On July $1,2023,$ XYZ Corp. issued $$8$ million of $6\%,$ seven$-$year bonds. At the time of issuance, the market $($yield$)$ rate on these bonds was $8\%.$ Semiannual interest is payable on December $31$ and June $30$ of each year.

a$.$ At what price were the bonds issued on July $1,2023?$

b$.$ Assume effective interest amortization of any bond premium or discount. What amount of interest expense is reported on Van Vleet's $2023$ income statement?

c$.$ If the bonds are repurchased at $101$ and retired on January $1,2024,$ what amount of gain or loss will Van Vleet report on its $2024$ income statement?

You must show your work for any partial credit, where earned, to be awarded. Depending on how you solve this problem, showing your work might include referencing which factors you are using from the time value of money tables, the parameters you are entering into a financial calculator, or the formulas you are using in Excel.