Transmigrated into a farmer's lucky charm, all the villains in the family panicked.

Yun Shengsheng, who was standing nearby, overheard this and muttered to herself, "They helped us, so it's understandable that they want to keep a little something."

[By the way, Yan Shijin also said he'd give me half, which is 160 taels!]

[So many? That's terrifying. Even if Yan Shijin dared to give them, I wouldn't dare take them!]

Yan Shijin listened to Yun Shengsheng's thoughts and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

He looked at Nie Lin, who was sitting below him, and said in a calm and unhurried tone: "Commander Nie has rendered meritorious service in protecting the silver this time. I will allocate two hundred thousand taels of silver to Commander Nie as this year's military pay."

"Another 20,000 taels will be allocated to reward the soldiers who contributed this time."

"After I return to the capital, I will separately inform my father, the Emperor, and request commendations for Commander Nie and all the generals. What does Commander Nie think?"

Upon hearing this, Nie Lin's eyes immediately lit up like two lamps.

He stood up with a "whoosh," the movement so large that he almost tipped the chair over.

He suppressed his overwhelming joy, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed deeply, performing an even greater salute than before, his voice trembling: "Thank you, Your Highness! This humble general thanks Your Highness on behalf of my brothers! Your Highness's compassion for your men is something I would gladly die for!"

To be honest, he was mentally prepared to only receive a few thousand taels of silver.

After all, last time he led 5,000 soldiers to follow Prince Yong in suppressing bandits, they went even further and made a bigger fuss, but in the end they did nothing and returned in disgrace.

The Prince of Yong only rewarded him with five thousand taels of silver for wine and other expenses.

This time, however, he only brought a thousand men, yet he received two hundred thousand in military pay and a reward of twenty thousand.

A thousand soldiers, each receiving twenty taels of silver as a reward—that's a year's salary! Who wouldn't be happy?

His eyes instantly reddened, and after sincerely thanking her, he happily followed Mo Ning out to collect his money.

After Nie Lin left, Yan Shijin looked at Yun Shengsheng: "Shengsheng, I thought Liang Boyan's batch of silver was at most two million taels. As agreed beforehand, after it's all recovered, I'll give you half."

"But so far we've seized a total of 3.2 million taels. I'll give you half, making it 1.6 million taels. That's too much money; taking it might just cause you unnecessary trouble."

"So I've made a new decision: I'll give you one million taels. Is that alright?"

Upon hearing this, Yun Shengsheng almost jumped up from her chair.

She waved her hands repeatedly, shaking her little head like a rattle drum, "No, no, really no."

"One million taels is too much, far too much."

One million taels? Are you kidding me! If I actually accepted that money, I'd be robbed every day if word got out.

Yun Shengsheng sighed, put on a mature demeanor, and said seriously, "Never mind, never mind. Brother Shijin, the court needs money right now."

She counted on her fingers: "There is a war in the Northwest, and there is a shortage of silver and supplies. There are also snow disasters in various places, and there is a shortage of winter clothes, charcoal and food, as well as floods, etc. They are all waiting for relief."

"To be honest, I have nowhere to spend this money now; at most, it'll just pile up in the warehouse and get moldy. It would be better to use it for the people and their livelihoods."

"Brother Shi Jin, if you really want to give it to me, why not give me 100,000 taels as a fee for my errands and hard work? You and Uncle Emperor can decide what to do with the rest. I really don't need that much."

Yan Shijin frowned and gently shook his head: "But I've already spoken to Father Emperor. He has no objections. Since we agreed to give you half, we can't break our promise."

"A promise made by a ruler is a promise kept."

Seeing his insistence, Yun Shengsheng had no choice but to open her big eyes and quickly rack her brains to think of a compromise.

She tilted her head and thought for a while, then suddenly her eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands: "How about this? I'll give all of my rightful one million taels to Brother Shi Jin and Uncle Emperor, and you can do whatever you want with it. Consider it a loan to the court, and you can pay it back to me when the court becomes more lenient, okay?"

Yan Shijin was taken aback and raised an eyebrow.

He never expected Yun Shengsheng to come up with this method.

Lending money to the imperial court? That's a novel idea.

Seeing that he was starting to soften, Yun Shengsheng immediately pressed her advantage, leaned closer, lowered her voice, and began to spill her beans: "Brother Shijin, let me tell you, when the court is short of money, it can issue a kind of... national bonds."

"National debt?" Yan Shijin repeated the unfamiliar word, raising an eyebrow slightly, waiting for her to continue.

Yun Shengsheng nodded, her little face serious, and said earnestly, "It's when the government borrows some silver from wealthy merchants and ordinary people in the local area and promises a certain amount of interest."

"For example, if you borrow one hundred taels, you can repay one hundred and one taels with interest after one year."

"In this way, wealthy merchants are willing to lend money to the imperial court, which will make the court more financially secure. They can lend for two or three years at a time, and then repay the principal and interest when times get better."

"I won't be at a loss when I need money urgently in the future. And..." Her eyes darted around, and the corners of her mouth curved into a smile like a little fox.

"We could also give a certificate or something to those who spent a lot of money."

"Especially for those wealthy merchants who care about their image, being able to have the emperor personally write a few words and affix his imperial seal would be even more gratifying than giving them money."

"Just think about it, how prestigious would it be if someone hung a plaque inscribed with the words 'Righteous Merchant' by the emperor himself in their hall? People from all around would look up to them."

"When the time comes, there will be no need to urge them. Those rich people will come to us with their money, afraid that if they are a step too late, the spots will be gone."

Yan Shijin's eyes lit up.

That's a brilliant idea!

He only ever thought about collecting taxes, increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, and putting pressure on the Ministry of Revenue; he never thought that he could borrow money from the private sector in the name of the state.

Moreover, based on his understanding of his father, he knew that once this method was proposed, his father would definitely be very interested.

In the end, Yun Shengsheng lent all of her nominal one million taels to her beloved Emperor Uncle!

Following suit, Chu Xiao said to Yan Shijin, "Your Highness, if national bonds are really issued, my Chu family will be the first to respond..."

Meanwhile, the Prince of Yong, far away at the border, had already turned pale.

"What?! How did they get caught red-handed by the Crown Prince...?"