Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 275 The fake emperor appears, poisonous

The night fell, and the darkness was as black as ink, covering the Ning Palace.

A breeze passed quietly, bringing with it a hint of early autumn coolness, gently swaying the flowers, plants, and trees in the mansion. The maids and servants had already gone to bed, leaving only silence in the mansion, with only the lanterns hanging along the corridor still faithfully emitting a soft, dim light.

Although the light was not very bright, it was enough to outline the contours of the columns and eaves, adding a touch of warmth to the quiet night. Between the interweaving of light and shadow, occasionally a few fallen leaves danced in the wind and slowly fell, adding a touch of the coolness and bleakness of autumn.

At this moment, in the basement of the mansion.

Torches were lit in the large underground space, and Prince Ning was drinking with the Zhengtong Emperor, Xu Bin, Yuan Bin, and Wu Xingdao. After a few drinks, the Zhengtong Emperor smiled and said, "At least the food is good if we hide here."

"Your Majesty, just tell me what you want to eat and I will get it for you." King Ning said with a smile.

"It's okay for me to go out for a walk, isn't it?" said the Zhengtong Emperor. "Isn't it said that there are many foreigners in the capital now? If I dress up as a Westerner, wearing a headscarf and covering my face, who can recognize me?"

Wu Xingdao nodded and said, "It's okay to go out occasionally, but not too often. If the Jinyiwei knew that there were a few foreigners hiding in Prince Ning's mansion, they would definitely come to investigate."

Prince Ning seemed to be thinking about something, and then said, "I will invite a few guests from the Western Regions to visit my mansion recently, to eat, drink and have fun. Then, Your Majesty, you can find time to go out for a stroll, preferably at night, but only occasionally."

"I understand." The orthodox emperor nodded.

Prince Ning sighed and took a swig of wine. Wu Xingdao saw that he seemed to be worried and asked, "Your Highness, has something happened?"

The Zhengtong Emperor also saw that Prince Ning seemed to be pretending to be upset today, so he said, "Prince Ning, if you have something to say, just say it."

Prince Ning hesitated to speak, with anger in his eyes, and finally said: "Today, the false emperor summoned me to dinner, and there was another person accompanying me, the Prince of Zhou."

The Zhengtong Emperor was stunned: "King Zhou? He is on our side."

"Your Majesty." Prince Ning said helplessly, "The false emperor seems to have guessed that you have returned to the capital. He wants Prince Zhou and I to find you. Whoever finds you first will remain a vassal king. Whoever fails to find you will be like our ancestor, Prince Xiang, and will burn himself to death."

The other four were all shocked when they heard this.

The Zhengtong Emperor said angrily: "How vicious! Isn't this forcing people to death?"

"Your Majesty, I will never betray you." Prince Ning said hurriedly, "But our plan needs to be accelerated. I am worried that I will not be able to hold on until then and will be captured by the false emperor."

The Zhengtong Emperor sighed and said, "Whether it can be accelerated or not is not up to me."

Military Advisor Wu Xingdao chuckled: "Don't worry, Your Highness Prince Ning, it's just that fake emperor trying to scare you. He doesn't dare to kill the princes at will now, otherwise, the history books will definitely record him as the fake emperor. Your Highness, if he dared to kill, Prince Zhou would not be alive today."

The Zhengtong Emperor quickly agreed: "Yes, yes, yes."

Prince Ning nodded slowly, and then continued: "I am not afraid even if I am arrested. The only thing I am worried about is you, Your Majesty. I have finally returned to the capital, and I must take back the Zhu family's kingdom."

"With you, I can do it." The orthodox emperor said firmly.

"However, this matter needs to be reported to Junshan Society." Wu Xingdao smiled, "We also need to make some preparations."

Prince Ning immediately took over the conversation and said, "I can contact the Junshan Society."

Although he joined the Junshan Society, he never knew who was in the Junshan Society. He was afraid of the emperor in the Qianqing Palace and also afraid of the Junshan Society, which was related to his final choice.

Of course, if he could take back the Zhu family's kingdom, that would be the best, but if it would cost him his life, he would not take the risk again.

"Your Highness, Junshan will have their own rules." Wu Xingdao smiled, "This is the capital, so we should listen to them."

Prince Ning smiled and nodded, raising his glass: "It's getting late, I will go back now, you should also go to bed early."

After he finished drinking, he left the underground secret room.

Wu Xingdao watched him leave, frowning, "Your Majesty, Prince Ning may not be reliable in the end, we have to be on guard. When we meet with the Junshan Association tomorrow, we must tell them what just happened."

"Well, I feel that this place is not safe either." A sharp light flashed in the eyes of the orthodox emperor.

……

In the city, in a house.

King Zhou was released and settled here, and was even given servants. But King Zhou was not happy. He sat in the study with an extremely painful and tangled expression.

When he was sent to the mansion, he was informed by the Jinyiwei that his wife and children in Kaifeng were also escorted to the capital. Although he was not imprisoned in the imperial prison, he was placed under house arrest in the Dazongzhengyuan.

The emperor's meaning was very clear. If the Zhengtong Emperor was not found, he and his family would be finished.

King Zhou slammed the table angrily, his eyes blazing with fire: "How can I find it?" He was incompetent and furious in the study, and no one would notice him. However, outside the mansion, it was monitored by the Jinyiwei secret guards. The purpose of releasing King Zhou was to lure out the Junshan Society.

Ding Xiu stood under a tree in the dark, his eyes fixed on the house opposite. He was silent for a while, then said to his subordinates behind him: "Next, you will monitor King Zhou. Don't interfere with him. He can go wherever he wants. You just need to follow him and see who he contacts."

"Boss, what if he leaves Beijing?" asked the subordinate.

"He won't leave. His wife and children are still in the capital." Ding Xiu snorted, "If he dares to leave the capital, arrest him immediately."

"Yes." The subordinate obeys the order.

Ding Xiu frowned.

He had a strong feeling that the legitimate emperor was already hiding in the capital, and he seemed to be about to grasp the key point, but there was still one step left.

"The ultimate target must be His Majesty." He thought to himself, "So, everything can be deduced from His Majesty. How can they get closer to His Majesty?"

……

The next day, morning.

The fleet that went to America returned, and this time, in addition to bringing back huge amounts of gold and silver, they also brought back corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes and other food. Nowadays, in addition to the imperial fleet, private merchant ships also go to America.

The Ming Dynasty discovered several large gold and silver mines in America. This was a huge fortune for the Ming Dynasty, but it was also accompanied by many problems, such as inflation.

Of course, at this moment, it is not the time for inflation. Moreover, physical objects such as gold and silver are not paper money. Even if they bring about inflation, the consequences are far less serious than the inflation caused by the indiscriminate issuance of paper money.

However, this problem must be prevented.

Zhu Qizhen had never studied finance in his previous life, so he had only vague guesses about what kind of situation would be caused by the massive influx of silver into the Ming Dynasty, and he had no solution.

Therefore, he summoned the officials in charge of finance in the Ministry of Revenue and some foreign teachers from Shuntian University to discuss this issue together.

Zhu Qizhen's idea was to set up a bank. In this era, there were no banks, not only in the Ming Dynasty, but also in the West. However, there were financial institutions similar to banks, such as the Ming Dynasty's money houses.

In his previous life, he read history books and found that when the British Empire became the world's hegemon, it was not only because of its powerful ships and cannons, but also because of its financial means. If it just relied on wars, the cost of occupying territory would be too high.

During the British Empire, financial means were the key reason for their global dominance, and the Bank of England played a very important role in this.

One of the main purposes of the Bank of England was to help Britain raise funds for the war. By issuing government bonds and lending money to the court, the Bank of England provided strong financial support for Britain in its colonial hegemony wars.

The bank also stabilized the court's finances. During the colonial period, the British court often faced huge financial pressure. The Bank of England helped stabilize the court's finances by managing national debt and providing loans, ensuring that the court could continue colonial expansion and wars.

Although the Bank of England was not a central bank when it was first established, it has gradually assumed the functions of a central bank over time. By issuing currency, managing government bonds, and implementing monetary policy, the Bank of England has provided strong support for the stability and development of the UK financial market.

The establishment and development of the Bank of England promoted the financial reform in the UK, which not only brought a steady stream of expansion funds to the UK, but also directly contributed to the prosperity of the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets".

During the colonial period, the Bank of England mainly engaged in foreign trade loans, which provided strong financial support for Britain's overseas trade. By promoting trade development, the Bank of England indirectly promoted the prosperity of the British economy.

As Britain's colonial expansion deepened, the Bank of England gradually became an important channel for Britain's capital export. By directly exporting large amounts of capital to colonies in Europe and America, the Bank of England provided strong support for Britain's economic expansion in the colonies.

The Bank of England provided stable financial support to the British court during the colonial period, which helped Britain achieve political stability. Political stability created favorable conditions for Britain to focus on dealing with external challenges and competing for world hegemony.

By raising war funds and providing loans, the Bank of England provided strong support for Britain's military operations in the colonial wars, which ensured Britain's military superiority during the colonial period and laid the foundation for its eventual becoming a world hegemon.

"I want to set up a bank like this!" Zhu Qizhen said after explaining, "Not only that, I also want the copper coins of the Ming Dynasty to become the world currency."

He also wanted to issue paper money and revive the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes, but he hadn't thought it through yet, and the paper at that time was not good enough. Paper money circulated in large quantities and was prone to spoilage.

However, the establishment of the bank was decided. The Ministry of Revenue would then fully implement it. Zhu Qizhen glanced at the ministers who were discussing enthusiastically, and a sense of pride suddenly rose in his heart: "Is my great empire that never sets far away?"

"Your Majesty, have some tea." Xiyao came over with the tea.

Zhu Qizhen took a sip of the wine, but it was too hot so he quickly put it down and angrily said, "What are you doing? Are you going to burn me to death?"

Xiyao knelt down quickly: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was anxious. I saw Your Majesty talking so much and was thirsty, so I hurried to bring it to you."

Zhu Qizhen was stunned.

Yes, I have been a little anxious lately, but you can’t eat hot tofu in a hurry.

(End of this chapter)