My uncle is Zhu Di

Chapter 74: King Zhao sets a trap
Zhu Yong took Xu Qin to another restaurant and asked for a private room.

Zhu Yong pushed Xu Qin to take the main seat, but Xu Qin immediately waved his hand and said, "What a joke, my two brothers-in-law are here. Besides, you are the host today, so it is most appropriate for you to sit in the main seat. I will sit below."

"No, that won't work. You can't do that." Zhu Yong still wanted Xu Qin to sit in the main seat.

"Hey, just sit down. This place is different from over there. There are only four of us, and we can just come here to have a meal! Over there, he wanted to step on me, so I can give him face and just sit down!" Xu Qin smiled and pushed Zhu Yong to sit down!

Yuan Rong also smiled and said, "Duke Cheng, please sit down. Think about it. You are the host today. If I sit down, I am the Marquis and you are the Duke. It is not appropriate. If Shakyabao sits down, I am the brother-in-law and Shakyabao is the younger brother. What do you think we should do? It is fine for the host to sit down. Hurry and sit down."

"Okay, then I'm being too arrogant. Let's all sit down and talk." Zhu Yong didn't refuse after hearing this. After all, they all said they sat down, and it would seem too pretentious if he didn't. Besides, it was mainly Xu Qin who said it.

The four of them sat down, and Xu Qin asked with a smile, "They asked me to come here today to discuss the matter of the Weaving Bureau selecting materials for the sea voyage, right?"

"Hehe, what else could it be besides this? I didn't want to go at first, but when I heard that you would go, my family, eh, to be honest, my father passed away suddenly. We lost 50,000 to 60,000 taels of silver for this funeral. Although my family still has some business, I'm not afraid of being laughed at. My father has only been a Duke for a few years. How can there be any good business or much money?

But there are so many people in the family, and, hey, Shakyabao, you know, your family is also a military family, and they have fought in wars. When those personal soldiers died, you need to pay money to appease them, otherwise, who will fight for you? Right? The money that His Majesty rewarded before, my family didn't have much left, so I heard that they invited you for this matter, so I went.

If I knew Qiu Jianqing was this kind of person, I would never go there, I might as well go to the door of your workshop and block you tomorrow." Zhu Yong said with a wry smile.

"Well, okay, eldest brother-in-law, third brother-in-law, what about you?" Xu Qin looked at Yuan Rong and Song Hu with a smile. Yuan Rong's wife was Princess Yong'an, Zhu Di's eldest daughter. Song Hu's wife was Princess Ancheng, Zhu Di's third daughter. Both were born to their aunt, Empress Xu.

"That's the purpose. To be honest, your third brother-in-law and I have also joined a porcelain workshop. In addition, Princess Daming has also sent someone to talk to your eldest cousin about the Chen family workshop. When she learned that Qiu Jianqing wanted to invite you to dinner, it was also a request. Your eldest cousin asked us to come over so that we can talk about it together. I didn't expect something like this to happen.

By the way, Sakyabao, when the Queen asks about this matter, you need to help us speak up. Hey, we haven't even had this meal yet, and it's already caused trouble. Don't you think Qiu Jianqing is too arrogant? His grandfather, Duke Qi, never argued, but why is he like this when it comes to him? "Yuan Rong sat there and said with a wry smile.

They had not expected this to happen. They were surprised that Qiu Jianqing, since he was asking for help, should have the attitude of asking for help. But they did not expect that Qiu Jianqing wanted to use his power to overwhelm others. However, this power was nothing in front of Xu Qin. How could he not know this?
"Okay, just tell me the name of your workshop later and I will choose one for you." Xu Qin said to the three of them with a smile.

Zhu Yong and Yuan Rong looked at Xu Qin in surprise. He just agreed like that? So simple?
"What?" Xu Qin looked at the three of them in confusion.

Yuan Rong thought about it for a moment and said, "Shajiabao, you, you should think about it. This is not a small matter. Besides, you just agree to it? What if His Majesty and the Queen find out and blame you?"

"Yes, we want to ask you for help, but you agreed so quickly that we are a little uncomfortable with it." Zhu Yong also nodded and said that he was indeed a little uncomfortable with it.

Xu Qin waved his hand and said with a smile: "It's not a big deal. I have the final say on the weaving bureau and overseas trade. It doesn't matter who I buy from. As long as there is no problem with the quality, it's fine, right? If there is a quality problem, don't blame me."

"Don't worry about that!" The three of them nodded immediately.

"That's fine. Just go with the market price and there will be no problem with the quality. Don't I even have this little power?" Xu Qin smiled proudly.

Zhu Yong gave Xu Qin a thumbs up, and then said with emotion: "I can't drink now, otherwise I would have to toast you a glass. How about tea later? Thank you for your help. To be honest, my family is almost out of money, but that's a lie. But anyway, it's pretty tight!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Qin took out a stack of silver bills from his pocket, took out two five-thousand-yuan bills, and handed them to Zhu Yong.

"This, this, what does this mean?" Zhu Yong asked Xu Qin in surprise.

"Take it and return it to me when you have money. The New Year is in less than two months. Shouldn't you prepare New Year's goods in advance? This is your first year in charge of the family. No matter what, you have to save face! I'm lending it to you. Return it to me when you make money!" Xu Qin said as he put a stack of banknotes into his pocket.

"I, I, I'm not polite. I was thinking of borrowing some money from someone to deal with this year." When Zhu Yong heard what Xu Qin said, he took the banknote and put it away.

"Don't be polite, I don't have any other skills, but I'm good at making money, hehe." Xu Qin smiled proudly.

When Zhu Yong and the others heard this, they gave Xu Qin a thumbs up. No one doubted what he said, and no one dared to accuse Xu Qin of bragging.

When Xu Qin and Zhu Yong were having dinner, Jinyiwei received the news, and Zhu Gaosui immediately went to report the news to Zhu Di. If Xu Qin had beaten other people, Zhu Gaosui would not report it, but he dared not hide the fact that he had beaten Qiu Fu's grandson. After listening to Zhu Gaosui's report, Zhu Di sat there stroking his beard.

"Dad, isn't Xu Qin too bold? He dares to beat anyone. What will I do when Qiu Fu comes to cry to you?" Zhu Gaosui stood there, looking at Zhu Di with a worried look on his face.

Zhu Di glanced at Zhu Gaosui and sneered in his heart. This silly son didn't even know how to dig a pit. How could he jump into such an obvious pit? This is not the way to frame Xu Qin. Zhu Di sighed in his heart, but then he thought, if it weren't for his silly son, he wouldn't dare to keep him around all the time.

"Dad?" Zhu Gaosui saw Zhu Di sitting there stroking his beard without saying anything, so he couldn't help but urge him.

"Go and tell your mother, and then go and tell Qiu Fu, and tell him that your mother knows about it." Zhu Di put down his hand and said to Zhu Gaosui.

"Dad, doesn't Qiu Fu have something against my mother? Saying that my mother is unfair?" Zhu Gaosui said with a worried look on his face.

Zhu Di sighed. Qiu Fu was not a fool. How could he have any objection? Besides, who was wrong in this matter? Didn't Qiu Fu know? Forget about having any objection. He had to apologize!

"Dad, Qiu Fu is a military general and the greatest hero in the Jingnan Campaign. Will this make him feel disheartened?" Zhu Gaosui said again.

"Just go if I tell you to go!" Zhu Di scolded Zhu Gaosui.

"Uh, yes! I'll go right away." When Zhu Gaosui heard what Zhu Di said, he could only bow and go.

After Zhu Gaosui left, Zhu Di waved to a eunuch, who immediately came over to pay his respects.

"You will send some medicine for bruises, blood circulation and blood stasis, as well as medicine for skin injuries to Kunning Palace later. Wait until Kunning Palace is quiet and then go in. The Queen will need them." Zhu Di said to the eunuch with a smile.

The eunuch was stunned for a moment, then immediately bowed and said yes, then went out.

"This bastard is really brainless!" Zhu Di smiled. It was time to teach this kid a lesson. If he did it himself, it would be too tiring. So he decided to let his mother teach him. When his mother taught the three of them, none of them dared to disobey.

Empress Xu was sitting there at the moment, looking at things related to the Weaving Bureau, which were sent by Zhu Di. Today, Xu Qin raided the homes of more than fifty eunuchs and female officials and seized more than 3.8 million taels of silver. And all the properties added up, not counting the properties in the homes of the eunuchs and female officials, the properties in the hands of the eunuchs and female officials alone, amounted to more than 8 million taels of silver.

Together with Lang Kun's family property, the total amount exceeded 13 million taels. During the four years since he was ill, this group of people made more than 3 million taels every year, with an average of 40,000 to 50,000 taels per person. Of course, this money was not directly embezzled from the Weaving Bureau, but was given by those merchants, but the wool comes from the sheep.

The national treasury had no money, the inner treasury had no money, the weaving bureau had no money, but the eunuchs and female officials had money. How could Empress Xu not be angry?

Zhang was also standing there trembling with fear. After all, she was the one who managed the Weaving Bureau before. But before that, Zhang was mainly serving Empress Xu and did not have so much energy to manage the Weaving Bureau. However, no matter how she explained it, it was all because of her failure to control her subordinates and her poor management.

"No wonder the weaving bureau's business was so good before, but when we counted the accounts, there was no money left. All the money was embezzled by that rat!" Empress Xu said with a sneer.

"Please punish me, mother. It is my fault for poor management." Zhang immediately knelt down and said to Empress Xu.

"Get up. How can you understand all this? After I came to Beijing, I fell ill. You served me day and night. How could you have the energy to do this? Wait until Bao'er is ready. You can manage him well. You must use the right people. These people were all eunuchs in the palace, the adopted sons and grandsons of the young eunuch.

If he has a good heart, we will use him no matter whose godson or grandson he is. If he has a bad heart, no matter who's godson or grandson he is, we will use him. If he has a bad heart, we will kill him no matter who's godson or grandson he is.

Your father will probably make some adjustments to the Imperial Household Department as well. It's outrageous that you have deceived me." Empress Xu asked Zhang to stand up and said with a stunned face.

Zhang stood up and said with a forced smile: "Thank you, mother! Sakya Bao is still the best!"

When Empress Xu heard Zhang praising Xu Qin, she immediately smiled and said, "That's right. My Bao'er is very smart. He uses the best excuse of not having money. The Weaving Bureau has no money, but the eunuchs and ladies in the Weaving Bureau have money. If Bao'er doesn't punish them, who should he punish?"

(End of this chapter)