latelenovela Chapter 256 A Fierce Competition to Donate
Chapter 256 A Fierce Competition to Donate
"Let's talk about the grain! We can't come up with that much right now, but the imperial court can't use it all immediately either. We can gather 100,000 to 200,000 dan (a unit of weight) for the court to use first, and then we can slowly transfer the rest from other places!"
Seeing that everyone basically agreed with him, Qi Decai lowered his tone and said!
"That's settled then. Go back and prepare! I'll take out 50,000 dan (a unit of weight) first, and you should all count them. There are other grain merchants besides just our few businesses, and every single one of them must contribute!"
"I have some connections with the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture—no, now I should call him the Prefect of Jingzhao! I also have some acquaintance with Lord Wang. I'll report this matter to him first!"
The group nodded in agreement and went to prepare. Qi Decai also immediately got up to change his clothes, preparing to visit the Prefect of the Capital.
"Oh dear! Manager Qi, please rise quickly!" Upon hearing that Qi Decai had come to donate grain on behalf of the Beijing Grain Merchants, Wang Yanhua hurriedly came out and stepped forward to help Qi Decai, who was about to kneel down.
Wang Yanhua was living in fear after being severely scolded by the Emperor that morning!
As a former Qing official who had surrendered, it wasn't easy for him to get into the position of Prefect of the Capital. He certainly didn't want to be dismissed before he even had a chance to settle in.
"I heard that Manager Qi is here on behalf of the grain merchants in the capital to donate grain. I wonder how much you are going to donate?" Wang Yanhua picked up his teacup, made a swirl in it, and asked while taking a sip.
"Yes, sir! On behalf of the grain merchants in the capital, I am donating 500,000 dan of grain to support the imperial court's disaster relief efforts!" Qi Decai puffed out his chest and said.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Wang Yanhua, who had just taken a sip of tea, was startled and began coughing violently. The clerk beside him quickly stepped forward to pat his chest and back. It took him a while to calm down.
"I'm so sorry! I lost my composure, I lost my composure! Manager Wang, how much did you say you were going to donate?" Wang Yanhua asked, wiping his sweat with a handkerchief.
"My lord! Our grain merchants in the capital are willing to donate 500,000 dan of grain to support the imperial court in providing relief to the people!" Qi Decai had no choice but to repeat himself.
"Good, good! Manager Qi, you're really a lifesaver!" Wang Yanhua excitedly reached out and grabbed Qi Decai's hand.
"Have you prepared the food? Where is it?"
"My lord, my 50,000 dan are ready and can be transported to the granary designated by the court at any time. We will raise another 150,000 dan within three days. The remaining 300,000 dan will be delivered to the court within two months!" Qi Decai nodded and said with certainty.
"Great, great! That's wonderful!" Wang Yanhua stood up, clapped his hands, and shouted excitedly, pacing back and forth.
"Someone, prepare the carriage, I want to go to the palace!" Wang Yanhua shouted loudly!
"Manager Qi, I must go to the palace immediately to report your good deeds to the Prime Minister and the Emperor!" Wang Yanhua composed himself, stroked his beard, and nodded and smiled at Qi Decai.
"Thank you, Your Excellency!" Qi Decai donated so much grain just to get into the court and catch the emperor's eye! Now that Wang Yanhua is willing to report it, he is naturally overjoyed.
"Alright! I'll go into the palace first! Mr. Cao, you immediately take some men and go with Manager Qi to receive the grain!" Wang Yanhua turned to instruct his clerk.
A moment later, the group left the yamen together. Wang Yanhua personally saw Qi Decai and Mr. Cao off before getting into his carriage and heading to the palace.
Wang Kaiyun and others were discussing relief efforts. With Zhou Shunda and his group's more than one million taels, the imperial court was much more relaxed. Unexpectedly, Wang Yanhua brought another piece of good news.
"Haha, Lord Wang is truly a master of education! With so many kind-hearted merchants under your rule, you have solved a great problem for the court this time!" Wang Kaiyun stroked his beard and looked at Wang Yanhua with admiration.
"Your Excellency is too kind! It is all thanks to His Majesty that these merchants have been able to provide so much grain. I was merely acting as an intermediary!"
Receiving praise from the Prime Minister made Wang Yanhua feel much lighter. He had long wanted to get close to this fellow townsman, the Prime Minister. However, he was from Yuzhou in Sichuan, while the Prime Minister was from western Hunan.