Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 106: The Emperor: Very good, businessmen are so rich?
……

Xue’s pawnshop, an elegant room inside.

There were no gorgeous decorations, just a few calligraphy and paintings on the wall, a set of pearwood tables and chairs, a glass screen, and a hanging beaded curtain, through which the drapery of the bed could be vaguely seen.

At this time, Xue Baochai led Jia Rong into the house.

"Mr. Rong, please take a seat."

"Ying'er, go and pour the tea."

Jia Rong sat down on the chair and said with a smile, "Can you change your name? I'm not used to calling you Young Master Rong."

Baochai pursed her lips and smiled: "Master Rong?"

Jia Rong: “…”

Baochai smiled again and asked, "Rong'er?"

Jia Rong gently fanned himself and said with a smile, "Can't you just call me Brother Rong?"

Baochai's heart was beating wildly, but fortunately she was determined enough to suppress the throbbing in her heart, raised her eyes and glared at Jia Rong gently.

Then Baochai immediately regretted it!
She could even feel the charm in this look.

But you really can't blame her, she is already very rational!

It’s all because of Jia Rong’s appearance, family background, status, and character... Which woman in the world can withstand a teasing remark from such a young man from a noble family?
Xue Baochai felt like she couldn't suppress her feelings even after taking Lengxiang Pills!

"Creak" sound.

The door opened.

Ying'er came in carrying a teapot.

"Miss, we're out of Biluochun in the shop, but luckily we have the new Longjing tea, so I made some...Miss, are you feeling hot?"

"It's a bit hot. Bring me a fan."

Baochai took a few deep breaths and finally calmed down. Seeing Jia Rong looking at her and smiling, she felt a little embarrassed and annoyed.

"Brother Rong, let's get down to business."

Jia Rong nodded and took a sip of tea.

"Miss Bao is talking, I'm listening."

Baochai calmed down and said seriously, "My uncle ordered people to bring 100,000 taels of silver and 3,000 taels of gold. These guys have counted them all, and there is no missing a cent. In addition, they gave a deed to a farm outside the western suburbs of Kyoto, the value of which is... I haven't asked anyone to see it yet."

Jia Rong picked up the deed and looked at it, then laughed and said, "Old Wang even sold his ancestral property."

Baochai sighed.

This time, she really offended her uncle's family. She could only hold on to the big tree of Ningguo Mansion. Otherwise, Wang Ziteng would deal with her and her daughter without anyone else.

"I have discussed the land deed with my mother. It is not appropriate for us to collect it. We should give it to your family as a token of our gratitude for saving my brother's life."

Jia Rong said, "That's not necessary. We have enough farms. I'll have someone estimate the value of the farms and make a discount. You get half and I get half, and we can split it equally."

"……also."

Baochai was not pretentious and accepted it generously.

After all, it’s tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Jia Rong continued, "I will send the 100,000 taels of silver to the Ministry of Revenue right away and tell the old man about the situation. If everything goes well, Brother Xue's sentence can be reduced that day."

Only he can do this job. Others cannot see the Minister of Revenue even if they have money.

"Thank you for your concern, young master."

"You know, I don't like being called the eldest son."

Baochai smiled and said, "Then it's Rong'er."

Jia Rong laughed and said, "Xue Pan recognized me as his brother that day, so what's wrong with you calling me Brother Rong?"

"Brother Rong."

When Baochai finished speaking, her cheeks flushed. Ying'er, who had just picked up her fan and was about to go in, was so frightened that she stopped immediately.

"Sister Baochai."

Jia Rong felt a little proud.

Rights are a wonderful thing.

Young Lord, here I come!
……

Hubu Yamen.

Liu Yan sat in the main hall, looking through the tax accounts and account books from various places.

Although he stayed reluctantly at the request of the retired emperor, he was really worried about such a mess.

Taxes are decreasing year by year.

The deficit increases year by year.

Eat the food of Mao in the Yin year, and even when the food of Mao has been finished, start eating the food of Chen!
If this continues, he really doesn't know how long the country can last.

At this time, a clerk from the Ministry of Revenue came running over and said, "Sir, the son of the Minister of War Jia wants to see you."

"Oh?"

Liu Yan frowned slightly.

"Invite him in."

After all, he was an official in the same court as Jia Jing, so he had to give him some face.

Moreover, Jia Jing's grandson was well-known for his talent. He had already won the first place in the Shuntian Prefecture Examination at a young age. He also wanted to meet this young talent.

At one moment, Jia Rong entered the hall.

She was wearing a blue satin shirt, a simple and clean bun, and no extra jingle accessories on her body. She only had a sense of temperament. Liu Yan thought for a while before he remembered a sentence.

Abdominal poetry and gas from China.

This is the temperament that can only be cultivated by reading the books of sages over many years.

"Student Jia Shunzhi greets Master Liu."

"No need to be polite, come on, please take a seat."

Since Jia Rong had the title of scholar, he could naturally sit and talk in the hall.

Immediately a clerk brought a chair.

Jia Rong thanked him and sat down.

Liu Yan smiled and asked, "I wonder what Shunzhi is here for? Could it be that your grandfather couldn't bring himself to ask me for military pay?"

Jia Rong laughed and said, "What are you talking about? My visit to the Ministry of Revenue has nothing to do with Grandfather. I came here to collect donations on behalf of others."

"Fundraising?"

Liu Yan was stunned.

In the past major disasters, the court had organized fundraising, but it was like a joke. The ministers contributed ten taels or eight taels each, and after several days of hard work, they raised several thousand taels of silver, but it was still not enough to pay for their efforts.

So there has been no fundraising in recent years.

Jia Rong smiled and said, "It's the Xue family, the imperial merchant family of Jinling. After hearing about the disasters in Shandong, Shaanxi and other places, they are willing to help the court solve its problems and donate 100,000 taels of silver to the Ministry of Revenue for disaster relief."

"How many?"

Liu Yan stood up suddenly.

He even suspected that his ears had heard wrongly.

It's no wonder that he lost his temper. The truth is that these days all businessmen are profit-driven and value gold and silver even more than their lives. How could anyone donate 100,000 taels to disaster relief?
"One hundred thousand taels of silver are at the entrance of the Ministry of Revenue."

Jia Rong repeated it again.

Liu Yan was startled at first, then frowned. It really was 100,000 taels.

But this money is probably not donated in vain!

Liu Yan quickly calmed down, took a sip of tea, and asked, "Which imperial merchant did you just mention?"

Jia Rong smiled and said, "It's the Xue family of Jinling."

"The Xue family of Jinling." Liu Yan muttered to himself, and suddenly remembered that there was a case of an imperial merchant involving the Ministry of Revenue some time ago.

"I remember that a pseudonymous merchant of the Xue family committed a crime? What was it?"

Jia Rong told the truth: "He allowed the slave to kill someone and then ran away."

Liu Yan: “…”

"It's not easy. It involves human life, and he is absconding from the crime. I'm sorry, I can't do anything about it. The money should just go back to where it came from."

"Your Excellency misunderstood." Jia Rong said with a smile: "The donation is mainly to help the court relieve the worries of the disaster. The Xue family said that it would be best if the sentence could be reduced. Even if it cannot be reduced, they are willing to help the court relieve the worries, so I will not take this money back."

"Just a commutation of sentence?"

"How much?"

"The current sentence is hanging in prison, and his family just wants to keep a memory of him, even if it means exile."

Liu Yan smiled.

"Is it that simple? Why doesn't Lord Jia want this hundred thousand taels?"

With Jia Jing's ability, wouldn't it be easy to change the sentence to exile?

Jia Rong smiled and said, "I've already said it, to help the court relieve its worries!"

"it is good!"

Liu Yan slammed the table.

"In that case, I will personally go to the palace and tell the emperor about this matter. I am sure that the sentence can be reduced, but I can't say by how much."

After all, the emperor was very poor.

Jia Rong bowed and said, "Thank you, sir."

Liu Yan smiled and said, "Shunzhi is too polite. Where's the silver?"

Jia Rong said, "At the door."

Liu Yan: "Someone come!"

Several clerks came immediately and bowed, saying, "Please give your orders, sir."

Liu Yan: "Go and count the silver quickly, there must be no mistakes."

Clerk: “Yes…”

Liu Yan: “Come back!”

Several clerks turned around obediently and smiled apologetically, "What do you want, sir?"

Liu Yan's eyes were like knives, and his voice was cold: "Count carefully, there can't be any mistakes!"

Several clerks broke out in sweat on their foreheads.

"Yes, sir, don't worry."

Liu Yan then waved his hand.

"Go."

Several clerks went down to work.

Another waiter came up to serve tea.

Liu Yan smiled and said, "Shunzhi, wait for a moment. If you are worried, you can go outside and witness the weighing with your own eyes."

Jia Rong smiled and said, "I trust the officials in the Ministry of Revenue."

Liu Yan: “…”

I don’t believe it myself!

Soon, the silver was counted.

A clerk came in and said, "My Lord, the inventory has been completed. The total amount of silver is 100,000 taels."

Liu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

His advice worked, after all.

Otherwise it would be very embarrassing!

"Please do as you wish. I will go to the palace to see the emperor immediately."

He had to go to the palace.

Xue Pan’s matter comes second.

The point is…

The businessman is so rich!

He seemed to see some bright future...

Jia Rong had no idea what Liu Yan was thinking. He just felt that Liu Yan was a good official who got things done immediately after receiving the money without any delay.

"The students are here, waiting for good news."

……

Imperial Palace, Imperial Study Room.

"What? One hundred thousand taels!"

To be honest, the emperor was a little shocked!

Are imperial merchants so rich?
Liu Yan smiled and said, "It's absolutely true! The Xue family, although they were a royal merchant family, have long been in decline in recent years, but they are still millions of dollars rich!"

"What about the rest? Jiangnan is full of merchants. There are at least eighty families like the Xue family, not to mention the lower-level merchants with a little wealth. There are countless of them!"

"The term 'rich merchants' is not just a casual term. Eighty percent of the money is in their hands!"

The emperor nodded in agreement.

He was not an ignorant emperor who never left the palace. His five trips to the south of the Yangtze River brought him rich experience, especially the wealth of Jiangnan and its wealthy merchants.

"The people are suffering, but this businessman is rich!"

"Should we increase the commercial tax?"

Liu Yan said excitedly: "The Holy Emperor is wise!"

The Emperor shook his head again and said, "Don't be happy too early. A few years ago, I also thought about increasing commercial taxes. Every time, my ministers tried their best to persuade me to do so. What do you mean I compete with the people for profits? What do you mean I want to keep wealth for the people..."

"So this matter will have to be delayed for a while. I plan to let the Minister of War Jia Jing join the cabinet. You can discuss it with him when you have time to see what his opinion is."

"Also, that stubborn old Li Minzhi, I hate him very much. If the commercial tax is increased, he will be the first one to jump out and oppose it!"

Liu Yan smiled and said nothing.

Although Li Minzhi is stubborn, she is still a very upright person.

The emperor and his minister talked for a while. Liu Yan was worried about Jia Rong who was still waiting for him in the Ministry of Revenue, so he stood up and apologized.

The emperor finally smiled and said, "That Xue Pan, right? He has made a great contribution by donating silver, so his crime will be reduced by two levels. His sentence will be changed to exile a thousand miles away. The Ministry of Justice will decide where to go."

"The Holy Emperor is merciful."

……

(End of this chapter)