Chapter 417 Yu Qingyi's Surprise and Distress

Ma Rong's arrival was just a small episode. How long would the old emperor live? Yang Zhengshan was powerless to do anything.

After Ma Rong left, Yang Zhengshan returned to the general's mansion and took out the Sanhuangli.

Judging from the appearance alone, this is a fruit that is slightly larger than an ordinary plum. There seems to be a faint fluorescence on it, but it is not obvious.

Yang Zhengshan hesitated for a moment while holding the Sanhuangli.

He didn't know whether he could break through to the innate realm by using this Sanhuangli. With his current level of cultivation, breaking through to the innate realm would only be a matter of time.

A breakthrough could happen at any time, or you may have to wait for months or even years.

He needs an opportunity to break through the innate gate, or wait until the innate true qi in his body is strong enough to open the innate gate naturally.

The Three Yellow Plums might help him to break through, or it might not be of much use to him.

Before taking it, everything is unknown.

Yang Zhengshan thought about it and decided to wait and see.

Perhaps it won't be long before he can break through the innate realm on his own, and he won't need to take this Sanhuangli at all. In this way, he can give this Sanhuangli to Yu Qing for clothes.

He decided to wait for three months. If there was no breakthrough within three months, he would take Sanhuangli. If there was a breakthrough within three months, it would be about time for Yu Qingyi to come back, so he would give the Sanhuangli to Yu Qingyi.

After making the decision, Yang Zhengshan put the three yellow plums into the Lingquan space and began to deal with the official business of the General's Mansion.

In the study, Yang Zhengshan was looking at documents one after another, feeling overwhelmed.

All of them cost money!

All six lieutenant generals were included, and even Yang Mingzhi wrote a letter to request the general's office to allocate money and food.

Well, Yang Mingzhi had a good reason, to buy a boat.

It was Yang Zhengshan who proposed the idea of ​​developing maritime trade in Fuzhou City, but how could maritime trade be developed without money to buy ships?
Look, you have to fill the hole you dug yourself in the end.

Yang Zhengshan flipped through more than a dozen official documents in a row, and each one asked for money.

It would have been fine if it were just the six lieutenant-generals, but even the Dusi Yamen, the Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office and the Censorate came to him to ask for money.

He meows!
This is really shameless.

Well, although Yang Zhengshan and Pang Tang have already divided the work, in fact, the General's Mansion is the highest government office in Chongshan Town, in charge of all military and political affairs of Chongshan Town.

Like the Governor's Office and the General's Office, the two offices actually have overlapping powers in many areas.

However, it is reasonable for the Dusi Yamen, the Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office and the Censorate to ask the General's Office for money and food.

Yang Zhengshan guessed that Pang Tang must have instructed this.

The general's mansion at least has some money and grain, but the governor's office is really penniless. Pang Tang has been troubled by money and grain recently.

Yang Zhengshan put down the document and rubbed his eyebrows secretly.

A glass workshop can definitely make money, but it takes time. It will take at least three months until the manufacturing scale is expanded.

But now the general's office has no money or food left.

Eight hundred thousand silvers may seem like a lot, but it is just a drop in the bucket for the entire Chongshan Town. It is not even enough to select soldiers for the town's flag camp, let alone other things.

So he had to get some money as soon as possible.

Asking the court for money?

no good.

The court will not give money to Chongshan Town now. The reason is very simple. There are many places in Dayong that need money more than Chongshan Town, such as Liaoxi, Beiyuan Town, and the southwestern provinces.

As for finding other ways to make money, it won't be lucrative in a short time.

Yang Zhengshan thought about it and said helplessly: "It seems that I can only borrow it!"

In the past, Yang Zhengshan held an investment promotion conference in Tenglongwei, which attracted many businesses to Tenglongwei. Now Yang Zhengshan is going to hold a lending conference in Chongshan Town.

That’s right, he wants to borrow money from merchants, or you can say he wants to issue bonds.

This kind of operation was unprecedented in Dayong. Yang Zhengshan didn't know whether doing this would cause trouble, but he couldn't care less now.

Compared to the problem at hand, other problems can wait until later.

After making up his mind, Yang Zhengshan immediately sent invitations to merchants in Chongshan Town and Liaodong, inviting them to attend a banquet at Chongshan Pass.

Just as Yang Zhengshan was preparing for the loan meeting, Yu Qingyi, Yang Mingcheng, Lin Zhan and his party arrived in Kyoto.

Sitting in the carriage and looking at the prosperous Kyoto, Yu Qingyi couldn't help but reveal a look of curiosity.

Even though she had been around the world before, she had never been to Kyoto.

The most prosperous place she had ever visited was probably Jizhou.

Compared with Kyoto, Jizhou is just a small place.

And when Yu Qingyi arrived at the Marquis of Jing'an's Mansion, she was even more surprised.

"Is this our Marquis' Mansion?" Yu Qingyi got off the carriage and looked at the six spacious and majestic gates of the Marquis of Jing'an Mansion.

According to Darong's regulations, the mansions of dukes and marquises had three main gates, with beams, brackets, and eaves painted in colors, doors and windows painted in black lacquer to imitate columns, and gold-painted animal-faced tin rings on the doors.

The main gate has three rooms or six doors. The main gate is the tallest, nearly ten feet high, while the side doors are slightly lower. The three gatehouses are majestic and impressive.

Although the mansion in Chongshan Pass also has a plaque of Marquis' Mansion, it is actually the backyard of a government office. The mansion was built according to the rank of a general, so it is a few centimeters shorter than the mansion of a duke or marquis.

"To answer Madam Marquis' question, this is our Marquis' Mansion." Lu Shou stood beside Yu Qingyi and said with a smile on his face.

Then Yu Qingyi straightened her dress and entered the Marquis' Mansion.

As for how big the marquis's mansion is, it is actually not that big, covering only more than 50 acres.

In fact, according to Dayong's regulations, the city where the king resides is nine miles, the city where the dukes and marquises reside is only three miles, and the city where the earls reside is only one or two miles.

This 'li' refers to the circumference of the mansion.

If the circumference of a duke's mansion is three miles, then the largest area would be close to two hundred acres.

If it were outside of Kyoto, building such a large mansion would naturally be no problem, but within Kyoto, building such a large mansion would be impossible.

Most of the mansions of dukes and marquises in Kyoto are between 30 and 50 acres. The Jing'an Marquis's Mansion is so large, but it still takes advantage of the Wuxin Marquis's Mansion. Because the Wuxin Marquis's Mansion was the former Xin Guogong, the specifications were built according to the specifications of the Duke's Mansion, so it is much larger than other marquis' mansions.

After Yu Qingyi entered the Marquis' Mansion, she looked at the pavilions and towers with carved beams and painted rafters, and the garden rockeries with a different scene at every step, and felt like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

The group wandered around the mansion for more than an hour before arriving at the main hall.

"Has the master arranged the courtyards for each room?"

In the main hall, Yu Qingyi asked Lu Shou.

Lu Shou smiled and said, "To answer Madam's question, the master had already arranged it before leaving Kyoto. The master will live in the Wutong Courtyard in the east wing."

After saying this, he bowed towards Yang Mingcheng.

The overall layout of the marquis's mansion can be divided into four parts. The first part is the front yard. After entering the mansion gate is the ceremonial gate. Between the mansion gate and the ceremonial gate, there are two courtyards on the east and west sides, which can be used as offices for the men in the family. There are also many houses behind the courtyards, which can be used as schools, guest houses, etc.

After entering the ceremonial gate, you will see the main hall of the marquis's mansion. On both sides of the main hall are warm rooms, tea rooms, and study rooms. There is also a large lotus pond behind the main hall.

The main hall is the most important part of the front yard and the face of the mansion, so it is decorated the most luxuriously.

The second part is to enter the Neiyi Gate along the central axis, which is the main courtyard. The main courtyard is further divided into three parts: front, middle and back. The front is the main hall, the middle is the bedroom, and the back is a large garden with rockery, flowing water, pavilions, and small courtyards.

The bedroom in the middle is naturally where the Marquis and his wife live. As for the small courtyards in the garden, they are arranged for the Marquis’ concubines.

Unfortunately, Yang Zhengshan did not have any concubines, so these small courtyards were not of much use.

The third part is the east and west courtyards. The east and west courtyards are not just two courtyards, but are subdivided into more than a dozen courtyards. The size and scenery of each courtyard are different.

The Wutong Courtyard that Lu Shou mentioned is the best and largest courtyard among the east-west courtyards. As the eldest son, Yang Mingcheng naturally has to live in the best courtyard.

The fourth part is the back mountain. Yes, there are mountains in the marquis’ mansion, two of them.

There are mountains and a river. This river extends from the moat of the inner city of Kyoto and flows through more than 30 mansions of various sizes.

There is an ancestral temple on the back mountain, which is surrounded by mountains and water. There is a Buddhist hall, a quiet room, and a temple.

Behind the main courtyard is the ancestral temple, and the east and west courtyards actually occupy part of the back mountain.

Throughout the mansion, mountains, rivers, pavilions are built interspersed, and waterside pavilions are staggered. The overall layout is a combination of virtual and real, and it blends well with the natural mountains and rivers.

This is also why Yu Qingyi acted so surprised and delighted before.

Since Yang Zhengshan had already allocated the courtyards to each room, Yu Qingyi no longer asked any questions and just asked Yang Mingcheng and the others to clean up first.

"Mother, let's go clean up first and come back to help you with the housework later!" Wang happily took Yang Mingcheng and Yang Chengye away.

Lin Zhan also had a separate courtyard here, and Lu Shou asked a servant to take them to the courtyard to live first.

After everyone left, Yu Qingyi asked Lu Shou again, "How much money is left in the mansion?"

"Uh!" Lu Shou lowered his head in embarrassment. "To answer Madam, there is less than a thousand taels of silver in the mansion!"

Yu Qingyi was stunned. "Why is it just this little? Didn't the Marquis leave 10,000 taels before he left Beijing?"

“Madam, I have no choice. The Marquis asked me to buy furniture when he left, but the mansion is so big that the furniture needed is too much.” Lu Shou said with a sad face.

I swear to God, he really didn't take any money.

The Yang family has always given their servants generous monthly wages, and as long as they work hard, the Yang family treats their servants very kindly.

Therefore, the servants were all loyal to the Yang family, fearing that they would be sold out if they accidentally did something wrong.

Lu Shou still has a wife, children, and parents in the Yang family. All the old and young in the family are servants of the Yang family. Naturally, he would not let a family of more than a dozen people fall apart for a little bit of petty profit.

Yu Qingyi thought about the size of the Marquis's Mansion and shook her head with some lack of interest, "Forget it, Qingxia, give Manager Lu another 10,000 taels of silver."

Upon hearing this, Qingxia immediately went to the inner hall to get a stack of silver bills and handed them to Lu Shou.

"During this period of time, you can find a few pawnshops to add some servants to the mansion. You should know the rules of this mansion, so I won't say much." Yu Qingyi said.

"Yes, I understand everything! Don't worry, ma'am." Lu Shou responded quickly.

The Yang family had several conditions for buying people. First, they had to be from the same family, preferably with both old and young. Second, they had to have a clean background, whether they were from a criminal official or a merchant. Third, they had to be hardworking and down-to-earth. They would not accept those who were cunning and treacherous, and would sell those who had dirty hands directly.

Over the years, the Yang family has bought a lot of servants. Now, the Yang family has about 800 servants, of which about 300 are in the Marquis' Mansion in Chongshan Pass, and the rest are responsible for the Yang family's industries outside.

But now it seems that these eight hundred servants are definitely not enough. For such a large mansion, it is estimated that two to three hundred people will be needed just for the daily management.

If the Yang family moved in, there would probably be at least six or seven hundred people, which wouldn't work.

After Lu Shou went out to do some work, Yu Qingyi looked at the gorgeous hall and couldn't help but sigh, "Although this mansion is nice, I'm afraid it will cost a lot of money in the future!"

It cost more than 10,000 taels of silver just to purchase the furniture. This is also the fault of the people in the Ministry of Revenue. They could have confiscated the house, but why did they take away even the furniture?

"Madam, what are you afraid of? We have money!" Qingxia said with a smile.

She is Yu Qingyi's accountant, and she knows best how much money Yu Qingyi has.

"Our money doesn't come from the wind. I estimate that such a big mansion will cost at least 20,000 taels of silver a year." Yu Qingyi said a little depressed.

In the past, the Yang family had a lot of expenses. Food, clothing, housing, transportation, servants' monthly wages, etc., cost almost 10,000 taels of silver a year. Now that they have this mansion, and if they add some servants, it is estimated that it will cost more than 20,000 taels.

Expenses suddenly doubled, and Yu Qingyi felt extremely distressed.

Before, Yu Qingyi was surprised by the Marquis' Mansion, but now she is only heartbroken.

"Didn't His Majesty give us 8,000 acres of land? Having 8,000 acres of land can offset some of our daily expenses!" Qingxia said.

Yu Qingyi nodded, "Fortunately, we have these 8,000 acres of granted land, otherwise the income of our mansion would not be enough!"

Today, the Yang family has many businesses, but they are not merchants. Most of their businesses are fields and shops, and their income mainly comes from rent.

When they were in Anyuan City, the Yang family had a horse farm. However, when they were in Tenglongwei, Yang Zhengshan did not make the horse farm the private property of the Yang family, but gave it to the Weisi Yamen.

The income of the horse farm in Anyuan City also dropped sharply because Yang Zhengshan was unable to provide spiritual spring water.

Therefore, the Yang family’s income was not very much, only about 20,000 silver coins a year.

If it weren't for the 8,000 acres of granted land, the Yang family would have lived a very tight life in the future and would have had almost no savings.

Of course, this does not include the silver and money in Yang Zhengshan's hands. You must know that there are nearly one million taels of silver stored in the Lingquan space. If this money is taken out, it will be enough for the Yang family to spend for decades.

Therefore, Yang Zhengshan never felt that the Yang family was short of money, but Yu Qingyi didn't know that Yang Zhengshan had so much money, so she felt that the Yang family's income was a little low.

If she knew that Yang Zhengshan had his own little treasury, I wonder how she would feel!
(End of this chapter)