By the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu's reign, Li had purchased 36 hectares of real estate and a large number of properties in his hometown of Dacheng. There is a lot of money in Taiyuan Qianpu and Siheng Qianpu in the ruined temples on Nanchang Street in Xihuamenli, Beijing, and outsiders cannot find out. It is estimated that in the eight years from the return of Gengzi Xixing to the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu, Li deposited 16000000000 taels of silver in banks in Beijing, equivalent to one-tenth of the Qing government's fiscal revenue in three years. Estimated in terms of time, eight years only accounts for less than one-sixth of the official tenure.
Word of mouth: His gold and silver treasures are among the best in Beijing. As early as after Western Pacific? Ascension to heaven? In the past, the nobles and nobles of the princes and nobles secretly wanted to beg him to keep it privately, because he was the apple of Lafayette's eye and they dared not touch it. The Queen Mother? Ascension to heaven? Later, the regent, together with some powerful people, planned in a secret room to confiscate Li's private storage in prison and return it to the treasury. When the Empress Dowager Cixi found out, she strictly ordered Li not to leave the palace safely and secretly kept the gold and silver treasures for more than 50 years.
After Li left the palace, Xiao Zai, the chief eunuch, secretly built the Crystal Palace for the Queen Mother. In order to raise money, he often went to Li's foreign house and asked Li to use some money to honor his parents. Li didn't know whether it was true or not, but he couldn't escape the little entanglement, so he had to agree to donate the jewelry and jade to the Queen Mother. The square plate was three feet wide and four feet five inches long. It was full of pearls and jades, which were priceless. Xiao Zhangde selected some of the best products to keep for himself. He gave the rest to the Queen Mother and finally blocked the little mouth.
But his relatives and four stepsons were in constant contact, all for gold and silver. Sometimes, some people who didn't know the truth dressed up as barbers, shovel workers, shoe repairmen, and rag collectors, forced their way into Li's bungalow, and took six Western things with them in search of the truth. In fact, he was ordered by some powerful people to divide and rob him of his gold and silver treasures. Later, it was reported that the imperial court actually caused a fight over Li's property, and all aspects of the fight were greatly harmed. In the end, due to the balance of power between the parties, there was a stalemate. In addition, Li Dui's property status was not accurately estimated. Without knowing the details, no one dared to rob him. At the time of desperation, the German leader Zhang secretly discussed with the Queen Mother Yu and decided that Li's personal property should be verified by the Minister of the Interior and donated? Confiscated? . Before Li heard about this situation, he quickly took measures to find a way to transfer.
First take out the secret bank in Taiyuan and transfer it to Heng No. 4. Because Taiyuan Bank is very close to the Forbidden Palace, this store is mostly owned by banner eunuchs. Because of Li's prominent status, he transferred the bank.
Later, he carried the jewelry and jades hidden in his third brother Li Baotai's house in his arms and sold them to jewelry stores such as Dagozhai Antique Shop, Chongwenmen and Qianmen near Xishiku Church, and exchanged them for silver. Stored in the No. 4 Courtyard, the treasure house in the Lower Courtyard is unknown to outsiders, so the treasure has never been moved. After a period of planned transfer, only 600,000 taels of silver and some jewelry and jade were left, which were secretly stored in the outhouse. By the time the Minister of the Interior ordered the Queen Mother to investigate, Li had already transferred the main part of the treasure, and the remaining part, based on Li's oral report, was then transported back to the palace to build a large scale and purchase Western-style appliances. Most of the jewelry and jade articles flowed into Dongjiaomin Alley, which made the foreign trade business in Dongjiaomin Alley prosperous for a time. Are these all? Confiscated? Lee's property.
After one time? Filial piety? Another time? Confiscated? After that, the matter was not over yet. The four stepsons were like mosquitoes, surrounding Li. So, his daughter-in-law, grandson, nephew, niece, and great-nephew all rushed into the outhouse. Li's outhouse was crowded with people, making noise day and night, making the neighbors uneasy.
At first, Li avoided trouble and went out early and came back late every day to try to avoid it, but later, even when he returned to his house late at night, those people still pestered him. Reluctantly, Li had no choice but to agree to distribute all his property among male and female distant relatives.
In fact, this is also a delaying strategy of Li. After planning, it was decided to give each of the four stepsons 125,000 taels of silver. Because Li and his second son Li Fu lived together, they had one more, making the two stepsons a total of 252,000 taels. The two stepdaughters each received 72,000. Then, according to different relatives and friends, some pearls, jade and other things were given to the nephew, which initially calmed the trend of property division within the family.
However, one wave has not subsided, and another wave has arisen. Li did the math, but he failed to make the right move, and another dispute broke out. This time, Li just wanted to dig out all the silver buried under No. 9 Huanghuamen Mansion and Chongwenmen Mansion and distribute it, leaving the silver stored in Siheng untouched.
At first, Li led his four stepsons to dig a silver cellar in the outhouse where he lived. Originally I thought it was relatively simple. After the plan is dug out, I distribute it according to people. Unexpectedly, among the four stepsons, no one knew that there was silver buried underground, and no one had ever seen so much silver. When a silver cellar was excavated, some pearls, agates, antiques and the like were stored inside. The four of them were overjoyed and jealous of the money, and you took it from me. As a result, the 50 silver ingots and a lot of broken silver in the first cellar were quickly robbed. Because there is no weighing and accounting, I don’t know who took how much. As a result, Li was almost heartbroken. Later I tried to switch to the method of issuing banknotes, but I couldn't control it. The four stepsons, wielding shovels and pickaxes, dug around the house. When the money is dug out, they rush to grab it, and sometimes they quarrel because of the uneven grab.
The trend of digging for silver and treasure soon spread to the nephews. When they heard about it, they dug holes everywhere in all the houses outside the house, and then dug holes in the house in Huanghuamen. Large amounts of silver, jewelry and jade were buried until they were completely dug out. Li was already half dead, but there was nothing he could do. Although his stepson and nephew dug up a lot of gold and silver treasures, they quarreled again because of the different amounts they robbed. Some people suggested that all the gold and silver treasures unearthed should be collected by Li and distributed by him, but everyone was confused by money and unwilling to spit out what they had swallowed.
The second stepson, Li Fu, originally received two shares of property, but he felt it was not enough. First, he hired a lawyer to file a lawsuit. In order to win the lawsuit, he bribed 27 lawyers Jin Ruyi at one time. Several other nephews were also involved in property division disputes and litigated everywhere for a lifetime. No one wins, but they fatten the lawyer until he dies, and it's a case where the man and the money end up being for nothing.