bookrandom Chapter 2111 Favors (asking for guaranteed monthly ticket)
Chapter 2111 Favors (asking for guaranteed monthly ticket)
Chapter 2111 Favors (asking for guaranteed monthly ticket)
"Guaerjia is a concubine. If she gives birth to a prince, the future of the Prince's Mansion will be... She is a smart person. If you leave the second prince to her care, she will teach him well..."
The Fifth Prince continued.
The Ninth Prince was stunned and asked, "What about Hongsheng?"
He was the eldest son of the Fifth Prince, and also the first of the imperial grandchildren sent to study in the palace.
Since the second prince born by marriage cannot inherit the title, shouldn't the title fall to Hongsheng?
The Fifth Prince looked at the Ninth Prince and said, "In the royal family, a son is honored by his mother. If Liu had not made any mistakes, I would have asked for her to be made a concubine, and Hongsheng would have been ahead of the others. But Liu is in Nanyuan, so even if I ask for mercy and bring her back in the future, I cannot ask for her to be made a concubine."
In this way, Hongsheng was just an ordinary illegitimate eldest son.
Unless he has no other younger brothers of respectable family background, he will have no chance of becoming the heir.
The Ninth Prince was a little confused and asked, "Aren't you thinking too far ahead?"
Who can guarantee that Guaerjia will give birth to a child, and that it will be a prince, and that he will be able to establish the throne?
The Fifth Prince lowered his eyes and said, "Guarjia asked for a pulse check the other day and found a slippery pulse."
Brother Ninth: "..."
Compared with the unknown gender of the fetus in Guarjia's belly, the Ninth Prince felt a little sorry for his two nephews.
At the moment, he didn't have any better suggestions.
He thought of the elementary school in the backyard and said, "Why not send my nephew there? With more children, he will be more lively and cheerful."
The Fifth Prince shook his head and said, "No, I have nothing to do either. I will help the Second Prince with Guaerjia. I will also take a good look at the people around him. I will keep the ones who are suitable and replace the ones who are not suitable as soon as possible, so that they will not be sent to the palace and suffer unrest next year."
If there is someone with bad intentions who controls the master, then the child will suffer.
Seeing that he had made arrangements, the Ninth Prince did not say anything else, but only said: "It is good that you know this in your mind. You have many sons, and they have different mothers. You must teach them well and make them able to stand on their own feet."
The Fifth Prince said, "When the Second Prince comes of age, I will ask Khan Ama for mercy and confer a title on him in advance."
The sons of the royal family apply for titles or take exams at the age of twenty, but previously they could apply for titles when they were fifteen.
Since the Second Prince is ill, there is no hope that he can inherit the title or pass the imperial examination. The only thing left is to hope for a conferment of honor.
The Ninth Prince looked at the Fifth Prince and said, "Then you have to cheer up and stop wasting your time, not accumulating merits, and not asking for mercy from Khan Ama."
Having many princes is not precious enough, let alone the emperor's grandsons.
The Fifth Prince nodded and said, "Yes, I know. It's just that the Eighth Prince has gone through the Ministry of Justice once, and now they are all behaving themselves. I'll go to other government offices later."
After hearing this, the Ninth Prince said with regret, "It would be great if the Fifth Brother was still in the Ministry of Works. During this southern tour, he found several dam problems. If he wants to make a contribution, the Ministry of Works has a lot of room for improvement."
The Fifth Prince said, "I have no hope for the Ministry of Works. A few years ago, I was in charge of the Ministry of Works..."
The Ninth Prince was thinking about his own clockwork ornament workshop, and this time he did not ask the Fifth Brother to be a partner. However, brothers do not need to have a situation where you pull me and I pull you.
When Hongsheng gets married and the second prince is conferred a title, I, as his uncle, will give some money to my two nephews.
When it was almost time for dinner, He Yuzhu came in and asked, "Sir, is the table ready? Shall we serve the meal?"
The Ninth Prince nodded and said, "Put it on the stove, and pour a pot of the mulberry wine that we brewed a few days ago."
He Yuzhu responded and went down.
The Fifth Prince touched his stomach and felt a little hungry.
He hadn't eaten well these past two days because he was thinking about settling his second son.
After a while, the table was served.
In addition to lotus leaf spare ribs and smoked meat platter, there are also meat dishes such as braised pig tail, stir-fried kidney, and chestnut pork belly soup.
The wine is mulberry wine that was brewed at the beginning of the month, and it is purple-red in color.
When the Fifth Prince saw the dishes on the table, he couldn't help but glance at the Ninth Prince's crotch.
The Ninth Prince felt uncomfortable and asked, "What are you looking at?"
The Fifth Prince pointed at the table and said, "It's so hot, aren't you afraid of getting angry?"
The Ninth Prince laughed twice and said, "I ate light meals recently, so I'm a little greedy..."
Who said it's early summer now, it's hot during the day but cool in the morning and evening, so I'm a bit sleepy.
After all this, I feel a little overwhelmed.
But the Ninth Prince was a strong-willed man, so he took the initiative to order food.
Unexpectedly, I was caught up by my own brother.
The Fifth Prince didn't point it out and just used his chopsticks to cook the stir-fried pork kidney.
This dish is not expensive, but it is not one of the standard dishes in the kitchen.
Six meat dishes and four vegetarian dishes, ten dishes in total.
The Fifth Prince ate most of the food and drank nearly a pot of mulberry wine, then left feeling very satisfied.
The Ninth Prince lowered his head and smelled his body. Although the smell of alcohol was not strong, he felt uncomfortable after sweating at noon. He asked for water and washed himself in the front yard before returning to the main courtyard.
Shushu had just finished taking a shower and was looking at this month's account book with her hair loose.
Not to mention anything else, just the rewards alone cost eighty or ninety taels of silver.
The princes all live in Haidian, so there are more social interactions. The subordinates who come to pay their respects and deliver messages will be rewarded, which is twice as much as when they were in the Beile Mansion.
I feel like a burden to myself, let alone others.
The Ninth Prince came in, sat on the other side of the kang, leaned over and looked, and said, "Is there something wrong? Or is it that the accounts at the Prince's Mansion are not clear?"
Both husband and wife are unwilling to suffer any loss.
Although I have loose hands, I don't want to keep termites.
Those who worked in the Beile Mansion have been punished twice in recent years.
One of Shushu's roommates was found to have embezzled money and was sent directly to the manor.
The Ninth Prince couldn't stand this even more.
It doesn't matter how much the reward is, being greedy for just a few ounces of silver is annoying.
The old saying "When the water is too clear, there will be no fish" does not apply in the Beile Mansion.
Shushu shook her head and showed the Ninth Prince the page of reward records: "I'm looking at this. This item is over the limit, but there is no way to reduce it."
The Ninth Prince took it and looked at it.
The reward for those who come from the Imperial Court and the North Garden is four taels of silver or more; the reward for those who come from other places is two taels of silver.
You know, the normal monthly salary for the maids and women serving in the Prince's Mansion is only five cents of silver.
The rewards given out over the past half month are equivalent to the monthly wages of about a hundred people.
The Ninth Prince also frowned and said, "According to this calculation, living in Haidian for a few months every year will cost several hundred more silver coins."
Shu Shu said, "Every family is like this. Fortunately, the property that Master gave me still has some income. If I only rely on the salary from the title, I will be in big deficit."
For people of their status, rewards are only a small part of the income, while interpersonal relationships are the majority.
For example, there are two main ladies in this moon palace, and the younger generations have to buy steamed buns to celebrate their birthdays, and each portion costs eight taels and six cents of silver.
There are also three elder relatives who have passed away, and they also need to prepare steamed buns for them, each serving costing seven taels and two cents of silver.
In addition, when four elder members of the royal family celebrated their birthdays, eight boxes of steamed buns were presented as a gift, each costing six taels and six cents of silver.
These are the ones where there is no return of money, which is different from the relationship between brothers and sisters-in-law.
The Ninth Prince was shocked and said, "Inside and outside the palace, there must be more than a hundred elders. In a year, just the filial tribute of steamed buns would cost 1,800 taels."
If it is a close relative, such as the Prince Yu's Mansion, Prince Gong's Mansion and Prince Zhuang's Mansion, it is not enough to just send a steamed bun box, but also longevity noodles, longevity peaches, as well as clothes, shoes and socks.
Shu Shu said, "Over the past few years, I have a rough idea of the annual expenses. It is between 8,000 and 9,000 taels of silver, not more than 10,000 taels. However, if we add the tributes to the emperor and the empress, it will be 13,000 taels."
In the past few years, when the Ninth Prince was working in the Imperial Household Department, he had a lot of money left over from various donations, which left him with some extra money after paying for his family expenses.
Starting last year, without the income from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we have to be responsible for all expenses ourselves.
The ninth prince’s salary was 2,500 taels of silver, and his annual allowance of 50 Lanjia armors was 1,800 taels of silver.
Fortunately, there was income from the farms and shops under the name of the Ninth Prince, which amounted to more than 15,000 taels.
"It's not so bad now. I have enough money every year. I'll be fine in two years when the pearls are grown..."
Shushu calculated that the Ninth Prince's assets would still leave him with 6,000 taels of silver every year.
The annual interest from the dowry on my side adds up to 18,000 taels of silver, so I don't have to worry about spending money beyond my means.
The Ninth Prince thought of the other brothers' families and said, "We don't have enough staff in the Prince's Mansion, and the other families have hundreds of people. Even if they don't have any tributes to the emperor, they can't save much money compared to us. It's okay for the Fourth and Fifth Brothers, but I'm afraid the others will have to use the money for the division of the family."
Shu Shu said, "More than 200,000 taels of silver, if I put it in the bank and earn interest, it would be enough to make up for this."
The Ninth Prince thought about it and said, "That's right, but the Twelfth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince will be in trouble. They will leave the palace in the second half of the year, but we don't know when they will be granted titles. I guess they will have to be tight on money for a while..."
Shu Shu said, "The Thirteenth Prince should be fine, as he has Concubine Min's mother to help him out. But I don't know if Madam Su can help out a little bit for the Twelfth Prince."
The Ninth Prince said, "Who knows? If it really doesn't work, we can only eat the soft rice of their wives first..."
This couple, as a family, should have more interactions to deepen their relationship. If they have clear boundaries, then they should just respect each other like guests.
After closing the account book, the Ninth Prince talked about the purpose of the Fifth Prince's visit.
"I thought Fifth Brother was asking me for advice, but he ended up just nagging me..."
As he spoke, he told the story of Guwalgiya's pregnancy and the Fifth Prince's refusal to choose a grandson from the Tatala family as his study companion.
Shushu's scalp went numb as she listened to this.
If the Fifth Lady knew about this, she would probably be so angry that she would vomit blood.
If Guaerjia had not given birth, the Five Beile Mansion could still be said to be a three-way balance of power.
The eldest son of a concubine, the legitimate wife, and the concubine.
If Guaerjia becomes pregnant and gives birth to a healthy grandson, then the Fifth Lady or the eldest son out of wedlock will not matter much.
The Ninth Prince sighed and said, "Fifth Brother was decisive at this time. If he had come up with a plan earlier, we wouldn't have to live like this."
Shu Shu nodded.
The Fifth Prince was soft-hearted, which is why he indulged Princess Liu, who gave birth to his eldest son and daughter, in his early years.
Later, he was soft-hearted. He knew that the Fifth Lady was not in a good position among the princes' wives, so he promoted the Fifth Lady in the mansion and did not easily oppose her decision to preserve her dignity...
*
My physical discomfort has affected my mood. I don't want to communicate with the outside world, but I don't want to be a eunuch either. I think about being lazy for a day every day. Starting from the next day, I will resume updating twice or three times a day, and then procrastinate and try to adjust.