By the time Fourth Brother returned to the household department, it was almost early afternoon.
Brother Ninth was already drowsy.
When he heard the noise outside, he woke up and got up from the chair.
The fourth elder brother was standing at the door, looking at the cramped little room and feeling very dissatisfied.
It was a small house, with a kang under the south window, and with tables and chairs on the floor, there was not much space left.
That is to say, the ninth elder brother is thin, but anyone with a physique like the fifth elder brother would feel unable to move while spinning on the ground.
He then looked at the partition between the west room and the main room, which was made of wooden boards.
Brother Jiu had a bad feeling when he saw his expression.
Sure enough, the fourth brother said: "This room is small, why don't we cut off the middle partition?"
That way, if all three rooms are connected, it won't be so depressing.
Brother Jiu hurriedly said: "It's just right now. It's enough. It's enough. The house is small to store the energy, but it's useless if it's big."
Brother Si looked at the empty space in the west room and said, "Isn't it small? I removed the partition wall and connected it to the middle room, so it doesn't feel boring..."
Brother Jiu shook his head and said: "It's not small. If you think it's small, just go to the partition in the east room and open up those two rooms. It's enough for me..."
At this point, he said "hehe" twice: "This is just right, otherwise I would feel uncomfortable under the eyes of fourth brother all day long, for fear of making a fuss and affecting your handling of official duties..."
Brother Si glanced at him and looked at the kang.
Needless to say, this is someone who wants to be lazy.
Brother Jiu was afraid that he would continue to be verbose, so he changed his words and said: "What did Khan Ama bother you with this early in the morning?"
Since it was a government matter, there was nothing that could not be discussed, so Brother Si told Li Guangdi that he planned to use cement slabs to build embankments, and that the Ministry of Revenue had set aside 10 million taels of silver to prepare for the construction of embankments on the lower reaches of the Yellow River.
Brother Jiu's eyes widened and he said in surprise: "Ten million taels?! This is as much money as three years of river work!"
Nowadays, the Ministry of Household Affairs collects about 30 million taels of silver per year, and the annual expenditure on river labor is 10% to 15%, which is about 3 million taels to 4.5 million taels.
Fourth Brother said: "Not to mention once and for all, even if it lasts for ten or twenty years, the money spent is still worth it."
After hearing this, Brother Jiu frowned and said: "But this is a new thing after all. Even if it is used in the Yongding River, it will take three to five years to see whether it is strong or not. We plan to use it in the Yellow River in the second half of the year."
Isn’t it too hasty?”
He is not afraid of taking responsibility or anything, but he is worried that he will spend too much money at once and lose money again.
Fourth Brother said: "Khan Ama should have asked someone to try it, otherwise Li Guangdi would not be allowed to try it on the Yongding River. It is estimated that it will cost 200,000 taels of silver, which is not a small amount."
Brother Jiu felt relieved and said: "That's okay, you have to know how to make it strong before use. Anyway, the river is managed every year, which is not less than this year and a half. There is a lot of money involved, so it is better to be safe..."
While they were talking, He Yuzhu came in and said, "Sir, Guard Cao took my souvenir and came to pay the money."
Brother Jiu immediately stood up and said excitedly: "I just happened to see the Bank of the Household Bank..."
The fourth elder brother looked at the ninth elder brother and said disapprovingly: "Why do you want to pay money? It's not a household check?"
When they opened the government in 1937, all they received were household checks.
Who was so kind as to transport more than 200,000 taels of silver back?
Brother Jiu smiled and said: "My younger brother has a bank and a silver house in his name. He is short of silver. It is convenient to just take the silver and turn it into gold and save it..."
Two hundred and thirty thousand taels of silver, which is equivalent to more than 20,000 taels of gold, or more than a thousand kilograms. It will be more convenient to store it in Baylor Mansion or transport it directly to Suzhou.
Seeing the excitement of the ninth elder brother, the fourth elder brother did not stop him and followed him out, saying: "The bank of Hubu is at the very back of the Hubu Yamen, also known as the 'back treasury'. There are currently more than 50 million in silver in the account."
Two, more than four thousand eight hundred taels of gold..."
Brother Jiu was puzzled when he heard this: "Why is the disparity so huge? There is so little gold?"
Brother Si said: "The silver in the household's treasury is all tax money from various provinces. There has always been more silver than gold."
Brother Ninth said: "This is different from the inner treasury. My younger brother has also seen the internal treasury. The gold and silver account for almost 50% each."
Mentioning this, Brother Jiu was moved and said: "Fourth brother, since there is gold in this bank, can we directly convert part of it into gold and withdraw it?"
That way, it would save him trouble.
The fourth elder brother shook his head and said: "No, there is little gold in the household department, and there are rules for how to use it. When new money is issued, it can be used to create money mothers or be used to give gold to foreign vassals and clan members..."
Brother Jiu thought about this and let it go.
Cao Shun was already waiting outside, along with the doctor in charge of the treasury.
The group arrived at the Hubu back office.
At the entrance of the bank, there are officers and soldiers from the guard camp with yellow flags on duty.
This is the same as the inner treasury, which is staffed by the emperor to guard the treasury.
There are not many people, there are ninety people in each of the three flags, divided into three shifts.
The leader is a third-grade guard military officer.
Every time the warehouse is opened, it must be opened by the warehouse manager and the guard leader on duty.
Yesterday, the decree of knighthood came down, and today the people from Baylor Mansion came to collect the money to open the mansion, which is also in line with the rules.
After the chief counselor paid his respects to Brother Four and Brother Nine, he followed the rules and prepared to open the warehouse.
Before that, there were various procedures, such as signing and depositing, which were quite cumbersome.
When the ninth elder brother saw it, he told He Yuzhu: "Go to the clan's mansion and ask your tenth master if you would like some money. It would be very troublesome to open the treasury this time..."
He Yuzhu responded, left the household department, and went to the clan mansion.
Over a cup of tea, the tenth prince followed He Yuzhu over.
The warehouse here has been opened, and the doctor from the household department took people outside to count and carry out more than a dozen boxes.
Inside are silver cakes weighing one hundred taels of silver. One box weighs five thousand taels, or more than three hundred kilograms.
Brother Jiu glanced at Yinku for a few times and lost interest.
There are two layers of doors, one is the main door, and the other is the small door that divides the rooms inside, which is similar to the layout of the inner warehouse.
These gates are made of cast iron, which are fireproof, waterproof, and heavy.
Every time the gate is opened, a dozen guards must be dispatched on each side to open it.
In this way, fraud will be prevented.
You can't open the bank door simply by taking the key.
Seeing the tenth brother coming, the ninth brother said: "Do you want official tickets or money? If you want money, we will pull together today. Cao Shun has prepared several carriages. Just transport it a few more times."
If you want official tickets, you have to go to the bank hanging under the household department to exchange silver, which can be exchanged in bulk. If you want to exchange a large amount, you have to ask someone to say hello in advance.
The tenth brother looked at the cash box on the floor and said, "Since we have opened the warehouse once, we should also need some silver just like the ninth brother."
He was here, and he had his own seal in his wallet. He went through the payment procedures directly with the doctor of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and then sent Wang Changshou back to the county palace.
The carriage can be from Jiubele Mansion, but the County Prince's Mansion also needs to arrange personnel to escort it into the warehouse.
Cao Shun also brought fifty guards, but they were all waiting outside the Hubu Yamen.
As for the section from the bank to the door of the Hubu Yamen, the guards pushed it out with carts.
There are more than 40 boxes in total. The cart can push two boxes at a time, so it takes 20 trips back and forth.
Brother Jiu has always been generous, so he told He Yuzhu: "Prepare tea money, don't let everyone's hard work go in vain."
He Yuzhu responded, took out a purse and stuffed it into the small school next to the counselor. There were several banknotes in it, one for fifty taels and five for ten taels.
There are ninety guards on duty today, but there are only about twenty people guarding the gate and helping to carry things.
After seeing the rare things, the ninth elder brother lost his patience and left Sun Jin and Cao Shun to guard here. He took the tenth elder brother and the fourth elder brother back to the value room.
Brother Ten didn't expect that he would change his house.
He didn't mind that the wing room was small. He looked at the wide open window and said, "It's better than the east wing room, and it looks brighter."
Brother Ninth said proudly: "It's because Fourth Brother felt sorry for me and asked someone to spare it."
Brother Si coughed slightly and said, "You guys speak for yourself, I'm going to read the paperwork first..."
Brother Jiu said: "Then go and do your work!"
What he was most satisfied with was that they were no longer in the same room, and he no longer had to read the files.
His plans were written all over his face. The fourth elder brother was speechless, but for the sake of the tenth elder brother, he did not reprimand him and went to the east room.
He Yuzhu knew what was going on, so he took the teapot down and went to the hot water room to pour some tea.
The ninth elder brother and the tenth elder brother sat beside the kang.
The tenth elder brother said: "Brother Ninth, you can speak with silver. I have no place to use the silver. It will be stored in the warehouse when it is shipped out."
Brother Jiu said: "I have enough. I plan to take one hundred thousand taels of silver and break it into gold and send it to Ji Hong so that he can buy more land near Taihu Lake in Suzhou."
After hearing this, Brother Ten felt a little worried and said: "Expand the orange orchard? We won't need so much, right? Is the tea plantation more stable?"
Brother Jiu raised his eyebrows and said: "It's not an orange orchard, nor a tea garden. I'll tell you in detail at home another day. It's just a profitable business. It may take three to five years to see any profit..."
Brother Ten saw that he knew what he was thinking, so he said: "That's good. The road is far away, the loss is too great, and it's not something to satisfy your hunger. There are a lot of people in the capital who can buy it. It's useless to have too much..."