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

Chapter 241 We're doomed, we've fallen into their trap!

The fifth day of the ninth month in the second year of the Xifeng era.

Tea stalls outside Donghua Gate.

A wooden sign, about a foot in size, hangs on the wall, with words carved on both sides that read "Temporarily Closed for Business".

The tea stall was closed, the windows were half-closed, and a dozen or so tea merchants of all sizes gathered there.

However, perhaps because the key figure had not yet arrived, the conversation sounded somewhat chaotic.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a person approached and gently knocked.

"Boom boom boom!"

"it's me."

A steady voice rang out, and the dozen or so tea merchants were all jolted awake.

The chaotic conversation immediately vanished completely.

"Old Wu, open the door for Lord Chen."

"despair!"

The closed door opened briefly, then closed again.

More than ten tea merchants all turned their attention to it.

The visitor was none other than Chen Xiang, the Director of the Salt and Iron Bureau!

After a quick glance, Chen Xiang sat down and asked, "How's the grain purchase going?"

“In recent days, the price of rice has risen from 70 wen per dou to 100 wen per dou, and the price of wheat has risen from 50 wen to 80 wen per dou.”

One of them, a thin man, said in a deep voice, "They probably noticed the rise in grain prices, so the Ministry of Revenue opened the granaries for two consecutive days to sell grain at a fixed price in an attempt to stabilize prices. Unfortunately, the stockpiled grain was too little, and it was all in vain."

"Since yesterday, the Ministry of Revenue has stopped opening its granaries to sell grain. It is estimated that a lot of the grain in the reserves has been used up, and they dare not release it easily."

As he spoke, Xiao Shou, the tea merchant, raised his hand and pointed outside.

Chen Xiang looked up and gazed in the direction the tea merchant was pointing.

There happened to be a grain shop just over a hundred paces away.

Dozens of people gathered, scrambling to buy grain. The shopkeeper, standing on a stool, clutching an abacus, his face flushed, shouted at the top of his lungs, "Please don't push! Today, the price of new rice has risen to 100 coins per dou. Five bags of new rice, and we'll close the shop!"

Chen Xiang glanced around and nodded knowingly.

While it's true that all merchants are unscrupulous, the fact that tea merchants are driving up grain prices doesn't mean that the pressure on grain prices to rise comes solely from tea merchants.

Many grain traders saw the opportunity presented by rising grain prices and intended to make a fortune.

Thus, the amount of grain sold was deliberately controlled, making grain increasingly scarce.

In the past, grain merchants might sell six or seven bags of grain a day, at seventy coins per dou.

Nowadays, grain merchants are taking advantage of people's concerns about food scarcity and deliberately reducing the sale of some grain, so they can earn the money of selling six or seven bags when they sell only three or four bags.

Not only did they consume less food, they also earned more money.

"That's good." Chen Xiang's eyes flickered slightly, and he continued, "How's the bank's application going? Has it been blocked from being submitted?"

"More than five million strings of cash were all approved for application."

Xiao Shou, the tea merchant, reached into his sleeve and pulled out a document stamped with an official seal. He slowly said, "It is perfectly legitimate for a money shop to take money. The bank staff would not dare to obstruct it in the slightest."

"According to the bank clerk, he can obtain 50,000 strings of cash by presenting the documents in thirty days."

"it is good!"

Chen Xiang let out a long breath, looking much more relaxed.

"Inflate grain prices and run on banks. Once we succeed, I will no longer have to live in fear, and you will no longer have to struggle for a living."

Chen Xiang patted his robes, got up, pushed open the door, glanced back, and encouraged, "Continue to drive up grain prices; do not slacken your efforts."

"Yes."

More than ten people nodded in unison.

People would occasionally exchange glances, their eyes filled with expectation.

Compared to the free market of securities law, the stability of the interbank transfer law is more stable in preventing corruption.

The Securities Law must be repealed!

As soon as the gate was pushed open, the din of the marketplace grew even louder.

"The newspaper, the newspaper of the Imperial College."

"Breaking news: Grain prices are rising, and the imperial court is trying to allocate grain. Do not engage in indiscriminate looting."

Perhaps in an effort to sell more newspapers, some minor officials deliberately passed by grain shops carrying newspapers, trying to attract attention.

"Ah!"

One of the tea merchants scoffed, "The imperial court is really stubborn!"

“If we admit to the food shortage, it will inevitably cause unrest among the people.” Someone shook his head repeatedly, with a smile on his face.

Chen Xiang narrowed his eyes, remained silent, and strode outside.

As a result, on the sixth and seventh days of the month, grain prices soared, reaching as high as 150 coins, indicating a very favorable situation.

Tea merchants are becoming increasingly confident.

until
September 12th.

Tea stalls outside Donghua Gate.

The window was half-closed, and more than ten tea merchants gathered there, all gazing outside without speaking.

At that moment, a temporary grain selling point was set up just over ten steps away from the grain shop.

On a wooden sign about a foot long, the words "Seventy Coins" were engraved in large characters. Dozens of bags of rice and flour were piled up like a small mountain. More than ten imperial guards, dressed in armor and holding swords, stood solemnly guarding the area.

People lined up one by one to buy grain in an orderly manner.

"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale!"

"Breaking news: the imperial court has delivered grain, and grain prices have returned to normal."

The young newspaper vendor walked around with his newspapers in a bag, calling out his wares incessantly.

As the people listened to the newspaper vendor's calls and looked at the mountains of grain, they felt at least seventy percent more at ease.

As for the still unsettled three points?
For ordinary people, only when they have food in their hands can they feel truly at ease.

The tea stall was closed, and the dozen or so tea merchants looked at each other with a hint of surprise in their eyes.

For a moment, there was an indescribable deathly silence.

About twenty breaths later, someone broke the silence.

"It's over!"

"The imperial court actually delivered grain!"

A well-to-do tea merchant sighed repeatedly, wiped his sweat, picked up his bowl to drink tea, put it down, gazed into the distance, and then looked away.
Five or six different movements, large and small, were performed in a continuous yet chaotic manner.

It's easy to tell that this person's mind is in turmoil, and he is restless and unable to sit still.

More than ten tea merchants frowned one after another, and many of them were just as uneasy as the others.

“Something’s not right!” A thin tea merchant frowned and analyzed, “It’s only been twelve days since the first day of September.”

"In such a short time, it's simply a pipe dream to expect to transport grain from other routes."

“The collection, verification, dispatch, and transportation of grain and fodder all take a lot of time; it would be impossible to transport them to Beijing in less than twenty or thirty days.”

"How could it be so fast?"

More than ten tea merchants frowned repeatedly.

Right!

Isn't this too fast?

In an instant, more than ten people looked at Chen Xiang, the official in charge of the Salt and Iron Bureau.

"Don't worry."

Chen Xiang's expression was solemn as he analyzed, "Since the promulgation of the performance evaluation system, the administrative efficiency of officials has indeed increased significantly."

"These provisions were most likely requisitioned temporarily from some surrounding prefectures and counties. Not surprising!"

"this--"

More than ten people looked at each other in bewilderment.

Makes sense!
Who says we have to recruit from other routes?
"Then, what should we do?" one person asked hesitantly.

The imperial court's response to the rising food prices was much faster than he had imagined.

"Do it!" Chen Xiang shouted, "Why not do it?"

"Anyway, once the banks are breached, the imperial court will know that this is the work of tea merchants."

"This is a conspiracy."

"good."

Xiao Shou, the tea merchant, nodded in agreement, saying, "Everyone has already completed the paperwork to apply for and withdraw the money. Are we going to back out now?"

"A bank run is the only way out!"

Upon hearing this, more than ten people nodded in agreement.

September 30th, at the bank.

The sun rises, and a gentle breeze blows.

Even before the bank opened, tea merchants had already gathered there.

There were tea merchants of all sizes, the rich ones worth hundreds of thousands of strings of cash, and the poor ones worth around ten thousand strings of cash, totaling five or six hundred people.

The sight of hundreds of people gathered together was truly magnificent, and from time to time, noblemen, maids, and servants would stop and look on in surprise.

Since the establishment of the bank, people have often come to the government office to withdraw money, but it is quite rare to see five or six hundred people withdrawing money at the same time.

Little did they know, even withdrawing money was a matter of "competition."

Recently, tea merchants have joined forces to stage a bank run, causing banks to temporarily be unable to withdraw funds, thus creating the illusion that "banks have no money," and using the resulting credit crisis to intimidate the imperial court and express their dissatisfaction.

However, this presents a problem:
Since the bank doesn't have five million strings of cash, then there must be some people who can't withdraw their money!

In theory, once a bank run occurs, the imperial court will certainly continue to support withdrawals in order to maintain its credit.

But what if the imperial court really breaks its promise and revokes the bank's license and runs away?

This makes it possible that some tea merchants who did not withdraw their money have their funds "robbed".

Money is best kept in your pocket!
Despite the bank run, nobody wants to actually be unable to withdraw their money.

Comparatively speaking, it's naturally better to withdraw the money as soon as possible.

When does this bank open?

"They said it was exactly 8 o'clock in the morning."

"Chen Shi Zheng? As far as I know, officials usually go to court an hour earlier than that, right?" "Before it's light, they can't see the documents clearly!"

Why not use candlelight for illumination?

"If you're not afraid of the documents being burned, then it's fine."

Tea merchants occasionally chatted in hushed tones, discussing either the securities law promulgated by the imperial court or the banks, creating quite a commotion.

Soon.

"Den!"

A gong sounded, and more than ten imperial guards, fully armored and armed, strode closer. The tea merchants, large and small, quickly made way for them.

Afterwards, more than ten imperial guards pushed open more than a dozen gates from left to right and stood solemnly with knives in hand along the bank's entrance.

Dozens of clerks, officials from the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice, as well as Hai Wenren, the vice president of the bank, entered one after another.

After about an incense stick's time, Hai Wenren strode out, looked at the hundreds of tea merchants, and slowly said, "Today, there are many people withdrawing money of more than 50,000 strings of cash. For this reason, fifty clerks have been specially assigned to set up a special counter."

"Once the voucher and the information provided for withdrawal are verified to be correct, you can withdraw the money immediately. A clerk will be on your behalf for the entire process," Hai Wenren announced loudly.

In fact, the ancients were not stupid.

The methods of withdrawing money from money shops, banks, and money stores are almost identical to those used a thousand years later.

Besides verifying depositor information, the most crucial step is "entering the password".

Of course, the passwords for withdrawing money in ancient times were quite complicated and not just simple numbers.

It could be a physical token, such as a jade pendant, a wood carving, or a bronze talisman.

It could be a proper noun, such as a person's name, place name, or mountain/river name.

It could also be a code, such as a line of poetry or an article.

In any case, a corresponding "withdrawal password" is reserved when depositing money, and it must be matched when withdrawing money.

Of course, it doesn't necessarily have to be the person withdrawing the money; it could also be their son, grandson, friend, etc.

However, this method of withdrawing money is much more complicated. Not only must the relationship between the withdrawer and the depositor be recorded, but the withdrawer's identity information must also be recorded in detail.

It's understandable if it's a son or grandson; they are close relatives, so it's normal for them to take money from them.

If a friend is withdrawing money on your behalf, the person withdrawing the money is usually required to have a certain status and reputation, and cannot be an unknown person.

Alternatively, one must find a guarantor who is renowned, has a high social standing, and possesses substantial financial resources.

Recently, all tea merchants who applied to withdraw 50,000 strings of cash have passed the identity verification and "entered their passwords" to receive withdrawal documents from the bank.

However, we still need to verify it again.

After all, that's fifty thousand strings of cash!
Hundreds of tea merchants didn't have time to think things through and rushed forward to squeeze through.

First come first served!
Hai Wenren stood with his hands behind his back, glanced at the screen, and shook his head repeatedly.

Why do you have to go against the imperial court?
Why oppose Jiang Zemin's new laws of all things?

ridiculous!

Royal study room.

Apart from the palace maids and eunuchs, only Zhao Ceying, Jiang Zhao, and Zhang Heng, the emperor and his minister, remained.

"Tea merchants have finally started a bank run!"

Zhao Ceying clapped his hands and laughed, then waved his sleeve and said, "Send someone to summon Shen, the Commander of the Palace Guards—"

"No!"

"I will personally go and arrest him!"

Halfway through his sentence, Zhao Ceying, in high spirits, slammed his hand on the wooden table: "Jiang Qing, Zhang Shilang! Go and arrest them both!"

"promise!"

Jiang Zhao and Zhang Heng quickly bowed.

After that, they couldn't help but exchange a glance.

It's not exactly standard procedure for the emperor to investigate people, but it's not entirely incomprehensible either.

After all, this wave of investigations involves the seizure of the property of five or six hundred tea merchants, as well as officials of all ranks in the Salt and Iron Bureau.

A single raid could add at least ten or twenty million strings of cash to the national treasury, which is no small sum.

Even more so, they can allow officials to briefly experience the feeling of "financial freedom".

Indeed, that was the case. After the three of them had walked a few steps, Zhao Ceying waved his hand and said boldly, "Jiang Qing, I want to hold a lantern festival!"

"This year, I have been working diligently and have not celebrated any festivals."

The so-called lantern viewing festival is also known as the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Generally speaking, the Daxiangguo Temple would use colorful lanterns to create lantern mountains that are five or six zhang high. The lanterns would be embroidered with figures, landscapes, flowers and birds. Once it got dark, the lanterns would be a dazzling display of gold and green, a magnificent sight.

In addition, "poetry lanterns" are hung up for people to guess riddles.

Downhill from Daxiangguo Temple, temporary "Goulan Washe" stages are set up on the main road as places for artists to perform variety shows, songs and dances, acrobatics, shadow puppetry, and other performances.

In addition, the emperor might have palace servants scatter "lucky money," which the people would scramble to get good fortune from. Along the way, there would be various small vendors operating, setting up a scene similar to a food street, which would usually be so lively that "carriages and horses would be stuck in the road, and people would not be able to pay attention to anything."

This is also one of the few holidays where women can openly stroll around the streets for an extended period of time.

In terms of importance, it is almost second only to the New Year's Day.

The three of them, the emperor and his minister, continued to move forward, but Zhao Ceying couldn't help but turn his head to look at Jiang Zhao.

If Jiang Qing says that holding the Lantern Festival is too wasteful of resources and will affect the reform, then... we can only forget about it!

After all, compared to reform and unification, a mere festival is nothing more than a trivial matter.

The reforms and the unification of the empire were crucial to the lasting fame of Emperor Shizong and the emperor himself!

"Those who love pleasure without excess are wise men who are cautious and attentive."

Jiang Zhao pondered for a moment before replying, "Your Majesty is truly a rare, wise, and diligent emperor. A balance between work and rest is certainly possible."

To date, Zhao Ceying has indeed been quite frugal, never celebrating any holidays, and not even holding a grand celebration for his birthday.

Now that the national treasury has finally received some income and the fiscal deficit has been temporarily resolved, it is not unreasonable for the emperor to relax occasionally.

Jiang Zhao did not consider himself to have the moral integrity of a sage, and naturally would not hold the emperor to the same standards.

"it is good!"

Zhao Ceying was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, her steps becoming much lighter.

Salt and Iron Bureau.

Led by Zhao Ceying, with Jiang Zhao lagging half a step behind and Zhang Heng a full step behind, several hundred imperial guards followed closely behind, and they rushed in.

"Arrest everyone except Chen Xiang, the Director of the Salt and Iron Bureau," Zhao Ceying slammed his hand on the table and said coldly.

"Who dares to arrest someone?"

"This is the Salt and Iron Bureau!"

The loud shout came from Zhang Ji, an assistant director of the Salt and Iron Bureau.

"I'm arresting people!" Zhao Ceying shouted.

Zhang Ji was taken aback, and immediately bowed down, not daring to utter a sound.

In an instant, the Salt and Iron Bureau was thrown into chaos.

"I am Chen Xiang, the Assistant Director of the Salt and Iron Bureau!"

"I am Chen Xiang, the Assistant Director of the Salt and Iron Bureau!"

Fearing he would be arrested, Chen Xiang quickly announced his name loudly and walked out.

Having received the emperor's instructions, the imperial guards naturally did not arrest him.

Many officials from the Salt and Iron Bureau immediately noticed the problem upon seeing it.

"Chen Xiang, you old dog!"

"Damn it, he's been sold!"

"Chen Xiang, I've drafted it!"

"You old dog, do you dare look me in the eye?!"

In an instant, alas!

Tea stalls outside Donghua Gate.

Tea merchants, large and small, were ashen-faced.

The tea merchants withdrew all the more than five million strings of cash they had raised.

The bank did not experience a bank run!

"The people in the Salt and Iron Bureau have all been arrested. It is said that someone reported that the people in the Salt and Iron Bureau were colluding with businessmen."

"We're doomed! Chen Xiang wasn't caught. That old bastard set a trap, just waiting for us to fall into it!"

"That old bastard is corrupt himself, he's trading his brothers' lives for his own!"

"I get fooled every year, but every time it's different!"

Tea merchants could be heard lamenting from time to time, revealing their dejection.

"Why don't we escape before the city gates close?" someone suggested, their eyes darting around.

"Why are you running? Where can you run to?" someone shook their head repeatedly and retorted.

In feudal times, one could not move an inch without a travel permit.

run?
They can't escape an inch!
"I hope I won't be exposed!" one person said, clasping their hands together in prayer.

Many people lowered their heads in secret, their hearts filled with fear.

Even the most prestigious tea merchants were filled with a sense of dejection.

This time, it's highly likely that we're really doomed!

The emperor, Grand Secretary Jiang, and bank president—such a lineup for arresting people is simply unheard of.

If this gets exposed...
Panic gripped the tea merchants.

Fortunately, the panic did not last long, and the hundreds of people quickly calmed down.

Within half a day, the imperial court obtained the so-called "list of names".

Hundreds of tea merchants, along with officials from the salt and iron bureaus, all suffered without exception.

More than a thousand people were involved; those with minor offenses had their homes confiscated, while those with serious offenses were imprisoned or even exiled.

The people of the city and the government were all greatly shocked.

However, when officials in the imperial court and merchants in the city learned the inside story, they could only utter two words:
Live it!

Running into banks and driving up grain prices are attempts to pressure the imperial court—isn't that just courting death?
They'd risk their lives for a little profit!

(End of this chapter)