The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

Heshengyuan's main branch was located in the most bustling area of ​​Qipan Street in the East Market of the capital. It had a three-bay storefront with a black plaque with gold lettering, and carriages from various prefectures were always parked at the entrance.

After the Grain Rain solar term in the twenty-second year of Yonghe, the Heshengyuan Draft Bank officially commenced its business operations. Within just a few months, it had established a firm foothold in the Beijing business community.

They were very successful in north-south money exchange and inventory lending.

Even several vice ministers of the Ministry of Revenue were privately discussing that if this business were to develop for a few more years, it might take away the jobs of the government-run money shops.

But beneath the surface of this apparent success, undercurrents are surging.

After several business battles, the major established businesses in the capital temporarily reached a truce, and the businesses whose interests were infringed began to make moves in secret.

Rumors spread like wildfire among the common people, with some saying that He Shengyuan was secretly protected by a eunuch working in the palace.

Some say that the owner, Yidun, is a fugitive from Jiangnan who has laundered his identity; others even say that the shop has run out of silver and is only keeping on the surface by robbing Peter to pay Paul.

The rumors reached the palace, where Zhou Xing was in a side hall reviewing the newly sent policy essays and annotations by Yao Guangxiao.

He held the note up to the candle flame and burned it; the ashes fell into the copper plate, his face expressionless.

Heshengyuan is the only piece in his entire scheme that is completely exposed to the light of day. No other business can make a fortune without attracting envy.

Yidun and his men knew this better than anyone else.

So when Yidun sent his men to invite the head managers to the backyard under the pretext of "discussing the year-end bonuses," everyone tacitly understood: tonight's topic wasn't bonuses, but how to deal with the impending murder.

The east wing of the backyard was a secret room specially set aside by Yidun. It had no windows on all four sides, and the walls were filled with fireproof and moisture-proof lime. Once the door was closed, you couldn't hear a word even if you were pressed against the wall.

Yi Dun sat at the head of the table, with a well-worn account book spread out in front of him, the cover stamped with the words "Heshengyuan General Account".

Lei Lutai sat to his right, an abacus resting on his lap, his fingers unconsciously moving the beads, the clattering sound particularly crisp in the quiet, secluded room.

Mao Honghui sat opposite him, holding a newly delivered secret report in his hand.

That was sent from the Beggars' Sect's South City branch, recording all the times and locations of recent visits and exchanges among the owners of various businesses.

Li Hongling sat at the end of the table, with a thick stack of account books in front of him, each page's edges densely covered with tiny handwriting.

Those were all the unusual payments he had marked while checking the accounts over the past few days.

Which business suddenly delayed paying for goods?

Which long-time customer suddenly reduced their order quantity?

Which bank's customers redeemed their unmatured bills early?

Behind every anomaly lies a pair of watchful eyes.

Yi Dun looked around at his three old friends and spoke first.

In his previous life, he started from animal husbandry and became incredibly wealthy, so he had experienced being attacked by his peers before.

But the games played in the capital city are different from those in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Back then, it was about who had more money; now it's about who has more people backing them.

He opened the general ledger in front of him and pointed to a few lines of numbers on the page, which represented several long-established businesses in the capital recently.

A summary of recent developments of Taihe Grain Store, Fengheng Cloth Store, Longsheng Draft Bank, and Wanli Trading Company.

Taihe Grain Store has secretly cut off two of their supply channels, and Fengheng Cloth Store is contacting several of Shengyuan's major clients.

Longsheng Bank used high interest rates as bait to lure away its core customers. Wanli Trading Company was even worse off; they stockpiled a batch of the same goods and sold them off at 30% below market price, clearly trying to squeeze Heshengyuan out of the retail market.

That's not even the most troublesome part.

The most troublesome thing is that these businesses all have powerful backers. Taihe Grain Store is backed by the nephew-in-law of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Longsheng Bank had shares in the household of Marquis Cao Jun of Anxi, and the wife of the owner of Wanli Trading Company was a distant relative of the Grand Protector's family.

On the surface, it's a business war, but behind the scenes, every company has ties to the imperial court. A slight misstep could mean more than just losing money; it could mean losing your head.

After listening to Yidun's analysis, Lei Lutai's abacus beads clicked and clattered for a while.

In his previous life, when he founded Rishengchang Bank, he faced an even more perilous situation than he does now. At that time, Shanxi banks were just starting out, and the old-school money shops united to squeeze him out.

They forced his Rishengchang to the brink of collapse, leaving him with only one box of cash. On the day of the most intense redemption frenzy, he openly and honestly redeemed that box of cash in the center of the lobby.

Every payment was made on time, without delay, deduction, or shirking responsibility. After each payment was made, Rishengchang publicly declared that its credit was stronger than silver.

Within three days, customers who had previously withdrawn their funds not only returned to deposit money, but also transferred their deposits from other banks.

Today's Heshengyuan is much stronger than Rishengchang was back then. In terms of cash reserves, they have enough cash in their warehouses to pay off all the bills.

In terms of business foundation, they have five solid trading routes: general merchandise, grain, cloth, medicinal herbs, and tea.

In terms of backing, the people standing behind them could scare the powerful backers of the businesses across the street into submission, but they just can't say it.

Note that "scared to death" is in quotation marks.

But what troubles Lei Lutai the most is precisely this last point: the strongest trump card cannot be played, and the strongest backer cannot be relied upon; this is the real danger.

He put down the abacus, abandoning his usual nonchalant attitude when checking accounts, and his eyes flashed with the sharpness he had shown in his past life when he fought his way through the run on the bank.

The biggest threat facing Heshengyuan right now is none other than Longsheng Bank.

Lei Lutai pointed out two key issues: First, Longsheng Bank was poaching Heshengyuan Bank's clients, which was an attempt to cut off their financial lifeline.

Secondly, Longsheng Bank is backed by the Marquis of Anxi's mansion, so a direct confrontation is not an option.

The core of the banking business is not money but credit. If Longsheng Bank spreads rumors in the name of the Marquis of Anxi to smear Heshengyuan's credit in the business world, it will be a disaster.

The customers will waver, and it will be inconvenient for them to bring out their backing and confront the situation head-on.

Mao Honghui slammed the secret report in his hand on the table, his voice deepening.

In his previous life, he rose from the second manager of Rishengchang to the head manager of Weitaihou. His expertise lay in establishing a branch network and analyzing intelligence on competitors.

The secret report in his hand combined information from both the Beggars' Gang and the Workers' Association, and had already figured out the overlapping customer lists of Longsheng Bank and Heshengyuan.

They targeted Heshengyuan's customer base with an annual interest rate two percent lower. This was not ordinary business competition, but a highly targeted attack. Moreover, their actions were extremely swift, indicating that someone was coordinating and orchestrating things behind the scenes.

In addition, Wanli Trading Company hired a group of people to keep an eye on the goods at the Tongzhou Wharf, including when Shengyuan's cargo ships would arrive, what goods they would load, and which route they would take.

They knew everything, and then rushed to snatch up the market with low prices before Heshengyuan's goods hit the market.

This is clearly a joint operation.

Longsheng strangled them financially.

Taihe cut off their supply chain.

Fengheng poached their customers, while Wanli undermined their retail business.

With clear division of labor and excellent teamwork, it was definitely not a case of each person acting on a whim.

After Mao Honghui finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room became even more somber.

The firelight flickered on the wall, casting the four people's shadows long and short.

Yi Dun lit another oil lamp, which brightened the room a bit, but it only made everyone's faces look even more solemn.

They all know that being targeted by competitors in business is not a big deal, but being targeted by an organized business alliance with a division of labor and political connections is not just a business issue.

Li Hongling remained silent, simply looking down as he flipped through his account books, his fingers slowly tracing the dense, tiny characters.

He was the youngest of the four, but in his previous life he experienced the entire cycle of Shanxi merchants from their peak to their decline, and witnessed firsthand the collapse of the draft bank system under the impact of Western banks and modern finance.

This situation is one where competitors unite with industry peers, cultivate connections with the government, and cut off supplies and customers.

He had already witnessed the decline of Shanxi merchants in his previous life, but in this life, it wasn't foreign banks that were attacking, but rather a local merchant alliance that was besieging them.

He turned to the latest page of the ledger, stopped what he was doing, looked up, and his voice, though not loud, made all three people present pause slightly.

The biggest fear in a joint encirclement and suppression campaign is not having many opponents, but having all of them.

Four businesses, four interests, and four factions within the imperial court.

They are united now because they share a common threat with Sheng Yuan.

Once this threat disappears, their alliance will immediately crumble.

There's no need to wait for the threat to disappear.

If you can create rifts between them, the alliance will crumble on its own.

Upon hearing this, Yi Dun took the stack of account books from Li Hongling and flipped through a few pages.

The firelight reflected on his face, and a smile gradually appeared on his usually honest, round face, which resembled that of a country bumpkin.

He put down the ledger, picked up the teapot, and poured a cup of tea for each of his three old friends.

Turn enemies into shareholders—not shareholders of Shengyuan, but cross-shareholdings—and entangle their interests together.

Didn't Taihe Grain Store cut off their supply channels?

Then invest in Taihe Grain Store, so that Taihe's owner can also hold some shares in Heshengyuan. The lower his grain prices are, the more his Heshengyuan shares will depreciate.

Wasn't Longsheng Bank trying to recruit Heshengyuan's clients with high interest rates?

Then let Heshengyuan invest in Longsheng, and at the same time let Longsheng invest in Heshengyuan Piaohao. After the two Piaohao hold shares in each other, any vicious competition between them would be like cutting their own flesh with a knife.

Fengheng Cloth Shop and Wanli Trading Company are the same.

He picked up his teacup and gently placed the lid on the rim, making a crisp sound.

When every business has a shareholder of Heshengyuan, and the profits and losses of every business are tied to Heshengyuan, the so-called alliance will cease to exist.

This is like several ships chained together; if one takes on water, they all sink together. At that point, there's no need to retaliate against Shengyuan; they'll sit down and talk on their own.

All Heshengyuan had to give up was a small share of the company, but in return, it gained a business network covering the entire capital city.

With this network, the scope of the ticket business can be expanded more than doubled, and the relationship networks of all shareholders can also be integrated.

On that day, there will be no one in the business community of the capital besieging Heshengyuan, only people hoping that Heshengyuan will make more money.

Upon hearing this, Lei Lutai leaned back in his chair and remained silent for a long time before suddenly laughing.

In his previous life, he worked at Rishengchang for his entire life, and he only did one thing: deposit money from other people's pockets into his own.

Yi Dun's trick wasn't to take the money from someone else's pocket, but to sew their pocket together with his own.

What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours; neither of us can live without the other.

Mao Honghui had already picked up a pen and started listing the equity structure and key relationships of each company on paper, quickly marking out each company's temperament and pain points.

The owner of Taihe Grain Store was concerned about his reputation, so he had to hire people to invest in the company, making him feel that he had a discerning eye.

The head manager of Longsheng Bank was pragmatic and focused on profit, speaking directly with money.

Wanli Trading Company is related to Taibao Mansion. They are not short of money but value their reputation highly. They need to feel that cooperating with Heshengyuan is a prestigious thing.

Split-network deployment is his forte, but this time he's deploying equity instead of split-networks.

Li Hongling has begun calculating the valuation and share exchange ratio of each business, and the equity, annual profit and debt situation of each business are presented in his writing.

In his past life, he had witnessed too many businesses collapse due to unclear shareholding and heavy debts. In this life, he would never allow himself to make the same mistake as Sheng Yuan.

He proposed that a risk assessment mechanism must be established simultaneously, not to prevent present risks, but to prevent future risks.

Before each shareholder invests, the accounts must be checked. After investing, Heshengyuan will send an accountant to the other party's business to participate in daily accounting. The accounts of both parties are transparent to each other, eliminating any possibility of underhanded dealings.

He wasn't targeting anyone in particular; everyone present understood his unspoken meaning. He was speaking to the "new friends" who were about to sit at the table.

After listening to the three shopkeepers, Yi Dun picked up his teacup and drank it all in one gulp. Then he slammed the teacup down on the table with a dull thud.

Without delay, they split up and began their work at daybreak.

Lei Lutai was responsible for drafting the framework plan for cross-shareholding.

Mao Honghui was responsible for contacting various businesses to ascertain their attitudes.

Li Hongling was responsible for calculating the accounts and equity ratios of each company.