Thief Emperor

Chapter 1043 Li Yun's Family Fortune

The next day, Li Cang, dressed in a blue robe and holding the emperor's token, left the imperial city in a grand manner.

He grew up in the imperial city. From childhood to adulthood, he was only allowed to leave the imperial city for sacrificial rites to heaven and ancestors, or for other important matters. This time, he finally stepped out of the imperial palace in a proper manner.

The somewhat thin third prince looked back at the imperial city as he walked out of the city gate, and remained motionless for a long time.

This departure from the capital city seemed ordinary, but from this point on, the time he spent in the capital city would become shorter and shorter. In the future, if he wanted to enter the palace to see his mother, he would probably have to ask his father for permission.

Just as the Third Prince was lost in thought, a deep voice sounded behind him.

"Your Highness."

Li Cang turned around and saw a man in his early thirties standing behind him. The man was also dressed in casual clothes, with slightly dark skin and a decent appearance.

Li Cang had grown up in the palace and didn't have many opportunities to interact with people. He was a little stunned and asked, "Who are you?"

"Your humble servant, Meng Yan."

The man clasped his hands and said, "I serve under Lord Yang of the Imperial Guard. I have been ordered to protect Your Highness at all times recently."

"Imperial Guards..."

As the emperor's son, Li Cang naturally knew about the Imperial Guards and also knew that the general of the Imperial Guards was Yang Xi, his father's loyal follower. After hearing Meng Yan's words, he simply nodded subconsciously and then said something indifferently.

"Good work."

After saying this, Li Cang glanced at the carriage that Meng Yan had prepared not far away and said quietly, "Let's go, we'll go to the Prince of Nanyang's residence."

Meng Yan responded and quickly bowed his head, saying, "Your Highness, please."

The two walked one after the other to the carriage. Li Cang was almost ready to get in when he suddenly remembered something. He turned back to look at Meng Yan, frowned, and thought for a while before asking thoughtfully, "You are... a member of the Meng family?"

Meng Yan smiled and said, "My surname is Meng, so of course I am a member of the Meng family."

Li Cang stared at him and pressed, "Is it the Meng family of General Meng, the Marquis of Qingyang?"

Meng Yan sighed, hesitated for a moment, and then said with a wry smile, "This humble servant is incompetent and dares not compare himself to Marquis Qingyang."

In the upheaval of Hexi Village, only three male descendants of the Meng family, Meng Qing's generation, survived: Meng Hai, Meng Qing, and the man before us, Meng Yan.

The first two need no further explanation. Thanks to his two elder brothers, Meng Yan has served in the army for more than ten years. Two years ago, he was transferred to the Imperial Guard and served under Yang Xi. Now he is a prominent figure in the Imperial Guard.

Upon hearing Meng Yan's words, the Third Prince straightened up, cupped his hands, and said, "I was disrespectful just now. In terms of seniority, I should address General Meng as Uncle."

"No, no, that won't do."

Meng Yan waved his hands repeatedly and said solemnly, "Your Highness may address my two elder brothers as Your Highness, but it is absolutely unacceptable for you to address them as such."

He said in a low voice, "There is no such relationship between me and Your Majesty. Calling you that would only lower Your Highness's status."

Li Cang thought for a moment, hesitated for a second, then reached out and patted Meng Yan on the shoulder, saying, "I'm sorry to trouble you, General Meng."

Logically and emotionally, he should not address Meng Yan as his uncle; Meng Yan is far from deserving that title.

In fact, as a prince, the only person he could legally address as his uncle was Prince Li Zheng of Jin. The other "uncles" in the court were all based on their relationship with the emperor.

Meng Yan doesn't deserve that kind of favor.

After Li Cang boarded the carriage, Meng Yan personally acted as his driver, escorting him all the way to the gate of the Prince of Nanyang's residence. Upon arriving at the gate, he helped Li Cang alight from the carriage and said, "I'll be waiting here for Your Highness. Lord Yang instructed that Your Highness will not be staying in the palace during this period. I have already arranged accommodations for you. I will take Your Highness to stay here tonight."

Li Cang responded and nodded slightly to him before walking towards the Prince of Nanyang's residence. The Xue family knew he was coming today, and their eldest grandson, Xue Gui, was already waiting for him at the gate. Upon seeing Xue Gui, Li Cang stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and bowed slightly, saying, "Greetings, elder brother."

He didn't address his cousin as "cousin" because his family background was inferior, and he was actually somewhat lacking in the respect of the Xue family.

Xue Gui quickly returned the greeting with a fist and palm salute, and said with a smile, "Your Highness has finally arrived. My second uncle has been waiting for Your Highness for a long time. Please come in, Your Highness."

Li Cang looked up and glanced at the Nanyang Prince's Mansion, whose doors were now wide open.

He knew in his heart that this was not about the face of a prince who had not yet been granted a title, but about the face of his father.

After arriving at the Xue family residence, Li Cang first visited the ailing Master Xue, then had lunch at the Xue family home. It wasn't until the afternoon that Xue Fang took him away from the Xue family and got into Xue Fang's carriage.

The carriage traveled without stopping until it arrived at Liulichang outside the city. Upon entering Liulichang, palace servants were already waiting there. Xue Fang, familiar with the place, led Li Cang to the office of the steward inside Liulichang.

This is a courtyard. At first glance, you can see a two-story building. When Li Cang walked to the door, he saw several eunuchs who were obviously palace servants. When they got closer, these palace servants stopped them.

Xue Fang turned to look at Li Cang and said, "Your Highness, they want to see the token His Majesty gave you."

Li Cang quickly took out his token and entered the courtyard. Once inside, he saw shelves filled with thick volumes of books.

"These are all the accounts from Liulichang over the years."

Xue Fang glanced at Li Cang and said with a smile, "These palace servants are all sent by His Majesty. They often come here to verify the accounts."

Li Cang looked around, took down an account book, found a table to sit down, and began to flip through the pages one by one.

This is an account book from the sixth year of the Zhangwu era, and it is recorded in detail and clearly.

Xue Fang sat opposite him, quietly watching him.

The third prince examined the documents for a long time before looking up at Xue Fang and muttering, "I never knew my family had such a large business."

He looked around and said, "I never imagined that my father, who was a peerless martial artist, would care so much about these things."

Lord Xue said unhurriedly, "Back when His Majesty was in Jiangdong, his various businesses had already begun to operate. For example, this Liulichang, if you include the one in Jinling, should be about the same age as Your Highness."

"And just these two Liulichang shops alone."

Xue Fang said softly, "Last year, the imperial treasury received nearly two million strings of cash in revenue."

Li Cang stared wide-eyed, unable to come to his senses for a long time.

Two million strings of cash a year!
What a concept!
Last year, the imperial court's annual revenue, if calculated solely in copper coins, was probably not much more than this amount!
Of course, items like grain, silk cloth, and cotton yarn need to be calculated separately.

Even so, this amount of money was almost one-tenth of the imperial court's annual revenue!

Looking at Li Cang's expression, Xue Fang smiled and said, "His Majesty said that if Your Highness is suitable for this, a portion of the shares in Liulichang can be given to Your Highness in the future, even if it's just one-tenth."

"Your Highness will be the wealthiest prince in the new dynasty in the future."

Li Cang paused for a moment, then looked down at the accounts in his hand and asked, "Lord Marquis, I heard that you've been in the grain business all these years. Do you make money like this in the grain trade?"

Lord Xue was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "This is how we could have made money."

Li Cang scratched his head, somewhat puzzled.

"But in reality, grain stores make very little money; in some years they even lose money."

Lord Xue tucked his hands into his sleeves and said with a smile, "Last year, we also borrowed some money from Liulichang."

The third prince seemed to understand something after a moment of thought.

Xue Fang looked at him and continued, "My grain shop wasn't actually meant to make money, but rather... to stabilize grain prices, so I often had to buy high and sell low."

"It's already good that we didn't lose too much money."

At this point, Lord Xue looked at Li Cang and continued, "Besides Liulichang, His Majesty has other businesses, which I have handled to varying degrees over the years. I have taken His Highness to see them one by one these past few days."

"Once Your Highness is familiar with the situation, you can begin to take over the related matters."

Lord Xue looked at Li Cang and said with a smile, "Your Highness should put in more effort; perhaps in the future you will be able to get a share of the Emperor's private treasury."

The Third Prince nodded repeatedly. He then looked through several accounts and looked at Xue Fang, saying with admiration, "This Liulichang is truly remarkable. In the entire city of Luoyang, perhaps only the Mint is more profitable than this place."

Xue Fang looked back at him, thought for a moment, and then corrected him, "No."

"Mint..."

"You can't make money here."

(End of this chapter)