[Red Mansion] The third master of jade-like stone treasures

"560 million taels?" Mother Jia was shocked.

Bao Cong nodded, and said slowly with no expression on his face: "In the early years, when my ancestor took over, he owed 160 million taels. Later, when the elder sister entered the palace and was conferred the title of concubine, the mansion borrowed more than 100 million taels one after another. "

"Later, the ancestors should have counted the accounts of the past few years. Not only did they not repay it, but they borrowed it several times. A few days ago, I went to the household department to check and found out that our family owed a total of 560 million. Two."

"Now that the Yellow River is flooded, the government is in urgent need of silver, but the national treasury is empty. Although the Holy Majesty is not having an attack right now, I expect that the Holy Majesty will conduct a thorough investigation and liquidation in a few days."

"If our family took out the money first and paid it back, maybe we could avoid this disaster."

The more Jia Mu heard, the more frightened she became, and she said worriedly: "How can our family have so many five or six million taels at once? Even if we borrow money, it will take a while!"

In fact, Jia's mother knew very well that Jia's family would not be able to raise so much money for a while, let alone cash, even if they pawned unused things.

After thinking about it, Mother Jia asked Baocong again, "What's your idea?"

When Bao Cong got married, he could still spend 100 million taels. He should have a lot of money in his hands, right?

Bao Cong naturally understood what Jiamu meant, and his heart was a little cold, and he said in a low voice: "I can take out several 10 taels in my hand, and the rest of the public has various courtyards in the mansion, either as things or sold." Let’s collect the property as much as possible. Even if it’s not all, you have to pay half of it, right?”

Mother Jia frowned when she heard this, and said, "Where is the point of pawning things and selling property? Isn't it a joke in the whole capital to pretend to be a bunch of things with great fanfare and sell all the properties?"

Bao Cong was silent for a while, shook his head, looked directly at Jia Mu and said, "Old Ancestor, if the Holy Majesty really settles this account, it doesn't matter if our house is raided?"

Copy home? !

Mother Jia was taken aback, and suddenly said angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

Then he suddenly thought of this real possibility, and his complexion suddenly turned green.

Bao Cong just sighed, looked at Jia's mother and said, "You don't have to be so angry, I'm talking about just in case."

In the past dynasties, if the treasury was really empty and the emperor was really short of money, then there would always be a few families who were found guilty of ransacking their homes.

If the emperor had such thoughts, he only needed to use his words, and the ministers under him would naturally find out a bunch of crimes and impeach them, so that the emperor would have an excuse to send someone to search the house.

Families without crimes can find false evidence and charge them with crimes, not to mention a sieve-like family like the Jia family, which is almost full of pigtails.

Mother Jia still held some hope, and murmured: "No way? Your eldest sister is still in the palace. Although she is only a noble person now, she is also the concubine of the Holy Majesty. There are also our four big families, but they are brother-in-law. The four princes and eight princes in the capital were all heroes who followed the Taizu to fight the world, don't you think the Holy One has no old feelings?"

Every time Jia's mother said a word, Bao Cong thought of a reason why Emperor Zhao copied Jia's mansion.

He sighed again, and patiently explained to Mother Jia: "Our four major families are in-laws on the face of it, but in the eyes of the Holy One, don't they form a party for personal gain? The four princes and eight princes followed the Taizu to fight the world. Those are all old calendars." .”

"Old Ancestor, Grandfather has passed away for so many years, but the Holy Majesty still has a plaque called Rongguo Mansion hanging at the gate of our house. Isn't it the old love of the Holy Majesty?"

As Jia Mu listened, her face gradually changed from livid to pale and panic-stricken.

"However, no amount of old love can withstand the passing of time. Our family...relying on the favor of the royal family, has become a thorn in the eyes of the Holy Majesty at this juncture... .”

The ending of the sigh finally crushed Jia Mu's fantasy, but she was still holding on and refused to admit the fact.

"Don't talk about it, the sage is a benevolent king, and he won't miss the old love of his subjects." After taking a breath, Jia Mu hesitated and said solemnly: "It's just that it's wrong for us to owe money. Now that the Yellow River is flooded, the mansion should also pay attention." Do your best."

So, Jia Mu sent someone to call Jia Amnesty, Jia Lian, and Baoyu, pretended to be understated and told what Bao Cong said, and finally asked: "You all tell me, how much money can you give?"

Before Jia Lian Baoyu could speak, Jia Amnesty called out first, "Mother, why didn't you look at the money from the public house first? The money borrowed from the court was all spent by the public house. Naturally, the public house should take out the money and pay it back."

Mother Jia nodded and was just about to send someone to call for Wang Xifeng, but remembering that Wang Xifeng was ill now, she sent someone to invite Mrs. Wang and Ping'er.

When Wang Xifeng didn't care about things, Mrs. Wang was always in charge of the housework, and Ping'er was always Wang Xifeng's right-hand man. Whether it was the account books or the warehouse situation, she must be clear about it.

After a while, Mrs. Wang and Ping'er both came.

Mrs. Wang was in Baoyu's yard before, wondering why Jiamu suddenly called Baoyu to go. Now that all the men in the family are with Jiamu, she feels more and more wrong.

It's just that she chanted a lot of Buddha, her mind was calm, even if she had doubts, she didn't speak rashly. Instead, she bowed to Jia Mu, and stood beside Jia Mu with a smile.

But Mother Jia waved her hand and told her to sit opposite Jia Amnesty.

Baoyu Baozheng and Jia Lian all stood up and greeted Mrs. Wang again.

After Ping'er settled down with Wang Xifeng, she also came in a hurry.

Jia's mother didn't talk nonsense, and said directly: "Now that Feng'er is not healthy, I can't bother you any more. You bring the account book and the key to the warehouse. I want to see it."

When Ping'er heard this, his heart skipped a beat and his face turned pale.

She knew about Wang Xifeng's usual housekeeping and the secret transfer of money for interest.

But how can this be known to others!

If found out, how will Wang Xifeng live in Jia's mansion?

But everyone in the lobby stared at Ping'er, and Ping'er knew that it would be impossible if he didn't go and get it.

Seeing that she couldn't move, Jia Lian urged, "Didn't you hear what the old ancestor said? Why don't you go get it!"

Ping'er crossed his hands, his nails dug into the flesh, but he didn't dare to show any clues, so he could only respond with a pale face, and went out with his head down.

How could Baocong not know that after Ping'er left and came back again, Jia's mansion would definitely be turned upside down.

Wang Xifeng lost her child, and now that she is being audited again, her illness might be compounded by her illness, and Jia's mother is old and weak, so she doesn't know how she will be angered.

But now that he has made his decision, he cannot turn back.

Bao Cong lowered his eyes, immersed in his deep thoughts, did not notice Bao Yu next to him, and stared at him for a long time with silently probing eyes.

There was silence in the main room, and no one knew what anyone was thinking.

After waiting for a long time, Ping'er secretly took the ledger and key, and finally came back.

She was holding a bunch of ledgers, on which was a bunch of big keys, and held them up high, but trembling, she fell to her knees on the ground without daring to say a word.

Hearing the thud, Bao Cong felt pain for Ping'er.

Mrs. Wang stepped forward to take the key to the warehouse, and held it to Jia Mu with both hands.Jia Amnesty and Jia Lian hurried forward to look through the ledger.

After turning around for a while, Jia Lian turned around angrily, kicked Ping'er in the chest, and said angrily, "Where's the money in the palace? How could there be no money?"

Jia She also yelled at Ping'er: "You bastard, tell me quickly, where is the money? Where did your grandma hide the money?"

Ping'er had expected such a scene long ago, so he just lay on the ground and held his chest, spat out a mouthful of blood, but still didn't dare to make a sound.

When Mrs. Jia Muwang heard that there was no money in the account, she also panicked, and quickly asked Jia Amnesty to take the account book.

I flipped through it carefully for a while, and sure enough, at the end, it was written on the page that there were only a few hundred taels of silver left.

The Jia mansion has been managed by Wang Xifeng for the past few years, and there is no money in the public house, so there must be something wrong with Wang Xifeng.

In front of the elders, Jia Lian felt ashamed. The more she looked at Ping'er, who was united with Wang Xifeng, the angrier she became.

He looked at Jia Lian and said calmly, "It's no use beating and scolding her, the old ancestor still wants to ask questions!"

Jia Lian subconsciously turned her head and saw Jia's mother trembling being supported by Mrs. Wang and Yuanyang. She walked over and asked Ping'er, "Girl, tell me carefully, what's going on?"

As soon as Jia's mother opened her mouth, Ping'er burst into tears.

She cried and said: "The mansion spends so much every year, what is brought in is less and more is used, how can there be any money in the public house? Now we can't pay every month, our grandma's dowry is going to be pawned! "

Listening to Ping'er's cry, Jia's mother suddenly thought about it, as if she went to Wang Xifeng's yard yesterday, it was a bit empty.In the past, Wang Xifeng loved to put those luxurious decorations the most, and used the best for everything.

But I went to see it yesterday, where is there still so much magnificence in the past?

Jia's mother was not angry, but Jia She and Jia Lian were very angry. She pointed at Ping'er and said, "You're lying! Did your master take all the money back to your mother's house?"

Jia Amnesty, in particular, said angrily, "For Chinese New Year and festivals throughout the year, which gift is not the most generous to the Wang family? It must be your master who sent all the furniture to the Wang family!"

Mrs. Wang is also from the Wang family. She didn't like to hear what Jia She said, and hurriedly said: "Uncle, you can't say that! Every time Feng'er gives gifts, my ancestors and I have seen each other. It's about the same price, how can you just say it's heavy for the Wang family?"

Then he said in a strong voice: "Speaking of the expenses of the mansion, the expenses of the various courtyards are not spent the most by the uncle? In addition to the monthly bills, there are also those girls, antiques you bought, going out to eat, drink and gamble. The sum of our other courtyards , can’t compare to half of what uncle uses every month?”

As early as before, when Bao Cong and Jia She had started to quarrel, Mrs. Wang had always disliked Jia She.She usually doesn't reveal it, but at this time when Jia She stepped on the Wang family, Mrs. Wang couldn't help but defend it.

Seeing Mrs. Wang blatantly criticizing him, Jia Amnesty was not far behind, and said aggressively to Mrs. Wang: "How do you talk about younger brothers and sisters? What do you mean I use it the most? Didn't the second brother buy antiques? Doesn't he use it to make connections in the officialdom?" How much? For so many years, Yuan Chun's expenses in the palace, and the money that the eunuch Xia asked for in the palace, didn't they come from the public?"

Jia Lian was dumbfounded, and only took Jia She by the arm, trying to calm him down, but Jia She had red eyes and thick neck, and was on the verge of a rage.

Baoyu pulled Mrs. Wang, trying to persuade her to calm down, but Mrs. Wang was trampled on by Jia She, and she even talked about her beloved eldest daughter, how could she bear it?

Immediately, she disregarded everyone's ladylike etiquette, and said loudly: "My master only bought a few antiques, and we paid for them ourselves! The master is an official in the court, and Yuan Chun is a concubine in the palace. Is it the glory of the family? Shouldn’t the public pay them money?”

"Without them, would our family be favored by the Holy Majesty? Would we be able to have the honor of visiting relatives? Would we be able to have the Grand View Garden that everyone envies?"

When Jia She heard this, he became even more furious, and yelled at Mrs. Wang: "It is for the construction of the Grand View Garden that the family's money has been spent! Now the court owes so much money! Will you pay it back? Or your Wang family?"

The more she said the more outrageous, the more she said the more outrageous, Jia Mu was so angry that she immediately picked up the crutches, landed heavily on the ground, and said angrily: "Okay! Shut up!"

Mother Jia's face flushed red from being too angry, even though she could bear it back, she still coughed badly.

Mrs. Wang and Jia Amnesty were yelled at, and they finally came to their senses. They hurried forward to appease Jia Mu, but Jia Mu rudely brushed them away.

Jia Mu murmured: "What's the use of you talking about it? Let's find a way to raise money!"

"I don't care if you guys treat it as a thing or what, give me 50 taels. I'll take 50 taels here too. For the rest, I'll give up my old face and ask the Xue family and the Wang family to borrow it myself!"

Don't even think about her natal family's historian, they are so dilapidated that their own family is poor haha, where can they borrow money?

Jia Amnesty snorted twice, and was about to say that he couldn't raise as much as 50 taels, when Jia Mu glared at him angrily, and immediately calmed down again.

So I thought, should I go to Ningguo Mansion next door and ask Jia Zhenjiarong to borrow some.

Jia Lian also had this idea.

Ningguo's family has a great business, but there are not as many places to spend money as Rongguo's. In the past, Jia Jing was a Jinshi. His family should be very rich, right?

It's a pity that both of them made the wrong idea. Jia Zhen and Jia Rong from Ningguo Mansion, because they have never been controlled by anyone, eat wine, gamble and visit brothels every day, they have already owed a lot of debt to themselves.

It's all about tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall, and the surface looks glamorous.

Mother Jia was enraged, and drove the crowd away. She asked Yuanyang to help her go to her small warehouse, and her whole body became more and more heavy.If it wasn't for the support of the mandarin duck, he could hardly move his footsteps.

Seeing Jiamu like this, Yuanyang knew that she must be seriously ill again.

As the day went on, Yuanyang became more and more frightened.

Mother Jia's health is getting worse and worse. In the future...is there any future?

Baocong followed Mrs. Wang and Baoyu out of Jiamu's yard. Looking back, she saw Jia Lian pulling Ping'er's hair unceremoniously and going into his yard.

Baoyu also turned her head, seeing that scene, subconsciously wanted to go forward to stop the intercession, but was grabbed by Baocong forcefully.

He shook his head and said to Baoyu, "You can't save her now. After this matter is over, if she is not dead, you can save her again."

Baoyu wanted to refute, but looking at Baocong's calm eyes, she couldn't say anything to refute.

Turning his head again, he stared blankly at Jia Lian dragging Ping'er farther and farther, until he disappeared.

Baoyu's tears fell in a flash.