"But Lord Tan truly meant well. This old servant heard him praise that storyteller's abilities himself, saying there was no other like him under heaven."
At the chief eunuch's words, the emperor merely smiled.
"Such trifling theatrical arts are only a diversion. Now that his wealth rivals all the world's, he certainly has plenty of leisure, doesn't he?"
As though he had been waiting for precisely those words, the chief eunuch, Zhang Liangxi, smoothly continued.
"Your Majesty, when Lord Tan came to the palace a few days ago, he mentioned something to this old servant in private. From last year until now, he has done his utmost to raise nine hundred and twenty thousand taels of gold, intending to donate it all to the treasury. He merely feared Your Majesty would find it too little, and wanted to wait another year until he had raised one million taels."
Even as the ruler of a nation, the emperor could not help being startled by that figure.
"One million taels of gold?"
Through various measures governing coinage and currency, even Great Yong's copper coins were worth more now than they had been twenty or thirty years earlier, to say nothing of silver.
And gold was far more valuable than silver. On Great Yong's markets, the usual exchange rate was roughly one to sixteen or seventeen.
"How much does the nation even take in each year?"
Great Yong's total revenue the previous year had been approximately ninety million strings of cash, but that did not mean everything collected could be saved. Most of it would immediately be spent, leaving little that could actually remain in the treasury.
"Lord Tan failed to see Your Majesty when he came a few days ago. There were some things inconvenient to say in person, so he left