I’m the Farmgirl You Can’t Mess With
Chapter 940 - Chapter 940 Perception

Chapter 940: Perception Chapter 940: Perception Editor: Atlas Studios When Mu Yangling and Qi Haoran followed Fan Zijin out, their faces were expressionless, but they were actually very confused.

They had reached an agreement just like that?

From 50,000 to 20,000?

Even the deposit was reduced from 20,000 to 5,000 taels?

The couple sat upright in the carriage and secretly looked at Fan Zijin’s expression.

Fan Zijin had spoken too much just now.

As soon as he got into the carriage, he picked up the teapot on the low table and gulped down two cups of tea.

Only then did he have the time to lecture Qi Haoran.

Andre had offered 60,000 yuan, but he had only lowered it down to 50,000 yuan.

If not for the fact that he didn’t have 60,000 to begin with, would he actually have agreed immediately?

What a wastrel!

Fan Zijin couldn’t stand Mu Yangling either.

She was the one who didn’t manage Qi Haoran well, only scrimping on small stuff but spending even more freely than Haoran when it came to the big expenditures.

Point in case, she’d so readily bought a string of shops, all dedicated to selling grains.

In his opinion, Mu Yangling wasn’t running their family affairs well.

Hence, in the end, Mu Yangling was also scolded.

The couple looked at each other, and, thinking of the 30,000 taels that had just been saved, silently listened to the lecture.

Fan Zijin lectured the two of them fiercely.

As soon as the carriage arrived at the entrance of the Fan Residence, he shouted for it to stop.

After jumping off the carriage, he said to the duo in the carriage, “You can think of a way to raise the 20,000 taels yourself.

I won’t lend you a single cent.” He glanced at Qi Haoran from the corner of his eyes and asked, “If you don’t have the money, can’t you get the Minister of War to pester the Minister of Revenue?

There’s no reason to keep asking you to pay in advance.

Though Little Bear and the others are still young now, Little Bear will get married in another eight or ten years.

At that time, will you still have any assets?” Fan Zijin left with his hands behind his back after lecturing them.

Mu Yangling also glanced sideways at Qi Haoran and said, “Zijin is right.” Qi Haoran smiled ingratiatingly and said, “I’ll write a memorial and a letter when I get back.

However, the deposit can’t wait.

Give me the 5,000 taels first.” Mu Yangling said readily, “That’s not a problem.

But what if the Ministry of Revenue still doesn’t dispense the funds after the new year?” “If he refuses to, this cannon will belong to our family.

We’ll tear it apart ourselves and study it.

Hmph, when I manage to reconstruct the cannon, I’ll sell it to them and won’t give anyone the blueprints no matter who begs me.” Seeing the seriousness in Qi Haoran’s eyes, Mu Yangling deliberated and said, “But it doesn’t seem like a good idea for a Prince like you to build an arms factory.” Qi Haoran looked at her in disdain.

“Ah Ling, have you forgotten who rules the country now?

I’m now a member of the royal family.

Naturally, the factories for manufacturing firearms have to be under the royal family’s name.

Otherwise, even if I’m the Prince, I can’t use iron ore privately.” Qi Haoran sneered.

“Now that I’m wholeheartedly working for the Imperial Court, I’m willing to put in my own money.

But if they go overboard, at most, our royal family will do it ourselves.

When the time comes, the Ministry of War will still have to buy the cannons from us.

Without Zijin’s help to bargain down the price, the Ministry of Revenue will still have to pay.” “What if the Ministry of War chooses not to purchase cannons?

Wouldn’t we have produced them for nothing?” Qi Haoran looked at her as if she was an idiot.

The grievance he felt from being scolded by Zijin earlier dissipated.

“Zinjin always says that I’m the stupidest.

I think you’re the stupidest one instead.

My big brother, my nephew, and my grandnephew are the current and future rulers of the country.

With their decree, how would they dare not to equip the Ministry of War?” Under Qi Haoran’s disdainful gaze, Mu Yangling suddenly felt that she was so stupid.

She thought about the prospects of a munitions factory and came back to her senses.

She said happily, “That’s not a bad idea.

In that case, why don’t you forgo requesting money from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue altogether?

Don’t you just need money to buy the cannon and do R&D?

I’ll fork out some money and we can ask some from Big Brother.

We can build a royal munitions factory ourselves.” Qi Haoran was silent for a moment before saying earnestly, “Ah Ling, my big brother is first the Emperor and then my royal brother.

We’re doing Big Brother a disservice by doing this.

Haven’t you always been dedicated to the country?

The Ministry of War and Ministry of Revenue have to first be unjust before we can be heartless.

Otherwise, the Imperial Court will definitely fall into chaos when the royal munitions factory is built in the future.” Mu Yangling felt aggrieved.

“Wasn’t it you who said that you wanted to go it alone?” “That’s under the premise that the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue don’t allocate moneyaEUR|” Mu Yangling rolled her eyes and said, “Then apply for a higher amount.

How much money did our family subsidize the Ministry of War and Ministry of Revenue previously?

They haven’t returned it yet.

Also, in the past, because the country had just been founded and the national treasury was empty, it was fine for us and big brother to use our private savings to subsidize it.

Now, we shouldn’t have to subsidize the national treasury anymore.

You should also tell big brother to do the same.

Can’t let the ministers grow accustomed to eyeing the Emperor’s inner treasury all the time.” “As a subject, one should think about doing things for the people and share the burdens of the ruler.

Every time they need money, they just look for my royal brother and Zijin.

Are they working for my royal brother, or are we paying them a salary for nothing?” Mu Yangling was more worried that if Qi Xiuyuan did not make a clear distinction between his inner treasury and the national treasury, the lines might also blur between state affairs and family matters in the future.

It might be fine now since Qi Xiuyuan was thrifty and self-disciplined, but his descendants might not share the same virtues.

Should they be extravagant and deplete the inner treasury, they would surely dip their hands into the national treasury.

At that time, the country could fall into chaos once more.

Hadn’t Great Zhou fallen into chaos because the Emperors of Great Zhou often used the money from the national treasury to build gardens and spend extravagantly?

If the Emperor could only use money from his inner treasury, no matter how extravagant he was, the influence on the commoners would be limited.

However, it was better not to say such things to Qi Haoran, lest the two of them argue again.

Qi Haoran thought about it and also felt that the courtiers had relied too much on the Emperor’s private savings in the past two years.

At night, not only did he write a memorial to the Ministry of War to ask for money, but he also wrote a letter to Qi Xiuyuan, telling him about the purchase of the cannon and relaying Ah Ling’s words.

At the end of the letter, he complained aggrievedly about being broke, and that Zijin didn’t have money to lend them, so he urged him to keep some of the money in his inner treasury for themaEUR| After receiving the letter, Qi Xiuyuan was silent for a long time.

The next day, when he went to court, he first took out the memorial for the request of funds.

Immediately, there was a commotion below.

The Ministry of Revenue complained that they had no money, but the other ministries also took the opportunity to mention the various funds they needed.

The Ministry of Agriculture wanted grains, crops, and farming tools for research.

The Ministry of Works wanted to repair water conservancy facilities.

The Ministry of War asked for funds to pay the soldiers’ military salary and rations.

Even the Ministry of Rites said they needed to prepare for the Winter Solstice offerings to the heavens.

All of those things required money.

However, the Ministry of Revenue only had two words in response: no money!

Everyone looked at Qi Xiuyuan expectantly.

Qi Xiuyuan watched expressionlessly, but his heart felt like it was being gripped tightly by someone.

It was twitching in pain.

In the past, he would definitely ask the Ministry of Revenue to list the supplies, money, and food that each ministry needed.

If there wasn’t enough money in the national treasury, he would use his inner treasury to make up for it.

And where did the money from his inner treasury come from?

Zijin was the one who filled it up.

And where did Zijin’s money come from?

Proceeds from doing business and loans from wealthy merchants.

Right now, Zijin still owed a large sum of money to outsiders.

Even if he no longer needed to fill up the inner treasury, he would not be able to repay the loans in a short period of time.

In the past, he had no choice but to use the inner treasury to replenish the national treasury.

Reason being, he couldn’t have forced the people who could not pay taxes to pay up or further increase the merchant tax rate.

That would only increase the number of refugees in the refugee-plagued Great Qi, and make the country even more chaotic.

Therefore, Qi Xiuyuan could only grit his teeth and make up for the shortfall using his, Haoran and Zijin’s private savings.

For the sake of Great Qi, he had even used his sister-in-law’s dowry.

Yet now that the pressure on the national treasury had eased, these officials were still eyeing his inner treasury!

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