The patriarch considered this with a thoughtful nod. “What has suddenly put this idea in the Emperor’s mind? Has someone been whispering in his ear?”

“He said he has accomplished nothing of consequence. When a person says something like that, anyone with any ambition will want to change it — and with imperial power in his hands, his drive to do so is hardly less than anyone else’s.”

The patriarch gave a slow nod, once again confirming privately that Zhi’er’s sources were far from ordinary. Words spoken by the Emperor were not something an ordinary person would ever come to know.

Hua Zhi, unaware that she had inadvertently revealed something, continued, “A grand canal is not inherently wrong to build. But you know the current situation better than I do, Grandfather. The succession is unsettled — that is a crisis within. The Chaoli Tribe is resurgent — that is a threat without. To begin excavating a grand canal under the pressure of these two dangers would risk dragging Da Qing to its ruin. We in the capital might be the last to perish, but my grandfather and the others are at the frontier. If all able-bodied men are conscripted to dig the canal and the front lines are cut off from reinforcements, the day General Wu fails would be the day those at the frontier suffer first. I’ll also have you know — the Seven Lodges Division has already persuaded the Emperor to issue an early order for conscription. If you keep the purse strings pulled tight as well, there will be no room for the Emperor to openly announce plans for a grand canal under these conditions.”

“So — if refusing him directly is not an option, the better approach is to ensure he never has the opening to bring it up in the first place.” The patriarch smiled, then asked, as if in passing, “Was that idea yours?”

“It came from someone else.” On the long road back from the north, whenever they rested, Yan Xi would speak of such matters. Unlike other men who could not abide a woman having thoughts of her own, he would guide her into sharing her views — and she had naturally been happy to oblige.

The patriarch nodded, then turned to something else. “Has the Ministry of War already been spoken to? I have not heard anything yet.”

“The conscription will likely wait until the south has been pacified first. I only caught a snippet of this — I’m not fully clear on the details.”

The patriarch turned it over in his mind for a moment, then slowly let slip a little of what he knew of the Ministry of Revenue’s affairs. “The national treasury of Da Qing is not, in truth, very well stocked. These past years, natural disasters have been relentless — the court has had to provide relief year after year. And then last year, the Emperor spent lavishly on renovating the imperial retreats, so the treasury is already more than half empty.”

“More than half empty… how much is left, then? Before last year, I had always thought that while Da Qing might not be a golden age of peace and prosperity, it was at least stable. How has it come to this?”

Hua Zhi felt a pang of unease. Internal strife, external threats, a depleted treasury, an aging Emperor with dreams of digging a grand canal, and his habit of eyeing officials’ heads at any moment — no matter how she looked at it, these were the signs of an age of chaos.

“The usable funds at present amount to roughly nine million taels of silver. After the current disaster relief draws from that, the remainder would barely be enough to sustain a single military campaign. Zhi’er, Da Qing is short on funds, and its grain stores are nowhere near as full as they once were.” The patriarch smiled bitterly. This was genuinely not an ideal moment to step into such a position, yet the imperial decree had come, and he had no choice but to accept this scorching burden. If he could have had his way, he would have handed in his seal and been done with it.

Hua Zhi could not quite find the words to describe how she felt. Nine million taels of silver in the national treasury — the entire savings of a country.

“Moreover, this year brings floods in the south and drought in the north, so the harvest will fall short. The Emperor will have to exempt taxes, or the people will not survive. That means the granaries will not be replenished, and the Ministry will have to sell the old grain to purchase new — which amounts to yet another expenditure. Every direction demands money, and there is nowhere it is coming from.”

“Don’t purchase the grain — find a way to get it from the Yan Kingdom instead.” A thought flashed through Hua Zhi’s mind. “The Yan Kingdom dealt Da Qing a blow not long ago. Pressing them on that and using it as leverage to obtain some grain — they would agree to it. Or they might accept a considerably reduced price.”

The patriarch had had his eye on the Yan Kingdom as well, thinking that if all else failed, someone could be sent to purchase grain there — Yan Kingdom was extraordinarily fertile, and grain prices there were correspondingly low. But to get it without spending money was something no one would refuse.

Still, there was the question: “What was the blow they dealt Da Qing? Did they leave any evidence behind?”

Only then did Hua Zhi recall that the matter was still held with the Seven Lodges Division, and so she explained the affair of the small iron mine. “I would need to look into the details — I’ll come and tell you in a few days. As for that old grain, don’t sell it off either. You might as well distribute it as disaster relief, and that way you would not have to spend as much silver, would you?”

“If it is truly as you say and the Seven Lodges Division is overseeing this operation, then yes, it should be workable. I’ll confer with the others and see how we might handle it, then submit a memorial to the Emperor for his instructions.”

The two of them went on discussing the details for a while longer, and then Zhu Haocheng and Zhu Haodong arrived together, their expressions easy and their manner toward each other warm and without tension.

Zhu Haodong smiled and teased her, “I walked in just as I heard the young miss had come. Your reputation is spreading further and further, isn’t it?”

Hua Zhi dipped into a curtsy, then replied, “What sort of reputation is that? Every family has its eldest daughter.”

“Not like this one — no one else has ever made a name for themselves simply from their place in the birth order.” Zhu Haodong did not go sit below his elder brother’s seat but dropped down right next to Hua Zhi.

Zhu Family’s eldest son, Zhu Haocheng, smiled amiably and asked, “How is your father keeping?”

“He has become something of a teacher out there. He has not suffered overly much.” Hua Zhi answered meekly. She treasured this kind of concern that came from family — whether from her grandfather, her grandmother, or her eldest maternal uncle just now, the first thing they all asked about was this. That meant they truly kept the Hua Family close to their hearts.

Since her second maternal uncle Zhu Haodong was here, talk inevitably turned to business matters. “You may not have heard, since you’ve only just returned — the soap has been produced. We had planned to wait for you to look over the goods before putting it out for sale, but since our own household has been using it first, that was certainly fine. We had no idea everyone would rave about it, and then they began sending it to their own relatives, and the Zhou Family did the same — by the time we had gone through all of that, the goods hadn’t even gone on sale yet, but the reputation was already established. Every household is scrambling to get some, and we’re almost out even for our own use. I’ll fetch some for you in a bit — take a look and see whether it meets your standards.”

“If everyone approves of something, it cannot be lacking.”

Zhu Haodong laughed until his eyes curved into slits. “That won’t do — if I don’t let you see it for yourself, I can’t settle my mind.”

“Very well. I’ll take some home, use it, and then report back to you.” Hua Zhi looked at her second uncle, so full of energy and high spirits, and then at her eldest uncle, who appeared to bear no ill will. All at once she understood why her eldest uncle had been so invested in this marriage arrangement, and why her grandfather had expressed such wholehearted approval.

Bolin was the eldest legitimate grandson of the Hua Family. Whatever became of the Hua Family in the future, everything in her hands now would eventually be passed on to Bolin. With that connection in place, even if the second uncle held this business — there was still a thirty-percent share in it that was hers. If the marriage were to come about, then handing things over to Bolin in the future would be no different from handing them over to her cousin.

Of course her second uncle could see the stakes clearly too, which was why he had not grown greedy or overreaching just because he had a large piece of cake in his hands.

Of course, this did not mean the Zhu Family was simply using her. If that were their intent, she would never have brought them into this business at all. For a relationship to be well-maintained, simply receiving was never enough — one had to give as well.

But once this thought settled in her mind, seeing Zhu Shan again left her feeling a touch conflicted. Zhu Shan, for her part, was as affectionate toward her as ever — and more than that, with a hint of shyness about her. It was clear that the Zhu Family’s intentions had been conveyed to her, and she did not object.

Then, thinking about Bolin’s own feelings, Hua Zhi found herself with the beginnings of a headache. It seemed as though she was the only one worrying about whether the two of them genuinely liked each other. Would it really come to this — that she would have to formally settle the match while they were still so young?