Brother Rong of Red Mansion

Chapter 147 Wang Xifeng: I didn’t make a loan shark!

One hundred thousand taels?

Wang Xifeng was shocked.

She took care of the family in Rongguo Mansion. She received money from the official on the first day of every month, but distributed it to each house on the fifteenth day of the month.

Taking advantage of this time difference, moneylenders extract interest.

It’s less than a thousand taels of silver a year (including interest on your own money).

One hundred thousand taels, she had to bear the name of "loaning and ruining settlements" for a hundred years.

Is it so easy to make money?

Wang Xifeng was sour.

******

Some people say that Sister Feng is a loan shark.

In fact, the "Dazhou Code·Household Code·Money and Debt" clearly stipulates: "Anyone who lends money or pawns property privately, the monthly interest cannot exceed three-thirds. Although there are many years and months, it is only one profit per dollar. It is against the law. Those who use the remaining profits to calculate the weight of the stolen goods will be punished with forty floggings, and those who sit on the stolen goods will be punished with a hundred canes."

That is, the maximum upper limit of the loan interest rate is three cents per month, 3%.

There is a special explanation for this in the "New Compilation of Da Zhou Lulu Hui Tong": "If you borrow one tael of silver, you will receive interest at the rate of three cents per month. If the accumulation exceeds thirty-three months, the interest will be one tael. It is equal to the original amount, which is called one profit per principal. Even if there are many years and months, the interest cannot be calculated as three points. Even if it is five years or ten years, only one principal per interest can be repaid. This debt is subject to the prohibition of interest."

Even if you borrow one tael of silver, the maximum interest rate is only one tael, and it is enough for you to pay back two taels.

The excess does not need to be paid back.

Anyone who violates this will commit a crime.

This is an express provision of the imperial court that prohibits the private practice of "compounding profits upon profits."

In the 104th chapter of the continuation of the book, Wang Xifeng's interest rate for lending money is "plus one yuan", that is, the monthly interest rate is 10%, which is more than three times the national standard. This is where the identification of "illegal profit taking" and "exploitation of usurious profits" comes from.

But in fact, the original text has many records about this. In Chapter 39, Ping'er said, "In the past few years, I have collected hundreds of pieces of silver from this item."

That is, from the sixth year of the Red Mansion to the thirteenth year of the Red Mansion, several hundred were found in six years.

If calculated by "adding one yuan", the monthly interest is 30 taels, one year is 360 taels, and six years is 2160 taels, which is completely inconsistent.

Instead, based on the "monthly interest of 3 cents", the monthly interest is 9 taels, 108 taels per year, and a total of 648 taels in six years, which completely corresponds to the original text "Hundreds have been turned over in the past few years."

Therefore, Wang Xifeng was just lending money in a reasonable and legal manner, not usury.

These are two different things.

The author of the sequel book has no economic knowledge and accuses Sister Feng of "loan sharking". It is really unjust.

Of course, it does not sound good to do such a thing as Wang Xifeng.

"Lost the dignity of the Rongguo Mansion" is a minor statement. If it is more serious, it will question her virility and moral character. This is one of the reasons why she hides it and does not dare to let others know.

Of course, under the guise of Jia She, Zhang Jinge and the guard's son were forced to die for their love.

The bloody smell of the three thousand taels of silver is another matter.

******

jealous.

At this moment, Wang Xifeng seemed to have eaten a lemon.

It was really enviable to see Qin Keqing talk about tens of thousands of taels of silver in an understatement without blinking an eye.

"Oh, the same people have different fates."

Wang Xifeng sighed, but was satisfied, and turned around to report the news to Rongguo Mansion.

Not long after, Rongguo Mansion learned the news, and they were all shocked that Jia Rong's lion opened his mouth. Aunt Lai cried and wiped her tears in Rongqing Hall. She sent people to tell her several times, but Jia Rong didn't agree and insisted on one hundred thousand taels.

He even showed an angry look and cursed: "If you keep insisting, one hundred thousand taels will be lost!"

After hearing this, Grandma Lai and her son did not dare to make any noise. They immediately pawned their property with great fanfare and raised a hundred thousand taels to buy back the male of Lai Sheng's family.

The masters of the Rongguo Mansion felt that the Lai family was "hemorrhaging" when they heard that the Lai family had been ransacked, and that the Lai family had moved furniture and ornaments out piece by piece and pawned them to the Xue family.

Only Jia Rong had a calm attitude.

The income of Rongguo Mansion is more than three times more than that of Ningguo Mansion every year.

In the final analysis, the Laijia family is just a branch.

Everyone Lai is the backbone of the Lai family, and their wealth is not fake.

Ning Rongjia's family ate the Lin family's blood buns and spent two to three million taels of silver to build a grand view garden.

The Lai family can build a "small garden" by themselves.

One can imagine how greedy the Lai family was.

One hundred thousand taels?

It's just a small test.

"When I can intervene in Rongguo Mansion, I will uproot you bunch of unscrupulous slaves!" Jia Rong thought to himself.

At the same time, the stewards imprisoned in the Ningguo Mansion were also demoted to the fields in the suburbs of Beijing, where they served as tenant slaves and created benefits for the Ningguo Mansion. Most of their secret accounts were also recovered.

Thirty percent of it was distributed to Shuntian Mansion, and 70% went into the accounts of Ningguo Mansion.

So far——

The management class of Ningguo Mansion were wiped out.

The entangled old forces were uprooted by Jia Rong, and even his family property was confiscated.

For a time, Jia Rong's face was red from eating.

Nearly three hundred thousand taels of cash were put into the bank, and countless farmland, shops, and houses were assigned to Ningguo Mansion.

Jia Rong ordered people to count and sell some of the gold jewelry, silk and satin, and furniture, and collected 30 taels of cash and rushed it into the bank.

All the rest were sealed, counted, and put into the warehouse.

Next, there are major personnel changes in Ningguo Mansion!

Most of the housekeepers in the Ningguo Mansion were vacant. After the fear of the servants, they were stimulated by the vacancy and worked hard during this period.

The Eight Immortals crossed the sea, each showing his magical powers and trying to obtain a position.

Outside the mansion, more than a hundred shops have sprung up out of thin air. Dozens of the managers of the original shops have also been uprooted, leaving many positions vacant. Countless people are running around trying to establish connections and get higher positions.

All in all, during this period, the threshold of Ningguo Mansion was almost stepped on.

People come to the door all the time.

Jia Rong was so busy that he could only take a short rest in the evening and dusk when he took a sedan chair to the "Huanyi Courtyard" in Renshoufang in the south of the city.

Yes.

The small courtyard under the supervision of Grandma Sun was renamed the "Huanyi Yuan" by Jia Rong, and part of the work of the Ningguo Mansion's knitting and starching rooms was given to the female slaves in the courtyard.

Jia Rong would come here to have a rest every night.

Hold the candle and stay up all night.

Jia Rong did not leave the convict slave girls in Huanyiyuan.

It doesn’t cost much money anyway.

He has done such a big thing and supplemented the income of nearly 800,000 taels for Ningguo Mansion. Can't he still enjoy it?

But wildflowers are still wildflowers.

It's okay to try something new and exciting once in a while, but it will be boring if you eat too much.

There was no need for others to remind him. After staying in Huanyiyuan for more than half a month, Jia Rong gradually got tired of it. His mind regained its sanity and she felt that she was a little neglected by the women in the house.

As a result, the number of times I ran out decreased.

We started to stay at Ning'an Hall in the evening and fed Qin Keqing, Ruizhu and Baozhu first.

After a few nights of pampering.

He also went to find Mei Xiang, Chuntao and Cai Wei, and served him in the study during the day, which was also a unique experience.

Occasionally, Grandma Sun comes to add excitement.

In this way, after more than ten days, the resentment of the women around Jia Rong gradually dissipated and their gentle attitude towards him resumed.

Then, Jia Rong was dishonest again.

A pair of sly eyes looked at the women in the house.

Mrs. You, Second Sister You, Third Sister You, Mrs. Zhen...

Raised for so long.

It’s time to increase the progress.

Also.

Jia Zhen's concubines, Peifeng, Qiluan, and Zhang Wenhua, have also been neglected during this period. They haven't been there for more than a month, and they miss them.

There are also Jin Yuanyang, Xi Ren, Jia Yingchun from Rong Guofu...

Li Wan, Wang Xifeng, Jia Tanchun, Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai and other daughters-in-law also have to keep in touch with each other.

"Oh, I'm so busy!"

Jia Rong sighed.

(End of this chapter)