Li Banghua stared at the official document in his hands again and again.
It explicitly mandated that the Hangzhou and Suzhou Prefectures prepare fifty thousand piculs of grain within ten days, to be dispatched to Huguang at the opportune moment, as per the orders of the Brocade Guard. The funds for the grain procurement were to be provided by the Brocade Guard, absolving the local prefectures of any financial burden. Since gathering such a vast quantity of grain required significant manpower, the task had to be delegated to local authorities. It was, therefore, logical for Li Ruolian to seek him out.
"Li Ruolian, do you have the funds for this?" Li Banghua asked, setting the document down.
"I don't have hard cash on hand, but I have silver notes!" Li Ruolian pulled a note from his robe and waved it about. "The Nanjing branch of the Great Ming Bank is fully operational, and the first shipment of silver has already arrived. I only need to present these notes to withdraw the equivalent in silver."
Chapter 469