Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 115 Gambling

Chen Siyuan accepted the invitation, dismounted, bowed respectfully to the people inside, and then happily returned to the carriage. What he was thinking along the way is not mentioned for now.

But Prince Ping of Yan tightened his fox fur coat and waited for about a cup of tea before a guard came to report, "Your Highness, the man is dead."

"Yes." King Ping of Yan responded.

The guard then asked, "Should we send the Ministry of Punishment to search for him at night?"

King Ping of Yan scoffed and said, "Qin Ye is just a passing god of wealth. How much money does he have? Save it for his son to burn and bury."

The guard agreed, and the carriage immediately set off, heading back to the inner city.

As soon as he entered the inner city, a guard from the palace came to look for him and said, "Your Majesty, the emperor requests that you enter the palace immediately."

Prince Ping of Yan responded and said to the maid beside him, "My royal brother is here to ask for money again."

This year, first there was flooding in the Huai River and Yangtze River regions, followed by drought in Shanxi and Shaanxi. The annual tax revenue of the Dashun government was nearly 50 million taels, but the river engineering alone cost several million taels of silver.

Last year, a fire burned down Shou'an Palace. This year, Emperor Yankang borrowed money from everywhere and finally managed to repair half of Shou'an Palace. Now he has no money left and has to urge the inner court to pay tribute.

The carriage turned towards the Imperial City, and soon after, it was replaced by a sedan chair and headed towards the Qianqing Palace. By the time they arrived at the West Warm Pavilion, it was already approaching the evening hour.

After entering the inner chamber, Prince Ping of Yan stepped forward to greet him. The forty-year-old Emperor Yankang waved his hand and said, "There are no outsiders here, so who are you being polite to?"

King Ping of Yan laughed awkwardly and said, "Rituals cannot be abolished..."

"Stop talking nonsense. I want to ask you, how much money can the inner court withdraw this year?"

King Ping of Yan smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid I can only draw 200,000 at most. If it's more, I'm afraid the next year will be difficult."

"Two hundred thousand..."

Emperor Yankang stood with his hands behind his back, slowly exhaled, and said, "It's barely enough. The construction of Shou'an Palace cannot be stopped. Unfortunately, there have been natural disasters for the past two years. I just hope to have a good year next year. This year, I will go to the ceremony myself, so you don't have to do it for me."

King Ping of Yan smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for finally being able to take a break from all this laziness."

Emperor Yankang glanced at him sideways and said, "Every time I see you, you look lazy. What will become of you if this continues?"

Prince Ping of Yan secretly thought that if he worked too hard, his brother would be worried. He laughed and said, "This is just my personality. Didn't your brother know this long ago? If I were to say, this inner court--"

"Stop! The prince is still young, you should take care of the inner court."

King Ping of Yan sighed and agreed, then suddenly smiled and said, "Brother Emperor, I have found a talented person recently."

"Oh." Emperor Yankang looked indifferent and didn't care.

King Ping of Yan was not discouraged and said, "The one I'm talking about is not an ordinary talent. This person comes from a humble background, but he is good at economics."

"Oh?"

King Ping of Yan then told the story of how he had advertised his business with bamboo hats and cotton caps, and concluded by saying, "It's only been half a month, and I estimate that I've made at least 2,300 taels. This business isn't a one-time thing; it can be done year-round, and we can even replicate it in Yangzhou, Guangzhou, and other places."

"This piece of land can bring in several thousand taels of silver a year. If we can make a dozen pieces of land, wouldn't that be tens of thousands of silver? Hey, today I ran into that guy again and promised him a huge profit. He said he would definitely find a good job in the future."

Emperor Yankang said with relief, "Indeed, the court is in dire need of such people who specialize in economics. If you find him pleasing to the eye, why not take him into the imperial treasury?"

King Ping of Yan said, "My younger brother said the same thing, but that person is only interested in gaining a good reputation through the imperial examinations and has no intention of entering the imperial court."

Emperor Yankang frowned slightly, then suddenly realized: "The great profit you just mentioned..."

"Your humble servant will ensure that he passes the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination."

"Nonsense!"

Prince Ping of Yan complained, "Sage, talent is hard to come by. If we wait for him to pass the provincial examination according to the established procedures, it might take another twenty years. He's only fourteen or fifteen now. In twenty years, he might be so influenced by the corrupt scholars that he loses his talent."

Emperor Yankang was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He pointed at him and said, "Don't let this get out. Otherwise, the Censorate will impeach you again."

King Ping of Yan jokingly said, "If you impeach me casually, the salaries of my ministers will be deducted until ten years from now. A few more years won't make a difference."

Emperor Yankang paced with his hands behind his back, then stopped for a moment, leaned over and whispered, "Don't let anyone catch you."

King Ping of Yan understood and said with a smile, "Don't worry, my Royal Highness. I will take care of it!"

............................................................

Chen Siyuan, however, returned to the Rongguo Mansion in a carriage. Having been depressed for quite some time, he finally saw some light. Chen Siyuan, who was determined to make a living, was not willing to let go of such a good opportunity.
It’s the same old saying: Everything is inferior, only being an official is superior!

Although his memories of his past life were fragmentary, he still remembered some of them. Although he couldn't build a steam engine, let alone a musket, he still remembered many business models.

With over three hundred years of accumulated wisdom, he would surely wreak havoc in this era. However, he was previously a mere commoner, and whenever his livelihood improved, powerful figures and dignitaries would rush over to bite him like sharks smelling blood.

Don't believe it? Consider the Yangzhou salt merchants. Despite their immense wealth, how many could possibly pass it down through three generations? A recent major case implicated half of the eight major salt merchants. To put it bluntly, the salt merchants were merely the fat pigs of the imperial family, slaughtered for meat in bad years.

But it is different now. The emperor is behind the inner court. It has always been the inner court that oppresses the local areas, and rarely the other way around.

Chen Siyuan used the business model to gain a foothold in his career. Those who didn't understand the situation might think that he was losing money, but if you think about it carefully, this was already the best result.

Otherwise, even if Chen Siyuan becomes an official in the future and makes a living worth tens or millions of taels of silver, others would not dare to covet him. Do you think the emperor would covet him?
This was a family empire, and everything in the world belonged to the emperor! Everything the emperor used, at least on the surface, had to be the best. If anyone was found using something better than the emperor, it would be a crime!
The more Chen Siyuan thought about it, the more excited he became. He immediately came up with a few ideas, but he had to conduct an on-site investigation. Whether he could pass the provincial examination depended on this one!

After returning the carriage in front, Chen Siyuan walked with a breeze and returned to his own courtyard excitedly.

As soon as he entered the door, a little maid came up to greet him with a smile: "Master, Master! The mansion is giving out rewards! I got two hundred yuan!"

Yunxiang was so happy that her back teeth popped out. Chen Siyuan reached out and ruffled Yunxiang's hair, saying with a smile, "Got it. We'll give out rewards later, and you'll definitely get your share."

Yunxiang said happily: "Hey, thank you for the reward!"

Before Hongyu and Xiangling could greet him, Chen Siyuan had already arrived at the door. When the door opened, Xiangling took a small step back in shock before welcoming Chen Siyuan inside.

Hongyu and Liu Wu'er came up to serve, took off their cloaks, washed their hands, and served warm tea. Chen Siyuan took a sip of the tea and then smiled and said, "Did the mansion give out rewards?"

Hongyu smiled and said, "Yes, Second Madam will start giving out rewards in the afternoon. We have already given out rewards to those in the inner house, and tomorrow we will give out rewards to those in the outer house who are waiting."

Chen Siyuan nodded and ordered, "Then we won't wait any longer and will give out the reward today."

Hongyu responded and glanced at Xiangling, who then went to the west room and brought out the sandalwood box.

The wooden box was opened, revealing both loose silver and strings of brand-new copper coins. Chen Siyuan took out a string of copper coins and beckoned Yunxiang: "Here, this is your reward."

Yunxiang took it with a smile on her face and thanked for the reward without hesitation.

Chen Siyuan said, "Go and have a rest. If you work diligently in the future, you will definitely be rewarded."

Yunxiang agreed and ran out happily.

Next up was Liu Wu'er. Chen Siyuan counted out two strings of money and gave them to Liu Wu'er. The girl thanked him calmly, but she couldn't help but feel a little happy. Now that she had money, she could always buy some nice rouge and powder.

After Liu Wu'er left, Chen Siyuan called Xiangling and Hongyu forward together, and directly counted out two portions of silver and gave them to them.

Xiangling's was a little more, because it included her previous monthly allowance, but other than that, the two were no different.

Hongyu was delighted. According to what was said before, Chen Siyuan gave Hongyu 500 coins every month, so this reward should be two strings of coins, but in fact Chen Siyuan gave her 8 taels of silver!

This time, the reward is considered as four months' monthly allowance, so Hongyu's monthly allowance is two taels, the same as Aunt Zhao's!
What’s more important is that Xiangling also has so many things, and the meaning is self-evident.

Xiangling was also smart. Looking at the two ingots of silver in her hand, which probably weighed ten taels, she immediately bowed and said, "Thank you for the reward, sir."

Hongyu also bowed and thanked him.

Chen Siyuan was in a very good mood and was about to say something else when he suddenly heard a maid outside calling out, "Is Master Yuan home?"

Hongyu frowned, turned around to greet her, and asked, "Where has Yunxiang gone crazy again?"

He immediately went out to greet them, and soon led Qin Xianjia in.

The Qin Xian family said, "Master Yuan, the master wants to see you."

Chen Siyuan's heart moved. He figured that Madam Xing would ask the imperial physician for a consultation in the next few days, so he asked with a smile, "Sister-in-law Qin, do you know what's going on?"

Qin Xianjia laughed and said, "I overheard it, and it seems to be related to the Imperial College."

Isn’t it that Mrs. Xing is pregnant?

Chen Siyuan stood up, let Xiangling put a cloak on him, and hurriedly followed Qin Xianjia to the front.

After a while, he arrived at the outer study and saw that the eldest master Jia She had a frown on his face, and it was obvious that he was worried about something.

Chen Siyuan stepped forward and bowed, and Jia She said, "I was going to take you to see Minister Tao tomorrow, but suddenly something urgent came up. So, you can come to me tomorrow with my visiting card, and I'll let Minister Tao know when I get back."

Seeing that Jia She's mood was sour, Chen Siyuan didn't want to offend him, so he immediately obeyed, took the name card, and left the outer study. When he reached the left side of the black oil gate, he saw the doorman Yu Si. Chen Siyuan extended his hand to greet him and asked in a low voice, "I saw that my uncle was worried just now. Is there something wrong?"

"This..." Yu Si whispered, "The second master just sent a servant to say something, and then the rest is..."

Chen Siyuan shook his hand and threw a dime over.

Yu Si was immediately overjoyed. He looked around and then whispered, "I heard that servant mention that there seems to be a construction officer coming in after the New Year. I don't know anything else."

A new builder?

Yes, with Qin Ye's death, the court must fill the vacancy. Presumably, the Jia family, and even the four kings and eight dukes, are all running around and wrestling over this matter. Also, thinking of Jia She's extremely bad mood, could it be that the new Yingshanlang was not appointed by the Jia family?

If you look at it in a positive way, the Jia family will cut off the business of the Construction Department; if you look at it in a negative way... I can't even imagine it!
Forget it, he can’t get involved in these matters for the time being, so he should think about visiting Minister Tao tomorrow.

Returning to his own courtyard, Chen Siyuan went back to his study as usual. Perhaps because he had gained some confidence, he no longer felt the same urgency as before.

After dinner, I heard the little maid Yunxiang coming back crying.

Hongyu spat and said, "It's been out for a while, maybe it's bumped into something. I'll go take a look."

Hongyu came back after a while and pulled Yunxiang, who was crying like a little cat.

She seemed to be hesitant to speak, so Yunxiang went to Chen Siyuan and complained, "Master, the Xue family is bullying us!"

Chen Siyuan put down the scroll and asked curiously, "How did you bully me?"

Yunxiang cried, "Madame Wu set up the game, and I just wanted to watch the fun, so I followed suit a few times. At first, I won two out of three, but then I never won a single time. So... I lost all those three hundred yuan in the blink of an eye!"

Chen Siyuan frowned and asked, "Who asked you to gamble?"

Yunxiang said, "Everyone was playing, so I just joined in the fun."

Chen Siyuan hated gambling the most because he knew that nine out of ten times he would lose, and when he was desperate, he would do anything.

Yin Shi then sternly taught him a lesson: "If you dare to gamble again, you can go back to where you came from and you don't have to serve me anymore!"

Yunxiang originally wanted to ask Chen Siyuan to make a decision for her, but instead she was scolded harshly. She was so shocked that she forgot to cry for a moment.

"Do you remember?"

Chen Siyuan has always been kind and rarely gets so strict. Yunxiang was so frightened that she was speechless.

Hongyu also echoed, "Take this as a lesson, there won't be a next time! Go write a hundred characters later and give them to me the day after tomorrow. If you can't finish, I'll spank you!"

Yunxiang blinked and cried even more sadly. She agreed breathlessly and then left wiping her tears.

As soon as he left, Chen Siyuan called Hongyu over and asked, "Is Madam Wu from the Xue family?"

Hongyu stammered for a moment and whispered, "It's Miss Bao's wet nurse." After a pause, she continued, "Although there were gambling gatherings in this mansion before, it was just for fun, and the maximum amount of winnings and losses was a few dozen coins. The winners bought wine and food, and everyone ate and drank and had a great time. Who knows, they might even lose money.

But ever since Nanny Wu came, the stakes have gotten higher and higher."

Some things were hard to say directly, so Hongyu leaned in closer and lowered her voice, saying, "Last time, Qingwen's cousin Duoguan lost more than ten taels of silver, forcing him to beg Qingwen for mercy. It took quite a while for the situation to be resolved."

Chen Siyuan seemed to be thinking about something, and asked, "Besides this Madam Wu, does the Xue family have any other gambling schemes?"

Hongyu said, "Ying'er occasionally drags a few of the older maids along to play around, but nine out of ten times Ying'er loses."

Chen Siyuan understood, fearing that this secret gambling might have been orchestrated by Aunt Xue. Was she, through Aunt Wu and Ying'er, either coaxing her into a fight or bribing her, gradually controlling public opinion within the Rongguo Mansion?

If I think about it carefully, I am afraid that Mrs. Wang’s shadow is also behind this.

(End of this chapter)