A few days passed in a hurry, and seeing that it was about to be the end of the month, Xu Hao had been staying at home and dealing with foreign affairs wholeheartedly, almost without leaving home.

There was a crackling sound of abacus in the account room, and soon the bookkeeper handed this month's account book to Xu Hao with both hands, Xu Hao took it and took a look, the expenditure of the long room was as high as more than 3,200 taels of silver, of which more than 700 taels of silver were recorded in the account of Mrs. Wang.

After carefully looking at the details, the bulk is the cost of the dowry, the cost of favors and rewards, and this province has to look carefully.

The more than 700 taels of silver spent by the Wang family belonged to a small account, and the reason was that he had to pay for the official money, including more than 200 taels of silver for extra food expenses and nearly 400 taels of silver for the purchase of jewelry, rouge, gouache, and so on.

No wonder everyone says that the eldest lady is kind to people and generous, and she spends more a month than our family of four combined, but the problem is that this money will not be returned, and the money in the official is invited to buy people's hearts.

In his heart, Xu Hao sighed helplessly, and looked at all the expenses in the second room, the cheap father who spent the most in the small account was only more than forty taels of silver, and the mother was more than thirty taels, and the records of himself and his eldest sister and younger sister were all zero, that is to say, the money spent this year was all the silver he had accumulated on weekdays, and he did not spend a penny in the official.

The identity of the old lady is there, and the three hundred taels of silver spent this month are all used to feast relatives and decent mothers. And because the third uncle and father and son were not at home, the third aunt spent more than 200 taels alone, and Luzhu's account remembered that it was eight taels and six dollars of silver.

Originally, as a man, he didn't want to care about these things, but in the long run, the family property had to be lost, and it was better for this wicked man to do it himself than to give his mother a headache.

Xu Hao thought for a while and instructed: "From the first day of next month, all the monthly money owed will be stopped, until all the deficits in the officials are paid, and if anyone wants to buy something, take out the cash." ”

The three bookkeepers were all stunned, and the housekeeper Qian Er hurriedly said: "This is not appropriate, besides, why should the third master take this matter on himself, you can send the account book to the old lady, or it will be over." ”

Xu Hao smiled bitterly: "That eldest lady must not be reprimanded in public, she is disgraced, can she not hold a grudge against us in her heart?" So be it, that's it for this month. Starting from next month, the old lady and the eldest lady each have eighty taels of silver, and the second and third ladies each have fifty taels. ”

Qian Er nodded with a smile and said, "The third master is thoughtful, let's be convinced." ”

Xu Hao stood up and patted his trouser leg, and suddenly sneered: "I don't need you to flatter me, this account is what I ordered to seal, and it will be me who will be investigated in the future, and I have nothing to do with you!" I'm afraid that the rules I set today will be abolished in less than a month, and in the future, the long house and the three rooms will still spend money lavistly, and you will continue to extract benefits from it, and it will always be me and my mother who offend people, right? I want to remind you that it is good to enjoy the shade under the big tree, and it is not good for anyone to squander this family. ”

"Don't be angry." Qian Er hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop Xu Hao, who was about to leave, with a smile on his face, "Anyway, you can also understand us, who dares to stop the matter of a few wives opening their mouths now?" In the past, when the old lady was in good spirits, who dared to spend money indiscriminately in this family? Now it's different from before, the eldest master never cares about the trivial matters in the family, the second master knows it in his heart but doesn't say it, let alone the third master and a scholar, as for the temperament of the three wives, the third master knows better than us!

But if your third master can stand up in the future, I dare to pat my chest and assure you that you are not allowed to spend a penny, but unfortunately we all know that it can't be, hehe! ”

At this time, Li Si, the account room, also said: "The little one says something that shouldn't be said, Brother Hao, you don't care about this matter, now the eldest lady is in charge, and the affairs of this family will have to be handed over to the county lord to take care of in the coming year, which kind of heart do you and the second wife have?" The second master saw it clearly, holding his own silk shop in his hand, in case there is something in the future, your family will not worry about food and clothing, you still keep your eyes on thinking more about the future. ”

Xu Hao looked at the two bookkeepers in surprise, these words can be said to be heart-wrenching, and it is not a trivial matter to say it so bluntly, in case it is passed out.

Seeing this, Qian Er smiled bitterly and said softly, "The third master is very strange, right? To tell you the truth, we have calculated the accounts for half a lifetime, and we have seen a lot of silver in and out, and there is still a little eyesight! Life is about the long stream, such as the old man and his wife in the past few years, the discerning person knows that it will not last long, and maybe what trouble will happen in the future, alas! So once there is something, I have to ask Brother Hao to take a few of us in. ”

Xu Hao was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly asked, "Do you see anything wrong?" Speak to me. ”

At that moment, Qian Er glanced at Li Si, Li Si walked out of the door and looked at it, the other bookkeeper who had been silent lowered his head and walked to the side, Qian Er took Xu Hao's hand and sat down again.

Qian Er put his head to Xu Hao's ear and whispered, "Third Master, you don't know, right?" The eldest lord gave five thousand taels of silver before the year, and the whereabouts of the silver are not clear, after which the eldest lord was suddenly promoted to an official position, and the people who came to give New Year's gifts also increased, in addition to colleagues and subordinates, there are several princes, these are all noble families who have never been in contact with each other, do you say that this matter is strange? ”

Xu Hao frowned, thought for a long time and said slowly: "You mean, this official position is not the path of King Qin, but obtained by bribery?" ”

Qian Er slapped his thigh fiercely, and said with some excitement: "Sure enough, we didn't see the wrong person, the third master, although you are young, you are very shrewd, this is a blessing for the Xu family." You said that if you spend 5,000 taels of silver to buy an official, then if something happens, it will be a crime of killing your head! ”

Xu Hao frowned and asked, "Who has such great ability?" One word can make the uncle promoted, and even the eldest brother has made a hundred households. ”

"That's a lot." Qian Er got up and walked to the inner room, quickly took out a stack of red gift lists, pointed and said: "Third master, you can see for yourself, there are Song Guogong Feng's family, Yingguo Gongfu's family, and Liangguo's Lan family, no matter which of them can't do anything?" ”

Like a basin of cold water pouring down from the top of his head, Xu Hao was so shocked that his hands and feet were cold, the memory that he couldn't remember a few days ago opened a floodgate in an instant, how could he forget another big case after Hu Weiyong's case, the same widely implicated case of Lan Yu's rebellion?

I finally know why I am sometimes inexplicably uneasy, what if the uncle is innocently implicated in the Lanyu case? What's more, now that I know about the bribe, if the silver is given to the general Lan Yu, then it is not innocent but deserved.

After a long time, Xu Hao finally said softly: "Apart from the three of you, who else knows about the silver?" ”

Thump! Thump! Thump! The three bookkeepers knelt on their knees one after another, and Qian Er said in a trembling voice: "Third master, you won't be ruthless, right?" ”

"Get up, how can I be so ruthless? The fact that you can tell me about this shows your loyalty to my Xu family. ”

Xu Hao said with a smile, in fact, he really had a killing intention in his heart just now, but just thinking about it, Xu Hao had never done anything harmful in his two lives, let alone killed people with his own hands.

Qian Er, who was kneeling on the ground, raised his head and said: "The three of us only know that the silver was taken away, and the others are all speculation, no one has mentioned it except the third master, we can swear to the sky." And it was Wang Ping, a henchman next to the eldest lord, who took the silver that day. ”

"Oh." Xu Hao reluctantly put his mind at ease, this Wang Ping is the son of the big housekeeper Wang Fu, he grew up with his uncle since he was a child, this person is logically reliable, even if he can't be relied on, he is not at home at the moment, but with Xu Yaozu as a personal guard in the barracks.

What should I do? Xu Hao smiled bitterly in his heart, is there really no way at all, what can he do as a small person? I can't persuade my uncle Xu Yaozu, I can't count on Zhu Di, the king of Yan, let alone Xu Da, who is slight, and all he can do seems to be resigned to fate.

Suddenly, Li Sixue made matters worse, and said: "The third master took more than 20 people with him when he left, and the fourth young master took more than 20 people with him when he left, and he never asked for a tael of silver from the family. ”

At this moment, Xu Hao's whole heart was cold, he sat there for a long time without a word, and finally gritted his teeth and got up and slowly walked to the door, gently pushing the door bolt.

"The only way to do this is to save my family of four as much as possible, if something happens, I will not forget the three of you, and this matter will have to wait for my father to come back and discuss it. Anyway, it's going to rain, and the mother is going to get married, and she takes care of herself, so be it. ”

After finishing speaking, Xu Hao walked away with heavy steps, leaving Qian and the other three people in the room to look at each other and sigh one after another.

They didn't know that Xu Hao was walking, his steps became more and more brisk, and Zuihou entered the inner house as if nothing had happened.

In the final analysis, Xu Hao, except for his parents and sisters, the other Xu family members are not enough to become his family ties, since he has no ability to save them, he simply gives them all, and he can easily take his parents and sisters to the north to join Zhu Di.

As the saying goes, you can't live if you do your own evil, and you are not an ignorant young man, if you dare to break the law with your own body, then you can bear it yourself, there is nothing to say.

Xu Hao didn't have any burden in his heart, with the current official positions of the eldest uncle and the third uncle, no one would be implicated if something happened. Of course, it's best if nothing happens.

In fact, Qian Er and the three of them also have this view, these days, I have observed with my own eyes that the third young master is a young man who is responsible and assertive, different from the other brothers, so he has the courage to say the worries in his heart, which can be regarded as standing in line in advance, in case something really bad happens, he will follow the second room in the future.

This is also the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu is as evil as hatred, thunder is angry and dares to kill and dare to chop, a holy decree immediately thousands of heads fall to the ground, blood flows like a river, everyone is really afraid in their hearts, otherwise if they are any emperor, the people below will stand at the end of the three rooms of the long house with a bright future.

Xu Hao, who returned to the inner house, felt that today's house was a little more lively than usual, and when he asked, he knew that there were a few petites in the house, and they were all related to him.