So borrowing money from a bank when you don’t have funds on hand was just a passing thought. In ancient times, if you wanted to borrow money, you could only find people who lent private loans. In “The Injustice to Dou E,” Old Lady Cai specialized in this business, and Wang Xifeng had also loaned money privately.

Private loans were essentially high-interest loans, not only unprofitable, but news of the Ye family’s fund shortage would also spread. At that time, it would certainly attract a group of competitors who would “take advantage of your illness to take your life.”

“If I’m just saying if…” she began, “if we don’t count the money that eldest uncle brings back, how much are we still short?”

Ye Chongming said: “If we don’t count the investment for buying loose tea and osmanthus flowers to make osmanthus tea, we’re still short about three thousand taels, which is the money for pre-ordering tea from the garden owners.”

The Ye family’s tea was sold not only to Lin’an City and surrounding counties but also to the capital.

The capital had many wealthy and powerful people and was the main sales location for the Ye family’s high-end tea. For instance, the Ye family’s compressed tea cakes were made and then sold to the capital. So even though Lin’an was the Ye family’s base, the money earned from tea sales still came predominantly from the capital, managed by Ye Hongchang.

Although the Great Jin’s public security was generally good, highway robbery wasn’t unheard of. In those days, some people who lived poorly and liked to take shortcuts in life would organize together. They might normally farm in the countryside or loiter in the city, and when opportunity arose, they would commit a robbery.

Because they weren’t professional bandits, before and after robberies, they hid among ordinary people, and their robberies were random, making it difficult for officials to capture them. Catch one group, and there would be another; they could never catch them all.

Since Ye Hongchang’s business was substantial and he frequently traveled between the capital and Lin’an, the probability of being targeted for robbery was high. At that time, banks didn’t have inter-regional deposit and withdrawal services, so for safety, he usually didn’t bring money home.

In a year, he only made two trips, during Qingming Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, to withdraw money from the bank and hire armed escorts to bring it back.

In the past, Ye Chongming wouldn’t have told Ye Yaming these things. But Ye Yaming’s performance these past few days made him regard her as a more capable family member than Ye Jiaxing. So he explained these earnings in detail to Ye Yaming.

He continued: “Originally, if your Fourth Uncle hadn’t created this hole, the family could have produced this money. But all our savings have been used up.”

Old Lady Ye sat beside them, looking embarrassed.

Before, although Ye Hongrong wasn’t very capable, he hadn’t done anything bad. Therefore, she had indulged him.

But now that Ye Hongrong had caused such a big mess for the family, Old Lady Ye realized she couldn’t indulge him anymore.

Therefore, when Ye Chongming administered family discipline to Ye Hongrong, Old Lady Ye pretended not to know and didn’t protect her youngest son.

Ye Chongming hadn’t originally worried about his eldest son and that sum of money. After all, the capital wasn’t far from Lin’an, and Ye Hongchang traveled this route seven or eight times a year without incident.

But now, Ye Yaming’s questions made him anxious.

Before, no one was targeting the Ye family, but now Meng Chengwei was manipulating things. He had targeted Ye Hongrong, and perhaps Ye Hongchang would also have problems. Even though he had sent armed escorts, against a premeditated attack, it would be hard to guarantee Ye Hongchang’s safety.

Thinking that there were only a few days left until Mid-Autumn Festival, and no matter where they started, they couldn’t gather this money in a short time, he immediately became anxious: “What if that money is lost?”

Ye Yaming thought for a moment: “How much money can we make from selling tea in the tea shops and tea houses?”

Ye Chongming shook his head: “The tea in the tea shops and tea houses now is summer and autumn tea. Even if we sell it all in a few days, we won’t earn much; at most, it would only cover that three thousand taels. It can’t fully compensate for the money your eldest uncle is carrying.”

Moreover, they could sell that batch of tea at a loss, all at once to other tea merchants. But now was the time to pre-order spring tea, and all tea merchants lacked cash. They wouldn’t forgo pre-ordering next year’s spring tea to buy the Ye family’s summer and autumn tea, which not only had low profit but was also difficult to sell.

After all, tea was something only wealthy people were willing to drink. Poor people couldn’t even afford food, how would they spend money on something that “scraped the oil from their stomachs”?

“Grandfather,” Ye Yaming looked at Ye Chongming, “if you used the family’s shops and fields as collateral, and had Great-Uncle act as guarantor, to exchange a sum of money from the bank, do you think Great-Uncle would agree?”

Ye Chongming thought for a moment, then shook his head: “No good.”

Once this news leaked out, those who deposited money in the bank would panic, become concerned about their money remaining in the bank, and cause a run on the bank. Once a bank run occurred, the bank’s reputation would be ruined.

The Mei family’s bank business had been operating for decades and would not risk so much because of the Ye family’s temporary difficulties.

“Then like this, you go talk to Great-Uncle. On one hand, we use our shops and fields as collateral, and let the Mei family lend us money in their name. The amount doesn’t need to be large, just enough to fill the gap for pre-ordering tea from the Tea Revenue Office. If that’s not possible, borrow as much as possible, and for the remaining part, we women can take our jewelry to the pawnshop to cover the shortfall.”

Upon hearing this, Old Lady Ye immediately nodded: “Yes, yes. I still have ten thousand taels from my dowry, and adding Madam Tao’s and my jewelry, pawning them could exchange for a few thousand taels. If my cousin agrees to lend some more, this money will be enough. If he doesn’t agree, with Madam Tao’s dowry money and the jewelry of several daughters-in-law, pooling together should be sufficient. Old Master, you needn’t worry too much.”

Only now did she realize that if her eldest son’s money truly couldn’t be brought back, the family business would face serious problems. She was genuinely worried that the old man would fall ill from anxiety.

But she also knew that the dowry money and jewelry of her daughters-in-law should be left untouched if possible. They were the foundation of these women’s status and also the last resort for the Ye family’s descendants. Even if proposed, most daughters-in-law would likely refuse. And they would create more problems because of this.

The old man was in a predicament, and Ye Yaming was suggesting he borrow from the bank without mentioning this option, which was precisely for this reason.

But regardless of other daughters-in-law, if the Ye family business faced major problems, it was her and Madam Tao’s unshrinkable duty to help the family overcome this crisis with their own money and jewelry.

She was quite elderly now, her sons had all established their careers and families, and her eldest son was about to become a grandfather. She wasn’t afraid that the old man would divorce her, leaving her without support in her remaining years.

And Madam Tao, as the first daughter-in-law of the main branch, would inherit most of the family property for her son in the future. The Ye family’s downfall would do her no good, so she would certainly, and willingly, take on a certain responsibility.