nucmednet Chapter 241 Extra 7
Chapter 241 Extra 7
Two of the guards in Prince Duan's residence resigned on their own.
Prince Duan astutely realized that these two guards might be spies planted by the Emperor in the Prince's residence.
It turned out that the emperor had indeed suspected him. This discovery made him depressed for a long time before he finally felt a little better.
Zisu advised, "Why don't you streamline the business further?"
Prince Duan: "Alright, I understand. I'll give the order right away to reduce the number of shops to six hundred." However, he was still deeply resentful.
Zisu comforted him, "Don't be sad. The Prince's Mansion already has tens of millions of taels of silver. Even if all the shops are closed, the Prince's Mansion will not have to worry about food and drink. As for the descendants, let them work hard on their own. As the saying goes, wealth brings peace of mind. Too much wealth will one day catch the eye of an emperor. Thus, it will become a reason to take drastic measures against the Prince's Mansion."
Throughout history, countless powerful families have been targeted because of their immense wealth. Some had their homes confiscated, others were exterminated, leaving not even a trace of their lineage.
Prince Duan was silent for a moment, then sighed, "Alright, I understand. Apart from the soap and bar soap business, only about a dozen other shops will remain." There were over a hundred soap and bar soap shops in total, so this will reduce the number to about one hundred and twenty. This way, they won't stand out so much anymore.
Zisu nodded: "You can decide for yourself! I'm not familiar with your business, so you should decide for yourself how many shops to keep. Anyway, we don't want to be too high-profile, but there's no need to be too low-profile either."
Given her reputation as Princess of Yulin and Prince Duan, it's impossible for her to maintain a low profile. Anyway, as long as she doesn't appear overly wealthy, that's fine. In particular, she shouldn't get involved in the canal transport or military supply business; those areas are far too sensitive.
Prince Duan nodded: "Yes, I understand. I will think about it carefully."
However, the dozen or so shops he planned to keep were also thriving. In fact, they were among the most successful of the thousands of shops. The annual profit, if added up, was at least two hundred thousand taels of silver in a very good year.
This sum of two hundred thousand taels of silver, plus the profits from the soap and bar soap shops, is quite considerable. Even if one were to build charitable halls in the ten largest cities of the country, it would cost at most one hundred thousand taels of silver per year.
He didn't intend to make the charity halls too large. No, now he's changed his mind again; he only plans to establish five charity halls, not all over the country. If the scale is too large, or if there are charity halls everywhere, he worries that the emperor might be easily swayed and become paranoid again.
Zisu nodded approvingly: "Yes, you've thought it through very well. Although Jin'er is clever and quick-witted, she is still a child after all. We can't listen to everything she says; we have to listen selectively. The scale of the Charity Hall really can't be too large, and it can't be spread all over the country. Otherwise, the Emperor will definitely become suspicious."
As a prince, having too good a reputation could be seen as an attempt to win over the people. And why win over the people? The first thing a ruler would naturally think of is rebellion!
Jin'er nodded approvingly after hearing her parents' words: "Yes, the scale of the charity hall should not be too large, and there shouldn't be too many of them."
In ancient society, unlike modern society, having too good a reputation would attract the attention of the emperor and the court, potentially endangering one's life. Since the father was Prince Duan and so wealthy, the emperor would certainly become suspicious if his reputation was too good.
Prince Duan said to his daughter, "Jin'er, in the future, you should not invent anything that can make a lot of money, especially nothing related to the military. However, you can invent a few more agricultural things."
Farmers today still suffer greatly. Grain yields remain too low. If rice and wheat production could be more than doubled, then national prosperity and strength would not be far off.
Jin'er nodded: "Father, I understand. I won't mess with things like soap anymore." Making a waterwheel, as well as soap and bar soap, was already quite a show-off.
Little Jin'er decided to keep quiet and remain an unassuming child. In fact, the credit for the waterwheel, the soap, and the soap itself largely went to her father and mother. She, as a child, didn't need to know so much.
After the soap and bar soap were introduced to the market, Fang Heng subconsciously assumed that Zisu must have been behind it. He didn't doubt Jin'er, because although Jin'er was very intelligent, she had always kept a low profile and hadn't gained any reputation as a "talented woman".
Ying was so angry that she gritted her teeth.
This Shangguan Zisu, she's really good at hiding her true colors! If she had married my son Fang Heng back then, wouldn't the Fang family have become rich overnight and have been counting banknotes until their hands were sore?
Shangguan Zisu, you're ruthless! Why didn't you invent soap and regular soap when you were with my son? And that waterwheel, why didn't you invent it sooner?! If you had shown yourself to be so remarkable earlier, I wouldn't have gone to Wuliping to say all that nonsense, and you wouldn't have given up on being with my son!
Hundreds of millions of taels of silver, pure and shiny silver, just gone like that! What a pity, what a pity, it's such a pity! And thinking about it, so many years have passed, and her son is still not married, which makes her extremely depressed!
Ying felt a sharp pain in her chest, a sensation as if she were about to vomit blood. Back then, Shangguan Zisu had only asked her son to wait three years, yet she herself hadn't had the patience. Now, more than ten years had passed, and her son was still alone.
If she had known this would happen, she would have agreed to Shangguan Zisu's request and let her son wait for three years! If only she had known this would happen, why did she do it in the first place! Thinking of this, she was filled with regret! Her son is now a high-ranking official of the second rank, but he doesn't even have a wife. He has to go through all sorts of favors with those ladies and young women.
The soap and soap business made a fortune, and Prince Duan gave Zisu two million taels of silver: "This money is what you earned from the soap and soap business. You can use it as you see fit, and you can give more to your family and your maternal grandmother."
Zisu nodded: "I understand, thank you!"
The next day, she went to the general's mansion and gave her mother 100,000 taels of silver: "Mother, this is a gift from my father and me to you and your father!"
Madam Yu quickly declined, saying, "No, please take it back. You've given us so much in the past, and even Jin'er has given us a lot. I can't accept this money. Take it back to the Prince and tell him we thank him!"
Zisu stuffed the silver notes into her mother's pocket and insisted, "Mother, listen to me. Use these silver notes to buy more land and shops. There are still three younger brothers in the family. Raising them is not an easy task. Now that I have some money, the Prince has also asked me to give you and Father more."
"If the Prince's mansion becomes impoverished in the future and can no longer provide for my parents' old age, please don't hold it against me. Besides, Yi-ge and his two brothers are my own flesh and blood. Now that I'm doing well, I have an obligation to help my parents raise my brothers. Please accept this; I might not be able to give you money every now and then!"
Upon hearing this, Madam Yu was taken aback: "What's wrong? What happened?"
Zisu quickly waved her hand: "Mother, don't worry, nothing has happened. It's just that the Prince is worried that the Emperor will become suspicious of him, so he has voluntarily reduced his business significantly. Now, there are only a little over 120 shops left, and the money earned will be about 70% less than before." If you don't count the profits from soap, it will be 90% less.
Madam Yu was somewhat relieved: "Good, it's good that nothing's wrong! As for the business, I think it's better to scale it down to avoid being targeted." Once targeted and suspected, there's a high chance of ending up with confiscation of property and exile. Confiscation of property and exile might be the best outcome; the worst would be to eliminate all traces of the problem.
Zisu also gave her maternal grandmother 20,000 taels of silver. Her grandmother vehemently refused, but Zisu didn't argue, simply leaving the silver notes behind. As for her uncle, she didn't give him any, fearing she might hurt his pride. After all, he was a grown man.
Her father, mother, brothers, maternal grandmother, uncles, and Yu Han are all her closest relatives, and she is willing to give them everything without reservation. Only when they are doing well can she be happy and joyful!
Back at the Prince's residence, Zisu honestly confessed to Prince Duan: "I gave my mother fifteen taels of silver and my grandmother twenty thousand taels of silver."
Prince Duan waved his hand dismissively: "You can decide for yourself. Actually, if it were me, I would give my father-in-law and mother-in-law 200,000 taels and my grandmother 50,000 taels."
The thing he has in abundance is money. Little Jin'er is right, how much can one eat in a day? Even if one used silver to pave the bed, it would still be too much.
When the Emperor learned of Zisu and Jin'er's lavish spending, he couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. It seemed that Prince Duan was indeed a trustworthy person. The recipients of his wife and children's money were none other than his wife's family; giving them money was undoubtedly intended to ensure their comfortable lives as wealthy and idle people.
In this way, he could finally have a clear direction.
Prince Duan was absolutely without ambition.
Little Jin'er didn't achieve anything significant, except during the busy farming season, she offered a suggestion to the old clan chief: "Great-Grandpa, the cotton should be topped."
The old clan chief asked excitedly, "Why?" Subconsciously, he believed the twelve-year-old girl and felt that what she said must make sense.