HCB Chapter 348 First Arrival in Xi County
Chapter 348 First Arrival in Xi County
Ye Xiuyong glanced at him, then looked at Lu Yingxing, and then realized belatedly that his current identity was actually the brother-in-law of these two people! Ha! Ha! Ha!
"Oh! One of the two bosses of 'Yuyifang' is my biological sister, and the other is my biological sister. If you want to know, I'll just go and ask!" After saying that, he raised his chin proudly and successfully received two streams of cold air coming from different directions.
"Hey! Your Highness, don't keep us in suspense! Tell them now!" Although others may not know the amount, Manager Fu knows it. That's why he admires the princess even more. She can actually think of considering it from this aspect. How smart!
Lu Yingxing nodded in agreement. "Madam did the math for me at the time. Taking Heming Courtyard as an example, the monthly allowance for ten ordinary servants is two taels of silver per month, which is two hundred and forty taels a year. Plus two sets of winter clothes and two sets of summer clothes a year, the clothing cost for ten people is about ninety taels a year. This does not include everyone's food expenses, extra red envelopes for festivals, and even the housekeeper's silver will be doubled, etc. Therefore, the total annual cost of servants in a courtyard of Prince Zhuo's Mansion is about three hundred and eighty to four hundred taels on average."
Satisfied to see everyone's bewildered faces, he continued, "This is only for the servants. There is no upper limit for the master's expenses. It varies from person to person. Take my wife and I as an example. Our living expenses for that month... living expenses refer to the purchase of clothes, jewelry, food, lamp oil, candles, four treasures of the study, gifts for interpersonal relationships, social interactions and so on. Of course, it does not include temporary large expenses, such as the 80,000 taels that I recharged for my wife at the 'Yuyifang'..." When he said this, he deliberately glanced at Ye Xiuyong.
"Madam roughly calculated that in the month when we discussed this matter, the total expenses for the two of us were 320 taels. Taking this as an example, the total daily expenses would be 3,800 taels per year. Add some additional expenses, and we'll make it 5,000 taels..."
Seeing that everyone was so shocked that they couldn't even speak, he raised his head and concluded, "So there is only one Heming Courtyard, and the total expenditure for a year is about five thousand four hundred taels. At that time, there were only two masters in Zhuo Wangfu, my wife and I, so there was only one Heming Courtyard as the main courtyard. You have to know that the aristocratic families are all super families with deep roots..."
"Oh my God! Will I never be able to get married in this lifetime?" Wu Lie suddenly screamed, looking like he was about to cry.
Seeing him like this, Gao Yong thought for a moment and then comforted him, "As long as you don't marry a lady from a noble family, it will be fine. My aunt has a courtyard, and the monthly expenses are several hundred taels. I heard that the main courtyard has several thousand taels. Oh, and that doesn't include the gifts from the madam... I heard my aunt complain a little bit, saying that when Madam Tan celebrated her birthday earlier, the white jade Guanyin given by my stepmother cost three thousand taels, and this was just one of the gifts..."
Wu Lie glared at him and said, "You might as well not say anything!" Oh, it seems like I'm going to be a single dog for the rest of my life!
"The princess's words really woke me up. Although the hidden families may not be as luxurious as the royal palace, the money they have to spend privately is not less than this. Five thousand taels a year for a courtyard, and the annual expenditure of a family including its branches is an astronomical figure. No matter how much savings you have, there will always be a day when they will run out, so..."
Lu Yingxing followed Mr. Wu's words and said, "So, even though they don't have many businesses on the surface, it doesn't mean they won't operate them under someone else's name..."
Even the usually steady Wu Chen couldn't help but get excited. "So, we just need to compare those families with large assets and trace the whereabouts of their money. This is equivalent to finding the clues that those families have been trying to hide!!"
Finally there is a new direction and everyone is very excited.
The people from the Secret Service have been investigating the aristocratic families in Zhuo City, but the results have repeatedly disappointed them. Although on the surface, some surnames have disappeared from the public eye, the only existing family that still uses the surname of the aristocratic family of the previous dynasty is the Ji family, the maternal family of Prince Zhuo.
But everyone knows that the Song family and the Zhou family are the descendants of the Ou family and the Yun family, that is, the county magistrate of Lan County, Lord Song, and the county magistrate of Dong County, Lord Zhou… The direct line of the Yun family is in Youcheng, and the Ou family here is a side branch. Even the Su family and the Fu family of the previous dynasty still have people in Zhuocheng, but they are all inconspicuous and have no official positions.
But this intricate relationship always makes people have to pay attention to it.
The days passed one by one, and in the blink of an eye it was the beginning of August, and the Mid-Autumn Festival was only ten days away.
This year is a true reunion in Prince Zhuo's mansion. After the family went to pay homage to the old princess, Prince Zhuo stayed in the Bamboo Garden. That was the villa built specially for his wife after her marriage because he was afraid that she would not be used to the life in the city. It was also the reason why Lu Yingxing, who was eight years old at the time, insisted on burying his mother here.
The ones who are looking forward to the Mid-Autumn Festival more than them are the people who have followed from Los Angeles with their families. They are even looking forward to it to the point of counting the days and discussing it with everyone they meet.
Especially, he praises their princess to everyone he meets!
The reconstruction of Xi County has begun to take shape. Shen Yu was finally allowed to leave the city to check the progress under the escort of the four guardians...ah no, the four masters and divine doctors.
Shen Yu was drowsy sitting in the carriage. Just as he arrived at the gate of Xi County, he was awakened by a series of surprised calls.
"It's Princess Zhuo!"
"Yes! It's the little princess. I recognize the little princess' carriage!"
Shen Yu drew aside the curtains and saw smiling faces. Their clothes were only decent, at least their clothes were intact, but there were too many patches on the fabric. Despite this, the satisfaction and joy in their eyes were so obvious.
Shen Yu recognized the leading man, who was one of the first applicants at that time. He was very talented in carpentry and seemed to be called Brother Zhang.
Shen Yu smiled and greeted him, "Brother Zhang, why are you all here?"
Seeing that the princess could actually call out his name, the middle-aged man named Brother Zhang was so excited that he jumped up on the spot, his mouth almost grinning behind his ears, "Replying to the princess, the workshop is closed today. My brothers and I heard that the city gate was short of people, so we ran over to help. Everyone is looking forward to the completion of this new county town!"
"Yes, yes, Princess. My children asked me yesterday that Sister Princess agreed to let them try Zhuocheng's candied haws. They said that they were different from Luocheng's...hahahaha. I can't even say that word!"
"Princess, this time we..."
Shen Yu listened to them sharing about the arrangements made after arriving in Zhuocheng. Looking at their smiling faces, his heart was filled with joy. Everyone gathered around the carriage and started chatting.
The local people of Zhuocheng were also very curious and stood around to watch. It was the first time they heard that the princess could stand at the city gate and chat like this? I heard that the people of Youcheng next door would kneel down and kowtow even when they saw the concubine's motorcade. Why was the princess of their Zhuocheng so different?