Lu Jing's gaze towards Zhu Jie gradually became unkind, wondering if this old boy was worried about his money and was planning to give me a palace maid or something to fool me?
If that's the case, Lu Jing wouldn't mind settling old scores with him.
Previously, this guy colluded with Taiping Bank to set up a trap to ambush him, and later sent Jingzi Guards and Tianlongmen to capture him.
Fortunately, Lu Jing did not suffer any losses in the subsequent battle on the river and made a lot of money. In addition, he did not want to be involved in any secrets of the Tian family, so he was too lazy to settle the score with Zhu Jie.
But now it seems that his previous decision is open to question.
On the other side, Zhu Jie was stared at by Lu Jing. He didn't know what his words had offended him. Most people would be a little impatient when asked about marriage, but Master Qi Xian's face turned dark. Come down.
Considering his age, Zhu Jie could only guess whether Lu Jing had already been married, but his wife was no longer here, so he looked so ugly when this issue was raised.
Thinking of this, Zhu Jie couldn't help but hesitate a little, but at this point, he could only bite the bullet and continue, "I don't know, Master Qi Xian, but not long ago, I made a promise that if someone can save me from danger, then I will ...I will marry my daughter to him."
When Lu Jing heard this, his expression turned even uglier. He had indeed guessed his thoughts correctly.
After nine years of compulsory education, Lu Jing still didn't know the usual methods of these emperors. Zhu Jie probably treated him as a Huns barbarian with little knowledge.
Finding a random maid in the palace and recognizing him as his daughter, and then pretending to be a princess and marrying him, is considered a traditional skill of these emperors.
However, Lu Jing was not one of those foreign country bumpkins who admired the Chinese culture. He would be satisfied as long as he had a wife named a princess.
Besides, does Lu Jing need a wife now? What he needs is money, okay?
Lu Jing didn't say anything when he heard this. He just sneered at Zhu Jie and said after a moment, "If you want to marry your daughter, that's fine. If you have the ability, marry Palace Master Fu'an to me."
Of course, this was just an angry remark. As we all know, the Princess of Fu'an Palace is Zhu Jie's favorite daughter. She has a distinguished status. She has already reached the age of getting married. There are also many people who come to ask for marriage, including many aristocratic families and local wealthy families. , However, in the end, none of those people could fall into Zhu Jie's eyes.
Obviously Zhu Jie has very high requirements for his future son-in-law.
And Lu Jing had no idea about Fu'an. He only said this to remind Zhu Jie not to be clever and just pay honestly.
He doesn't want much, he can spend it if he has one hundred thousand or one hundred and fifty thousand, and even eighty or ninety thousand is not completely out of the question.
As a result, after he finished speaking, he didn't expect Zhu Jie to be stunned again, and then said, "How does Master Xian know that the daughter I want to marry is Fu'an?"
? ? ?
Lu Jing felt that there must be something wrong with Zhu Jie's mouth or his ears, or there was something wrong with Zhu Jie's brain. This guy had previously chosen a consort for his daughter and found a bunch of young talents, from looks to From family background to articles and martial arts, everything was tested aside. After four years of selection, no one was chosen.
However, I only met him once tonight, and I knew nothing about him except his fake name, so I wanted to marry my most beloved daughter to him. This made no sense.
So Lu Jing was silent for a moment, and then reminded Zhu Jie, "Isn't this... a bit hasty?"
"I'm not hasty, I'm not hasty." Zhu Jie shook his head, "To be honest, as a father, I have been worrying about my daughter's marriage all these years. However, until I met Master Qi Xian, I was never able to find the right person to entrust me to. .”
"No, you're talking like you know me very well," Lu Jing advised, "You don't know me, how do you know I won't bully your daughter after marriage?"
"Forget it about other people. How can I doubt the morality and cultivation of people in Sitian Prison?"
"But we are quite different in age. We are almost twenty years old. To be honest, I am already in my early forties."
"This age is nothing. I am already almost fifty, and I just took in four concubines last month."
"My family background is not good either. Three generations of my ancestors have been farmers."
"Heroes don't care about their origins," Zhu Jie said. "It's precisely because Master Qi that you started from humble beginnings that you can reach this stage today, which further proves that you are extraordinary."
"…………"
Lu Jing was also at a loss for words, so he stopped beating around the bush and said directly, "Guan, you'd better give me a reward of silver. I'm short of silver now, so I don't want much. I have 150,000 taels, and you and I will do it from now on." From now on, we will never owe each other anything.”
Zhu Jie's face showed a look of embarrassment, "Is the Qixian family short of money? But I don't have much money on hand. It's shameful to say that it's all my fault as an official that I didn't do a good job. As a result, the current national situation is unfavorable. There are wars and wars everywhere. The powerful enemy invaded, there were constant natural disasters, and the treasury was almost completely drained. The two hundred thousand taels of silver allocated to Si Tianjian this time was taken out of my own inner treasury.
"And there is still a shortfall of about 50,000 taels, and we have to find ways to make up for it later. As for more silver, I won't be able to come up with it for a while."
Lu Jing was doubtful. He knew that the government's finances were tight. Even though he had not cared much about political affairs before, he had heard that the government had raised commercial taxes five times in just six months.
In fact, the business environment of the Chen Dynasty has always been very relaxed. If it were not for the fact that it was really out of money, the court would not be able to collect business taxes so crazily. In addition, there are rumors that the price of salt will also double, and those salt merchants will also have to pay taxes during this period. Complaints are endless.
But Lu Jing still couldn't believe it. The dignified Chen couldn't even get out a mere one hundred thousand taels of silver.
Zhu Jie then said, "Actually, if Qi Xian's family is really short of money, they should marry Fu An."
"Why? Because her dowry is a lot, then why don't you just give me the money and save a princess?"
"That's not the case." Zhu Jie explained, "Now is an extraordinary period. The country is indeed out of money. We can find a way to solve the pomp and circumstance of Fu'an's wedding, but we can only keep the dowry simple. But it doesn't matter, you really want to make money. In fact, it’s very simple, you just need to send out a few more invitations and invite all the civil and military officials, relatives of the emperor, and even wealthy businessmen, and their gifts will definitely be enough for you and your wife to make a lot of money.”
Of course there was a reason why Zhu Jie suddenly went out of his way to promote his daughter. After what happened tonight, Zhu Jie finally understood that in this world, the power of monks is the most powerful, far beyond worldly wealth. The rights of goods cannot be compared.
It's a pity that Si Tianjian will always remain neutral due to the rules and will not choose to help him.
But it doesn't matter. Since we can't get Si Tianjian, we might as well settle for the next best thing and teach the powerful monks in Si Tianjian instead. Zhu Jie doesn't believe it anymore. If Chen Chao and his daughter are in danger one day, his son-in-law will still Can continue to stand by and watch.
As for whether the two were suitable for each other, and the opinions of Palace Master Fu'an himself, Zhu Jie never cared about it from the beginning to the end. Being born in an emperor's family, some things are always inevitable.
(End of chapter)
