“One tenth…”
Jin Feng felt a touch of disappointment.
But he quickly let it go.
One tenth was indeed a little low, yet still far better than nothing.
At least it would solve the escort agency’s most pressing need.
After thinking it over, he nodded and said, “That works!”
Hearing Jin Feng agree, Ninth Princess secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
She had genuinely worried he might get angry.
If this matter created a rift between them, it would be far too regrettable.
“Your Highness, the longer we delay the more things can go wrong. Old Han told the civilians to gather at Old Crow Gully in the north after escaping with the horses. I think we should move now.”
Jin Feng continued, “The civilians have all been terrified this time. If they wait and no one shows up, they might just leave with the horses. Finding them one by one afterwards would be a huge effort!”
“Sir is right!”
Ninth Princess nodded and turned to leave.
But after two steps she turned back.
She touched her nose rather awkwardly and said in a small voice, “Wuyang has one favour to ask of Sir…”
Jin Feng paused, then immediately guessed what it was.
Yet it was rare to see Ninth Princess acting like a shy young girl, so a mischievous urge rose in him. He deliberately asked, “Please speak, Your Highness!”
“It’s just… just…”
Ninth Princess hesitated twice, then finally muttered, “Wuyang would like to borrow some money from Sir. Would that be all right?”
A princess had her own fief, and as an imperial daughter all taxes from it belonged entirely to her. Unlike Qing Huai, she did not have to hand over half.
However, Ninth Princess could not bear to exploit the people of her fief, so she had saved little silver over the years. In the capital she had given everything to Luo Lan to buy black swords.
When she set off to Tubo for the marriage alliance, the emperor feared his daughter would be looked down upon and provided a large dowry of gold and silver.
Ninth Princess, being born royal, had little concept of money.
At Xihe Bay she had been dazzled by all the strange and wonderful things Jin Feng invented. She decided that black swords, mirrors, glass beads, and similar trinkets were far better than gold and silver, so she left the gold and silver at Xihe Bay and brought a pile of novelties to Xichuan.
Now, when she needed to buy war horses from the civilians, she suddenly realised she had no money…
She could hardly trade black swords, mirrors, or glass beads for horses, could she?
Mirrors and glass beads were treasures in the eyes of nobles, but utterly useless to common people.
Even if some civilians were willing, how many horses could she get?
Seeing Qin’er’s fists already clenched, Jin Feng dared not push his luck further. Holding back laughter, he asked, “How much does Your Highness wish to borrow?”
“Fifty… fifty thousand taels. Would that be acceptable?”
Ninth Princess looked embarrassed.
This was the first time in her life she had asked anyone to lend her money, and she still felt awkward.
“Fifty thousand taels?”
Jin Feng was utterly speechless.
Han Feng had promised the civilians five taels per horse. Danzhu had brought ten thousand cavalry. Even if the civilians took every single horse from the camp, the total would only be fifty thousand taels.
Ninth Princess had been so eager to go collect the horses, yet she did not have a single coin on her.
In truth, Ninth Princess was not that poor; she had simply borrowed a larger sum to be safe.
Since she had to ask anyway, what difference was there between forty thousand and fifty thousand taels?
Seeing that Jin Feng did not agree immediately, she hurriedly promised, “Sir, rest assured. Wuyang can use the tax revenue from my fief as collateral. I will never default!”
“Your Highness, that is not what I meant. There is no need for collateral.”
Jin Feng quickly waved his hand and made up an excuse. “The civilians will only accept ready silver. I was just thinking whether I brought enough.”
“Will it be enough?” Ninth Princess also realised this was a serious problem.
“I have enough in total, but only in banknotes.”
Jin Feng answered with a slight headache.
He had only been finding an excuse to deal with Ninth Princess.
Only after saying it did he realise that, caught up in excitement earlier, he had overlooked the same issue.
He did have tens of thousands of taels in banknotes on him, but when buying horses from civilians they would want hard silver.
Moreover, one civilian might bring two or three horses at most, fifteen taels at the very top. If you handed them a hundred-tael ingot, they would have no way to give change.
So he needed not just ready silver, but a large quantity of small five-tael ingots.
Who carried tens of thousands of taels in loose silver when travelling?
At least Jin Feng did not.
“What shall we do?” Ninth Princess panicked.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. As long as we think hard enough, there is always a way.”
While pacing, Jin Feng unconsciously repeated a motivational phrase from his previous life. His mind raced, searching for a solution.
There was plenty of silver and copper cash in the Xihe Bay storehouses, but sending someone back now would take too long.
The Jinchuan Merchant Association had a branch in Xichuan City, but it certainly would not have that much ready silver either.
What to do?
“If nothing unexpected has happened, the Qing Yuan Army should have already taken the east gate by now,” Ninth Princess suggested. “Sir, why don’t we ask Brother Xinyao for help?”
“Could he produce that much loose silver at once?” Jin Feng asked.
Three years as a pure prefect, one hundred thousand snowflake taels.
Given the current culture of Great Kang officialdom, Jin Feng believed that even if Governor Qing Xinyao was scrupulously honest, he could easily produce several tens of thousands of taels.
The real problem was still the small ingots.
“I don’t know,” Ninth Princess shook her head. “Shall I call Sister Mulan over to ask?”
“Let’s ask.”
Jin Feng could not think of a better idea for the moment and could only pin his hopes on Qing Xinyao.
Ninth Princess had Qin’er summon Qing Mulan and asked, “Sister Mulan, can Brother Xinyao produce fifty thousand taels?”
“Of course!” Qing Mulan nodded without hesitation. “Wuyang, do you need money?”
“Yes,” Ninth Princess nodded. “I don’t want big hundred-tael ingots. I need five-tael small ingots. Does Brother Xinyao have them?”
“Small ingots?” Qing Mulan thought for a moment. “No, I’ve seen the treasury. It’s all large ingots and gold. Not a single small ingot.”
Jin Feng and Ninth Princess both showed disappointment at the same time.
Qing Mulan had no reason to lie to them; if she said there were none, there really were none.
Actually, this was normal.
Apart from someone like Jin Feng who needed large amounts of cash to pay workers’ wages, who kept piles of small silver at home?
Anyone with money would store banknotes and gold ingots.
“Wuyang, why do you need so many small ingots?”
Qing Mulan noticed their expressions and asked curiously.
“I’ll explain later,” Ninth Princess said, then asked again, “Could Brother Xinyao gather that much loose silver?”
“With the whole Xichuan Prefecture, it could certainly be gathered, but it would probably take a few days,” Qing Mulan replied.
“That’s too late,” Ninth Princess could no longer stay calm. She paced in circles. “The civilians have only just escaped the prisoner camp. They won’t wait that long. Some may already have slaughtered the horses for meat.”
The thought of such precious war horses being butchered and eaten made Ninth Princess feel as if her heart were bleeding.
Yet when Jin Feng heard her words, a light suddenly went on in his mind.
“Your Highness, I have an idea!”
