Zhou Shuren thought to himself that during the war, the maternal families of the princes made a lot of money. Even though they had spent a lot over the years, they still had some income. It was not good to have too much money, as money could be used to cause trouble. The emperor was thinking about this!
In the palace, the emperor looked at the memorial submitted by Xiao Qing. Over the years, his second sons had needed money to bribe people. They had spent a lot of money over the years, and he could still take out 200,000 taels at once. His sons were all smart, and they didn't dare to take too much. The money they had was just the money from the sea merchants.
Therefore, the sons still had a lot of money in their hands. This time they took the opportunity to test it out, and they were really surprised.
The emperor's mind shifted from his second son's maternal family, the Chen family, his third son's maternal family, the Qi family, and his fourth son's maternal family, the Feng family. The Ning family has always kept a low profile since the establishment of the dynasty, and these three families have never known what restraint is for so many years.
Two days passed in a blink of an eye, and Zhou Shuren attended the morning court again. He and Qiu Yan took turns attending the court, he this month and Qiu Yan next month.
There were much fewer officials in the court this time. Those in the front row were all officials who regularly attended court, such as the six ministers!
Zhou Shuren felt a little sleepy as he had gotten up a little early. Actually, he had nothing to do in the court. If he asked about money, the Minister of Revenue was there, so he was just there to make sure.
The only big news in the court today is that the army will return to the court in three days. This is not really news to the Ministry of Revenue, as they have already known the specific time of their return. Who asked the Ministry of Revenue to prepare the silver
After the court session, Zhou Shuren followed the minister. Lord Li quickly came over and asked, "Lord Xiao, is the money ready?"
Xiao Qing didn't even raise his eyelids and continued walking forward.
Li Zhao saw that Xiao Qing did not hide from him. He had prepared the compensation money. He had dealt with Xiao Qing for so many years, and Xiao Qing was still very reliable in major matters. However, "Brother, you have to prepare more money."
Xiao Qing pretended not to hear it. No matter how much money he gave to those who asked for it, it was not enough!
Zhou Shuren had already started chatting with the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, who smiled innocently, "I've heard about you for a long time. Lord Li mentioned you to us a lot, saying that we are stupid and asked us to learn more from you when we have time."
Zhou Shuren, “… .”
How should he respond to this
Li Zhao's face darkened when he heard the loud voice. This simple man smiled and turned back and said, "The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War are brothers and family. We should learn from each other and do better for the court."
Zhou Shuren twirled his beard. He actually wanted to laugh. Maybe the Ministry of War had their eyes on Lord Li. "What the Lord said is that we should learn from each other and make progress together."
There was regret in Li Zhao's eyes. Why wasn't Zhou Shuren a military general
At Zhou's house, Xu Zhaoshi arrived. Zhulan smiled and welcomed Xu Zhaoshi in. "I just got two new paintings, so I asked you to take a look. Please help me keep an eye out."
Xu Zhao was very confident in calligraphy and painting. Although she was the daughter of a merchant, she had learned everything she needed to learn. Later, when she got married, she still continued to pursue her interests.
Zhulan only used the paintings as an excuse to invite people over, but now that she had said it, it naturally had to be more sincere, so she brought the paintings over. She got these two paintings from the third room, as she had no money to buy paintings now.
Zhulan motioned the maid to open the painting, stood up and walked to the front of the painting. Both paintings were of mountains and ridges. Zhulan sighed, "This picture of mountains and rivers can only have many peaceful years."
Xu Zhaoshi didn't want to recall the war. When the war broke out, many people in the Xu family died. "Yes."
Zhu Lan changed the subject and said, "The army is going back to the court. The soldiers have repelled the enemy and protected the mountains and rivers from being trampled by foreign tribes. They are all good men."
After a pause, he said with some sadness, "There are casualties in war. Soldiers use their blood to protect the mountains and rivers and to protect the people to live and work in peace and contentment."
Xu Zhaoshi didn't think much about it and just responded. She just sighed in her heart and then it passed.
Zhulan didn't say anything else and continued to look at the paintings with a smile.
After sending Xu Zhao away, Zhulan thought that she had given all the reminders she could. Whether Mr. Xu could think of it or not depended on himself. Zhou Shuren came back to live yesterday. After much thought, Zhou Shuren decided that he should be more cautious towards the Xu family, because the Xu family was the prince's people.
Today I gave you a subtle reminder, and the Xu family understood it, so they naturally knew what to do next. If they didn’t understand it, they would have missed a great opportunity, and the Ministry of Revenue would have received less money.
At the Xu family, every time his wife went to the Zhou family, Mr. Xu would ask about her when she came back. After hearing what his wife said, Mr. Xu stood up and had the same normal conversation as before, but he stopped when he reached the door.
Mr. Xu pondered Shuren's words again and clenched his fists. How could he not have thought of this? He walked out quickly, thinking to himself that the Zhou family was really the benefactor of the Xu family. If Yang Shuren had not invited his wife to appreciate the paintings today, he would not have been inspired.
In the afternoon, at the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren was checking the account books that had been sent to him, and Qiu Yan came back.
Qiu Yan lowered his voice and said, "I'm going to deliver the account book. I don't know why the master is so happy."
Zhou Shuren raised his head and said, "It should be something happy!"
Qiu Yan was puzzled. "How can this be a happy thing? Seeing the army returning to the capital, and the money running out again, how can this be a happy event, and Lord Xiao can still smile?"
Zhou Shuren knew clearly that it must be the Xu family who came to deliver the silver. "I'm busy now. I'll give it to the Shangshu Lord in the evening."
"Ah good."
The next day, Zhou Shuren and Lord Xiao went to court together. When they arrived at the palace gate, Zhou Shuren glanced at Lord Xiao's memorial, which Lord Xiao had written last night.
In the court, Lord Xiao said, "I have something to report."
The emperor looked at the memorial and said, "Present it."
Xiao Qing handed the memorial to Eunuch Liu, and then felt the gazes of his colleagues. Well, very steady.
The emperor opened the memorial. He knew about this. The prince had already mentioned it yesterday, but he didn't mention the silver. His fingertips touched the silver on the memorial. The merchant really had silver. He spent 500,000 taels at once. "Pass it on and show it to everyone."
The officials below were all very angry. This Minister of Revenue seldom spoke on his own initiative when he went to court. Most of the time he only fought back after being criticized. However, every time Lord Xiao spoke, it was a big deal.
The memorial was circulated around, and everyone in the court was not stupid. Zhou Shuren saw some adults looking at the prince with hidden eyes.
Zhou Shuren lowered his head. Ah, this really had nothing to do with the prince. The prince just took the blame for him. However, this was also beneficial to the prince.
Lord Xiao waited until the memorial was returned to the emperor before he said, "Master Xu donated money to the court. Every word came from the heart. I feel ashamed when I hear it. Merchants can take the initiative to donate money. I am receiving a salary and have the consciousness to be outdone by merchants. I feel ashamed!"
Lord Xiao paused and continued, "Your Majesty, I think the Xu family deserves a reward for their awareness and dedication. I hope Your Majesty will understand."
Zhou Shuren lowered his head even more. He felt that he still had a lot to learn!