Chapter 156: The Man, Duan JinjiangChapter 1268: It's All a Show

"I, Cao Kun, a commoner, am deeply grateful for your Majesty's kindness. I am willing to donate 80,000 taels of silver to meet the needs of the court."

"I, Jin Wannian, am deeply grateful to Your Highness and Her Majesty for your compassion. I wish to donate 80,000 taels of silver to support the needs of the imperial court."

"A commoner... wishes to donate 50,000 taels..."

"A commoner... wishes to donate 60,000 taels..."

Seeing this group of wealthy people compete to donate money, all I could hear were figures starting with tens of thousands. The highest was Nangong Shouchong's donation of 100,000, and the lowest wasn't less than 50,000.

But in just a short while, the amount pledged had already reached over 500,000 taels.

In this era of ordinary families with an annual income of only five taels of silver, 500,000 taels represents the entire annual income of ten thousand households.

It can feed ten thousand families and keep them warm and clothed for a whole year.

Even Su Jinping, who had never cared much for money, felt a sense of seeing a flock of fat sheep before her eyes at this moment.

She knew these merchants were wealthy, but she had no idea they were this rich.

No wonder the prince wanted to dig a big pit to bury them, they were truly fat with oil and it was hard not to be envious.

Su Jinpa felt like she understood Li Chen a little bit.

There were only a dozen or so people in total, so even though everyone was very enthusiastic and the donations continued for a while, they eventually all generously contributed what they could.

"When the last person had finished stating their donation amount, Su Jinpa smiled slightly and said: 'Your sincere patriotism not only comforts me, but I believe that if Prince [The Crown Prince] were to know, he would be very pleased as well.'"

This made everyone very happy.

Why spend lavishly

Isn't that just to be able to safely get through this checkpoint

If I could make a good impression in front of the Crown Prince, that would be even better.

Compared to this, tens of thousands of taels of silver are nothing at all.

Su Jinhua looked deeply at Nangong Shouzhong when she said this.

Her original plan was to give them some good news first, then guide them into investing so she could take control and have better leverage over the numbers.

Given the current situation, these merchants have already contributed funds. Asking them for more seems greedy and unbecoming of an Eastern Palace's dignity.

All of these changes are because of the man standing before us, Nangong Shouzhong.

"That's interesting."

In the side hall, Li Chen leaned against the soft couch, took a sip of tea, and said with a smile.

At this moment, every sight within the main hall was relayed to Li Chen in detail by a few clever and agile palace maids.

Although unseen, these maids do possess a certain skill. They paint a vivid picture of the scene, yet refuse to alter reality itself.

< "Bring me some paper and pen.">

Li Chen raised his hand.

Xiao Wa Zi immediately came forward holding a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

Li Chen picked up a piece of paper and wrote a short note, then said to Xiaogongzi, "Go, give this to Xu Changqing."

Xiaozi respectfully followed, just about to leave when Li Chen called out, "Wait."

Xiao Wa zipped around, turning to face the person. He bowed slightly, standing still.

Li Chen turned his head and casually picked up an ordinary cup from the table, then handed it to Xiaozi and said, "Take this and give it to Xu Changqing together."

Xiaoguozi doesn't understand what this means, it's normal for someone to pass a note if they want to reprimand.

What's the deal with sending a plain old mug along with a little note

But Xiaozi didn't show any confusion on his face at all. After taking the cup with both hands, he respectfully replied and then turned to leave. people to get on and go home.Zhang Biwu suddenly sighed and said, "In the past, Zhao's house had its threshold replaced every two or three years because so many people came and went that it was worn...