A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 355 Let the Imperial Guards Take Out Small Loans

"What nonsense are you talking about? We have never taken advantage of any bad habits of our clients."

The hairless giant Ma Liu directly rejected his confidant's idea:

"If word gets out, who will want to do business with us?"

"But with so much money involved, if we don't get things done and word gets out, it might really hurt our business."

"come here."

Ma Liu called his men over and knocked one of them on the head.

"Has the Lin family gone mad by publicizing this kind of thing?"

How explosive was the assassination attempt on Song Xuan?

Only that crazy woman would do that!

The Chen brothers were so humiliated by Song Xuan in the main hall that no one has asked them to do anything since. Scholars and officials have their own bottom lines when it comes to doing things.

Otherwise, fortunes change every thirty years, and there will always be times when you lose power. Even if the person you targeted cannot get revenge, others can follow your example and target you in return.

This is something that even those who wanted to put Kou Zhun and Ding Wei to death could not do.

Of course, if you are a military general or a eunuch, then killing you won't be a big deal for them.

Ma Liu knocked on his head a few times.

It felt like my Ren and Du meridians had been opened:
"Big brother is right!"

"Yes, yes, it's true that Big Brother's thinking is more comprehensive."

After being flattered by his two underlings, Ma Liu opened the box again and threw a piece of gold to each of them, making the two men beam with joy.

"Brother, what do you suggest we do about this? What should we do from now on?"

"My plan was to stall them after I received the money."

"After all, Scholar Song always travels with a large entourage, and even when he goes on duty, someone comes to pick him up. It's not a good idea for us to make a move."

"This excuse makes sense, and then we can send someone to keep an eye on the Lin family so we can put on a show in advance."

Ma Liu rested his arm on the long table:

"As for how to assassinate Song Xuan, you two come up with an idea. If you come up with a good one, you'll be rewarded."

“I heard from those constables that the strong man next to Song Xuan is strong enough to lift a cauldron, so a direct assassination won’t work. He also has many men around him, so it would be better to use a crossbow.”

"Well, we don't really need to kill him anyway. Let's deal with the Lin family first."

"Since Lin Kun was arrested and imprisoned by Scholar Song, and his family property was confiscated, perhaps this is why the Lin family decided to kill him."

“That’s right. Fanlou makes a fortune every day. If they had honestly paid taxes, they wouldn’t have reached this level.”

"That's right. I heard that Scholar Song sent people to Fanlou several times to communicate, but Fanlou ignored him completely, so they sent people to arrest him, and that's how he ended up like this today."

"Hehehe, serves us right for making this money."

To be honest, the No Life Society is an organization.

It's not a problem to bully some ordinary people.

Killing a constable is the best you can do.

Killing an official is a serious matter.

I really can't even imagine a Mazda 6.

It was Madam Lin, who served by the Empress's side, who was ruthless in dealing with the situation!
I don't care if you're the top scholar or not, if you mess with me, I'll kill you first.

Women really are unreasonable.

"Yes, that's a good idea."

Ma Liu praised him and then took out gold from the box to reward his two men.

"hey-hey."

The two men noticed that they had accumulated more and more gold bars in their hands.

Even in the middle of the night, they were not sleepy at all.

"Brother, how long do we need to stall?"

"Let's stall for now."

Ma Liu groped his bald head and said:

"Speaking of the top scholar Song, when I was alone, I remembered something else."

"what's up?"

"Regarding Dou Chou's matter, his son hired the Fiery-Eyed Lion of Wuyou Cave to kill Song Xuan before he became famous, but he failed."

"He ran back to Tokyo and was caught by the authorities. For some reason, this Fiery-Eyed Lion killed the Prefectural Magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture on the streets of Nanjing."

"Even if you don't kill the official in your own town, the government won't let you off easily."

"Fire-Eyed Suanni."

They both remembered it.

The fiery-eyed Suanni was publicly beheaded by the government and died in excruciating pain.

After all, he killed an official.

This outcome is likely due to his unmarried status and small family; otherwise, he wouldn't have fared well either.

When it comes to killing officials, those in the imperial court will automatically take sides based on their own stance.

If such a bad precedent is set, wouldn't the living conditions of officials return to those of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period? Who would want that?

Even if you kill the emperor, not so many people will hold you accountable, but if you kill an official, you have to strike hard.

The two looked at each other.

As expected, the eldest brother is truly the eldest brother.

Killing an official has very serious consequences.

"Then we won't do it?"

"Damn, I've got a great idea."

Ma Liu, the hairless giant, smiled and said:
“I’ve heard that the Fire-Eyed Lion has brothers. We can push the task of killing Song Zhuangyuan onto the people of Wuyou Cave. Anyway, the government will definitely not be able to catch the people in Wuyou Cave.”

"what?"

The two trusted confidants gripped the gold bars tightly in their hands:
"Brother, how can we give away our money?"

"What are you two thinking about?"

Ma Liu patted the box containing the gold:
“I’m prepared to offer five hundred taels of gold to have the people from Wuyou Cave kill Song Xuan. We can make the money by simply passing the buck, and we won’t have to bear any risks.”

"Whether the most important thing succeeds or not, the Lin family has nothing to say."

The eyes of the two trusted confidants gleamed with golden light.

They never expected there would be such a good solution.

"Brother, you will always be my brother."

"Big brother, I will always be your little brother."

"I am completely defeated. I never thought that such a thing could be done."

"Yeah, compared to my older brother, what's the difference between me and someone who doesn't have a brain?"

"Hahaha."

Even the hairless giant worm Ma Liu thought his little brain was clever.

Everyone else thinks he's using ruthless methods to make money.

Little did they know that they earned their money through their brains.

Don't risk your life!
They gave it their all.

How can we make money then?

The "No Life Society" is just a name they use to intimidate outsiders.

Most importantly, if we lose our lives, will the brothers still be able to make money?
Ma Liu didn't believe those bald monks' claims about donating incense money so that they could be reborn as humans in the next life instead of being reborn as cattle or horses and falling into the animal realm.

If such a thing were true, those bald monks who lend money at exorbitant interest rates and ruin families would be the ones who deserve to be reborn as animals.

These bald monks eat meat, drink alcohol, and play with women; they don't miss out on any of them.

How can they become Buddhas if they don't abide by the rules and regulations?

Will I be reborn as an animal?
They don't even believe it themselves, yet they still try to deceive others into believing their stories.

After laughing, Ma Liu, the hairless tiger, took out Jin Ting from the box and rewarded his two trusted confidants.

"We'll use the rest to eat and drink at Fanlou later. After we receive the final payment, we'll take the brothers out for some fun. It's been a long time since we've been to the city."

"After I receive the final payment, I will share the profits with my brothers."

"That's great, we're all willing to follow your arrangements, brother."

"Yes, yes, city women have such delicate skin."

"Hey hey hey."

The hairless tiger stood up and pressed hard on the shoulders of his two henchmen:
"You two remember this: keep your mouths shut."

"It doesn't matter if the Lin family knows about our scheme, but it would be terrible if Wuyou Cave found out."

"From now on, we brothers can forget about making money peacefully."

"Yes Yes Yes."

The two quickly agreed, promising that they would absolutely not leak it.

……

Lin House.

Madam Lin was still chanting sutras in front of the Buddha, clutching her prayer beads in her hand.

"Madam, I'm back."

Lin Quan knelt on the prayer mat.

Madam Lin then stopped chanting:

"How are things going?"

"Reporting to Madam, the members of the No Life Society are very greedy. They thought that the person they killed was an ordinary person, so they didn't ask for a high price."

"But after learning that it was Song Xuan, a thousand taels of gold was not enough to satisfy their appetite, and they asked for five thousand taels of gold."

"Five thousand taels?"

Mrs. Lin's voice unconsciously rose.

If they had honestly paid taxes to Song Xuan, they wouldn't have needed a single drop of the five thousand taels.

Now that things have turned out this way, the sunk costs are getting higher and higher.

"These people are really greedy."

Lin Quan then explained to Madam Lin in detail the concerns of the No Life Society and the difficulty of the operation, and really exaggerated the consequences of killing Song Xuan.

Killing an official is never a trivial matter; it is tantamount to rebellion.

"You gave them that thousand taels of gold?"

“They gave it to us as a deposit. They have to pay the remaining four thousand taels of gold within three days, or they won’t continue doing this job.”

Lin Quan's face showed a conflicted expression:

"Madam, we've already drawn our bows; there's no turning back now."

"Yes."

Madam Lin also let out a long, helpless sigh.

Five thousand taels it is.

It's much better than Song Xuan actually convicting Lin Kun and confiscating his property.

The Lin family's savings, which they had amassed from the imperial court over the years, must not be taken back by the court.

Otherwise, all the efforts and hard work over the years would be wasted.

Since Song Xuan wants my family fortune, then I will kill him!
"Tomorrow night."

Madam Lin spoke softly again:

“I will give you the key. Go to the cellar, count everything carefully, and then bring it up. To avoid too many people talking and leaking the secret, you will do all the work yourself.”

"Thank you for your trust, Madam."

Lin Quan immediately kowtowed to the Buddha statue:
"I would never take a single penny and put it in my pocket without permission."

"That's all."

This was also the first time Madam Lin had ever placed a "kill order".

Because in the past, when she was by the side of the Empress Dowager, who wouldn't give her some face?
She truly hadn't expected Song Xuan to go so far!

Killing him was a last resort.

Compared to the prospect of having their property confiscated, spending an extra thousand taels of gold would be worthwhile.

Lin Quan also prayed to Buddha, hoping for blessings and good fortune.

Killing an official is such a serious matter.

He had to leave himself an escape route, because in order to avoid being investigated, he would inevitably be silenced.

I need the money because I'm thinking of my family.

Five thousand taels of gold to kill the most promising top scholar in the Song Dynasty at present—that must be realistic enough!

Anyway, the Lin family is rich!
Inside Yuqing Palace.

Zhao Zhen tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

It wasn't the discovery of the accounts of Daxiangguo Temple that excited me, but rather my heartache for the people who were driven to the brink of ruin and death.

The Daxiangguo Temple used the huge sums of money donated by believers and the land granted to them by the imperial court as the principal for lending.

Ordinary people and merchants with some capital would use their land, houses, and shops as collateral, while those without would use themselves as collateral, and they would then be called "temple slaves."

For a gentler debt collection approach, send out monks to collect debts. If some people still refuse to pay, use the "Death Squad."

All these expenditures were recorded with their outcomes: either the women were sold into prostitution, or they were forcibly taken and then hanged, resulting in bad debts.

Zhao Zhen's eyes widened, because he too had once bestowed land upon the Daxiangguo Temple.

As a result, all these fields became sources of harm for the Daxiangguo Temple, leading to the deaths of ordinary people.

This made Zhao Zhen so upset that he couldn't sleep at all.

I thought it was a good thing, but it was executed so badly.

This must have been a difficult situation for him, a young ruler of a dynasty.

He just stared at it like that until dawn.

After daybreak, Zhao Zhen personally selected several account books, a scene he had never seen all of before.

Then he went directly to the Kaifeng County Government Office to wait for Song Xuan.

Song Xuan wasn't exactly an honest kid at work either; he was the one who called the shots in the entire county government office, so it was perfectly normal for him to be late for work.

After being escorted back by Ban Feng and others, he saw Zhao Zhen already there handling county government affairs.

Song Xuan noticed that Zhao Zhen's eyes welled up with tears the moment he looked up.

"Sixth Brother, weren't we told to abstain from sex?"

"Twelfth Brother, I just didn't sleep well."

Zhao Zhen gestured with his chin, indicating to Song Xuan that he had brought the account books.

Song Xuan picked up the ledger and looked at it carefully; it was basically the amount of usurious loans from the Daxiangguo Temple.

Good heavens, it's only August and there have already been expenditures of 900,000 guan.

really.

Such a huge sum is just a number to the wealthy; they've long since become numb to it.

After all, for the average worker in Tokyo, earning three or four kan a month is considered quite good.

Skilled jobs tend to pay more.

However, three or four strings of cash a month is negligible compared to more than 100,000 strings of cash.

"As expected, lending money at high interest rates is still more profitable."

Song Xuan continued flipping through the details: "What, you didn't sleep a wink all night because of this?"

"Yes," Zhao Zhen sighed.
“Twelfth Brother, I feel angry when I think about the land I gave to the temple becoming part of the sickle that these monks use to harvest the lives of the people of my Great Song Dynasty.”

"What's there to be angry about?"

Song Xuan said unhurriedly:

"Anyway, the land was already granted by the late emperor; it's not like you created it."

Emperors Taizu and Taizong were not particularly fond of monks, and they were influenced by Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou Dynasty's suppression of Buddhism.

But Emperor Zhenzong was different; he used Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

The granting of land was started by him.

"The problem has existed for a long time, it's just that you've discovered it now."

"The country hasn't reached the point of collapse yet, so we can just teach them a lesson."

"But I just can't get over this hurdle in my heart."

Song Xuan checked, and the debt collection tactics at Daxiangguo Temple were indeed deadly:
"Alright, I have an idea."

"What method?"

A look of anticipation appeared in Zhao Zhen's eyes.

Song Xuan also sighed inwardly:

"It was my inexperience and impulsiveness that led me to this. I should have sent people to borrow money collectively first. It would have been much easier to borrow money before the Imperial City Guard raided the place. They are still suspicious now."

Zhao Zhen was puzzled for a moment after hearing Song Xuan's words.

Send someone to borrow money?

Song Xuan had previously only asked his father-in-law to take advantage of the situation, taking as much as he could, without informing anyone else.

"Correct."

Song Xuan closed the ledger:

"However, I will have to use the official's name."

"What does Twelfth Brother want to do?"

"For short-term loans, I'll find a group of Imperial Guards and tell them that the Emperor is selecting personal guards, so let them take out the loans and split the profits 50/50."

"How much they can lend is up to their ability; half of the money and the IOU will be sent to the Privy Council."

"But don't you expect to pay back the money you borrow?" Zhao Zhen asked, puzzled.

"Why should I pay back money I borrowed through my own abilities?"

"what?"

"When the time comes, the imperial court will issue a policy to regulate the interest rates of usury, and all those higher than this will be abolished. In this way, it can be considered that the emperor is giving his men a benefit."

"Can this still happen?"

Zhao Zhen didn't understand Song Xuan's actions. How could someone owe money and not pay it back?

This was an extremely important matter in the Song Dynasty.

In a thriving commercial sector, reputation and credibility are of paramount importance.

Song Xuan stood up:

"Sixth Brother, don't let this little thing keep you up at night. You'll have plenty of time to worry about things in the future."

"Go and catch up on your sleep. By the time you wake up, I'll have finished this matter."

"But."

"But what 'but'?" Song Xuan picked up his official hat:

"Today I'll show you what Zhuge Liang's skills are all about. When it comes to taking out small loans, I'm a professional."

Before Zhao Zhen could react, Song Xuan, holding his official hat, left.

He ordered horses to be prepared and headed straight for the Privy Council before the weather got too hot.

When Song Xuan arrived at the Privy Council, Cao Liyong had not yet arrived.

Perhaps he has borrowed a lot of money recently and has been making up for the hard times he went through recently.

Zhang Qi and the other two had already been handling government affairs.

Frankly speaking, the Song Dynasty army doesn't have much administrative work for them to handle at the moment.

Even matters like distributing military pay wouldn't go through their hands, precisely to prevent anyone from using the delayed pay as a pretext to incite soldiers to rebel. After all, this was the path Zhao Kuangyin followed.

This achieves the effect of soldiers not knowing their generals, and generals not knowing their soldiers.

In addition, the Privy Council usually controls the power to deploy troops, the Three Military Commands control the power to train troops, and when troops are sent out to fight, they are dispatched separately. None of the three can hold troops and become too powerful, so they can check and balance each other.

While this eliminated the threat of generals wielding absolute power, it was extremely disadvantageous for combat operations.

"Nephew, are you here to see your father-in-law?"

"Not entirely."

Song Xuan chuckled a few times and sat down as if they were old friends:
"Actually, I have something to ask Uncle Zhang."

Zhang Qi naturally knew that Song Xuan had arrested Lin Kun, the husband of Madam Lin, the person behind Fanlou.

They didn't give her the slightest bit of face.

"If it's about Fanlou, there's no need for that. I only have a very small amount of money. If you want to do it, then do it."

Upon hearing this, Yan Shu really wanted to speak.

However, with others present and Song Xuan's actions already fait accompli, Yan Shu could only remain silent.

Deputy Privy Councilor Xia Song also raised his head. He had also heard about the uproar in Tokyo yesterday.

Everyone said that Song Xuan was colluding with Liu Congde and was being manipulated by him.

However, through his contact with Song Xuan, Xia Song was certain that their relationship was definitely the other way around.

It's more likely that Liu Congde was being manipulated by Song Xuan.

Song Xuan chuckled: "I wouldn't bother explaining such a trivial matter to Uncle Zhang."

Zhang Qi burst into laughter. He was growing to admire Song Xuan more and more, and at the same time, he was genuinely jealous of Cao Yong's good luck.

"Does my nephew have something important to discuss with me?"

"of course."

Song Xuan watched as the clerk put down the tea, then nodded his thanks and said, "If it's a private matter, I'll come to you privately."

"Oh?" Zhang Qi also stopped smiling: "Since Magistrate Song has come on official business, please speak."

"Zhang Shizhong".

After watching the clerk leave, Song Xuan smiled and said:

"I have a fortune to deliver to the Imperial Guards and the local militia in the capital."

"hiss."

Upon hearing this, Yan Shu instinctively got up and closed the door.

Others might not understand Song Xuan's radical ideas, but Yan Shu did.

He was terrified that Song Xuan would say he would raise an army to force the Empress Dowager to step down and let the Emperor take over the reins of government.

Listening to Song Xuan's words and looking at Yan Shu who was hurriedly closing the door, Zhang Qi suddenly had a bad feeling.

Shouldn't it?
"Prime Minister Yan is indeed very shrewd," Song Xuan immediately praised. "This matter requires careful consideration to succeed."

Yan Shu turned around and glared at Song Xuan, wanting to go over and stop him, but then he heard:

“Minister Zhang, I would like to ask the soldiers to borrow money at high interest rates from the four temples of Daxiangguo Temple, Kaibao Temple, Tianqing Temple, and Taipingxingguo Temple.”

Before Yan Shu could even utter his words of advice to Song Xuan, he abruptly stopped in his tracks.

He couldn't understand why Song Xuan would do such a thing.
Xia Song was also taken aback by Song Xuan's idea and stood up to watch him.

"What did you say?"

Song Xuan looked at the incredulous looks on the three people's faces and said, "I made myself very clear. I told them to have someone borrow money from loan sharks."

"Are you crazy?"

Song Xuan waved his hand and said, "I'm perfectly normal."

"Borrowed money and not paid it back?" Zhang Qi was also confused about Song Xuan's purpose.

"Why should I pay back money I borrowed through my own abilities?"

One sentence left the three bigwigs speechless.

Xia Song looked at Yan Shu beside him. How could a top scholar who had passed the imperial examinations in three consecutive years say such a thing?

How did you manage to select him as the top scholar in the imperial examination?
I didn't believe it when others said you were taking care of him, but judging from his words and actions today, this Song Zhuangyuan doesn't seem to be following the path of a "great Confucian scholar"!
Yan Shu knew that Song Xuan wanted to make money to get things done, but he didn't expect him to do it in this way.

"What exactly do you want to do?" Yan Shu asked directly. "This is not the way you, Song Twelve, do things. You're just asking for trouble."

"That's just my style. I don't like those monks."

"I don't believe it. You have plenty of people you don't like, so why don't you borrow money from them all?"

As Song Xuan and Yan Shu were arguing, the door was pushed open.

Cao Liyong glanced around and saw three men surrounding his son-in-law. He immediately shouted:
"You dare to bully my son-in-law? You're asking for it."

He then closed the door, jogged over to Song Xuan, and looked at his three colleagues.

Zhang Qi saw Cao Liyong arrive, knowing that Cao had borrowed money from loan sharks.

Could Song Xuan be doing this in a roundabout way to clean up Cao Yong's mess?
After all, Cao Li spent a fortune on Song Xuan's wedding, borrowing a lot of money at high interest rates.

A few days ago, he started eating and drinking well again, and when asked, it turned out that he had borrowed money from loan sharks again, which left Zhang Qi wondering what he was thinking.

"what happened?"

After Cao Li stopped standing, he suddenly realized what was going on.

Even if all three of them attacked together, they still couldn't beat their son-in-law.

As for the debate, her son-in-law was even less likely to lose.

"Your good son-in-law encouraged the soldiers to borrow money from loan sharks."

"Isn't this a good thing?"

Cao Liyong sat down nonchalantly to the side, a smug look on his face.

Sure enough, her son-in-law told her to borrow money first, knowing he had a way to avoid paying it back.

Is it finally starting?
Cao Liyong has already encouraged several of his confidants to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates.

"Good thing?"

Upon hearing Cao Liyong's words, Yan Shu immediately understood that the father-in-law and son-in-law had already discussed this matter in advance.

"Of course it's a good thing. Those bald monks have amassed a great deal of wealth. It's not a big deal for them to give it away. After all, our Great Song Dynasty did not replicate Emperor Shizong of Zhou's approach."

Hearing Cao Liyong's words, even Yan Shu was speechless.

Emperor Shizong of Zhou's suppression of Buddhism was far too radical; compared to Song Xuan's decision to have his soldiers borrow money, it seemed extremely mild.

"But if my Privy Council wants to do such a thing, I'm afraid it will be very difficult to get through the Secretariat and the Empress Dowager, especially since the Empress Dowager is a Buddhist."

Seeing the nonchalant attitude of the father-in-law and son-in-law, Zhang Qi immediately reminded them:
Give me a reason, or I will absolutely not agree.

The Privy Council has two Privy Councilors, and all matters are decided by their joint consultation; only when both parties sign the agreement is the decision valid.

"The Emperor dispatched the Imperial City Guard to investigate the Liao spies. They discovered that the temples were colluding with them, and they also seized the account books. They saw the land that the Emperor had granted them, and the funds they obtained were used for lending, which drove many people to their deaths."

Song Xuan coughed:
"The Emperor was deeply saddened by this and wanted to follow the example of the Three Wu Emperors and One Emperor, but I persuaded him to give these monks a chance and not be ungrateful."

After Song Xuan gave this reason, Zhang Qi had nothing to say.

Yan Shu, however, understood Song Xuan and the Emperor.

An official who is kind and tolerant by nature would never repeat the practice of the three emperors (Wu, Wu, and Zhou) who suppressed Buddhism in one lifetime.

Furthermore, Buddhism was always considered a Western doctrine in upper-class society, and even in the Tang Dynasty, there was still a distinction between Chinese and barbarians, leading to a natural aversion to it.

Not to mention that with the rapid development of Buddhism, the temple economy expanded, the personal wealth of monks and nuns increased, their numbers surged, and tax evasion became extremely obvious.

After four persecutions of Buddhism, Buddhism finally learned to integrate with local Confucianism and Taoism, and acknowledged Confucian ethics and social norms.

Then they experienced tremendous growth, and making money is a perennial pursuit.

Daxiangguo Temple has become the largest trading center in Tokyo.

"So you're saying that by sending your soldiers to borrow money from them, these temple people should thank you, Song Twelve?"

“Oh, Lord Yan, you can’t say that.”

Song Xuan pointed both hands towards the direction of the palace:
"If these bald monks have anything to thank, it's the kind-hearted officials. If it weren't for the officials' kindness, it would be impossible for them to just give money to foreign dignitaries."

Song Xuan's words left Yan Shu completely speechless.

He knew very well that it must have been Song Xuan who suggested following the precedent of the Three Wu and One Zong emperors, but the emperor was truly kind-hearted and disagreed, which led to this compromise.

Do you think the Empress Dowager would agree?

"Liu Congde submitted a memorial long ago, and the Empress Dowager knew about this matter even before you did."

Yan Shu looked on incredulously: "You've already gotten through to Liu Congde?"

"Ah, it was Liu Congde who took the initiative to do things, wanting to relieve the emperor's worries; it has nothing to do with me."

Xia Song, who rarely spoke, once again confirmed his suspicions: Liu Congde was indeed being manipulated by Song Xuan.

With Song Xuan's words, Zhang Qi had no more doubts.

Since the Empress Dowager did not express a clear refusal, it means that she allowed this to happen.

"You've convinced me."

Hearing Zhang Qi's reply, Cao Liyong chuckled:
“My son-in-law’s idea is unparalleled. If you don’t have the brains to think of it, don’t rush to object.”

"Hey you."

Zhang Qi pointed at Cao Liyong, who now loathed Cao Liyong's smug look and secretly resented not having a daughter.

Even if I give birth to a daughter in the future, I don't know if I will be able to find a son-in-law like Song Xuan. Otherwise, I will die with regrets!

Yan Shu sat back down in his chair: "Twelfth Brother, tell me, what exactly is the reason?"

"Because of the government."

“I know it’s the Emperor.” Yan Shu gestured for Song Xuan to put the Emperor aside: “What’s your reason for driving this?”

"They colluded with the Worry-Free Cave, the Deadly Society, and Liao spies to harm the people of our Great Song Dynasty."

Song Xuan slowly leaned forward: "Prime Minister Yan, is this reason sufficient?"

"enough."

Yan Shu nodded, indicating that he understood Song Xuan.

Xia Song didn't think Song Xuan was lying; he simply stroked his beard.

"The Great Xiangguo Temple is getting more and more chaotic, and the government really needs to intervene."

"good."

Cao Li took a sip of tea:
“You have no idea how shady those temples’ loan sharks are, but I, Old Cao, know it all too well.”

Of all those present, only Cao had ever borrowed money from loan sharks.

Xia Song only has one son, and he probably has no hope of marrying off his daughter in this lifetime, so there is no need to prepare a luxurious dowry.

Yan Shu, on the other hand, needs to pay more attention to saving up a dowry for his daughter.

"It's only because I, Lao Cao, have some influence that I'm not entangled with the people from Wuyou Cave and Meiming Society. I might even be sold into slavery, which would be a good outcome."

Cao's joking remark made everyone on the scene lose their smiles.

Ultimately, this whole affair was triggered by Song Xuan's tax collection practices.

Previously, no one cared about it or tried to make money from it.

In fact, the county government's finances were very bad. Not to mention Kaifeng County, the finances of other places were not much better.

Even setting aside the fact that they can't collect the money, the central government's need for transfer payments means that the county governments won't have much money left, making it impossible for them to balance their income and expenditure.

Compared to other counties that made money through various means such as collecting taxes, fines, illegal commercial taxes, penalties, and administrative fees, Song Xuan was already very kind and approachable.

He only took money from the wealthy and didn't harm many ordinary people.

This alone is enough to earn the praise of the people.

"Even if you impose fines in disguise, it won't stop the usury problem."

Yan Shu looked at Song Xuan and said, "Your idea is good, but the usurious loan still needs to be repaid."

“My idea is that usury is permissible. Commerce is highly developed in the Song Dynasty, and many people are eager to take a gamble. However, the imperial court must regulate these usurers.”

"The law stipulates that all previous monthly interest rates exceeding 5% are now invalid. Not only are they invalidated, but from now on, lending money at usurious rates will also be subject to taxation."

Song Xuan's words startled Yan Shu once again: "All void?"

"All are void."

Song Xuan had a smile on his face:

“These bald monks have made money for many years, so this loss is nothing to them.”

"If they don't like it, the court has even more drastic measures at its disposal. Surely they won't easily rebel?"

Yan Shu did not believe that a group of monks would dare to rebel.

With the development of commerce in the Song Dynasty, very few people there are dedicated to Buddhist practice; most are happy to participate in money-making commercial activities.

Even monks who joined smaller temples as part of larger ones would do some handicrafts to supplement their income.

"If they dare to rebel, that would be wonderful."

Cao chuckled, having been looking for an opportunity to teach them a lesson.

"Then it's settled."

"But what if so many people refuse to lend money if we suddenly try to borrow from them?"

Xia Song then raised another potential problem.

“Easy. Send someone to find me. I’ll find a reason to take these monks away and make them clean up the mud while wearing shackles.”

“I’m short-handed here, I promise to give them some big steamed buns to eat, without a single bit of meat.”

"I've heard that these monks enjoy ascetic practices."

Hearing Song Xuan's answer, the others had nothing more to ask.

The three things Song Xuan mentioned that they got into are definitely on their heads.

"Alright, alright, you're the one who knows how to torture people."

"Should the money be brought to the Privy Council for registration?"

"I'll send someone to assist with the registration."

Zhang Qi smiled and pointed at Song Xuan:
"Don't worry, my Privy Council isn't that poor. We won't let you down."

"It's just helping out; the county government doesn't have much to do lately anyway."

Song Xuan smiled. If everyone borrowed money and split it 50/50, there would definitely be a lot left over.

The Privy Council immediately sprang into action. Instead of putting the matter on paper, they personally went out to publicize it, urging everyone to borrow money in unison.

In fact, the Imperial City Guard's investigation into the Liao Kingdom's spies and the subsequent confiscation of the four major temples' account books had caused considerable alarm within their ranks.

The incident happened so suddenly, who knows how long the Imperial City Guard had been secretly investigating?

Furthermore, since there's no word of it circulating, they don't want to make a fuss, and they don't even dare to go to the court officials to discuss this matter.

From the monks' perspective, since the emperor was staying at Yuqing Palace, the Taoist priests were more than happy for him to get into trouble.

While they were struggling with this dilemma, many soldiers came to borrow money at high interest rates, saying that the emperor was selecting personal guards and they needed to borrow money to recuperate and eat well for a month.

They used to welcome lending money.

But today, soldiers came to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates, so the people in the temple dared not lend it to them.

The treasurer of Daxiangguo Temple quickly said that there wasn't much money to lend out at the moment.

"Oh, so you're looking down on us?"

Wang Gui's face showed indignation:

"Brothers, you've made a wasted trip. Don't blame us for getting angry. If we get angry, this temple might not even exist anymore."

"I do not mean to look down on you, my lords."

This was the first time the treasury monk had encountered such a situation; after all, the Imperial City Guard was the best at handling things.

"However, however, this humble monk cannot make a decision; I need to consult the abbot."

"Bullshit! Yesterday my brother came to borrow money, and you were so generous in asking how much he wanted, saying you could lend more. But today we're here to borrow money and you have none left."

Wang Gui grabbed his collar directly: "Then let's head to the Kaifeng County Government Office. Master Song is short of people to do his work."

"stop."

Upon receiving the news, the abbot hurriedly entered, and seeing the group of ruffians among the imperial guards, he spoke:

"How much would you like to borrow, sir?"

Wang Gui held up his finger: "Not much, one thousand strings of cash."

Di Qing and the others were all dumbfounded, they really didn't expect him to borrow so much money.

Others may not know, but Wang Gui knew that if these monks refused to lend money, they would go to the Kaifeng County government office. He knew that his twelfth brother must be behind this.

Then we can ignore that and just ask for more.

If it weren't for the consideration of a gradual, long-term approach, allowing his comrades to also borrow money, Wang Gui would have considered borrowing 10,000 strings of cash directly.

This is Tokyo.

Although most people cannot live a wealthy life, there are still many people who would not consider 10,000 strings of cash as money.

Not to mention a thousand strings of cash!

The monk sized up the young man before him: "Do you have any collateral to borrow a thousand strings of cash?"

"I am now a personal guard of the emperor, and my monthly salary is higher than that of others. I am just thinking about taking better care of my health so that I won't be defeated and fall out of the selection."

Wang Gui then took out his two iron whips: "Look at the quality of these. Do you think I'm someone who can't pay back my debts?"

These two iron whips were made for Song Xuan by someone he commissioned; they are the finest of the finest.

Individually made products are many times better than those issued by the imperial court.

The monk Zhiku picked up the iron whip and examined it. It was indeed a rare and exquisite piece. If this thing were auctioned at the Wuyou Cave auction, it might fetch a high price.

After all, there are many people who cannot repay their high-interest loans, and many temples cannot use the items they use as collateral.

To obtain the highest value, they would naturally sell it through the black market of Wuyou Cave to earn more profit.

This can be considered a disguised way of selling stolen goods for money.

Otherwise, how could the warehouse of Daxiangguo Temple be filled with all sorts of messy things?

The monk listened to Wang Gui's pure Tokyo accent, along with his weapons and equipment, and the matter of the emperor's personal guards.

Although he didn't know what was happening, if he drove these people out, they would go crazy and act recklessly.

I'd rather reason with intellectuals than with these soldiers.

If someone pulls out a weapon but doesn't hit you on the head or anywhere else, then they're being reasonable.

Moreover, as the emperor's personal guards, they all came to borrow money collectively.

It's hard not to suspect that the emperor, while investigating Liao spies, saw the loan ledgers and thus instructed them to come.

Otherwise, how could these soldiers dare to openly come here and ask for a thousand strings of cash?

"Loan disbursement".

After the abbot spoke, the treasury monk quickly asked Wang Gui to register his home address and how many people were in his family.

Wang Gui fabricated stories outright, emphasizing that if you dare ask me, I'll dare to make things up.

He learned this from Song Xuan.

Compared to the others, Wang Gui, who had also joined the Imperial Guard a few years earlier, quickly demonstrated "leadership ability".

In addition, with the high salary paid to him by Song Xuan, he accumulated some money, which led him to often take his comrades out to eat, and their relationship naturally became close.

This is why everyone recommended him to be ranked first, to set an example for the brothers.

Then Wang Gui pressed his handprint on the paper, making two copies.

Someone went to the back to get the money and asked him if he needed copper coins, silver ingots, or gold ingots.

Wang Gui bluntly stated that he hadn't touched Jin Ting in a long time.

"Please wait a moment, benefactor. Even if you borrow money from my Great Xiangguo Temple and pay a little interest, it will still be a blessing!"

Wang Gui scoffed at the monks' conversation.

Who considers it a blessing to accept usurious interest rates?
It was clearly the last straw that broke everyone's back, but most people couldn't repay it.

Only a bunch of bald monks would come up with such a way of putting it.

Di Qing remained expressionless, one hand behind his back, the other pointing a finger:

"I need to borrow two thousand strings of cash!"

Even Wang Gui turned his head in disbelief.

(End of this chapter)