Chapter 308 Where Did the Money Go?
Considering that Xie Wanniang was short of money, it was not because she was extravagant, but because she wanted to do her best to relieve disaster victims and help the border troops. The emperor, empress and crown prince were very generous when rewarding her.
The emperor gave her 30,000 taels of silver, while the empress and the crown prince each contributed 20,000 taels to her.
According to one of the female guards assigned to her by the emperor, in order to raise the 70,000 taels, the emperor, empress and crown prince even had some of their antiques, calligraphy and paintings and gold and jade ornaments sold off in secret.
Of course, the Emperor, Empress and Crown Prince did not suffer the whole loss. Many well-informed nobles and imperial relatives in the capital, after learning that the Emperor, Empress and Crown Prince were short of money, even to the point of having to sell their belongings to raise funds, all found excuses to send gifts to the Emperor, Empress and Crown Prince.
Although they didn't know why the Emperor, Empress, and Crown Prince would rather sell things to raise money, they weren't about to let this easy opportunity to please the family slip away.
Neither Xie Wanniang nor the guards bestowed upon her by the emperor knew what happened next.
All they knew was that it would be very difficult for the Emperor, Empress, and Crown Prince to raise this amount of money in a short period of time.
At first, Xie Wanniang and her female guards were not very familiar with each other. The female guards who were ordered to deliver money to her could not understand why the emperor, empress and crown prince favored Xie Wanniang so much.
But after they handed the money to Xie Wanniang, they immediately understood why this girl, who was clearly only the daughter of the emperor's cousin, was more valued and favored by the emperor and empress than the daughter of the emperor's own brother.
Xie Wanniang took out the silver notes and quickly counted out 40,000 taels, handing them to Jiang Yuan. "Please donate this money to the border army for me. Please ask the Marquis and the Heir Apparent to use it to treat the wounded and to provide relief to the families of the fallen soldiers."
The founding emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty always attached great importance to border defense. Because of his clear stance, the officials, clerks, and servants who handled the supplies for the various border armies did not dare to be too greedy.
Although military supplies transferred from the capital or other places inevitably suffer some losses, these losses can ultimately be kept within a normal range.
As a result, the border troops in various places have become "rich". They no longer have to resort to sacrificing lives because they were short of armor, warhorses, weapons and other supplies, as they were in the late period of the previous dynasty and during the years of war.
Knowing this, Xie Wanniang did not suggest using the money to purchase these items.
Compared to these things, the money allocated by the imperial court for purchasing medicine and cloth was pitifully small, which is why wounded soldiers have always had a high casualty rate.
Of course, this doesn't mean that the emperor, crown prince, and officials in the capital were willing to let wounded soldiers die. It's just that the national treasury only had so much money, and they always had to make trade-offs and compromises in certain aspects.
Xie Wanniang could understand their dilemma and their back-and-forth weighing of options. After all, the Great Wei had far too many places where money was needed, and the court could not impose taxes on the people without restraint.
Even Xie Wanniang herself, when she does good deeds, doesn't she have to distinguish between primary and secondary tasks, urgency and importance?
After all, although she could control her own money, she didn't have enough to help all those in need.
This time was no different. In addition to taking out 40,000 taels to allow the Zhenbei Army to purchase medical supplies, and using the remaining amount to slightly subsidize the orphans of the fallen soldiers, she also had to take out 20,000 taels to provide relief to the disaster victims in the Hejian Prefecture.
Purchasing food, medicine, water containers, vehicles, and horses was one aspect, but Xie Wanniang also had to pay the generous rewards she had promised to the bodyguards.
Because the Tatars were moving south, Xie Wanniang's temporary caravan couldn't recruit enough demobilized soldiers, so she simply abandoned the idea and instead asked Yang Xiaowei's father, Yang Darong, to hire a large number of bodyguards for her.
She was generous with her money, only asking Yang Darong to carefully select and hire a skilled bodyguard who was trustworthy, of good character, and either good at fighting or quick-witted.
Yang Darong was originally a renowned and skilled bodyguard in Dingzhou. His many years of experience in escorting goods had given him an excellent understanding of his peers (opponents).
Xie Wanniang sent him to do this task, and as long as he doesn't let personal feelings interfere with his official duties, the person he chooses will definitely be useful.
As for whether he would prioritize personal matters over public duty, Yang Darong said that he could suffer losses for the sake of relatives and friends, but he could not let his employer suffer losses for the sake of relatives and friends, because the latter had nothing to do with righteousness and was simply despicable and shameless generosity at other people's expense.
Since he, his wife, and daughter have received monthly wages from the employer, they must serve the employer wholeheartedly.
Whether his wife and daughter served as maids for the master's family or he ran errands for the master's family outside, he always had to do his best and have no ulterior motives.
With him and several experienced managers and trusted guards by her side, Xie Wanniang had no need to worry about the new镖师 (bodyguard/escort) being outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant.
She entrusted the task of continuously supplying disaster areas under the guise of doing business to the caravan members, including Yang Darong. She even diverted most of the profits from her own shops to purchase food, medicine, and other necessities for the disaster victims.
She told the experienced managers who accompanied her that no matter whether the disaster victims bought things with money, bartered with goods, or gave them people, land, houses, or shops as compensation, they had to give the other party a fair price.
Furthermore, if the other party chooses to mortgage their people, land, houses, and shops to them, they must sign a separate contract with the other party specifying the terms of the sale and the other party's agreement, as well as their permission for the other party to redeem the people, land, houses, and shops mortgaged to them at the original price within three years.
Compared to those unscrupulous landlords who took advantage of the situation to deceive the people and try to seize farmers' land at extremely low prices, Xie Wanniang's actions made those poor people very happy.
Selling their children doesn't bring them any serious consequences other than heartache and reluctance. After all, they can have more children in the future. If selling their children can provide food for both themselves and their children and help them survive a famine, they are still happy to find a new home for their children.
But fields, houses, and shops are different. Once these things they depend on for survival are cheated and swindled away by unscrupulous landlords and merchants, they can only work as their apprentices, laborers, or tenants.
It's obvious that since the other party could go against their conscience and use deception to seize their property, they would inevitably delay or withhold their wages, or create excuses to overcharge them for rent, squeezing every last drop of profit from them.
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