Chapter 324: Spending Money

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

They planned to build three large canteens in the nursery, where the children would gather for meals in the future. Apart from that, they also had to build classrooms. As there were many children of all ages, they had to be taught separately. Some of them had to learn how to read, while others had to learn various skills.

As such, there were many tools that needed to be bought. To learn carpentry, one needed a saw, a knife, and so on, right? To learn how to calculate, one needed an abacus, right?

This would cost a lot of money.

Qi Haoran was originally showing Mu Yangling around proudly, but when he saw the things on her to-buy list, he couldn’t help but worry. “Do you have enough money?”

“If it’s not enough, I can ask Zijin for it.”

“That’s right. Zijin is rich.” Qi Haoran immediately felt relieved. “If it’s difficult for you to ask, I’ll help you ask for it.”

Mu Yangling stopped and looked up at him. “You went to get money from Zijin again recently?”

Qi Haoran nodded. “The Hushave a kind of scimitar© that’s especially useful. As I plan to distribute it to the cavalrymen, I bought 500 of them in one go. That cost quite a lot of money.”

Mu Yangling said resentfully, “No matter how much money Fan Zijin earns, it won’t be enough for you to spend like this. Why do you have to buy 500? Just buy 10 or so and let the craftsmen study the scimitar so that they can forge their own.”

“The scimitars were smuggled from the Jin Kingdom?”

Qi Haoran nodded. “Otherwise, where do you think they came from? If they came from our Great Zhou, I would have already closed the shop and won’t have to spend the money on buying.”

The Imperial Court had very strict controls on iron. The civilians had to obtain documents from the government office to forge iron, and there was a limit to the amount of crude iron they could buy every time.

It was impossible to buy 500 at a go in the Great Zhou.

Mu Yangling’s heart ached even more after learning that these weapons were smuggled from the Jin Kingdom and were not cheap. She endured the pain and asked, “How much is one?”

Qi Haoran scratched his head and chuckled. “It’s not particularly expensive. 4.5 taels.”

Mu Yangling almost wanted to stretch out her leg and kick him away. “That’s enough to buy a foal.”

“It’s indeed a fine knife, sharp and durable. I’ll get one for you later. Try it. After all, these scimitars have to cross the border and the other party also spent a lot of money on them from the Jin soldiers. Therefore, it’s naturally more expensive.”

Mu Yangling gritted her teeth and said enviously, “If only I had a Fan Zijin too.” No matter how much money was spent, someone would pay for it.

If she took even the slightest advantage of Fan Zijin, it would be as if she wanted his life.

“You’d better let the craftsmen study the scimitars. Find a few more craftsmen and they’ll definitely succeed in forging it. At that time, you won’t have to waste money buying from others anymore.” Mu Yangling asked Qi Haoran to discuss with her or Fan Zijin before buying things in the future. After all, their money was hard-earned.

Especially Fan Zijin. In order to earn money, he even delayed his studies.

She heard that Qi Xiuyuan had him dragged back two days ago and locked up in the study to study.

“My big brother wants Zijin to go back and take the Imperial Examination. Next year will be the triennial village examination.”

Mu Yangling could not help but stop in her tracks. “Fan Zijin is a xiucaiO?”

Qi Haoran glanced at her and said proudly, “What else do you think? He became a tongsheng© at the age of nine. He’s already a xiucai at the age of 11. Even in Lin’an Prefecture, he’s one of the top scholars who excels at his studies. Our academy’s teacher said that he’ll be able to take the Imperial Examination after another term, with at least a 70% chance of doing well. Next year will be the second term. Hahaha, a 16-year-old juren©! Hahaha… How is it? Isn’t Zijin awesome?”

Mu Yangling knew that Fan Zijin was smart, but she had never thought that he was so smart!

The village examination was even more difficult than the college entrance examination in her previous life. Although they were more or less tested on those same few books, to answer the questions well, they also had to reference plenty of extracurricular books. They had to at least roughly read up on all the history up till that point. When it came to historical events, they had to be somewhat knowledgeable regardless of the scale of that event.

Of course, for someone who had experienced the college entrance examination in their previous lives, it might not be difficult. After all, they had all done it before. But what if they had to choose 200 top students from 30,000 to 40,000?

This selection ratio was too small, and there were even more students in Lin’an Prefecture. Nearly 80,000 people were competing for 200-odd spots in the village examination, let alone the general examination. That was like the entire country’s students competing for less than 500 spots.

Mu Yangling sighed sincerely, but she still said, “Fan Zijin has been focused on doing business for the past two years. What do you think his chances of doing well are?”

Qi Haoran fell silent.

Mu Yangling sighed and said, “I think he should wait for another three years. That way, he’ll be more confident.” Mu Yangling glanced at him and said, “You should also worry him less. Perhaps then, he’ll spend more time on his homework.”

Qi Haoran was stunned for a moment before nodding. “Alright, let him study hard. In that case, Mu Yangling, do help him. Since you know how to do business too, take over some of his work so that he has more time to study.”

Mu Yangling rolled her eyes impolitely and said, “Which eye of yours saw that I know how to do business? I only know how to farm, sell sheep, and raise cows. You might as well hand the business over to the stewards.”

“That’s true.” Qi Haoran nodded and said, “You look smart, but you’re actually very stupid.”

Mu Yangling glared at him. “How am I stupid?”

Qi Haoran chuckled. “How are you not stupid? It’s obvious that you’re going to lose money by running the nursery. It’s even a huge loss, but you insist on doing it. If you’re not stupid, what are you?”

“I’m happy to.” Mu Yangling raised her head and turned to leave.

Qi Haoran hurriedly chased after her and said in a low voice, “I’m leaving Hanzhong Prefecture in two days. Give me the Winter Solstice gift tomorrow.” ‘When did I say I was going to give you a gift for the winter solstice?’

Seeing Qi Haoran look at her eagerly, Mu Yangling did not say this out loud. She could only nod and say, “Pay more attention to your safety.” She did not ask him where he was going.

Qi Haoran’s round face was instantly filled with smiles as he nodded happily. “I’ll definitely be careful.”

When Mu Yangling returned, just as she was wondering what gift she should give Qi Haoran, Xiuhong came to look for her with the account book. “Cousin, I’ve already discussed it with the cotton and cloth merchant. This is the price, but who should we ask to sew the clothes? It’s very expensive to let a tailor shop do it.”

“Magistrate Fang won’t drag it out for long. When he sends those people over, we’ll just choose from among them. All the women who know how to make clothes will stay behind to make clothes. Later, take the measurements of children of varying heights. Make clothes of small, medium, and large sizes according to their heights. Delegate the task.”

Xiuhong agreed and took down what Mu Yangling said.

“Keep a close watch when you’re supervising. Don’t let anyone take the cotton or cloth out. We don’t have much money to begin with. If the things get stolen, there won’t be enough clothes for the children to wear.”

Xiuhong said hesitantly, “Cousin, those elders are also very pitiful.”

“I know, but we can only take care of the children for now. Get someone to pay attention to the elderly. If any of them has a headache or fever, remember to call a doctor. We’ll take care of their medical fees.”

Seeing as her current budget was about to exceed all her family savings, she didn’t even dare to think about making winter clothes for the elderly. Now, she could only place her hopes on Butcher Qin and Butcher Hua, hoping that they would come soon. After selling the sheep, she might be able to earn more money to buy winter clothes for them before the weather turned cold.

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