Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 290 Hey, I have to get back both the principal and interest.

When Lu Chengqing was arrested, he was not panicked at all. Instead, he shouted loudly in the prison, which was the perfect interpretation of the arrogant attitude of a second-generation rich man.

Xia Lin was standing outside at the moment. He folded his arms, looked at the wretched old man in front of him with a smile on his face, and listened to his timid speech.

"Sir, please have mercy on me. My master has always had a good reputation. There must be some misunderstanding."

"Sir, why don't you let my master out first? Otherwise, it would be ugly if he gets bumped into something."

"Master Xia, if this private court is brought to light, it will be difficult for you to handle it."

"Xia County Magistrate..."

The old man kept talking, his tone became stronger and stronger, and his wording began to become different.

After he finished speaking, Xia Lin smiled and asked, "Are you done?"

"Your Excellency is, after all, a county duke, of noble status. If Lord Xia is so disrespectful, I'm afraid even His Majesty will punish you. I hope you will think twice."

Instead of retreating, Xia Lin smiled and said, "Hey, I recently heard a piece of news that a store at the intersection in the city was burned down. Did you know about it?"

"I don't know, little old man."

"Oh, I don't know." Xia Lin nodded: "I don't know, I don't know."

Xia Lin rolled up his sleeves and was about to leave, but the old man immediately stepped forward to stop him. Xia Lin just glanced at him, and the giant man next to him, who was as strong as a pillar, took a step forward and said, "Wow! How dare you stop my general!"

"Hey! It's over. Be calm."

"Got it, General."

The old man stood there with narrowed eyes and said, "Master Xia, this is not a good thing, is it? If the matter of partiality and abuse of power is brought to the court, I am afraid that you, a fifth-rank county magistrate, will not be able to cover it up."

Xia Lin just smiled and threw the burnt padlock on the table: "Find out for yourself."

After saying that, he left. When the old man saw the padlock, his heart skipped a beat. Then he reached out his hand, picked up the padlock and put it in his sleeve.

He entered the prison, saw Lu Chengqing, and whispered, "Master, Xia Daosheng refuses to let him go."

"He refused? He's so brave."

The old man quietly took out the padlock and showed it to Lu Chengqing: "He may have discovered it."

"Did he say anything?"

"He told me to wait until I made my mistake."

Lu Chengqing frowned and began to pace in the cell: "How did he find out? Didn't we do it very cleanly?"

"Master, this is his territory after all. Let's just keep our heads down. When the Third Prince comes, he will have a hard time..."

"I'm really upset." Lu Chengqing took a deep breath, but because the smell in the prison was too bad, he retched: "Okay, go tell Shopkeeper Hong and ask him to transfer some money."

"Sir, what's your speed?"

"That depends on how big Xia Lin's appetite is."

How big is Xia Lin's appetite? Of course, it's including the principal and interest. The cost of that building is about 7,000 taels of silver, but he can make 93,000 taels of silver, so it's not too much to charge him 100,000 taels of silver from the Lu family, right?
When the old man heard this number, his hands were shaking. He was not angry, but seriously scared. What is the concept of one hundred thousand taels of silver? That is enough for a small town of ten thousand people to spend a winter in peace and happiness.

How dare Xia Daosheng say that?

So when he reported this news to Lu Chengqing, the heir of the Lu family, the dignified Duke, just stared at the old man with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

"Does he really want that price?"

"He said there was a discount. One of the gold hairpins was worth four or five thousand taels. He lost more than a hundred hairpins, not to mention the other stuff."

The old man handed the account to Lu Chengqing, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He flipped through it a few times in prison. Lu Chengqing was so angry that he laughed: "He is really going too far! I want to file a complaint! I want to file a complaint with the court! I want to file a complaint with the emperor!"

"Master, don't be impulsive." The old man took a deep breath. "If it were me, I would just give it to him. When he dies, won't the silver still be ours?"

"It's easy for you to say that. One hundred thousand taels! If I take out one hundred thousand taels, it would be strange if the elders in my family don't eat me up!"

"Master, I have one more trick up my sleeve..."

"Speak!" Lu Chengqing said unhappily, "As long as you can fill this hole of 100,000 taels, you can do anything."

The old man laughed foolishly a few times, revealing his mouth full of yellow teeth: "Master, when we came here a few days ago, do you still remember the Fuliang Merchants' Headquarters?"

"Remember, so what?"

"There is a loan service in this business association. If you want to borrow 100,000 taels from it, it will be easy. We can use the money to pay him back. He won't be around for many days. What if he doesn't pay it back?"

The old man's words made Lu Chengqing's eyes turn, and he thought it was a very good idea, so he nodded: "Okay, this is a good idea. Go and do it. My seal is in the house, you can take it yourself."

It must be said that the old man is very efficient. He took the seal of the Duke of the County and went to the headquarters of the merchant company that day. The people from the merchant company did not waste any time and directly took out a bunch of terms and contracts for him to sign.

"According to the rules of the business, the maximum amount that the Duke can borrow is only 50,000 taels. This 50,000 taels is at a low interest rate. The interest on 50,000 taels a year is only 1,200 taels. But the remaining 50,000 taels cannot be borrowed at a low interest rate. I hope the Duke can forgive me for this."

The old man held the contract for 50,000 taels and asked curiously, "How much interest do you need to earn on the remaining 50,000 taels per year?"

"According to your status as the master, we will calculate the total amount of interest. You have to pay back the 50,000 taels you lent out after one year..."

The shopkeeper's abacus clattered, and then he said with a smile, "It's sixty-three thousand taels, and there's a handling fee. You borrowed fifty thousand, and you can only get thirty-eight thousand. Thirty-eight thousand out is sixty-three thousand back. Do you think this is okay?"

The old man was stunned: "You are too deceiving!"

"If you disagree, we understand. The first 50,000 taels are a normal withdrawal. You can pay back 51,200 taels by this time next year."

The first part is fair, but the second part is just like a blood-sucking lunatic. It's really life-threatening. If you want to collect 100,000, you have to borrow 70,000 taels to get 50,000? And if you borrow more than 70,000 next year, you have to pay back almost 90,000 taels?
Adding the previous 50,000,000, the total amount of money borrowed to pay back the 100,000 taels of silver would be 140,000 taels? Who could afford this?

"What if I can't pay it back?"

"You are joking. How could a county duke's family be short of a few tens of thousands of taels of silver?" The shopkeeper said with a smile, "Besides, if he were not a county duke, an ordinary merchant would only be able to lend out three to five thousand taels of silver, and would definitely not be able to lend out such a large amount of silver. There is a saying that goes, help in emergencies but not in poverty. This business is not a charity, sir, you understand, right?"

The old man sat there sucking his teeth, but then he thought that Xia Daosheng might not live until next year, so he made up his mind and took his master's seal and pressed it on the contract.

Then the servant next to him sounded a gong, and then shouted in his hoarse voice: "Twelve! Five low and seven high!"

Soon, after deducting the handling fee, the bank's promissory note of one hundred and one thousand four hundred taels was handed to him. When no one was around, he quietly put the one thousand four hundred taels of change into his sleeve, and then hurriedly took the one hundred thousand taels of silver to report to his master.

The 100,000 taels of silver changed hands and returned to Xia Lin's hands that night. He smiled and patted the banknotes on the table, then said to Xu Jingzong, "Go, release the master."

Xu Jingzong also laughed beside him: "Sir, you really dug a grave."

"He wants to wipe out my family." Xia Lin spread his hands. "How could he know that Fuliang Commercial Bank is named Fuliang, but it is actually a joint venture with Gao Shilian. He will drive the tiger to devour the wolf. Aren't we going to end up fighting each other?"

Xu Jingzong laughed out loud: "It is Master Xia after all."

"You are the real expert, Lao Xu. You tricked him out of such a simple trick. You really know how to play with people's hearts. It's a waste of your time in a small Fuliang."

Xia Lin looked at Xu Jingzong and said, "Your Highness still has three more nominations. They will be reported at the summer solstice this year. You should prepare and go to the capital to show your ambitions."

When Xu Jingzong heard this, he knelt down with his robe lifted, his face flushed, unable to hide his excitement: "Thank you for your kindness, sir!"

"Come on, we don't care about this among our own people. But you know me, I'm too lazy to deal with these messy things, you have to find someone to take over for me. This is the old rule, do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand, I understand. Of course I understand." Xu Jingzong was so happy that he was a little incoherent at this moment: "I will definitely arrange everything for you."

"Don't try to trick me after you get to the capital."

Xu Jingzong hurriedly apologized with a smile: "My Lord, look at what you said. When I go to the capital, the mark on my body will also be yours. We will prosper together."

"That's all." Xia Lin stood up and personally poured a cup of tea for Xu Jingzong: "I wish Lord Xu all the best in the court."

At midnight, just after the hour of Zi, Lu Chengqing was released from prison. He felt that his whole body smelled bad and he couldn't wait to take a shower.

But when he passed by the gate of the yamen, he stopped, looked up at the plaque, and then spat. But he was still filled with resentment in his heart, and he could only endure it.

"Master, don't worry, it won't take a few days."

He didn't plan to pay back the money, and he also planned to take Xia Daosheng's life. In ancient times, there was Goujian who slept on firewood and tasted gall, but now he was bullied by a small county magistrate and he just endured it.

But now he really is looking forward to the Third Prince's arrival as if he were looking forward to the stars and the moon. As long as the plague god comes, Xia Daosheng won't be able to do anything even if he has three heads and six arms.

(End of this chapter)