Chapter 41 Win-Win

If you want Su Qing to help you solve the problem, there are naturally conditions.

Qi's eunuchs were even prepared for this.

But to his surprise, Su Qing made an outrageous demand.

Everyone knows that Nanjing is extremely short of money.

Tax exemptions are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain.

They also want the rights to manufacture weapons?!

How could Su Qing possibly open her mouth?

But he brought the man surnamed Jia over without mentioning him at all.

Only after Su Qing exposed the truth did they explain the situation, and they realized they were somewhat in the wrong.

After a moment's consideration, Qi, the eunuch, heard Su Qing continue, "Now, all supplies from across the country should be prioritized for the General in the suburbs of Beijing."

"If war breaks out in Gaoqing Prefecture, let's not even talk about whether we have money. Even if we do, will they provide us with weapons and armor?"

Qi, the eunuch in charge of logistics, naturally knew the prices of various weapons and equipment. Nowadays, a bow and ten arrows were selling for four taels of silver.

A single feathered arrow costs around twenty-two coins.

Armor for men costs twenty taels, and armor for horses costs ten taels.

Not to mention the pig iron used for repairing weapons, the price of which doubled.

Qi, the palace official, knew it, and Su Qing also knew it.

Otherwise, this matter wouldn't have been brought up.

Not to mention that Guangyuefu has no money at all, even if they had the money, they wouldn't be able to buy it later.

Long-distance transportation of goods is not a priority.

Without the imperial court's leadership, it would be even more difficult.

Su Qing had to find a solution on her own and could only rely on herself.

This is less about negotiating terms and more about presenting the predicament to us.

Whether it was Qi Neiguan or the garrison minister Liang Gonggong.

They are the ones who most want to end the war and return home with their achievements.

After all, they are the ones on the front lines.

If Prince Wuyong charges over, they'll be lucky to even survive, let alone return to the court with their achievements.

In this respect, Su Qing is the same as them, which goes without saying.

Therefore, Su Qing didn't care about the infighting among the eunuchs, nor did he care who was behind them.

She would do her best to contribute to the war effort as long as it could.

The eunuch remained silent for a long time.

Compared to Su Qing, his petty grudges, schemes, and plots seemed rather laughable.

I suppose he dared to bring someone surnamed Jia along.

I knew that Su Qing would not allow someone who embezzled military funds to remain in the army.

If it were any other prefect, I would never have thought of this.

They are definitely more afraid that person will collude with the Jia family.

“It’s difficult,” said the eunuch Qi. “In fact, the first thing is very difficult.”

"The extent to which Nanjing is short of money is deeper than you think."

"The second thing is also hard to say. You know how big the military expenditure is, and you know even more about how much profit is in it."

"If the Guangyue Prefecture monopolizes this, it will cut off the source of income for many places."

Su Qing was startled.

Does the Jinling court really covet her meager earnings?

As for the difficulty of the second thing, she had also thought about it.

But there's no other way, is there?

She's too poor.

Finally, the eunuch said, "I will do my best to handle it, and you should also use your connections."

Her connections?

Su Qing remained silent.

Gu Congsi.

Before the engagement was called off, I didn't really need his help.

Now that the engagement is off, she often asks him for help.

Su Qing thought about it again.

A few names flashed through my mind.

Ye Shanming?

This man is wealthy; if we could get his help, it could alleviate the troubles in Jinling.

But how should I put it?

If there were any benefits, he would give them away himself.

Who else could it be but him?

"Hua Jingming," Su Qing suddenly said, "what if the Hua family also supports obtaining the local casting rights?"

Qi, the eunuch, had a bright look in his eyes.

The Hua family is good!

His family's influence in Guangyue Prefecture was so profound that even the imperial court could not match it.

If this company is interested, then it's a good option.

However, all of this is based on the premise that...

It was the man surnamed Jia who was brought to justice first.

Qi, the eunuch, said, "I will now submit a memorial to the Emperor, requesting that he exempt this year's taxes in consideration of the Guangyue Prefecture's support for the army."

This can be considered Qi Neiguan's sincerity.

The one surnamed Jia will be left to Su Qing.

Su Qing stood up helplessly and pretended to sigh, "It's tough. Asking you for a little help makes me work so hard."

Zhu, the clerk following behind Su Qing, was already somewhat distracted.

It wasn't boredom, it was sheer shock.

Her brain simply isn't up to par.

No wonder Fei Xiucai kept trying to take this position from her; she understood it even better now.

But what should be done with that eunuch, Jia?

How can we find out his mistakes?

Next, Clerk Zhu would see how Lord Su would do things.

Su Qing already had the winter clothing account books on hand, so he asked the Revenue Department to handle the grain and salary account books for the eunuchs first.

This greatly displeased Jia, the eunuch.

Three or four days later, the first batch of grain and pay had been shipped out, but there was still no movement from Jia Neiguan's side.

As expected, the man surnamed Jia couldn't sit still. Su Qing was working, so he barged into the study and looked at Yun Xi, saying, "I heard that the servants around Lord Su call Eunuch Qi 'Uncle Qi'?"

This is not a secret.

But to say it now would imply that Su Qing and the eunuch Qi had some kind of collusion.

As the man was making his accusation, Su Qing suddenly realized something and said, "Eunuch Jia has arrived. He happens to have something to ask you."

"There are a total of 20,000 sets of winter clothes, costing 120,000 taels of silver. These are not major issues."

"But we need to make a record of where to purchase such a large amount of winter clothing."

In Jia's view, Su Qing was frightened by him, so she hurried to get down to business.

As expected, the female prefect who was forced to take the blame had no self-control whatsoever.

Jia, the eunuch, sat down and raised his chin: "Twenty thousand sets of winter clothes is too many?"

"The family responsible for manufacturing winter clothes is the Xu family, a prominent family in Suzhou, Jiangnan. Both the Xu and Ye families are very famous in Jiangnan."

"Twenty thousand winter clothes are no problem. As long as we pay, we'll start working on them immediately and deliver them before November."

It's already September, how can 20,000 winter clothes be delivered by November?

This is just taking advantage of Su Qing, thinking she doesn't understand the progress.

Even in modern times, such a workload would be quite a headache.

Moreover, in ancient times?

Even if it could be made, the quality couldn't be guaranteed.

This is winter clothing, not summer clothing.

Bringing up the Xu family was intended to suppress Su Qing's momentum.

Su Qing nodded and said, "I see. I understand now. Please wait a moment, Eunuch Jia."

"The Ministry of Revenue will approve the funds and then confirm with you."

Everything needs to go through a process.

Having received confirmation, Jia left with his chin raised.

The young female prefect is indeed easy to fool.

Su Qing knew what he was thinking, but said to the somewhat annoyed clerk Zhu, "This kind of disdain is actually good for getting things done."

As she spoke, Su Qing began to write a letter.

I only thought of Ye Shanming a few days ago, but this time I really need to find him.

The Xu family was as famous as the Ye family.

They were all in the cloth business.

It would be really inappropriate for the Xu family to keep such a large business a secret from the Ye family.

Someone like Ye Shanming, who loves making money, must feel uncomfortable seeing others make money.

Let him investigate the shady dealings; I won't treat him unfairly.

Su Qing had a vague guess in her mind and was waiting for Ye Shanming to confirm it.

Therefore, the letter provided a framework for investigation.

The letter was sent out quickly, and the downfall of eunuch Jia was officially put on the agenda.

She also had to do another thing at the same time.

Su Qing said to Yun Xi, "Please make a trip for me personally. Tonight at dusk, invite the third young master of the Hua family to dinner to thank him for making a special trip to Nanjiang County this year and helping me a lot."

That's obviously just an excuse.

Even though Hua Jingming rushed as fast as he could, he couldn't catch up with the servants of the former head of the clerk's household who went to find the Gu family couple.

It did nothing to stop the two from breaking off their engagement.

So when Hua Jingming heard the message, he thought Su Hehe was scolding him.

But he will definitely accept the invitation.

After all, Su Qing had been in the prefectural city for a month, and they hadn't spoken a word to each other, nor had they exchanged letters.

They actually interacted more when Su Qing was in Nanjiang County.

Hua Jingming had a lot to say, and when he arrived at the restaurant, Su Qing stared at him for a while.

It was only September, yet this person was already wearing a wide robe with fox fur trim, making him extremely conspicuous. If I'm not mistaken, the robe also had patterns woven from peacock feathers.

Not bad, not bad at all, they are indeed a wealthy family.

After being scrutinized by Su Qing for a moment, Hua Jingming looked at himself and then at the other woman's plain clothes, and said, "Want some? I'll send you a few bolts of fine satin later."

Hua Jingming entered with his servant and saw Yunxi and a female clerk accompanying Su Qing. He said, "I have something to say to you."

"It's related to Gu Congsi."

Hearing this, Su Qing had no choice but to ask the others to wait in the outer room, leaving only Su Qing and Hua Jingming in the inner room of the private room.

Hua Jingming asked directly, "I've thought about this for a long time. Do you mind the matter of the former head of the Bureau of Personnel?"

"When his family saw that you had come to the prefectural city to serve as the prefect, they went to Huizhou with Lord Zhao. You don't need to worry about it."

"Brother Gu has been mentioning you frequently in his recent letters."

"It seems they were completely unaware of your annulment of the engagement."

Therefore, as a friend of Gu Congsi, he certainly had to offer some advice.

Before things completely fall apart, let's try to reconcile them.

In his view, no matter what position Gu Congsi attains or what his status is in the emperor's heart.

Su Qing is more than a match for him.

Such a wonderful match shouldn't be delayed.

After Hua Jingming finished speaking, he stared intently at Su Qing, wanting to see her reaction.

Although Su Qing was an unmarried woman, she spoke of marriage as usual, but at this moment she was a little helpless: "Some things are better left unsaid."

"Let's not talk about Gu Congsi anymore. I called you here because I have other important matters to discuss."

Upon hearing this, Hua Jingming chuckled and said with amusement, "You're looking for me, but it has nothing to do with Gu Congsi."

After saying this, he smiled more sincerely: "Could it be that you really like my fabric? It comes from Yunnan. I'll find the best tailor to sew it for you later."

"But is there really no possibility between you and Gu Congsi?"

Su Qing told him to shut up and said directly, "I heard that Jinling is short of money."

"Your father was recently summoned to Nanjing for a rather important matter. Is it related to this?"

The emperor was short of money, so he scrambled to find funds from various sources.

Such prominent families would certainly ask about it.

In a situation like the Hua family's, they naturally wouldn't be absent.

When the topic turned to family matters, Hua Jingming became more serious.

It was no secret that his father had left home; in fact, he had been summoned away even before Su Qing arrived.

But why did she ask about this? "My father also wrote a letter saying that everything is fine in Nanjing and he will probably be back soon. My eldest brother and second sister take care of things at home, so I don't know much about it."

"It's probably just a matter of losing money to avoid disaster."

Fortunately, not many parts were broken.

Su Qing understood his expression and said simply, "The situation in Shunchang Kingdom is volatile. There is no peaceful day anywhere, whether it is the capital, Jinling, or Guanglefu."

"Therefore, I discussed it with Qi, the military official."

"If only the Guangyue Bureau had the right to forge weapons."

What do you think?

Hua Jingming suppressed his smile, looked at Su Qing, and then laughed, "Su Hehe, you've got the wrong person."

"I like to collect fun things, and I enjoy matchmaking for other people and joining in the fun."

"This kind of thing has nothing to do with me."

"Really, you've got the wrong person this time."

Su Qing frowned, and then stared at Hua Jingming.

It was not Su Qing's wish to involve the Hua family in this matter.

After all, this family already has enough power.

If I get involved again, I'll inevitably lose control.

She knew it was a great thing.

Hua Jingming, however, resolutely refused.

There must be some hidden story behind this.