Actually, Zhao Hu wasn’t a stingy person, really. Compared to Zhao Changyu, and even compared to other elders in the Zhao clan, Zhao Hu could be called generous.
Servants he liked, having spent so much money to buy them, he would give them to Zhao Changyu for burial if he said so.
Servants under his command—if Zhao Hanzhang said she wanted them, he would casually give them (though he immediately regretted it afterward with heartache). So he really was an extremely generous elder.
However, no matter how generous, he couldn’t take a loss.
Why could he give away things whenever he wanted? Because he had money!
So he had to make money.
In the pursuit of making money, one couldn’t be too concerned about sentiment. When bargaining was needed, he bargained. If he truly cherished his younger generation, he could give them things afterward.
So in business matters, he should talk business. Right now, Zhao Hu didn’t want to exchange new coins with Zhao Hanzhang anymore.
She actually had no money!
Although she explained that she had no private property but the public treasury had money, Zhao Hu still held a skeptical attitude.
He was a cautious person. When he had doubts about an investment project, he chose to temporarily not invest, or even directly decided not to invest.
Because if you didn’t understand this project and had doubts about it and about the people executing it, then you were gambling on luck.
Zhao Hu had no other virtues, but one thing—he absolutely didn’t touch gambling.
He wasn’t a speculator. Like Zhao Changyu, when he had money, he liked to buy land, buy shops, and save money!
He never participated in overly risky business.
Right now, Zhao Hanzhang appeared to be a very high-risk project in his eyes.
New coins? Hmph, you yourself have no money. If I exchange for your new coins and one day they become unusable, wouldn’t the money in my hands become scrap copper and iron?
Zhao Hu turned around to leave, “It’s not money. I’m hungry and want to go to Luoyang for breakfast. You all play by yourselves.”
Seeing him leave just like that, Zhao Hanzhang looked at Fu Tinghan, “Are you going back to Luoyang?”
Fu Tinghan said, “The craftsmen are making new water wheels. They should all be completed today and might need to be pulled to the riverside for installation. I need to go check.”
Zhao Hanzhang had also planned to come see this today, but…
Fu Tinghan smiled, “You go. Mister Ji is still waiting for money to go to Jiangnan.”
Their exchanges with Jiangnan were limited, and they temporarily weren’t sure if they could accept Luoyang’s new coins there, so they had to make preparations on both fronts. Otherwise, if the people they sent out made a wasted trip, that would be too wasteful of money and time.
Jiangnan—the rice there, the silk, porcelain, cloth, and tea there, were all good things!
Zhao Hanzhang then swung her riding whip to chase after Zhao Hu.
Zhao Hu had just gotten in his cart and traveled a short distance when Zhao Hanzhang rode her horse leisurely to catch up. Through the carriage curtain, she asked him, “Seventh Great Uncle, are you staying at my place, or finding another place to stay?”
Zhao Hu lifted the window curtain, “My son and grandson are both here, so naturally I’ll stay with them.”
Zhao Hanzhang sighed, “Seventh Great Uncle, it’s not that I’m treating Uncle poorly. I did arrange a courtyard for Uncle—our family’s best guest courtyard. And fearing he wouldn’t be comfortable, I also bought another courtyard for him. But he didn’t stay there either and instead lives at the Imperial Academy with Zhengdi and the others.”
Zhao Hu frowned. He wasn’t surprised by anything his son did, but he still couldn’t help being unhappy.
“Great Uncle, you’re advanced in age. It’s not suitable to live at the Imperial Academy—affecting the students’ studies is a small matter, but you living uncomfortably is the issue. The rooms there are only so big—your bed at home is almost that size. How uncomfortable to live there…”
Zhao Hu asked her, “Then where should I stay?”
Zhao Hanzhang smiled, “Seventh Great Uncle can first stay at the Zhao mansion. Great Uncle’s courtyard has always been kept—the furnishings inside are all top quality.”
The courtyard that Zhao Zhongyu had lived in!
Zhao Hu rolled his eyes and asked, “What about the courtyard your grandfather lived in?”
Zhao Hanzhang sighed without speaking. Zhao Hu thought she was reluctant to let him stay there and immediately snorted, dropping the curtain and sitting properly.
Despite this, he didn’t object to following Zhao Hanzhang.
The common people of Luoyang now all recognized Zhao Hanzhang. Seeing her protecting a carriage on both sides, they couldn’t help being curious.
Who warranted Zhao Hanzhang escorting them the whole way?
Upon entering the city, Zhao Hu lifted the curtain to look. After all, having come all this way, if he returned with nothing to show for it, he would feel unwilling. So he wanted to seriously examine the current Luoyang city.
Actually, Zhao Hu had only come to Luoyang twice before. This was the third time.
The first time was when he was still young, only about ten years old. At that time, he had followed several clan brothers to Luoyang to study. In the end, he really wasn’t good at studying and had no talent in this area, making it even harder to gain fame.
Without fame, he couldn’t be ranked, and without ranking, he couldn’t enter officialdom. So he very decisively went home to farm, planning to be a country gentleman.
Luoyang was so prosperous then. The streets were full of people, the roadside shops never closed, and the sounds of hawking were constant. From Pingcheng in the north, to Laizhou in the east, Hepu in the south, and the Western Regions in the west—there were people and trade goods coming and going.
His next visit was ten years ago. Zhao Hu imperceptibly glanced at Zhao Hanzhang.
At that time, Emperor Hui had been on the throne for ten years, and the year before was the ninth year of Yuankang. That year, Empress Jia, who had controlled the court for eight years, still hadn’t been able to bear a son. So she framed the Crown Prince for treason. Sun Xiu persuaded Prince Zhao Sima Lun to help, and they successfully poisoned the Crown Prince to death.
But before Empress Jia could rejoice, Sun Xiu turned around and vindicated the Crown Prince, forged an edict from Emperor Hui, captured and killed Empress Jia’s faction—even Empress Jia was killed. Sun Xiu and Prince Zhao won a great victory.
Prince Zhao Sima Lun wanted to replace Emperor Hui and take the throne. The Prince of Hejian and the Prince of Chengdu refused and raised troops to enter the capital, killing Prince Zhao and Sun Xiu in return. That year, due to this succession of chaos, one hundred thousand people died in Luoyang.
Zhao Changyu barely survived that power struggle and then fell ill.
During this illness, he summoned Zhao Song, Zhao Hu, and others to the capital, where he expressed on the spot his intention to pass the title to the second branch’s Zhao Ji.
Because the then five-year-old Zhao Erlang already showed signs of idiocy.
He couldn’t recognize characters. Whenever he saw books, he would fly into a violent rage and tear them up.
For Zhao clan children, regardless of when formal education began, as long as the family circumstances were passable, they all started recognizing character cards around age three and reciting some poetry along with adults.
That was the first time Zhao Changyu revealed his intention to give up the title. At that time, Luoyang was also in desolation, but the population was still larger than now, and most shops were open.
Although people had just died recently, after daybreak they still put on smiling faces and continued to make a living.
But now, there were also people on the streets, but more than half the shops were closed. The scattered shops and scattered people—yet they also had smiles on their faces, and there was a vitality and resilience he had never seen before. Seeing his carriage, they curiously craned their necks to look while also stealing glances at Zhao Hanzhang, smiling at her.
A few people were bolder. Just as Zhao Hanzhang was about to pass, they couldn’t help calling out, “Governor, who is in the cart that you’re personally escorting?”
“Could it be Young Master Fu?”
Everyone laughed good-naturedly, teasing without malice.
Zhao Hanzhang didn’t get angry either and smiled, “It’s my clan’s Seventh Great Uncle.”
“So it’s the Seventh Great Master.” They didn’t know Zhao Hu, but they thought that an elder in the cart who warranted such an escort from Zhao Hanzhang must be a virtuous and respected elder.
So they all stood solemnly, sending Zhao Hu off with their gazes.
Zhao Hu: …
He silently lowered the curtain, but couldn’t help feeling secretly pleased and quite happy.
—