Chapter 1113: Chapter 1104: Breaking Off the Engagement
The process of Nanliang compensating Daqi went smoothly.
After the people from Nanliang left, Old Master Zhou had lunch in the military camp and then departed with four horse carriages.
Due to the quantity and value of the items being transported, Marquis Dongxiang was uneasy about it, so he sent the Heir of Marquis Beining, leading three hundred Flying Tiger Army soldiers, to escort Old Master Zhou. Once they ensured his safety, they were to proceed to meet Old Duke Chong.
As for the remaining compensation, even before Nanliang’s payment arrived, Marquis Dongxiang and the Prince had already "spent" a significant portion of this money.
The court owed the soldiers their wages, the pension silver for the fallen soldiers needed to be distributed, and the expenses for digging canals were considerable...
Three million taels delivered by Nanliang, and within three days, only one million four hundred thousand taels remained, along with a thick account book.
One million taels of this were taken by Xie Jingchen and Prince NanAn to the border to be handed over to Prince Beimo, as ransom for the marriage contract of Young Master Su.
However, that one million taels was only enough to redeem half, and there were still thirty thousand loads of grain and grass unpaid, which needed to be settled before the marriage contract could be annulled.
The moment Prince Beimo arrived at the border, the one million taels of silver was delivered to him.
Prince Beimo knew this money was compensation from Nanliang to Daqi.
One must say, Nanliang was foolish.
If ambitious, one should consider whether they have the capability, and whether others are truly that weak.
Not knowing their own weight, underestimating their opponent, resulted in not only losing territory but also being beaten while lying on the ground, and afterwards begging for mercy and paying compensation, ultimately even leading to internal chaos...
A fool who ruins a good hand of cards is precisely such a person.
Looking at the silver in the boxes, Prince Beimo had little reaction.
He looked at Xie Jingchen and said, "Take this money back with you."
Xie Jingchen and Prince NanAn exchanged glances, a bit incredulous.
Money delivered to the doorstep was unexpectedly refused?
"You really don’t want it?" Prince NanAn asked skeptically.
"Really don’t want it," Prince Beimo replied firmly.
He laughed and said, "I will have Nanliang compensate me for this money."
Beimo’s military action this time was under the guise of demanding Nanliang to hand over Prince Cheng of Beimo and resources.
If this money were returned to Daqi, and the news leaked, wouldn’t Beimo have no legitimate reason for its actions?
Prince Beimo’s reasoning was understandable.
However, Xie Jingchen didn’t believe it. He looked at Prince Beimo and said, "Is Beimo not planning to let my father-in-law redeem Young Master Su’s marriage contract?"
His little scheme was seen through immediately.
Prince Beimo coughed softly and said, "This was my father’s intention."
"As his son, I am merely following orders."
Well.
To be precise, I was acting on a guess of the Emperor’s will.
Before coming to the border, neither Prince Beimo nor King Beimo knew Marquis Dongxiang would be so quick to repay the money to redeem Young Master Su’s marriage contract. After all, Young Master Su was still young, and Daqi, after years of war, needed money to rebuild everything.
But Prince Beimo knew King Beimo wanted to form a marriage alliance with Marquis Dongxiang.
His father was a stubborn man.
Although this marriage contract was secured with ten thousand taels of gold and thirty thousand loads of grain, he intended to recover the cost from Nanliang.
From what he knew of his father, since he agreed to exchange the marriage contract, he had prepared for the possibility of Marquis Dongxiang defaulting, gaining a son-in-law as a result.
Now the money and resources were returned entirely, and his wish could be fulfilled; it was an ideal situation for both parties.
If Prince Beimo agreed, he would certainly face a severe scolding from his own father upon returning.
Could he agree?
Absolutely not.
Xie Jingchen was left speechless.
Why did he keep encountering those with such abnormal ways of thinking?
Marquis Dongxiang had only one son, Young Master Su, and it was impossible for Young Master Su to go to Beimo as a Prince Consort. Surely King Beimo understood this?
Spending ten thousand taels of gold and thirty thousand loads of grain to send a daughter to Daqi to marry Young Master Su, what was King Beimo after?
Prince NanAn also thought King Beimo’s mind was not quite right; this was not just a losing business, it was losing down to the underwear.
Unable to resist, Prince NanAn patted Prince Beimo on the shoulder and said, "Is your imperial sister not very cute?"
Prince Beimo brushed off Prince NanAn’s hand, "My legitimate imperial sister is only four years old, and my father loves her as if she were his own eyes. How could she not be cute?"
"If she’s cherished so much, then why marry her to Young Master Su?" Prince NanAn became even more puzzled.
"..."
"Who knows what my father is thinking?" Prince Beimo said helplessly.
"..."
Prince Beimo walked over and closed the lid of the silver-filled box, saying, "Take these back."
Xie Jingchen frowned, "It was agreed at the beginning that once the money and grain were paid back, the marriage contract would be annulled."
Prince Beimo coughed softly and said, "But this is not gold after all..."
His voice trailed off as he spoke.
It was unreasonable.
One tael of gold equals ten taels of silver.
This is common knowledge everywhere; silver cannot be treated as gold.
Xie Jingchen and his group were at a loss for words; they couldn’t handle such a situation. However, they had nothing to refute when Prince Beimo continued, "When someday Daqi sends both ten thousand taels of gold and thirty thousand loads of grain, I will have to annul the marriage contract then."
"Sending just one, I can’t tear the marriage contract in half for you to take back."
"Besides, the marriage contract is still with my father."
What more could Xie Jingchen say? He could only tell his men to carry the boxes back the way they came.
Daqi, Nanliang, and Beimo bordered each other, and Xie Jingchen set out in the morning and returned by evening.
The next day was his son’s full month banquet, and he had to rush back, especially since there was no place to rest along the way.
After returning, Marquis Dongxiang looked at the boxes full of silver ingots, his brows knit together, "Why didn’t Beimo accept them?"
"Beimo doesn’t want to break the marriage," Xie Jingchen stated truthfully.
"The excuse was that we sent silver instead of gold, and thirty thousand loads of grain were still missing, so we were told to bring the silver back."
This time, it was Marquis Dongxiang’s turn to have a headache.
Why was he so anxious to send the money back to Beimo?
He was afraid of King Beimo having irrational moments; he had to be cautious.
Ten thousand taels of gold, thirty thousand loads of grain, and sending a daughter to marry his son...
To the Emperor, this would surely seem like a windfall from the sky.
From what he knew of the Emperor, once the money entered the national treasury, the Emperor would definitely not be willing to take it out again.
That was why Marquis Dongxiang had Old Master Zhou come to the border with fifty thousand loads of grain available, so thirty thousand could be handed over to Beimo.
Who would have thought that Beimo demanded both to be delivered before annulling the marriage contract?
Even with Zhou Family’s wide-reaching business, there was no way to gather thirty thousand loads of grain in a short period to send over.
The Prince advised Marquis Dongxiang, "Yangyang is still young, and the matter of breaking the marriage isn’t urgent."
"Perhaps in a year or two, King Beimo will naturally see reason."
Now that King Beimo had resources at hand, he naturally didn’t value money and grain.
But when in history hasn’t there been a time when national treasuries were not impoverished?
When money and grain run short, and officials cry poverty, and the people lament their hardships, the Emperor will naturally see reason.
While this reasoning held, Marquis Dongxiang feared that when Beimo lacked money and grain, Daqi might also be in short supply.
However, faced with a king like Beimo who viewed money as dung, Marquis Dongxiang was at a dead end; he could only take one step at a time.
