personally with her son, carrying the betrothal gifts to propose the very next day after breakfast, with the intermediary being Prince Ning and his wife.
The Hai family was quite satisfied with Hua Ziyu, and they took the betrothal gifts from Hua Ziyu and Hai Ruofeng to seek Master Jueyuan’s blessing at Huangjue Temple. Master Jueyuan replied, declaring them a ’match made by heaven,’ to the delight of both families.
Hai Ruofeng had just turned sixteen, and Hua Ziyu was not young either. The families agreed and decided to set the wedding date for the sixteenth of August.
Lady Hua sent someone to convey the joyous news to Yang Mengchen, who expressed her congratulations and instructed to start preparing a wedding gift.
On the eighteenth day of the sixth month, Fu Chuyan had a baby boy weighing a little over seven pounds.
As Old Hai was Yang Chengyou’s mentor, the Yang family members and Yang Chengyou asked Old Hai to name the child. After pondering for a while, Old Hai named him Yang Zongche, with the nickname Sweet Fruit.
The day after the washing-three ceremony, Old Master Yang and others embarked on their journey back home. Shen Qiulan stayed behind to care for her daughter-in-law and grandson. As Lu Ningshuang was newly pregnant, Yang Chenghong decided not to inspect the shops scattered across different regions for the time being and stayed in The Capital to look after his wife.
Yang Chengyu was in charge of supervising the manufacture of new weapons, so naturally, he and Ling Youxuan with her son did not leave. Old Master Shao, after visiting his grandstudent, went on a journey once again with Weichi Kong.
Having some free time, Yang Mengchen decided to inspect the accounts of each of her industries. On noticing the bank’s ledger, her brow furrowed slightly, "Summon You Baocheng and tell him I need to speak with him."
Before long, You Baocheng returned with Lv Luo.
Motioning Hai Tang to give the account book to You Baocheng, Yang Mengchen inquired with puzzlement, "Why are there so many unclaimed items in these past two months, yet there’s also a surge in deposits? What’s going on here?"
"Princess," You Baocheng explained, "for example, that official with the last name Mao urgently mortgaged his property deed for three thousand taels of silver and not only lost the promissory note but also got implicated in this conspiracy case. Practically no one in his family is left, so cases like these are numerous. That’s why I listed the houses as part of the revenues."
When You Baocheng said ’basically no one is left,’ he didn’t mean the entire family had died out, but rather that there were no officials left in the family within the court, which in ancient times meant they could directly seize the family’s property.
"In the past, when people lost their promissory notes and had no backing, would the money shops always seize the assets?" Yang Mengchen asked flatly.
Nodding his head, You Baocheng acknowledged that such was the rule of money shops since ancient times.
Yang Mengchen furrowed her brow, realizing her oversight. It seemed urgent to revise some banking procedures to avoid further mistakes.
"Immediately dispatch someone to find the family of that Mao official. Calculate the real value of that house, deduct the borrowed silver and interest, and give the rest of the money back to his family."
You Baocheng’s eyes widened in astonishment, "Princess, the house deed has already been mortgaged to the bank. They can’t repay the loan, so naturally, the house belongs to the bank. Why should we..." Noble aristocratic families were rife with forceful takings, while the bank was legally justified. Why refuse silver delivered straight to the door?
"The national bank I established is different from those money shops of the past," Yang Mengchen stated with extreme seriousness. "The national bank only earns legitimate profits and will never follow crooked paths!
Even if those who borrowed money are involved in conspiracies, that is their own issue. If the Imperial Court decrees confiscation, the house should be returned to the Imperial Court. If not confiscated, whatever belongs to them should be given back to them. If they want their house back, even if it’s for a high price, the house must be redeemed and returned to them. This is the most basic trust; if there’s no good reputation, who would come to the bank in the future?
Remember, you are to follow only what I say and must not have any objections. Since this is your first offense, I’ll dock a month’s salary. If it happens again, you’ll be dismissed immediately!"
You Baocheng certainly didn’t dare to defy Yang Mengchen and quickly agreed, going back to handle the matter with respect.
Waving her hand to indicate You Baocheng to go about his business, Yang Mengchen watched his retreating figure, thinking that ultimately it was her failure to establish detailed rules and regulations, so she couldn’t entirely blame You Baocheng. However, You Baocheng did err in disobeying her command. She hoped You Baocheng would take this as a warning, as he was indeed talented.
When You Baocheng brought a silver note of three thousand six hundred taels, the family members of the official named Mao were all disbelieving, and although they were indeed in dire need of silver, they still dare not accept the silver note.
You Baocheng patiently explained, "According to the bank’s policy, we have appraised your house to be worth seven thousand taels in total. After deducting the borrowed three thousand taels of silver and the four hundred in interest, you are left with three thousand six hundred taels. Here is the silver note, please take it."
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