Prince Nan Huai only knew that Murong Zhuangzhuang was rich, but he didn't know how rich he was. He immediately became excited, "Mother, with this money, we can buy more weapons."
The noble concubine said: "Last time you sent a message saying that you wanted to buy a batch of bows and crossbows from Dayue Country. You can contact us now."
"We have to wait for the next batch. I contacted the arms dealer on the day I entered the city. They have already planned to sell this batch of weapons to the Wulin Alliance."
The noble concubine said coldly: "We can't wait for the next batch, just take it away."
"I asked about this, and they said they have reached an agreement with the Wulin Alliance and have already paid the deposit."
"Then ask them to return the deposit double. We need to get these weapons first. You didn't bring too many people with you when you returned to Beijing this time. I have people under my command, but they lack weapons. We need to keep some for future use."
"Cancel? But once they cancel, we have to pay the deposit for compensation. Now we haven't received the money from my aunt yet, where can we get the money?"
"I can still afford the double deposit. You negotiate with him and let him keep the crossbow first. When the money comes in, we will take it away at a higher price than the 10% they paid to the Wulin Alliance. These weapon dealers only care about money. If they have too much money, they won't care about integrity."
King Nan Huai thought for a moment and said, "But the silver is not guaranteed to be obtained."
"Now it's a sure thing. You can go ahead. Listen to me, without weapons in hand, no matter how many people you have, it will be useless." said the noble concubine.
Seeing that she was confident, Prince Nan Huai said, "Okay, I'll contact them right away."
However, he said worriedly, "Mother, if we want to intercept this batch of weapons, we must ensure that we have enough silver to pay them. Otherwise, I will be considered a dishonest person in the future, and they may not do business with me again. Moreover, those people are not easy to mess with. Although we are not afraid of them, there is no need to provoke them."
"Okay, you are so scared of everything. How can you do great things? You are indecisive and have no courage. You really need to learn from your brother in this regard. Although he is not filial to our mother, he is indeed more courageous and capable than you." The noble concubine said impatiently.
A trace of hatred flashed across Prince Nan Huai's eyes, but it quickly disappeared. "Yes, I'll do it there."
The noble concubine took out the key and took out a bill from the cabinet, "This is the money that my mother deposited in the state-owned bank. You can take it all out. Go!"
"Okay, I'll go right away." King Nan Huai took the ticket and left.
The so-called state-owned silver bank was a money house opened by the imperial court for marquises and royal relatives to deposit money. The state-owned silver bank would use the deposited money to lend out and collect interest. Twenty percent of the interest would be transferred to the national treasury, and some of the interest would be used as food for the royal relatives and fiefs for the dukes and royal relatives.
Ordinary people were not allowed to deposit money in state-owned banks. There were wealthy people in the private sector who opened money houses and banks, but the problem with private money houses was that they could not be used by all banks.
For example, Hu Huanxi's Dingfenghao opened a money shop. People deposited their silver into the money shop, and the money shop gave out silver notes. This silver note could only be exchanged for silver in Dingfenghao's money shop. The silver note of Dingfenghao could not be exchanged at other money shops.
Because the silver notes of the state-owned silver bank can only be exchanged in the state-owned silver bank, the notes cannot be given directly to the arms dealers. The only thing they can do is to take out the silver and then deposit it in the private silver bank for them to withdraw by themselves.
Therefore, King Nan Huai was somewhat worried that withdrawing such a large amount of gold or silver and depositing it in a private bank would be too drastic a move and would arouse suspicion.
So he had someone find Lord Liang, gave Lord Liang the banknotes from the state-owned bank, and exchanged them for Lord Liang's Dingfenghao banknotes. Because Lord Liang had a business cooperation with the Hu family of Dingfenghao, this way he could do it without anyone noticing.
Lord Liang exchanged the silver note, but told Hu Huanxi about it. Hu Huanxi was careful and asked someone to pay attention to who was using Lord Liang's silver note to exchange for silver.
Hu Huanxi also told Zi'an about this matter that night, and Zi'an told Murong Jie. Murong Jie was worried about not being able to find the arms dealer, and Hu Huanxi's information was very useful. Murong Jie said to Zi'an: "Hu Huanxi is a natural businessman, and her sense of touch is very sharp. You should interact with her more."
"Yeah, I know." Zi'an brought him a coat, "It's a bit cold today, wear more clothes."
"It's not cold. Where are you going later?" Murong Jie asked.
"I'll sleep a little longer. It's only five o'clock in the morning. After a while, I'll go to the princess's mansion to prepare for your main event." Zi'an rubbed his eyes, feeling a little sleepy. Murong Jie was a diligent person. He would attend court early on the 1st, 5th and 9th of every month. Therefore, there were always several days in a month when he had to get up so early.
"Well, then you should take a nap first and don't waste time." Murong Jie was rare gentle and kissed her forehead.
Zi'an hugged him and sighed, "I regret having asked my husband to seek a title of nobility. The ancients were right!"
"Ah?" Murong Jie was confused for a moment.
"It's okay, just act coquettishly." Zi'an raised his head and smiled playfully.
Murong Jie poked her forehead and said, "You are so old, why are you still acting like a spoiled child? Go, go to sleep!"
Zi'an climbed back into bed. It was hard to refute this. She was not sixteen years old. Moreover, she seemed to have accidentally revealed something before. She blurted out that she had been a military doctor for many years, but he had never asked.
The noble concubine entered the palace early this morning and left the palace at the same time as Murong Jie, but she went straight to the harem.
Naturally, she used the euphemism of assisting the Empress Dowager in arranging Zhuangzhuang's marriage.
"You're here so early?" The Queen Mother was dressing up and asked in surprise when she saw her.
The noble concubine said, "I couldn't sleep all night. The princess is getting married, which is a big deal, but I just can't feel happy."
The Queen Mother also said sadly: "Isn't it? I haven't slept either. For so many years, I have been looking forward to her getting married, but now that she is really getting married, it is not what I expected. I feel so depressed and heartbroken for her."
The noble concubine said, "I'm afraid the princess never cared about Liang Shulin at all, so she married him like this. Although it was a last resort, it also wronged the princess."
"Yes, I don't know whether it's right or wrong, but it's the same. The princess will not be happy. Sometimes I wonder if this person really has a soul after death? If not, why force her? But this is the custom, especially since she is a member of the royal family, she cannot be neglected."
"Forget it, don't think too much. When will the Imperial Master come? Should we let the Imperial Master go to the Princess's Mansion first?" asked the Royal Concubine.
All the ghost marriages in the royal family must be presided over by the national master. Although it can't be considered a ghost marriage now, to put it bluntly, Liang Shulin is marrying a dead person, so according to the rules, the national master should be present.
"I went to convey the imperial edict last night. Tell him to wait for the decree to be issued and then go directly to the princess's mansion to prepare." said the Queen Mother.
The noble concubine stood up and asked the maid to leave. She combed the empress dowager's hair herself. Looking at the person in the mirror, she said, "Do you remember when we were at my mother's house? I always combed your hair and you put on makeup for me. In the blink of an eye, we sisters have grown old."
The Queen Mother also felt that time flies by. "Yes, in the blink of an eye, we are all old."
She turned back and held the noble concubine's hand, and said earnestly: "I hope that we two sisters can stay this good for the rest of our lives, just like we were when we were young."
The noble concubine smiled faintly, "I really wish I could go back to those days."
(End of this chapter)