"Since you know it's a rumor, why panic!" The old lady Ming screamed angrily. The old woman's voice became sharp because of some wonderful sense of humiliation, like the tip of a knife on a piece of porcelain. Swiping is generally terrible.
The aunt sitting next to her was so frightened that she quickly sat back on the chair obediently, not daring to say another word.
The old lady of the Ming family was jealous and ruthless, so the old man of the Ming family only married three concubines in total, and now there are only two wives left in that generation. Fortunately, the men of the Ming family are thriving. Xia Qifei, who is currently living in the south of the Yangtze River, is not counted. There are six men in the two families with children. , were all born by this aunt. Seeing their biological mother being yelled at by the old lady like this, the two of them naturally felt uncomfortable, but the old lady has accumulated power for a long time, and no one dared to distinguish anything.
As the eldest son, Ming Qingda naturally wanted to come forward to explain this situation, but unexpectedly, the old lady Ming didn't even pay much attention to the nominal master of the Ming family, and said with a cold face, "Give me everything." I remember! The old seventh of the Ming family has been dead for more than ten years, as for the head of the Xia family in Suzhou now... If he wants to use rumors from more than ten years ago to make trouble, my Ming family will not tolerate him."
Ming Qingda was refuted, but still had a smile on his face, and said gently: "Mother, no one would believe such absurd rumors. It's just... what if the court wants to believe it?"
This sentence is very straightforward. Xia Qifei is Fan Xian's pawn. If the imperial power represented by Fan Xian wants to take this opportunity to incorporate the huge family property and strength of the Ming family without bloodshed, this situation is the most dangerous.
The old matriarch blinked her cloudy eyes, and said in disgust: "That official named Fan said yes? Could it be that the court is being unreasonable?"
Ming Qingda thought to himself, when did the court make sense? It's just that the imperial court was on the side of my family in the past, so the most powerful and powerful fists in the world were all from my Ming family. If there was a disagreement within the imperial court, my own family's fists would be cut off with pain. can not say it clearly.
He smiled wryly and said, "Master, please show me."
Xia Qifei came with a ferocious force, judging from the appearance of the bidding today, the money he brought was very rich, and he had the support of the imperial envoy, how the Ming family should deal with it would always require the old matriarch Ming to draw up a charter.
In fact, the old lady Ming is not as righteous and domineering as she appears on the surface. She did not answer Ming Qingda's question directly, but just stared at the Ming family children in the yard, and said in a cold voice: "The current situation is different from previous years. It’s different, a few days ago I asked Lan Shi to go to each house to meet you uncles, so I told you to be more honest... I will repeat it again today, at this time, you don’t want to bring any trouble to the Ming family. Take a walk at home, and drive those Lu men who can only wrestle out of the garden!"
"And this matter, no one is allowed to spread it! If I hear anyone still talking behind their backs, be careful that I will pull out your tongue!"
The old matriarch Ming spoke anxiously and angrily, and actually coughed. The big maid behind her hurriedly beat her on the back lightly, and the eldest grandson Ming Lanshi beside her hurriedly handed over a bowl of tea respectfully.
The disciples of the Ming family in the court all bent down, not daring to disobey the order of the old matriarch.
Ming Qingda glanced at his mother, hesitated to speak.
The old matriarch Ming sneered in her heart. Her son lacks the power of decision when doing things. This villain always has to do it by himself. She took a sip of tea and said indifferently: "Tomorrow is the second day of bid opening." My God, you also know that the imperial envoy is here for our family, and the eight bids behind will be bundled in two batches. It looks like the price will be much higher than in previous years. There is only one night, and then I will go to the bank to issue the ticket. I'm afraid it's too late, so you guys go back at this time, gather up the private money in your own room, and hand it over to the accountant later."
As soon as this sentence came out, the men of the Ming family in the court were dumbfounded and refused to let themselves walk and wrestle. Silver to and from kilometers to fill? Every year when the internal treasury opens bids, the family will prepare enough silver taels. If the price of the eight bids is ridiculously high, just don't grab it. How can there be such a desperate effort? The imperial court will not set an upper limit, who will know how much money to put in
These men were born with gold spoons in their mouths, but they have no right of inheritance. They only know how to enjoy life. How can they know the real significance of the inner treasury bidding to the Ming family? Behind this is the power struggle in the court. Listening to the old lady's words Then, subconsciously, he didn't want to respond.
The sixth master of the Ming family was younger, liked wrestling on weekdays, and was more courageous, so he mustered up his courage and said: "Mother, we brothers have never been able to participate in the business of the clan, and we live on a monthly basis. There is also a big family to support, even if I have saved some private money... but I am afraid that if I put the poor money in it, it will be useless, it is better to..."
Before he finished speaking, a teacup was smashed in front of him with a crisp sound!
Sixth Master Ming jumped and shook his body. Looking at the old matriarch's expression above, he was so frightened that his legs softened and he knelt down.
The old lady looked at him coldly, and said, "Poor money? You think I don't know, how much profit have you made from the public these years? Your wives and uncles are all well-known rich men in Suzhou City... I didn't see it before, because you are all the flesh and blood of the Ming family after all, and you are not allowed to take over the business of the family according to the ancestral rules. Look at you, you are pitiful, if you get some money, you can get some money... But, what is the situation now? Kneel down and obey me!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone including Ming Qingda knelt down in front of the two grand master chairs.
The voice of the old matriarch is as chilling as the letter of a poisonous snake: "The big tree is down, are you monkeys doing well? I'll make it clear, if tomorrow's bid cannot be marked, our Ming family can survive for a few more years." , but in the end there is only failure and ashes, at this time, we cannot be allowed to retreat, we can only enter... At this juncture, don't you want to hide it!"
The aunt looked at the son in the courtyard distressedly, and turned to comfort her: "Sister, don't be angry, they know how to do it."
The men of the Ming family in the courtroom were terrified, and they confessed their mistakes repeatedly.
"It's good to know your mistakes." The old lady Ming slowly leaned back on the back of the chair, her eyes seemed to be slightly closed, and said: "You go back later, no matter what method you use, hand over the money to the bank before tomorrow morning." In the account room, each room is 200,000 taels, and the old one is 650,000 taels."
As soon as the words came out, the second, fourth, and fifth didn't have any objections. Although they were still very distressed, the third quit and straightened his neck and said, "Mother, why does the sixth only pay 150,000 taels?"
The old matriarch glared at him, and said: "Lao Liu is the youngest. He has been with the guard for the past two years, likes to wrestle, and spends more money. You are an older brother, what do you care about with him?"
The third child snorted heavily, and said in disapproval, "Don't I spend money on weekdays?"
In fact, everyone knows that this is the old lady who loves her own youngest son, but anyone can say this, except the third child, because the third child is the biological son of his aunt. The aunt and grandma saw that the situation was not good, and she gave the third child winks again and again, but the third child's recent money was really out of hand, so she refused to bow her head.
The old matriarch angrily cursed: "You know how to spend money in brothels and buy those whores back home. Is it reasonable to spend money?"
From the tragic experience of Xia Qifei's mother and son, it can be seen that the old matriarch has a persistent disgust for a certain hobby of men.
"What about big brother?"
"I'm the eldest." Ming Qingda knelt on the ground, looked at his brothers with a smile, and said, "Naturally, I have to put in more effort. I'll give you five hundred thousand taels."
Hearing what the big brother said, the brothers couldn't say anything more. The Mingyuan family gathering was over immediately, and the brothers hurried out of the garden to raise money. Although they did hide a lot of private houses, it was indeed a bit difficult to raise the amount overnight.
The third son of the Ming family walked outside with his brothers, crying for poverty, and counting on his brothers to help, but at this time everyone was too busy to take care of themselves, and in front of the strict orders of the old lady Ming, no one dared to be sloppy. Still take care of him!
…
…
"Time is too tight."
My aunt also returned to her own yard at this time, and there was only one long room left in the old lady's yard, Ming Qingda frowned slightly and said: "The imperial envoy came so suddenly, he didn't give us too much Reaction time."
The old matriarch Ming glanced at his son, sighed and said, "Today in the Neiku mansion, your reaction was good, at least you bought an extra night."
Ming Qingda smiled wryly and shook his head, "One night is too short, and judging by today's Xia... Xi Fei's attack, I'm afraid there is still a lot of energy left, and the battle tomorrow will be extremely dangerous, even if the brothers can make up enough money." , it’s only more than one million taels, maybe it’s still not enough.”
Ming Lanshi listened dumbfounded, and said suspiciously: "Father, in previous years, 40% of the fixed silver is 5 million taels in the eight bids. This year, we have already prepared 20% more. The one million taels we raised, isn't it enough?"
Ming Qingda smiled wryly and said: "The biggest problem is that the imperial envoy knows that we must win the eight bids, so Xia Qifei can call the price indiscriminately, and the production and sales are all their internal affairs, so they can do it at a loss. of."
Ming Lanshi sighed, he is a smart person, he would not ask why the Ming family must compete for these few bids, and regardless of the so-called power issue, in terms of Dongyi City, he must also ask himself to win the eight bids. If it is won, otherwise the price Dongyi City pays for the production of the inner treasury in a year will probably far exceed several million taels.
"Is there any news from Taiping Bank?" The old matriarch Ming who had been silent for a while suddenly spoke.
Ming Qingda replied calmly: "They didn't expect this situation, and they were not well prepared. All of Xia Qifei's money was transferred from the Taiping Bank. Now they can only issue promissory notes to us, but they are no longer available. And Tomorrow we have to cash the ticket... You know, they are also afraid. The shopkeeper has talked back and forth before, and at most they can give me another 300,000 taels."
The old matriarch Ming understands why, when the bank notes are issued, they always need to be honored. Xia Qifei has already issued a huge amount of bank notes. The bank must ensure that there is cash available for payment, which is related to the bank's most critical credibility issue.
Of course, with regard to the relationship between Dongyi City and the Ming family, if it weren't for such a tense situation, the Taiping Bank could have falsely issued bank notes, but the risk was too great, and this method was too crude. Once Fan Xian was offended Seriously, the Neiku Transshipment Department can use the Xia family's bank notes after the bid opening and the Ming family's bank notes to play the most shameless run.
So much money... Even if the Taiping Bank is a god, it is impossible to transfer it to Suzhou in a short time.
If it comes, the Taiping Bank will be destroyed.
Although the Taiping Bank has very close economic ties with other countries, generally speaking, no country's inner palace would do such a cruel thing, but this time the one who presided over the opening of the inner treasury was Fan Xian, who was the one who couldn't figure out the context. Moreover, Fan Xian, who was the most ruthless and domineering, would not dare to take such a risk in Taiping Bank.
The courtyard suddenly fell into a deadly silence, and the three generations of the Ming family began to feel a little nervous at this moment. Could it be that tomorrow... is he really going to watch that old seventh Ming take away the Ming family's business? Without the marketing rights of Neiku, the Ming family is nothing more than a local rich man with the most land, who may be slaughtered at any time.
This terrible fact made Old Madam Ming's brows furrow deeper, she suddenly thought of a name, and said coldly: "In the past few days, has anyone come to that China Merchants Bank?"
Ming Lanshi shook his head: "They knew that we were a big family in Taiping Bank. They tried a few times, and they probably knew that they couldn't pull us, so they retreated."
The old lady Ming nodded subconsciously, and said, "It seems...it's not what I imagined."
Because the accountant of the Taiping Bank has always been in the hands of the Old Madam Ming, Ming Qingda has always been a person who strongly advocates having a relationship with the China Merchants Bank. Hearing his mother's words, he felt a little relieved, and he was overjoyed, but said quietly: " It should be trustworthy. If there is a problem, it should not be done this way."
The old matriarch Ming frowned, as if he was thinking about a very difficult problem, and after a long time, he said: "Send someone to the China Merchants Bank, no, don't send someone, Lan Shi, you go in person and see if they can transfer money tonight. How many cash tickets come out."
"Yes, mother." Ming Qingda smiled slightly, and then asked hesitantly, "How should Xia Qifei deal with it?"
The old matriarch Ming's face turned cold, and he said: "I don't know that person, you don't know him, neither do our Ming family, so what should we do? Don't meddle in this matter, and don't be judged by the imperial envoy." Making use of the topic... Now that the imperial envoy wants our Ming family to react violently, we should be more calm."
Ming Qingda bowed to the ground and praised: "Mother is wise."
Ming Qingda was going to deal with the opening of the bid tomorrow, and he was going to the account room to keep an eye on the brothers. Ming Lanshi was going to the city to find the China Merchants Bank, which had always been mysterious and rumored to have Dongyi background, so he didn't add more money to the courtyard. Stayed, saluted and then retreated.
The old matriarch Ming watched her son and grandson walk out of the small courtyard, her eyes suddenly changed from the previous sternness to the current tiredness, she raised her little finger weakly, and knocked on the armrest of the chair.
The big maid who was close to her body moved to the old woman's lips.
The old woman closed her eyes and kept her little finger up. She didn't put it down for a long time, and she didn't speak, as if she was weighing something important.
Xiao Qi
At this time, a dark picture seemed to emerge from the closed eyes of the old woman. In the picture, a seductive woman was rolling under the body of a familiar man, and she was smiling proudly in front of her. , the picture changed, the woman gave birth to a child, she was holding the young baby and swaggering around in the Ming Garden, her laughter was like a silver bell... Floating and floating, until it floated to the sky.
The old woman suddenly opened her eyes, her eyes were full of coldness, her little finger trembled excitedly, and slightly bent.
At this moment, she thought of many things from that year, such as the beautiful scene of blood flying when the heavy staff fell on the woman, the woman was sunk to the bottom of the well by her own life, and the snowflakes were also fluttering that day , Floating all the way to the sky, the woman's body must have already become a dry bone - the mouse will only make an ugly sound if it crawls on it, but it will never be possible to make a silver bell-like laugh, right
After that old man died, the family had the final say. When the woman died, the child born to that woman was not easy to kill. After all, it was the flesh and blood of the Ming family in name. Fortunately, Qingda was cruel and used a whip every day. After beating, the child who was finally beaten couldn't stand the humiliation and pain, and ran out of Mingyuan one morning.
Maybe that child will never know, at that time I was looking at him indifferently behind the door.
Perhaps that child will never know that he has already prepared a killer, waiting outside Mingyuan to send him down the dry well and reunite with his mother.
But... why didn't that child die
Why didn't he die!
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…
A trace of anger flashed in the indifferent eyes of the old matriarch Ming, and finally the fingers that had been upturned and slightly bent were gently placed on the back of the chair. The maid said softly, "Mr. Zhou please."
※※※
When the old lady Ming finally made up her mind, her son and grandson were walking side by side.
Ming Lanshi looked at his father with admiration, and said, "You mean, grandma will definitely attack that bastard?"
"What bastard?" Ming Qingda smiled kindly, "That's your seventh uncle. Although he is our enemy now, he is always your dear seventh uncle."
Ming Lanshi laughed at himself, and suddenly frowned and asked: "Killing Uncle Seven, of course, this matter can be completely settled... But, how will the imperial envoy react? No matter how powerful the Junshan Society is, they can't rebel."
"Your grandma is getting old." Ming Qingda sighed, "From the beginning of this matter, she used the wrong method."
Ming Lanshi shook his head.
Ming Qingda suddenly smiled and said: "However, her mistake does not mean the Ming family's mistake... If your seventh uncle is no longer so lucky this time, it may not be all bad things. Don't worry too much, I have a sense of proportion." .”
The ostensible master of the Ming family sneered in his heart, let Jun Shanhui, who he could never control, confront the Overwatch Council. As scheming as he is, he naturally has a way to clean up this mess, but he doesn't know what method he will use.
"Sixth Uncle is begging for favors again this time." Ming Lanshi suddenly said with a laugh.
Ming Qingda patted his son's shoulder affectionately, and explained: "The old man always likes the youngest son the most...Of course, it must be her own."
…
…
When the Ming family was in chaos, and at the same time, there were many rats in the pot of warm porridge, and they wanted to trample each other to death, Ming Qingcheng, the youngest son of the Ming family, Xia Qifei, the current leader of the Jiangnan water village, secretly monitored The director of the inspection department stationed in the south of the Yangtze River is standing on the highest floor of the Jiangnan residence in Suzhou City.
He stood by the side of the building, stroking the wooden fence, and looking thoughtfully at a place outside the city. It used to be his home, and he hadn't been back for many years—Mingyuan.
The gathering of Jiangnan merchants is over. Although everyone has not set any specific regulations, but looking at the greedy eyes of the Xiong family in Lingnan and the Sun family in Quanzhou, Xia Qifei knows that Master Tisi's plan has worked. In the face of your own attack, you also have to face the attack similar to the joint attack of the Xiongsun family. The merchants always want to eat meat. If you are too hungry, who cares about your meat
Xia Qifei narrowed his eyes slightly, Mingyuan was too far away, standing on the top of the tall Jiangnan Residence, he couldn't see the lights clearly.
Today was the most presumptuous day he had lived since he was lucky enough to survive in this world. He finally proudly said his name, Ming Qingcheng, in front of everyone.
Compared with this, the pleasure of throwing money at people, breaking away from the identity of the Jianghu people, and standing on the stage of the Qing Kingdom, these things are nothing.
As long as he can say his real name, it is equivalent to slapping that vicious old lady of the Ming family. This kind of pleasure of revenge covers everything, and Xia Qifei is extremely grateful to Fan Xian. Even Fan Xian sent seven swordsmen tonight. Hands down, he didn't feel any unpleasant feeling.
He was intoxicated and saddened by everything that happened today, so much so that this hero in the rivers and lakes did not notice that a few strange people appeared on the opposite street.