Old Master Zhu nodded thoughtfully. "Why has His Majesty suddenly conceived such an idea? Has someone been whispering slanderous words?"
"When a person claims they have achieved nothing, anyone with capability would seek to change that situation. The Emperor holds imperial power—how could his determination be any less than an ordinary person's?"
The old master nodded, once again confirming in his heart that Zhi Er's sources of information were extraordinary. Ordinary people wouldn't know the Emperor's private remarks.
Hua Zhi remained unaware that she had inadvertently revealed something, and continued: "It's not that the Grand Canal cannot be built, but you understand the current situation better than I do. The absence of an established Crown Prince represents internal strife, while the resurgence of the Chao Li Tribe poses an external threat. To undertake the Grand Canal project amidst such internal and external troubles—if mishandled, the Great Qing Dynasty could be dragged to its ruin. We in the capital may be the last to perish, but my grandfather and others are at the frontier. If all able-bodied men are conscripted for the canal construction, the frontline will lose reinforcements. Should Wu Yong be defeated, my grandfather and his men would be the first to suffer. For your information, the Seven Constellation Bureau has already persuaded the Emperor to issue an order for early conscription. If you keep the purse strings tight and deny the Emperor any opportunity, he cannot openly propose building the Grand Canal under these circumstances."
"So if the request cannot be refused once made, simply prevent it from being made—is that it?" The old master smiled, casually asking, "Was this your idea?"
"Someone else's." During their journey back from the northern territories, Yan Xi would discuss these matters during rest stops. Unlike other men who couldn't tolerate women having independent thoughts, he would guide her to express her opinions, and she naturally wouldn't disregard his intentions.
The old master nodded and changed the subject: "Has the Ministry of War been notified? I haven't heard any news yet."
"Conscription will likely wait until the southern regions are pacified. I only caught wind of it and don't know the details."
The old master pondered for a moment before slowly revealing some Ministry of Revenue affairs: "The Great Qing Dynasty's national treasury is actually not well-off. With frequent natural disasters in recent years and annual government relief, plus the Emperor's costly renovation of the imperial palaces last year, the treasury is more than half depleted."
"More than half depleted... How much remains? Before last year, I thought the Great Qing Dynasty, if not in a golden age, was at least stable. How did the treasury become so depleted?" Hua Zhi grew anxious. Internal strife, external threats, an empty treasury, an old emperor wanting to build the Grand Canal, while constantly eyeing officials' heads... This looked like all the signs of turbulent times!
"The currently available funds are around nine million taels. Part of this must be allocated for disaster relief. This amount is barely enough to sustain one military campaign. Zhi Er, the Great Qing Dynasty lacks money, and grain reserves are far from what they used to be." The old master smiled bitterly. This was indeed not an ideal time to assume high office, but with the imperial decree issued, he had to take on this hot potato. If possible, he'd rather resign altogether.
Hua Zhi didn't know how to describe her feelings. The national treasury only had nine million taels—this was a country's savings!
"Moreover, with southern floods and northern droughts causing poor harvests this year, the Emperor must exempt taxes for the people to survive. This means granaries cannot be replenished. The Ministry of Revenue needs to sell old grain to buy new, which requires additional expenditure. Money is needed everywhere, but there are no sources of revenue.""Instead of buying grain, find a way to obtain it from Flame Country." Hua Zhi had a sudden inspiration. "Flame Country previously schemed against Daqing—we can use that as leverage to exchange for their grain, or get it at a relatively low price."
The old master had also considered Flame Country, thinking that if all else failed, he could send people to purchase grain there. The country had extremely high grain production, making grain prices correspondingly low. But if they could get it without spending money, who wouldn't want that?
However, "How did they scheme against Daqing? What evidence did they leave?"
Only then did Hua Zhi remember this matter was being handled by the Seven Constellation Bureau, so she explained about the small iron mine. "I still need to ask about the specific details. I'll come back in a few days to tell you. Also, don't sell that old grain—just use it for disaster relief instead. Wouldn't that reduce our expenses?"
"If it's truly as you say and the Seven Constellation Bureau is overseeing this, it should be feasible. I'll discuss with others about how to handle it and then submit a memorial to the Emperor for instructions."
The grandfather and granddaughter continued discussing the matter in detail when Zhu Haocheng and Zhu Haodong arrived together, their expressions showing they were getting along quite well.
Zhu Haodong joked with a smile, "The moment we entered, we heard that the Eldest Young Lady had arrived. Your reputation as the Eldest Young Lady is spreading far and wide."
Hua Zhi curtsied in greeting and replied, "What kind of reputation is that? Every family has an eldest young lady."
"Different, completely different. Besides you, no one else could make a mere birth order become so renowned." Instead of sitting below his elder brother, Zhu Haodong directly took a seat beside Zhi Er.
The eldest Zhu brother, Zhu Haocheng, asked with a smile, "How is your father doing?"
"He's become a teacher there and hasn't suffered too much hardship." Hua Zhi answered obediently. She appreciated this kind of concern among relatives—whether from her grandfather, grandmother, or now her uncle, their first concern was always about family. This showed they truly cared about the Hua family.
Since Uncle Zhu had arrived, they inevitably began discussing business matters. "You just returned so you might not know—the soap has been successfully made. We originally planned to wait for your return to inspect the goods before selling, but there's no harm in our own family using it first. Unexpectedly, everyone in the family said it was good and started giving it to their relatives. Combined with the Zhou family having the same situation, before we even started selling, our reputation had already spread. Now every household is rushing to get some, to the point where we don't even have many bars left in our own home. I'll fetch some for you later so you can see if it meets standards."
"If everyone approves of it, it can't be bad."
Zhu Haodong smiled until his eyes narrowed. "That won't do. I won't feel assured until you've seen it."
"Alright then, I'll take it back to use and then let you know." Hua Zhi looked at her confident second uncle, then at her seemingly unresentful eldest uncle, and suddenly understood why her eldest uncle was so enthusiastic about this marriage arrangement, and why her grandfather strongly approved.
Berlin was the Hua family's eldest legitimate grandson. No matter what happened to the Hua family in the future, everything she currently held would eventually be passed to Berlin. With this relationship, what did it matter if her second uncle managed this business? She still had her thirty percent profit share. If this marriage could be arranged, what difference would it make whether it was passed to Berlin or to her cousin in the future?
Her second uncle certainly understood the stakes clearly too, which was why he hadn't become overly ambitious despite holding such a lucrative business.Of course, this didn't necessarily mean the Zhu Family was merely using her. Had they harbored such intentions, she would never have offered them this business opportunity in the first place. To maintain a good relationship, mere acceptance was far from sufficient—one must also give in return.
Yet with this thought planted in her mind, Hua Zhi's feelings became somewhat complicated whenever she saw Zhu Shan. Zhu Shan, however, remained as affectionate as ever toward her, even carrying a hint of shyness—clearly already aware of her family's intentions and not opposed to them.
Recalling Berlin's attitude made Hua Zhi's head ache slightly. Why did it seem like she was the only one concerned about whether the two actually liked each other? Could they really be considering arranging a marriage while they were still so young?
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