After a proper night’s rest, Xiao Liu had recovered his color. Early in the morning, Hua Zhi brought him along to the vegetarian restaurant.

As usual, Lady Sun arrived earliest. The look she directed at Hua Zhi was unusually complex. Hua Zhi, knowing herself to be in the wrong, acknowledged her fault the moment they met.

“It is not your fault.” The remarkably young-looking Lady Sun let out a long sigh. “I always knew he could not escape this. We have made some preparations over the years, but what I could never have anticipated was that it would come about in this manner, and that the Hua Family would be bound up in it as well. After all these years, the Hua Family has never once taken a side.”

“Before now, the Hua Family never needed to.”

And was that not exactly right — Lady Sun’s smile was rueful. The Hua Family had always only needed to follow wherever the Emperor led. If anything, one could say Xiao Liu had gotten rather the better end of this deal. The Hua Family may have fallen, but their influence was still intact.

“A few days ago I received a letter from my lord. He entrusted me to ask — regarding the cured meat and fried flour for supply to the army, does the young lady have any plans in place? He also asked whether there is anything else of that kind.”

Both of them were sharp-minded people. One did not ask why these things had come through General Sun’s hands, the other offered no superfluous explanation — yet both understood perfectly well what it was all about.

Hua Zhi considered for a moment. “I had thought of it too simply before. On reflection, these things are not suitable for the Hua Family to handle. Better to hand them directly to the Ministry of Finance to manage as military provisions. My maternal grandfather will be here today — we can discuss it all together.”

Lady Sun gave her a long, penetrating look and raised no objection. Her sources were good, and she had learned something from her grandson as well — she knew that Hua Zhi was not the sort to let herself be taken advantage of. Before their meeting, she had still been worried that resentment might cloud her judgment and lead her to act rashly on impulse. Now it seemed she had underestimated her. The resentment was surely there — but she knew where priorities lay.

Duke of Annan and Zhu Bowen arrived together. For an occasion like this, Yanxi could not come, so Hua Zhi had borrowed several of his men and, seeing everyone had arrived, gestured for them to keep a close watch to guard against ears at the wall.

The Duke of Annan had of course already learned that Hua Zhi had become the Emperor’s financial instrument. Yet at this moment, no one said anything first.

Hua Zhi swept her gaze around the room, let her thoughts turn briefly, and opened by speaking first about the matter of the cured meat and fried flour.

Zhu Bowen did not simply agree just because the proposal had come from Hua Zhi. He weighed it carefully, then said: “Full supply for the entire army is likely not feasible. Meat is far too costly — it simply cannot be sustained.”

“That is the very definition of wanting the ox to run without letting the ox eat its fill. Soldiers stake their lives in battle yet cannot even get a piece of meat — where will they find the strength to fight for their lives? Never mind the Chaoli tribe, renowned for their ferocity — even the steppe clans are each and every one stronger than Great Qing’s soldiers. Why? Because meat is their staple food.”

Having said that, Hua Zhi immediately realized she had spoken too boldly, and hurriedly rose to apologize to her maternal grandfather.

“These are facts,” said Zhu Bowen, waving a hand to indicate she should sit. He said nothing of the state treasury being empty.

Lady Sun’s family was a military household, and she knew better than anyone how hard the lives of the border soldiers were. She was wholly in favor of everything Hua Zhi had said, and the look she directed at her became considerably warmer — hoping she would say something even more practical.

Yet Hua Zhi could speak no further. Had there been no pressure from the canal excavation project, she might have had more to say. But as things stood, she had not a shred of energy to spare for anything else. And even if she had a solution, it would never get past the Emperor. He was hardly going to cut military expenditures, let alone be persuaded to allocate silver to improve soldiers’ rations — dream on.

Thinking of that man, Hua Zhi pushed the proposal document toward Lady Sun, who was nearest to her. Salt, once produced, needed to be transported everywhere — she had brought up both water transport and land transport together, attempting to combine the two matters into one.

There was a good deal of text. Passing it around and reading in turns would take quite some time.

Lady Sun, the first to finish, bowed her head in deep thought. Only after reading this did she understand why the Sun Family had been included. It was a good matter — a very good matter. Hardly any military general would oppose it. But speaking of the other side — to cut flesh from so many people and let their blood, that was going to be difficult.

Then came the Duke of Annan. The look he directed at Hua Zhi was one of incomprehensible complexity.

His grandson — who had not set foot in his household for a long time — had suddenly come to find him the previous evening. Revealing his relationship with Hua Zhi had been one thing, but more to the point, he had made his position unmistakably clear and stood to her side. From the way he spoke, it was evident his involvement in this matter ran quite deep. Yet it was only now, actually seeing this document, that the Duke understood just how large the affair truly was.

If this could be accomplished, there was no need to say more — the Lu Family would become the greatest winners. The temptation was simply too great.

When he saw Zhu Bowen turn over the last page, the Duke of Annan could not hold back and was the first to speak. “Is the salt output truly that high?”

“It is — and this is my conservative estimate. As the salt workers gain more experience, output will continue to increase. Xuzhou’s geography is also very well-suited to building salt fields. Once the Qingzhou salt works are established, additional salt fields can be built in Xuzhou.”

Even the Duke of Annan, composed as he usually was, felt a flush of excitement. Xuzhou was the Lu Family’s stronghold — if Qingzhou could still be considered to leave room for others, no one would dare reach their hand into Xuzhou.

Hua Zhi continued: “My thinking is that the Lu Family should first play a supporting role in Qingzhou — help others in their endeavors — lest people say their appetite is too obvious. Moreover, illicit salt, though difficult to prohibit entirely, must absolutely not come from the Lu Family. Duke of Annan, you would do well to be clear on this in your own mind. Otherwise, the one made to look difficult may not be you alone.”

The Duke of Annan steadied himself and nodded. “In this matter, my Lu Family will cooperate with full commitment.”

With the Lu Family having stated their position, Lady Sun followed: “Young Lady, please do not take offense — I must first ask clearly. Can we truly make use of soldiers who have retired from the army due to injuries? Even those who retired many years ago?”

“Yes.” Hua Zhi’s aim was to establish a system of checks and balances — the transport lines were to be placed in the hands of military officials, to mutually restrain the newly established Seventh Bureau. The natural antipathy between civil and military officials would keep them watching each other warily, making it far less easy for anyone to play tricks.

“If it can truly be done this way, not only will my Sun Family give its full support — the other military noble households will surely lend their strength as well.” Lady Sun gave a solemn pledge. Military officers were not a monolithic bloc, but most of those who had ever led troops in the field would hold some care for their soldiers. Every time after a battle, they joined forces to press the Ministry of Finance for a few more allowances for the wounded and disabled — men who might otherwise oppose each other would unite on this front. If there could be a path like this for those soldiers, those fighting at the front would have one less thing to worry about.

The parties settled on the broad direction of these two matters, made a rough division of which areas each would push on, and left the subsequent private negotiations and court maneuvering to unfold from there — none of which had anything further to do with Hua Zhi.

When the meeting was winding down and everyone was preparing to take their leave, Hua Zhi said suddenly: “The transport matter under military officials — have that credited to Xiao Liu… to the Sixth Imperial Highness.”

Everyone immediately understood. Hua Zhi wanted to build goodwill for the Sixth Prince among the military households. This was not at all out of place — he was already General Sun’s grandson by blood, which gave him a natural advantage by virtue of his identity.

“Hua Jiejie…”

“The Duke of Annan has no need of it. Maternal Grandfather, you are a civil official — you cannot go to stand in opposition to the civil officials. The Sun Family has even less need of it. As for me…” Hua Zhi smiled lightly. “Do you all think the Emperor would give me credit for this? It would be a shame to let it go to waste.”

Zhu Bowen stroked his beard. “It is indeed the Sixth Imperial Highness’s credit. How could it go to waste?”

The Duke of Annan smiled. “Unarguably so. It is the Sixth Imperial Highness’s credit, and it is right that he should receive it.”

Lady Sun gave a deep bow to the two men. Xiao Liu did the same, and then gave Hua Zhi a deep bow as well.

He was keeping account of it all — each and every bit.