Back in the yard, Huo Xi sat in the room in a daze.
Several girls were indignant, "The Duke's mansion is so big, and we, the ladies, have to pay for it ourselves when building a small kitchen? Who has such a thing?"
"That's right, the eldest lady also said that they haven't worn jewelry for a long time, but I saw that she had a lot of jewelry on her head. She was wearing so many jewelry that I was worried that her neck would be broken. There were also seven or eight bracelets on her hands.
It doesn’t look like there are any jewelry. They all look brand new and shiny, so they don’t look like old ones.”
"It's true, no one believes it. Don't talk about us, let's talk about our wives. We haven't received a marriage certificate yet. When we return to our own home, we still have to pay for our own dowry?"
Mother Ma was disapproving of what she heard and looked at the girls to stop them.
"Girl, the status quo and the construction of a small kitchen are still trivial matters, but there was a commotion outside the house today, and Aunt Jun didn't say how to solve it. Do you really want the girl to step forward and pay pensions to the military dependents tomorrow and reissue their wages?
Jun noon?"
Dozens of military family members came today, and they need a lot of money.
For the girl, it is not a big sum of money, but if the other family members in the army hear the news and come looking for the girl, does the girl have to pay military expenses for the government on behalf of the Duke?
"Auntie Jun looked at her with a smile on her face. People who met her for the first time still couldn't tell that she was someone who would secretly attack my uncle. But she couldn't hold it back. She only held it in for two days before she came out to act like a monster. It's true.
People should not be judged by their appearance.”
"No, the smiling tiger is the scariest." Vanilla agreed.
Covering his chest: "Madam, my heart aches. I've already given away two hundred taels in front of the house just now. If I give you this again, we can't afford it no matter how much money we have. Are we here to be money-spreaders?"
"
Moreover, why should their wife pay for such money?
The Jun family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law just hid in the house and asked her wife, who didn't know the situation, to come forward. Wasn't it just to bully their wife to have a soft face and a soft heart, so she went to Yunnan without knowing the situation, and she only picked soft persimmons.
snort.
Huo Xi heard everyone's discussion and remained silent.
Huo Xi doesn't know anything about how many properties the Mu family has in Yunnan.
As the heir of the eldest son, Mu Yan was trained by the old marquis and the previous marquis as his successor, so he had to deal with government affairs and other personnel matters.
Moreover, Mu Yan has always kept manpower to run the business in Yunnan, and he also keeps many people in the dark. Although he does not know everything about the affairs of Mu Mansion in Yunnan, he can still grasp the general direction.
The Mu Mansion has been operating in Yunnan for decades, and it is impossible that it cannot even come up with an army to advance military expenses. I don’t know how long it has been in arrears.
In recent years, the national treasury has been short of silver, and the imperial court has been spending a lot of money. I am afraid that the military expenditures of the Jiubian Army have been in arrears from time to time.
The Mu Mansion was in charge of an army of 300,000 troops on the border. After Emperor Yongkang ascended the throne, he tried to reduce the vassal status of other vassal kings, but the 300,000 troops of the Mu Mansion remained intact.
When Emperor Yongkang launched the Jingnan Campaign, Yunnan's Mu Mansion did not send troops to assist the king, and the emperor probably felt uncomfortable.
It was just that the old Marquis, as the adopted son of Taizu, had always been loyal to David, and his descendants would loyally guard the country's borders, so Emperor Yongkang had not taken any action.
It's just that the allocation of military expenditures will not be too straightforward.
Now that Jun's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have pushed her out and asked her to face this kind of problem, she took advantage of the fact that the husband was not in the house. Did it just happen to happen, or did she have a plan in advance?
"It's a good thing my wife doesn't accept middle-class gifts, otherwise I don't know how many holes we would have to fill for them. We can't even afford the jewelry of the women in the backyard, so do we, the ladies, need to use our own dowries? We, the ladies, have to take the role of the girls themselves.
Can’t get out?”
"Do you think Mr. Jun is sincere in entrusting Zhongzhi? It's just a test." Mother Ma smiled.
"Isn't she afraid that our Crown Prince's wife will really take over the middle school?"
"If you really accept it, of course it will be an empty shell, and there will be a lot of holes for the girl to fill."
"I'm just talking about Mrs. Jun's smiling face. Dongxue told me yesterday that Mrs. Jun looks kind. She wants to be kind. Did our prince have to suffer all that and suffer all those crimes in his early years? Fortunately, our prince is blessed with a good life."
When Dongxue heard what Vanilla said, she lowered her head, "She is so good at disguising that no one can tell."
"You're the only one stupid!" The two of them quarreled.
Mother Ma was a little worried: "Girl, Mrs. Jun only said to write to the Duke and let him solve the problem, but I'm afraid those people won't wait and will definitely come to your door tomorrow."
If their girls haven't solved the problem by then, will they still have to ask for an explanation from their girls?
"Girl, you have to be careful about this matter. If you don't handle it well, I'm afraid it will affect the prince's status."
Huh? Vanilla and others were surprised.
"Is this what Jun's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law mean? She wants to dethrone our uncle from the throne? Her intentions are too vicious!" Everyone looked in disbelief.
"So you only look at people based on their appearance. As for Wushi, I heard that she often helps with the affairs of her chieftain's house at home. She is more outstanding than her younger brother and has a very high reputation. There are many girls in this place.
She is a chieftain. She only married with the intention of being the master of the family."
"What kind of house does she want to be in charge of? Where will she leave our son and his wife? They are nothing more than a concubine's wife."
"Wushi is not a simple person. Don't underestimate her. Her family is a well-known family among the local chieftains. She has been trained since she was a child. Naturally, she is not willing to be inferior to others." Huo Xi remembered what she had said to Wushi before.
I did some understanding and gave some reminders to a few girls.
"Don't worry, ma'am. When we wake up, we will be in high spirits."
"But, what should I do if I agree to those military relatives?"
Huo Xi thought for a while, "I'll write a letter to your prince immediately to inquire about the situation. Tomorrow's matter... since I have agreed, I will take care of it first."
On the one hand, he asked people to grind ink, and on the other hand, he asked people to go to the bank to exchange silver.
I also ordered a few maids to find the steward and build a small kitchen as soon as possible.
Huo Xi didn't want to worry about whether the government would give him a share, but a small kitchen still had to be built. The Duke of Guizhou's palace was much larger than the palace in the capital. The big kitchen was far away from their courtyard in the middle road.
Besides, Wushi Jun and others all have small kitchens, so there is no reason for her, the crown prince’s wife, to look at the faces of the cooks.
Huo Xi gave instructions repeatedly, and then summoned the managers from various places to ask about the situation. He had a rough idea.
In Jun's Courtyard on West Road, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were also talking.
"How does mother think Mrs. Zhang will handle it?"
Jun didn't answer, but glanced at Wu, "If it were you, how would you handle it?"
Wu Shi thought for a moment: "If it were me, I would openly open the door of the house tomorrow and personally hand out the reward money to the military relatives. I don't have thirty-fifty taels of pension silver, so I still have to give the one-two tael reward to others.
You see, it’s important to gain a good reputation. The rest of the arrears are only due to the imperial court, and we don’t have to use our own money to make up for the imperial court’s shortfall.”
Jun smiled and said: "The Duke of Guizhou has a big business, so it's not that we can't afford the money in advance, but how can we fill it up? What's the use of letting the court know that we are as rich as the enemy? Then send a prince later.
The prince, if you make this place his fiefdom and we tie our hands, what’s the benefit?”
"Exactly, what mother said is right. That Mrs. Zhang has just arrived, so I'm afraid she doesn't know how powerful it is. No matter what she does, I'm afraid she will make a mess."
