Chapter 702: Your Majesty, Give the Order!

Zhu Yijun, as the supreme Emperor of the Great Ming, did not care about the evaluation of public opinion, but as a political creature, political achievements were the best evaluation. However, he was truly broken by the scolding. Yet, his choice was the same as Emperor Jiajing's: he chose forgiveness. This was not benevolence, but because Hai Rui was right, and Lin Fucheng was also right.

The Wanli Reform truly benefited ten thousand families in only one item, and that was sweet potatoes, because the Emperor truly knew how to farm, so ministers, capital officials, and foreign officials did not dare to fool the Emperor in this matter. The promotion of sweet potatoes was forming the memory of a generation, which was also an indisputable fact.

But other new policies were useful, but they did not benefit the poor and suffering who should have been benefited. This was the biggest drawback of the Wanli Reform.

Lin Fucheng said it loudly and criticized it comprehensively with a very sharp attitude. Of course, under the feudal imperial system, he also had to accept punishment. He prepared to take an official ship to Nanyang at the New Port of Songjiang Prefecture and began his exile.

"This is cooling oil. When you get there, you can wear long sleeves. Don't wear short sleeves. It's not to prevent sunburn, but to prevent mosquitoes and insects. Be careful of leeches, and be careful of mud swamps. In short, be careful about everything." Li Zhi came to see him off. As a well-known opinionated troublemaker in the Great Ming, Lin Fucheng had many friends, but only his old partner Li Zhi came to see him off. Others avoided him like snakes and scorpions.

Who knew if they would be implicated when Lin Fucheng was struck by lightning?

"Well, I know." Lin Fucheng was still very worried about his exile. After all, it was an uncivilized place. Going to Java was more terrifying than going to Suiyuan. Suiyuan was just bitter, but going to Java, if you were not careful, you would die without a burial place like Ren Qiubai's father.

"Do you know what the scholars in Songjiang Prefecture think about your arrest?" Li Zhi stood on the Guanhai Tower, looking at the surging sea in the distance, and asked with great emotion.

Lin Fucheng said with some embarrassment: "I don't know. I can't even take care of myself, so how can I care about what others think."

"They are hoping you die." Li Zhi looked at Lin Fucheng meaningfully and said quite sincerely: "They truly hope you die."

"No, I'm just an opinionated troublemaker. Why do they hope I die? We have no grudges, why such great malice!" Lin Fucheng was a bit confused. Although he debated with Confucian scholars and even debated the Emperor this time, it was just a dispute of words. Where did it reach the point of life and death?

Li Zhi said very clearly: "Because only when you die can they launch an impeachment against Mr. Zhang, deny part of the new policy, then deny His Majesty's actions, and finally deny everything about the Wanli Reform. Some people die, and they are the best cards. For example, you, an opinionated troublemaker known to almost all scholars in the Great Ming."

"After all, you and I are the only opinionated troublemakers who can be cited multiple times in the official gazette. If His Majesty hadn't said not to let you die outside and kept your official status, you would be a dead person by now, regardless of whether it was His Majesty who did it, it would eventually be His Majesty who did it."

"Keeping your official status is the greatest mercy His Majesty has shown you. Daring to move against you is killing an official, which means strict investigation and comprehensive detection."

Lin Fucheng is famous for his travel notes in Baoding Prefecture.

The official gazette, the only official newspaper of the Great Ming that generally excerpts imperial edicts and important memorials, serialized Lin Fucheng's travel notes in Baoding, his study in Suiyuan, the alienation of people by religion, the alienation of people by power, and the alienation of people by money. Lin Fucheng is indeed an opinionated troublemaker famous in the world.

Many, many people don't like him, but as long as he is alive, it means that the Great Ming's road of speech is not blocked. Criticizing the court for the lack of speech and the silence of scholars is wrong.

"This..." Lin Fucheng had never been in officialdom. He was completely unaware of the seriousness of the matter. He only felt that His Majesty was benevolent, but now he understood the intention of that small official seal.

"Do you regret it?" Li Zhi was a bit curious. Things had reached this point. Did Lin Fucheng regret his actions?

"No regrets. I only regret not saying it. I saw the problem, I couldn't solve it, and I was very anxious, very anxious." Lin Fucheng said very definitely: "When I knew that Young Master Huang was His Majesty, I realized that my fifth-rank Doctor of the Five Classics was real. His Majesty let me be this opinionated troublemaker. I saw the problem, so I had to say it."

"Brother Li, what kind of place is Songjiang Prefecture? It is the bridgehead of the Great Ming Wanli Reform, and it is a very important battlefield for the Great Ming's economy and culture. If what happens here is not curbed, it will soon sweep through the Southern Yamen, then Zhejiang, Huguang, and finally the entire Great Ming."

"That's right, the specific problem I mentioned is insurance. Using insurance to raise funds and lending money to run money shops—this kind of business will definitely spread from Songjiang Prefecture to the entire Great Ming within a year, and may even become something as harmful as the green sprout money."

"Money begetting money is too fast, and as long as you find a broker to take the blame, you don't need to bear any responsibility. If it is not curbed, the speed of spread will be very fast. Under the temptation of greed, all the achievements of the Wanli Reform will turn into dreams and bubbles under this kind of speculative behavior."

"Originally, when His Majesty copied the Ren family and the Chu family, I thought His Majesty would take heavy action to rectify it, but His Majesty didn't, and because Yao Guangqi was only a sixth-rank county magistrate, his words were light and he couldn't convince His Majesty."

"I admit I was anxious, but I don't regret it."

Lin Fucheng knew that what he did was very impulsive, but he still had to do it. Out of trust in His Majesty and out of a perfect understanding of his own theory, he would not hesitate even if he were martyred. He was a famous scholar.

He was not an official for His Majesty, but for the world and for the people. When he knew that he was not going through the back door, but was recognized by His Majesty as a fifth-rank Doctor of the Five Classics, he had a deeper understanding of "officials being the avatars of the sovereign, with different names but the same reality."

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Li Zhi frowned and said.

Lin Fucheng took a deep breath, looked at the vast sea, and said: "You have been an official for a long time, and I have been a commoner for a long time. Do you know how much money the Ren family made in the money shop business? 1.2 million taels of silver in three years, two mausoleums of the former emperors! Of these 1.2 million taels of silver, one million silver was earned in eight months this year. Do you think this is not terrifying enough?"

"It's like rolling a snowball in the snow, getting bigger and bigger. This is just the debt rolled out by the Ren family alone. In the future, I am afraid that there will be thousands of Ren families rolling together. Have you thought about that scene?"

"Not to mention anything else, if Sun Kehong couldn't hold back his greed and took the Songjiang Ocean-going Firm to participate, he could roll out hundreds of times the scale in a year. Doesn't Sun Kehong want to? He just doesn't dare. The root is in the Great Ming. If such a big mess is made, His Majesty will definitely kill his nine generations. But what is the use of killing his nine generations?"

"The entire Songjiang Prefecture is not a world of fireworks, but a world of debt."

Only then did Li Zhi realize why Lin Fucheng was anxious.

"These merchants are truly profit-seeking. You don't understand this industry, and you don't understand their way of making profit. They lend usury, and they don't even need those who borrow money to pay it back. My ship is here, I won't talk to you anymore."

"Brother Li, take care." Lin Fucheng spoke halfway, saw his ship number rolling on the platform, and it was time to board the ship, so he couldn't talk much. Lin Fucheng's exile had four Embroidered Uniform Guards to escort him. These four Embroidered Uniform Guards were only responsible for sending him to Luzon. As for the future, Lin Fucheng could only fend for himself.

Of course, His Majesty kept his word and did let the Embroidered Uniform Guard send a letter to the State Surname Zhengma, asking him to take care of this scholar who didn't work.

"Master Lin, take care." Li Zhi's teeth were itchy with anger. Speaking halfway was really worthy of cutting the tongue! But the person had already gone into exile, so Li Zhi had to wish him a smooth journey.

Lin Fucheng would not be made difficult. An official one level higher can crush people to death. Capital officials are two levels higher than foreign officials, and the Luzon and Jiugang Governor's Mansion are not even the Great Ming hinterland, but the overseas Governor's Mansion. Lin Fucheng, a capital official, arrived at the Governor's Mansion and would only be a guest of honor. He was not a prisoner himself. How could a prisoner have an official seal and crown belt?

Li Zhi would soon understand why Lin Fucheng said that these money shops that lent money didn't even expect the borrowers to pay it back.

Great Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun looked at the endless stream of people in the Wan Long Villa with a frosty face. Behind him were Zhang Juzheng, Qi Jiguang, Chen Lin, Wang Chonggu, Wang Guoguang, and Wan Shihe. The Embroidered Uniform Guard Commander Zhao Mengyou was rarely by His Majesty's side, because Zhao Mengyou had completely surrounded the Wan Long Villa, ensuring that not a single fly would escape from the Wan Long Villa.

With Qi Jiguang there, Zhao Mengyou could rest assured to do things, because this meant that the Capital Battalion was also there.

"Has Lin Fucheng boarded the ship?" Zhu Yijun suddenly asked.

"At this time, he has already left the port." Feng Bao said cautiously. The Emperor in front of him was now full of anger. He had to speak softly, for fear that if the voice was loud, he would suffer an unwarranted disaster.

Zhu Yijun exhaled a turbid breath and said calmly: "It's good that he left. In the next chapter, the Luzon Governor's Mansion, Lin Fucheng's ban is lifted. He can return to the Great Ming hinterland at any time after staying outside for half a year. Staying outside for half a year is also safe."

Zhang Hong hurried in from the outside, carrying several small eunuchs, and kept sticking paper on a long board.

"Your Majesty, the situation inside the Wan Long Villa has been inquired clearly. It looks a bit complicated. Let the minister explain it to Your Majesty." Zhang Hong looked at the paper completely stuck on the long board before asking His Majesty to take a seat.

After Zhu Yijun sat down, the civil and military ministers of the Great Ming sat down one after another. Except for His Majesty and Zhang Juzheng, no one knew what had happened. It could make His Majesty so cold and the atmosphere so cold, something must have happened.

"Start." Zhu Yijun said after everyone sat down.

Zhang Hong bowed his head to receive the order, looking at the paper stuck on the long board, and was also full of emotion, feeling the speed of the Great Ming's development.

"The Ren family and the Chu family both used the name of insurance to compete with high returns and gather wealth. This is something that has already happened and has been found out. Shanghai County Magistrate Yao Guangqi actively cooperated with the Tax Audit Institute to penetrate all insurance villas in Songjiang Prefecture and find out their true controllers."

"Insurance villa, that is, a money shop that mainly operates insurance."

Zhang Hong looked at the Wan Long Villa outside and continued: "On the first and fifteenth of every month, the masters behind the insurance villa will hold a gathering in the Wan Long Villa in front of them. This gathering is both a gathering and a meeting. This gathering must do business, and the business is IOU or debt; and this meeting is to conduct a comprehensive inventory every month to determine some rules."

Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "Talk about business first."

Zhang Hong continued: "What is the most feared thing about borrowing money? It is borrowing without returning. The biggest drawback of traditional money shops is here. Borrowing money out but not being able to collect it back is a dead account or a bad account. And the threshold of Wan Long Villa is extremely high. If you don't have 200,000 taels of silver at home, you can't even know about it. If you don't have 500,000 taels of silver, you can't enter the venue."

"Wan Long Villa was specifically set up to solve dead accounts and bad accounts. It was initially led by three masters, and now this Wan Long Villa has at least thirty masters."

"They set the debts with good reputation and timely repayment as Grade A debts. The listing price of Grade A debts is roughly equal to the return; they set the debts with good reputation but operational difficulties and only being able to repay with difficulty as Grade B. The listing price of Grade B debts is lower than the return, but it is still profitable; they set the debts with poor reputation and inability to repay on time as Grade C. The listing price will be sold at a discount."

Zhang Hong had a long stick in his hand and pointed it at the long board.

The stickers on the long board were the IOUs copied by the undercover agents who mixed into the Wan Long Villa. He pointed while saying: "There are not many Grade A debts, and they will be snatched up. After all, the profit is guaranteed, and sometimes you have to bid to buy them; while there are the most Grade B debts, this part can be bargained, but it is still profitable; and there are not many Grade C debts, but some people will buy them. Generally, they can be purchased at a 75% discount."

Zhang Hong explained what the list he stuck on the long board was.

"This is not right. Why sell these Grade A debts? Isn't it possible to collect interest if you keep them in your hands? Why sell them at a discount? Look at the lists on the far left, they are all Grade A. If you keep them in your hands, isn't the profit maximized?" Wang Guoguang frowned and looked at the list on the long board, asking with some doubt.

Wang Guoguang is an extreme conservative. The court can not owe debt if it can not owe debt. The only time it owed debt was the Suiyuan Road and Suiyuan Mining Industry, which was issued by the court as a national debt, and then some dividend shares were exchanged at the Yanxing Tower to raise funds for the development of Suiyuan. After that, Wang Guoguang firmly opposed debt. When the Emperor talked to him about debt, he was anxious.

Therefore, the Great Ming Finance Minister didn't quite understand. Grade B and Grade C debts might have problems, so they would be sold. Why would these Grade A ones also be sold, and at a discount? For example, most of the interest on Grade A debts is 30% per year, that is, 10 taels of silver, and 13 taels must be repaid at the end of the year. But the listing price of a 10-tael debt is often only 12 taels.

"In order to quickly return funds and continue to lend, so that it can roll interest." Zhang Hong exhaled a turbid breath and said.

"Hmm!" Wang Guoguang didn't have contact with debt, and he was naturally repulsed by the word debt. As a finance minister, he immediately understood that selling debt lists at a discount, seemingly earning one tael less, but these 12 taels can continue to lend money, become debt, continue to sell, so that it can roll bigger and bigger, right?

"The Chu family only had a capital of 30,000 taels of silver. It rolled for only three months and rolled to 90,000 taels of silver, making the Chu family not even want to do the opium business. It's too slow to make money." Zhang Hong introduced the gathering speed of this kind of play, which made the ministers present discuss it one after another.

At the beginning of the year, the Great Ming Emperor had 35 million silver in his inner treasury. If he rolled like this for three months, there would be over 100 million silver.

"Then Grade C debts, which look like problems, or even dead accounts and bad accounts, are also bought by people?" Wang Guoguang realized that things were not good. Originally, he thought it had nothing to do with him, but it turned out that he, the Minister of Justice, could not escape either. There were also his affairs in it.

Zhang Hong put the long stick away and said very definitely: "That's right, just like the Second Assistant Wang thought, they are all purchased by the wandering gangs, and then it is debt collection. The means are very cruel. If you don't force the family to be destroyed, you will not give up. Selling children and daughters is considered normal. Before, County Magistrate Yao was strange, where did these wandering people in the city get so many IOUs?"

"As the saying goes, debt collection is justified. The yamen is not easy to interfere too much, but there are too many IOUs in the hands of these wandering people. These IOUs come from these Wan Long Villas. One of the three masters of Wan Long Villa, one of them, was born in the Hailong Gang, which is the Hailong Gang that turned Governor Shen Shixing into a fifth-rank official."

"Phew, it's really damn!" Wang Guoguang's mouth twitched. He was angry. He saw the names of two Jin merchants, which were among them.

The leader of the Jin faction, don't be it! Although the Workers' Party will also have such and such problems, they have never done a stress test on Wang Guoguang, the protective umbrella, and the Jin faction has always been putting pressure on the protective umbrella.

Zhang Hong secretly glanced at His Majesty. Seeing that His Majesty was still calm, he knew that today was probably going to be bloody again.

Zhang Hong continued: "The masters of more than thirty insurance villas, on the first and fifteenth of every month, after selling debts in Wan Long Villa, they can continue to lend. In just eight months, the debt trading scale of this private trading meeting with a high threshold in Wan Long Villa has expanded from 600,000 silver to a terrifying scale of 1.8 million silver. And this 1.8 million silver is just the IOU taken out for trading."

"And there are four such private trading meetings with high thresholds in the entire Songjiang Prefecture."

"Your Majesty, give the order!" Qi Jiguang stood up, Chen Lin stood up immediately, and the two bowed and said, talk about shit, kill, kill, kill! Killing people cannot solve the problem, but it can solve the people who cause the problem.

Chen Lin said anxiously: "Your Majesty, if this evil is not eliminated, Songjiang will not be peaceful, and the world will not be peaceful!"

The nest of the Songjiang Town Navy is in Sandu'ao, which is the nest of the Great Ming Navy. All new recruits are trained in Sandu'ao Bay, but the root of the Songjiang Town Navy is in Songjiang Prefecture. The families of the navy, the ration fields of the navy, the school of the navy, and everything of the navy are in Songjiang Prefecture.

If Songjiang Prefecture is rotten, won't the navy become a child without a home?

The Capital Battalion cannot sit idly by and watch the Great Ming capital be occupied by the northern barbarians. The navy cannot allow Songjiang Prefecture to be so rotten. It is a binding relationship of glory and loss.

Everyone looked at the Emperor, waiting for the Emperor to give an order, but the Emperor was rarely silent, sitting there, just sitting there, without saying a word.

Zhang Juzheng shivered violently, and a chill rushed from the tail vertebrae to the spirit platform. What he was most worried about was happening, right in front of his eyes.

There seemed to be a flash of twilight on His Majesty. This was what he was most afraid of. He had seen this twilight. That was the 26th year of Jiajing, when he submitted a memorial and saw it on Emperor Jiajing.

This kind of twilight is called disappointment and cold heart.

But at this moment, Zhang Juzheng could do nothing. His Majesty had to figure it out himself.

A long time later, Zhu Yijun looked at the ministers, stood up again, walked to the railing, and said in a low voice: "My new policy, my Great Ming, everyone tells me that the Wanli Reform has fruitful results."

"Songjiang Prefecture, the Pearl of the World, the World Trade Center, the trade throughput here only needs three years to buy the entire England. Songjiang Prefecture, the bridgehead of opening the sea, is the biggest fruit of the Wanli Reform, but now, it has been stolen."

"The Minister of Revenue has always told me that this silver is mostly inflow. Bai Yin is the hard-earned money of the Great Ming people, and it is the labor of the Great Ming people exchanged for goods. But these guys in Wan Long Villa, they are gathering, rolling debt with debt, constantly expanding debt, and gathering silver into private doors."

"Why suppress private doors and promote public interests?"

"I didn't do it. It's my fault."

Zhu Yijun turned his head, stood up straight, shook his spirit, and said with a smile: "But fortunately, all this is not too late."

"I at least have the Capital Battalion and the navy to mobilize, and I can lift the table. I didn't wait until this debt expanded to the military camp. By then, I wouldn't even be able to command the soldiers, so how can I lift the table?"

"Qi Shuai, Marquis of Shouli, trouble the two of you to watch Songjiang Prefecture well and don't let Songjiang Prefecture be chaotic."

"The ministers obey the decree!" Qi Jiguang and Chen Lin immediately bowed and left to deploy.

When His Majesty summoned the ministers, he asked Qi Jiguang and Chen Lin to bring the assistant regional commanders. Qi Jiguang and Chen Lin knew that something was going to happen. The soldiers were ready for battle. The method was still the old method. The Capital Battalion and the navy took over the city defense and imposed martial law. Even if there was no city wall, they could block the road, pull up a few large fences, and send soldiers to patrol.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard is responsible for arresting people and copying homes.

"Bring the Dragon Flag." Zhu Yijun said to Feng Bao.

The Great Ming Dragon Flag, vermilion, was originally for the convenience of ships to hang to confirm their identity, and later became the imperial flag of the Great Ming Emperor. The Great Ming fire virtue, red background with dragon pattern, the red background is vermilion dyed with Brazilian redwood, and the dragon pattern is woven with gold thread from Su embroidery. This Dragon Flag in Zhu Yijun's hand is woven with pure gold thread, hammered and twisted. The entire Great Ming only has this one woven with pure gold thread, and the rest are golden threads.

Who let Zhu Yijun be stingy? He couldn't bear to spend money to weave so many gold flags.

Zhu Yijun walked to the railing, waved the big flag hard, inserted the big flag at the railing, and looked at the Wan Long Villa.

Zhao Mengyou had been watching the second floor where His Majesty was. When the Dragon Flag waved, Zhao Mengyou stood up and began to advance towards the Wan Long Villa. The Embroidered Uniform Guards who had been lying in ambush appeared as if out of thin air, walking out from the streets and alleys, like streams gathering into rivers. When Zhao Mengyou arrived at the street corner, the Embroidered Uniform Guard even pulled out a nine-jin cannon.

"His Majesty has an order: if there is resistance, kill without mercy! All thousand-household officers lead the team to obey the order, and do not let anyone go!" Zhao Mengyou drew his embroidered spring knife, over the top, pointing to the direction of the Wan Long Villa.

The scale of the Embroidered Uniform Guard has always been small. The Northern Yamen has a total of 3,000 people, and the Southern Yamen is slightly less, only 2,700 people. In total, it is less than two infantry battalions. But today in Wan Long Villa, there are a total of 1,500 Embroidered Uniform Guards, but it is enough. With the quality of the Embroidered Uniform Guard soldiers and the level of military equipment, under the condition of ensuring military supplies, in the West, it is enough to kill from Normandy to Moscow.

Zhu Yijun stood at the railing and watched the Wan Long Villa jump around.

"Your Majesty..." Zhang Juzheng said in a low voice with great worry: "Your Majesty, this Great Ming has 120 million people, and it is normal to have a few rotten guys. Don't hang on to it."

"Teacher, I'm fine." Zhu Yijun returned a sunny smile and said: "I'm just a bit annoyed. I didn't take action earlier, and I'm also a bit lucky. The action is not too late. If this demon wind blows through the entire Great Ming, by then, it will be too late."

"By then, I really can't handle it, and I'm afraid the teacher can't handle it either."

Disappointment is far from reaching that point. Zhu Yijun is just a bit emotional.

The debt scale is huge to the current level, and it is still something the court can handle. The number of people is small, the scale is not large, and the court can count it bit by bit, return the money gathered by these people to the victims, and recover the IOUs on a guaranteed basis. If it is bigger, let alone Zhang Juzheng, even if Zhu Yijun sells himself, he can't handle it.

Stealing hooks is punished, stealing the country is a marquis. It has not reached the point of being too big to fail and cannot be dispersed. There is a way to deal with it. If you really let the thief of the country be a marquis, Zhu Yijun, this Emperor, is really unqualified.

The Great Ming is his Great Ming, and he has to be responsible.

"The minister is just a white-clothed person, how can he have such great ability." Zhang Juzheng bowed again and said. He is indeed a Grand Tutor, but he is not omnipotent. The Great Ming court belongs to extreme conservatism, and Zhang Juzheng, this reformist, is also very conservative. He dare not think about what kind of scene it would be if this demon wind blew through the Great Ming.

Fortunately, everything is not too late.

"Your Majesty, these people..." Wang Chonggu asked about His Majesty's disposal opinion.

"Kill."

"The chief culprit will be killed. In this demon cave of Wan Long Villa, one counts as one, all beheaded and displayed to the public. After copying their family property, their families will all be exiled to Java. Let the State Surname Zhengma and Zhang Yuanxun pay attention and don't let these people be stolen." Zhu Yijun gave a very cold order, and it was another rolling head.

Wang Chonggu shook his head and said: "After leaving the Great Ming, they are nothing. The jackals and tigers outside can eat them alive."

"That's true." Zhu Yijun highly recognized Wang Chonggu's statement. He smiled at everyone and said: "Tomorrow, I will be scolded by the literati, saying that I destroyed the business environment of Songjiang Prefecture, and that I am an old antique, an old stubborn who runs a pawnshop business."

The reason why the Emperor is scolded is because all insurance villas, and even money shops, will face a run. ===== CHAPTER 703 =====

"That's true." Zhu Yijun highly approved of Wang Chonggu's statement. He smiled at everyone and said, "Tomorrow, I will be denounced by the literati, who will say that I have destroyed the business environment of Songjiang Prefecture and that I am an old antique, a stubborn old man who runs a pawnshop."

The reason the Emperor was being scolded was that all the security deposit banks, and even the money shops, were about to face a run.