Chapter 726: If you borrow, you must repay. It will not be difficult to borrow again!
Hearing Chen Wu say this, Murong Yuliang’s heart immediately became anxious·······················
Taking a deep breath secretly, Murong Yuliang asked:
"Who is this guy?"

Although he was asking Chen Wu a question, Murong Yuliang seemed to already know the answer and closed his eyes in pain.

At this critical moment, Chen Wu said apologetically:
"I'm sorry, Second Master. I haven't found the evidence yet. I had already tracked down their upstream supplier and was about to solve the mystery, but I was chased by some men in black. I had no choice but to hide temporarily, but they still found my tracks!"

After hearing what Chen Wu said, Murong Yuliang became even more confused. After pondering for a moment, he asked:
"What clues do you have now?"

Chen Wu thought for a moment and said:

"The boss of this thorn hidden in the mansion is called Qu Liu. He used to be a clerk in the Cui family's business in Liaoyang. Later, because he was big and strong, but also prudent, he was given a job as a rent collector in the Cui family. Later, the Fengwu Army bought the land, and Qu Wu had no work to do, so he started doing some shady things for the Cui family!"

After hearing Chen Wu's detailed explanation, Murong Yuliang was also a little confused. He asked in confusion without waiting for Chen Wu to finish:

"Chen Wu, you've only been in Yujing for a few days, how do you know so much?"

In response to Murong Yuliang's question, Chen Wu hesitated for a few seconds, but still answered truthfully:
“When the Second Master was still working in Liaoyang, I met this Qu Liu when I went to Liaoyang…”

Although he was still somewhat puzzled, seeing that Chen Wu seemed reluctant to talk more, Murong Yuliang just looked at him deeply, but did not ask any more questions. Instead, he continued to instruct:
"Just keep talking!"

"Yes!"

"After I met Qu Liu in secret, I was sure that this matter was definitely related to the Cui family. I kept an eye on Qu Liu in secret. Sure enough, one day later, Qu Liu went to the Herb Hall in the city and took back a letter!

"I don't know what was written on the note, but I heard Qu Liu laugh and curse at the little brat after reading it."

Later, I planned to capture Qu Liu alive and force him to tell me who the person he was secretly in contact with was, but Qu Liu escaped accidentally. Later, I was chased by someone, so I hid myself and wanted to wait until the storm was over before looking for the adults. Unexpectedly, my hiding place was discovered, and I ended up like this now.

After listening to what Chen Wu said, Murong Yuliang frowned, and after pondering for a moment, he instructed Chen Wu:
"You can have a good rest here!"

"Thank you for your consideration!"

Murong Yuliang walked out of the room with a very heavy heart. He thought Chen Wu would help him solve the mystery, but he didn't expect that instead of solving the mystery, he brought him a bigger mystery. Now the only clue is this Herb Hall.

In that case, let’s see who in the mansion has gone to the Herb Hall during this period································

Thinking of this, Murong Yuliang wanted to find the housekeeper to investigate the matter. However, just when he was about to order the servant beside him to call housekeeper Wang to his side, he looked up and found that housekeeper Wang with a very serious expression was walking towards him quickly.

Seeing this, an idea immediately emerged in Murong Yuliang's mind - something happened!
As expected, Butler Wang walked up to him and whispered:
"Master, Madam Zhao is dead!"

After saying this, Murong Yuliang subconsciously asked back:
"The Zhao Ma who cooked?"

"That's right! It's her!" Butler Wang whispered:

Although Murong Yuliang's expression did not change after hearing this, he was very confused in his heart. Just when he was about to investigate, someone died in the mansion, and it was the nanny who was in charge of purchasing and cooking. This really makes people think deeply!

After a moment of silence, Murong Yuliang asked again:
"Wasn't she fine a few days ago? How could she die so suddenly?"

Facing Murong Yuliang's question, Steward Wang said without hesitation:
"Madame Zhao has had chest pain for several years. It might be a heart attack, but..."

Looking at Steward Wang who was hesitant to speak, Murong Yuliang ordered in a deep voice:

"Don't hesitate when speaking, just say whatever you want to say!"

After getting Murong Yuliang's permission, Steward Wang then boldly said:

"Master, I always feel like Aunt Zhao was poisoned!"

Murong Yuliang was shocked when he heard this, but he continued to ask:
“How come you see?”

Steward Wang shook his head and said:
“It just feels like it!”

Murong Yuliang thought for a few seconds and said in a deep voice:
"You need to investigate secretly to see if Aunt Zhao has been to the Herbal Hall in the city in the past few days! In addition to her, you need to make a list of everyone else who has left the house in the past few days and give it to me!"

Although he didn't know why Murong Yuliang was investigating this, seeing Murong Yuliang's serious expression, Steward Wang also knew that the matter was of great importance, so he did not dare to neglect and said respectfully:
"yes··························"

·······································
·······································
Yijing, the back garden of the Governor's Mansion
A beautiful marriage passed down through the ages
Wang Erjie and Zhang Tingxiu passed down the story through the ages

The second elder brother went to Beijing to take the imperial examination, while the second elder sister waited anxiously at home.

I only saw the wild geese flying across the sky, but I didn't see my second brother.

Spring comes and goes, the moon waxes and wanes

My second brother has been gone for six years, and my second sister has been missing him for so long.

I don't want you to be a high official, nor do I mind your poverty.

As long as we love each other forever, we will have no regrets about missing each other, and our love will be passed down through the ages.

······
······
Pointing at the role on the stage, Ye Mingsheng smiled and asked Ye Cui beside him:

"Mother, how are they singing Huibeiji?" Listening to Ye Mingsheng's question, Ye Cui smiled and nodded and said:

"They sang really well. When it's your birthday next month, Sheng'er, let them come over and sing for a while!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said:

"No problem, Mom! As long as you like it, let them come and sing every day!"

Because of the expedition to Hebei and Henan, Ye Mingsheng missed Ye Cui's birthday banquet. After returning home, he heard that his mother was worried because of him leading the troops to the expedition, and she lost her appetite and even couldn't concentrate on watching her favorite play.

Ye Mingsheng felt a little guilty about this, so after returning home, he tried his best to accompany Ye Cui and fulfill his filial piety. Knowing that Ye Cui liked watching plays, he found the best opera troupe in Yijing and performed operas in the mansion for several days in a row.

Ye Cui's favorite songs, such as Bao Gong's Compensation and Huibei Ji, are all sung once! Let me enjoy it all!

After accompanying Ye Cui for about an incense stick of time, Ye Cheng came behind Ye Mingsheng. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng asked for leave from Ye Cui, and then took Ye Cheng back to the study. At this time, Cui Shao, Gu Sansi, Zhang Juning and Ye Hongsheng were all waiting for him in the study...

After the four of them greeted Ye Mingsheng, Ye Mingsheng got straight to the point and asked:

"Ju Ning, Hong Sheng! Tell me the truth, how much money do you have? I want to hear the truth!"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Zhang Juning was the first to stand up and say:
"Sir, there are more than 115,000 taels of silver in the account now! This is all the money left in our Finance Department!"

After getting the answer from Zhang Juning, Ye Mingsheng looked at Ye Hongsheng who was in charge of Dadongsheng Company. Under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, Ye Hongsheng stood up and said:
"We still have 150,000 taels of silver in our Dadongsheng Company account!"

Hearing this answer, Ye Mingsheng said calmly:
"I want to hear the truth. Don't play word games with me or fool me!"

Seeing that Ye Mingsheng had seen through his trick, Ye Hongsheng said helplessly;
"We have earned 300,000 taels of silver from Jiangnan in the past two months. The silver has been loaded onto ships from Jianglin five days ago. It will take about seven days to transport it back!"

Ye Mingsheng didn't say anything after hearing this. He thought for a few seconds before slowly speaking:

"Over the past three months, our army has had a very difficult time fighting on the Yunbing and Hebei-Henan battlefields. The specific casualty figures from the General Staff have not yet come out, but it is estimated that the casualties on the two fronts combined are at least 70,000..."

After hearing what Ye Mingsheng said, Cui Shao's expression remained calm, but the remaining three people looked at each other in bewilderment. Although they, the civil servants in Yijing, knew that the Fengwu Army was fighting very fiercely on the front line, they did not expect the situation to be even more cruel than they had imagined. There were at least 70,000 casualties!
How many troops does the Fengwu Army have in total?
After being amazed, everyone realized the problem. What should be done to provide compensation for the 70,000 casualties?
In addition to pensions, meritorious soldiers will also be rewarded with a large sum of silver!

Seeing that everyone was aware of the problem, Ye Mingsheng calmly asked:
"Do you have any solution?"

After Ye Mingsheng finished speaking, no one said much. They all knew very well that according to the regulations of the Fengwu Army, the pensions for these 70,000 people plus the rewards for meritorious soldiers would require at least one million taels of silver, but now the Fengwu Army only had 560,000 taels of silver in its account.

Let’s not talk about how to maintain the operation of the provincial government, the provincial procuratorate and other government offices without silver. Even if all the silver is distributed to the army, there is still a hole of 500,000 taels of silver waiting to be filled...
The solution now is to either increase revenue or cut costs!

To increase revenue, the methods are nothing more than selling bonds, raising taxes, or oppressing the aristocratic families. To save money, the methods are nothing more than lowering the standards of pensions and rewards. However, will the military agree to do so?
When no one spoke, Ye Hongsheng said awkwardly:

"Marshal, the first batch of short-term bonds issued by our Dadongsheng will expire next month. What do you think..."

After Ye Hongsheng finished speaking, Cui Shao, who had been silent, said:

"General, this bond has 50,000 taels of silver from our Cui family. At this difficult time for our Fengwu Army, our Cui family is not the kind of person who would kick someone when they are down. We will give up this 50,000 tael bond!"

As soon as these words came out, Ye Hongsheng, the shopkeeper of Dadongsheng Company, smiled happily and said to Cui Shao:

"Master Cui is so righteous! He is worthy of being the pillar of our Fengwu Army!"

Facing Ye Hongsheng's praise, Cui Shao said calmly:
"Master Ye, thank you for your praise. I am just doing what I should do!"

Hearing this, Ye Hongsheng immediately wanted to praise Cui Shao. This short-term bond that had matured was worth a total of 200,000 taels of silver, which was mainly purchased by the Cui, Gongsun, and Yun families. Although the Cui family no longer wanted their share of 50,000 taels of silver, they still had to repay the remaining 150,000 taels...

The Gongsun family and the Yun family now follow Cui Shao's lead, so as long as Cui Shao agrees to help, the Yun family and the Gongsun family may also be spared. If these three families do not have to repay the bonds, then the remaining bonds will only be more than 10,000 taels of silver, which will not be a big problem!
Just when Ye Hongsheng was thinking about how to make Cui Shao happy, Ye Mingsheng said:
"Uncle, you are very righteous and upright! You are a blessing to our Fengwu Army. However, as the saying goes, if you borrow, you must repay. It is not difficult to borrow again! Since we agreed to borrow the money, I must return it to you!"

At this point, Ye Mingsheng turned to look at Ye Hongsheng and ordered:

"Mr. Hong! Don't wait until next month for these bonds to mature. When you get the silver shipped from Jiangnan back, return the money with interest to each family!"

After Ye Mingsheng said this, Ye Hongsheng was stunned. He didn't know what the usually shrewd and brave commander was doing. The total amount of this bond was 200,000 taels of silver. If he paid back this money at this critical juncture, wouldn't the hole in the army's money be even bigger?··························

Just when Ye Hongsheng wanted to say something, he saw Ye Mingsheng's eyes. After hesitating for a few seconds, he finally nodded and said:

"Yes! I will follow your orders!"

Just when Ye Hongsheng was very distressed, Cui Shao understood Ye Mingsheng's thoughts and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

When he bought the bonds, he had never thought that the Fengwu Army would be able to pay him back. He just regarded it as an investment in the Fengwu Army. Today, he thought that 50,000 taels of silver would be enough, but now it seems that Ye Mingsheng wants him to pay more!

Although he felt somewhat helpless, Cui Shao also understood that the Fengwu Army was now short of money. If this critical juncture could not be properly overcome, the morale of the army might be affected.

At the same time, after getting along with Ye Mingsheng for so many years, Cui Shao has also summed up some experience. If you confront Ye Mingsheng head-on and play hard, then Ye Mingsheng will definitely deal with you. But if you play softly with Ye Mingsheng, then Ye Mingsheng may think of some family affection...

(End of this chapter)