IDWBE -Chapter 119 The Bank

It was late at night.

Lin Yi couldn’t fall asleep. Through the window, he gazed at the bright moon in the sky, took out some wine, and poured himself a cup.

“I wonder if Tsingtao is still bitter, if Snow beer still falls like snowflakes, if Budweiser still has that strong aftertaste…”

After muttering a few lines, he nearly burst into tears.

He truly missed those days of playing Zuo Zhao Xin, You Man Wang (a reference to League of Legends champions Zhao Xin and Tryndamere).

“Your Highness.”

Mingyue lit another lamp, and the room brightened instantly.

“You still have school tomorrow. Don’t worry about me,” Lin Yi waved his hand. “Let this prince have some quiet time alone.”

“Yes.”

After Mingyue withdrew, she didn’t go far, still standing respectfully not far away.

“Sigh, you all are taking my words less and less seriously,” Lin Yi frowned. “Go out. Didn’t you hear me?”

“This servant knows her fault.”

Mingyue froze for a long while. It had been a very, very long time since the prince had lost his temper.

After coming back to her senses, she gently closed the door and left the room.

Lin Yi took two more big gulps of wine. The more he drank, the less flavor it seemed to have.

He was really afraid of others seeing him muttering to himself—especially since no one would understand him. He’d look like a lunatic.

He finished the last bit of wine in the bottle.

After sitting there in a daze for a while out of sheer boredom, he finally went to bed.

When he woke up, the sun was already shining brightly.

“After meals, walk a hundred steps, and you’ll live to ninety-nine.”

On the road, every short distance there were cow patties and sheep droppings. After two consecutive rains, an indescribable stench lingered everywhere.

“Are they all so extravagant? Just leaving it on the road instead of picking it up to dry for fuel?”

Without waiting for anyone to answer, Lin Yi continued, “There’s plenty of firewood in the mountains.”

Natural resources were too abundant—apparently not entirely a good thing.

Unlike Liangzhou, where, it was said, due to drought even tree bark had been gnawed clean by people.

Shan Qi, who had been following Lin Yi all along, cupped his hands and said, “Your Highness, more and more commoners are raising cattle and sheep now. The mountains are covered with them. The calves haven’t even fully grown, yet the trend of slaughtering cattle in Sanhe is rising. Many people are buying cattle from Nanzhou, Hongzhou, and Yuezhou and bringing them here to slaughter.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Lin Yi said in surprise, “It promotes the circulation of goods. Everyone makes a living, and the people of Sanhe get to eat beef. It’s a win-win.”

Shan Qi gave a bitter smile.

He was long accustomed to Prince He’s unconventional thinking.

He had even picked up a bunch of these half-understood terms himself.

When drafting official documents, proclamations, and laws, he would deliberately add them in—just to show he had grasped the “spirit” of things.

In court politics, this was called understanding the “imperial intent.” Having served in officialdom for years, reading such intent was second nature to him.

He caught up with Lin Yi and continued, “Your Highness, according to your instructions, each household receives thirty wen. But there are more and more refugees coming in. Just settling them is already a considerable expense. The prefectural treasury may not be able to hold out much longer.”

Lin Yi smiled. “It’s a pity I have no money. Otherwise, I’d subsidize the people for you. You’ve all had it hard.”

“Your Highness, you do have money!”

Shan Qi hurriedly replied, “The day before yesterday, Tian Shiyou sent thirty thousand taels. Du Sanhe sent twenty thousand taels. Ge Laoshan sent five thousand taels.”

“That’s my retirement fund! And you dare set your sights on it?”

Lin Yi snapped irritably.

“Your Highness…”

Shan Qi was helpless.

Although maritime taxes, land taxes, and salt permits went to the Provincial Administration Commission, expenditures still exceeded income.

Major profits like maritime shipping were all in the hands of the Prince He’s estate.

Lin Yi waved his hand. “Fine. Issue a notice. Temporarily cancel the livestock-raising subsidy.”

“Wise decision, Your Highness.”

Shan Qi was overjoyed.

Even without subsidies, the people wouldn’t stop raising livestock—indeed, they couldn’t.

They could sell them. They could slaughter them.

The profit from one cow was equivalent to raising several pigs!

Most importantly, raising cattle didn’t cost much.

Lin Yi continued, “Some things don’t need to trouble me. For example, look at these roads. Even if no one cleans them, you should issue notices: whoever pollutes, cleans up. Wouldn’t cow and sheep dung be better spread in the fields? If they repeatedly refuse to change, then fine them.”

Fines worked anywhere.

“Whoever pollutes, cleans up?”

Shan Qi pondered for a moment and smiled. “Your Highness is absolutely right.”

Lin Yi asked, “Has Qiu Wujin bought back the copper ore?”

“Yes,” Shan Qi replied, sitting with Lin Yi beneath a large banyan tree. “I was just about to ask Your Highness what to do next. For the people’s livelihood, currency is fundamental. Yet counterfeiters are increasing.”

Lin Yi smiled. “For now, don’t mint copper coins. There are too many thin, inferior coins on the market—it’s practically fraud. But we must open a bank. With goods moving north and south, Sanhe having no bank of its own is highly inconvenient.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Shan Qi nodded.

“You must understand the essence of banknotes,” Lin Yi said with a smile. “It’s credit. When someone holds a note issued by you, they must be able to exchange it for gold or silver anytime, anywhere.”

“This official understands.”

Shan Qi said, “I will discuss it thoroughly with Magistrate Xie and come up with a method.”

Lin Yi said, “What’s there for two old men like you to discuss? You’re good at poetry and essays. But when it comes to economics—not to look down on you—you’re not qualified. You need professionals.”

“I will consult Miss Mingyue and Miss Zixia,” Shan Qi replied.

He was deeply impressed by these two women.

When the Provincial Administration Commission was first established, all the account books were handled by them. They even trained the clerks.

But their bookkeeping methods were entirely unprecedented. Despite his vast classical learning, starting from scratch had been quite difficult.

Lin Yi said, “Just consulting them won’t help much. They’ve never run a bank. Look among the refugees—see if any of them have worked in a bank before. If not, spend heavily and hire someone from Nanzhou or Hongzhou.”

He might know astronomy and geography, but when it came to practical operations, he was clueless.

At most, he could provide a general framework and later offer some forward-looking suggestions.

That was about it.

“Yes.”

Shan Qi agreed.

Meanwhile, Sanhe’s dogfighting tournament was in full swing.

What had originally been a contest for hometown honor gradually took on a different flavor.

Clever people had openly set up betting houses, even establishing odds in a professional manner.

To ban it—or not?

Lin Yi hesitated.

But after some thought, he decided to let it be.

Entertainment was already so scarce in this era. Denying them even this bit of fun would be too inhumane.

Besides, he couldn’t micromanage everything and end up raising a group of overly protected “giant babies” who only knew martial arts.