Soldiers dressed in gray-blue uniforms stood in two rows at the entrance of the Gao family's house, holding long guns.
In the snow-covered landscape, they seemed like soldiers from the underworld, inspiring fear in everyone.
Shen Qing had been arrested twice and was traumatized by it, so he was in a state of great tension.
With a trembling voice, he asked Qi Zhenheng, "What...are those people going to do?"
Qi Zhenheng glanced back at her, then looked back ahead: "It's nothing, I'll go see what's going on, you stay here and don't move."
After saying that, he stepped out of the box and walked towards the soldiers.
Shen Qing held his breath as he watched him negotiate with an official in official robes, then kneel down and take a scroll that looked like an imperial edict from the man's hand.
The soldiers left in a grand procession, leaving only Qi Zhenheng and Gao's servant boy at the Gao family's door.
Shen Qing quickly ran over and asked, "What is this?"
Qi Zhenheng handed her the imperial edict with both hands: "The imperial court has come to collect donations."
"What is donation?" Shen Qing opened the imperial edict.
The small regular script inside was as neat as seal carving. After looking at it for a while, she realized that this donation meant that the imperial court was asking for money.
The imperial edict stated that in recent years, the Japanese invaders had been making frequent moves and war was imminent, but the national treasury was empty. It hoped that these merchants who usually received government stipends could stand with the court at this moment and do their best to donate.
Shen Qing closed the imperial edict and asked Qi Zhenheng, "How much should one donate under normal circumstances?"
Qi Zhenheng looked at her, remaining silent for a moment.
Shen Qing immediately sensed something was wrong.
He carried the imperial edict into the Gao family's gate with one hand, went straight into the study, opened a drawer, took out an account book, and turned to the last page.
Qi Zhenheng followed him in and turned to close the study door.
How much cash do you have on hand right now?
Shen Qing looked at the ledger: "The available cash is less than 500,000 taels."
Qi Zhenheng shook his head with a solemn expression: "Not enough, it's still far from enough."
Shen Qing was a little indignant. He slammed the ledger shut and stood up: "How much money do they want?"
Qi Zhenheng looked at her, hesitated for a few seconds, and then said, "The reason I chose you is because I know your assets very well. The fact that the amount to be donated was an implication that you should give me everything you have."
"What?" Shen Qing raised his voice, "Give me everything you know? Does that mean my whole family and my workers won't eat? I never intended to give you all 500,000 taels!"
Qi Zhenheng advised in a low voice, "Don't be impulsive! Let's discuss a solution together."
"What other solutions are there? We just need money. What other solutions are there besides money?"
Shen Qing stomped her feet a few times in anger, then sat back down.
After sitting in the chair, panting heavily for a while, she gradually calmed down and asked Qi Zhenheng, "What would happen if I didn't donate, or if I donated less?"
"The imperial envoy will investigate the Gao family. If it is discovered that you have concealed wealth that you have not donated, it will be considered a crime of deceiving the emperor, punishable by death!"
Shen Qing: "..."
She coughed lightly, sat up straight, took out several account books from the drawer, opened them one by one, and started typing on the abacus. After a moment, she looked up at Qi Zhenheng.
"Most of the money has been invested in factories and stockpiled goods. The settlement cycle for exported goods is six months, and a lot of payments have not yet been received. So right now, we only have 500,000 taels available. And of these 500,000 taels, 100,000 taels are still to be used to build schools."
Qi Zhenheng nodded: "I understand. Businessmen don't keep too much cash on hand; most of it is used for business operations."
Pushing the abacus upwards, Shen Qing scratched his head with both hands: "What do we do now? I really only have this much cash. I can't just sell the factory or the bill of lading because of the donation."
That day, Shen Qing and Qi Zhenheng were discussing countermeasures in the study.
They planned to borrow the amount to be settled in six months from a money exchange or bank, give it as a donation, and then repay the money exchange once they received the payment for the goods.
Although they would lose six months' worth of interest, at least they could save the lives of more than a dozen members of the Gao family.
The next day, Shen Qing took the bill of lading to Shanghai and contacted several banks to inquire about loan matters. However, all of them rejected her loan request immediately after seeing her bill of lading.
Shen Qing later learned that the reason she was rejected by those foreign banks was because the foreigners who had been forced to pay ten times the price for raw silk from her had already told the banks about their grievances with her.
So she had actually been blacklisted by foreign banks in Shanghai long ago.
Shen Qing had no choice but to go to the local money shops in Jiangzhou. The money shops were willing to lend her money, but the amounts were very low, less than half the bill of lading amount, and they would also keep her bill of lading as collateral.
This approach is very dangerous for Shen Qing.
If the bill of lading is lost by the money changer, she will be unable to exchange the currency with the bank and withdraw the funds, facing the loss of half of her money.
Therefore, borrowing money is also out of the question.
As the deadline for the donation approached, Shen Qing felt increasingly threatened.
She suddenly felt a chill run down her spine when she thought of Lord Li, who had been behind Master Zhao.
She immediately went to the Imperial Textile Bureau to find Qi Zhenheng.
As soon as the study door opened, he asked urgently, "How is that Li Zhongman from back then?"
Qi Zhenheng was surprised that she would come today. He paused for a moment, put down the brush in his hand on the brush holder, and hurriedly walked down.
He helped Shen Qing to a chair and asked, "If you need anything, you can send me a letter, and I'll rush back to Jiangzhou immediately. You're frail, so try to avoid unnecessary travel."
Shen Qing asked anxiously, "How is Li Zhongman? Is he still in the court?"
Qi Zhenheng sighed: "Li Zhongman is a eunuch, a favorite of the Empress Dowager, and for the time being, no one can shake his position."
Shen Qing was stunned for a long time before saying blankly, "I think the reason why the Gao family received the donation this time is because of Li Zhongman. He still has his eye on the Gao family's house, so he wants to destroy the Gao family whenever he gets the chance."
Qi Zhenheng patted her arm: "Don't think too much about it. I've already asked my father to do his best to help you with the donation."
Shen Qing shook his head absentmindedly: "Can your father's words be as effective as those of the Empress Dowager's favorite? It's useless. If I don't take out all my assets this time, and that eunuch says something to the Empress Dowager, the Gao family will be doomed."
"Little sister..." Qi Zhenheng looked at her with heartache, but for a moment he didn't know what to say to comfort her.
Having served as an official for many years, he knew all too well that if Shen Qing hadn't handled this situation well, it could have been a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of his family.
He has been thinking about how to help Shen Qing get through this difficult time.
Seeing her so defeated, he had no choice but to suggest that last resort:
"How about we take a portion of the fifty million taels that we owe Zhiwen to donate?" He thought for a moment and then added, "There are also several million taels in the Chamber of Commerce's treasury; we can take that money out first."
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