In the courtyard of the Du family, Mr. Du was pacing back and forth in the room with a pained expression. This time, because his illegitimate son Du Liang got into big trouble, he almost destroyed more than half of the family's resources accumulated over hundreds of years. After this incident, the Du family was destined to go downhill. After all, the compensation was so large that he had to sell several properties at a low price to raise enough money to let his illegitimate son out of prison.
Although he was only an illegitimate son, he was also his favorite son. Although Mr. Du was rich, he did not have many children. The concubine at home only gave birth to a son for him, and the rest were all daughters. However, the woman he kept outside gave birth to a son for him, so he had two sons.
Since his daughter had given birth to a son for him, why didn't he bring the boy into the mansion and keep him in the side courtyard? Well, this woman was once a well-known brothel girl in the northern city. Not only was she good-looking, but she was also delicate and delicate. She was proficient in zither, painting, and many other skills. She could be said to be both beautiful and skillful. Many young masters in the city fell in love with her and were willing to spend hundreds of pounds just to see her. Moneyman Du was naturally one of them. This Moneyman Du, with his strong financial resources, spent thousands of gold to redeem this brothel girl and then kept her in the side courtyard. It was not that Moneyman Du was unwilling to marry her, but it was really because brothel girls had a bad reputation. Moneyman Du's own father disagreed, so he had no choice but to keep her outside. Although this was not a secret, at least he had taken care of the family's reputation. This brothel girl did not disappoint and soon gave birth to a son for Moneyman Du. In the beginning, naturally not many people believed that this was Moneyman Du's son, but the child grew more and more like Moneyman Du, so people had no choice but to believe it. However, Old Du at home was still unwilling to accept it, so he kept the child outside.
So many years had passed. The brothel girl had aged, but she had not lost much of her skills. Occasionally, she would still play music. She knew how to win Moneymaker Du's favor. Therefore, even though she had aged, Moneymaker Du still doted on the brothel girls in the courtyard the most. He also doted on the child they gave birth to, which resulted in the child's rebellious and lawless character, which brought a big disaster to Moneymaker Du.
Originally, even if he caused trouble, it wouldn't be a big deal. Their child wasn't evil beyond redemption. At most, he was a little arrogant. When he had nothing to do, he would flirt with young girls and overturn a few vendors' stalls. Paying a little money would be enough. Over the years, this child had caused a lot of trouble, but it wasn't very serious. Even this time, the trouble he caused didn't seem to be a big deal. Wasn't it just smashing a shop? Moreover, this shop's shopkeeper was too much. It was good to teach him a lesson. Just teach him a lesson. But he didn't expect that he would have to pay so much compensation, which greatly exceeded his original expectations.
Mr. Du was originally an arrogant man. In his opinion, a man should be arrogant. Otherwise, if he was too weak like a woman, he would be easily bullied. Therefore, when he found out that his son was very arrogant, he was quite happy. He felt that his son was indeed domineering enough. He had inherited his excellent genes and was really dissolute.
"Father, I was tricked this time. Someone set me up. That county magistrate isn't a good person either. He must have been bribed. And those people who accused me are all problematic. They must have colluded with each other."
Du Liang said in exasperation.
Moneymaker Du roared, "Humph, you are not too stupid. You know there is a conspiracy. Yes, we were set up, but there are witnesses and material evidence. Even if we were set up, so what? We still have to obediently submit. We have no ability to resist. You know, if we don't bail you out, you will be killed in a few years in prison. Although I have two sons, the one I love most is you."
"This time, I caused trouble for you."
Du Liang admitted his mistake generously.
Moneymaker Du sighed and said, "Alas, this is fate! The shopkeeper of the Angi Family is too cruel. He dares to set us up like this. Isn't he afraid of making a personal grudge with us? "
As a veteran in business for many years, Moneymaker Du naturally knew that in jewelry stores, the most precious gems were hidden in very safe places. Gems like the cat's eye could never be placed in the display cabinet in the lobby openly. Gems that could be placed in the display cabinet in the lobby were of average quality. Even if they were smashed, the loss would not be great. These gems must be waste. But at this time, a large number of witnesses suddenly appeared and there were other gem merchants' valuations, which made Moneymaker Du somewhat helpless. Even if he was well aware of the Angi Family's conspiracy, there was nothing he could do if the county magistrate did not cooperate. He even tried to send gifts to the county magistrate, which had always worked. But this time, the county magistrate actually refused, which made him feel very inconceivable. The amount of gifts he sent was 10% of the compensation amount. Such a huge amount of money was ignored by the county magistrate, which made him very shocked. What did it mean? It meant that the benefits the county magistrate could get were much higher than the amount of gifts he sent, so the county magistrate did not care about the amount he gave, or the county magistrate had other purposes.
All of a sudden, his family suffered heavy losses. Although Moneymaker Du was extremely distressed, he did not think that his son really did anything wrong. He knew that this was a conspiracy, and the Angi Family and the county magistrate were involved. At least, both of them were definitely involved. Moneymaker Du was just a small businessman. How could he fight against the county magistrate? Knowing that the situation was not right, he could only reluctantly meet the county magistrate's request and quickly collect the compensation amount.
Because the price paid was too high, the whole Du Family was in trouble. Moneymaker Du's father was so angry that he lay motionless in bed. He almost breathed his last and trembled with anger. Five years ago, this physically exhausted old man handed over the family to Moneymaker Du. He did not expect that Moneymaker Du would take out more than half of the family's heritage for an illegitimate son. This was to shake the foundation of the Du Family. How could he not be angry when his son was so wasteful? Moreover, he was so angry that he lay down in bed in a fit of anger.
Although Moneymaker Du had great power and decisively spent the family's heritage, he also had a home that he did not dare to go back to. He hid in the courtyard to accompany the brothel girl and his troublemaker son. In the future, he did not know what kind of fate was waiting for him.
At this time, in the old house of the Du Family, all the elders of the Du Family gathered together to discuss how to deal with the imminent decline of the family.
"The patriarch is too absurd. Just for that whore's son, he actually wasted more than half of the family's resources. This kind of reckless action has brought a great crisis to our Du family. Now, the entire family's operations are in trouble. The situation is very serious."
An elder of the family said angrily.
"That's right. At noon today, I received the patriarch's order to sell the shop in the west of the river. He seemed to be very anxious. I did not care at that time and could only do as he said. If I had known that this would happen, I would never have sold the family's house in the west of the river."
"The worst thing is that there is no money in the account. At noon today, the patriarch sent people to take away all the cash in the family's account. Now we have no money to pay the few old customers who supply us. They are all in urgent need of money. If we continue to delay, our Du Family will break our promise to them."
"A good family is like this because of a bitch. The patriarch is really too much. He was actually coaxed by that bitch and did not listen to our advice."
"A bitch is a bitch. Her son is not good either. He actually causes trouble."
"Now is not the time to talk about bitches. We should think about how to deal with the family's crisis! So many debt collectors have come to our door. We have to pay them back. "
"What's wrong? Can't we complain a little? The patriarch was spoiled by you old guys. If my son was the patriarch that year, this would never have happened."
"That's right. The patriarch made the wrong choice. Our entire family suffered because of it. Now that the creditors have come to our door, the patriarch did not go out to deal with these troublesome matters. He actually ran to that bitch's place to hide. Is this the responsibility of a patriarch?"
"The patriarch is not qualified. He should be replaced immediately. If the family continues to be handed over to this kind of person, we will completely lose hope."
"That's right. The family's property should also be taken back. That bitch still occupies one of our family's villas. That is our Du Family's property, not that bitch's. She should be driven away as soon as possible. Also, that bastard son of hers. "
"After selling that villas, the family's accounts will be able to turn around for the time being."
"That's right. That villas should be taken back and sold as soon as possible. First let the family's accounts have some money. Then, slowly recover! Our Du Family has gone through such a disaster. I'm afraid it will take at least thirty to fifty years for us to fully recover. "
"That's right. The patriarch should be replaced as soon as possible. Let's discuss the next candidate for the patriarch! Let the new patriarch take over as soon as possible. "
A group of core elders of the Du Family gathered together to discuss the future of the Du Family. They were prepared to abolish the position of patriarch of the Du Family, take back the villas, and then sell the villas to enrich the family's accounts.
The elders of the Du Family acted very quickly. They immediately contacted the buyers and led over a hundred family members to surround the villas. Then, a group of people shouted 'bitch, bitch, bitch' as they rushed into the villas and dragged out the brothel lady and her daughter. They even dragged out the original patriarch, Big Moneybags Du. The mother and daughter were directly driven away. Big Moneybags Du was escorted back to the Du Family's old residence by several elders. They were prepared to lock him up for a few years. Naturally, the position of patriarch was completely lost. Moreover, there was no possibility of him becoming the patriarch again in the future.
The same thing continued to play out in North City. Those moneybags who had paid a huge amount of compensation were all under great pressure. Almost half of their savings were taken away. Their family's foundation suffered a great blow. Every family was going downhill. There were even a few small families that had completely collapsed. The family members fell apart.
As the main culprit of this turmoil, Ang Lee was eating and drinking comfortably in a restaurant. He was waiting for the Angi Family's shopkeeper to bring the deeds of the properties and enough money.
"Assistant Minister Li, there are a few moneybags who don't have enough cash and have mortgaged several properties. Let's not talk about these small properties. Here is a five-sectioned property that covers an area of three acres. Why don't we give this property to Assistant Minister Li? Also, this shop with the largest area is also given to Assistant Minister Li. Here is a thousand gold bars. Assistant Minister Li, keep them well."
The Angi Family's shopkeeper reluctantly gave the property that should have belonged to him to Ang Lee. There was no other way. After all, he was caught by Ang Lee.
This time, if Ang Lee hadn't told him the news in advance, he wouldn't have made a lot of money. Although most of the profits were given to Ang Lee, there was still a lot left. This time, the Angi Family's shopkeeper really made a lot of money.
"Good, good, this official will accept it, haha!"
Ang Lee smiled proudly.
After a casual compliment, the Angi Family's shopkeeper took his leave.
With the departure of the Angi Family's shopkeeper, Ang Lee's private room was watched by someone. The person who watched Ang Lee was none other than the confidant of the county magistrate. Next to him stood the petty official who was in charge of handling the case. When the county magistrate cooperated with the Angi Family to cheat those people, the county magistrate had never relaxed his surveillance of the Angi Family's shopkeeper. He wanted to see if this guy really gave the benefits to the Tang dynasty. If the Angi Family's shopkeeper left all the benefits to himself and deceived the county magistrate, this guy would be completely finished.
"Sir, is this man an official of the Tang dynasty?"
Naturally, the petty official did not recognize Ang Lee, so he asked the middle-aged man who looked like a scholar next to him in a low voice.
The middle-aged scholar took a deep breath and said, "When they entered the city, I was lucky enough to greet them with the Castellan. I saw this man. He is indeed a senior official of the Tang dynasty, the most senior official. It seems that the businessman who sold the gems did not deceive the county magistrate. The Tang dynasty did get the biggest benefits. There should be more than 1,000 gold ingots, and there should be a lot of land deeds for houses. He did give most of his wealth to the Tang dynasty. Let's go. Our task is completed. "
The petty official was startled. When he saw the scholar go downstairs and leave, he quickly followed him. When he was about to take action, he found that several strong men were staring at him. He was shocked and immediately realized that these strong men must be the guards of the senior officials of the Tang dynasty. His sneaky behavior aroused the vigilance of these guards, or it could be said that they were dissatisfied.
"I'm rich now. So much money. How can I spend it?"
Ang Lee said with a smile.
"Humph, such a small amount of money should be nothing to you!"
Zhao Yefu said with a smile.
Ang Lee smiled and asked several guards to come in. Each of them was rewarded with 10 gold ingots. Then, he asked several guards to move the remaining gold ingots to the carriage. In the future, the gold ingots would be his pocket money.
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