Zhou Shigong was speechless.

After being silent for a while, he didn't know if it was a broken can, or if he really had a little desire to seek the truth, and asked Haixi Cliff: "Can my brother-in-law guarantee it?" Maybe...... Did my father do it without telling the people around him? He didn't have bad intentions, but he just wanted to help the border army, but he was worried that if others knew, he would ask outsiders to find fault with other generals......"

Hai Xiya sneered: "To be honest, in the most difficult year of the border army's financial difficulties, the imperial court refused to allocate money at all, and more than one general paid out of his own pocket to buy grain and grass to supplement the sergeants under his command. No one deliberately concealed it, everyone was generous, and what should have been recorded in the account was also recorded. After the news spread, not only the wealthy merchants in Chang'an donated money one after another, but even the large and small caravans in the northwest also gave money, and even the people who did not have rich money donated money and grain, for fear that the soldiers of the border army would be hungry and would not have the strength to fight with the Hu people.

Zhen Guogong also wrote this matter into a fold, listed a list of all the military generals, wealthy families and merchants who donated money, and submitted it to the imperial court, so that the emperor knew that there were people in the imperial court who wanted to starve to death the army of Dachu, and it was these loyal and patriotic generals, as well as the people in the northwest, who fed their own soldiers! Because the northwest frontier army has made meritorious contributions to defending the land and the people, keeping foreign enemies out of the country, the magnates in the capital only care about fighting for power and profit, and do not care about the lives of the people in the northwest, but the people in the northwest will not sit idly by! After that, the imperial court no longer dared not allocate military spending, even if it was a discount, at least let the soldiers be half full, otherwise there would be another big donation in the northwest, so that the court would not have face? ! ”

After that, the emperor's attitude towards the Zhou family was even worse, but the Zhou family also woke up and knew that they could not completely count on the imperial court to allocate money and transfer grain. If the imperial court interrupts the supply one day, the Northwest Frontier Army will make another big donation, and there is no guarantee that it will be able to raise enough money and food. Moreover, although the grain and grass of that year were sufficient, the ordnance and horses were not able to replenish it. The army fights with people, and it is not just about eating and drinking, there are many places to spend money, all of which rely on the imperial court, which is too passive. Therefore, Marshal Zhou and several other generals discussed, organized their own manpower, established caravans, and used the trade routes in the northwest and western regions to make money. Even if the imperial court withheld military expenses, they still had money in their hands to support their own people, and they still had enough armaments to fight against the Hu army.

As for whether the imperial court will deduct military expenses after the border army earns money, they don't care. At that time, the situation on the battlefield was tense, and who could care about the careful thinking of the emperor and the cabinet adults?

Although Haixiya has been away from Chang'an for more than ten years, after all, he has spent the entire period from youth to prime here, and he knows very well what happened back then. Don't look at his humble official position at that time, but because he did a good job, settled accounts quickly and well, and was good at helping people come up with ideas to open up new financial routes, many health centers would ask him to help. In fact, he had a certain understanding of the economic situation of most of the guards under the Shaanxi Metropolitan Division at that time, but he had a very tight mouth and would never leak it out easily. It was also because of his reputation at the grassroots level of many guards that someone recommended him to the old lady of the third room, and later he worked as an account under the old general for six years.

He told Zhou Shigong, the eldest son of the old lady in the third room, about letting the latter know that the general paid out of his own pocket to supplement the border army, and there was no taboo for a while in the past, and many people have done this, and the old lady is naturally no exception, so there is no need to worry about anything at all. It's just that at that time, the old lady donated a lot of money, and it was all on the same level as the prince of Zhenguo, it was only three thousand taels, and he was already the first class among the generals of the Northwest Frontier Army. But this number is far from the point of losing the Zhou family's three-room property.

After that, the financial difficulties of the Northwest Frontier Army were greatly alleviated, and there was no longer a situation where the generals needed to spend money to supplement the army. The old lady of the third room no longer led the troops at that time, but just concentrated on logistics, and privately subsidized the money, where could the subsidy go? At most, it will be a benefit for those under him. But the officials, officials and soldiers under the old lady of the third room did not exceed 100 people, how much silver could they spend? If there is more money for the subsidy, who can you hide it from?

Haixiya even helped his old boss do private work, helped calculate the accounts of the Zhou family's three rooms, and had a certain understanding of the industry situation of the Zhou family's three rooms twenty years ago. Their family has four or five big Zhuangzi in Shaanxi, fifty or sixty shops, five workshops, and because when the biological mother of the three-room old lady married into the Zhou family, she married several industries from Shu, and there are salt wells and a small cinnabar mine in Shu. These properties are ancestral, and there are also those that have been accompanied by successive mothers when they marry in, but the three rooms have not been divided for nearly a hundred years, so the wealth has never been divided, and the wealth exceeds that of the Changfang Town Guogong Mansion.

When Zhou Shishiye, the youngest brother of the old lady in the third room, went out of the house, he only took away a house, a grange, a few shops, and a few pieces of private jewelry that his grandmother specified in his will. Mrs. Fourteen's dowry is counted separately, and the majority of the property in the third room is still there. Even if you kick out the part of Mrs. Ma's marriage and later inheritance, the rest is still very considerable. The unification of the Communist Party is twenty years, and God knows how the huge family property of the Zhou family's three houses has been lost in these twenty years!

Zhou Shigong was dumbfounded. He knew that his family was rich since he was a child, but he never took care of the accounts, and he rarely asked about these chores, only knew about the dowries left by his deceased mother, and listened to his stepmother simply report an account every year. He had no idea that his family had so many properties. Even if the deceased father donated the gold and silver floating wealth, those land shops are still there, and they can continue to bring income every year, why is it so poor that they have to build a glass workshop to make money in order to sustain themselves?!

Zhou Shigong's breathing became rapid. He turned his head to look at his wife: "Haven't you taken care of the family's property?" You haven't asked how much money you have in your account every year?! ”

Zhou Ma said aggrievedly: "I asked when I first got married, and I was scolded by the A family for being restless and wanting to seize power, but you still help them talk...... Later, Jin Lin wanted to marry and find an errand in the army, and he asked Ah Jia how much silver he could come up with, and he was all scolded back. What did the old man say at that time? Isn't it a lot of fun? said that the family would never treat Jin Lin badly, but Jin Lin and his family led so many subordinates who had been used to it since childhood, and only took two thousand taels out of the house...... When Jinpu got married, the master gave him 5,000 taels! ”

The five thousand taels were all from the public school, Zhou Shigong only spoke, and he didn't have much private room. And Mrs. Ma, who has always claimed to love Zhou Jinpu the most, didn't spend a penny, but just urged Zhou Shigong to pay the money as soon as possible, so that Zhou Jinpu was grateful to her, and the kindness was all counted on the head of this cheap grandmother, and even her father never thanked her sincerely. Zhou Shigong still treats people as filial sons, and he doesn't know how many grievances the truly filial youngest son has suffered!

Zhou Mashi was very distressed when he thought of his son, but Zhou Shigong didn't have the heart to be considerate of her at all.

He keeps reminiscing about the events that have happened in his family over the past 20 years: "I've never heard of any new property in my family. The children's marriages were all done according to the old routine, even if Jinpu spent a few thousand taels of silver more, it was still counted. The father's funeral affairs were done decently, but the accounts were stared at by the clansmen, and the grandfather of the country also asked, and he never thought about it. And then there is the dowry when my sister gets married...... But I have seen the dowry list with my own eyes, even if there are more items such as jewelry, clothing, fur, and antiques, but it is also because I feel sorry for my sister's marriage......"

Most of these things are the private houses of the stepmother Ma, and as for the others, my father was still there at the time, and if he had spent a large amount of money in the public school, he would definitely have to nod his old man's head. He didn't say that it was too much to think of a dowry.

So, where exactly did the money go?!

(End of chapter)