"Indeed. The Emperor is so muddled that he would bestow the title of Tong Jinshi upon a Licentiate who merely purchased his degree. Why should we bother saving money for that senile old fool? Besides, the old man won't live for many more years anyway. What’s more, the three of us are repaying it together, aren't we? If we can't pay the principal, we can just pay the interest first."
"That bastard Zhao An didn't he say that the more you owe, the less the Imperial Household Department dares to press you for payment? Since that’s the case, what is there to fear?"
Fifty thousand taels might be a lot for anyone else—enough that the Hengli Money Shop might not dare to lend it—but Magistrate Ding and Instructor Song were different. One was a magistrate with a substantive post, the other a school principal. They both had excellent credit histories at the bank, with ledgers spanning at least five or six pages. They were top-tier clients. There was no way the money shop would refuse to lend to them. Even after a ten-percent 'head-cutting' interest deduction upfront, they would still net forty-five thousand taels. Taking a few thousand out of that to pay off their existing high-interest debts would still leave them with over thirty thousand taels in their pockets. At a few thousand taels of interest per year, that principal would last them for several years. And just how many more years could the Emperor possibly hold on? It was truly a case of "if you don't take it when it’s offered,…
Chapter 115