Zhulan did not plan to attend the wedding banquet at Lord Liu's house. She was of a higher generation, so the most suitable person was Li. Zhulan handed the invitation to Li and said, "Go there in three days with a gift."
It was the first time for Li to attend a wedding banquet alone. Even though the Liu family had engaged relatives, she was still a little nervous. Although the Liu family didn't have many relatives in the capital, they knew many officials, and there must be many officials' wives at the wedding banquet. As a commoner, she was a little scared, "Mom, can I go alone?"
Zhulan understood Li's concerns and said after thinking for a moment, "Take Yulu with you."
Li still wanted to go with her mother-in-law, but unfortunately, her mother-in-law would not go. It would be good to have her daughter go with her, "Then I will take Yu Lu with me."
Zhulan hummed, "Mrs. Song has prepared a gift, you can take it back later."
Li pinched the post and said, "Okay."
In the Ministry of Revenue, Xiao Qing asked Zhou Shuren, "You really don't have any good ideas? If you don't have any ideas, I will ask Qiu Yan to come back."
Zhou Shuren thought of the gift Qiu Yan brought him from Jianghuai. Qiu Yan was really generous. He decided to let Master Qiu take the blame. Especially since Qiu Yan came back this time, he found that Qiu Yan's hairline was further back. "I thought of an imperfect idea last night. I wanted to improve the plan for you, Master."
Xiao Qing waved his hand, "Then go and write it quickly."
The Chinese New Year is coming soon. He wants to do his job perfectly and spend the New Year comfortably. He doesn't want to have a restless New Year.
Zhou Shuren withdrew. He originally wanted to delay it for a day, but now he had no choice. Zhou Shuren finished writing the plan in less than an hour. He checked it carefully twice and made sure there were no problems before giving it to Lord Xiao.
After Xiao Qing read the plan, his first reaction was that Zhou Shuren was indeed a genius, and he could even come up with this idea. "What a good idea."
Zhou Shuren said: "As long as the emperor agrees, the Ministry of Revenue can estimate the price of antique calligraphy and paintings."
Xiao Qing didn't delay, "I'll go to the palace now."
Zhou Shuren had no intention of going with them, as his mind was full of secret operations. The Shangshu would not do it himself, so he would have to do the method he came up with. So he would have to talk to the Ministry of Works and have a batch of boxes made, and he would leave a few secret codes or something.
Inside the palace, the emperor looked at the plan Xiao Qing presented and said one word, "Great."
Xiao Qing continued, "This is largely a matter of luck, but it can arouse curiosity. I think the capital can handle half of the antique calligraphy and paintings."
The emperor laughed and said, "Zhou Shuren has a sharp mind. This is a good idea. You can go to the Ministry of Revenue to do it."
Xiao Qing, "Then I will take my leave. There are still many complicated things to prepare."
The emperor waited for Xiao Qing to leave and played with the jade pendant around his waist. This method gave him a lot of inspiration.
At the Ministry of Revenue, Xiao Qing called Zhou Shuren as soon as he came back, "I'm leaving this matter to you. You must do it well. Just let me know if you need anything."
Zhou Shuren took out the application form from the Ministry of Works for silver and said, "I need a lot of boxes. Do you think the application form from the Ministry of Works has been approved?"
Xiao Qing was in a good mood, "Give it here, I'll stamp it."
Zhou Shuren handed over the memorial with a smile, "I will go to the Ministry of Works in a while."
"good."
Zhou Shuren returned to the house and told Zhang Jinghong, "Take a few people to estimate the silver and money of the antiques and calligraphy and paintings according to the market price. I need the total amount of silver and the total number of antiques and calligraphy and paintings."
Zhang Jinghong was on a mission for the first time, and he knew it was very important from Lord Zhou's expression, "I will make sure to count it clearly."
Zhou Shuren was confident in Zhang Jinghong, who was a careful person. "Yes."
At the Ministry of Industry, Zhou Shuren suddenly arrived, and Lord Fang greeted him, "Lord Zhou, what brings you here?"
Zhou Shuren shook the document and the box of banknotes in his hand, "What does Lord Fang say?"
Minister Fang was surprised. The Ministry of Works had to send several memorials every month. It was good enough if it was approved once. It had already been approved once this month. Unexpectedly, the Ministry of Revenue approved another memorial, and it was delivered by Lord Zhou himself. "Lord Zhou, please come in."
There must be something that requires the Ministry of Works.
Zhou Shuren had already handed the memorial and the box of banknotes to Lord Fang. The Minister of Works was not here today, so Zhou Shuren only needed to talk to Lord Fang and did not beat around the bush. "The situation is like this. The Ministry of Revenue needs some boxes. I remember that the Ministry of Works has some wood piled up, so I want to ask the Ministry of Works to make some boxes. The Ministry of Revenue will compensate the Ministry of Works for the wood it consumes. When the time comes, the Ministry of Works only needs to report how much money it will compensate."
Lord Fang looked at Zhou Shuren with a puzzled look. Zhou Shuren's words were too suggestive, so he asked tentatively, "This batch of wood is not cheap."
Zhou Shuren didn't care. The Ministry of Revenue was now very rich and powerful. If the job was done well this time, the money to supply the Ministry of Works would come out. Anyway, the wool would come from the sheep and the treasury silver would not be touched.
He gave the Ministry of Industry some leniency because the Ministry of Industry was in such a difficult situation.
Lord Fang didn't get a reply, but he saw Lord Zhou's smile, and he knew what was going on, and he was particularly enthusiastic, "When does the Ministry of Revenue want it?"
"The sooner the better. You know the New Year is coming, and we all want to have a peaceful year."
Lord Fang said he understood, "I will do it as soon as possible."
Zhou Shuren added: "I will send the specific dimensions to the Ministry of Industry tomorrow morning."
"good."
In the evening, Zhou Shuren was very happy. Chang Lian asked, "Dad, what good news is there today?"
Zhou Shuren did not hide it and told him the method.
Chang Lian was not very interested. The third branch did not plan to buy antiques and calligraphy and paintings. The Ning family had given him some at the beginning, and he wanted to use the money to buy property.
Changzhi did have the intention, but when it came to spending his wife's money, he lost interest. He didn't think much about it before, but now he thinks more and is not as shameless. He now only spends the monthly allowance.
Zhou Shuren thought the two boys would want to participate, but in the end, the two sons just said "oh" and continued eating without asking. Although the secret operation did not allow him to bring his sons, he still asked curiously, "Are you really not interested?"
Chang Lian shook his head, "My son has picked out a few plots of land."
Changzhi, "My son doesn't have that much money."
Zhou Shuren looked at the second and first brothers, "What about you two?"
The eldest son was in a dilemma. The first wife didn't have much money to begin with. Ming Teng's engagement cost a lot. Although the autumn harvest brought in a lot of money, he later gave his daughter some dowry. "My son has almost spent all the money he has."
Changli has plenty of money, his family is rich, and his income is high. The second room has no antiques, calligraphy or paintings that are worth showing off. "My son wants to give it a try."
He is different from his older brother and younger brothers. He is restless at heart.
After dinner, Zhou Shuren returned to the house and chatted with his wife. "Just now while eating, I realized that among my sons, only the second son has the most money."
Zhulan, "The eldest is honest and not particularly courageous. The first wife's wealth was slow to build up, and most of it came from Li's dowry. The second is courageous and has the most tactful mind. You know how much wealth he has accumulated over the years. The third is mainly focused on his career, and he would buy property if he had money, but he doesn't have much money. The fourth is still spending money."
Zhou Shuren stroked his chin and said, "Let Changli stay overseas for a few years. This kid has the ability to take root overseas and do well."