Chapter 290

The most fundamental reason is that the tenant farmers need that money!

The same logic applies.

The loans from the Precious Note Bureau appear to carry high interest.

But Su Qiao set these rates based on the merchants' profits.

The Bureau's interest is high.

But once they complete those deals,

the profits they gain are even higher!

It's nothing more than gritting their teeth and enduring a bit longer.

Then they can secure wealth for their wives and children!

What is there not to like?

But today, all of this has ended.

Zhu Yuanzhang halted the loans from the Precious Note Bureau.

This is undoubtedly cutting off people's paths to wealth!

Zhu Yuanzhang slowly rose to his feet.

"Merchants can fear nothing."

"Except death."

"Now that we have halted the Bureau's loans, they dare to storm the palace, trading one life for another."

"If time passes and someone else controls the Precious Note Bureau, could they not lead all the merchants under heaven to rise up in rebellion?!"

Hearing this,

Su Qiao could not help but laugh loudly.

"Does Your Majesty truly believe that controlling the Precious Note Bureau means controlling all merchants under heaven?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned by these words.

"What do you mean?"

Su Qiao sighed softly and said,

"Your Majesty, everyone has a bottom line."

"Once that bottom line is crossed, people cease to fear death."

"Merchants have actually never feared death; it's just that no emperor has ever breached their bottom line before."

"As for the Precious Note Bureau,"

"I can only say it is not the Bureau that controls the merchants under heaven."

"It is the merchants under heaven and the Precious Note Bureau that are both controlled by one thing."

"No one can truly control the other; only shared interests can bind them together."

Su Qiao's words

had clearly surpassed Old Zhu's understanding.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned deeply as he looked at Su Qiao and asked,

"Not under your control? Then who controls this thing?"

Su Qiao shook his head and said,

"Not a person."

"For the moment, I do not know how to describe it."

"If Your Majesty does not believe me, you may use the name of the Precious Note Bureau and see if any merchant obeys."

The emperors in the chat group were equally confused.

Only Jiajing's brow was furrowed.

He was mentally simulating the scenario over and over.

Because previously, Jiajing had vaguely felt

that those merchants were not pleading for Su Qiao simply because they knew him.

"No, no."

Jiajing exhaled slowly.

"The world bustles, for fame, for profit."

"Emperor Taizu, Su Qiao is correct."

"Merchants only seek profit."

"The Precious Note Bureau can only command them if it allows the merchants under heaven to profit."

"What they want is not Su Qiao, but someone who can make them profit."

"At this moment, Su Qiao is merely a symbol."

Hearing this,

Zhu Yuanzhang finally came to his senses.

He then sent a message from the chat group.

Emperor Taizu Gao:

"In that case, if the court blocks their profits, must it also yield to them?"

Jiajing shook his head and sighed,

"Your son does not think so either."

"There are two kinds of profit."

"One kind ensures fullness at every meal; the other ensures fullness only at one meal."

"If we guarantee fullness at every meal, even if it requires merchants to bleed a little, your son believes it is still feasible."

"However, from now on, the governance of our Great Ming will likely need to undergo a transformation."

560 "In that case."

"The words of the Sages are utterly abolished; this has never been heard of in ancient times."

Jiajing keenly perceived it.

The Bureau of Paper Money, under Su Qiao's administration, had already replaced the underlying logic of the Way of Confucius and Mencius.

Even without publicly abolishing the Way of Confucius and Mencius.

Sooner or later, this Way of Confucius and Mencius will be hollowed out by these merchants.

Zhu Di immediately frowned and asked,

"Do people in later generations not even remain loyal to their rulers? Do they not even show filial piety to their parents?"

Jiajing's expression gradually grew stern.

"Loyal, yet not loyal."

"From this point on, I fear all people in the world will only be loyal to a wise ruler."

"But when they encounter a wise ruler, the loyalty of the people will be far greater than what the Sages described!"

"Because a wise ruler can make them rise to wealth and honor!"

Zhu Di asked anxiously.

"Then what if they encounter a foolish ruler or an incompetent ruler?"

Jiajing spoke in a low voice,

"If they encounter a foolish ruler or an incompetent ruler, Heaven will reject them."

"The ten thousand common people will abandon them; this is no longer mere empty talk."

In an instant.

All the Emperors in the chat group immediately turned their gaze toward Zhu Qizhen.

The corner of Zhu Qizhen's mouth twitched slightly.

"You... you look down on me that much...?"

Emperor Taizu Gao:

"Then won't merchants in later generations, upon encountering an Emperor like Emperor Yingzong Rui, immediately raise a rebellion?"

Jiajing shook his head and continued,

"Your son has thought it over."

"The reason why merchants have obeyed every dynasty without question is..."