Zhou Shuren thought to himself, during the times of turmoil, the maternal families of several princes surely didn't miss the opportunity to grab lots of silver. Even though they've spent extravagantly over the years, their foundations are robust, and with steady income, the silver in their hands still makes others apprehensive. Having too much silver is troublesome; with silver, one can stir up trouble. The Emperor really is giving this some thought!
In the Palace, the Emperor looked at the Zhezi that Xiao Qing had submitted. Over the years, his second son had needed silver to buy loyalty, and a lot of silver had been spent. His third son can still bring out two hundred thousand taels at once. All his sons are shrewd indeed; they also dare not take too much, just the right amount that the sea merchants made available.
So, his several sons still have quite a lot of silver in their hands. This attempt to probe them turned out to be quite a surprise.
