Cheng Jing's words made Cheng Wei couldn't help but look up at him.
Zichuan has actually been in charge of Qixingtang for a few years. When the clan was divided, he was able to take out 1.2 million taels of silver without having to touch the wives' private money and dowry. By this calculation, how much silver can he make every year... And according to what Qin Da Zongguan said, Qixingtang has made more money than when Lie Gong was here. How much silver will he make in another two years
What does brother mean by this
Does Zichuan have to fill the hole in Gongzhong first
Big brother... These words made him feel unfamiliar.
Mrs. Guo's mind was as clear as a mirror.
The eldest son wants to give Qixingtang to Shiro.
She couldn't help but sigh deeply in her heart.
Isn't he just afraid that the future leader of the Seven Stars Hall will be chosen from among his descendants
That’s fine!
Qixingtang was revived by Silang. Since they are afraid of being implicated, the future of Qixingtang will be left to Silang.
If you give it to others, they may not be able to do it!
Mrs. Guo drank her tea slowly and said, "I just want to tell you about this. Erlang may not know, but you, Dalang, should know. When I married, I only had a dowry of 500 taels of silver, plus a betrothal gift of 2,000 taels of silver from the Cheng family. Your grandparents let me bring them all with me as my dowry. The silver I have now, as well as the land and shops under my name, were all given to me by your father after the Cheng family split up. He was afraid that I would have no money in the future and would have to buy rouge and powder depending on my wife's mood. But at that time, it was only 50,000 or 60,000 taels of silver. It was only after your brother took charge of the Seven Stars Hall that we were able to make a real profit of 20,000 taels a year."
Cheng Jing and Cheng Wei both nodded repeatedly.
They had guessed it long ago.
Mrs. Guo saw this and continued, "Since you know what's going on, go and make up a story for your wives. Otherwise, everyone will be jealous of me buying this house for Silang."
Cheng Jing and Cheng Wei both blushed. The former knew why his mother said that, while the latter thought that his mother bought him a house just to prevent him from having such thoughts.
"So, this house is equivalent to being bought by Silang himself." Madam Guo pretended not to see it and said what she had said to Mrs. Qiu before, "I'll give you 50,000 taels of silver... 100,000 taels for the second house... I'll pay for Jiashan and Rang'er's wedding expenses... The sacrificial land will go to the eldest brother after I die..." Finally, she said, "As for Silang, I won't give him anything except this house, and you guys shouldn't interfere in the affairs of Qixing Hall. He can run it for as many years as he wants. In the future, you brothers should work together to expand the Cheng family and make this branch of the Cheng family in the capital prosperous."
Although Cheng Jing heard from Yuan that his mother was going to divide the family, he considered himself a scholar, so why would he ask how his mother was going to divide the family? Seeing that his mother still had so many belongings, he was quite surprised, and he also understood why Cheng Xu, the ancestor of the second house, who was considered a shrewd man, could not see through the harm of the Seven Star Hall to the Cheng family
If it were him, he would probably be reluctant to do so as well!
Cheng Jing smiled bitterly and said, "I understand what you mean, mother. There is no money in the treasury now, and you are afraid that we will have a hard time, so you want to share everything you have with us in advance, which will not only help us solve our difficulties, but also prevent us from having conflicts over money. But Silang just got married, and you gave all the money to us, which is too much for Silang. Although this house cost a lot of money, it can't be eaten or drunk, and we have to spend money every year to maintain it..."
He thought of the Seven Stars Hall.
Cheng Wei also thought of Qixing Hall.
He thought for a moment, interrupted his brother and said, "Mother, what are Silang's plans for Qixingtang? If you plan to disband it, even if you divide your money equally among the three of us, it won't last for a few years. It would be better to sell the east side of the house, or let us move in, which can save some expenses."
The houses near Chaoyang Gate have always been in high demand. The house that Qiu bought a few days ago has an excellent geographical location and is easy to sell. If they are not in a hurry to sell it, they can even make a few hundred taels of silver.
"If Shiro is still planning to hold on to Qixingtang, then there is nothing to say. Let's divide the family according to your wishes!"
As long as I have the Qixingtang in my hands, I will never worry about not having money!
"But I think it's better for the Seven Stars Hall to be disbanded! We don't need to run it for another two years, we can disband it now. A real man should behave himself in the world, and he should not be corrupted by wealth and power, nor should he be bent by force. The money of the Seven Stars Hall was not obtained legitimately, and the Cheng family has enjoyed it for so many years. Now there is a chance to cut it off, it's better to cut it off. Our Cheng family relies on poetry, books and etiquette to be passed down from generation to generation. If the Seven Stars Hall is passed down for a few more generations, I'm afraid it will become a legacy of gold and silver interests, and the Cheng family will be rotten from the root!"
Mrs. Guo couldn't help but reveal a look of relief when she heard this.
I used to think that my eldest son was smart and clever, but after so many years I discovered that my second son was a man of great determination.
This is the person who does great things.
Madam Guo said, "Silang has already decided to disband the Seven Stars Hall. The money he brought home in the past two years was all earned through honest business. He was just afraid that if the Seven Stars Hall suddenly disbanded, the people in the Seven Stars Hall would cause chaos everywhere, so he planned it slowly. First, he found reasons to remove those with bad character, and kept those with good character, and slowly assigned them to branches. In two years at most, the Seven Stars Hall will no longer exist."
Cheng Wei said happily: "That's good, that's good!"
Cheng Jing was stunned and asked, "Why don't I know?"
Madam Guo looked at him deeply and said, "Silang said that you are all officials appointed by the court, so it is better for you not to know the relationship between Qixingtang and the Cheng family. Otherwise, if something goes wrong one day, it will implicate both of you!"
Cheng Jing and Cheng Wei's faces flushed red. Cheng Jing was even more restless and said, "Mom, I, as the eldest brother, have not fulfilled my responsibilities as the eldest brother. You can punish me!"
Cheng Wei said: "Mom, if that's the case, your private money should be divided equally among the three of us brothers, and you don't have to buy me a house..."
Madam Guo shook her head, interrupted Cheng Wei and said, "So I will take the income from the sacrificial field. I will live in Chaoyangmen in the future, and I can also subsidize Silang's expenses."
"How can I do this?" Cheng Jing said in panic, "How can you not live with me? If you just want to supplement Zichuan's expenses, then give the fifty thousand taels of silver to Zichuan..."
"It's not all about money." Mrs. Guo said, "First, this place is spacious and I live comfortably. Second, Silang's wife is still young and I can't let her go. I have to help them for a few years. Besides, I'm not going to stay here forever. After the Little New Year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, I will go back to Xinglin Hutong to live for a few days. I will come again on the 15th of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival. This will save you from any embarrassment."
"Mother!" Cheng Jing wanted to persuade Madam Guo, but she waved her hand impatiently and said, "This matter is settled. If you feel sorry for Silang, just pay more attention to Silang's affairs in the future."
Cheng Jing and Cheng Wei knew their mother had made up her mind, so they didn't say anything more and just murmured "yes". The division of the family was thus settled.
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In the banquet room of Tingxiang Courtyard, Yuan, Qiu and Zhou Shaojin were just about to set the table.
Yuan seemed a little absent-minded.
She is willing to split the family.
There was no money left in the treasury. Among the three sisters-in-law, she had the largest dowry. Moreover, Cheng Jing had been an official for many years, and he had paid some tribute to his parents. In terms of family property, their eldest son's family had the most. In addition, Min was about to marry into the family, and she would be a mother-in-law, but she had a great-grandmother above her, and this great-grandmother always disliked her. How could she hold her head up in front of her daughter-in-law in the future!
It would have been better to divide the family before Min came into the family.
Qiu was very uneasy.
For the first time in their lives, the couple tricked their mother-in-law into buying her a house, and they didn't know whether the mother-in-law would scold them.
I was also afraid that my eldest sister-in-law Yuan would find out about this and think that she had schemed against me...
She quietly asked Zhou Shaojin: "Why haven't Grandma and Uncle come out yet? Nothing will happen, right?"
"That shouldn't be the case!" Zhou Shaojin looked at the quiet greenhouse and said, "If something happened, there would be some noise. Since there is no noise, it means everyone is talking peacefully..."
"That's right!" Qiu sighed and said embarrassedly, "I just like to think about things."
Zhou Shaojin gave her a kind smile.
Mrs. Qiu said, "Ah Sheng said that she gave one of the silk flowers you gave her to Ah Zheng and another to Ah Xiao, and everyone agreed. She will come over in a few days to ask you how to make silk flowers!"
When someone mentioned her daughter's name, Yuan came back to her senses and smiled, "What happened to Ah Zheng and Ah Xiao?" She looked up and saw Zhou Shaojin and Qiu standing side by side. Zhou Shaojin was wearing a brand new rose purple bodice with Hangzhou and four persimmon patterns and a bright blue fine cloth jacket. Her face was more delicate than that of a baby and more beautiful than before she got married. Thinking of her son's silence and submissiveness in front of her, she suddenly became angry. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know where to start. She wanted to pretend that nothing happened, but her chest was still aching.
While she was hesitating, a little maid ran in and said happily, "Fourth Madam, Fourth Madam, the Fourth Master sent someone from Jining Prefecture to deliver New Year's goods. He also wrote two letters, one for the old lady and one for you. The steward is unloading the things at the door and will be here soon!"
Zhou Shaojin was surprised and happy, and a smile couldn't stop flowing out of her eyes, making her face brighten up.
She smiled and said to Mrs. Qiu: "Second sister-in-law, I'm sorry to bother you here. I'll go take a look and come back soon!"
After saying this, without waiting for Mrs. Qiu to speak, she picked up her skirt and hurried out of the banquet room with the little maid.
Qiu pursed her lips and smiled.
Yuan snorted coldly and said, "How frivolous!"
Mrs. Qiu smiled and said, "Young couples, this is the first time they are apart after marriage, how can they not miss each other? It's understandable that they are happy. It's not like us old couples, who are together every day, even the gods have become mortals."
Yuan didn't take it seriously and wanted to say something, but Qiu didn't want to listen to her. She smiled and said, "I don't know what's being done in the kitchen. Our second master has caught a cold these past few days. I have to tell the kitchen if they can make him a bowl of hot and sour soup..." Then she left Yuan and left the banquet room.
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Hey guys, today's update.
Tomorrow's update will be at nine o'clock in the morning.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)