"The one who set this trap knew I'd come, and even brazenly arranged for a broker to leak the clues. They'd clearly prepared a countermeasure long ago. Whether it's the grain or the money from the illegal investment scheme, I'd guess it was all successfully transferred before we reached Jinli Commandery. The chances of recovering it are slim." Even in the modern era, the odds of recovering money from a typical scam aren't high, let alone in this age.
Xun Zhen's fingers trembled as he clutched his chest.
He cried out hoarsely, "This is infuriating! Infuriating!"
Shen Tang twisted the knife: "Don't be in such a hurry to get angry. When we count up the money you lost, you'll probably be in for a surprise. The Ponzi scheme exploits human greed. The sum must be large enough to make you perform astonishingly on the battlefield three or five times—or even more?"
At that, Xun Zhen's eyes went red with anger.
An amount large enough to make him perform astonishingly three or five times—or even more—was an astronomical figure too terrifying to imagine! How had these people dared lend out so much money? Kang Shi counted on his fingers beside them, then jumped in alarm. "That sum can't be right, can it?"
"How could it not be?"
Shen Tang couldn't help rolling her eyes inwardly.
The people of Jinli Commandery were hopeless teammates!
She gave them a simple, blunt example: "Suppose Hanzhang has nine hundred taels of silver. He lends it out and gets back thirteen hundred, principal and interest included, earning a full four hundred taels. Hanzhang is cautious, so the second time he lends only the four hundred taels of interest he earned. He gets back five hundred and seventy-seven, principal and interest included, easily earning another one hundred