Chapter 329: The debt
It was not until they reached the old lady's courtyard that Ping'er forcefully pulled her hand out of Jia Cong's and headed towards the hall first!
When Jia Cong entered the room, he saw that not only the old lady was there, but also Baochai, Daiyu and others were all there.
After greeting everyone, the old lady hesitated and wanted to speak, but she held back. Seeing Jia Cong sitting down, Daiyu said, "Third brother, second uncle said that Baoyu made a mistake in the clan school?"
Jia Cong naturally knew that Daiyu was trying to save the old lady's face by bringing up this topic. As expected, the old lady also spoke up, "Grandson, Baoyu may be bored in the clan school, so he is making trouble. You must not punish him too harshly."
"Don't worry, ancestor!" Jia Cong said with a smile, "If we really punish him according to the rules of the clan school, it will naturally not be light. But Brother Bao is the legitimate son of my second uncle after all, so there is love outside the law. Although we can't ignore it, we won't be too harsh."
"Those who followed Brother Bao were kicked out of the clan school after dozens of fights! No matter which family these disciples are from, we cannot let them bring shame to our family in the clan school!"
"Yes, yes, yes, it is these bad ruffians who are seducing my Baoyu and making trouble. It is better to drive them out!" said the old lady hurriedly.
"Second Brother Bao's servant not only doesn't know how to advise his master, but also dares to take advantage of his master's power to make trouble in the clan school and even insult the professors of the prefectural school. What is such a servant for? Moreover, after all, Second Brother Bao was wrong, and it is only right for this servant to be punished on behalf of his master. My grandson will beat him to death with a stick. This will not only set rules for the clan school, but also give an explanation to those old professors."
"As for Second Brother Bao, he was only given twenty lashes and asked to go to the ancestral hall to apologize to the ancestors! You can go to the clan school in a few days!"
Jia Cong's words made everyone in the mansion terrified but also slightly relieved.
After all, compared to other people, Baoyu's punishment was indeed very light. However, the old lady and Wang were still worried, and Wang's eyes were full of hatred when she looked at Jia Cong! However, Wang was not a fool. She knew that Jia Cong's status was not something she could control, so she immediately cried to the old lady and said, "Old lady, our Baoyu is weak. Not only was he beaten with twenty whips, but he also had to kneel in the ancestral hall. How can he survive this?"
"What if I develop some underlying disease? What will I do in the future?"
"How dare you!" Before anyone else could say anything, Jia Zheng jumped up in anger, "You foolish woman, that wicked boy committed a serious crime, and Cong-ge'er has shown mercy? In my opinion, he should have been beaten to death, and now you dare to say more? Well, I will go and punish him myself."
Having said that, he was about to rush out!
Jia Cong rushed forward and grabbed him. The old lady also shouted angrily, "You, a man, are angry at the women in our backyard. Do you think you are so powerful? Do you want to beat them up? Who are you going to beat? You might as well beat me, an old woman, too."
After she finished speaking, the old lady ignored Wang and looked towards Jia Cong, "Grandson, look..."
Jia Cong helped Jia Zheng sit down, and then said to the old lady, "Don't worry, old ancestor. After returning home, I have asked the doctor to check on Brother Bao. It was just a skin break, and he has also been given medicine. The ancestral hall has also sent someone to take care of him, so he will not be short of food and daily necessities!"
"I know the old lady loves Brother Bao, but this time we can't let it go so easily."
"I think my second uncle has also told the old lady about what Second Brother Bao did in the clan school. Why is the clan school professor so angry? Because this not only hurts the reputation of my Jia family, but also hurts their reputation! If I don't punish him today , who will come to my Jia family school to teach?"
"Moreover, the clan school set up the rules in the beginning. Now, in addition to our children, all the children of our in-laws, and the children of the eight dukes and twelve marquises are included. If the rules are broken, then all the efforts our clan school has put in will be in vain."
After hearing what Jia Cong said, the old lady could only sigh and said, "Well, then I'll let you do it! However, let one or two of Baoyu's maids and servants go over to take care of him, so that you don't have to worry about him."
Jia Cong nodded his head and agreed. Then, the old lady asked again, "Your second uncle mentioned something about owing money before, but he didn't explain it clearly. I know about the debt, but if our family pays it back first, won't we offend other families?"
"Mother actually knew about the debt?" Jia Zheng asked in astonishment, "With our family's wealth, do we still need to owe money to the court?"
Jia Cong smiled and said, "Second Uncle, there are so many important events in our two mansions every year, which one does not cost money? Naturally, there will be times when we are short of money. However, if it is just like this, with the old lady here, we can at least make some money, so that we don't have to go on credit. But all the mansions borrow money from the Ministry of Revenue. If our mansion does not borrow money, won't it alienate us from other mansions?"
The old lady on the high couch also nodded and said, "Just as my grandson said, after the capital was moved to Shenjing, because most of the industries of each prefecture were left in Jinling, each prefecture had a hard time making ends meet. Therefore, almost every family borrowed money from the Ministry of Revenue to a greater or lesser extent!"
"In addition, during the reign of the Emperor Retired, the expenses of the various families for the many southern tours were also considerable. Money was also spent like water."
"The total amount of silver borrowed by our palace is 500,000 taels, of which about 200,000 or 300,000 were spent by the Emperor during his southern tour, and the rest was borrowed from other palaces."
"In that case, it was fine before, but now that Ruhai has taken office, it is time for him to accumulate merits. So our family should return the money as soon as possible, otherwise it will make it difficult for Ruhai to do his job," Jia Zheng said immediately.
The old lady didn't bother to pay attention to this stubborn son, and instead looked at Jia Cong.
Jia Cong smiled and said, "Don't worry, old lady. I have already informed the eight dukes and twelve marquises about this matter. Naturally, our family will not go alone to pay it back!"
"The other prefectures also pay according to their own circumstances. Those who can pay off the money will naturally do so the best. Those who don't have enough money will also have to use part of it to pay it back first."
"As for offending other people, you don't have to worry about it! With your grandson's current status, let alone not offending anyone, even if he did offend someone, who would dare to cause trouble for our family?"
"Now is the time for Your Majesty to make great use of the founding lineage. Therefore, paying off the debt will benefit the eight dukes and twelve marquises, the Wang family, the Shi family, and my uncle. On the contrary, if this matter is postponed for too long, it will be bad. Besides, this silver has been owed for many years. Can it really be kept unpaid forever ?"
"Is it the way of a minister to make His Majesty unhappy for the sake of some external things?"
