Chapter 121 - How much?

 Hua Ming and his delegates were waiting outside. Feng Long walked out of the palace, bowing to him. Hua Ming retributed the gesture:

-Please, Hua Ming, you can rise.

Hua Ming and his delegation rise:

-Your majesty, we need a solution. We have come from too far away to simply turn our heads and return home.

Feng Long looks to the floor for a few seconds, then walks in front of them:

-I acknowledge the emergency. We will give 200 thousand taels to Taizhou county immediately, that's all the money I can provide by now without ultimately bankrupting the empire. Our reserves will be rebuilt in a few weeks, and such a problem is unlikely to happen again. I apologise to you.

Hua Ming and his delegation bow to Feng Long:

-Your majesty is wise!

-You will be paid in sycees, so the overall amount of money will be small and easier to carry, and you can buy what you need in bulk. As our reserves are rebuilt, we will send coins.

A soldier comes from a nearby building, carrying a box in a push cart. Feng Long smiles, opening the box:

-As you can see, these are worth 200 thousand taels. Heavy, but at least it comes with a fairly robust cart. 

-We thank you majesty!

Feng Long asks the soldier to leave the cart with Hua Ming. He does so, walking away. Hua Ming bows to Feng Long again:

-I wish you a safe trip back home. We are a kingdom, and we must help each other.

Hua Ming and his delegates depart. Yu Lexuan comes from out of nowhere, hugging Feng Long from behind:

-We are so poor... But I have you!

Feng Long laughs:

-I don't care about the money, let it be for Zhong Kunyi. I care about something else...

-Interesting... What could it be?

Feng Long turns fast, hugs Yu Lexuan, and then kisses him deeply. Yu Lexuan closes his eyes, deepening the kiss. They separate shortly after:

-Words are unnecessary.- Feng Long smiles.

-Coming from you, it is like a poem every time... I want to hear them all. - Yu Lexuan blushes slightly. 

While Feng Long and Yu Lexuan exchanged kisses, Zhong Kunyi was finishing writing the proposals Feng Long would send later to fellow emperors. Zhang Yi was also nearby, holding a piece of paper in his hands:

-Zhong Kunyi... What a fortune we may have thrown away since all this started...

-I really think we've made bad decisions, but Feng Long got them mostly right. Now we have a real chance of really making a profit from our efforts.

-It was always so hard for Yu Lexuan and me. Yu Xuan was an accident that saved us... I would never be that smart to use minerals for medicines. His reasoning is miles ahead of mine, still I'm the health minister, and he is still a commoner...

-Maybe we could promote him.

-He would refuse our offer... It is not what he wants for his life. Yu Xuan really likes his current lifestyle. 

-I was thinking about it recently... We are constantly living under pressure, yet it is not enough for us to simply give up.

-Yu Lexuan is the answer. He is the actual emperor of Zhejiang, hahaha! - Zhang Yi laughs.

-Hahaha, you are right! Most of the time, Feng Long cannot defeat him. Yu Lexuan is way smarter than I thought, even though I'm better than him on many things, he's very good at what really matters for Feng Long.  

Zhong Kunyi finishes writing his opinion of what kind of price would be sensible to charge for the medicines. Zhang Yi also helped him somewhat.