Chapter 29: Offering Ideas

So, if money is tight, borrowing from a money shop is just a thought. In ancient times, borrowing money meant going to a usurer. In “The Injustice to Dou E,” Granny Cai specialized in this business, and Wang Xifeng also lent money at high interest.

Usury is essentially high-interest lending, not only unprofitable but also spreading the news of the Ye family’s financial shortage. This would undoubtedly attract a group of opportunistic competitors.

“If, and I mean if…” she began, “if we don’t count the money that Uncle is supposed to bring back, how much are we short?”

Ye Chongming replied, “If we don’t count the investment needed to buy loose tea and osmanthus flowers for making osmanthus tea, we are short about three thousand taels, which is the amount needed to pre-order tea from the growers.”

The Ye family’s tea is sold not only in Lin’an City and the surrounding counties but also in the capital.

The capital has many nobles and is the primary market for the Ye family’s high-end tea. For example, after production, the Ye family’s tea cakes are sold in the capital. So, even though Lin’an is the Ye family’s base, most of the tea profits come from the capital, which is managed by Ye Hongchang.

Although the Great Jin Dynasty’s public security is generally good, highway robbers still exist. In these times, some people who live poorly and take crooked paths organize themselves, farming in the countryside or loitering in the city and robbing when they get the chance.

Since they are not professional robbers, they hide among ordinary people before and after the robbery, making it difficult for the authorities to catch them. Catch one group, and another appears, never-ending.

Ye Hongchang’s business is large, and he frequently travels between the capital and Lin’an, making him a prime target for robbers. At this time, money shops do not have inter-regional deposit and withdrawal services, so, for safety, he usually does not bring money home. He only withdraws money from the money shop twice a year, during Qingming and Mid-Autumn, and hires bodyguards to escort it home.

In the past, Ye Chongming would never have told Ye Yaming these things. However, her performance in the past few days made him see her as a more capable family member than Ye Jiaxing. So he explained these earnings in detail to her.

He added, “If it weren’t for the trouble your fourth uncle caused, we would have had this money at home. But all our savings are gone.”

Old Madam Ye sat nearby, looking embarrassed.

In the past, although Ye Hongrong was not very capable, he hadn’t done anything wrong. So she indulged him. But now, after causing such a big problem for the family, the old lady realized she couldn’t indulge him anymore.

So when Ye Chongming punished Ye Hongrong, the old lady pretended not to know and didn’t protect her youngest son.

Originally, Ye Chongming wasn’t worried about his eldest son and the money. After all, the capital and Lin’an are not far apart, and Ye Hongchang travels this route seven or eight times a year without any incidents.

But now, Ye Yaming’s questions made him anxious.

In the past, no one targeted the Ye family, but now Meng Chengwei is causing trouble. If he targeted Ye Hongrong, he might also target Ye Hongchang. Even with bodyguards, Ye Hongchang might still face problems.

With only a few days left until Mid-Autumn, no matter where they start, they can’t gather the money in such a short time. He became anxious, “What if that money is lost?”

Ye Yaming thought for a moment, “How much can we get from selling the tea in the tea shop and tea house?”

Ye Chongming shook his head, “The tea in the tea shop and tea house is summer and autumn tea. Even if we sell it all in a few days, it won’t make much money, at most filling the three thousand taels gap. It won’t cover the money your uncle is bringing back.”

They could sell that batch of tea at a loss to other tea merchants. But now is the time to pre-order spring tea, and no tea merchant has spare cash. They won’t skip pre-ordering next year’s spring tea to buy the Ye family’s summer and autumn tea, which has low profits and is hard to sell.

After all, tea is something only the wealthy are willing to drink. Poor people can’t afford food, let alone spend money on something that scrapes the oil from their stomachs.

“Grandfather,” Ye Yaming looked at Ye Chongming, “if you use the family’s shops and fields as collateral and have Uncle act as guarantor, do you think the money shop will agree to exchange some money for you?”

Ye Chongming thought for a moment and shook his head, “No.”

If this news leaks, those who have deposited money in the money shop will panic and won’t trust their money there, causing a run on the bank. Once a run happens, the money shop’s reputation will be ruined.

The Mei family’s moneylending business has been running for decades and won’t take such a big risk for the Ye family’s temporary difficulty.

“Then, how about this: you talk to Uncle, and we use the shops and fields as collateral. Let the Mei family lend us some money in a private capacity, not too much, just enough to fill the gap for pre-ordering tea from the Tea Bureau. If that’s not possible, borrow as much as you can, and we’ll pawn our jewelry to cover the rest.”

Old Madam Ye quickly nodded, “Yes, yes. I still have ten thousand taels of silver in my dowry, and with Madam Tao’s and my jewelry, we can pawn them for a few thousand taels. If my cousin agrees to lend more, it will be enough. If he doesn’t, we can gather the dowry silver and jewelry from the daughters-in-law to make up the difference. Don’t worry too much, old man.”

She only now realized that if her eldest son couldn’t bring back the money, the family’s business would be in big trouble. She was really worried that the old man would get sick from anxiety. But she also knew that the daughters-in-law’s dowry silver and jewelry should not be touched unless absolutely necessary. They were the women’s foundation and the family’s last resort. Even if mentioned, the daughters-in-law would likely not agree and might cause more trouble.

The old man was in a difficult position, and Ye Yaming suggested borrowing money from the money shop without mentioning this for this reason.

Even if the other daughters-in-law didn’t mention it, she and Madam Tao had a duty to help the family through the crisis with their silver and jewelry.

At her age, with her sons all grown and established and her eldest son about to become a grandfather, she wasn’t afraid of the old man divorcing her and leaving her with no support.

And Madam Tao, as the eldest daughter-in-law, would inherit most of the family’s business in the future. The Ye family’s downfall would not benefit her at all, so she would certainly be willing to take on some responsibility.