Miss and farmhand

Shen Jingzong was still in a state of redemption. He wasn't without wavering; the dark side of his heart stirred, hoping that Zhao Yuze would die at sea, so that no one would know about his affairs and he would be safe.

This kind of mentality is a deep-seated human flaw, difficult to change through self-discipline, especially for someone like Shen Jingzong. However, he immediately remembered that Zhao Yuze had taken all his official documents, and he dared not gamble on it. What if Zhao Yuze had instructed someone before leaving—it didn't even need to be Huang Xingtong, there was no need, Shen Jingzong himself knew that official documents would not be given to commoners, even if they were left in a neighboring county, he would be finished.

So he resigned himself to his fate and obediently followed Zhao Yuze's instructions before he left, maintaining the rear for him and procuring food and supplies for him.

Actually, he hadn't neglected the matter of speculating on silver. But how could he not have gotten involved in such speculation? He already had shares in money shops and exchange shops long ago. He managed the two earliest groups of people who came to pay him tribute: one group were maritime traders, and the other were those who made their living by making money from money. The former were flamboyant, the latter low-key; it's hard to say who was worse.

When Huang Xingtong told him, his first reaction was, "With the exchange rate like this, when am I supposed to instruct the money exchange shops to sell?" Then he immediately shuddered. He was an official, an official who was redeeming himself through meritorious service; he couldn't do such a thing.

Huang Xingtong said, "This is not a good sign. Some people are even deliberately exaggerating the situation at sea to incite more people to participate, causing panic and rising food prices. There are also discussions about gradually transferring people and goods to escape. If this continues, things could get out of hand."

This is quite crucial. Shen Jingzong, after all, was a man who had risen through the ranks of officialdom. He despised the "ignorant masses" and didn't care about their lives or deaths. The more he looked down on them, the more he feared their unrest and lack of restraint. The ignorant masses were the ones who could be controlled; the unrestrained ones were the mobs who could drag down officials, tear them apart, and eat them alive.

In particular, it involves the exchange of silver and copper coins, and finance is a major issue that cannot be taken lightly.

If someone is indeed deliberately inciting trouble, this matter must be thoroughly investigated and reported; it cannot be simply let go.

While Shen Jingzong was pondering, Huang Xingtong worried that he would cause trouble again and not take the matter seriously, so he urged, "Don't think about delaying. If this kind of thing isn't controlled, it will develop into something terrible in a day or two. Those money shops and exchange houses must be shut down immediately." His tone was very righteous.

Shen Jingzong rolled his eyes.

"If we did exactly as you say, things would spiral out of control. You ignorant scholar."

"What do you mean?"

Shen Jingzong suddenly felt a completely new experience. It was always him who caused trouble, only to be exposed by Huang Xingtong, with Huang Xingtong winning and Shen Jingzong being punished and frustrated. Now, he actually had the chance to teach Huang Xingtong a lesson.

"Do you think that if I shut down the money exchange shops, those people will have nowhere to exchange their money, and the speculation in silver will naturally stop?"

He put on airs and set a trap for Huang Xingtong.

Huang Xingtong blinked and jumped in without hesitation, like a rabbit.

"Isn't that right?"

He scoffed.

"Having found such a way to make money, how could they give up just because they couldn't exchange their money? The next day, everyone gathered in front of the money shop, only to find it closed. Among them were honest commoners, hooligans, and wealthy, powerful gentry. This group had all come together for one purpose: to speculate on silver. The most honest commoners were the first to panic: 'What should we do? The money shops are closed, the government ordered them closed, and we're not allowed to exchange money anymore. Is the war going badly, hence the restriction on silver circulation?' Only the timid would immediately think of the war situation. The bolder ones, like the hooligans, certainly didn't think it would happen so quickly. They trusted the garrison more, because their past troubles were too..." Many must have been taught a lesson by the garrison officers who came out for their leave. But the thugs certainly wouldn't appease the common people; they love seeing people afraid, because fear makes them easier to manipulate and profitable. So they told them it was probably true—the silver couldn't be exchanged, the copper coins were depreciating, and the war was really going to be lost. Once the people panicked, the thugs could then suggest: "Gentlemen, think of a way! You have land and property; in war, you rely on the government, but if the government can't be relied on, you're the only ones left." How could the gentry and landlords not know what the thugs were thinking? Maybe the thugs were even working for them. So they volunteered, as if doing a good deed, to exchange silver for everyone. This method was still feasible.”

Huang Xingtong was stunned by what he said. He never imagined that there was such a philosophy among ordinary people in a small place. It was as dramatic and methodical as it was written in a play.

This was the first time Shen Jingzong had seen him with such a foolish expression, and the anger that had been building up inside him for so long suddenly subsided.

He had long believed that Huang Xingtong looked down on him, but in reality, he had already convinced himself that he was inferior to Huang Xingtong, so he would only look for evidence to support his viewpoint in the words and actions of others. Even a sleepy look from Huang Xingtong would be interpreted as contempt by him.

Because he knew that his skills and knowledge were inferior to Huang Xingtong's, he outwardly showed admiration, but inwardly he felt inferior and resentful. He was also a scholar, so why couldn't Huang Xingtong do the same? He harbored a hidden anger, but whenever he saw Huang Xingtong, seeing his confidence and willfulness, he didn't even dare to compare himself to him and retreated to the stage of admiration.

It can't be said that the blame lies with Huang Xingtong, but this lack of success in his official career did contribute to his eventual greed.

But now, everything he had always firmly believed in has been shattered.

He wanted to stand tall and hold his head high in front of Huang Xingtong, not to deliberately admire him, but to treat him as an equal colleague, or even to adopt the airs of an official towards a commoner. He didn't need to be a thousand times better than Huang Xingtong; he just needed to do his job well, speak out about what he knew, and offer the solutions he knew.

No one is inherently more remarkable than another; they simply have different areas of expertise. Huang Xingtong may understand things that Shen Jingzong may not, but Huang Xingtong is completely unaware of the things that Shen Jingzong excels at!

Huang Xingtong hesitated, "...You're right, that makes sense. Profitable things won't be abandoned just because they're prohibited... But will those gentry and landlords really agree? After all, they're not in this business by profession. Asking them to come up with such a large sum of money, isn't that putting them in a difficult position?"

"You know they're in a difficult position, and the common people know it too. The most foolish—no, the kindest—among them are the common people. Because they know the gentry and landlords have no such obligation, they're in a difficult position, so the exchange rate has to be raised again. Originally, one coin was exchanged for two thousand taels of silver, that was the price offered by money shops, which offered guarantees, but the landlords didn't. So they wanted one coin for two thousand five hundred, or even three thousand. Do you think the common people would agree? Only they were willing to exchange; the money shops wouldn't, and they were also feeling guilty. The poorer they were, the more they knew that the copper coins in their hands were of poor quality and worthless. So they gritted their teeth and exchanged them."

"One to three thousand?!" Huang Xingtong seemed to be hearing an unbelievable number.

Like Shen Xuying, he had only a small amount of money, a kind of extravagant ignorance.

His days of wealth far outweigh his days of poverty; forgetting one's roots is a human flaw. Shen Jingzong experienced this, and so did Huang Xingtong. We are all human.

Shen Jingzong then became very serious, looking at him as if he were a complete novice, ready to roll up his sleeves and give this former Hanlin scholar a good lesson.