Chapter 72 Disaster Victims
The four members of Yun Que were utterly dumbfounded when they saw the warehouse full of gold notes, jade artifacts, and all sorts of precious treasures!
Yun Jin stared wide-eyed and said, "This money could buy so many Mountain-Ringing Bows!"
Yun Ge snapped out of her daze and said, "Let's quickly take stock; this stuff will keep us busy for a while."
The four of them split up and began to act separately.
Two hours later.
When Qin Jinzhi walked in, she saw Yun Jin shaking her head as she looked at the bill.
What kind of expression is that?
Upon seeing Qin Jinzhi, Yun Jin immediately rushed to her side and said, "Princess! Let's hold another birthday banquet for you! It's much faster than robbing a bank!"
Qin Jinzhi smiled as she took the ledger. "Do you think everyone in the capital is a fool?"
Yun Ge walked over and said, "Princess, the gold notes total ninety million taels, and the jade and antique pieces are worth eight million gold."
Qin Jinzhi nodded, "Exchange all these gold notes for silver, and pawn all those useless jade artifacts and antique ornaments."
One tael of gold is equal to ten taels of silver.
Qin Jinzhi frowned. "It's not enough."
Upon hearing this, Yun Jin immediately said, "Princess, this is worth almost 100 million taels of silver! It's still not enough!"
Qin Jinzhi took the account book and turned to leave, saying, "Prepare the carriage, I'm going to the palace."
When she arrived at the Empress's palace, the Emperor was just about to rest.
Upon seeing Qin Jinzhi, he immediately bristled and glared, "You bastard, if you dare to send me to the side hall again today, I'll break your legs!"
The Empress immediately said, "Then get out of here with me now!"
Qin Jinzhi put the account book on the table. "This is the money received as gifts at my grandfather's birthday banquet."
Upon hearing this, the emperor immediately picked up the account book, eager to see just how much money this old fellow had made!
When the account book was opened, the emperor's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
A birthday banquet actually collected nearly 100 million gold coins!
It's all thanks to him that we can collect so much money, so it's not unreasonable to give him a share!
The emperor immediately beamed with joy!
Before the grandson could even utter the words, Qin Jinzhi said, "Give me some more money."
The emperor seemed dazed. "What did you say?"
Qin Jinzhi sat in the chair with her legs crossed, "I said give me some more silver."
"What do you need the money for! You've already taken so much!"
Qin Jinzhi spoke calmly:
"Autumn is just around the corner, so we need to start preparing winter clothes and cotton shoes for the soldiers."
With the war against Chu over, the soldiers' weapons and armor were worn out and needed to be remade.
There are also pensions for the fallen soldiers, and a large number of horses need to be purchased.
The soldiers' winter rations and the horses' feed would cost nearly ten million gold coins.
Before the emperor could speak, Qin Jinzhi continued:
"The recent increase in the number of migrants outside the capital is due to the floods in the Jiangnan region."
After a major flood, a plague is bound to break out. It is imperative to build irrigation canals and provide relief to the victims.
We also need to take precautions against plague; food and medicine are indispensable. Does Grandfather think this money is enough?
The emperor's expression turned serious. "Floods in Jiangnan? Why haven't any memorials from the court mentioned it?"
Qin Jinzhi was not surprised.
"Although the Jiangnan region experiences frequent plum rains, the amount of water is not sufficient to cause floods."
The shoddy workmanship in flood control projects is both a natural disaster and a man-made one.
The lower-level officials didn't report it, naturally to protect their own positions.
The emperor's eyes were filled with coldness; these people truly did not care about the lives of ordinary people as always.
As Qin Jinzhi said, just building irrigation canals and dredging waterways would require a lot of manpower and resources, not to mention the money needed for disaster relief.
Qin Jinzhi raised an eyebrow at the emperor's expression. "Grandfather? You can't be that poor, can you?"
The emperor snorted.
Hey, he's really that poor!
The national treasury is empty, so empty it can't be any more empty.
After so many years of war, which has been exhausting for the people and costing them a lot of money, construction is needed everywhere.
The emperor also exempted most of the taxes. If it weren't for Qin Jinzhi's Tianxianglou supporting the Zhenbei Army, he would have been unable to even pay the military salaries.
Qin Jinzhi looked knowing, "You may not have money, but these aristocratic families certainly do. Did you see it today? They spend hundreds of thousands of taels of gold so easily just to climb the social ladder."
The emperor stroked his beard and raised an eyebrow. "How about we confiscate their property?"
Qin Jinzhi smiled and said, "There has to be a reason for confiscating property, otherwise it would just be robbery, right?"
The emperor was speechless. "You think you're not a bandit? You dare to sell a seat for 100,000 gold coins!"
They were reaching into people's pockets to take money.
Qin Jinzhi chuckled, "Didn't you want to organize a polo club before? We'll do it in the next few days."
The Empress asked in confusion, "You and Pei Jinnian are already engaged, why are you holding a polo match?"
Qin Jinzhi raised an eyebrow and smiled, "If I can't find someone, aren't there others?"
The emperor was even more confused by her cunning expression.
Qin Jinzhi tucked the account book back into her bosom. "Haven't you always wanted to unite the old officials and the new nobles in the court? Isn't this a good opportunity? Grant more marriages, so that you're intertwined with me and I'm intertwined with you. Are you afraid that you won't be able to unite?"
The emperor found her words somewhat reasonable. "But there's no precedent for this. What if we don't arrange the marriage and instead become enemies?"
Qin Jinzhi said matter-of-factly, "Then we have a reason to confiscate your property. Besides, who says there's no precedent? My marriage to Pei Jinnian was personally arranged by you."
The Emperor clapped his hands. "Brilliant! Ah Ying, you should start preparations for the polo match tomorrow. Let's have a good time!"
Qin Jinzhi looked at the closed door in front of her and touched her nose.
She didn't say she wanted to stay here!
She was kicked out before she could even finish speaking!
Qin Jinzhi did not stay in the palace, but went directly back to the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion.
On the way, she said to Yun Que, "Drive all the refugees outside the capital to the vicinity of the polo field, and make a gap in the fence so that these refugees can break into the polo field on the day of the polo match. Also, tell Pei Jin Nian that he must attend the polo match."
Qin Jinzhi leaned against the carriage, not wanting to conceal the disaster, but rather to expose this man-made calamity in full view of everyone.
Pei Jinnian was puzzled when he received Qin Jinzhi's message.
He was a scholar, and although he had some knowledge of the six arts of a gentleman, he was not good at polo.
Moreover, these kinds of clubs are usually for unmarried young men and women to find partners. Since he is already engaged to Qin Jinzhi, why would he go and join in on this kind of fun?
Completely baffled, he could only go to his grandfather.
Pei Qing said after hearing this:
"Since the princess insisted that you attend, she must have her reasons!"
The princess wants you to succeed as the governor of Kyoto. It would be beneficial for you to make some friends at these kinds of golf clubs.
But remember, never get involved with other women and cause trouble.
Pei Jinnian replied, "Grandson understands."
After returning from the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion, Pei Jinnian kept thinking about Qin Jinzhi's words.
Qin Jinzhi had never thought highly of him.
Compared to her, he seemed like a child of a few years old.
But Qin Jinzhi handled it with such ease.
That was terrifying!
But from this day forward, he will shoulder the burden of the Pei family!
I will never let Qin Jinzhi look down on me again!
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