Chapter 421 The Crown Princess' Invitation

Only after Pang Tang left did Yang Zhengshan breathe a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, fortunately, it's only two hundred thousand taels! This old man is still easy to fool!"

The idea of ​​pre-sale housing was just a sudden inspiration of his, and he had no idea whether it would work.

After all, the merchants here are not so easy to fool.

In the following days, Chongshan Money House continued to be popular. After the officials from the governor's office bought the bonds, the officials from the provincial government and the provincial judicial commissioner's office also followed suit, and then the news about the bonds spread more and more widely.

Officials from the Dusi Yamen and the Zongbing Mansion followed suit and bought some.

When the news reached Zhenbiao Camp, the soldiers there also started buying them.

Do the soldiers of Zhenbiao Camp have any money?

The answer is yes.

The soldiers who had just joined the Zhenbiao Camp might not have any silver, but the soldiers originally from the Tenglongwei Fifth Camp had quite a lot of silver.

In the Battle of Guanshankou, Yang Zhengshan took out one third of the seized silver to reward his soldiers. The six thousand soldiers of the five military camps received a total of three hundred thousand taels, with an average of fifty taels per person.

Previously, when they were in Qinghua City, Songzhou City, and Chongshan Pass, the soldiers had also received silver rewards.

And don’t forget, these soldiers all came from the Tenglong Guard and they used to receive full salaries.

It can be said that there was not a single poor person among these soldiers.

I can’t say how much more it is, but it shouldn’t be difficult for them to get three or five hundred taels of silver.

A little bit adds up to a lot. If six thousand soldiers, even if each one bought one bond, that would be six hundred thousand.

So on the third day after the news spread, the bonds of Chongshan Money House were sold out.

In the study room of the general's mansion.

Song Dashan came to Yang Zhengshan and said cautiously: "My Lord, can you print some more bonds? The brothers all want to buy them, but they are no longer available!"

"..."

Yang Zhengshan leaned back in his chair and looked at Song Dashan with a scrutinizing look, "How much did you buy?"

"Well, not much, just eight thousand taels. My wife bought it!" Song Dashan grinned naively.

Got~~
Even the Song family bought so much, so the people under his command probably bought even more.

The Song family cannot compare to the Yang family. Although Song Dashan's wife, Li, is a good householder, the Song family does not make much money. At most, it is the rent from shops and fields.

Eight thousand taels of silver was probably all the spare money the Song family had.

This is also Yang Zhengshan's fault. Yang Zhengshan should have considered from the beginning whether his soldiers would buy bonds.

He did not object to his soldiers buying bonds because he was confident that he could repay the debt.

"I need to think about this matter, you go and do your work first!" Yang Zhengshan was also hesitating whether to print some more bonds.

"Then, my lord, please think about it and tell me." Song Dashan looked at Yang Zhengshan eagerly.

"Get out of here!" Yang Zhengshan said unhappily.

Song Dashan ran away in shame, and then Luo Shang came to his door.

When Luo Shang saw Yang Zhengshan, she said directly: "My Lord, our Luo family's bond is still there!"

"..."

Yang Zhengshan was speechless again.

He seemed to have forgotten the debt from the Luo family.

He had talked to Luo Shang before convening the loan meeting. The reason why Luo Shang did not express his position at the loan meeting was because Yang Zhengshan asked him to guarantee the bonds.

According to Yang Zhengshan's idea, if there are any bonds left, he will let the Marquis' Mansion and the Luo Family take the bottom line, with the Luo Family taking the lion's share and the Marquis' Mansion buying tens of thousands of taels of silver.

But now the Marquis' Mansion didn't buy any, and the Luo family didn't buy a single bond.

"Forget it, then let's print another one million taels, and your Luo family will take 300,000 taels!" Yang Zhengshan said without hesitation.

"Then I'll go prepare the silver now!" Luo Shang left happily.

Yang Zhengshan shook his head with amusement.

He was worried that the bonds would not be sold, but he didn't expect that there were not enough bonds to sell.

With this calculation, it is actually cheaper for the merchants.

In fact, Yang Zhengshan overlooked one thing, that is, not only does one not receive any interest when depositing money in a money shop, but one also has to pay management fees.

For example, if you take silver to a money shop to exchange it for silver notes, you will need to pay a certain handling fee, which is about 4%.

However, Yang Zhengshan not only did not charge any handling fees for the bonds he sold, but he also charged interest.

For a businessman, this note is a debt, but for others, it may be a deposit with interest.

Perhaps because the bonds were selling so well in Chongshan Pass, the merchants that Yang Zhengshan had previously entertained quickly sent their silver to Chongshan Pass and exchanged it for bonds.

In just seven or eight days, Yang Zhengshan exchanged four million taels of silver for four million taels of silver.

However, soon there were only 200 taels of silver left. Yang Zhengshan did not show favoritism and allocated 300,000 taels of silver to each lieutenant general's office as capital for rebuilding the reinforcement camp.

As March approached, the General's Office's survey of the Yinghe River entered the most important stage.

In order to better dredge the Ying River, Yang Zhengshan specially invited more than a dozen clerks who had experience in river management from Jizhou City.

Liaodong did not have a permanent river office. River management was generally the responsibility of local governments. If there were any river water conservancy issues, the prefectural or county government would summon civilians to perform labor. If the task was difficult, officials from the Ministry of Works would be invited to provide guidance. At the same time, the court would also send river patrol censors to supervise.

Yang Zhengshan certainly couldn't invite officials from the Ministry of Works to Chongshan Town, but he could still invite some clerks who were good at river management.

It's nothing more than finding some connections and spending a little more money.

Fortunately, dredging the Yinghe River is not a very troublesome project. It does not require any major fuss and only requires a slight correction to the river channel.

The technical difficulty is not very great, the trouble lies in manpower and material resources.

Just when Yang Zhengshan was busy preparing to dredge the Yinghe River, this year's spring examination began as scheduled.

Yang Mingcheng sent Lin Zhan to the examination room with ease.

With the experience of sending Lu Wenyuan to the examination room three years ago, Yang Mingcheng was well prepared this time.

The examination went smoothly. When Lin Zhan finished the last exam and walked out of the examination room, Yang Mingcheng immediately stepped forward and asked, "How was the exam?"

Before, Yang Mingcheng had never asked this question, for fear that it would affect Lin Zhan's performance later on. But now that the exams are over, Yang Mingcheng no longer has any concerns.

"Brother, I think it's not bad!" Lin Zhan said calmly.

Yang Mingcheng's eyes lit up, "That's good, that's good, if our family could also produce a Jinshi, hehe~~"

Although Lin Zhan's last name is not Yang, the Yang family has always treated him as one of their own. "Brother, let's go back. It's too noisy here!" Lin Zhan looked around and said.

The Spring Examination is over, and there are all kinds of people outside the examination hall.

Some people were crying, some were laughing, some were dizzy, and some just fainted.

The noise, yelling, scolding and so on, all kinds of sounds mixed together make people feel upset.

"Okay, okay, let's go home!"

Yang Mingcheng pulled Lin Zhan into the carriage of the Marquis' Mansion.

After they returned to the Marquis' Mansion, everyone naturally asked again. Lin Zhan didn't want to explain in detail, but just said that he felt it was good.

"Okay, okay, we'll know how you did in the exam when the results are announced. Lin Zhan is tired too, let him go and rest first!" Yu Qingyi ended the conversation.

"Master's wife, I will take my leave first!" Lin Zhan said.

"Well, go and have a rest!"

Yu Qingyi nodded and smiled gently.

After Lin Zhan left, she looked at Yang Mingcheng and asked, "How is the matter I asked you to find out?"

Yang Mingcheng slapped his head and said, "Wu Zheng told me yesterday, but I was so busy with Lin Zhan's exam that I forgot to tell my mother!"

"Forget it, I'll go get Wu Zheng. He knows the most about the information he has found out!"

After saying that, he ran away quickly.

Yu Qingyi smiled and didn't care.

Yang Mingcheng was indeed very busy during this period. Before the spring examination, he went to Anzhou and visited the Liu family.

After returning from Anzhou, he was busy with Lin Zhan's participation in the Spring Examination, and there were also many things at home that needed his attention.

There was no way, he was the eldest master of the Marquis' Mansion and the person in charge of the Yang family in Kyoto.

There are some things that Yu Qingyi, a woman, cannot handle, so Yang Mingcheng has to do it for her.

A moment later, Yang Mingcheng brought Wu Zheng over.

"Senior Sister!" Wu Zheng called out with a smile when he saw Yu Qingyi.

"Well, tell me the news you heard!" Yu Qingyi said solemnly.

When facing others, she behaved very friendly most of the time, but when facing Wu Zheng, Lin Zhan and other disciples from the Tianqing Sword Sect, she always behaved very seriously.

These were the habits she developed in the Tianqing Sword Sect. As the head of the sect, she must have dignity. Although they have now left the Tianqing Sword Sect, Yu Qingyi still has not changed the habits she developed in the past.

Wu Zheng was also used to Yu Qingyi's seriousness, so he quickly said in a serious tone: "The Han family does have two young ladies who are of marriageable age. The second and third young ladies are both fourteen years old! But the third young lady is a concubine's daughter!"

Yu Qingyi nodded slightly and asked, "What is the character of Miss Han Er?"

Since the Third Miss Han was born out of wedlock, she was definitely not the niece that Liang Han mentioned.

Wu Zheng said in a deep voice: "Arrogant, domineering, perverse and cruel!"

Yu Qingyi frowned, "Are you sure?"

"Well, Miss Han has quite a bad reputation in Wanping County!" Wu Zheng said affirmatively.

Yu Qingyi shook her head slightly, "It seems that this Second Miss Han and Chengye are not destined to be together!"

The bad reputation outside is not necessarily true, but if a person has a bad reputation outside, there must be a reason. It cannot be without reason.

Either it is because this person's character is indeed bad, or someone is maliciously slandering this person and ruining his reputation.

No matter what the reason is, this second Miss Han is not suitable for Yang Chengye.

As the eldest grandson of the Yang family, Yang Chengye must choose a good match.

As the saying goes, if a woman marries the wrong man, her life will be ruined, and if a man marries the wrong man, three generations will be ruined.

The Yang family has finally risen to prominence, and it cannot be ruined by a woman.

Therefore, when it comes to Yang Chengye's marriage proposal, everyone in the Yang family is very cautious. Even Yang Zhengshan is particularly concerned about it, otherwise he would not have allowed Yu Qingyi to come to Beijing.

"Let's forget about this matter. I'll talk to my mother-in-law about it another day!" Yu Qingyi said with some disappointment.

"Yes, then junior brother, I will withdraw first!" Wu Zheng said.

Yu Qingyi nodded, Wu Zheng bowed to Yang Mingcheng, and left the hall.

Now Wu Zheng and others are no longer hiding, but staying in the Marquis' Mansion openly.

They will still inquire about the news, but they no longer need to be so cautious.

Isn't it natural for Yang Zhengshan to arrange a few people to stay in Kyoto to follow the news from the court?

It would be abnormal if there is no arrangement.

Yu Qingyi rubbed her brows with a headache. During this period, she attended several banquets for officials' wives in Kyoto and met many young ladies from official families. Unfortunately, none of them suited her taste.

She still likes the kind of women who are generous, heroic and brave. As for those frail ladies from wealthy families, they are really not suitable for the Yang family.

Just when Yu Qingyi was having a headache about this, Qingxia walked into the main room holding a piece of paper.

"Madam, this is a post from the East Palace!"

"Eastern Palace!" Yu Qingyi looked up in surprise.

"Yes, the maid from the East Palace brought it. It's the Crown Princess inviting Madam to go to the Mahayana Temple to worship Buddha." Qingxia said.

Yu Qingyi took the note and looked at it. It was indeed the Crown Princess inviting her to the Mahayana Temple to worship Buddha.

Daijoji Temple is a royal temple located on Mount Fukuka in the west of Kyoto.

The princesses and officials of Kyoto often went back to Mahayana Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha. Even the empress used to bring the concubines in the palace to Mahayana Temple to worship Buddha.

However, since the passing of the Queen, the concubines in the palace rarely had the opportunity to leave the palace, so they seldom went to the Mahayana Temple to worship Buddha.

However, officials and their families in the imperial city still frequently went to the Mahayana Temple.

Yu Qingyi was surprised why the Crown Princess invited her to worship Buddha.

She thought for a moment and asked, "Has the person left?"

"Not yet. We are waiting for Madam's reply in the front yard!" Qingxia said.

This meant that the Crown Princess did not just send an invitation casually, but had specially invited her.

"You go and reply and tell them that I will keep the appointment as scheduled." Yu Qingyi said.

The time was just three days later, and since it was the Crown Princess who invited her, there was no reason for Yu Qingyi not to go.

(End of this chapter)