After Shen Ao's guidance, Shen's new clothes, which many embroiderers worked on, are now on the market. And they have become a hot commodity as soon as they appear on the market. Especially women's underwear, that thing called a bra. When it came out, it became good news for many women. Although the price is not cheap, the effect is not good. Now even the women in the brothel are thinking of ways to save money to get one. It seems that if they don’t do it, they will be shameless. generally.
The first piece of clothing has a single word "Chen" under it, which is equivalent to a trademark. It has also become a symbol of status, attracting countless women.
As a result, Guo Changlong made a lot of money again. I heard that his father laughed a lot more in the Yangxin Palace recently. Although the prince didn't like Shen Ao, he had to admit his ability to make money. I thought he might be sure. Next time something new would appear, he would be able to ride on it and make a fortune, so he decided to invest ten million taels of silver.
The prince thought that he was on the right path and acted according to the rules of Guochanglong. Shen Ao would not fail to give him face at this moment. He called Zhong Xi, the eunuch in charge next to him, and told him to prepare a thousand Ten thousand taels of silver were sent to Guochanglong, and he graciously said that there was no need for a portrait. Lord Zhong has worked hard, and if there is any way to make money in the future, let me know."
The prince's ideas are good, but the bad lies in the people doing the work.
Zhong Xi grew up with Tang Xin since he was a child, and he was very easy to use. After he became the prince, he was promoted to the eunuch in charge of his side, which was because he was the current Yan Fu.
Winning the prince's trust, Zhong Xi's hands grew longer as time went by. In the name of the prince, he also embezzled a lot of money. Just like Guan Tai, who was condemned as a slave, their previous relationship That's very good. Many times, when Guan Tai was honoring the prince, he would give Zhong Xi some money, just in the hope that he could have a chance to say a kind word for him.
It is said that although something happened to Guan Tai, the prince was not severely punished, let alone the eunuch in charge. But the bad thing was that Zhongxi's hometown was going to build a house half a month ago, so he wanted to show off his life to others. Well, he asked someone to bring five hundred thousand taels of silver to his family.
These 500,000 taels were all Baoxi's wealth, and it wasn't even enough. He used his authority to take out 300,000 taels from the East Palace Mansion's warehouse. He thought that when Guan Tai came, this hole would be filled. He helped to add it, and if the worst happened, he would deduct it slowly later. But who would have thought that something happened to Guan Tai, and now where can he find three hundred thousand taels of silver at once? And seeing that the end of the month audit of the Prince's Mansion is coming, If it cannot be made up, the matter will definitely be known to the prince, and it will seriously affect the future future and current status.
Zhong Xi was just an eunuch. Before the prince ascended to the throne, his power could only be used easily in the East Palace. But it was simply impossible to collect three hundred thousand taels of silver from the servants below.
He wanted to tell the prince what had happened, but he was worried that it would damage his impression in his master's heart. In the end, Zhong Xi gritted his teeth and took the prince's handwriting to receive 10 million taels of silver from the storehouse, but decided to put the account to the owner. It falls on Duke Zhongguo. Isn’t he just a hereditary duke? Our family asked him to add these three hundred thousand taels, which is to give him face. How dare he refuse?
While taking advantage of the money, he sent his confidant eunuch to take 300,000 taels from the money and send it back to his own room for storage. Then he took the other money out of the East Palace and headed towards Guochanglong's general store.
It is not that Baoxi has never heard of Shen Ao's name, but he only knows that this person is a talented man and has some means of making money. As for his temper, he really doesn't know. After all, Shen Ao has never been here. When he returned to the East Palace, he had not even seen anyone, so Zhong Xi thought that the other person was not a person. Otherwise, how could he not even be qualified to enter the East Palace.
Pulled by several bullock carts and carrying a group of people, Zhong Xi came to Guochanglong, where he also met the loyal Duke Shen Ao. After seeing that he was just a young man, his eyes showed even more contempt.
"Our family has given our regards to Duke Zhongguo. The prince likes Duke Zhongguo's ability. In order to show his support, he specially arranged for someone to send ten million taels of silver. This is your blessing." Xunxi said with a haughty look. , a very vivid interpretation of the image of a dog looking down on others.
Zhong Xi's attitude was very unfriendly, and Shen Ao didn't seem to be familiar with him. The prince's ability to abide by Guo Changlong's rules is equivalent to setting a good start for others. Although Guo Changlong's development no longer requires investment from others, but Considering the status of the prince and the fact that he followed the rules, Shen Ao really had no reason to refuse.
With a smile on his face, he said, "Okay, Uncle Shen, let's check the money."
The butler at the side, Shen Xing, responded hurriedly and began to arrange for people to unload the money and inspect the boxes one by one.
Shen Ao was so serious, and his heart tightened when he saw Zhong Xi, but he was not afraid. The ten million taels were only missing 300,000 taels. In his opinion, it was not a problem at all. This was for the country. If Changlong gives away money, is there anything strange in giving away a little less?
Zhong Xi didn't point it out, but sat on the chair next to Shen Ao, sipping tea, and said as if he was about to raise his head to the sky, "Check carefully, this is just taken out from the East Palace warehouse, if there are too many Then it’s your responsibility.”
"Huh?" Shen Ao didn't care at first, and thought that counting the silver was just a formality, but after hearing Zhong Xi's words, he had to take it a step further. "Uncle Shen, the silver will be counted here, don't put it in yet. Go to the warehouse."
Shen Ao said this just to be on the safe side. Although he liked money, he didn't value it very much. This thing was originally meant to be spent. But if he suffered a loss because of the money, then the gain would not be worth the loss.
Shen Xing originally wanted to send the silver that had just been inspected into the warehouse. After all, so many silver boxes piled here were a bit obstructive. But after hearing Shen Ao's instructions, he also kept an eye on it and sent all the inspected silver boxes. All the money was put aside, ready to be put into the treasury together.
Seeing these actions of Shen Ao, Zhong Xi, who was drinking tea, secretly scolded himself for talking too much, but the expression on his face did not change at all. He was still sitting there drinking tea as steady as a mountain. There is no problem with the silver, I don't care. He looked like he was in a loss. Not only that, from time to time he would urge, "You guys move faster, His Royal Highness is still waiting for our family to reply."
"Call some more people and speed up the process." Shen Ao nodded lightly and said to the guard captain Shi Lei beside him. But he was thinking in his heart that it was too troublesome for money to always be traded back and forth like this, and it was inevitable in the process. There will be some losses. Is it possible to consider opening a bank to get out the banknotes?
But this question is just a thought in his mind. If you want to open a bank, you need to have a very good reputation and strength. Now he still lacks a lot. If he acts rashly, once someone wants to make a bank, he does not have enough. Protecting yourself without your ability will only end up giving others an advantage and causing more trouble.
Shi Lei came back quickly and brought dozens of guards. With their help, the test was accelerated, and after half an hour, the results were available. With this final result, Shen Xing had a smile on his face. Suspicious, he walked towards Shen Ao.
"There's a problem." Noticing Shen Xing's expression, Shen Ao asked in a deep voice.
"There is a problem. Three hundred thousand taels are missing." Shen Xing answered truthfully.
"It's missing...three hundred thousand." Shen Ao frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed it and said, "I must have made a mistake. Check again."
Ten million taels, either one or two million taels less, or all of it. A shortfall of three hundred thousand taels is something that shouldn’t happen. I’ve already taken most of it, is there still such a little difference? This should be the point below That's wrong. After all, those guards have some skills, but when it comes to counting money, they are a little worse.
Apparently Shen Xing thought so too, and nodded quickly and said, "I'm going to call the second shopkeeper Fan Bai. Some of his people count money quickly and accurately."
"Okay." Shen Ao nodded in agreement.
None of this was meant to be hidden from anyone. Zhong Xi heard it clearly. It was precisely because he heard it that he looked a little unnatural. On the surface, he pretended to be unhappy and said, "What's the matter? How could our East Palace be short of such a small amount of silver? You must have counted it wrong. Besides, it’s only three hundred thousand taels of silver. Compared to ten million, it’s nothing. It’s better to just leave it like this. Our family is still waiting to go back. I am delivering a message to His Highness the Crown Prince."
The prince was carried out again, but what Shen Ao heard was the lack of confidence in Zhong Xi's words.
First, they emphasized that the lack of money was their responsibility, and then said that they would not be short of this little money, urging them to hand over the money as soon as possible. The more urgent it was, the less anxious Shen Ao was. He turned around and smiled happily at Zhong. He smiled and said, "Eunuch Zhong, this is Guochanglong's business. It involves the current emperor and the eldest princess. It's really not a problem. I have to wait a little longer. Please don't worry, Eunuch Zhong. I'll check it out later." If there is nothing wrong, I will not let my father-in-law wait in vain."
"Huh! Hurry up then." Zhong Xi didn't care about Shen Ao's silver reward. He didn't want to rush too hastily and make himself seem to have a guilty conscience. But he didn't know that what he did was unrestrained. In Shen Ao's eyes, it was already a sign of guilty conscience and problems.
Fan Bai also came, bringing with him thirty followers. With their participation, the checking speed was not only accelerated, but also more accurate. The guards only needed to check the counted silver once and twice. Just check and make sure you don't make any mistakes.
After another round of troubles, the result was the same as the first time, only 9.7 million taels, which was still short of the 300,000. When Shen Xing reported the result to Shen Ao, Duke Zhongguo's expression changed. He became cold. "Eunuch Zhong, the amount of money is wrong."
