The sun shines through the windows and shines in the house, forming beams of light.
There are fine dust, floating in the light.
Someone passed through the light, and the dust floated chaotically.
"Madam, the health-preserving soup is here, drink it while it's hot."
Qingmei felt sorry for Gu Jiu, so she deliberately boiled a bowl of health-preserving soup in the small kitchen over low heat.
Gu Jiu looked indifferent, and wrote like flying, silently writing the family rules of the palace.
On her left hand side is a thick stack of manuscript paper, all filled with words.
Each piece is neatly written and can be used as a template.
Qingmei complained: "The princess is really too harsh on Madam, she even asked Madam to copy the family rules a hundred times."
There are 108 rules and 3,000 words in the family rules of the Wangfu.
One hundred times is 300,000 words.
It is not an easy task to copy everything by hand.
Gu Jiu said: "There's no need to complain, I just treat it as practicing handwriting. Look, has my handwriting improved? It's more powerful than before."
Qingmei looked at it carefully, nodded and said: "It is indeed more powerful than before. It's just that Madam is working too hard. How about this servant rubbing Madam's wrist."
Gu Jiu shook her head, "Wait until I finish writing this page."
She wrote quickly, without any hesitation.
A page of paper was filled with beautiful hairpin lowercase letters in an instant.
When the ink is dry, put it on the tall stack of manuscript paper.
Qingzhu fetched hot water, applied Gu Jiu's hands, and massaged again.
Qing Mei rubbed Gu Jiu's shoulders to help her relax.
Gu Jiu let out a sigh comfortably, this day is really comfortable.
Drinking health-preserving soup and being served by maids, she is indeed a person who indulges in enjoyment and cannot eat bitterly.
What she is most worried about now is that Liu Zhao will be defeated in the future, and she will have to suffer with Liu Zhao for decades.
Thinking about such a hard life is really chilling.
None of the emperors of the Great Zhou Dynasty was merciful.
Dealing with royal clansmen and brothers fighting for the throne is even more cruel than dealing with enemies from outside the domain.
Once Prince Ning's Mansion and Liu Zhao are defeated, what awaits them is definitely not a simple confinement. All kinds of research, only unexpected, there is no one in the court who can't do it.
Gu Jiu bit her lip, she had to get through the relationship in the south and send people to sea as soon as possible.
She had to leave an escape route for herself, Liu Zhao, and future children.
It's just that Liu Zhao is still imprisoned in Zongzheng Temple, without Liu Zhao as her backer, she really has a lot of constraints in the mansion.
Gu Jiu drank the health-preserving soup and asked, "Is the master here?"
Qingmei nodded, "Returning to Madam, the master brought the officials of the yamen to the palace early in the morning. According to Deng's servant, the prince prepared a total of 45,000 taels of silver."
Gu Jiu hummed. Forty-five thousand taels is not much, not enough for a fraction. Fortunately, I finally paid back some money, expressing the respect of the palace to the emperor with money.
The emperor asked to clear up the debts, even if the palace is selling iron, it still has to take out the money.
This is the attitude of the palace.
It doesn't matter if you have more money or less money, what's important is that the Wangfu actively repays the money and doesn't let the household department worry about it.
Compared with other palaces, it is better in attitude alone.
At this moment, in the Bixi Pavilion, Master Gu is restless.
The servants of the palace came in carrying several boxes.
Inside the box was filled with white silver, a total of 45,000 taels.
King Ning looked tired and lazy, "Lord Gu, please accept it. The total is 45,000 taels. This is what this king collected from the royal family. If you still think it's too little..."
Clap!
King Ning slapped his hands, and soon, another servant came in carrying several boxes.
The box was opened, and there were jewels and utensils inside, including various ritual utensils, as well as gold, silver, lacquer, and ceramics.
Pointing to these objects, King Ning said to Lord Gu: "This king collected 45,000 taels of silver. If the household department thinks it is not enough, then Lord Gu will remove all these things. This king is a loyal minister and filial son. I will give the order to clear up the outstanding debts, and I will fully cooperate."
Looking at the box full of jewelry utensils, Mr. Gu broke out in a cold sweat.
No wonder he felt that the hall was a little weird when he came in. It turned out that the museum shelf was empty, and there was not even a single ornament.
Prince Ganqing packed all the decorations in the hall into boxes.
Maybe if you were the Minister of the Household Department, you would really order people to carry these jewelry and utensils away.
But Master Gu didn't dare.
He worried that once these jewels were taken away, there would be rumors that he led someone to copy Prince Ning's Mansion in a blink of an eye.
He can't bear such a big blame.
And King Ning's attitude is also very strange.
For the sake of caution, Mr. Gu did not act rashly.
He smiled, and said in a cautious tone: "My lord is really good at joking. With this 45,000 taels of silver, no matter whether it is in the court or in the palace, everyone knows that the lord has done his best. After all, no one will keep it in the mansion. Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver."
King Ning laughed, "Lord Gu is right, of course it is impossible for me to hide hundreds of thousands of taels of gold and silver in the mansion without incident.
There are nearly a thousand people in the mansion, and they can't make ends meet every month. After repaying the 45,000 taels, the palace will drink the northwest wind.
Hey, this king is also in trouble. This king also doesn't want to go to the Ministry of Households to fight the autumn wind, but the family has a big business and the money is not enough to spend. There is no choice but to ask the Ministry of Households to turn around.
Unexpectedly, after a few years, I owe the Ministry of Households hundreds of thousands of taels. With so much money owed, I am beyond my power, and I am unable to repay it in full for the time being. I would like to ask Mr. Gu to explain one or two things for me. If the Ministry of Households refuses to accept it, Mr. Gu should move all these belongings away. Convert it to see how much you can owe. "
Mr. Gu shook his head again and again, "My lord is too worried. These items should be left here to complement each other."
King Ning smiled, "Master Gu really doesn't want these belongings?"
"How can I take away the items of the palace at will. Absolutely no, no."
King Ning laughed loudly, "My in-laws are honest people."
It was the first time in such a long time that King Ning called Mr. Gu his in-laws, which made Mr. Gu very excited.
"The little girl marries into the palace, if she does something inappropriate, the prince will punish her."
King Ning smiled and said, "My in-laws are worrying too much. Dalang's daughter-in-law is very good, virtuous and virtuous, how could this king punish her?"
Master Gu breathed a sigh of relief immediately, and he also relaxed, not as stiff as before.
King Ning pulled Mr. Gu and chatted for half an hour.
Mr. Gu still didn't want to finish, seeing that it was getting late, he offered to leave. He called the master, carried several boxes of silver out of the palace, and went to the household department to pay a job.
The Minister of the Household Department learned that Mr. Gu had received 45,000 taels from Prince Ning's Mansion. Although it was still too small compared to the amount owed, at least it had opened a hole.
He thought that he must encourage Mr. Gu to make persistent efforts and continue to pay the arrears.
Just as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Hu Cao came to report, "My lord, the amount of money is wrong."
Mr. Gu was furious, "How could it be wrong? I saw forty-five thousand taels of silver with my own eyes, so don't you bully me."
Hu Cao said neither humble nor overbearing: "Master Gu, if you don't believe it, you can go to check it yourself. You are all from the Yin Yamen of the capital city, and you can testify for the lower officials. The lower officials have not touched the money."
Master Gu rushed to the warehouse of the household department angrily.
The 45,000 taels of silver were about to be put into the warehouse, but Hu Cao said that the silver they brought back was wrong and would not be put into the warehouse. This is troublesome.
When the yamen servants saw Mr. Gu, they rushed over one after another.
"My lord, the money was indeed brought back from the palace, so there is no problem. It is clearly the people from the household department who made things difficult for us."
"Yes, it's clearly making things difficult."
"My lord is here, let's all give way."
Hubu Shangshu stepped forward, picked up one ingot of five taels of silver, and weighed it in his hand.
Then he asked Mr. Gu: "Do you know what kind of silver this is?"
Master Gu was a little confused, and finally realized the crux of the problem.
He quickly picked up an ingot of silver, put it near his mouth and bit it, "This is Southwest silver."
"Exactly!"
There are many silver mines in the southwest. After the silver is mined, the supervisor of the silver mine will order people to make the silver into five taels of ingots according to the mold and transport them to the capital.
But because there are many impurities in Southwest silver, it is said to be five taels, but it is actually less than five taels.
After the silver is transported to the capital, it is usually returned to the furnace for recasting. Five taels of Southwest silver can get about four taels of Guanping silver.
The household department accepts silver, and only accepts full-weight official flat silver.
Master Gu's face turned pale.
Five taels of silver became four taels of silver, and forty-five thousand taels suddenly decreased by nine thousand taels to thirty-six thousand taels.
A total of nine thousand taels.
Mr. Gu asked anxiously: "What about signing the bill? Hurry up and hand over the signing bill to the official for review?"
On the signing form, it only said 45,000 taels of silver.
Master Gu's heart sank.
He suddenly turned his head and looked at Mr. Ma, "I remember that when I checked and accepted the silver, I saw it was Guan Pingyin, right?"
Master Ma nodded again and again, "The little official confirmed that it is Guanping silver, and inspected every box."
All Guanping silver will have the year and stove number on the bottom.
These southwestern silver, just a piece of silver, nothing at the bottom.
At this time, Gu Yu stood up, "My lord, I can also confirm that the box was indeed filled with Guanping silver at the beginning."
Mr. Gu was anxious, so he rushed to the Ministry of Household Affairs and said: "My lord, you heard it too. At the beginning, the silver was indeed five taels and one ingot of official flat silver. This official has absolutely no guts to cheat."
Hubu Shangshu pondered for a moment, and asked, "Did you come back with the box immediately after inspecting the money in the palace?"
Mr. Gu shook his head, "I didn't come back immediately. The lord dragged the officials and chatted for half an hour."
Gu Yu frowned, "The money was obviously stolen when he was in the palace."
Master Ma nodded again and again, "During the period, the lower official's abdomen was unwell, and he left for a while. It was probably at that time that he was dropped by the people of the palace."
Lord Gu patted himself on the head suddenly, "King Ning harmed me!"
He really thought that King Ning was sincerely dating him, so he chatted with him for half an hour.
At the time, he still felt unfulfilled.
But I didn't expect that it was all a routine.
King Ning was so treacherous that he exchanged Southwest Silver for Guanping Silver.
"No, I have to go to King Ning for an explanation. Why did he want to kill me?"
Gu Yu was worried, "The prince will not admit it."
Master Ma was also worried, "My lord deliberately plotted against my lord, and I'm obviously ready to deal with my lord's door-to-door questioning. Maybe I'll beat you back and accuse you of enriching my own pocket and secretly exchanging money."
"He dares!"
"He really dared to do this." The Minister of the Household Department sighed, "Master Gu, you are too careless in doing things. It is about the amount of money, how can you not pay attention."
Mr. Gu was too remorseful, his heart was full of resentment
"Please help me, my lord." After speaking, he bowed deeply.
The Minister of the Household Department shook his head, "On the receipt, it clearly stated 45,000 taels. Now you say that King Ning only gave 36,000 taels, how would he admit it? If one is not careful, this lawsuit will be brought to His Majesty Come forward. Master Gu, you are sure you have a chance of winning."
"How about that?"
"You can only make up for the nine thousand taels out of your own pocket."
boom!
Master Gu hit the wall with his fist.
"I can't swallow this breath."
The Minister of the Household Department persuaded: "Nine thousand taels can be used to learn a lesson, and you will not lose money."
Nine thousand taels is not much, Lord Gu can afford it.
But he was not willing to suffer this injustice.
He really didn't expect that the two families were in-laws after all, and King Ning was also very generous and took the initiative to pay back the money. In the end, King Ning actually tricked him for a total of 9,000 taels.
When the news got out, he really became the laughing stock of the capital.
Mr. Gu said to the Minister of the Household Department: "I will deal with this matter later. Everyone, follow me to the palace to collect debts."
This time, if he didn't strip Ning Wang off, his surname would not be Gu.
The Minister of the Household Department persuaded: "Master Gu, be careful and don't fight."
Mr. Gu said: "Even if the lawsuit is brought to the imperial court, the lower officials will still have the right to do so. The lower officials will send an order to clear up the debts. If anyone dares to refuse, the Jinwu Guard will serve you."
The Minister of the Household Department frowned, "King Ning's move really makes people angry. Okay, I support you. If King Ning refuses to take out the money, I will report the truth to His Majesty, and then there will be Jin Wuwei to entertain King Ning. "
Civil officials have always been displeased with these royal family members, thinking that they are a bunch of moths.
Since Mr. Gu has the guts to confront King Ning, there is no reason for the Minister of the Household Department to stop him.
He figured it out, taking advantage of this incident, to write a good article, so that these royal family members can't afford to go around.
With King Ning's lessons learned from the past, it will be much easier to clear up the debts in the future.
Worried that Mr. Gu could not handle things well, the Minister of the Household Department also assigned Hu Cao to him, and asked Hu Cao to assist Mr. Gu in clearing up the outstanding debts.
Master Gu was full of anger, led the servants, and rushed towards Prince Ning's mansion aggressively.
"My lord, it's not good. Mr. Gu has brought someone to ask for debts again." The steward reported in a panic.
Ning Wang was careless, "Tell him, there is no money."
"Master Gu also said that if he doesn't give money, he will bring the lawsuit to the imperial court."
"He dares!"
King Ning snorted, Gu Zhili was so courageous that he dared to shout in front of the palace.
"Go, take a few guards and drive them all away."
The servant Chang En advised: "Your Highness, shouldn't you be gentler?"
King Ning smiled contemptuously, "This king just has no money, what will he do? Even if the lawsuit is brought to the imperial court, this king will still say the same thing, no money. If it is not possible, this king will become a seller on the street to pay off the debt."
This…
Chang En knew that King Ning was in a fit of anger, so he couldn't persuade him anymore.
He waved to the steward, "Follow the order of the prince."
The steward took the order and left.
However, King Ning still underestimated Lord Gu.
The guards of the palace had a fight in the street with the servants of Yin Yamen in the capital city. The matter spread quickly throughout the capital city and into the inner houses of the palace as if they had grown wings.
Song Zheng, who is now a guard of the palace, hurried to the east courtyard, "Madam, it's not good. Master Gu led the servants to fight with the guards of the palace."
"what happened?"
Gu Jiu was stunned.
Things were changing so quickly that she couldn't keep up.
Song Zheng took a few breaths and said, "I heard from the yamen servants that the prince exchanged the Guanping silver for the Southwest silver, and Mr. Gu has to bear the loss of 9,000 taels for no reason."
Gu Jiu's expression turned ugly, "Didn't anyone find out that the money was exchanged?"
Song Zheng said: "My lord has been pulling Mr. Gu to talk, and the conversation was very pleasant. During the period, Mr. Ma and his stomach felt uncomfortable, and they went to the toilet one after another. It is estimated that the money was changed at that time. Later, the yamen servants did not check the cage again, and directly carried it. He took the box and left the palace. Who would have thought that the prince would order someone to exchange all the silver in the box for Southwest silver."
Snapped!
The inkstone was swept to the ground by Gu Jiu, and the ink splashed all over the floor.
Gu Jiu's face turned livid, "Your majesty, play tricks. Do you really think everyone is a fool and will swallow it?"
At this moment, Gu Jiu really hated King Ning to death.
The palace does not lack the nine thousand taels.
King Ning just played tricks and asked people to drop the money in the box. I really don't know what he was thinking.
Was it aimed at her
Or are you heading towards Mr. Gu
Or molesting the household department
While taking the initiative to repay the debt, he played tricks at the same time. All the goodwill accumulated before was wiped out.
Are you really not afraid of His Majesty's questioning
King Ning is by no means a person who wants money and life, and the palace is not so poor that it can't even spend nine thousand taels. King Ning didn't want to ruin his reputation just for the sake of nine thousand taels.
Did he do this just to disgust people
Gu Jiu said sharply: "Follow me to see the prince."