Shen Qing shook her head.
"We can't sell next year's raw silk to that Englishman, much less at the low price he wants. If we sell it like this, everything we've done so far will have been in vain!"
"But you have one month left before you need to settle accounts with the silk farmers using this 1.5 million taels!"
Qi Zhenheng was even more anxious than she was.
What he feared was that if he didn't settle accounts with the silk farmers for 1.5 million taels, they wouldn't give him the raw silk, and it would end up in the hands of the British anyway.
Rather than having unpleasantness with silk farmers later due to funding issues, it's better to sell next year's share of raw silk to the British now.
The safest approach is to get the funds in hand first and then settle accounts with the silk farmers.
Qi Zhenheng is a conservative, so he thinks this way.
But Shen Qing is an adventurer, and having already laid out her plans to this point, all that's missing is the 1.5 million taels of silver. She will only try to find a way to solve this problem, rather than changing the entire strategy.
Shen Qing reopened the ledger: "I will continue to find a way to deal with the money."
Qi Zhenheng shook his head and left the accounting office, but soon returned and walked up to Shen Qing.
Shen Qing then saw a stack of silver notes placed in front of him.
She looked at Qi Zhenheng in surprise: "What is this?"
"This is some money I've saved up, about a thousand taels. It's not much, but you can take it first and make up as much as you can."
Shen Qingcai understood, smiled, rolled up the banknotes, stood up, and stuffed them back into Qi Zhenheng's sleeve pocket.
"Really, you don't need to! You keep it yourself! This is your savings for getting married, right?"
Qi Zhenheng blushed: "It's my wife's dowry."
Shen Qing helped him stuff the silver notes away, then sat back down with a smile: "Keep them safe! You won't be able to get married if you lose them!"
...
Shen Qing stayed at the textile bureau for two days, clearing up last month's accounts, before returning to Jiangzhou to continue looking for money.
She first thought of Grandpa Gao, who had only regained his hay quota thanks to Cheng Zhiwen, and took He Feichunju to the main house of the Gao family.
Upon hearing that she wanted to raise money to start a business, Grandpa Gao readily took out 100,000 taels of silver.
He had witnessed Shen Qing's connections and how Shen Qing had built up the second branch's business step by step, so he was willing to give Shen Qing money if he wanted it.
Unlike two years ago, this time the 100,000 taels were given willingly.
Shen Qing reluctantly told him about what had happened at the raw silk merchants' association. Upon hearing that it cost 1.5 million taels of silver, Grandpa Gao said with difficulty, "Niece-in-law, it's not that I don't want to give you the money, but I really don't have that much capital on hand!"
Fearing that Shen Qing might not understand, he continued to explain, "You're a businessman too, so you should know that our money can't just be left there. It's either used to stockpile goods, or used for other businesses. At the very least, it's deposited in a money exchange to earn interest!"
Shen Qing nodded, indicating that she understood.
"Actually, I'm the same. Although the business seems to be quite large, money keeps slipping through my fingers, and I don't really have much cash on hand."
Grandpa Gao said with relief, "Right? Business families usually only keep one or two hundred thousand taels of silver at home for emergencies. Who would keep so much silver in their hands?"
Shen Qing accepted the silver notes and left the eldest son's house.
On the way back, she did some mental calculations and said to He Fei, "If all else fails, we'll borrow the 600,000 taels from the money shop, add the 100,000 taels here, and the 200,000 taels I have on hand, and that'll make 900,000 taels. We'll figure out a way to get the remaining 600,000 taels later."
He Fei nodded frantically: "It's better than nothing!"
After saying that, he looked at Shen Qing's face and saw that she seemed to relax a little, so he asked cautiously, "Should we ask Mr. Cheng?"
Upon hearing this name that hadn't been heard in a long time, Shen Qing was taken aback. After a moment, she shook her head and said, "No, I've lost contact with him. It's ridiculous to borrow money from someone I've never spoken to before."
He Fei asked, puzzled, "But Mr. Cheng has always had you in his heart, so why don't you contact him?"
Shen Qing smiled: "Those with different goals and paths cannot work together. I am a simple businessman. I have to protect the Gao family of more than a dozen people, as well as you and Lao Xu. I cannot get involved with him."
He Fei remained silent, his face also grave.
Another half month passed, and just as Shen Qing was about to ask the money shop to borrow the 600,000 taels, Qi Zhenheng sent a letter by fast horse.
The letter read:
"Shen Qing, the Chamber of Commerce has raised the missing funds. Come to the Textile Bureau immediately. Qi Zhenheng."
Shen Qing quickly set off for the textile manufacturing office.
Upon entering, they immediately went to Qi Zhenheng's study.
"You've raised 1.5 million taels?" She looked at Qi Zhenheng in surprise. "Who did you borrow it from?"
Qi Zhenheng looked over upon hearing the sound, placed the brush on the brush holder, and then stepped down.
Shen Qing sat down in the armchair, looking at him with hope.
Qi Zhenheng took out a pink piece of paper with English lettering from his sleeve pocket and handed it over.
Shen Qing accepted it.
This is a deposit certificate from HSBC Shanghai, containing 50 million taels of silver, which can be withdrawn at any time.
Shen Qing was shocked: "Fifty million taels? I didn't see that wrong, did I?"
Qi Zhenheng closed his eyes and nodded: "You didn't see wrong."
Shen Qing asked anxiously, "Who gave so much silver all at once?"
Qi Zhenheng tapped the deposit slip in her hand with his chin: "Take another look at what name is written on it."
Shen Qing looked down and carefully examined it: "Shanghai Chenghe Trading Company?"
Cheng He?
He Cheng!
She immediately looked up at Qi Zhenheng and asked, "It's Cheng Zhiwen! When did he come here?"
As he said this, he turned to look around, his eyes full of anticipation.
It was a very instinctive action, but Qi Zhenheng noticed it.
He had always suspected that Shen Qing liked Cheng Zhiwen, but he wasn't sure. Now, seeing her reaction, he understood everything.
A pang of sadness struck her, and she murmured, "They sent it early yesterday morning and asked me to pass on a message to you..."
Shen Qing was delighted: "What message are you sending me?"
"Europe is expected to have no raw silk harvest for another five years, so feel free to buy raw silk and sell it at ten times the price. But in the second half of the fifth year, you must quickly sell off all the raw silk in stock, no matter how cheap it is."
Shen Qing looked down at the deposit slip in his hand and murmured, "He encouraged me to buy raw silk..."
Qi Zhenheng looked at her with bright, piercing eyes: "Yes."
“He…” Shen Qing didn’t know how to begin, and she had no idea how much Qi Zhenheng knew.
If Qi Zhenheng, a royalist, knew that Cheng Zhiwen was a traitor, the two would probably break off their relationship!
Just like her and Cheng Zhiwen, once she knew his identity, even if she didn't kill him, it would be difficult to restore their previous relationship.
Thinking of this, she smiled at Qi Zhenheng and changed the subject, saying, "I didn't know he was so rich! He just threw out fifty million taels of silver. I've never seen so much money before..."
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