Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 628 I originally wanted to play happily with you all as an ordinary person.

Zhu Houzhao and Zhang Rui visited several more money shops, but the panic caused by the drop in the value of the paper money far exceeded their expectations.

All the money shops were crowded with people rushing to sell their precious notes.

The exchange rate for paper money also quickly dropped from "three strings of cash for one coin" to "ten strings of cash for one coin".

Zhang Rui wanted to go home and get rid of it several times, but because Zhu Houzhao kept holding him back, he had no chance to send a message.

He could only watch helplessly as his family's wealth went from a large loss to a huge loss, and then to a complete loss.

According to the last shopkeeper, the reason why the price of the paper money could be held at ten strings of cash was because an insider said that the overall cost of the inner transport warehouse was around twenty-five strings of cash, and the cost of Zhang Rui, the eunuch of the Eastern Depot, should be about two strings of cash to one coin.

The fact that the emperor and Eunuch Zhang from the Eastern Depot were willing to make a purchase at this price suggests that this paper money must have some merit.

In particular, the purchase price of Zhang Rui's father-in-law is now almost negligible at the current acquisition price.

They wouldn't believe that the Eastern Depot had no inside stories.

After hearing this, Zhang Rui felt even more distressed than the day he had just had Xiao Kunkun cut off.

Zhu Houzhao's face turned ashen as he listened. He called Lu Yin and Zhang Rui aside and asked, "Where is the cost of our precious paper money?"

Lu Yin and Zhang Rui couldn't answer for a moment.

He hurriedly summoned his subordinates and eunuchs to inquire, but they hesitated for a long time before calling his subordinates to take charge.

Finally, a few minor clerks borrowed from the Xixin Division provided a more accurate figure.

"Initially, the cost was around 20,000 taels, which was 15 strings of cash. Later, the cost was around 30,000 taels, which was 45 strings of cash. When additional purchases were made, the price of paper money had already risen significantly, generally to more than 5 strings of cash."

"The cost of the silver expenditures and the paper money received should be calculated at 24 strings of cash to one coin."

When Zhu Houzhao heard that the shopkeeper had explained his own costs in such detail, his face turned somewhat ferocious.

As the emperor, he secretly bought up banknotes at rock-bottom prices. As a result, not only was he questioned by the censors in the court, but even an ordinary shopkeeper could find out his costs.

Does the Ming Dynasty imperial palace still hold any secrets?

This is practically humiliating him like Emperor Hui of Jin!
He glared at Lu Yin and Zhang Rui with a menacing look, "Who did this?"

Upon seeing this, Lu Yin and Zhang Rui hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, the chief eunuch, the head of the department, the clerk, and the head of the rank in charge of this matter all knew nothing about the final cost calculation. Your Majesty witnessed this with your own eyes, so we are all innocent."

"It must have been done by those low-ranking officials from the Xixin Division who were temporarily transferred to the post."

This innocence certificate was so perfect that Zhu Houzhao couldn't find anything wrong with it for a moment.

He immediately shouted, "Take those people down and find out who they are colluding with!"

The two men accepted the order with trepidation.

But Zhu Houzhao's expression was cold, and his eyes still flashed with a fierce light.

—I wanted to play happily with you as an ordinary person, but instead I was met with malicious scheming.

Damn it, I'm done playing this game, I'm laying my cards on the table!
Zhu Houzhao turned around, staring intently at Zhang Rui, and asked, "Have you found the printing plates you mentioned before?"

"Printing plate?" Zhang Rui was still in a daze and subconsciously asked, "What printing plate?"

Zhu Houzhao said coldly, "It's the printing plate for the Ming Dynasty's precious paper money."

Zhang Rui nodded quickly and subconsciously, "Found it, found it."

After all, it was he who proposed this to the emperor, so Zhang Rui took it quite seriously.

"This old servant found a total of ten printing plates. Judging from the internal records, there should be another twenty printing plates kept in the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao's face twisted into a ferocious expression.

"Good! Go back and immediately organize people to start printing the Great Ming Treasure Notes!"

"Ten strings of cash for one coin? I'll sell!"

"Twenty strings of cash for one coin? I'll sell it!"

"Even if the price falls below cost, to thirty or forty strings of cash, I will sell!"

"I want to see who has the final say on the Great Ming Treasure Notes!"

When Zhang Rui understood Zhu Houzhao's meaning, his face turned deathly pale.

Zhu Houzhao instructed Zhang Rui, "Go ahead and do it boldly, understand?"

Zhang Rui's lips moved slightly, and he said, "This old servant will remember."

When Zhang Rui returned home in a daze, he immediately sent someone to summon his younger brother Zhang Xiong, who was on duty at the Imperial Horse Stables.

When Zhang Xiong heard that the price of the paper money had fallen to "ten strings of cash for one coin", he felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Just six months ago, he and his brother were managing the imperial estate in Tianjin, earning a thousand taels of silver a year and living a happy and fulfilling life.

Unexpectedly, as their status rose rapidly, before they could even fully realize the value of their power, they were repeatedly forced to spend their own money while carrying out missions.

Although they always completed the tasks assigned by the emperor brilliantly on paper, their once warm and wealthy little family visibly began to struggle financially.

Both of them were very confident about this round of speculation on the precious paper.

The matter of re-collecting paper money involved a petition from the Treasury, a proposal from the Ministry of Revenue, and a draft by the Grand Secretariat. Once the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs stamped the document, an imperial edict could be issued directly.

There's no problem with the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs affixing its seal; Lu Yin has already been fired!
I've heard that Lu Yin has even more banknotes in his possession.

Even the emperor Zhu Houzhao, the only one who could intervene, also engaged in speculation, using the remaining cash from the Imperial Treasury.

But with so many powerful figures involved, why are we still losing money as the market speculates on it?

Zhang Xiong didn't understand.

Just as Zhang Xiong was in a daze, Zhang Rui told him some shocking news.

—The Emperor is about to print paper money!

The news shocked Zhang Xiong so much that his hands and feet went numb.

After a long while, Zhang Xiong said to Zhang Rui with a distorted expression, "This paper money can't be printed!"

The value of paper money will collapse immediately once it is printed.

The precious paper they borrowed to buy would soon become worthless.

Zhu Houzhao can afford to play this game. The current price is still above his cost, so even if he cashes out everything, he can still make a small profit.

Afterwards, he could use the newly printed banknotes to smash the market and teach a lesson to those who had played him for this.

Anyway, the paper money was already almost obsolete before, so even if it was smashed to pieces, it would still be the same old thing.

At least he got his satisfaction.

But it's a different story for the Zhang brothers.

Whether they can repay the loan from the Marquis of Shouning's bank is still uncertain, and they are hoping for a rebound in the value of the paper money.

Zhang Rui had already figured things out on his way home.

He whispered to Zhang Xiong, "I'll bring the printing plates out tonight. Find someone to add more copper rust pits to the plates and make them look old. See if that can dissuade the emperor." Zhang Xiong reminded him, "There are still twenty printing plates in Nanjing."

Zhang Rui rubbed his forehead, his eyes already somewhat numb. "Let's deal with the immediate problem first."

After saying that, he remembered something and stared at Zhang Xiong, saying, "This matter must not be leaked again."

Zhang Xiong was a ruthless man, and immediately said, "I understand."

Just as the two were nervously discussing and trying to stop Zhu Houzhao from printing money.

Pei Yuan was also secretly discussing this matter with Lu Yin.

Pei Yuan asked Lu Yin with some surprise, "You said he wants to print money? He's printing money now? Is he a sore loser?"

Lu Yin said, "Zhang Rui mentioned it to His Majesty before, in order to curry favor, that we could look for the printing plates of the previous paper money."

"This time, His Majesty was angered by the merchants and wanted to retaliate, so he remembered this matter and sent Zhang Rui to do it boldly. However, Zhang Rui, who has gained favor, doesn't seem to be very happy."

As Lu Yin spoke, he asked Pei Yuan, "Have you sold your own banknotes?"

Pei Yuan nodded, "They were sold around the same time as your precious notes. I have quite a bit of money in my account now, and I plan to use it to protect the price of the precious notes later."

Pei Yuan's two major burdens were Lu Yin's 150,000 taels and Xiao Ying's 100,000 taels.

Pei Yuan handled the distribution of Lu Yin's banknotes, and the shipment went very smoothly.

After receiving Pei Yuan's reminder, Xiao Ying observed the situation for a longer period, resulting in a significant reduction in his profits.

As for Bi Zhen, Wang Chang, Li Shishi, and their underlings, Pei Yuan also fulfilled his duty to remind them.

Their share is small, and even if there are a few unsold items, they probably wouldn't dare to hold Pei Yuan responsible after he gave them a high-level warning.

Gu Dayong was far away in Shandong, and the share allocated to him was not large, so he just did it casually.

In other words, the 700,000 taels of silver that Pei Yuan initially set the price for has now become his personal property.

Pei Yuan's subsequent actions involved taking the extra portion from these underlings.

That portion was locked into the Grand Monk's fund at a price of "five strings of paper money for one coin".

After Pei Yuan successfully sold at a high price, the fund also saw a floating profit of over 1.1 million taels.

After Shi Buyi was arrested and Yun Weilin successfully rescued Shi Buyi's illegitimate son, the Daheshang Foundation experienced unprecedented growth.

The total amount has reached more than 2.7 million taels.

For many eminent monks, they did not expect to profit from this fund; its main purpose was to provide security for their concubines and illegitimate children.

If the fund's reliability is further verified, it wouldn't be unreasonable to have them pay a management fee out of their own pocket.

Therefore, Pei Yuan felt that the fact that they had used more than 300,000 taels of silver to earn back more than 1.1 million taels of silver completely deviated from the original intention of establishing the fund.

When the time is right, the profits will have to be withdrawn.

With that principal of over 2.7 million taels, it was more than enough to establish a price barrier for the paper money.

Even if you only make a small profit temporarily, you will still reap a rich reward in the long run.

Judging from the statistics of Pei Yuan's thirteen money shops, although the total amount of those scattered exchanges was astonishing, it was also clear that a large amount of funds were flowing in.

This money was likely purchased from various money shops in a scattered manner, but because many people had similar ideas, it formed a certain amount of combined financial flow.

This is also the main force driving the continuous rise in the price of the Treasure Note.

Pei Yuan had already carefully checked the accounts. The sell-offs at these thirteen money shops were mainly small-scale transactions, and those big fish that had slipped in should not have escaped.

Of course, it's also possible that they absconded from another money exchange.

However, Pei Yuan felt that the possibility was unlikely.

The early investors who were bearish on the Baochao (宝钞) and those who shorted it were probably similar to Pei Yuan; they all sold at yesterday's high.

The new money coming in is probably just for profit.

However, they didn't expect the waters to be so deep, leaving them no room to maneuver.

The chairman was already furious, and even the company secretary was caught in a trap.

As for those who want to short the Baochao (precious banknotes), their methods are very simple. They don't need to use the Baochao they hold to dump the money; they only need to control a certain number of banks and change the redemption ratio.

As long as we lower the exchange rate of the precious paper money, and you dare to buy, I dare to sell; it all depends on whether you dare to continue buying.

Don't dare to buy? Then let's keep lowering the price!

Thinking about all this, Pei Yuan realized even more how crucial Yun Buxian's advice had been.

Lu Yin was puzzled by Pei Yuan's words. "Why are you protecting the precious paper money? We've already made enough, haven't we? This precious paper money is about to fail, and His Majesty is about to start printing more. Getting involved in this matter will only be a thankless task."

Pei Yuan sighed and uttered a sentence that Lu Yin could not empathize with.

—"This is for the long-term benefit of our descendants."

After hearing this, Lu Yin put his hands in his pockets.

You have Kunkun and you think you're so high and mighty, but where are your descendants?
I also have a nephew!
Fortunately, Eunuch Lu was a man of principle and did not directly provoke Commander Pei.

Lu Yin then asked another question, "I see that many people are selling off their precious notes now. At what price do you plan to support the price?"

Pei Yuan spoke frankly, "It's the position of the five strings of cash I promised you."

Lu Yin was surprised to hear this, "But now it has dropped to ten strings of cash for one coin."

Pei Yuan said, "My shops are currently buying goods at market prices."

Lu Yin looked at Pei Yuan in confusion, "Didn't you say you wanted to guarantee the price?"

Pei Yuan explained, "The people are in a great state of panic right now, and it would be very difficult to stop them if we tried. The capital is so big, and there are countless families with spare money."

"With the current hype surrounding the precious paper money, the money in the accounts alone is far from enough."

"Even if I do my best to hold the price at five strings of cash and give those people some confidence, those who hold the paper money will still worry about the price falling and will eventually dump all their paper money on me."

"But what use would I have for those precious notes?"

"Even if I have enough silver, if the final result is that I have to redeem all the paper money that the Ming Dynasty has been issuing for so many years, and make paper money disappear from the stage, then what is the point of me doing all this?"

"What I want is for those people to hold the precious paper in their own hands, and for the precious paper to eventually circulate in full."

"Since they're worried about a drop, let it drop anyway."

“After the price of the precious paper falls, I will bring it back up. That way, firstly, my costs will be lower, and secondly, I can give those who bought at a low price a sense of gain.”

"Even if most people lose money on the paper money, as long as I let a small number of people profit from it, the game can continue."

Lu Yin was slightly shocked by Pei Yuan's ambition.

After pondering the meaning behind Pei Yuan's words, Lu Yin calmly reminded him, "All of this is predicated on you stopping His Majesty from restarting the printing of paper money."

(End of this chapter)