Chapter 565: Lacking Money

Editor: Atlas Studios

Because Qi Xiuyuan and Fan Zijin were around, Qi Haoran rarely lacked money. However, it was different now that he had a wife and son. Especially after having a son, Qi Haoran felt that he was completely broke.

There were many things he wanted to give to his son but couldn’t because he did not have enough money. As most of his money was spent on war or compensating the families of the soldiers who had died, he was quite short of money.

However, he could not always reach out and take money from Fan Zijin. At other times, it was fine. But at this moment, Fan Zijin wasn’t that well-off either. He had given all his money to Big Brother to recruit soldiers, buy horses, and buy equipment. Hence, Qi Haoran could only make a little picture book for his son and carve some small animals or something as gifts to save money.

Fei Bai was the one who most strongly sensed Qi Haoran’s thriftiness. This was because he had not been rewarded a single copper coin from his master for more than a year. Not only had the amount of money Qi Haoran had rewarded to his subordinates decreased, but even the silver inside had decreased from five taels to two taels. There were a few times when he had to pay for his master’s deficit from his own pocket. It could be seen how poor Qi Haoran was.

As a poor man, Qi Haoran deeply felt the difficulty of being unable to overcome a big difficulty because of a small obstacle. Hence, he became ‘stingy’. He didn’t have much feelings for Qi Shaosheng and Qi Shaotai since he suffered a lot at their hands when they were young. When he was in Lin’an, he spent most of his time in the Fan residence with Fan Zijin.

Still, he was always bullied by Qi Shaosheng and his brother when he returned home. It was obvious how much he hated them.

Coupled with the fact that he had gone to Xingzhou Prefecture when he was 12 years old, he didn’t have much feelings forthem. Even when Qi Feng died, he only had mixed feelings for a moment and didn’t feel much sadness. He only felt as if half a stone was stuck in his heart. In a few days, that feeling vanished after going to the battlefield a few times.

Now that Qi Feng, the link between the four Qi brothers, was dead, he was even more unwilling to let Qi Shaosheng and Qi Shaotai enjoy the fruits of his and Big Brother’s labor.

They had conquered the country and charged at the front line, but the two of them had always been at the back. Plus, they were neither talented in academics nor martial arts. In addition, Zijin had supported half of the Qi family army’s military salary alone while those two had not paid a single cent.

Just because they shared the same father, they could be conferred the title of king and marquis?

At the thought of the money it would cost, Qi Haoran was extremely opposed to the idea.

Seeing Qi Haoran’s puffed-up face, Qi Xiuyuan couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He patted his shoulder and said, “When you return to the capital, Big Brother will reward you with a few boxes of gold.”

Qi Haoran cheered up. “You’ve got to keep your word.”

Qi Xiuyuan nodded with a smile.

It was impossible for Qi Xiuyuan to keep his word. At the very least, it was impossible for him to reward Qi Haoran with a few boxes of gold in the short term. This was because the national treasury did not have money. Other than antiques, jewelry, and various equipment that could not be easily cashed out, he did not have any gold in his private vault. He had taken out all his gold and silver to support the army, so he did not have any gold.

Looking at the empty treasury, Qi Xiuyuan felt extremely disappointed. He turned to look at the former Minister of Revenue, Zhang Cheng.

Zhang Cheng knelt down in fear and trepidation and said, “Your Majesty, although there’s not much money left in the national treasury, there was still some left before the Second Prince rebelled and ascended the throne. However, they took all the money with them when they left. The national treasury is really broke now.”

Qi Xiuyuan narrowed his eyes at him. Zhang Cheng could only hand over the account book in fear.

Qi Xiuyuan picked up the account book and said after a while, “I haven’t ascended the throne yet. Lord Zhang, just call me General.”

Seeing Qi Xiuyuan’s cold expression, Zhang Cheng immediately stopped flattering him and obediently called out, “General.”

Qi Xiuyuan had entered the city yesterday and was welcomed by the commoners. Instead of staying in the palace, he lived directly in the Qi Residence. The next day, he called the officials of the previous dynasty (Great Zhou) who were still in Lin’an City to Chongzheng Hall, hoping that they could help him.

After the Second Prince rebelled and ascended the throne, there were many officials who went on a strike. After Qi Xiuyuan attacked Lin’an City, he didn’t stay for more than two days before chasing after the Second Prince. Therefore, this country had been in a paralyzed state, and the high-ranking officials of the previous dynasty had been idling at home.

This time, Qi Xiuyuan came back to rebuild the Imperial Court and gradually restore order.

He had occupied more than half of the country, but without officials to manage it, these lands could not be considered a country. They were still like scattered sand.

Having seen how the officials of the previous dynasty behaved, Qi Xiuyuan earnestly asked them to pay attention to the treasury after becoming officials.

Because he could only accomplish as many things with however much money.

Although there were still many officials who did not immediately agree to help, Qi Xiuyuan still went to look at the national treasury in a good mood. He knew that the officials were just being emotional. After sincerely inviting them a few more times, those officials would be willing to be of use for him. He was also happy to become known as someone who cherished talent.

But all good moods evaporated after opening the treasury.

The first thing Qi Haoran looked at was the money bank. The treasury was divided into many types—there was grain, money, goods, and equipment. Also, there was a treasury that specially stored various title deeds and contracts.

There was no money in the vault. Not even a single copper. All the vaults were the same.

The money vaults was also divided into three types. One was specialized in storing copper coins, one was specialized in storing official silver, and the other stored gold.

However, the all three types were empty. The country had no money, and things had yet to stabilize in the country. He thought about how so many people had been displaced by natural disasters and war, and the ongoing chaos. If they wanted to restore things to order, if they wanted the people to stop rebelling and settle down to farm the land, money was an absolute necessity.

How could Qi Xiuyuan not be disappointed when he saw the empty vaults?

Therefore, he could only call the former Minister of Revenue, Zhang Cheng, over. However, Zhang Cheng had stopped attending court ever since the Second Prince rebelled, so he did not know where the money went.

Although he said that, Qi Xiuyuan felt that he knew. He had been the Minister of Revenue for so many years and could be considered Minister Qin’s trusted aide. Even if he didn’t know, he could more or less guess, right?

However, Qi Xiuyuan suppressed the anger in his heart and kept telling himself that this matter could not be rushed.

Though Qi Xiuyuan suppressed his anger in front of Zhang Cheng, when he returned to the Qi Residence, he couldn’t help but kick the table away. The servants in the room knelt down around him. Li Jinghua, who was holding her son’s hand and came over to let the father and son bond, couldn’t help but stop in her tracks.

Seeing that her son was a little frightened, Li Jinghua quickly picked him up and patted his back. After some thought, she carried Little Treasure into the house.

“Master, what’s wrong?” Li Jinghua put Little Treasure down and asked someone to clear up the mess before leaving.

Qi Xiuyuan took a deep breath and suppressed his anger. He shook his head and said, “I’m fine.” When his gaze landed on his son by his feet, his expression softened. Squatting down, he picked up Little Treasure and asked softly, “Have you eaten dinner?”

Little Treasure was actually not that timid. He had been doted on by his mother and aunt since he was young, and he had a bold younger brother to accompany him, so he wasn’t a timid kid. Previously, he was startled because he suddenly heard a loud bang and saw that his father’s face was ashen. Seeing that his father had clearly softened his voice, he gradually became bolder. He lay on his father’s chest and said, “I haven’t eaten. I was waiting for Daddy.”

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