Chapter 45

The hall instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Hong Hong Chengchou and Zhu Zhu Chunchen exchanged bewildered glances.

Hearing this interest rate, Hong Hong Chengchou's brows involuntarily furrowed slightly.

Clearly, some suspicion had arisen in his heart.

It was true that voyaging overseas earned much silver.

But surely not to this extent!

They hand over all the silver they earn, and you just run an errand?

Before Hong Hong Chengchou could ask for details,

Zhu Zhu Chunchen immediately grabbed Zhou Kui's arm and said excitedly,

"Imperial Father-in-Law Zhou, no, Old Brother!"

"You must look out for your brother here; my eldest daughter has been frail and sickly since childhood."

"Ever since she contracted a wind-cold illness a few years ago that left her with lingering ailments, swallowing medicines daily has cost handfuls upon handfuls of silver."

"This amount of silver may be beneath your notice, Old Brother, but for my daughter, it is life-saving money!"

Hearing Zhu Zhu Chunchen's words,

Zhou Kui could not help but fall silent.

In his heart, ten thousand horses were galloping wildly.

That eldest daughter of yours is as sturdy as an ox; she's only one step away from becoming a mountain bandit.

How do you have the audacity to say such a thing!

However, this so-called tale of misery

was merely a way for both parties to save face.

Hearing Zhu Zhu Chunchen speak this way,

Zhou Kui could only offer a helpless, bitter smile from the side, saying,

"Aiya, Duke of Cheng, what kind of talk is this? You are the head of our Great Ming's military nobility; now that you have spoken,

very well, just bring the silver over tomorrow."

Hearing Zhou Kui say this,

Zhu Zhu Chunchen was so delighted that snot bubbles nearly popped out of his nose.

Standing aside, he laughed while offering endless thanks,

"Good, good."

With that, both men immediately turned their gazes toward Hong Hong Chengchou standing nearby.

Hong Hong Chengchou helplessly shrugged his shoulders and said,

"Hong is not comparable to you two; today I originally came only to visit Imperial Father-in-Law Zhou. Now that I see the old gentleman is in good health, Hong Chengchou is reassured."

As he spoke, Hong Hong Chengchou desperately winked at Zhu Zhu Chunchen beside him.

At this moment, Zhu Zhu Chunchen's mind was completely filled with silver.

How could he possibly notice Hong Hong Chengchou's signals?

Hong Hong Chengchou could only let out a long, helpless sigh.

Just as Hong Hong Chengchou and Zhu Zhu Chunchen were about to depart,

Zhou Kui added the final masterstroke.

"Gentlemen, do not let others know of this matter; just say that this old man had family affairs to attend to. Remember this, remember this!"

Once these words were spoken,

Zhu Zhu Chunchen immediately slapped his chest, looked at Zhou Kui, and laughed loudly,

"Hahaha, Imperial Father-in-Law Zhou, can you not trust me? Just put your heart at ease!"

Perhaps without this statement,

the news would not have spread so quickly.

But Zhou Kui knew that once he said this,

within a few hours, the matter would instantly spread throughout the entire circle of nobles in the capital.

That afternoon,

Zhang Zhang Zhiji, Duke of Britain; Xu Xu Yunzhen, Duke of Ding; Li Li Guorui, Marquis of Wuqing; and others directly dragged cartloads of silver to Zhou Kui's residence.

They stubbornly stayed at the Earl of Retainer's manor, forcing Zhou Kui to accept their silver.

They were practically ready to throw tantrums and roll on the ground!

Wang Wang Wang Chengen, hiding in the shadows upon witnessing this scene,

felt the corners of his mouth twitch slightly.

Good heavens.

When it comes to bamboozling people, you truly are the master, Imperial Father-in-Law Zhou!

That very night, Chongzhen received Zhou Kui's memorial report.

Upon seeing the specific figures, Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian completely lost his composure.

In just the span of a single day,

the nobles of Great Ming had pooled together more than 1.5 million taels of silver!

He had shouted himself hoarse in the court, yet those civil and military officials had only managed to scrape together 50,000 taels!

Now, with just a few casual words of deception from Zhou Kui,

1.5 million taels of silver had been produced!

After Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Youjian reported this figure to Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang.

Even Old Zhu, who had long mentally prepared himself, finally broke down.

So they're just brazenly greedy, is that it?

The Ministry of Revenue's Viceroy Viceroy Viceroy Viceroy Viceroy Yamen is so poor that rats are running through it.

Yet these nobles are each wealthy enough to rival a nation?

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Great-Grandfather, what should your grandson do now!"

"Your grandson now wishes he could immediately dispatch the Embroidered Uniform Guard to raid their homes and exterminate their clans!"

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang's brows knitted tightly.

How could Old Zhu not wish to drag these people out and behead them immediately!

But these people were nobles!

If the Zhu family had fought bitterly on the battlefield to hold back the Jurchens in the front lines.

Killing these scoundrels outright would leave no room for anyone in the world to object.

But now, the Zhu family was still on the road to the capital.

Everywhere, there was a shortage not only of silver but also of capable people to get things done.

If these people were killed.

Before the imperial clan even arrived at the capital, the entire capital would likely descend into complete chaos.

Thinking of this.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang's brows involuntarily furrowed even tighter.

Emperor Taizu Gao:

"You wait; I am going right now to find someone to ask!"

Even though it was already the middle of the night.

Zhu Zhu Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang paid no heed to such details, immediately ordering a carriage prepared and hastily departing the palace.

At Su Qiao's home.

Gazing at the quiet and secluded Sihe Academy.

Su Qiao, who had just bought two jianbing guozi from Qianmen Street, walked into his home filled with melancholy.

The moment he opened the courtyard gate.

Su Qiao could not help but let out a long sigh.

Then he took a fierce bite of his jianbing guozi.