Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World.

Chapter 238 The young reformer yearns for power!
Wenyuan Pavilion, the public hall.

There was a wooden table about ten feet long with several documents on it.

Jiang Zhao dipped his brush in ink and wrote down terms such as "government administration", "people's livelihood" and "border troops" from time to time.

Below, from left to right, there were more than ten chairs, but only one person sat down, and that was Zhang Heng.

"Tea merchants are colluding with the Salt and Iron Bureau, intending to run on banks, drive up grain prices, create panic, and coerce the court into backing down," Zhang Heng reported, holding the document firmly in his hand.

"Ok?"

Jiang Zhao was taken aback, his pen paused, and he looked up: "A bank run, driving up grain prices?"

"The tea merchants are not united, and someone has come to complain."

Zhang Heng's expression turned solemn as he explained, "In recent years, tea merchants have colluded with officials of the Salt and Iron Bureau and have been using the exchange of silver to embezzle funds from the imperial court."

"Now that the Securities Law has been enacted, tea merchants have no more income from embezzlement. Many tea merchants are dissatisfied and intend to raise tens of millions of coins, depositing half in the bank and buying grain like crazy with the other half."

"Once the time is right, tea merchants will withdraw money all at once, creating a panic that banks have no money, and taking the opportunity to drive up grain prices."

“If the bank cannot withdraw five million strings of cash, the merchants and officials who have deposited the money will panic and cause a run on the bank. The rise in grain prices will cause panic among ordinary people.”

"In this way, the goal of coercing the imperial court was achieved."

Essentially, a bank run is a credit crisis.

Normally, the bank has enough money to operate normally, but some people maliciously try to make it difficult for the bank to turn over its money in a short period of time, creating the illusion that the bank has no money.

When banks run out of money, people will panic and instinctively try to withdraw cash.

Once it reaches this point, a bank run becomes a reality.

This is just like Schrödinger's cat.

If there are no rumors circulating in the city that "banks are out of money," then the banks must have money.

Conversely, if rumors spread throughout the city that "banks have no money," then the banks definitely have no money.

The root cause of all this is the crisis of trust caused by rumors.

As for the extent of the impact of a bank run, it mainly depends on the spread of rumors; it may be limited to one place or affect the whole country.

In any case, once an impact is generated, regardless of its size, the bank will definitely be abolished.

"Ah!"

Jiang Zhao's face darkened, and he lightly placed his brush down, saying in a deep voice, "These merchants are really audacious!"

"With this kind of show of force, I wonder if they're trying to bring Jiang down, or if they're trying to get the Emperor to issue a decree of self-reproach?"

Zhang Heng's expression turned solemn, and he remained silent.

Coercing the court is nothing more than trying to force it to back down; there have been similar examples in the past.

During the reign of the late emperor, the paper money was severely devalued. Coincidentally, the Yellow River breached its banks and droughts occurred frequently. Some officials took the opportunity to submit a memorial stating that "paper money has lost its credibility, and Heaven is giving us a warning," which almost forced the late emperor to issue an edict of self-reproach.

Of course, the late emperor did not issue an edict of self-reproach, but instead made more than a dozen prefects, assistant prefects, and vice-prefects confess their crimes and take the blame, and ordered a large amount of funds to be allocated for the construction of the Yellow River, thus making a concession.

"call!"

Jiang Zhao took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Has the notice regarding the requirement to apply for withdrawal 30 days in advance been issued?"

Tea merchants are going to run on the market!
Coincidentally, the requirement to declare withdrawals 30 days in advance is precisely to prevent bank runs.

"The relevant storage rules have all been issued."

Zhang Heng calmly said, "I reckon it's a case of collusion between officials and businessmen. They're certain that the court will embezzle and disperse bank funds on a large scale, making it difficult to fill the hole in a short time."

There are many wealthy merchants in the world, and the amount of money they deposit in the bank at one time is at least tens of millions of strings of cash.

However, banks not only accept deposits but also withdrawals.

To facilitate large merchants in obtaining and conducting business, the cabinet has proposed establishing ten major banks, located in ten prosperous commercial cities.

In order to maintain the daily operation of the bank, the other nine major banks would definitely have to take money from the bank in Bianjing in the long term.

If one bank takes two or three million strings of cash, then the nine major banks would take a total of twenty or thirty million strings of cash.

If the court chooses to divert some of the remaining funds, it may not be possible to free up five million strings of cash within thirty days.

After all, five million strings of cash is one-tenth of the imperial court's tax revenue, which is no small amount.

"That's it!"

Jiang Zhao suddenly realized: "This is like knowing there are tigers in the mountains, yet still heading towards the tiger's den!"

"However, they underestimated the imperial court too much." Jiang Zhao shook his head, clicking his tongue in amazement.

This move actually has one more prerequisite.

That means the emperor lacks prestige!

If a bank receives advance notice of a withdrawal thirty days in advance and has insufficient funds, it will certainly rush to report to the emperor.

The emperor had only two ways to solve the problem:

One possibility is that money was urgently transferred from local banks to Beijing, or that local governments were being exploited.

Second, the coordination of various internal and external departments.

Both internal and external departments have money; they have an annual budget and allocate corresponding funds accordingly.

Unless it's the end of the year, all departments, both internal and external, will definitely have some surplus funds.

If the emperor is soft-hearted and the ministers are not afraid, then there is definitely no way to "steal" money from the various departments, both inside and outside the capital.

After all, if the banks suffer, it's the banks that suffer; it's none of my business.

This is just like Jiang Zhao robbing money from Fujian Road; it's practically snatching food from a tiger's mouth, and a fight is inevitable.

However, if the emperor is extremely powerful and has a strong deterrent effect, he can snatch hundreds of thousands of strings of cash from the hands of the various government departments with a single order.

Therefore, if the late emperor had been in power, this tactic might have actually worked.

After all, the late emperor really had no authority; he could even have his ministers grab his dragon robe and prevent him from leaving, so it was impossible for him to raise money from the various departments, both inside and outside the capital.

But Zhao Ceying is different.

This emperor's deterrent power is undoubtedly among the top in the past century since the founding of the People's Republic of China, probably only comparable to that of the founding emperor.

"Throughout history, when the national treasury is in deficit, the government either targets the common people or the merchants."

Jiang Zhao paced back and forth, pondering, "The new policies started with improving the administration, without targeting merchants. Unexpectedly, someone has come to us for help!"

"Ugh!"

With a long sigh, a ruthless glint flashed in Jiang Zhao's eyes. He abruptly flicked his sleeve and slammed his hand on the wooden table: "Then kill!"

“Kill everyone from top to bottom, including the people from the Salt and Iron Bureau.”

The establishment of the bank was of paramount importance, as it provided the imperial court with a temporary solution to its urgent needs.

Otherwise, he would never have allowed Zhang Heng to personally oversee the establishment of the bank.

At this time of year, anyone who dares to run on a bank will be killed, let alone a businessman!

Zhang Heng nodded solemnly.

Jiang Zhao snorted and scolded, "If we don't intimidate them, will any Tom, Dick, or Harry dare to oppose the new policies?"

"Since they have confessed without being asked, let's use the money of tea merchants and corrupt officials in the salt and iron bureau to make up for the court's deficit."

Tea merchants are very shrewd in their calculations when selling tea.

Unfortunately, this time I got two questions wrong:
First, merchants are not united; second, reforms do not need to consider their feelings, and the imperial court will not back down.

Zhang Heng nodded repeatedly.

Having known each other for over ten years, he had come to understand his friend's temperament.

People only know that the emperor Zhao Ceying is powerful, but they don't know that Jiang Zhao is even more frighteningly powerful.

A person who dares to go against a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet at the sixth rank, do you expect him to be weak-willed?

impossible!
Zhang Heng had anticipated this approach and was no exception. He couldn't help but remind them, "Withdrawing money from a bank is a matter of course. Using a bank run as an excuse to kill tea merchants is bound to cause panic."

Tea merchants can be killed, but they should never be killed for taking too much money.

"What are your thoughts, Ziping?" Jiang Zhao looked over and asked calmly.

Zhang Heng slowly said, "Why not set a trap and lure them into it? Have the Ministry of Works send some grain from Huainan East Road, and set aside ten million strings of cash in advance. Let the tea merchants take the money if they want."

Once grain prices rise, people will report and expose the tea merchants' collusion with the Salt and Iron Bureau, accusing them of using business to disrupt politics.

"This forced the people of the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice to arrest the people of the Salt and Iron Bureau, and to make the people of the Salt and Iron Bureau confess the merchants who were causing trouble."

"The grain supplies in Huainan East Road were used to stabilize grain prices."

Jiang Zhao understood and agreed, saying, "If that's the case, then it's as Ziping said." Compared to being killed for taking money, the tea merchant being implicated by the Salt and Iron Bureau is undoubtedly more convincing.

As for who exactly was implicated...
Anyway, it will definitely only implicate tea merchants!

Jiang Zhao paced back and forth, waving his hand and saying:

"The Cabinet has already selected the cities for the top ten banks: Bianjing, Quanzhou, Jiangning, Chengdu, Taiyuan, Guangzhou, Yangzhou, Yingtianfu, Damingfu, and Henanfu."

"Ziping remembers to study it a bit."

Zhang Heng was slightly taken aback.

Hangzhou and Wenzhou without Liangzhe Road?
This is truly tragic!
"Yes, sir." Zhang Heng bowed respectfully, his expression humble, behaving like a subordinate.

Indeed, the two are friends.

However, public matters are public matters, and private matters are private matters.

In private, we can be as relaxed as we like, but this is a courtroom.

Be serious and use titles/positions!
With a long sigh, Zhang Heng walked outside.

Just as he was about to leave the courtroom, he suddenly remembered something and quickly reminded her, "At Gezichuan, around 5 PM, there's a small gathering at Fanlou."

"Okay," Jiang Zhao solemnly replied, taking the seat of honor.

Zhang Heng nodded and strode outside.

The reason for the special gathering at Fanlou was that Su Shi and Su Zhe had already arrived in the capital.

Time passed, and three years later, the two ended their period of mourning.

Fanlou.

The Hu women danced, and the pipa played softly.

A long pearwood table, about ten feet in length, holds tea, several pots of wine, seasonal side dishes, and stir-fries that are gradually becoming popular.

And, the top scholar stir-fried pork!
To facilitate promotion, the owner of Fanlou specially had the story of Jiang Zhao tasting stir-fried meat spread, which immediately made "stir-fried dishes" popular.

Jiang Zhao, Zhang Heng, Zhang Dun, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Zeng Gong, Zeng Bu, and Gu Tingye took their seats one after another.

Apart from Sheng Changbai, everyone who was supposed to come has arrived.

"Hey, where's Changbai?" Gu Tingye took a sip of tea and couldn't help but ask.

It's rare for us to get together, so why is one person missing?
"The Liao Kingdom accused the border people of crossing the border to cultivate rice, and intended to send envoys to Zhou. Changbai and Shen Kuo were appointed by the emperor to set up a ceremonial guard and hold a suburban welcoming ceremony." Zhang Heng blew on his tea and replied, "I guess it will be soon."

As a key figure of the new generation, with the potential to enter the cabinet and become prime minister, Zhang Heng's status is already close to that of Jiang Zhao, who was at the "Hanlin Compiler" stage, and he knows many secrets.

In recent years, the Xihe border army has won many battles and is indeed frighteningly strong.

In the fourth year of the Zhiping era, he even killed the ruler of the Western Xia in battle, expanded the territory to five prefectures, and made the Tibetans retreat.

Such a result is truly remarkable.

Originally, the Liao, Zhou, and Xia dynasties were in a balance of power, with the Liao and Zhou being roughly equal in strength, while the Western Xia served as a hidden buffer. This balance of power had been maintained for several decades.

As a result, this situation has undergone some subtle changes.

The saying "Liao and Zhou are evenly matched" refers to the fact that Liao had stronger military strength and Zhou had stronger economic strength, resulting in their overall national strength being roughly equal.

Who would have thought that the Great Zhou would suddenly become quite formidable in combat?

With the changing political landscape, the Liao Kingdom was naturally a little alarmed and would occasionally find a pretext to instigate small-scale conflicts to test the waters.

This conflict over "crossing the border to cultivate land" was essentially an attempt to force the Great Zhou to allow envoys to explore the frontier, thereby testing the true military strength of the border region.

"Is this the border dispute with the Liao Kingdom that the newspapers are talking about?" Gu Tingye suddenly realized.

"good."

A calm and peaceful voice came from behind.

Sheng Changbai approached, looking apologetic, and said, "Please forgive my rudeness."

"What brings the envoy to the capital?" Gu Tingye asked curiously.

Sheng Changbai shook his head and slowly said, "The envoy's name is Xiao Xi, but he is actually a general envoy. I estimate that several Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet will be needed to talk to him."

Special envoys, also known as general envoys, were among the most powerful envoys.

"It's probably because they're wary of the border troops' fighting strength and are deliberately testing them."

Gu Tingye couldn't help but sigh, "Now, the Great Zhou is thriving. If the reforms can be successful, we will have no fear of the Liao Kingdom and can wipe away our past humiliations."

"Speaking of the reforms, it's been over sixty days now, hasn't it?" Su Zhe looked at Jiang Zhao and asked, "Zichuan, how are the reforms progressing?"

Jiang Zhao sipped his honey water and pondered, "There are many opponents, but even more supporters."

"The Emperor and Zichuan share the same vision, so the resistance to reform is not as great as imagined," Zhang Heng added.

Throughout history, reforms have inevitably faced some opposition.

The Xifeng Reforms naturally had no shortage of opponents.

However, despite their opposition, almost no one dared to voice their opposition.

The main reason for this is that the combination of Zhao Ceying and Jiang Zhao as ruler and minister is simply too intimidating.

The reforms included the deposition and installation of the Empress, the dismissal of Grand Secretary Ouyang Xiu, the dismissal of seventy or eighty civil officials, and the demotion of four hundred officials in one fell swoop.
Anyone who dares to speak out against it will be truly belittled by the Emperor and Grand Secretary Jiang!
Su Zhe nodded, not surprised.

From the emperor's several deeds, he knew that he was an emperor capable of great things.

Such an emperor's reforms would certainly have a much higher success rate.

"So, what does Zizhan usually do?"

Gu Tingye laughed heartily and raised his eyebrows, saying, "Last time, I was drinking with Wang Shao, Zhong Shidao, and Liang Zhao, and we talked about Zizhan's poems."

"So, Zhong Shidao actually said that Zizhan had never been to West Lake?"

After he finished speaking, everyone looked at Su Shi.

"I long for it so much." Su Shi calmly shook his head: "Unfortunately, I've never been there."

Su Zhe interjected, recounting his life experiences over the past three years, saying, "These past few years, my elder brother has been causing trouble all the time."

The nine men gathered together, occasionally recounting their experiences in officialdom and life.

Needless to say, Su Shi and Su Zhe spent three years in mourning. Apart from Su Shi occasionally composing a poem or two, the two brothers almost never appeared in public.

Zhang Heng's official career is thriving. At over forty years old, he is a third-rank official and definitely a candidate for entering the cabinet.

Recently, the government has been focusing on the establishment of banks. Once the banks are built, they will solve the court's urgent needs and be a great achievement.

Zhang Dun and Zeng Bu, one focused on official administration and the other on land surveys and related administrative matters, respectively. Both had rare opportunities to accumulate political achievements.

Reform, to some extent, is also an opportunity for the younger generation to rise to power.

If the reform succeeds, Zhang Dun and Zeng Bu will at least be able to reach the edge of the third rank.

Zeng Gong spent many years compiling books and had already risen to the rank of seventh-grade official, mainly working on the compilation of the Zizhi Tongjian.

This work covers a vast amount of material, spanning from the Warring States period to the expansion of the Xihe border.

If nothing unexpected happens, it will probably take one or two decades to repair.

Gu Tingye was a military nobleman. Compared to the civil officials' process of "accumulating political achievements and being promoted", military officers paid more attention to making a name for themselves and keeping a low profile.

His two territorial expansions and one inspection tour of the two capitals and fourteen circuits had already accumulated unimaginable merits for him.

In the past, during his time in Xihe, Emperor Zhao Ceying was his "subordinate," which meant that he was deeply trusted by the emperor.

It can be said that Gu Tingye has completely passed the stage of "making a name for himself".

In the days to come, all he has to do is endure it, outlast the old men in the Privy Council, and then he can rise to the position of Deputy Privy Councilor.

Recently, his eldest son, Gu Shutuan, was born, and Gu Tingye spends his free time with his wife.

Sheng Changbai was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the second year of the Zhiping era. He had already passed the final examination and was appointed as an official of the seventh rank. His future looked very promising.

As for Jiang Zhao?

He's also enduring it!

As has been said, reform is an opportunity for the younger generation to rise to power, and young reformers are eager to take the lead.

Jiang Zhao is also from the younger generation!
Once the time is right, his mentor Han Zhang will choose to retire and step down to make way for a more capable person.

As for when the time will be right?

It could be a few months, a year, or two years, but it won't exceed two years.

(End of this chapter)