Chapter 21 In the west courtyard of Princess Yinzi's mansion, the attendant Monk carried two large bags...

In the west courtyard of the princess's mansion, the attendant Monk excitedly walked into the courtyard carrying two large bags of snacks.

When they heard the news that they were going back to Khalkha, they rushed to the market to buy things. There were so many things here that were not available on the grassland! Meng Ke himself ordered ten kilograms of peach cakes to take with him on the road.

As a personal guard of the prince, Mengke also had some property, but those were cattle and sheep pastures far away in Khalkha, and there was no way to take them to the capital to spend them immediately. Besides, people here used silver and copper coins, and the snack boss didn't dare to directly exchange sheep for snacks. For this reason, he was quite distressed.

Aunt Kang was attentive. Seeing that he looked depressed, she asked him the reason. After learning that he did not have enough silver to buy things, she went back and gave him two taels of silver.

"You can use it first."

Monk was delighted: "Just consider it as a loan from you, Madam. When we get to Khalkha, I will return you two...three sheep."

After buying a bunch of delicious snacks, Monk, remembering the kindness of Grandma Kang, planned to give her some freshly made peach cakes to try.

Carrying the oil-paper bag, he found the side room between the west courtyard and the main courtyard and called out to Aunt Kang outside the house.

But suddenly I heard a female voice from behind: "What's wrong? What's the matter?"

Looking back, I saw the fourth princess and her entourage standing under the high wall opposite.

Monk hurriedly knelt down to pay his respects. Nanny Kang also heard the noise and came out, and they all paid their respects to the Fourth Princess.

"Get up." Mu Xue said.

The two stood up, and Meng Ke explained the whole story to Mu Xue: "I want to go back. I want to buy some things, but my cattle and sheep are all in Khalkha and I can't exchange them for silver. Aunt Kang lent me some money, and I will return her the sheep when I go back. This is the peach cake I just bought, and I want her to try it."

Madam Kang nodded and said, "Indeed, the princess has been busy these days, and I don't want to bother you with such a small matter. It's not much money, so you don't have to pay it back."

"Of course it has to be returned. Naturally, what you borrow must be returned." Monk said.

After hearing them say all this in unison, Mu Xue suddenly clapped her hands and said, "It's not a small matter."

A thought jumped out of my mind like a fish.

She asked Monk: "You guys don't need money on the grassland?"

Monk shook his head: "Very few, and no one uses silver or copper coins. They all exchange it with cattle and sheep."

Mu Xue couldn't help but smile. Isn't this a ready-made business opportunity?

When chatting with the Minister of the Imperial Household Department before, he mentioned that the emperor recently reiterated the annual class regulations, requiring princes from Mongolia, Tibet and other places to come to the capital to meet the emperor in shifts on a regular basis.

Take the Khalkha tribe, which has recently surrendered, for example. Except for the Living Buddha, who does not come to the capital for an audience, each tribe is divided into a group, and a group of people will come to Beijing before December every year. This happens about once every four years.

The Minister of the Internal Affairs Department mentioned this to comfort the princess, saying that perhaps in four years she could return to Beijing with the Tushetu Khanate's annual class.

Mu Xue didn't take it seriously at the time, but now she immediately remembered it.

The purpose of this class is very simple. The eldest brother pays for travel, food and lodging out of his own pocket, and requires the younger brothers to come to his house every once in a while to pay New Year's greetings, show loyalty, and exchange feelings, to prove that you still want to be with me, instead of having other thoughts because the emperor is far away.

These Mongolian princes and nobles came to the capital to pay homage to the emperor. Seeing so many good things, they would definitely buy a lot of them. However, most of their cattle and sheep ranches were on the grasslands, and it was very inconvenient to exchange them for money to buy things.

At this time, if there was a pawnshop that was willing to lend money to these princes and nobles immediately, and then the pawnshop branch on the other side of the grassland got the news and collected the cattle and sheep on the spot, wouldn’t that be very convenient?

It seemed like a good deal. She planned to think about it carefully later.

Mu Xue came back to her senses and said with a smile, "You should have bought some things to take back. It was my fault for not noticing it. Madam Kang, go back and ask Madam Wu to issue a receipt and give five taels of silver to each of the prince consort's personal guards. Let them spend as they please."

Monk was quite embarrassed: "Is this... is this okay?"

"Just think of it as pocket money given by your mistress." Mu Xue said, "A bride always has to please her husband's family, so just think of it as giving me this opportunity."

Having said that, Monk had nothing more to say and could only thank the princess for her grace.

After the little episode, Mu Xue continued to go to the west courtyard.

She came to look for Dorji.

Dorji was reading a book and was quite surprised to see her.

"Why is the princess here?"

"I came to ask how your luggage is packed. You can report the gift list to Madam Kang and we will ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prepare it together."

Mu Xue saw him flipping through a Chinese book and asked, "What book are you reading?"

Dorji closed the book and handed it to her. The indigo cover was written with "The Art of War".

"Can you understand it?" Mu Xue asked curiously.

"I can read a little bit of it by comparing it with the Mongolian text, but I don't understand it very well." Dorji said frankly. "Have you read this book, Princess?"

Mu Xue nodded: "I have read a lot of leisure books."

"Then..." Dorji came closer and whispered, "Princess, can you teach me?"

Being stared at by eyes as wet as amber, Mu Xue took a step back and distanced herself: "If there is a chance, I can."

"I think the opportunity is here," Dorji said, "The road back to Khalkha is long, and the princess can teach me."

Mu Xue touched her hair, hummed, and changed the subject: "By the way, since you were conferred the title of a prince, you should also have a salary, have you received it?"

Dorji thought for a moment and said, "It seems that the Minister of the Lifanyuan mentioned this matter and asked me to go to the Lifanyuan to collect it, but I just forgot."

"It's better to go and claim it as soon as possible. It's inconvenient to carry a large amount of silver. You can exchange it for satin or something else, which will be convenient for you to use when you go back."

"The princess seems to have a lot of ideas," Dorji said, "so, just give the salary to the princess."

Mu Xue was stunned: "Give it to me?"

"Isn't it reasonable for a wife to manage her husband's money?" Dorji said confidently.

He really did what he said. Even though Muxue said it was not necessary on the spot, Dorji still insisted.

Three days later, a box of silver was carried into the storehouse of the princess's mansion. The salary of the prince was 1,200 taels a year, the same as that of the princess who married into a foreign vassal state.

Nanny Wu came over and asked her how to deal with it.

"I just went to my husband's place again, and he insisted that you keep it. What do you think we should do?"

Mu Xue was touched for a moment by the initiative to hand over the salary, but she soon became suspicious. She valued her private property very much and didn't want to mix it up and make it look like the common property of the couple. Therefore, she didn't want to accept Dorji's money.

However, pushing the box of silver back and forth was also not very decent.

Thinking of the prevalence of bartering on the grassland, Mu Xue made a decision: "Divide it into three parts. One part will be exchanged for cloth, and the prince consort will take it back to give it to others; one part will be taken back to Khalkha for him; the other part will be put in Rong'an Pawnshop to earn interest, and a deposit slip will be drawn up in his name. Go and ask if there is any objection to this."

After a while, Nanny Wu came back with a smile on her face.

"My husband said that this is a good way to handle it. He is worthy of being called Khadun, and he can handle everything beautifully."

…

Muxue held her forehead with her hand and could even imagine the tone that Dorji used when he said this.