Under the eaves of the Prince's Mansion, after hearing what Xia Jingying said, Prince Liu Yan couldn't help but wonder: "How could he borrow so much?"
Xia Jingying bowed and said, "I don't know about this subordinate. In short, during the holidays these years, he would go to the Ministry of Finance to borrow money under various names."
Liu Yan shouted angrily: "Here comes someone!"
After a while, the housekeeper rushed to Liu Yan and said, "Your Highness, give me orders!"
"Go and ask my father-in-law to come here to see me right now!"
Xia Jingying saw that the housekeeper had gone away, so he continued to ask: "Your Highness, how do you think I should handle this?"
"This old guy borrowed so much money all at once." Liu Yan said and spread his hands, "How can I pay it back? Although he is the Minister of the Ministry of War and everyone envies him, but you also know that the more you achieve this position, the more difficult it will be. If there is a famine, I estimate that it would be good if he could come up with one or two hundred thousand taels of silver." After Liu Yan said this, he was still furious, "This old guy..."
Xia Jingying chuckled, and a strange green light appeared in the corner of his eyes, "Your Highness, there is no need to worry, I have one more thing to tell you!"
"What's the matter?"
"That means Prince Ning also owes the Ministry of Household Affairs five hundred thousand taels of silver."
Liu Yan smiled contemptuously, "This is nothing to Uncle Wang. It's only half a million, and he has it in the blink of an eye."
"But Prince Ning also has two disciples and former officials who owe a total of one million taels of silver."
Liu Yan's eyes lit up, "Who?"
A sly smile appeared on Xia Jingying's lips, "Cui Hao, the Minister of Punishment, and Yang Youxian, the Minister of Dali Temple."
"The two of them?" Liu Yan lowered his head and thought with a smile, then asked, "I am not surprised that Yang Youxian is so greedy that he owes some money, but Cui Hao is an upright man, and even Grandpa Huang often praises him. How can he be in debt?"
"What His Highness said is absolutely true. Among the one million taels, Cui Hao also borrowed more than 300,000 taels of silver. The official heard that his old mother was seriously ill, so he hired a famous doctor. He spent a lot of money over the years. I guess the borrowed money was used for this." After Xia Jingying said this, he couldn't help but sigh.
Liu Yan smiled coldly, "I didn't expect Cui Hao to be a filial son. Have you ever calculated how much money Prince Ning's people owe in total?"
"The official has verified that it is nearly thirteen million taels of silver."
"Where's ours?"
Xia Jingying paused for a moment, "Almost seventeen million taels of silver."
"So many?" Liu Yan was a little surprised, "I really didn't expect that these wine bags and rice bags can't help with anything at ordinary times. They only cause trouble to the court. They are simply a moth in the court. Mr. Xia, just follow what I said before. What to do, urge them to pay the money. If the officials of the fifth rank and below can pay it back, if they can't pay it back, don't worry about my face, just take it. If the officials of the fifth rank and above cannot make up the balance, you can come and discuss with me. .As for Uncle Ning’s people, do you know what to do?”
"I understand..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Bingde came slowly from the entrance of the courtyard not far away. He looked up and saw the prince admiring the plum blossoms under the eaves of the corridor, so he quickly quickened his pace, walked through the plum trees and saw the path, and walked from the eaves of the corridor. When Liu Yan saw this unsatisfactory father-in-law approaching from afar, he deliberately turned his back and ignored Xu Bingde.
Xu Bingde hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to say hello, "I would like to say hello to His Highness the Crown Prince!"
Liu Yan still turned his back to Xu Bingde and groaned, "How can my son-in-law bear this?"
Seeing that the prince was teasing him like this, Xu Bingde was confused for a moment. He raised his head and glanced at the prince in confusion, and saw that he was holding his back with his head held high. Then he saw that Xia Jingying, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was standing next to him. The two looked at each other and bowed. Xu Bingde finally understood why. He thought that the prince knew about the money he owed in the Ministry of Revenue, but he was too embarrassed to mention it on his own initiative, so he could only ask Xia Jingying with a smile: "How are you, Mr. Xia! Isn't the emperor paying you today? Did I give you an errand? Why do you still have such leisure time to come here?"
Just as Xia Jingying was about to speak, Liu Yan turned around with a flick of his sleeves and shouted: "You still have the nerve to say it!"
Xu Bingde pretended to be surprised and looked at the prince, "This..."
"How much money did you say you borrowed from the Ministry of Household Affairs?" Liu Yan asked accusingly.
Xu Bingde said sarcastically: "This..." He was speechless for a moment and had to be stunned. He hesitated for a long time and couldn't answer!
Liu Yan pointed at Xu Bingde and said: "Nine hundred thousand taels, nine hundred thousand taels! This is not a small amount! I ask you why you borrow so much?"
Xu Bingde suddenly knelt on the ground, "Your Highness!" Then he burst into tears, "Please, Your Highness, please save me!"
"Now you know how to beg for mercy!" Liu Yan snorted and turned away, "You have so much money, you can figure it out yourself!"
"Your Highness, I really can't think of a way to repay the money!" Xu Bingde also felt helpless. With such a big number, it is impossible to just pay it back.
Liu Yan said expressionlessly: "Then wait until you are dismissed from office, and then let your child continue to pay!"
Xu Bingde started crying even harder, wiping his tears with his sleeves and choking with sobs: "Your Highness, for the sake of my daughter Xu Fang, you can't just sit idly by and ignore me!"
After hearing this, Liu Yan sighed helplessly, "What you said is easy. Nine hundred thousand taels of silver is not a small amount. Do you think that the treasury is in our house, and you can get it just by asking? Why do you get so much silver? for what?"
"I was confused for a moment..." Xu Bingde cried repeatedly, "I had no choice but to do this..."
"I think you are always confused, otherwise why would you go to the treasury to borrow money again and again?"
Xu Bingde lowered his head and wiped away his tears, "As you know, the palace's expenses are huge. Without some money, I'm afraid it would be unsustainable! As the Crown Princess, Fang'er has often needed..."
"Fang'er? If she doesn't ask me for money directly, why would she ask you for it?"
Xu Bingde replied sarcastically: "As you know, there are too many things to take care of in the palace. As the Crown Princess, Fang'er naturally has to spend a lot of money. She is also afraid of what you will say about her, Your Highness, so..."
Liu Yan then turned around and helped Xu Bingde up, and then said sternly: "Look at this for yourself. How much money can you spend to make up for it?"
Xu Bingde scratched his head in embarrassment, "I have emptied my family and only have 400,000 taels of silver..."
"Hmph..." Liu Yan glanced at him sideways, "Then just wait to die!"
Xu Bingde immediately changed his words: "Five hundred and fifty thousand! At most, it's five hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver. If it's more, I'm afraid the entire family of more than a hundred people will have to drink the northwest wind."
"It's up to you to figure it out in the past few days and collect the money. As for the remaining hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, I will only know Mr. Xia."
After hearing this, Xu Bingde was ecstatic, bowed to Xia Jingying, and said respectfully: "Thank you, Mr. Xia."
