Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

The cloth merchants' plan was very successful, and even merchants from other industries came to the exchange with their money to speculate on cloth.

But they always felt that something was wrong.

Li Wenzhong frowned deeply: "The price of cloth has risen so much, why haven't the officials from the exchange convened a meeting with the trade association to resolve this?"

Chapter 3346 Rising to the Sky

Li Dunyi said, "It cannot rise any further, otherwise it will surely anger His Majesty."

"My warehouse is almost full too."

Li Mao said.

"We can hold a general meeting of cloth merchants, allowing the major merchants to release their goods together, and we should also agree on the prices for the release."

Li Wenzhong scratched his brow with his finger: "How come the officials at the exchange can remain so calm?"

"Did they plan this all along?"

"Could it be that there are still a large amount of cloth stored in the warehouse?"

Warehouses are places where the state stores money and goods.

Li Dunyi shook his head and said, "After the salary system was reformed, only the silk used to make official robes is still stored in large quantities in the national treasury and granaries."

"The rest of the fabrics are sold monthly through Kepei. Our fabric store is the one buying them all. Our Li family has the largest share of Kepei. The remaining fabrics in the warehouse can't be sold at a lower price."

"Could it be that from the very beginning of the price increase, the cloth was already being urgently dispatched from 400 li away?" Li Mao pondered.

"Impossible, those officials aren't gods,"

Li Wenzhong said,

"Moreover, it takes time to transport goods from other places. We can finish up once the new shipments arrive."

Li Dunyi said, "Something unusual must be going on. We need to talk to those companies immediately and join forces to lower prices and sell orders tomorrow!"

……

The Tokyo Stock Exchange was located in the Shangqing Palace in the southeast corner of the outer city.

It is right next to Jingde Temple.

A Taoist temple and a Buddhist monastery were both converted for other uses in the second year after the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

Today, the Shangqing Palace, which Emperor Huizong of Song loved so much, has become the site of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Different Buddhist temples were used to trade different kinds of goods.

The business was so popular that a temporary shed was even set up outside the hall to provide shelter from the rain.

At this moment, the place was bustling with noise.

Zhao Kai, the former Prince of Yun of the Song Dynasty, was anxiously waiting in the crowd.

After a long wait, his brother Zhao Shu finally arrived: "We can't borrow any money. I think we should just give up."

“If we sell now, we can earn two or three hundred coins. There’s no need to take any more risks.”

"The price of fabric has risen so drastically that I'm really worried."

Zhao Kai said, "Let's wait a bit longer. The price changes every day, and it's bound to rise even more tomorrow."

"How about we go borrow money from those iron filings (Jews)?"

“When my father was still alive, he often visited the Iron Shavings Building.”

“I used to go there often, and I had a very good relationship with the shop owners there.”

"No, no, the Ironflint's interest rates are too high,"

Zhao Shu said,

"Besides, those iron filings only care about money, they don't care about people, why would they care about old feelings?"

“Our assets have already been mortgaged, and the Iron Flint People won’t lend us any more money.”

Zhao Kai added, "We can also ask Lao Ba to borrow money from the palace!"

Zhao Shu said, "I went to borrow money a couple of days ago. Lao Ba said he went to the palace to borrow money, but his sister scolded him severely."

Zhao Kai said dejectedly, "They are all siblings from the same father, and while they have become rich, they are unwilling to lend us a little money to make a fortune."

"Dang-dang-dang!"

"The market is open!"

As the gong sounded, people began to line up, and some even made private transactions outside the venue.

Since it was everyone's first time, the big traders operating the market had very crude sales techniques, and they suddenly dumped a huge number of price reduction orders.

But countless retail investors lack judgment; they only know to take advantage of the price drop to buy more goods and make money by increasing their value.

"Quick, grab it! Quick, grab it!"

Amidst the clamor of voices, an inconspicuous fellow immediately said to the person next to him, "It's starting."

The traders were all unofficial clerks, and their salaries were not paid by the imperial treasury but were managed by the exchange itself.

They were busy at work, but soon they all froze in surprise.

"Did you fill in the selling price correctly?"

"No, hurry up."

"No, are you sure you didn't enter the wrong selling price?"

"Why is it the same price as at the beginning of winter?"

Why are you asking so many questions?

"You wouldn't be involved in speculating on orders, would you, as a trader?"

"No, no, absolutely not!"

"Then sell them quickly!"

The latest unit price is written on the blackboard in a timely manner, and then erased immediately after the transaction is completed.

As one incredibly low price after another appeared, everyone was stunned, including the big merchants behind the scenes.

The price is too low; it's the price before it was inflated!

Because the price was so low, no one bothered to buy it.

Even a fool would know there's a problem. If too many orders are placed at extremely low prices, the price of fabric will be shattered on the spot, and those who bought the goods earlier will suffer huge losses.

The merchants quickly realized what was happening and ordered their followers, "Eat it all! Eat as much as you can!"

Li Dunyi was still standing there, stunned.

A cloth merchant named Wu Yong ran over: "Brother Li, why haven't you made a move yet?"

Li Dunyi pointed to the blackboard and said, "These sales orders weren't made with any intention of making money; they must be goods sold by the imperial court!"

Wu Yong said, "The cloth in the warehouse was all supplied by our cloth department, and there isn't much left."

"If we can take it all, we can control the situation."

"Do you intend to oppose His Majesty?" Li Dunyi asked.

Wu Yong said, "Since His Majesty has already entered the fray, I wasn't thinking of making a lot of money, but I can't afford to lose everything, can I?"

Chapter 3347 Are you finally getting anxious?

"Once we've finished paying the imperial bill, we'll join forces to lower prices and help stabilize prices for the imperial court."

“Someone in Tokyo has to buy cloth, and someone in the imperial court has to distribute it.”

"As long as it doesn't go too far, His Majesty certainly won't use a knife."

"His Majesty always upholds the rules, and we have not violated the Great Ming Code."

"If His Majesty doesn't follow the rules, how can this exchange have any credibility?"

"His Majesty will surely spare us in order to save the exchange."

Li Dunyi shook his head repeatedly: "His Majesty must have already prepared a backup plan."

"What kind of backup plan is there? There's only a few bolts of cloth left in the warehouse. Can you really conjure them up with magic?"

Wu Yong said anxiously,

"We agreed to stand together through thick and thin, how can you, as the head of the group, back down?"

"If you don't take responsibility today, we won't choose you as the leader again!"

"It's better to give up this position; His Majesty surely still has goods somewhere else."

"Quickly check where the pickup address is!" Li Dunyi said.

The super low-priced goods that I just bought were quickly brought over.

It was just an ordinary warehouse; you couldn't tell anything special about it.

"wrong,"

Li Dunyi's pupils constricted.

"The pick-up point on this bill of lading is for storing coal, how could it have become a fabric warehouse?"

"We've been keeping a close eye on all the cloth shipments that have been sent to the capital recently. They can only be moved here by using some kind of magic trick."

The major merchants gradually realized something was wrong, but by then it was too late to back down.

No matter how many orders the authorities place, they have to accept them all until they've finished consuming the goods; otherwise, things will completely spiral out of control.

Countless small and medium-sized merchants and individual investors were completely at a loss.

This was the first time they had encountered something like this, and they had no idea what was going on. They could only watch dumbfounded as the gods battled it out.

Li Wenzhong arrived unnoticed and whispered, "Father, don't buy it. We'll accept any loss this time; we can't possibly consume all of His Majesty's goods."

"Do you know where these fabrics came from?" Li Dunyi asked.

Li Wenzhong said, "After thinking it over, the only cloth that the Ministry of Revenue and the cloth merchants can't figure out can be—military cloth that has been stockpiled for a long time!"

The situation at the exchange was still at a stalemate, and a group of desperate big merchants sent relatives or confidants with invoices to the warehouse.

At that time, the Tokyo Stock Exchange operated in a rather crude and primitive manner.

Short selling and buying are both impossible because the conditions don't exist.

They even dug out silver dollars from the cellars and carried them to the exchange basket by basket, simply because these things were more convenient than copper coins.

Half a month ago, the imperial court took advantage of the merchants' speculation to issue the Ming Treasure Notes in Tokyo.

As a result, a large number of merchants carried copper coins to exchange for paper money, making it easier for them to operate in the exchange.

The side effect of exchanges is thus demonstrated: enhancing currency circulation!

With the opening of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Ming Dynasty's precious paper money was issued in the capital, and the silver coins hidden in the cellars also came to light.

In addition, each invoice has a specified pickup date and location.

If the pickup date is exceeded, an additional warehouse usage fee will be charged.

The big merchants came to the warehouse with their invoices, not to pick up the goods.

"Gentlemen, your invoices have not yet reached the delivery date."

The clerk answered with a smile.

The son of a wealthy merchant said, "We're not here to pick up the goods; we're here to inspect them."

The clerk explained, "All the goods on those invoices at the exchange have already been inspected."

"You can only inspect the goods again when you pick them up."

"If you find that inferior products are being sold as superior ones or that fewer items are being sold as more, you can appeal to the exchange."

"We want to inspect the goods now!"

"You cannot inspect the goods now because the delivery period has not yet arrived."