My father-in-law is Kangxi

Chapter 1847 The Abnormal Account Book
Shopkeeper Hou followed He Yuzhu to the door of the study, and his legs felt weak.

There are many dignitaries in the capital, and the jewelry in Shun'an Silver Shop has the latest styles. It is a shop that the wives of the Eight Banners nobles love to visit.

What super-class lady? Shopkeeper Hou sees her quite often, but it’s different from meeting the Ninth Prince.

This is the prince, one of the most noble people in the Qing Dynasty.

He was afraid that the Ninth Prince would bear grudge against him...

This person is not a kind person as rumored.

In the past, he relied on the power of his wife to gain courage, but now that he is older, he becomes more afraid.

After He Yuzhu went in to report, he came out and brought Manager Hou in.

Shopkeeper Hou came in, not daring to look up, but knelt on both knees and kowtowed, saying, "Your servant Hou Run greets Lord Beile, please give your greetings, Lord Beile."

Seeing his respect, the Ninth Prince laughed and said, "It's not the first time I've seen you. Weren't you quite comfortable in front of me before?"

Shopkeeper Hou admitted his mistake honestly, saying, "I was shortsighted back then and didn't recognize you in person."

The Ninth Prince rolled his eyes and said, "Get up, stop playing dumb in front of me. You were the one who took over Qianjinfang. How could you forget it in front of me after only a few years?"

Shopkeeper Hou stood up and said honestly, "I am old and confused."

The Ninth Prince looked at him and thought about his misunderstanding at that time. He thought he had met a business genius and wanted to poach him.

However, it is rare that Manager Hou is able to manage three silver shops under Shushu's name and has never had any problems with the accounts for so many years.

He had a good impression of Shopkeeper Hou, but he still said with a straight face: "Although you are an old man from my mother-in-law's family, you should not take advantage of your age. The wife is expecting a baby, what can't wait? Why do you have to disturb her at this time?"

Shopkeeper Hou was so frightened that he almost fell to his knees again.

He told the reason honestly.

The Ninth Prince thought of Gao Yanzhong and Yi Duli, and also of the Emperor and Concubine Yi in the palace. He was in no mood to tease the shopkeeper Hou, so he told He Yuzhu, "Since you've come here, reward the shopkeeper Hou with a few years' honor."

He Yuzhu bowed in response, took out two pairs of purses and gave them to Shopkeeper Hou, then sent the man out.

The Ninth Prince continued to check the accounts and felt annoyed when he saw the annual accounts of his shop.

Just then, He Yuzhu came back from sending someone off, so he told He Yuzhu, "Go get the annual accounts of the properties under Fu Jin's name."

He Yuzhu agreed and went to the main courtyard to find Baiguo to collect the annual bill.

Shushu's property account books were not kept in the accounting office of the Prince's Mansion, but in a separate internal accounting office in the main courtyard.

There were more than a dozen properties, and the account books filled four boxes in total.

Seeing that He Yuzhu had difficulty carrying the baby, Shushu asked Baiguo to help and together they carried the baby to the front yard.

The Ninth Prince flipped through the account book and picked out a teahouse and a Daxing manor.

Then he picked out a vegetable shop and a Fangshan manor from the public property.

The two shops are similar in size and are located in a mediocre location, not in a bustling area.

As a result, the annual income of the vegetable shop is almost the same as that of a small teahouse.

This is not right.

Because the vegetable shop under the name of Beile Mansion sells pickled vegetables in winter, pickled vegetables in spring and autumn, and fruits in summer.

The teahouse's business was average and its location was not very big. It was separated from the original Qianjinfang shop. Most of the people there were women who came to buy jewelry to rest, so it was not a busy place.

The Ninth Prince compared the two farms, both of which were small farms of less than 500 acres.

As a result, Shushu's Daxing farm not only supplied fruits and vegetables to the mansion, but also had a surplus, so Shushu didn't need to transfer any money to it.

The farm under the name of Beile Mansion was reported to be hit by mountain floods this year, so the rent was reduced by half, and the remaining silver was not reported, and the mansion still had to pay a monthly salary as the head of the farm.

Throughout the year, the only income from this farm was an annual gift, a few cages of chickens and ducks, and a few baskets of dried wild vegetables.

"Go, call Cao Shun over..."

The Ninth Prince frowned and gave orders to He Yuzhu in displeasure.

He Yuzhu agreed and went downstairs to find someone.

Just then, Cao Shun brought his wife and daughter into the mansion. He Yuzhu hurried forward and said, "Master Cao, hurry up. Master Jiu is looking for you!"

Cao Shun did not dare to delay and said to Sun: "Take Huijie in. Don't delay too long. Fu Jin can't stand the fatigue right now."

Sun responded softly.

Next to her stood a little girl who had not yet grown her hair. She was slender with delicate features.

After Cao Shun finished instructing his wife, he looked at his daughter and said, "Be good to your mother and don't be naughty."

Hui Jieer nodded in agreement and followed Sun to the inner courtyard.

When Cao Shun came in, the Ninth Prince said angrily, "Tell me, what's going on with these two accounts? Don't tell me it was Fu Song's omission. Didn't you know this before?"

Cao Shun did not rush to speak. He walked forward and looked at the two account books before he understood the reason.

He pointed to the account book on the farm and said, "This farm is where your maternal uncle and his family are housed. They moved here from Shengjing with the Guo Luoluo family in 1949. At that time, Master let Master Fu settle down on the farm and said that he didn't need to be treated too well, but he also gave them grace and allowed them to receive three taels of silver from the farm every month..."

The Ninth Prince was stunned when he heard this, as if it was really true.

This family is the Empress's uncle's family, and is also a householder of Guo Luoluo's family.

At that time, I was on guard against Sanguanbao, worried that the old man would use the empress's relatives to control the empress, so I took this family away from Guo Luoluo's house and settled them in Fangshan.

The Ninth Prince still felt unhappy when he thought about it, and said, "I supported this family, but it made them bolder. They even embezzled the income of my farm!"

The land rent in Fangshan is five dou of miscellaneous grains per mu of land. For 450 mu, the rent is 2,250 dou, or 225 shi.

Based on the price of the cheapest sorghum, one stone of sorghum costs three hundred coins, which is eighty-four taels of silver.

Cao Shun turned the page again and showed the last few messages to the Ninth Prince, saying, "In August, my uncle will celebrate his sixtieth birthday. The village head came in to give him autumn gifts and mentioned this. Mrs. Jin knew about this and prepared four kinds of gifts from the mansion. She also asked the village head about my uncle's livelihood. Knowing that there was a lot of rain this year and the foundation of my uncle's house was damaged, she ordered the village head to repair it. Here, we will spend eighteen taels and four cents of silver..."

The Ninth Prince took a closer look and felt relieved.

It seems that this flash flood is not fabricated.

Fangshan is so close to the capital. Fusong used to patrol the village every year, but now that Cao Shun has taken over, he will not change the rules, and the village heads under him dare not have any bad intentions.

The rent was halved, the income was less, but the expenses were more than usual, no wonder there was a deficit.

Although the Ninth Prince was no longer annoyed, he still felt disgusted. He pointed at Cao Shun and said, "I looked at Fu Jin's account books, and then I looked at the account books of the mansion. I couldn't bear to read any more. Next year when I inspect the manors, you should also go to Fu Jin's manor and take a look. I didn't pay attention to it before. This small manor of 500 acres only earns 84 taels of silver a year, and I have to pay a monthly salary to the head of the manor, so there is less than 50 taels left..."

The land depends on the weather, but there is drought in Zhili nine out of ten years, and the years when there is no drought are mostly flooded.

"If there is really no other way, we can just grow corn instead. I will provide the seeds and cattle and collect more rent. Or we can find a few families to raise pigs and chickens to supply Madam Fu's restaurant. We can't be so poor. It's not right..."

Cao Shun also knew that this farm had the lowest income, and thought that the Ninth Prince didn't care about it and just wanted to leave it for his uncle's family to live on in their old age.

Knowing that the Ninth Prince was concerned, Cao Shun naturally agreed and said, "It was my negligence. I will keep a close eye on this manor next year."

The Ninth Prince pointed at the account book of the shop and said, "What's going on? My Dongzi vegetables are only sold for half a year, but the income of the shop is not as much as that of a tea shop. Do you think I'm a fool? I compared it with last year. Last year, I earned 1,256 taels of silver. The year before last, I earned more than 700 taels. This year, the income of Dongzi vegetables will only be more, not less. If not doubled, it should increase by 50-60%. How come the income is 70% less than last year, less than 400 taels?"

Cao Shun bowed and said, "This, I also remember. Before Laba, I asked you once how to settle the bills hanging in the shop. According to the annual practice, they are settled before the New Year. This year, due to the smallpox epidemic, no one wants to entertain guests. You said that we can settle it after the New Year when the market reopens..."

Brother Ninth: "..."

He really had misunderstood, thinking that it was because he had been demoted to a lower banner that he was being taken advantage of by the impoverished royal family of the Zhenglan Banner.

Fortunately, it wasn't the case, otherwise he wouldn't suffer any loss and would have gone directly to settle the account.

He stroked his forehead and said, "I thought the shop's outstanding debt was only 20% or 30% at most, but it's actually 70% or 80%? Then don't wait until after the New Year. Let's follow the rules and settle the debt before the New Year, so that others won't misunderstand and think we're exempt from debt."

There is no shortage of people who are arrogant and take advantage of others in this world.

The Ninth Prince would not give others the opportunity to offend him.

Repaying debts is justified.

It’s better for you to offend others yourself.

Cao Shun also nodded in response.

Fortunately, today is the 21st day of the twelfth lunar month, and there are still ten days before the Chinese New Year, which is enough time to settle the debt.

Just as the Ninth Prince thought, those who could delay and not take the initiative to settle the accounts were mostly clan members. If others came forward, it would not be important enough and would appear disrespectful, so Cao Shun, the chief ceremonial officer of the Beile Mansion, had to come forward in person.

Cao Shun took his leave and went to the accounting office to look for the receipt...

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