Chapter 1641: The King of Foreign Lands Arrives! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
The First Prince's orders had been quickly transmitted, stirring up ripples amongst the great clans who had come to the ceremony.
”Five thousand taels? And in gold! Why does he want this much? Where will a small clan like ours get so much gold in so little time?”
”The First Prince said that if you don't have enough, write down your name, and you can pay it later.”
”Patriarch, why don't we just leave? Let's not bother ourselves with this.”
”Bastard! What are you saying? We're already here and we already replied to the invitation card. You think it's up to us whether we can leave or not?!”
The mention of five thousand taels of gold had everyone nastily grimacing, but the arrow had already been loosed. Regrets were too late.
Compared to the immense loss of five thousand taels, offending the future Crown Prince of the Great Tang was even worse. Despite their internal struggles, those clans who had come to the ceremony quickly made their decisions.
With the banging of gongs, one representative after another came forward.
”The Zhao Clan of the capital donates five thousand taels of gold to celebrate the opening of the Great Buddhist Temple!”
”The Huang Clan of the capital donates six thousand taels of gold to celebrate the opening of the Great Buddhist Temple!”
”The Sun Clan of the capital donates eight thousand taels of gold to celebrate the opening of the Great Buddhist Temple!”
Even though five thousand taels of gold was a significant burden for the smaller clans, the First Prince's jubilation also made them rather happy. Five thousand taels of gold was nothing if they could make the future Crown Prince happy.
”The Xia Clan of the western part of the capital donates nine thousand taels of gold to celebrate the opening of the Great Buddhist Temple!”
”The Duan Clan of the southern part of the capital donates ten thousand taels of gold!”
”The Yang Clan of the capital donates twelve thousand taels of gold!”
The Jia Clan of the capital donates twenty thousand taels of gold!”
”The Lei Clan of the capital donates twenty-three thousand taels of gold!”
The more prosperous clans began to donate more and more, and by the end, it seemed like they were competing with each other. Their donations far surpassed the five thousand tael threshold the First Prince had set.
”Heavens! We're at fifty thousand taels now! I can't believe this!”
The spectators of the ceremony were having their eyes opened. Opening ceremonies for Daoist and Buddhist temples were common occurrences, and there were many people who made donations. But they were mostly just a few taels, perhaps ten-some taels, and the most was several hundred taels of silver. The immense sums being donated to the Great Buddhist Temple left even the old-timers of the capital flabbergasted.
The donations were getting larger and larger, and all this money was congregating around the First Prince.
”Your Highness, at present, we have received more than ten million taels of gold in donations. Nearly all the clans attending the ceremony have donated more than the five thousand tael limit. The number is only growing, and we might be able to exceed fifty million taels by the end of the ceremony!”
Zhu Tong'en was at the back of the temple, responsible for handling the donations from the great clans and reporting the final number to the First Prince. It was simply unimaginable that building a single Buddhist temple would ultimately result in a harvest of fifty million taels of gold in 'donations'.
This was a massive sum. One had to remember that when Wang Chong was buying strategic resources like warhorses for the Great Tang, the Imperial Court had only been able to apportion ten million taels of gold. But the Fifth Prince merely had to build a Buddhist temple to obtain fifty million. This was the power of the title of the First Prince!
The First Prince was seated on a sandalwood chair in the back of the temple, and as he listened to the numbers reported by Zhu Tong'en, his smile grew wider and wider.
”Congratulations, Your Highness! Only Your Highness would be able to draw so many great clans to a Buddhist temple and have them donate more than ten million taels of gold!”
”It is clear that the great clans believe that there is no other candidate for the Crown Prince than Your Highness!”
”With the support of these clans and the prestige of Your Highness, the Great Tang is certain to prosper and reach even greater heights!”
The advisors wasted no time in congratulating the First Prince.
”There is no need for such praise. These donations to the Great Buddhist Temple are merely an expression of the compassion in their hearts and cannot be used as an indicator for anything. As for the Great Tang, in the future, I will have to rely on all of you!”
The First Prince put on a humble face, but with his last words, he revealed his true thoughts.
No one in the Great Tang except him was worthy of inheriting that supreme throne!
”Reporting!”
At that moment, a guard rushed in, but when he saw the smiling First Prince and his advisors, he hesitated.
The First Prince frowned as he harshly rebuked, ”Talk! There are no outsiders here! There's nothing to fear!”
The guard bowed and reported, ”Your Highness, the capital's Zhang Clan, Huang Clan, Lu Clan, and Li Clan have all come to the ceremony and donated one hundred thousand taels of gold!”
The crowd fell silent. One hundred thousand taels of gold was a massive sum, and even the powerful clans would find this a large burden.