Yuchi Yan was full of confidence and secretly pleased with himself.

He had confined the Grand Emperor to his bedchamber and spent much time each day trying to persuade him to reveal the whereabouts of that enormous sum of money. But the Grand Emperor’s mouth was like a tightly closed clam shell, unwilling to divulge even half a word. When he saw Yuchi Yan, he only showed two expressions: either closing his eyes and pretending to doze, or smiling mockingly.

Yuchi Yan knew well what kind of temperament his father had. His uncooperative behavior showed he was determined to keep that money for private use. So while Yuchi Yan played the emotional card with the Grand Emperor on one hand, he anxiously thought of countermeasures in secret on the other.

After racking his brains for several days, the only solution he could think of was to print more paper money!

Although he knew this method wasn’t a long-term plan and would very likely make Great Yan’s paper money worthless, it could resolve the immediate crisis. He couldn’t worry about much else—even the cleverest person probably wouldn’t have a better solution.

Who would have thought that after Yuchi Yan finished speaking, he didn’t see the expected admiration on the faces of Qin Huaiyuan and Qin Yining.

“Minister Qin? Do you think this method of mine is feasible?”

Qin Huaiyuan pondered for a moment and said: “Your Majesty is wise. This method is indeed a viable approach.”

Qin Yining lowered her eyes, somewhat surprised by her father’s response, but upon reflection she understood.

It seemed Father was well-versed in the way of being a minister. When conversing with the Emperor, the first thing to do was to make the Emperor feel pleased. Only when the Emperor’s mood was good could subsequent advice proceed smoothly.

There was no need to immediately present the solution and make the Emperor feel the gap in their wisdom.

Making the Emperor feel inferior to his ministers was not a good thing.

What Qin Huaiyuan needed to do was guide the Emperor step by step in the right direction, rather than immediately impose his own ideas on the Emperor.

Qin Yining secretly admired her father—there was truly endless experience to learn from him.

Hearing the tactful meaning in Qin Huaiyuan’s words, Yuchi Yan lowered his head somewhat embarrassedly: “I too have racked my brains. Current state affairs are too chaotic, Prince Ning’s injuries are so severe, my thoughts are all in disarray. Minister Qin is resourceful and wise—you must have a good strategy?”

Hearing this, Qin Huaiyuan smiled slightly. Before the Emperor could look up, he quickly glanced at Qin Yining, then immediately lowered his eyes, lightly furrowing his brows as if thinking hard.

What the Emperor saw was only Qin Huaiyuan racking his brains.

After a moment of surprise, Qin Yining immediately understood her father’s meaning.

Father wanted her to speak up.

Though they had never discussed it beforehand, with Father’s wisdom, what she could think of, Father must have thought of too. They were father and daughter, both members of the Qin family. When responding before the Emperor, there should be an order, and they shouldn’t have one person present the good strategy while leaving the other person blocked from speaking because of the brilliance that came before.

Father was cultivating her as if she were a son.

No matter how well or poorly she spoke, Father would be there to support her!

Qin Yining was moved inwardly, but her face also showed a thoughtful expression. Then she smiled bashfully and said softly: “Your Majesty, this subject-woman has thought of a method, though I don’t know if it’s appropriate to speak of it.”

Upon hearing Qin Yining’s gentle, soft voice, Yuchi Yan’s heart was already half melted. He quickly looked toward her, squinting his eyes with a smile as he leaned forward to ask: “Does Xuansu have some brilliant strategy?”

It was already a brilliant strategy before she’d even spoken.

Qin Yining suppressed her discomfort and said with lowered brows and submissive eyes: “Reporting to Your Majesty, this subject-woman feels that printing more paper money is indeed a way to quickly solve the problem, but if we consider the long-term economic stability of Great Yan, it would be better to find a way to make the grain merchants voluntarily hand over their grain.”

Hearing his daughter speak thus, a flash of brilliance appeared in Qin Huaiyuan’s lowered eyes, and an approving smile bloomed at the corners of his lips.

Yuchi Yan’s interest was already piqued by Qin Yining. “Oh? Tell me, how do we make the grain merchants voluntarily hand over their silver?”

Qin Yining smiled: “Your Majesty, among scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants rank last. Though merchants have silver, their status is lower than even poor farmers, not to mention the unwillingness wealthy merchants feel when their status is inferior to that of poor scholars despite their wealth. Your Majesty, this point—could it be utilized?”

Qin Yining was learning Qin Huaiyuan’s gradual approach, not directly presenting the solution to avoid being the one who sticks out, but instead guiding Yuchi Yan to think for himself.

Seeing her such cleverness, the smile at the corners of Qin Huaiyuan’s lips deepened considerably.

Yuchi Yan frowned and murmured: “Utilize the merchants’ status? Merchants naturally hope to improve their status. Who, with large amounts of silver in hand, would be willing to humble themselves outside… You’re saying they would hand over grain to improve their own status?”

Seeing that Yuchi Yan hadn’t caught on, Qin Yining could only continue guiding: “Yes. Your Majesty, think about it—if Your Majesty clearly stated that you would give them an opportunity to improve their status, wouldn’t they compete desperately to participate?”

Yuchi Yan immediately nodded: “They would naturally be willing.”

Qin Yining then said: “Therefore, this subject-woman thinks Your Majesty might as well clearly price some idle positions without real power, and stipulate that the transactions cannot use gold or silver—only grain will be accepted. I believe that in this way, not only the grain merchants in the capital, but merchants from all over would try every means to exchange gold and silver for grain to buy official positions—this would be a great opportunity to change their social standing. In this way, there’s no need to worry about chaos after printing more paper money. You’d only need to properly manage these officials who have idle positions without real power.”

“Wonderful! Wonderful!” Yuchi Yan clapped his hands excitedly. “Xuansu, this method is excellent! This way, the future troubles of printing more paper money won’t exist—I need only focus on managing these people!” He looked toward Qin Huaiyuan again. “Minister Qin, what do you think?”

“Your subject thinks this method is excellent. I have one additional point: rather than clearly pricing idle positions, it would be better for Your Majesty to set different minimum prices for idle positions of different ranks, and let the merchants bid competitively, with the highest bidder winning. This way everyone gets what they need—merchants donate grain willingly, and the court can obtain more grain.”

Yuchi Yan nodded repeatedly: “Excellent, excellent! Minister Qin truly lives up to his reputation as the ‘Wise Pan An’!”

When Qin Yining looked at her father, her eyes sparkled with admiration. Father was still the most capable—it turned out Father had thought of the solution long ago.

Qin Huaiyuan smiled at his beloved daughter, then added: “Moreover, this approach has another additional benefit.”

“What benefit?” Yuchi Yan stood up excitedly.

Qin Huaiyuan smiled: “Previously, merchants were commoners. To put it bluntly, they only worried about their own family’s interests and only cared whether their property would be robbed. They wouldn’t consider the nation’s interests too much. Frankly speaking, whoever ruled the country didn’t matter much to them. But once these merchants become officials, they’re no longer commoners. Whether the court is stable directly relates to whether they can continue holding their positions and whether their status can be guaranteed. So once this method is implemented, there will be a large number of very wealthy people standing on the side of shared interests with the court.”

Hearing this, Yuchi Yan was stunned. After thinking for a long while, he said with sudden realization: “This way, they would naturally care about whether the capital can be defended and whether Great Yan can be preserved? If war breaks out and silver is needed, they would also voluntarily donate money without me having to appeal to their sense of righteousness?”

Qin Huaiyuan smiled and bowed: “Your Majesty is wise.”