Yes, why had he not thought of it sooner?
Come to think of it, the common folk had long since dabbled in private lending practices, especially in the form of exorbitant usury.
These so-called usury loans demanded sky-high interest. One might borrow just a few taels of silver, and before long, that debt would snowball into hundreds.
During a period in the previous dynasty, such practices ran rampant. It was said that more than a few families were ruined, homes lost and lives shattered by these predatory loans.
Thus, the court eventually imposed strict regulations on private lending. And rightly so.
Even if enforcement had been lax, most respectable merchants would not have dared touch such dangerous arrangements. After all, the more one borrowed, the faster that interest compounded. It was terrifying to even consider. Merchants might be profit-seeking, but they were not fools. If the return from a single transaction could not even cover the interest owed, then what business sense would there be in borrowing?
But if the court stepped in—offering loans at just ten or twenty percent interest—then it would be a different story altogether.
Such a rate would be entirely within the means of most merchants.
More importantly, with the entire imperial court as the creditor, no merchant, no matter how brazen, would dare play tricks or default lightly. Unless they harbored a death wish for their entire clan, they would repay what was owed. And even if they could not, with proper collateral in place, the court could recover its silver with ease.
The more Minister Yan considered it, the more his excitement grew. He wanted nothing more than to return to his study that very moment, write out the memorial with his own hand, and deliver it personally to the palace.
Yet Yun Shu was not finished.
Seeing that Minister Yan had grasped the first half of her plan, she continued at a measured pace.
"Naturally, if all lending were to come from the national treasury, the portion drawn from commercial taxes may still fall short."
She lifted her eyes to meet his, her tone calm and thoughtful.
"So aside from issuing loans, there is another enterprise we can embark upon: operating a Qian Zhuang."
"A Qian Zhuang?" Minister Yan blinked in surprise. "A Qian Zhuang does little more than take silver from the people for safekeeping, charging a small custodial fee in return. The profit from that is hardly worth mentioning. Is that not so?"
Yun Shu nodded with a faint smile. "Precisely. Which is why we must make a slight improvement. Instead of charging that negligible fee..."
Her gaze sharpened.
"We shall reverse the flow. Rather than charging a fee, we shall give those who deposit their silver a modest interest."
Minister Yan stared at her.
"...We are to safeguard their silver and on top of that, give them silver in return?"
Had the Crown Princess's moment of seriousness expired? Was there a fixed time limit on her clarity of mind?
What sort of absurd proposal was this?
His disapproval was written plainly across his face, and Yun Shu saw it at once.
She gave a soft chuckle, unhurried and composed.
"Does Minister Yan think This Princess speaks nonsense?"
"Your servant would not dare."
But Minister Yan's reply was tinged with thinly veiled doubt.
"It is only that Your Highness yourself said the treasury has limited funds. If so, why give any of it away without cause?"
"To retain those deposits, of course. One must give in order to gain."
Yun Shu explained with serene confidence.
"Consider this: if one deposits ten taels of silver with This Princess, and is told they may withdraw eleven taels after one year, but only ten if they withdraw earlier—then, in the absence of urgent need, would Minister Yan choose to retrieve it within the year or wait for the full term?"
"Naturally, I would wait."
If there was no pressing use for it, why not let silver beget silver?
"Exactly. Which means that for that entire year, your silver remains in the hands of This Princess."
Yun Shu inclined her head slightly, then asked with a trace of mirth in her tone.
"Now then, may This Princess use those ten taels for other ventures? Small businesses, for example. Turn ten taels into twenty?"
"..."
He had risen to the rank of Minister of Revenue. Of course Minister Yan was no fool.
He had simply not thought along this line.
Now that Yun Shu had laid it out so plainly, feeding it to him like porridge, if he still failed to understand, then that would truly be a disgrace.
In the end, this was merely another form of lending—just from a different angle.
This time, it was the court borrowing from the common people, not merchants borrowing from the court.
Even better, the interest paid to the people was far lower than the interest merchants would pay to the court.
"No wonder even His Majesty had agreed to partner with the Crown Princess in opening the Tian Waitian Restaurant.
Say what one will about other matters, when it came to earning silver, Her Highness was truly formidable."
Minister Yan was thoroughly convinced. He stood up, stepped forward, and bowed deeply to Yun Shu.
"Your servant thanks Your Highness for the enlightenment. This old official is deeply instructed."
"It is merely a clever little idea."
A clever idea indeed, born of centuries of human wisdom. Commonplace in the future, yet still novel here.
Yun Shu gave a light cough, then added casually.
"So long as Minister Yan does not forget what he promised This Princess earlier, all will be well."
"Your Highness may rest assured. This old official would not dare forget."
Minister Yan personally escorted Yun Shu out of the Ministry of Revenue. The moment she departed, he hurried back to his study and threw himself into drafting the memorial with fervent energy.
And so, on the following morning's court session—
When Yun Shu publicly proposed the founding of the Tian Sheng Academy—
Every minister present, including Emperor Xuanwu, Grand Eunuch Li Dehai, and even the lesser-ranked officials, fully expected Minister Yan to rise in protest. Surely he would argue bitterly, trading barbs with Yun Shu for at least three hundred rounds before flatly refusing to approve the budget.
Instead, under the scrutiny of all, Minister Yan took a single step forward and declared without hesitation:
"Reporting to His Majesty. This humble official finds the Crown Princess's words most reasonable. For the future of our Tian Sheng Dynasty, this academy must be built, and built without delay. As it happens, the treasury is still in a healthy state. This servant is willing to cooperate fully with the Crown Princess to establish the Tian Sheng Academy."
Emperor Xuanwu, who had spent the entire night drafting a speech to mediate their argument: "..."
The Minister of Rites, who had spent half a month haggling with Minister Yan over a mere thirty thousand taels: "...?"
Several other officials who had recently tried and failed to obtain silver from the Ministry of Revenue: "...?"
Had someone secretly replaced Minister Yan?
Could this man be an imposter wearing a mask?
Impossible!
And yet... this was three million taels.
The proposed Tian Sheng Academy alone had sounded like an outrageous fantasy, and yet here was Minister Yan throwing his full support behind it.
Since when was Minister Yan this generous?
Everyone was stunned. Even the Eldest Prince, who had been eagerly waiting to see Yun Shu make a fool of herself, was so shaken that he nearly lost his composure entirely.
After all, not long ago, the generals on his side—including General Wei Yuan—had gone to plead with Minister Yan for military funds. Yet the man had clutched his ledger and nitpicked every discrepancy, refusing to release a single tael until every line was accounted for.
It had left all the generals groaning in despair.
To shore up his own standing among the military ranks, the Eldest Prince had even dipped into his personal wealth, contributing nearly ten thousand taels to plug the shortfall.
Now, watching Minister Yan so readily open the treasury for Yun Shu's academy, he felt as if he had been slapped across the face.
===
The term Qian Zhuang (錢莊 / 钱庄) refers to a traditional Chinese private bank or money-house that operated primarily during the late imperial period, especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties and early Republican era.
钱 (qián)
Meaning: money, coin, currency
Originally referred to metal currency (coins made of bronze, copper, etc.). In modern Chinese, 钱 broadly means money in any form.
庄 (zhuāng)
Meaning: village, manor, place of business
Originally referred to a large estate or village, often with agricultural or commercial use. In compound words like 钱庄, it refers to a place of business, specifically a financial establishment.
Combined Meaning:
钱庄 = "money + place of business" → a moneyhouse or private bank
Literally: "a shop/place (庄) dealing with money (钱)"
Historically, it referred to private financial institutions handling deposits, loans, and currency exchange before modern banks were introduced in China.