Jiang Kangchen also ate a full bowl of rice. Guo Ziyu served five tea eggs to him and he ate them all, just like the spicy cabbage. After becoming full, Jiang Kangchen did not immediately take his son back to his room to rest, but asked Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing to the side, wanting to say something to them.

Four grown men and one child went to the guest room where Jiang Kangchen would live. Jiang Kangchen opened the slightly smaller wooden box he brought, making Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing immediately stunned. Shao Yunan only felt the light flashing before his eyes.

Jiang Kangchen then spoke to Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing. “I sold all the tea, wine, chrysanthemum tea, and golden silk royal chrysanthemum that I brought to the capital. According to the 30% profit share, plus your costs, it comes to a total of 39,800 taels. Here are 3,500 taels of gold and 4,800 taels of silver. The jewels and jade are from the Empress. There is also silk. I will ask the servants to bring it in tomorrow. The reward should have been issued by decree, but the Empress did not want too many people to notice you two for the time being, so he asked me to bring it privately. The account book is here.”

After he finished talking, Jiang Kangchen handed the account book to Shao Yunan. “The emperor and the Empress hope that the two of you can make more tea and brew more wine in the coming year. The special tea is 3,000 taels of silver a pound and there is still a waiting list. Not to mention the cheaper second-class and third-class tea, the golden silk chrysanthemum goes for 20 taels. The Emperor and the Empress did not expect it to be so popular, so they are very anxious.” With his heart thumping, Shao Yunan nodded. The box of gold and silver contained a thousand taels of silver and gold. That could make a modern person like him dizzy.

“There will be more this year. I also found out that there is a special kind of black tea here, which tastes even better. We are just waiting for the good season to pick it. I will put all my efforts on brewing and tea making this year, so the quality will be even better than before. Even if someone else learns this tea making and brewing craft later, our tea and wine still will be the best of the best. So there is no need to worry about not selling it for a good price.”

Jiang Kangchen, “The emperor and the Empress mean to sell it again after a year. A tea exchange meeting will be held again in a year. The Emperor also does not want the new tea making skill to spread prematurely, so he asks you to hide it for now.”

“Yes, in this way we can also catch the appetite of more people. The recipe for brewing and tea making are all here, so no one can steal them.” Shao Yunan pointed at his own head.

Shao Yunan took the account book without opening it and with a turn of his hand he handed it back to Jiang Kangchen, saying, “Brother Kangchen, there is no need to show me the account book in the future. It is our good fortune that brother Jiang and I can do something for the Emperor and Empress. Whether the money is more or less, it’s really irrelevant.”

Then, Shao Yunan took out 48 gold ingots, 4,800 taels of silver in total, and then took out ten large eastern pearls, a string of red coral, and a pair of superb jade bracelets that the Empress had rewarded, with both hands and put it on the lid on the box and said to Jiang Kangchen… “This gold, I donate to General Dai Xiaojun in Shijing’s name.”

“Yunan?!”  Jiang Kangning exclaimed. Jiang Kangchen’s mouth opened slightly in surprise and even Wang Shijing froze. Shao Yunan held Wang Shijing’s hand, turned his head, and smiled at Wang Shijing. He then said to Jiang Kangning and Jiang Kangchen, “Shijing has been in the army for three years, serving under the junior General. Shijing mentioned to me many times that the General loved his soldiers like sons, but since the court could not pay the military pay, the General shared his own pay with the soldiers, leading them to find alternative ways to get military pay.”

“Although Shijing has already retired from the army, he has still been thinking about this all the time. The court has no money now, so the soldiers’ salaries are not something that can be solved in a short time. This 3,500 gold as military pay, divided for each person will not be much, but it can still cover Shijing and my feelings. Shijing said that General Dai is still at the border, so this money will be given to General Dai and the soldiers at the border to buy some good food, meat, and clothes, so they will not be cold. This can also be considered doing our little bit.”

Wang Shijing pulled out his hand that was held by his wife and hugged his wife tightly. While Jiang Kangning and Jiang Kangchen both looked moved as Shao Yunan continued. “The state should take from the people and use it for the people. We ordinary people who earn money with the support of the state, should also return some of it to the country. All I can do is just some business, but the officers and soldiers at the border are the guarantee for the peace of our country and for the people to live in peace.”

Jiang Kangning was touched. “Yunan, Shijing, you two are very righteous!” Jiang Kangchen followed closely. “This time all the profits I made will also be donated to the generals at the border!”

Shao Yunan hurriedly said, “Brother Kangchen, don’t be like this. Shijing and I don’t need much money to spend here in Xiushui Village, but you are different. You need to spend money everywhere in the capital. Big Brother also needs money to spend here. Since he is a righteous official, he certainly will not take bribes or embezzle funds. Brother Kangchen should save some money for eldest brother. If you really want to do this, you might as well discuss it with the Empress when you return to the capital. Every year, you can share some of the profits from your business to set up a ‘rescue fund’ to be managed by the Empress.”

“This fund can also attract donations from others, while money could be used to help orphans, support disabled soldiers, or compensate the families of fallen soldiers, etc. Helping the people in need. Which could become more than just one time private donation. I donated money this time mainly because Shijing was concerned, but also because general Dai was kind to Wang Shijing so it could be considered a repayment from Shijing to General Dai.”

“That’s very good!” Jiang Kangning immediately said. “We can’t all donate money to general Dai. We don’t know who will benefit from donating it as a private person. But if this ‘relief fund’ was directly managed by the Empress, avoiding the Ministry of Military Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, it could really be used for the people who need it most.”

Jiang Kangchen nodded. “Good. Then Kangning will write it down so when I return to the capital, I will be able to give it to the Empress.”

“No, Big Brother. This memorial has to be written by you.” Jiang Kangning said. “After all, I am an official of the court, so it is not good for me to directly present the memorial to the Empress.”

Shao Yunan also said, “This proposal is most appropriate for Big Brother Kangchen to give to the Empress. If Big Brother skipped the Emperor and went directly to the Empress, it might only cause people to gossip.”

Jiang Kangchen’s heart suddenly ignited with a sense of pride. “Good! I’ll write it!” Jiang Kangning gently nudged Shao Yunan’s head. “How come you have so many good ideas here?”

“Because I have Big Brother as my backer, I can think recklessly without worry.”

“Huh…” Jiang Kangchen looked at Shao Yunan, his heart having even more hope. What surprises will the little brother, who is full of mystery, bring him and Kangning in the future? Jiang Kangchen was looking forward to it.

Jiang Kangchen accepted the donations from Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing. When he returned to the capital, he would hand over the 3,500 taels of gold together with the ‘relief fund’ to the Empress to manage. But for his period of stay, he wanted to discuss this ‘fund’ with Shao Yunan in detail. After all this ‘fund’ was something totally unheard of.

=====================================================================

He donated 3500 taels of gold, equivalent to 35,000 taels of silver, but Shao Yunan was not distressed at all. Wang Shijing was very silent on their way back, so when the two of them were finally alone in their room, Shao Yunan turned to Wang Shijing and asked, “Shijing, are you distressed?”

Wang Shijing hugged Shao Yunan. “Wife, thank you.” He never thought that Shao Yunan would do this. It was more than 30,000 taels of silver, not 300 taels!  Shao Yunan just wrapped his arms around Wang Shijing’s waist. “That General Dai is a good person. He let you come back after you were injured. You are grateful to him too, right?”

“Hmm!”

==========

“The deputy general is not greedy for merit, and is also good for his soldiers. Now that you have money, you should do what you can. I know you still feel some heartache, so I made the decision for you. I didn’t discuss it with you because I wanted to surprise you.

“You made the right decision, The soldiers at the border are really suffering. They don’t have enough to eat, they don’t have warm clothes to wear and are in danger of dying at any time. The food that the deputy general eats have only a few pieces of meat more than us. .  These three thousand taels of gold can buy a lot of quilts, a lot of pigs and sheep, and a lot of food and feed. If the soldiers can eat well, when the time of killing enemies come – thy will have better chances to survive.”

Shao Yunan stroked Wang Shijing’s taut back: “When the court has money, the living conditions of the generals will gradually become better. In the future, our family can still donate money and goods to General Dai in the name of private individuals. In the future, when our family earns more money, we can not only donate money to General Dai, but also donate money to the ‘relief fund’.  Our family has a small population so doing more charity is a good thing for our family to accumulate virtue and blessings, when Qing and Nizi grow up, we also need to teach them how to give back to society and the country. I’m willing to donate money in name of our family because we don’t have a relationship with General Dai’s family, but if anything happens to our family in the future, with General Dai’s character, he won’t leave us alone, right?”

“I will just listen to my wife.”

 In ancient society, the more backing you have the better even if they were just simple farming families now. Shao Yunan was also a modern man so he did not want to be tied up and burned to death in the future so it was better to plan ahead and find few thick thighs to hug.

Wang Shijing bent down and hugged his wife as he walked towards the big bed. Shao Yunan looked at Wang Shijing with a smile, and lightly touched his left eye: “I can’t stay in the bed to long tomorrow.”

Putting Shao Yunan on the bed Wang Shijing spoke: “I will just kiss, I will not do that.”

“I don’t believe you.”

” Seriously.”

“Lie um ……”

Clothes – piece by piece fell on the bedside bed blanket, Wang Shijing liked to take off his wife clothes every time he expressed his inner excitement. He was really lucky to have such a good wife. 

Edited by: Jaisland

Proofreader: 

Support translation: