bookbashuk Chapter 1663 Settlement of Accounts
Chapter 1663 Settlement of Accounts
Wang Hongfu seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Li Shen saw Wang Hongfu's expression and scolded him:
"Don't hesitate, tell me quickly, what's the problem with the road construction?"
Wang Hongfu was startled and quickly replied:
"Your Majesty, we...we may be out of money."
"What did you say? No money?"
When Li Shen heard that there was no money, he immediately sat up. His wonderful life had just begun and was about to end?
"Please explain clearly what you mean by no money. How can the Ji Palace, with a monthly transaction volume of over one million guan, be out of money?"
Li Shen questioned.
With a turnover of more than one million, you told me you had no money. Li Shen couldn't accept it.
Seeing Prince Ji so excited, Wang Hongfu boldly replied:
"Your Majesty, I asked the accountant below to do some calculations not long ago. If we build the road this year like last year,
The Ji Wang Mansion is no longer financially capable of sustaining itself and will have to borrow money next year.
Last year, the labor cost alone was more than 4 million, nearly 5 million guan, plus the cost of cement, iron bars, sand and other materials.
There are also construction tools and food expenses for the people.
All the things added up would require at least nine million strings of cash.
The profit of our Prince Ji’s Palace last year was less than 7 million strings of cash.
I had to borrow 1.5 million strings of cash from Princess Linchuan to make up for the shortfall."
Wang Hongfu's tone was also helpless. Prince Ji had a kind heart, but he was too kind.
A worker earned between twelve and twenty strings of cash a year.
It would cost nearly five million yuan to pay the wages of more than four hundred thousand people, which is more expensive than the cost of building the road.
“How could this happen? Didn’t the King say that he wanted to expand his business this year?
In addition, maritime trade is also expected to increase, so the revenue should be higher than last year.
Besides, I made a lot of money last year, so how could I still have a loss?"
Li Shen was a little puzzled. He had no idea about money because he didn't care about anything.
Sometimes Li Shen doesn't even know how much money he has.
"Your Majesty, I'm glad you made a lot of money last year. Otherwise, I'm afraid even the 1.5 million strings of cash you borrow from Princess Linchuan wouldn't be enough."
Wang Hongfu reported back.
"Why is this happening?" Li Shen couldn't understand at all.
Wang Hongfu hesitated for a moment, but finally made up his mind and replied:
"Your Highness, this is mainly because the expenses of Prince Ji's Mansion are too high."
"The palace expenses?" Li Shen frowned.
"Someone, go and invite the princess and Madam Wu." Li Shen shouted outside.
Just at this moment, Wang Xuance pushed the door and walked in.
"I see you, Your Majesty."
"Well, find a place to sit by yourself, and wait for a while."
Li Shen's mind is now filled with the word "no money". Without money, how can he enjoy a life?
After a while, Lu Dingniang and Wu Meiniang came slowly.
"Greetings, Princess. Greetings, Madam Wu."
Wang Hongfu and Wang Xuance quickly stood up and saluted.
Lu Dingniang nodded:
“No need to be polite, my dear. This is the porridge I just made. I added some nourishing herbs according to the prescription of Dr. Sun.
Hurry and drink it while it's hot."
Lu Dingniang took the porridge from the maid and placed it on the table.
"Don't worry, it's too hot, let it air out." Li Shen replied softly.
"Your Majesty, why did you ask me to come here?" Wu Meiniang asked as she bowed.
"Come, come and sit down. It's warm." Li Shen waved his hand.
After the two girls got on the couch, Li Shen asked:
"Madam, do you know how much the palace cost last year?
Oh, we are going to repair the Qinghai Road this year, but Wang Hongfu said that the palace has no money.
That’s why I just asked.”
Li Shen also explained that he was afraid that Lu Dingniang would misunderstand that he was checking the accounts.
Lu Dingniang smiled sweetly, knowing that Li Shen still cared about her feelings, and was very happy:
"My dear, I naturally know this. Xiaomei, go get the account book."
Lu Dingniang gave instructions to her personal maid, Xiaomei, who was his maid who came with her as a dowry.
Normally, she is a maidservant who serves as a test stone for verifying whether the new son-in-law is capable.
However, Li Shen has a special status and does not need a maid at all, as that would allow others to take advantage of him.
And no matter whether Li Shen is good or not, Lu Dingniang has to marry Li Shen. This is the imperial decree.
Therefore, the maidservant brought by Lu Dingniang was only there to serve her, and was considered her confidant in Prince Ji's mansion.
After a while, Xiaomei took the account book and handed it to Lu Dingniang.
"My dear, this is the account book I kept myself.
The accounting office of the palace is the same as that of the palace, please have a look, sir."
"No need to read it. Just tell me the approximate expenditure of the palace last year, so that I can have an idea of it."
Li Shen didn't answer it because he was afraid that it would give him a headache.
After hearing this, Lu Dingniang opened the last page and said:
"My dear, last year the palace spent more than 3.7 million strings of cash."
"How much?" Li Shen was no longer calm.
Three million seven hundred thousand strings of cash. Even all the princes and dukes in the Tang Dynasty combined cannot spend that much money.
"My dear, let me explain it to you in detail." Lu Dingniang also knew that there were too many flowers.
He flipped through the first few pages and glanced at them, then began:
"The guard camp cost more than 800,000 strings of cash, including the salaries of the soldiers, the feeding of the horses, the replacement of armor and weapons, food, uniforms, etc.
The research bureaus and academies spent more. The Dongshan Research Institute spent nearly one million strings of coins, and the Lingnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences spent more than 100,000 strings of coins.
The medical school was relatively good and did not lose too much, as it had the support of the First Tang Hospital, but it still cost more than 100,000 strings of cash.
Doctor Sun said that the number of people coming to the Second Hospital for treatment increased significantly last year, and many even came from other counties and prefectures.”
"That's only about two million strings of cash. Are there any other major expenses?" Li Shen stretched out his hand and calculated.
It’s only over two million, where did the remaining one million go?
"Have you forgotten about Japan? Last year, Japan spent one million guan.
Two hundred thousand strings of cash were spent on charity work such as giving out porridge, running orphanages, hospitals, and charity farms.
The remaining approximately 400,000 strings of cash were used for expenses in Prince Ji's mansion.
The wages of the servants, the maintenance and repair of the various courtyards, and the living expenses of the Ji Wang Mansion. It is about 100,000 strings of cash per year."
After hearing this, Li Shen slapped his forehead and said, "Yes, there is another project, which is to build a city in Japan."
Fortunately, the labor is cheap there, and all I have to do is transport the raw materials over there.
"Oh, right, what about the remaining 300,000 strings of cash?"
Didn’t you just say 400,000 strings of cash? Prince Ji’s palace expenses cost 100,000, and there are still 300,000 left.
Lu Dingniang looked at Li Shen helplessly, which made Li Shen a little flustered. He couldn't help but ask:
"Is it me who spent the three hundred thousand strings of cash?"
Lu Dingniang looked at Li Shen and nodded vigorously:
"My dear, you alone spent three hundred thousand strings of cash a year, which is enough to cover the expenses of Prince Ji's mansion for three years."
(The demon appeared on the yellow paper because the paper had been pre-processed:
Dip a clean brush into the nitre (i.e. potassium nitrate) solution and draw some animal patterns on the paper.
After the painting is completed, there is no trace on the paper. Since potassium nitrate is flammable, this special yellow paper is placed on the incense head and ignited.
I saw the dark fire on the paper slowly burning, and finally the original form of the ghost demon was revealed)