When the cold sunshine came out, Jia Cong leisurely left the general's mansion.
The elder, Lian Er and Wang Xifeng, who were originally full of ideas but also full of joy, all calmed down after his analysis.
It is true that Princess Yuanchun was flattered when she returned to the palace to meet her relatives, but it was of little actual help to Rongguo Palace.
More importantly, if the old lady and Mrs. Wang wanted to spend a lot of money to build a unique provincial residence, Rongguo Mansion and even Ningguo Mansion would probably go bankrupt.
This is boring...
The eldest master, Lian Er and Wang Xifeng calmed down and briefly discussed how to deal with the old lady. They didn't even bother to enjoy breakfast and hurried to Rongqing Hall to discuss it.
Jia Cong didn't go, as he, a member of the branch clan, was neither qualified nor willing to participate!
After enjoying a familiar sumptuous breakfast at the General's Mansion, Lei Ran went out and planned to go home as soon as possible. After all, today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and his subordinates will all come over to pay New Year's greetings.
But at this moment, he sensed the familiar aura of the lame Taoist, which was rapidly dissipating from the direction of Ning Mansion.
Hey!
I haven't been back for several months, but I didn't expect the lame Taoist to still wander around?
He went directly to the gate of Ning Mansion, summoned the gatekeeper, and asked, "Is there any strange person coming to the door?"
The disciple did not dare to neglect and hurriedly replied: "Yes, a lame Taoist came to the door early in the morning and said that he had a way to cure the master's disease. Uncle Rong invited the man in to perform a ritual, but he had already left!"
"Oh, I see!"
Jia Cong declined the warm reception from his disciples and left with a faint smile on his face.
Obviously, Jia Zhen has taken the place of Jia Rui, but I don’t know if she will die because of the torment?
Although he guessed that Jia Zhen might be in danger, he had no idea of taking the initiative to rescue her.
Regarding the disgusting things he learned yesterday, he wished that this guy would die as soon as possible.
…
After that, Jia Cong either stayed at home to receive New Year greetings from his younger brothers and their family members, or went to other people's homes to pay New Year greetings.
As for the matter of the provincial residence in Rongfu, as he had said to the elder before, it had little to do with him, and he did not want to take the initiative to get involved.
Therefore, he didn't pay any attention to it and didn't take it too seriously.
As for the matter of visiting relatives, it was done with bad intentions nowadays, but Jia Cong didn't care much about it.
If a dignified emperor needs to use unscrupulous means to deal with a declining top noble like Rong Guofu, then this emperor will do just that.
Jia Cong saw clearly that the key was that the Emperor was getting older and older and would die at some point.
The Rong Mansion was probably the emperor's loyal supporter. Even if the old lady and the eldest man didn't think so, they would think so today.
After the emperor's death, in order to strengthen the emperor's authority, it is natural to attack the emperor's subordinates, or to arrange for his subordinates to seize important positions and achieve the unification of the court.
Therefore, it doesn’t matter how gorgeous and extravagant the provincial residence is, at most it will only be an eyesore.
The key point is that the establishment of the Provincial Family House has hollowed out the foundation. This is because there is something wrong with the minds of those in power in Rongfu.
Without enough chips and strength, how can we withstand today's attacks?
As for crimes and the like, isn’t it possible to do whatever you want nowadays?
He carelessly didn't want to pay attention to it, but the eldest master and Lian Er refused to let it go, and sent relevant information in time every day.
For example, a very fierce quarrel broke out in Rongqing Hall on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
On behalf of Dafang, the elder made a reasonable suggestion that the vacant yard in the mansion could be used for renovation, but he resolutely refused to spend a lot of money to build another provincial residence.
Naturally, the old lady and Mrs. Wang wanted to spend a lot of money to build a provincial residence, and they also ridiculed the eldest master for being a petty person, which would embarrass Princess Yuanchun.
The eldest master is not a vegetarian either. He directly expressed his opinion that the eldest son had given out 50,000 taels of silver for the construction of the provincial residence.
The old lady and Mrs. Wang naturally refused to agree. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had already prepared to spend 300,000 taels from the private house, so naturally they had to provide enough money from the eldest house.
According to Mrs. Wang, this is the honor of the whole family. The big house can't just take advantage of it without making any contribution. He has to spend at least 200,000 taels of silver.
Naturally, Dafang did not agree, and the discussion ended on bad terms.
In order to raise money, the whole first month of the Rong Mansion was noisy and restless. In short, the old lady and the second house made various excuses and forced the first house to spend a large sum of money as money for the construction of the provincial residence.
The elder was unmoved, which made the elder anxious. He even pretended to be sick and ignored the old lady's call, but there was nothing he could do about it.
At this time, Lian Er and Wang Xifeng were glad that they had moved out of the second-fang house area early. Otherwise, they would have suffered a lot of bleeding this time, at least fifty thousand taels of silver.
The quarrel continued until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, but still only raised 350,000 taels of silver.
Mrs. Wang was so angry that she even said something unscrupulous at the family banquet. This little money was only enough to lay the foundation for the provincial residence.
Since she couldn't get any benefits from the big boss, Mrs. Wang was ruthless enough to spread hero posts all over the place, sending posts to relatives explaining the situation and asking them to provide money for support.
According to what the elder said sarcastically in private: he is just like a beggar outside!
The reaction of the relatives was relatively positive. The Lin family gave 50,000 taels, the two brothers from the Shi family also chipped in 50,000 taels, the Wang family also gave 50,000 taels, and the Xue family had no choice but to give 100,000 taels. They raised it all at once.
Two hundred and fifty thousand taels.
But this was not enough. Then Jia Rong and Qin Keqing were harassed. Not only did they get 50,000 taels of silver, but they also had to give up most of Huifang Garden to build a provincial courtyard.
I don’t know whether it was intentional revenge or unintentional. Shan Ziye, a garden designer hired by the Rong Mansion with a lot of money, directly enclosed most of the Huifang Garden of the Ning Mansion and the Grand Master’s General Mansion Garden.
No matter how dissatisfied I was, under the pressure from the old lady, I could only hold my nose and reluctantly comply.
The information from the eldest master and Lian Er made him feel like watching a big show.
From time to time, I was dragged to the General's Mansion to discuss matters, and they basically talked about matters related to the Provincial Courtyard. In short, it was all kinds of fuss.
The attitude of the old lady and the second wife was so resolute, what could Jia Cong, a member of the branch clan, say, except to reassure them. Anyway, the money from the big house had already been paid, so there was no need to worry too much about what would happen to the Provincial Family Courtyard.
.
Not only did he say that, he also did it.
Mrs. Wang did everything she could to raise money. Even the Jia clan members in the back streets were asked to contribute, but Jia Cong paid three thousand taels and ignored it.
On the other hand, Jia Rong, I don't know if he was instructed by Qin Keqing, so he went to Jia Cong every day to ask for help and advice.
"Uncle Cong, to be honest, my nephew really doesn't want to give up the land in Fangyuan, but the old lady's attitude is tough, and the second wife is talking about Yuanchun Palace Concubine, so my nephew really has no choice but to nod and agree. Uncle Cong has a way.
Is this a shame?"
Obviously, Jia Rong was much more stingy than his father Jia Zhen, but he did not casually give most of Huifang Garden to the Rong Mansion to build a provincial residence like his father.
"What can I, a member of the branch clan, do? I can only wait for the change. The gang of family members in Rong Mansion are just staring at the banknotes raised in the hands of the second wife. Do you think that 'merely' is less than 700,000 taels?"
Can money satisfy the appetite of those guys?"
Hearing this, Jia Rong couldn't help but take a breath, her face changed, and her voice was trembling: "Since Uncle Cong can see it, why..."
"As I said before, I am a member of a branch tribe, so it is useless to have any ideas!"
"But wouldn't it be a bad thing if we ran out of money halfway through building the provincial residence?"
"Does it have anything to do with you kid? If you have a headache, it will also be a headache for the old lady and the second wife. Maybe by then the size of the Provincial Family Courtyard will be reduced, and the Ning Mansion's Huifang Garden will also lose less land!"
"What if the second wife continues to ask for money?"
"You are stupid, can't you imitate the old man and pretend to be sick?"
After Jia Rong received the order, the Ning Mansion was peaceful and not affected much by the hustle and bustle in the Rong Mansion.
Even if there are some stewards and housekeepers who think they are quite powerful and can have a hand in the construction of the Provincial Courtyard, there is nothing they can do when Jia Rong and Qin Keqing do not make any move.
Amid such turmoil, the Jia clan school reopened, Jia Cong still ran in the clan school and the bookstore, and Lian Er also began to go to the Yamen to run errands normally, and was not affected by the establishment of the Provincial Family Courtyard at all.
But the second wife was not satisfied, and the old lady was not happy either...
In their opinion, the 600,000 taels of silver raised was far from enough. There was another troublesome problem at the moment: there was no useful overseer!
Lian Er was naturally the first one who came to mind. Unfortunately, he had to go to the Yamen every day to run errands and could not have time to keep an eye on the construction site in the mansion.
Don't count on Mr. Zheng Er. He can just point fingers from the side. If he is asked to handle the actual work, even the old lady will not worry.
The eldest man is also excluded, and the otaku is not mentioned. If he is allowed to supervise the work, I am afraid that the money raised in a few days will be turned into antique calligraphy and paintings.
As for letting the big housekeeper Lai Da act as a supervisor, it is naturally impossible.
Even if the old lady trusted the Lai family, she would never leave such a major matter as building a provincial residence to a family to give birth to a child. It would be too embarrassing to tell anyone about it.
After much calculation, I finally set my sights on Jia Cong.
When Jia Cong suddenly received the summons from the old lady, he was also confused: Why did he fall in love with him?
Unfortunately, before he could be forcibly appointed as the construction supervisor of the Provincial Courtyard, the Ning Mansion suddenly sounded the cloud in the evening: Jia Zhen is gone!
For a moment, Ning Mansion burst into tears...
In the Rong Mansion, the old lady and the second lady, who were in high spirits and ready to show off their talents, were all confused. They had to temporarily put aside the construction of the provincial residence and hurriedly arrived at the Ning Mansion. Wang Xifeng was temporarily assigned to help deal with Jia Zhen's case.
Posthumous affairs.
Of course, what they wanted to find out most at this time was why Jia Zhen died so suddenly and so unhappily, which delayed the construction of the provincial residence...