I'm really not doing business

Chapter 711 Your Majesty, give the order!

As the supreme emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yijun did not care about the public opinion on his evaluation. As a political creature, political achievements were the best evaluation. But he was really scolded to the point of being a little overwhelmed. However, he made the same choice as Emperor Jiajing and chose to forgive. This was not benevolence, but Hai Rui was right to scold him, and Lin Fucheng was also right to scold him.

During the Wanli Reform, there was only one thing that truly benefited every family, and that was sweet potatoes. Since the emperor really knew how to farm, ministers, officials in Beijing, and officials outside the capital did not dare to fool the emperor on this matter. It is also an indisputable fact that the promotion of sweet potatoes is forming the memory of a generation.

But other new policies, although useful, did not benefit the poor and laborers who should have benefited. This was the biggest drawback of the Wanli Reform.

Lin Fucheng spoke out loudly and made a comprehensive criticism in a very sharp attitude. Of course, under the feudal monarchy, he also had to accept punishment. He planned to board an official ship to Southeast Asia at the New Port of Songjiang Prefecture and begin his exile.

"This is cooling oil. When you get there, wear long sleeves instead of short sleeves. It's not for sun protection, but for protection against mosquitoes. Be careful of leeches and mud and swamps. In short, be careful of everything." Li Zhi came to see him off. Lin Fucheng was a well-known opinion maker in the Ming Dynasty and had many friends. Only his old friend Li Zhi came to see him off, and he avoided everyone else like the plague.

Who knows if Lin Fucheng will be implicated when he is struck by lightning.

"Yes, I know." Lin Fucheng was still very worried about his exile. After all, it was an uncivilized place. Going to Java was more terrifying than going to Suiyuan. Suiyuan was just a little bit harder, but if you were not careful in Java, you would end up like Ren Qiubai's father from the Ren family, dying without a burial place.

"Do you know what the scholars in Songjiang Prefecture think about your arrest?" Li Zhi asked with emotion as he stood in the Guanhai Tower, looking at the surging sea in the distance.

Lin Fucheng said with a little embarrassment: "I don't know. I can't even take care of myself, so how can I care about other people's thoughts?"

"They hope you die." Li Zhi looked at Lin Fucheng meaningfully and said sincerely, "They really hope you die."

"No, I'm just a person with a lot of opinions. Why do they want me to die? We have no grudges against each other, why do they have such strong malice?!" Lin Fucheng was a little confused. Although he had a debate with many scholars and even won the debate against the emperor this time, it was just a verbal dispute. How could it be a life-and-death dispute?
Li Zhi said very clearly: "Because you are dead, it is easier to impeach Mr. Zhang, deny part of the new policy, and then deny your Majesty's behavior, and finally deny everything about the Wanli Reform. Some people are dead, which is the best card, such as you, who is known to almost all scholars in the Ming Dynasty."

"After all, you and I are the only ones whose opinions can be quoted many times in the court newspaper. If His Majesty had not said that you would not die outside and would keep your official position, you would be dead now. Regardless of whether it was His Majesty who did it, in the end it can only be His Majesty who did it."

"Keeping you in office is the greatest kindness His Majesty has shown you. If they dare to attack you, it would be like killing an official. Killing an official must be reported, strictly investigated, and thoroughly investigated."

Lin Fucheng is famous for his travel notes of Baoding Prefecture.

The Dibao, the only official newspaper of the Ming Dynasty, usually excerpted imperial edicts and important memorials. The entire article serialized Lin Fucheng's travel notes in Baoding, his study tour in Suiyuan, and the alienation of people from religion, power, and money. Lin Fucheng was indeed a world-famous opinion polluter.

Many people disliked him, but as long as he was alive, it represented that the channels for speech in the Ming Dynasty were not blocked. It was wrong to criticize the court by saying that the channels for speech were blocked and the scholars were speechless.

"This..." Lin Fucheng had never been in officialdom, and he was completely unaware of the seriousness of the matter. He only thought that His Majesty was merciful, but now he understood that the small official seal actually had such a purpose.

"Do you regret it?" Li Zhi was a little curious. Now that things had come to this point, did Lin Fucheng regret his actions?

"No regrets, I regret not speaking up. I saw the problem, but I couldn't solve it. I was very anxious, very anxious." Lin Fucheng said with certainty: "When I knew that Mr. Huang was His Majesty, I realized that my fifth-rank doctor of the Five Classics was real. His Majesty asked me to be the opinion speaker. I saw the problem, so I had to speak up."

"Brother Li, what is Songjiang Prefecture? It is the bridgehead of the Ming Dynasty's Wanli Reform and a very important battlefield for the Ming Dynasty's economy and culture. If what happened here is not contained, it will soon spread to the Southern Court, then Zhejiang, Huguang, and finally the entire Ming Dynasty."

"That's right. The specific problem I'm talking about is insurance. Using insurance as a cover to raise funds and lend money to run a money house, this kind of business practice will definitely spread from Songjiang Prefecture to the entire Ming Dynasty within a year, and it may even become something as harmful as Qingmiao money."

"Money makes money too quickly, and as long as you find a broker to take the blame, there won't be any responsibility to bear. If it's not contained, the spread will be very fast. Under the temptation of greed, all the achievements of the Wanli Reform will be turned into a dream bubble under this kind of speculation."

"When His Majesty confiscated the Ren and Chu families, I thought His Majesty would take drastic measures to rectify the situation, but His Majesty did not. Yao Guangqi was only a sixth-rank county magistrate, and his influence was not strong enough to convince His Majesty."

"I admit I was impatient, but I don't regret it."

Lin Fucheng knew what he was doing and was very impulsive, but he still wanted to do it. Out of trust in His Majesty and a perfect understanding of his own theory, he was willing to do it even if it meant martyrdom. He was a famous scholar.

He was not an official serving His Majesty, but serving the world and the people. When he knew that he was not appointed through the backdoor, but was recognized by His Majesty as a fifth-rank doctor of the Five Classics, he had a deeper understanding of the fact that officials are the incarnations of the monarch, different in name but the same in reality.

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Li Zhi said with a frown.

Lin Fucheng took a deep breath, looked at the vast sea and said, "You have been an official for a long time, and I have been an ordinary citizen for a long time. Do you know how much money the Ren family has made in the money bank business? One million and two thousand taels of silver in three years, two emperors' tombs! Among these one million and two thousand taels of silver, one million silver was earned in the eight months of this year. Don't you think this is scary enough?"

"It's like a snowball rolling in the snow, it gets bigger and bigger. This is just the debt of the Ren family alone. In the future, there will probably be thousands of similar Ren families rolling together. Have you ever thought about that scene?"

"Let's put it another way. If Sun Kehong hadn't restrained his greed and brought Songjiang Ocean Trading Company to participate, the scale would have increased hundreds of times in a year. Wouldn't Sun Kehong want to do that? He just didn't dare to. His roots are in the Ming Dynasty. If he caused such a big mess, His Majesty would definitely kill all his nine clans. But what's the point of killing all his nine clans?"

"The entire Songjiang Prefecture is no longer a world of fireworks, but a world of debt."

Only then did Li Zhi realize why Lin Fucheng was so angry.

"These merchants are really profit-driven. You don't understand this business, and you don't understand how this business makes money. They lend money at high interest rates, and don't even ask the borrowers to pay back the money. My ship is coming, and I won't say anything to you."

"Take care, Brother Li." Lin Fucheng said halfway when he saw his ship number rolling on the platform. It was time to board the ship and there was no more to say. Lin Fucheng was escorted to exile by four imperial guards. These four imperial guards were only responsible for sending him to Luzon. As for the future, Lin Fucheng could only fend for himself.

Of course, His Majesty kept his word and indeed asked the Imperial Guards to deliver a letter to Guoxing Zhengmao, asking him to take better care of this lazy scholar.

"Master Lin, take care on your journey." Li Zhi was so angry that his teeth itched. He said half of his words, and he really deserved to have his tongue cut off! But the man had already been exiled, so Li Zhi could only wish him a safe journey.

Lin Fucheng would not be troubled, as a higher-ranking official can crush a lower-ranking official. Officials in Beijing are two levels higher than officials outside the capital. The Governor's Office of Luzon and Jiugang is not even in the heartland of the Ming Dynasty, but an overseas Governor's Office. As a Beijing official, Lin Fucheng would only be a guest of honor in the Governor's Office, not a prisoner. How could a prisoner have an official seal and a hat and belt?

Li Zhi would soon understand why Lin Fucheng said that these money houses did not even expect borrowers to pay back the money.

The Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun looked at the endless stream of people in Wanlong Manor with a frosty face. Behind him were Zhang Juzheng, Qi Jiguang, Chen Lin, Wang Chonggu, Wang Guoguang and Wan Shihe. It was rare that the commander Zhao Mengyou was not by his majesty's side, because Zhao Mengyou had completely surrounded Wanlong Manor to ensure that not even a fly would escape.

As long as Qi Jiguang was there, Zhao Mengyou could do his work with peace of mind, because it meant that the Beijing camp was also there.

"Has Lin Fucheng got on board?" Zhu Yijun suddenly asked.

"It's time to leave the port now." Feng Bao said cautiously. The emperor in front of him was already full of anger and had to speak softly, for fear that his voice would be too loud and cause him trouble.

Zhu Yijun exhaled a breath of foul air and said calmly: "It's good to leave. In the next chapter, when we go to the Luzon Governor's Office, Lin Fucheng's ban will be lifted. We can stay outside for half a year and return to the heartland of the Ming Dynasty at any time. It's safe to stay outside for the next six months."

Zhang Hong hurriedly walked in from outside, accompanied by a few eunuchs, and kept sticking papers on a long board.

"Your Majesty, I have found out the situation in Wanlong Manor. It seems a bit complicated. Allow me to explain it to Your Majesty." Zhang Hong saw that the papers on the long board were completely pasted, then he asked Your Majesty to take a seat.

After Zhu Yijun sat down, all the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty took their seats. Except for His Majesty and Zhang Juzheng, no one knew what had happened. Something must have happened to make His Majesty so cold and the atmosphere so chilly.

"Let's start." Zhu Yijun said when he saw everyone was seated.

Zhang Hong nodded his head and accepted the order. Looking at the long board covered with papers, he was filled with emotion and was amazed at the rapid development of the Ming Dynasty.

"Both the Ren and Chu families used insurance as a pretext to compete with each other by offering high returns and amassing wealth. This has already happened and has been investigated. Yao Guangqi, the magistrate of Shanghai, actively cooperated with the Tax Inspection Office to conduct a thorough investigation of all the insurance companies in Songjiang Prefecture and found out who really controlled them."

"Baozhuang is a money house that mainly deals in insurance."

Zhang Hong looked at Wanlong Manor outside and continued, "On the first and fifteenth day of every month, the boss behind the village will hold a gathering in Wanlong Manor in front of us. This gathering is both a gathering and a meeting. This gathering must be for buying and selling, and what is bought and sold is IOUs or debts; and this meeting is to conduct a comprehensive inventory every month and determine some rules."

Zhu Yijun nodded and said, "Let's talk about the sale first."

Zhang Hong continued, "What's the most frightening thing about borrowing money? Not paying it back. This is the biggest drawback of traditional money houses. If you lend money but can't get it back, it's a bad debt. The threshold for Wanlong Bank is extremely high. If you don't have 200,000 taels of silver at home, you can't even know about this place. If you don't have 500,000 taels of silver, you can't even enter."

"Wanlongzhuang was established specifically to solve dead and bad debts. It was initially led by three owners. Now there are at least 30 owners in Wanlongzhuang."

"They classify debts with good credit and timely repayment as Class A debts, and the listing price of Class A debts is roughly equal to the income; they classify debts with good credit but difficult operation and can only be repaid with difficulty as Class B debts, and the listing price of Class B debts is lower than the income, but it is still profitable; debts with poor credit and unable to be repaid on time are classified as Class C debts, and the listing price will be discounted."

Zhang Hong had a long stick in his hand and pointed it at the long board.

The stickers on the long board were written down by the insider who sneaked into Wanlong Village. He pointed at them and said, "There aren't many Class A debts, and they're snapped up because the profits are guaranteed. Sometimes you have to bid to buy them. Class B debts are the most, and they can be bargained for. Class C debts aren't many, but there are people who buy them, and they can usually be bought at a 25% discount."

Zhang Hong explained what the lists he posted on the long board were.

"This is not right. Why should we sell this Class A debt? Can't we collect interest if we keep it? Why should we sell it at a discount? Look at the orders on the far left, they are all Class A. If we keep them, won't the profit be maximized?" Wang Guoguang asked with a frown as he looked at the orders on the long board, somewhat puzzled.

Wang Guoguang was an extreme conservative. The court would never go into debt if it could avoid it. The only time the court went into debt was when the court issued a national debt for Suiyuan Chidao and Suiyuan Mining. Later, the court sold some dividend shares in Yanxinglou to raise funds for the development of Suiyuan. After that, Wang Guoguang firmly opposed debt. He would get angry when the emperor talked to him about debt. Therefore, the Minister of Finance of the Ming Dynasty was a little confused. Class B and Class C were sold because there might be problems with the debt. Why were these Class A also sold, and at a discount? For example, most of the Class A interest rates were 30% per year, which was taels of silver (usually only taels were given), and taels had to be paid back at the end of the year, but the listing price of a -tael debt was often only taels.

"In order to recover funds quickly, we continue to borrow so that we can compound interest." Zhang Hong said after exhaling a breath.

"Huh?!" Wang Guoguang had never been in debt before and had a natural aversion to the word "debt". As the Minister of Finance, he immediately understood that putting the debt up for sale might seem to make less money by one or two taels of silver, but the twelve taels could be lent out again and turned into debt, which could then be sold again. In this way, wouldn't the money just keep getting bigger and bigger?
"The Chu family only had 30,000 taels of silver as capital, but after just three months, they turned it into 90,000 taels of silver. As a result, the Chu family didn't even want to do the opium business anymore because the money came in too slowly." Zhang Hong introduced the speed of accumulating money through this method, which caused the ministers present to talk about it.

At the beginning of the year, the Ming Emperor had 3500 million silver taels in the treasury. If this amounted to over million silver taels in three months, it would amount to over million silver taels.

“That Class C debt has problems at first glance, and it’s even a bad debt, but there are people who buy it?” Wang Chonggu realized that something was wrong. He originally thought that he had nothing to do with it, but it seemed that even he, the Minister of Justice, could not escape it. He was also involved in this.

Zhang Hong put the long stick away and said with certainty, "That's right, just like what Wang Cifu thought, these are all vagrant gangs that bought Class C debts, and then they demanded the debts. Their methods are very cruel, and they will not stop until the family is broken up. Selling children is common. County Magistrate Yao was wondering before, where did these vagrants in the city get so many IOUs?"

"As the saying goes, it is only natural to pay back debts. The government should not interfere too much. However, this fallen man has too many IOUs in his hands. The IOUs are from Wanlong Village. Among the three owners of Wanlong Village, one of them is from the Hailong Gang, the same Hailong Gang that made Governor Shen Shixing a fifth-rank doctor."

"Huh, damn it!" Wang Chonggu's mouth twitched. He was angry. He saw the names of two Shanxi merchants, and they were among them.

It doesn’t matter if this leader of the Jin Party is not qualified! Although the Labor Party also has problems of various kinds, it has never put Wang Chonggu, the umbrella of protection, under pressure, while the Jin Party has always put pressure on the umbrella.

Zhang Hong secretly glanced at His Majesty, and seeing that His Majesty still looked calm, he knew that there would probably be a river of blood again today.

Zhang Hong continued, "The owners of more than 30 Baozhuang can continue to lend money after selling their debts at Wanlongzhuang on the first and fifteenth day of every month. In just eight months, the debt transaction scale of Wanlongzhuang, a private trading fair with extremely high thresholds, has expanded from 600,000 silver to a terrifying scale of 1.8 million silver. And this 1.8 million silver is just the IOUs used for transactions."

"There are four private trade fairs like Wanlongzhuang in the entire Songjiang Prefecture with extremely high barriers to entry."

"Your Majesty, give the order!" Qi Jiguang stood up, and Chen Lin stood up immediately. The two bowed their heads and said, "What nonsense, kill, kill, kill! Killing cannot solve the problem, but it can solve the person who caused the problem."

Chen Lin said anxiously, "Your Majesty, if this evil is not eradicated, Songjiang will not be peaceful, and the world will not be at peace!"

The headquarters of the Songjiang Town Navy was in Sandu’ao, which was the nest of the Ming Dynasty Navy. All the new recruits were trained in Sandu’ao Bay, but the roots of the Songjiang Town Navy were in Songjiang Prefecture. The families of the Navy, the Navy’s food fields, the Navy’s schools, and everything about the Navy were all in Songjiang Prefecture.

If Songjiang Prefecture were to fall into ruin, wouldn't their navy become homeless children?
The Beijing Army cannot sit idly by and watch the Ming capital being occupied by the northern barbarians, and the Navy cannot allow Songjiang Prefecture to become so corrupt. It is a binding relationship in which both sides prosper together and suffer together.

Everyone looked at the emperor, waiting for his order, but the emperor was unusually silent. He just sat there quietly without saying a word.

Zhang Juzheng shuddered violently, and a chill rushed from his coccyx to the top of his head. The thing he was most worried about was happening right before his eyes.

There seemed to be a fleeting aura of decadence on His Majesty. This was what he feared the most. He had seen this kind of decadence before. It was in the 26th year of Jiajing when he submitted a memorial to the emperor and saw it on Emperor Jiajing.

This kind of dejection is called discouragement and disappointment.

But at this moment, Zhang Juzheng can do nothing, and Your Majesty has to figure it out for himself.

After a long time, Zhu Yijun looked around at the court officials, stood up again, walked to the long board, took down the notices one by one, and whispered: "My new policy, my Ming Dynasty, everyone told me that the Wanli Reform has achieved fruitful results."

"Songjiang Prefecture is the pearl of the world and the world trade center. The trade throughput here is enough to buy out the whole of England in just three years. Songjiang Prefecture, the bridgehead for opening up the sea, is the greatest achievement of the Wanli Reform. But now, it has been stolen."

"The Grand Tutor has always told me that most of this silver is flowing in. Silver is the hard-earned money of the people of the Ming Dynasty. It is the hard work of the people of the Ming Dynasty, and it is exchanged for goods. But the guys in Wanlongzhuang are accumulating money, using debt to roll over debt, constantly expanding debt, and accumulating all the silver for private use."

"What is a ruler? Suppress private interests and promote public benefit."

"I didn't do it. It's my fault."

Zhu Yijun turned around, stood up straight, shook himself, and said with a smile: "But fortunately, it's not too late."

"At least I still have the elite soldiers of the Beijing camp and the navy to call upon. I can overturn the table before the debt expands to the military camp. By then, I won't even be able to command the soldiers. How can I overturn the table?"

"General Qi, Lord Shuri, thank you for taking good care of Songjiang Prefecture and making sure it does not become a mess."

"We obey your order!" Qi Jiguang and Chen Lin immediately obeyed the order and left to make arrangements.

When His Majesty summoned the important officials, he asked Qi Jiguang and Chen Lin to bring the lieutenant general. Qi Jiguang and Chen Lin knew that something was going to happen, and the soldiers were on high alert. The method was still the old one. The Beijing camp and the navy took over the city defense and imposed martial law. Even if there were no city walls, they could block the roads, put up a few large fences, and send out soldiers to patrol.

The Tiqi were responsible for arresting people and confiscating their homes.

"Bring the dragon flag and the big banner here." Zhu Yijun said to Feng Bao.

(The imperial decree ordered the manufacture of the round dragon flag and the large dragon flag banner.)
The dragon flag of the Ming Dynasty is vermilion in color. It was originally intended for ships to hang to confirm their identities, but later became the flag used by the Ming emperor. The Ming Fire Virtue has a red background with a dragon pattern. The red background is made of Brazilian rosewood dyed vermilion, and the dragon pattern is woven with Suzhou embroidery gold thread. The dragon flag in Zhu Yijun's hand is woven with pure gold thread made of gold hammered foil and twisted thread. This is the only side of the Ming Dynasty woven with pure gold thread, the rest are all golden threads.

Who made Zhu Yijun so stingy? He was unwilling to spend money to weave so many golden flags.

Zhu Yijun walked to the railing, waved the big flag vigorously, inserted the flag on the railing, and looked towards Wanlong Manor.

Zhao Mengyou had been looking at the second floor where His Majesty was. When the dragon flag was waving, Zhao Mengyou stood up and began to move towards Wanlongzhuang. The Ti cavalry who had been lying in ambush appeared out of thin air and walked out from the streets and alleys, like streams flowing into rivers. When Zhao Mengyou arrived at the street corner, the Ti cavalry even pulled out the nine-jin cannon.

"His Majesty has ordered: if there is resistance, kill without mercy! All the leaders of the criminal justice teams must obey orders and not let anyone go!" Zhao Mengyou drew out the Embroidered Spring Sword, raised it over his head, and pointed it in the direction of Wanlongzhuang.

The size of the Ti cavalry has always been small, with a total of only 3,000 people in the North Yamen, and a slightly smaller number of only 2,700 people in the South Yamen, which is less than two infantry battalions at most. Today, there are only 1,500 Ti cavalry in Wanlong Village, but it is enough. With the quality of the Ti cavalry soldiers and the level of armaments, as long as the military supplies are guaranteed, it is enough to fight from Normandy to Moscow in the west.

Zhu Yijun stood at the railing and watched the chaos in Wanlong Village.

"Your Majesty..." Zhang Juzheng said in a low voice with great concern: "Your Majesty, among the 120 million people in the Ming Dynasty, it is normal for there to be a few bad guys. Don't worry about it."

"Sir, I'm fine." Zhu Yijun smiled brightly and said, "I'm just a little annoyed. I didn't act earlier, but I'm also a little glad that it's not too late. If this evil wind blew across the entire Ming Dynasty, it would be too late by then."

"At that time, I really can't handle it, and I'm afraid you can't handle it either."

Disappointed? Not to that extent. Zhu Yijun just felt a little disappointed.

The court could still handle the debt as it was at its current scale. The number of people was small and the scale was not large, so the court could count the debt bit by bit, return the money accumulated by these people to the victims, and recover the IOUs as a bottom line. If the debt was larger, not to mention Zhang Juzheng, even Zhu Yijun would not be able to afford it even if he sold himself.

All the owners of Wanlongzhuang hired brokers to manipulate the situation and hid behind the scenes. All the profits were theirs, while the risks were shared by all classes in the Ming Dynasty. This kind of behavior was that of a thief who stole the country, and Zhu Yijun had no choice but to kill him.

He who steals a hook will be put to death, and he who steals a country will be made a marquis. As long as the situation has not become too big to fall or to be dispersed, there are ways to deal with it. If he really makes the thief of the country a marquis, then Zhu Yijun would be unqualified as an emperor.

The Ming Dynasty is his, Zhu Yijun's, Ming Dynasty, and he has to be responsible for it.

"I am just a commoner, how can I have such great abilities?" Zhang Juzheng hurriedly bowed his head and said. He was indeed the Taifu, but he was not omnipotent. The Ming Dynasty court was extremely conservative, and Zhang Juzheng, a reformist, was also very conservative. He did not dare to imagine what a terrible scene it would be if this evil wind swept across the Ming Dynasty.

By then, Zhang Juzheng would be a historical sinner, and the entire Ming Dynasty's revival would be broken.

Fortunately, it's not too late.

"Your Majesty, what about these people?" Wang Chonggu asked His Majesty for his advice on how to deal with them.

"kill."

"Kill the main culprit. Every one of them in this den of evil in Wanlongzhuang will be beheaded and displayed to the public. After their properties are confiscated, all their family members will be exiled to Java. Tell Guoxing Zhengmao and Zhang Yuanxun to be careful and don't let these people steal." Zhu Yijun issued a very cruel order, and heads rolled again.

Wang Chonggu shook his head and said, "Without the Ming Dynasty, they are nothing. The wolves and tigers outside can eat them alive."

"That's right." Zhu Yijun agreed with Wang Chonggu's statement very much. He smiled and said to everyone, "Tomorrow, I will be criticized by the scholars. They will say that I am destroying the business environment of Songjiang Prefecture and that I am an old antique and a stubborn old man who runs a pawnshop business."

The reason why the emperor was scolded was that all the banks and even the money houses would face a run.

(End of this chapter)