In the Chang'an County Government, after the heads of the Xiao family, the Yuwen family, and the Dugu family expressed their stance, Li Yifu once again tried to persuade them.
After hearing Li Yifu's words of persuasion, the elder still wanted to discuss it. After all, this was not a small amount of money. The combined payment of the three major families was a full 20,000 gold, which was two million taels of silver.
Although his eldest grandson's family has a big business, they can't afford such expenses. What's more important is that the 20,000 gold he paid was not received by his eldest grandson's family's treasury. Otherwise, he would not be so hesitant and would have bought it long ago. Agreed.
This is tantamount to returning other people's money to others, and his eldest grandson's family has not suffered any losses.
Now, it doesn't matter if he doesn't want to agree. He has been challenged and people have taken a step back. If he still doesn't agree, it will be like breaking his skin.
The only solution for now is to lose the money first, and then go investigate the problem of the iron smelting shop to see where the 20,000 gold went, and how the iron smelting shop could smelt iron of such good quality without finding this person. , how can I give an explanation to everyone in the family.
It's true that he is the great elder, but he still has to follow the rules when doing things. If he doesn't follow the rules, who in this family will follow the rules? How can he convince the public!
After pondering for a while, the great elder nodded and said: "Okay, let's settle this matter like this. I will send you the money in full, but you must also ensure that this matter cannot be leaked, otherwise everyone will Until death!!!"
"It's natural. The three of us came here with the attitude of calming down the trouble. Otherwise, if we had discussed with you what to do, the news would have spread all over the city. Do you think this is true?" the head of the Dugu family said with a smile.
"Yes, yes, I have taken the money, and that's the end of the matter. But I want to say one more thing. Your eldest son's iron-making shop needs to be reorganized. If something like this happened, how could anyone else have followed you?" Discussing these things has been publicized for a long time, and you have to pay others money and your reputation is ruined, which means that our big family will take care of each other's face and come here to discuss it with you!" The head of the Yuwen family said eloquently.
"I, the Xiao family, have never regretted what I promised. Since I have made an agreement with you, I will not do such treacherous things. However, I also hope that the money you promised will be paid to us as soon as possible. I don't want to come to ask you for it. When the time comes, I’m not the ugly one!” The head of the Xiao family said coldly.
"Since everyone has said this, my eldest grandson will naturally not break his promise. This matter ends here. I will take the first step and send the money to you later. As for the purchase receipt, please return it to my eldest grandson when the time comes. Home!" the great elder said.
Naturally, the three of them agreed. With the assurance of the three of them, the great elder turned and left.
Looking at the departing figure of the great elder, the four of them looked at each other, and then burst into laughter. As for what they were laughing at, only the four of them knew what they were laughing at.
As soon as he returned to Changsun's house, the eldest elder called the housekeeper over and asked, "Can you understand the business of the iron shop these days?"
The housekeeper didn't understand why the elder asked this, and thought for a while and said: "Most of these matters are presided over by the shopkeeper below, but the daily accounts will be sent to the Changsun family's warehouse, and I will also personally inspect them."
"Great Elder, something happened to the iron shop?" the housekeeper asked cautiously.
"Is there an iron-making business of ten thousand gold in the treasury?" The great elder asked instead of answering the steward's words.
"Ten thousand gold business? No, absolutely not. It's impossible for me not to remember such a big deal. Besides, such a big deal needs to be decided by you, the Great Elder. There's no way I won't report it!" The steward couldn't even think about it! He replied without thinking.
"Are there two iron-making businesses worth five thousand gold?" the great elder asked again with a slightly dark face.
"No, let alone the five-thousand-gold iron-making business, there is not even the one-thousand-gold iron-making business. It's strange. In the past, the iron-smelting shop would receive one or two thousand gold in the account every day, but in recent days, the iron-smelting shop has received seven or eight hundred gold in the account every day. I was originally going to ask, but I didn't expect the great elder to ask first!" Butler Xu said.
"What? The daily income has been so little these days? Why don't you report it?" the great elder said angrily.
"This... the big shopkeeper reported that business is not very good these days, that's why there are so many every day. Because of the family head's affairs, I didn't go to investigate in detail. Big elder, is there something wrong with the iron shop? Could it be that they are lining their own pockets?" The housekeeper was startled by his own thoughts. If the iron shop is really lining his own pockets, then his responsibility will be huge. After all, he is responsible for the daily accounts. Now, something happened to the accounts. , he cannot absolve himself of the blame!
"Humph, what's the use of talking about this now? You immediately take people to arrest the shopkeeper and accountant of the iron shop. I want to torture them personally. How dare you eat them inside and outside? See if I don't skin them!" The elder slapped the table angrily.
"Yes, Great Elder, I will take people to catch them and bring them back!" The housekeeper also felt angry in his heart. He was reprimanded by the Great Elder for no reason. It was strange that he was in a good mood.
"By the way, withdraw 20,000 gold from the warehouse, send 10,000 to the Xiao family, 5,000 to the Dugu family, and 5,000 to the Yuwen family. Remember, bring the purchase receipt back and check the receipt carefully to make sure It’s a talent from my Changsun Mansion!” the Great Elder ordered again.
The housekeeper wanted to ask something, but nothing came out of his mouth. At this time, he was already exhausted. If he continued to meddle in his own business, he would really have nothing to do. Whatever the elder said, it would be whatever he said.
When the housekeeper took people to the ironmaking shop, he found that the shopkeeper and the accountant had run away long ago and were not in the ironmaking shop at all. This made the housekeeper a little dumbfounded. He checked the ledger in the shop and found that there was nothing in the account at all. For a business of ten thousand gold and five thousand gold, it was obvious that the money was swallowed up by the two of them.
That was two million taels of silver, and it was actually swallowed up by two people like this. The housekeeper was so angry that his hair stood on end. It would be fine if they ran away, but he was going to be unlucky, and very unlucky. , how to explain this to the great elder?
On the other side, under the instructions of the eldest elder, cartloads of gold cakes were sent to the Xiao family, Yuwen family, and Dugu family. The three families felt happy when they received the money.
As for the note, it was naturally given to the Changsun family. They had no use keeping it.
In the afternoon, a piece of news spread in Chang'an City. The shopkeeper and accountant of Changsun's Ironmaking Shop fled with the money. Not only that, the iron produced by the Ironmaking Shop these days was all scrap iron and could not be used at all. .
As soon as this news came out, Chang'an City exploded. You know, the Changsun family's iron-making shops were open all over Chang'an City. Every day, an extremely large number of people bought the Changsun family's iron to make things. Now, now However, news has spread that the iron sold these days is all scrap iron. How can this not be surprising?
Some people who did not believe in evil took out a sword made of iron bought from Changsun's iron shop, and wanted to try the sword. It is said that such a sword can chop down a tree as thick as a fist, and most of them can be chopped with one sword. But with Changsun, The sword made of iron from the family's iron shop actually broke into several sections after cutting down a tree.
As soon as this happened, it naturally caused a greater uproar, and more people took out their own things to test. The results are self-evident, all of them were broken into several sections.
At this time, the whole people in Chang'an were angry, and they took the things broken into several sections and went to the iron smelting shop of Changsun Mansion to ask for an explanation.
You must know that iron was still very expensive in the Tang Dynasty. Many warriors saved up money for a long time to buy a good piece of iron, and then found a blacksmith master to make weapons. But now, the weapons they made are actually scrap iron. How can this happen? Don't make them angry.
For a time, the iron-making shop of the Changsun family was surrounded by people, who were all clamoring for compensation from the Changsun family.
The news naturally reached the ears of the first elder immediately. When he heard that the matter of iron smelting and scrap iron was spread, the first elder was naturally extremely angry. The first thing he thought of was the Xiao family, the Dugu family, the Yuwen family, Three leaked information.
But then I thought about it and it was wrong. A big family like theirs is very committed. Since they promised him, they would never say, if it wasn't them, who would spread the news?
At this time, the housekeeper came to report: "Elder, we have found it, we have found it. This news was spread by the owner of the iron shop and the accountant. They publicized it in a restaurant, and then someone unbelievingly took out my iron making I tried the weapons made by Puzhi Iron, but they all broke into several sections, which caused an uproar among everyone."
"Now those who bought the pig iron from our shop are gathering around the door of the ironmaking shop asking for an explanation. Great Elder, what should we do now?" the steward asked.
