Chapter 41: Paying off debts and the bank
This is Yun Ye’s latest title, a boy under the age of 18 who completed the transformation from a commoner to a high-ranking noble in eight months. Who would have thought it? This is probably the fastest record of promotion since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Shimin was curious about Yun Ye. What kind of a teenager could he be to snatch the prestigious title of Lantian Marquis from his own hands? A potato wrapped in silk was placed in the right corner of the table. Every time Li Shimin looked up and saw the potato, he felt a sense of happiness. The Tang Dynasty was so blessed that a rare grain with a yield of 50 mu could appear. What else could be unsurpassed? Looking up to the sages, since the Qin Emperor began to call himself emperor, until now, a total of 54 people have sat on the throne of the emperor and ruled with an iron fist. I don’t think I’m stupid. I have a lot of brave generals and wise counselors, and with the help of this strange food, how can I not explore the edge of the emperor of all time?
While Li Er was immersed in the warm current of boundless happiness, he did not see Empress Changsun holding a letter and disappearing into the heavy curtains with a gloomy face.
Looking at her husband, who was so happy, Empress Changsun felt that the letter in her hand was a thousand pounds heavy. She couldn’t bear to interrupt her husband’s rare moment of happiness. Since the incident at Xuanwu Gate, he had never slept peacefully for two years. In his sleep, he would repeatedly repent to the King of Rest, with tears streaming down his face.
Now her husband was lying on the throne, bathed in the setting sun, so quiet and peaceful, no longer feeling the fear in his heart. If it is true, then it is also true that it is all because of Yun Ye. I hope that Yun Ye is wrong, that it is not true. Will the locusts come? Will the locusts come in the prophecy? Empress Changsun wanted to tear up the letter, wishing that she had never received it from her son-in-law. The veins on her slender hands bulged, and she trembled all over. With the greatest willpower, she forced herself to smile and slowly walked out of the curtain…
“Yun Ye would not speak off the cuff. Even if this matter really happened, it would not do him any good, it would only bring disaster. I don’t believe a disciple of a strange person would not understand this.” Li Er was calmer than the empress had imagined, but he only suppressed his smile.
“Your servant concubine also thinks so. There are Wuji, Zhizhang, Jinda, and Qian’er in the Longyou army. They can’t be unaware of the seriousness of misreporting this matter, but they chose to believe it. Therefore, Your servant concubine believes that the authenticity of this matter is 80%.”
“Zhi Zhang’s first reaction was to hoard grain, ordering the six counties of Longyou to hand over their grain reserves to Chang’an. Wuji also began to search for grain in Hexi. Fortunately, Longyou had a bumper harvest for two consecutive years, and the grain was quite abundant. It is estimated that hoarding 500,000 tons of grain is still feasible. Qian’er’s right rate has already begun to transport grain to Chang’an. At the moment, grain storage is the top priority. I have never doubted Wuji and Zhi Zhang’s loyalty. They didn’t write to me, but chose to write to you through my son, so as not to cause a lot of discussion in the court and the country at this time, and not to destroy the hard-won peace. So I choose to believe in Wuji, Zhizhang, and also believe in Master Yun Ye’s prediction. Come, summon Fang Xuanling and Du Ruxi to the palace for a meeting! I don’t believe that the mere plague of locusts has no way for our Great Tang to deal with it.”
As soon as the little yellow doorman left the palace, Empress Consort Changsun said to Li Er, “Your Majesty doesn’t want to meet your Lord of Lantian? Why does he have the right to say such words of warning? Don’t you want to see what he looks like? Aren’t you curious about his immortal master? Anyway, I am very curious, and I don’t know if he has three heads and six arms.”
“Does the Empress still remember what the boy said last time: “The strange treasure is useless and painful. Does it mean that the time has come for me to pay the price for this strange grain?”
The couple looked at the potatoes over and over again, their faces full of relief, as if the arrival of the locusts was not a disaster, but just the price they had to pay for buying something.
Yun Ye did not know that Li Er had already planned to pay the price and was prepared for an emergency. He had no intention of paying the price again. Li Fulu’s fat face was already wrinkled into a bun. Yun Ye had clearly agreed to pay eight coins for a bushel of grain, but he only gave six coins. No matter what he said, he insisted on six coins. He also said that if that was not possible, he would take his official clothes as collateral from the Lantian County Lord and get him another 100,000 bushels of grain. Li Fulu was going crazy. What do I need your official clothes for? I’m not a marquis. Besides, the grain isn’t mine. What do you get for giving six coins to the grain merchants?
“Lord, please be merciful. I have already escorted 5,000 sacks of grain here, all of which I borrowed from local grain merchants. I need to return 400 strings of copper coins to them. This is a business transaction, not a tax. If I can’t get back 400 strings of copper coins, I’ll have to ship the grain back. Otherwise, the government’s reputation will be ruined.”
Yun Ye looked at the tall grain stacks and was also worried. Not to mention four hundred strings, now he can’t even pay four strings of money. Who would have thought that the county magistrate of the founding of the country would be stumped by four hundred strings of money? Damn it, four hundred strings of copper coins would fill two carts if they were loaded with carts. carriage, Longyou was already short of money, and most of the people were still in the era of barter. Grain, copper coins, silk, silver, and even women in some places were used as hard currency. These days, the 500 copper coins he embezzled have all been spent, and it is still a drop in the bucket.
At this time, he missed the four state-owned banks that were later condemned. As long as he could transport silver to the old man, he would accept even a higher transaction fee. Huh? A bank? The old man is a genius. Yesterday, that damned landlord said that if he was short one coin, he would die at the gate of the barracks. His son is still waiting for money in the capital. If the 200 coins that should be paid to the landlord are left in the capital and given to his son, wouldn’t that solve the capital problem? Liu Fulu is in a hurry to get the money because he has to pay this year’s taxes. Since he is working for the country, wouldn’t it be better to wait until he gets to the capital and have the Ministry of Finance offset the money with grain? That would save him the trouble of escorting it.
After explaining the cause and effect to Liu Fulu, it can be seen that he is somewhat moved, but he is still a bit worried about Yun Ye. The look on Yun Ye’s face just now was really not reassuring. I, Lao Liu, am dedicated to the country. If I am cheated by this unreliable young marquis, where can I go to reason?
Your Highness, there is no better collateral in the world than this. After all, the Tang Dynasty is his family’s, yours is his, mine is his, and his is still his. Yun Ye felt that Li Er’s family was best suited for the profession of bandits, and he had no sense of guilt at all for dragging the little bandit out as collateral.
He described the current difficulties, saying that he had no money to pay people, but the disaster in Guanzhong was imminent. It would take half a year to transport half a million bushels of grain from Longyou to Chang’an. We can’t rob them, but fortunately, the wise and powerful Prince is in charge of Longyou, which gives me room to operate. He explained the operating procedures of the bank to the prince. Li Chengqian was still full of stars, but Huang Zhien, who was in charge of counting the grain, had golden eyes.