Qing Yao

Chapter 414 Sifu'er's Financing
An Zhangjing was both angry and amused by Zhao An's shady tactics. After a while, he chuckled and said, "Lord Zhao, your scheme is so well-planned that I can hear it all the way in the Military Affairs Office!"

"Hey, so not only are you stingy and unwilling to repay the money, but you're also plotting to squeeze another three million taels out of the Grand Secretary? Tsk tsk tsk, it seems you, Lord Zhao, have gotten all the good things in the world."

To put it another way, you little rascal, you're just dreaming.

"Lord An, how could I possibly be such a person?"

Zhao An chuckled and explained, "I am currently only the acting governor. Without proper authority, I inevitably feel constrained in my actions, and many things cannot be done openly and legitimately. However, if Your Excellency were willing to help me remove the title of acting governor, the situation would be quite different."

He paused, then leaned forward slightly. "Lord An must understand that what a provincial governor can do is far beyond what an acting governor can do."

Take what I did in Anhui, for example. On the surface, it was for the sake of smooth governance, popular support, thriving commerce and industry, and prosperity for all sectors. But in reality, which of these things, if done well, wouldn't bring in a flood of wealth? If I had done them well, I could have not only repaid the interest owed to the Grand Secretary, but I could have even borrowed another three million taels with the interest I was owed.

But if the imperial court were to send another governor to Anhui someday, do you think what I've been doing could continue? A new emperor brings a new court. With a governor above me, it would be difficult for me, the provincial governor, to do anything. And the money I borrowed from the Grand Secretary might not be so easy to say then.

"If Your Excellency helps me in this way, how could I not keep Your Excellency in my heart? And if Your Excellency has any instructions or difficulties, how could I not share your burdens?"

The subtext is: go back and ask your master to remove me from the agency, otherwise don't blame me for being unreasonable if I can't repay the money; it's because I'm unable to repay due to limitations in my authority.

Actually, Heshen could have handled this himself, so why did he need to ask Sifu'er for help?

There was no other reason than that Fu Chang'an was both greedy and stupid, making him easily susceptible to being tricked.

As for Heshen, Zhao An couldn't just fool him like that; he had to actually transfer the tribute to the person's account.

Despite Heshen's high praise for Zhao An when he came earlier, did he ever reveal any practical benefits?
There was no mention of the matter of going from a substitute to a permanent position.

They're probably counting on this to make a quick buck.

If he doesn't send a gift, and you don't send one either, how can the Grand Secretary maintain such a high status?

Without Fu Chang'an, that fool, Zhao An would have had to reluctantly give gifts to Heshen. But since this idiot himself jumped out to disgust people, he naturally had to take advantage of him.

Save money if you can.

Andali frowned slightly, seemingly digesting Zhao An's "fallacies and heresies".

Having served the Fu family for a long time, An Zhangjing had seen his share of corruption and bribery, and the practice of using both white gloves and black gloves was nothing new. But he had never encountered anyone like Zhao An, who demanded an official position but refused to pay money and instead asked to borrow even more.

Upon closer examination, it makes sense.

Fourth Master has already lent this kid a huge sum of two million taels. One million taels would have an annual interest of 150,000 taels, so two million taels would have an annual interest of 300,000 taels.

Anhui is a poor province, with less than a million taels of surplus tax left in the provincial treasury each year. It would certainly be difficult to come up with 300,000 taels to pay interest all at once.

But Zhao Youlu is now vigorously promoting industry and commerce in Anhui, developing many industries and attracting many wealthy people from the south to "invest" there. Trade routes are wealth routes, and the more prosperous the commerce, the more taxes the local area will collect.

With more tax revenue, there will naturally be more money to pay off loan interest.

However, if the court were to "surrender" another governor to Anhui, Zhao Youlu's influence in Anhui would greatly diminish. If the new governor were to disagree with him and secretly hinder Zhao Youlu, preventing him from making any more money, how would he repay the debt to the Fourth Prince?

As for the position of governor, it is said that it is a high-ranking official who is not to be sold, but there are many people who want to be governor, so why should you be the one?

Aside from those ordered by the Emperor, the rest were also privately priced.

Andali knew that Tan Shangzhong, the governor of Yunnan, had spent 280,000 taels of silver to bribe officials in Beijing to secure the position. Of this, Heshen alone took 150,000 taels, his own fourth master took 60,000 taels, and the remaining 70,000 taels were divided among other relevant personnel.

The governor of Shandong, Yi Jiang'a, was a confidant of Heshen, but he spent more than 300,000 taels of silver to obtain the position.

The governor of Yunnan, a remote province, would need 280,000 taels of silver, while Shandong would need over 300,000 taels. Although Anhui is not wealthy, it is an inland province and belongs to the Liangjiang region, so the price should be comparable to Shandong's, definitely 300,000 taels.

So, taking into account the interest of two million taels and the money to buy the governorship, this kid in front of me will need to come up with at least six hundred thousand taels.

The result was that he didn't take a single penny and even had to borrow three million taels from his own fourth master, which was a bit...
wrong?

An Zhangjing suddenly realized a key point in the matter: if the three million taels borrowed were to be charged at an annual interest rate of 1.5%, the kid in front of him would have to pay 450,000 taels in interest per year. Adding the previous two million taels, that would amount to 750,000 taels per year!

This isn't stinginess; it's a huge "gift" disguised as a loan, perfectly circumventing any suspicion of bribery!

He's already the governor of a province, are you afraid he'll renege on his debts?

In official circles, there are distinctions between "refined bribery" and "literary bribery," but this person is engaging in "bribery by borrowing."

At 750,000 taels a year, after ten years the amount would be 7.5 million taels. The principal of 5 million taels remained untouched. With such a sum, one could easily buy a governorship, a viceroyship, or even a Grand Councilor.

However, this interest was still too much compared to the actual income of the Anhui provincial treasury.

"It's all empty talk. Lord Zhao can't even repay the interest on the silver he borrowed before. How can he possibly borrow another three million taels? How much does your Anhui treasury bring in in a year? Even if your provincial treasury income doubles next year, I'm afraid Lord Zhao still won't be able to repay it." Everyone working in the Grand Council's office is shrewd and capable of doing accounting.

Zhao An replied that he had some collateral that Master Fu could consider.

Andari asked curiously, "What kind of collateral?"

"To be honest, Lord An, I have jointly submitted a memorial to the court with the provincial education commissioner, Lord Xu, requesting the establishment of a temporary donation system in Anhui. The memorial should have already reached the Ministry of Justice, but probably hasn't reached the Grand Council due to the closure of the office."

Zhao An meant that as long as Fu Chang'an could help pass the report from Anhui requesting the commencement of donations, the proceeds would be used to prioritize the repayment of interest.

"Based on preliminary estimates, if donations can be initiated, the amount of silver collected will be at least this much."

Zhao An held up three fingers and shook them, clearly indicating that it wasn't 30,000 taels or 300,000 taels, but rather 3 million taels.

This data is based on the Gansu embezzlement case, in which over 16 million taels of silver were embezzled over several years, amounting to over 3 million taels of silver in donations each year.

Anhui is richer than Gansu, and the literary culture is strong in southern Anhui. Selling official titles would easily cost three million taels of silver, not even counting the income from selling low-ranking official positions.

An optimistic estimate is that it could sell for five million taels.

"Thirty percent of the proceeds from the donation will be used specifically to pay the interest on the Grand Secretary's account this year. From now on, I will tighten my belt so as not to trouble the Grand Secretary. Isn't this much safer than forcing me to take money from the empty treasury?"

What Zhao An really wanted to say was that he would only pay his four idiots three years' worth of interest at most. Anyway, the principal was five million taels. Once the White Lotus Sect started causing chaos, even if his four idiots blew up my contacts, he wouldn't care.

"Donation?"

Andari was tempted.

Offering grain donations was an old method used by the imperial court to alleviate financial pressure, but it was also a good opportunity for officials at all levels to line their own pockets. If Zhao Anzhen could really expand his operations in Anhui and promise that 30% of the profits would be used first to repay the interest on the loans made by the Fourth Prince, then there would be absolutely no problem.

"I hope Lord An will put in the effort; I will reward you handsomely once it is done!"

As Zhao An spoke, another silver note appeared on the table, this time with a significantly larger denomination—a note worth three thousand taels.

Two of them would amount to four thousand taels, which is equivalent to ten years of Andali's salary.

"I will go back and inform His Excellency of this matter."

Andali's tone softened considerably, and he tapped his fingers on the table unintentionally, causing two silver notes to slip silently into his sleeve.

"However, Lord Zhao, your idea is indeed a bit far-fetched. I dare not guarantee whether His Excellency will approve it."

No one in the Grand Council can say anything definitively.

Zhao An immediately put on a big smile and clasped his hands in greeting, saying that whether it succeeded or not was none of An Zhangjing's business, and that the four thousand taels should be considered as a token of friendship; if it didn't work out this time, maybe it would next time.

After politely seeing off the debt collectors sent by Fu Laosi, Zhao An's smile gradually faded. He snorted and said, "If Fu Laosi falls for this trap, he'll be spared even if his first round of financing is confiscated."

Given Fu Chang'an's greed and shortsightedness, he was bound to fall into this trap. After all, the four fools would never have dreamed that the Governor of Anhui in the Qing Dynasty would be a traitor.

They might even think that this would completely crush Zhao An.

No one came to visit again that night. The Anhui officials working in Beijing were basically unaware that Zhao An, their hometown official, had arrived in Beijing. Even if they did know, they wouldn't make a special trip to visit him because they had no professional connection with him.

After all, Zhao An, with only a primary school education, was quite an anomaly in the capital.

The next day, I continued to wait for notification at the test center.

The festive atmosphere in the capital was already strong, with firecrackers popping early in the morning and couplets and the character for "happiness" adorning the streets. Wang, the head of the Ministry of Rites, revealed that a grand gala would be held in the palace on New Year's Eve, featuring not only dramas and acrobatics but also performances similar to skits and crosstalk. At the end of the gala, officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Colonial Affairs would read aloud congratulatory messages from vassal states to the old master.

Besides the princes and grandsons of the emperor and the imperial concubines, almost all the princes and ministers in the capital attended the party, making it a very lively event.

This was also one of the New Year's items stipulated by the old master after the twenty-fifth year of Qianlong's reign.

Zhao An estimated that someone would notify him to attend the party tomorrow, but he might not be arranged to meet the old master. After all, with so many people around, the old master wouldn't have the time or inclination to meet a mere acting governor.

While waiting in the afternoon, a tour guide came over and invited him to the inner city, which meant he could walk around the whole city.

This tour guide was none other than Qingyao, a member of the imperial family who had previously followed Zhao An in suppressing the White Lotus Rebellion in Suzhou.

He has now been promoted to the rank of a first-class bodyguard of the third grade and is serving at the Xihua Gate of the Imperial City.

(End of this chapter)