EBE Chapter 135: Sharpening the Knife, the Tong Family is in Trouble
Chapter 135: Sharpening the Knife, the Tong Family is in Trouble
Chapter 135: Sharpening the Knife, the Tong Family is in Trouble
A lot of evidence had already been collected, and the rest was just a formality. Soon, the matter concerning Chen Tingjing was investigated clearly. He indeed had not taken any bribes, and was released directly.
However, there were only 500,000 taels of tax silver left in the Ministry of Revenue. Next, this matter had to be discussed directly in the court, because it was related to the future planning of the entire country and was no longer the matter of one person.
At this time, the officials also realized why the money in the national treasury was used up so quickly. Others might not understand, but how could they, who were still borrowing money, not know?
So the Emperor and the Crown Prince were playing a double game. They didn't want to lend the money anymore, so they wanted to get it back! They were wondering why the Crown Prince had been so tough recently, even impeaching the Emperor's most trusted Minister of Revenue. It seemed like they were just making an example of someone else, and Chen Tingjing had only been in jail for a short while, and after his innocence was proven, he had already been released. There was no loss at all.
At this time, Kangxi, sitting on the dragon throne, was of course aware that the ministers below had probably begun to blame him for going back on his word, but this time he was really angry and wanted to punish them, because the accumulated number had been too large so far. If it continued like this, the people would be supporting these parasites instead of building the Qing Dynasty.
This is all his money. If you want to give it to him, it is a reward. But if you keep taking it, that is wrong.
After the matter was investigated, it was found that the emperor had directly ordered the collection of the outstanding silver. With the loan note, the ministers in the court had no choice but to deny it even if they wanted to. It was written in black and white, and even had the official seal.
However, the emperor handed the matter over to the Fourth Prince and the Ninth Prince, and did not ask for a time limit for the return of the money. This made the ministers, who were originally somewhat desperate, become more active.
For a time, many ministers tried to find ways to visit the Fourth Prince's Mansion and the Ninth Prince's Mansion, and even the Fourth Lady received a lot of invitations.
However, this was originally their initiative. The Fourth Prince directly issued an order to close the door and return all invitations. As for the Ninth Prince, because he had not yet married and had not established a residence, he was still living in the South Three Residences. Even if these ministers had great power, they could not enter and leave the Forbidden City at will.
Since they had no other choice, they went to the Tongjia Mansion and the Guoluo Mansion, the two princes' maternal families.
At the Tong Mansion, after seeing off another wave of visitors, Tong Guowei's study was filled with the current head of the Tong family. Because Tong Guogang had passed away early, Orondai and Fahai also came to Tong Guowei's study to discuss matters.
Before anyone else could speak, Tong Guowei's third son, Longkodo, spoke directly: "Father, this is a simple matter. I'll have my wife send an invitation to the Fourth Prince's residence later, and I'll handle this matter. When the time comes, we can just ask the Fourth Prince to cross out the names of those who came today. It's not a difficult task."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tong Guogang's eldest son, Orondai, also agreed: "That's right, according to my nephew, there is no need to deliver the invitation. Just let the steward deliver a letter to the Fourth Prince. I believe the Fourth Prince knows what's right and wrong. Those names can be assumed to have been repaid. Besides, the loan of silver was promised by the emperor himself. It's a bit unreasonable for the two little princes to want to find out what happened now."
Tong Guowei and Fahai looked at their two cousins as if they were fools. Before they could say anything, they heard the other brothers in the room echoing Orondai and Longkodo. Now, even the usually calm Tong Guowei was a little panicked. He had never expected that these children he had carefully nurtured would be so ignorant of household affairs.
At this moment, he still can't see the risks his family is facing, and he is still shamelessly commenting on the prince.
"Shut up!" Tong Guowei couldn't help but shout angrily, "He's the prince, how can you just comment on him casually? Besides, what is the emperor's will? Do you know it? How dare you jump to conclusions here?"
After thinking for a moment, he hurriedly questioned the brothers standing below: "Tell me the truth, have you accepted any gifts these days?"
It seemed Tong Guowei was truly angry, his face flushing red. The cheerful chattering group immediately fell silent. Then, Orondai and Longkodo, not daring to look directly at Tong Guowei, spoke in a resounding, powerful voice: "No, we didn't take anything."
Tong Guowei stared at the two of them closely. He saw that they were a little guilty at first, but then they suddenly looked up and looked at him bravely, asking again, "Really?"
Orondai was anxious: "What are you doubting, Uncle? I am a first-class duke after all. What good things can I be interested in? Their bribes are not something I would be interested in."
"That's right, Father, you underestimate us too much. Our son has everything he needs. How can others bribe us?"
Tong Guowei thought about the daily life of Orondei and his son, and it seemed that there was indeed no big change. Orondei was already a first-class duke and a minister of the imperial guards. It could be said that he had no shortage of money and status. He would really look down on bribes from ordinary people. In this way, he should not have said that because of the temptation from the outside world.
As for Longkodo, although he does not hold a high position now, his family never lacks money, and he is also the emperor's first-class guard in the palace. It seems that what the two brothers said does make some sense.
However, "It's good that there is no money, but I don't want you to get involved in this matter. The steward will also give corresponding returns to those gifts later. You'd better stay at home honestly and don't go anywhere during this period. This time, collecting the money owed, my father sees that it doesn't seem like a joke. You were not there that day and didn't know that the emperor was really angry at that time.
Our Tong family is where we are today thanks to the Emperor's friendship. Once we are certain that it is His Majesty's will, we must follow His Majesty's will. Ye Keshu, you are the eldest son. Please sort out all the IOUs we have borrowed from the national treasury and then take stock of the family's savings. Keep them ready.
As for my eldest brother's family, Orondai, when you return, go and sort out the IOUs with Fahai. I remember that my eldest brother didn't borrow much at the time, so I think there should be enough cash in the family."
Hearing about the repayment, Orondai immediately got furious. He spent quite a bit of money every year. The amount of money that his second uncle said he owed was not much, but that was before his father passed away. When he first took over, the amount was not much, but in recent years, he loved gambling and lost a lot.
Moreover, this money was borrowed with the Emperor's permission. Back then, he borrowed whenever his family ran out of money, and now he relies on borrowing every month to get by. If, as his second uncle said, he had sorted out the debt, he would probably have a million in debt now. If he had to scrape together the money to pay off such a large amount, his family would have been in great trouble.
"Uncle, the emperor hasn't issued an order to return the money, and he hasn't specified a time limit. Wouldn't it be better if we pay back a few dozen taels first and then pay the rest later?"
This time, Longkodo did not join in the fun. In the past, he only said a few words when someone begged him. But now, his father said that the money had been paid back from the family treasury and it had nothing to do with him, so he did not join in the fun. However, hearing Orondai say this, Longkodo also felt incredible. His eldest cousin was a child of destiny. Not only was he the eldest son since childhood, but he also had a very bad temper, was arrogant and self-willed, and did not get along well with any of his brothers.
Even so, his eldest uncle passed away early, so he inherited his uncle's first-class dukedom. Over the years, he has always wanted to join the eldest prince's party. If it weren't for his father's repeated discipline and pleas, the emperor would have punished him long ago.
But why was my eldest cousin, who always looked down on everyone with arrogance, acting so strangely today? Why was he suddenly against paying back the money, and even saying something as childish as paying back a few dozen taels first?
Tong Guowei also saw something was amiss. Back then, he and his elder brother had each borrowed several thousand taels from the Ministry of Revenue to support the Emperor's policies. Now that this had happened, it was just a matter of a word. Why were they still talking about paying back a few dozen taels first? A family like theirs could easily come up with tens of thousands of taels, let alone thousands. What was there to hesitate about?
Thinking of this, Tong Guowei's expression became even more serious. He walked up to Orondai and said, "Tell me honestly, what's going on? Why did you say that? Is your family out of money? How could you be out of money?"
Seeing that Orondai kept his mouth shut and refused to speak, Tong Guowei couldn't help but look at Fahai on the other side: "Fahai, you speak."
Orondai immediately yelled at Fahai: "Don't tell me, if you dare to tell me, I will beat you to death."
Tong Guowei: "Olondai, you are so presumptuous! What nonsense are you talking about? What are you hiding?" Tong Guowei then turned his head and whispered to Haifa, "Fahai, tell me. Don't worry, Orondai won't dare to touch you. You are an official in the court now. If he touches your uncle, just tell the emperor directly."
Before Fahai could speak, Orondai said sinisterly across from him, "I dare not beat you to death, but I can kill your mother. If you want that bitch to live, don't disobey my orders."
Tong Guowei was completely unable to control his temper. He turned around and lashed out at Orondai with his whip. "Orondai, what are you saying? Fahai's mother was your father's concubine, your stepmother. How dare you use her to threaten Fahai? Are you still a descendant of the Tong family? How can you say such outrageous words?"
Orondai was also furious: "Second uncle, don't go too far. I, Orondai, respect you. You are my second uncle. If I don't respect you, you are just a first-class duke. In terms of title, we are equal. In terms of relationship, you are just my father's younger brother. It is not your turn to meddle in our family affairs."
After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and turned to leave, leaving behind the stunned crowd and Tong Guowei whose chest was heaving.
Tong Guowei pointed at the gradually retreating Orondai and said, "You, you, you..." Seeing that Tong Guowei was almost speechless due to anger, Fahai helped him sit down slowly on the chair and gently stroked his chest, "Second uncle, calm down." Then Ye Keshu poured a glass of water and handed it to Tong Guowei, "Father, you are well aware of your eldest cousin's temper. Even your uncle couldn't do anything about him back then. How much can you, as his uncle, do?"
Tong Guowei's expression gradually calmed down, and he took a sip of tea: "This Orondai is really becoming more and more lawless. He doesn't allow us to speak, so he must have concealed a lot. Fahai, tell me everything you know. Don't worry, your second uncle will keep it a secret, and your brothers in this room won't say anything either."
Tong Guowei then told his sons in the room, "I don't want your eldest cousin to hear what happened tonight. Don't reveal a single word. If I find out, you'll have to bear the consequences."
Ye Keshu, Dekexin, Longkodo and others nodded in agreement. They were not cousins, and if they really did not listen to their father, the consequences would be very serious.
Fahai didn't think of hiding it. He had seen clearly that the Tong family would still rely on his second uncle's lineage in the future, and their eldest brother was not reliable at all.
"My eldest brother has almost squandered half of the family fortune. After my father passed away, he became addicted to gambling. At first, he just gambled a little for fun, but later on, he started to gamble more and more, from a few dozen taels to hundreds and even thousands of taels. At first, my eldest brother only dealt with some of the unprofitable shops and farms in the mansion, but later he slowly started to touch those that my father had bought.
The nephew had originally planned to look for his second uncle, but one day, his eldest brother suddenly stopped using the assets and even redeemed some of them. However, one day later, the nephew discovered that his eldest brother had not given up gambling, but had listened to others' advice and found another way to repay the debt, which was to borrow money from the Ministry of Revenue.
If it weren't for the Fourth Prince and the Ninth Prince checking the silver, I wouldn't have planned to tell you, because borrowing silver is something every household does every day. But from what Second Uncle said today, I think this matter must be very serious, so I decided to tell him.
Tong Guowei hadn't expected Orondai to be so bold. His heart was pounding. Borrowing money from the Ministry of Revenue to gamble? Had he forgotten how the Heshuo Efu Mingshang died? He was beheaded for gambling a few thousand taels!
Tong Guowei stared at Fahai with eyes wide open: "Do you know how much money Orondai borrowed from the Ministry of Revenue?"
Fahai couldn't help but get nervous when he saw Tong Guowei's expression. He swallowed hard and said, "I estimate it's over a million now. I'll have to ask my big brother for the details."
Tong Guowei's pupils dilated instantly, and then his body fell backwards involuntarily.
"Ama", "Ama", "Second Uncle".