Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 301 Persuasion
"Master, what if Chase Bank can't get out the money in four months?" Jin Dong poured a cup of tea for Li Qiang and asked curiously.

"If you can't get the money, just use the properties of Datong Bank and the six major merchants!" Li Qiang replied with a smile.

"Datong Bank has a history of more than a hundred years, and its influence spreads all over the government and the public." Jin Dong reminded softly.

"To be honest, I'm really not afraid of people defaulting on their debts!" ​​Li Qiang was in a great mood and said with a smile.

Four months is just the right time. There will be a martial arts show on Chang'an Street in three months. After that, it will be up to the six major merchants to see if they dare to confront him.

As for the 90 million taels of cash, Li Qiang didn't believe that the six major merchants could all mobilize it in four months.

Although Daqian had a lot of money, most of it was kept in the mansion by major families.

The banknotes issued by Chase Bank may have actually contained so much money before, but Chase Bank wanted to invest and lend out large sums of money to earn more profits.

Based on Li Qiang's understanding of the banking industry of later generations, even the banks of later generations will not have too much cash. They will only retain a basic amount in circulation, and the rest will be used for investment by various parties.

Li Qiang took out 90 million taels of silver notes at once. With so much cash, even if Datong Bank was the largest bank in Daqian, it would be difficult to get this money.

"You mean the prince took 90 million taels of silver notes and went to Datong Bank to exchange them for cash?" the Supreme Emperor asked, not daring to confirm.

"I have randomly checked them. All the banknotes randomly checked are genuine. There are banknote numbers from Jiangnan and Beijing banknotes. They were all issued by my bank, Datong Bank!" Storekeeper Tan replied bitterly.

If the ninety million taels of silver are really exchanged to the prince, Datong Bank will be finished. Regardless of whether it can collect the cash, even if it is collected, once Datong Bank's behavior triggers a run, Datong Bank will also be finished. .

With the energy of their six families, even the prince would have to consider the connections they could use.

Still in the private room on the second floor, this time the shopkeeper Tan and the six talkers were there.

"In the Jiangnan Salt Affairs, Lin Ruhai, Lord Lin, gave the prince his share of 50,000 salt quotations at that time!" Dai Quan thought for a moment and replied.

"Ninety million taels of silver, how old is this prince? Doesn't it mean that he didn't lay the foundation at the beginning and he worked hard all by himself?" the Luo family talker asked in confusion.

On the other side, after receiving the news that Datong Bank was talking about the big shopkeeper, the talkers from the six major merchants in Beijing hurried to Datong Bank headquarters.

The other speakers agreed to the proposal, but they did not consider whether Li Qiang would approve it.

In his opinion, this is not a big deal at all. There is not much difference between bringing salt to a big salt merchant and giving it to an imperial envoy.

Li Qiang had just returned to the East Palace from court, when someone came to inform him that the Prince of Nan'an had arrived.

Although he was willing to completely delegate power to Li Qiang, he didn't want any spies to appear around him.

He has detailed information about Li Qiang in his hands, and he knows almost everything Li Qiang is doing in various places.

"agree!"

"Everyone, we accept this money, but four months is definitely not enough. Let someone talk to the prince and give us one year to prepare!" said the Shu family's talker.

"Oh, is it possible that the crown prince knew about the fact that Academician Deng came to complain?" The Supreme Emperor said as he looked at the eunuchs in the distance with lightning eyes.

There was indeed money, but much of it was turned into fields and shops, and even more was lent out to collect interest.

Six major merchants worked hard and the results soon showed.

"agree!"

"Ninety million taels of silver, where do you think he got it?" The Supreme Emperor shook his head and said.

"When Academician Deng came to the Daming Palace, someone would tell the prince because of the prince's influence in the palace. At that time, when academician Deng came to the Daming Palace, the prince would be able to guess what was going on!" Dai Quan quickly explained. .

This is not a small amount. Shopkeeper Tan thought that Datong Bank, which was located all over Daqian, had so much cash.

Just these families can have 90 million taels of silver, which is really unbelievable.

If all the suspicions were placed on Li Qiang, then Li Qiang would have stolen the guns from the Beijing Prince's Palace, the Zhongshun Prince's Palace, the four Duke's Palaces, and the houses of a small number of officials.

In the Daming Palace, the Supreme Emperor looked at the information sent by Dai Quan in surprise.

Yanyin is just a certificate for the distribution of salt. You still need to pay silver to buy salt with Yanyin. What the big salt merchants make is the profit from selling salt.

But as the talkative person of the six families in Beijing, he knows more than the big shopkeeper Tan.

"Thank you, Master!" Dai Quan bowed and thanked him.

But apart from this explanation, there is no way to explain where Li Qiang got the 90 million taels of silver.

"Actually, the reason why the prince exchanged the banknotes was probably because of the great scholar Deng!" Dai Quan looked around and said softly when he found that no one was there.

"This time your guess is quite accurate!" The Supreme Emperor smiled and nodded.

Emperor Jingwen was crazy about poverty at the time, and arranged for Li Qiang to go to Jiangnan Salt Affairs alone to investigate. Part of the money Li Qiang received belonged to Emperor Jingwen.

"Master, this is true. The prince just left Datong Bank, and the heads of the six major merchants in Beijing rushed to Datong Bank!" Dai Quan replied affirmatively.

"agree!"

"He is more courageous than me. He actually attacked Datong Bank directly to see if he can cash out the money!" The Supreme Emperor said with emotion.

"I know about the Jiangnan Salt Affairs. Who should be given 50,000 pieces of salt? The imperial envoy went over to do a lot of work. It's not like he didn't give money for the share of tens of thousands of pieces of salt. Besides, even if the prince starts from 50,000 pieces of salt, he will not be given money. The benefits gained from salt are only a few million taels of silver!" The Supreme Emperor said, knowing this matter very well.

……

"How come the prince has so many banknotes, but they are all real?" the Ning family's talker asked in a deep voice.

Dai Quan was also amazed. He could be considered greedy, but the money in his hands was probably not even a fraction of Li Qiang's.

"Could it be from those mansions?" Dai Quan suddenly said with a strange expression.

"You mean the ones who were stolen or robbed? It's possible, but there are too many of them. They are so greedy!" The Supreme Emperor understood what Dai Quan was talking about. He was not angry with Li Qiang; Angry at the officials who were stolen and robbed.

The Prince of Nan'an County, wearing a white python suit with a smile on his face, greeted Li Qiang who came out.

"Uncle Wang, why are you here free? Please come in quickly!" Li Qiang gently helped Prince Nan'an and asked with a smile.

"Since the prince moved into the East Palace, I haven't been here yet, so I came here specifically to walk around!" Prince Nan'an entered the main hall with a smile.

The two sat down in separate seats, and Li Qiang invited Jin Dong to serve tea.

"Good tea!" Nan'an County Prince took a sip of tea and praised. Li Qiang looked at Prince Nan'an with a smile. Although the tea was good, it was definitely not worthy of Prince Nan'an's praise.

Because this is not the tea in the palace, but the Buddhist tea that he asked people to take from the Buddhist temple to help him understand Buddhism.

Only those who practice Buddhism can feel the Buddhist meaning in Buddhist tea. In fact, this tea is far inferior to the top tea in the palace.

"Uncle Wang, is there something wrong?" Li Qiang saw that Prince Nan'an was here for something, and he had no time to talk around with him, so he asked directly.

"It's something. I heard that you went to Datong Bank to exchange cash?" Prince Nan'an put down the teacup. He was also thinking about how to get to the point. When Li Qiang took the initiative to talk about it, he followed suit.

"Uncle Wang has a banknote from Chase Bank in his hand. If so, I advise you to exchange it for cash as soon as possible, otherwise the banknote may become a piece of waste paper!" Li Qiang said with a concerned look. .

"Datong Bank is the largest bank in Daqian, how can we not exchange the money!" Prince Nan'an shook his head and said.

"Really, I couldn't cash out the cash. The shopkeeper wanted me to get the money after half a year!" Li Qiang said seriously.

"I'm here just for this matter. Can you please give Datong Bank a little more grace?" Prince Nan'an said, thinking of being entrusted by someone.

"Uncle Wang, this involves ninety million taels of silver. Are you really willing to guarantee it?" Li Qiang sat up straight and asked in a deep voice.

The Prince of Nan'an County was startled. Although he heard that the prince exchanged a large amount of cash this time, he did not expect that there would be such a large amount.

"If Uncle Wang is willing to guarantee it, Jin Dong!" After speaking, Li Qiang turned to look at Jin Dong aside, and then ordered: "Create a guarantee document and have Uncle Wang sign it!"

"Prince, there is no need to guarantee this!" Prince Nan'an refused repeatedly.

"Uncle Wang, just one word from you will cost me ninety million taels of silver?" Li Qiang stood up and looked at Prince Nan'an and said.

His aura suddenly rose, making the hair on Prince Nan'an's body stand up.

Prince Nan'an felt that he was not facing a human being, but a ferocious beast that chose people to eat.

"That's not what I meant, I just wanted to be a mediator and give you a period of grace!" Prince Nan'an tried his best to explain.

"I gave Chase Bank four months to collect the cash, how long do you want the grace period to be?" Li Qiang took back some of her momentum and asked in a deep voice.

"One year!" Prince Nan'an held out a finger and said.

"Jin Dong, write a document. If Datong Bank does not deliver 90 million taels of cash within one year, we will take back the fief and title of Nan'an County Prince!" Li Qiang turned to Jin Dong again and ordered.

"No, that's not what I meant!" How dare Prince Nan'an sign this document? If the money from Chase Bank is not collected, wouldn't he be deprived of everything?

"Uncle Wang, you don't believe that Datong Bank can give you money, so why do you dare to come to my place to be a man? Do you think I'm easy to bully?" Li Qiang said coldly.

At this time, many familiar figures flashed through the mind of Prince Nan'an, including Prince Beijing and Prince Zhongshun. They all offended Li Qiang, who was still a Marquis at the time, and their families were ruined.

Only then did he realize what kind of existence was in front of him.

He only felt a coldness rushing from his scalp to the soles of his feet. At this moment, he regretted it extremely.

Why did he come to make peace with Li Qiang just for a favor?

His relationship with Li Qiang was that they had met at royal family gatherings and court meetings. There was not much friendship between them.

"It was my fault, I don't care about this matter!" Prince Nan'an said repeatedly. He saluted Li Qiang and left decisively.

But when he left, he always felt like there was a gaze staring at him from behind.

"No, prepare generous gifts when you get back, and don't antagonize the prince!" he thought as he walked.

Rather than being emptied out by the prince, it is better to take the initiative and give more gifts to let Li Qiang let him go.

Not long after Nan'an County Prince left, Xining County Prince also came to the East Palace.

The Prince of Xining County was also talking to Li Qiang as a broker, but he was also asked by Li Qiang to create a guarantee document.

Finally, he exited the East Palace in embarrassment. Only when he exited the gate of the East Palace did he see Prince Nan'an and the long line of gift carriages behind him.

"Prince Nan'an, what are you doing?" Prince Xining saw so many carriage gifts and didn't quite understand why Prince Nan'an came to give gifts.

"You didn't come to the East Palace because of Datong Bank, right?" Prince Nan'an looked at Prince Xining with sympathy and asked.

"Exactly!" Prince Xining had no intention of hiding anything and nodded.

"I was one step ahead of you, and this is not an apology coming back to my hometown!" Prince Nan'an shook his head and said.

"Apologies?" Prince Xining still didn't understand the reason.

"Think about King Beijing, think about Prince Zhongshun, and then think about the fate of those who offended the prince. The cheapest thing is to lose the property in the palace. Instead of that, it is better to offer an apology!" Prince Nan'an said bitterly.

He ignored Prince Xining and took out the gift list from his arms as he walked.

After he returned to his mansion, he almost emptied the palace's treasury in order to prepare an apology as quickly as possible.

He remembered that when several families had just offended Li Qiang, the house was robbed.

The Prince of Xining stood there for a moment. He thought about what Prince Nan'an said. The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. He suddenly jumped up and ran wildly.

He also wanted to return home quickly, prepare enough generous gifts, and ask for Li Qiang's forgiveness.

Li Qiang did not expect that the two county princes would come to marry him, and they successively sent apology gifts.

The amount of apology surprised him.

The apology alone was no less than 300,000 taels of silver, and the two county and prince mansions were gifts of more than 600,000 taels of silver.

"Datong Bank is really powerful. It didn't take long for the two princes to come forward and see who else comes!" Li Qiang held two gift lists and said to herself with a faint smile on her face.

"Jin Dong!" Li Qiang thought of something and shouted. When Jin Dong came to his side, he continued: "Go and investigate the properties of the six major merchants behind Datong Bank. The more detailed the better, and at the same time order the troops from all over the place to help me." Keep an eye on these businesses!”

"Yes, Master!" Jin Dong bowed and responded.

He thought about the possibility that his actions would cause other people to have a credibility crisis at Chase Bank. If that were the case, as long as some people took banknotes to Chase Bank to exchange cash, there would be a high possibility of a run. tide.

By then, he might not be able to get back his 90 million taels of silver, so he asked people to keep an eye on the properties of the six major merchants behind Datong Bank. If this happened, those properties would be his.

(End of this chapter)