Chapter 703: Busy Collecting Debts, No Time to Scold the Emperor

Zhu Yijun is kind, Lin Fucheng rides on his face, "Wanli, Wanli, ten thousand families are full of resentment," what a crazy accusation. Zhu Yijun forgave him. Zhu Yijun is evil, and when he kills people, it is a bloody river.

Zhu Yijun is a contradictory person, so he created a contradictory result: Lin Fucheng, who had offended the Emperor severely on the surface, still had his official status, while the insurance villa masters who had no direct conflict of interest with the Emperor died or had their homes copied.

In the final analysis, Lin Fucheng is an opinionated troublemaker. The opinions he puts forward cannot affect the court situation, because the views put forward are too sharp, and even fellow opinionated troublemakers like Ma Jinglun and Yuan Zongdao avoid him, so he cannot affect any public opinion. But the harm caused by the insurance villa masters is extremely extensive, stealing the fruits of the new policy and destroying the new policy.

This is the fundamental reason why the Emperor was furious.

The Great Ming Code clearly stipulates: Anyone who privately lends money or pawns property shall not charge interest exceeding 30% per year; regardless of how many years have passed, the interest shall not exceed the principal. Violators shall be punished with 40 strokes of the bamboo, and the illicit gains shall be calculated based on the excess interest; those who commit serious offenses shall be punished according to the law on illicit gains, with a maximum of 100 strokes of the heavy staff. If there is compound interest, overdue payments, or continuous accumulation of interest, the offender shall be executed.

According to the Great Ming Code, the maximum annual interest rate is 30%. Regardless of the duration, the interest cannot exceed the principal. Once it exceeds this, the offender is to be whipped. If the case is severe, they are to be punished for illicit gains. In cases where the circumstances are too grave—such as compound interest or continuous accumulation of interest after the agreed-upon term has expired—the offender shall be sentenced to death.

But in the actual execution process, it will generally not be beheaded, after all, it is only an economic crime, unless it causes major adverse effects.

From the third year of Wanli, the Great Ming Code began to be revised. In the section on interest rate control in the Great Ming Code, the Great Ming made further regulations, that is, for all debts in the future, for every tael of silver, the monthly interest is only allowed to be 1.5%, and it is not allowed to demand more or increase interest on interest.

That is, the monthly interest rate is 1.5%, which is an annual interest rate of 18%, and interest on interest is not allowed.

All the proprietors of the Wan Long Pawnshop met the criteria for serious offenses involving illicit gains, compound interest, overdue terms, continuous accumulation, and, most importantly, causing major negative impacts. Therefore, execution was in accordance with the Great Ming Code, which is why Wang Chonggu scolded them for ignoring the laws of the land.

"The insurance villa masters of Wan Long Villa are going to die, but the insurance villas in Songjiang Prefecture are probably going to close down immediately. Even the insurance villas that did not come to participate in this gathering cannot be spared. A run is a very strange phenomenon. As long as people who have invested silver in the insurance villa see these two words, they will go to run." Zhu Yijun stood by the Dragon Flag, watching everything that happened in Wan Long Villa, and said calmly.

A run is a lack of confidence. A run is a very interesting thing. Seeing these two words, people of any position will take the silver out and put it in their own hands to feel at ease.

The Emperor eliminated the debt market of Wan Long Villa, and he will definitely be scolded, because the fall of Wan Long Villa represents that the court has begun to interfere with the wild-growing insurance villa industry, which is a huge negative news. The stampede will definitely happen. Everyone wants to run first and let the people who run later bear the price. Once confidence dissipates, this game of passing the flower will not be able to continue.

The people who receive the news the fastest and run the fastest must be the big families, and the big families are often the backbone. Once they leave, the silver in the insurance villa is drained, and the panic will spread to the entire Songjiang Prefecture. All insurance villas will face a run.

According to the regulations of the Great Ming on the four meeting halls set up in Mizhou, Songjiang Prefecture, Zhangzhou, and Guangzhou Prefecture, the meeting hall must retain 30% of the total silver to accept payment, and the rest can be used for lending, investment, etc. to make a profit, and the private insurance villas do not have such regulations.

And according to Yao Guangqi's investigation into the Wan Long Villa insurance villa, it can be seen that the Great Ming insurance villas only retained about 6% of the silver guarantee for payment, and the remaining silver was used for lending to make a profit. A run will cause a very serious liquidity crisis. When there is no penetration, when the big families start to cash out and the panic has not spread, the brokers who host the insurance villa will run away. When the people take the insurance policy to get money, the people have already gone to the empty building.

The promised huge interest was not obtained, and even the principal was lost.

Before taking action, the Tax Audit Institute of Songjiang Prefecture had completed the penetration of all insurance villas operating in the Great Ming and found all the actual controllers. It doesn't matter if the brokers run away. Just find the actual controlling powerful gentry to accept payment.

Of course, Zhu Yijun, who played the role of an old antique and an old stubborn, destroyed the business environment. It would be strange if he was not scolded.

Zhang Juzheng didn't speak either. He had already anticipated what would happen, even if he hadn't carefully investigated, but he knew the powerful gentry very well. Under greed, there would absolutely not be enough silver in the insurance villa to deal with the crisis.

Zhu Yijun beat the drum and retreated. A huge wave of runs appeared in Songjiang Prefecture. First, it was Shanghai County, where the Great Ming Emperor used force. Shanghai County watched the fun of the Emperor using force, and while watching, it found that the fun was on its own head. The insurance villa had problems, the silver was not safe. People who realized this rushed into various insurance villas and began to cash out in a crowd, waving the insurance policies in their hands, demanding to cash out the insurance policies in their hands into current silver.

And the Great Ming Emperor watched this scene coldly. The panic caused by the run reached its peak on the third day.

On the first day, only a few well-informed people ran. On the second day, it had completely fallen into a liquidity crisis. On the third day, the insurance villas began to close down. At this time, all the insurance villas were crowded with people who wanted to cash out but couldn't.

Chen Mo held an iron plate and came to the Zhengqi Insurance Villa in Chongyi Ward. Looking at the excited crowd at the door, for a time, the Embroidered Uniform Guard couldn't squeeze in.

The whole street was crowded with people. The yamen runners were squeezed to the outside. There was no one in the entire Zhengqi Insurance Villa, and even the door was squeezed open. It was a mess inside. The brokers had already run away. The people who promised high interest rates overnight ran away.

The money was gone, and the people couldn't be found. Some people sat on the ground and cried, some people frantically destroyed everything in the Zhengqi Insurance Villa, and more people were ashen-faced, not knowing where to go. Some people shouted to return the money, some people wanted to go to the yamen to report the case, and some people were red-faced and red-eyed. All their savings were in it, and they were gone. They had the heart to kill.

"The Emperor is still kind." Chen Mo held the iron plate and looked at this scene, spat and said: "If it were me, I would ignore it. People can't learn a lesson in ten thousand sentences, but they can learn it once."

The reason why Chen Mo said this is because in the third year of Wanli, the Great Ming court started the new policy of income tax. At the same time, there was also the acceptance and exchange business of the meeting hall. When it was initially set up in the third year of Wanli, it was not smooth sailing.

At that time, there were already many money shops in Songjiang Prefecture, and even ticket numbers were doing this acceptance and exchange business.

On July 14, the third year of Wanli, the Songjiang Meeting Hall, when handling the acceptance business, found three fake acceptance bills and refused to accept them on the spot. This was originally a very ordinary thing. Which ticket number or money shop didn't have this problem?

But under the clamor of local ticket numbers and money shops, the news of this fake bill quickly became that the official money shop of the Great Ming refused to accept the real bill. Suddenly, public opinion blew up, and a run appeared.

Acceptance and exchange are not ticket numbers. Deposits and withdrawals need time to verify bills, and the business itself is relatively complicated. Coupled with the crowding of people, the Songjiang Meeting Hall looked precarious.

The Great Ming court's reputation was almost zero. People who heard this news were afraid that the acceptance bills in their hands would really become a pile of waste paper, and they rushed to the meeting hall to cash out. And the masters of local ticket numbers and money shops kept clamoring for public opinion, focusing on not thinking that the funeral was too big.

In order to appease people's panic, the meeting hall had to stick the three fake bills collected at the beginning at the door of the meeting hall, and added identification instructions, but it still didn't make people quiet. And the meeting hall's exchange and communication colleague Sheng Huairen requested that the meeting hall should be exchanged as soon as it arrived, and the real bill should be taken immediately. On the third day, the silver in the meeting hall bottomed out, but on the fourth day, Sheng Huairen waited for the savior, and the court's silver arrived.

Songjiang Prefecture dismantled 500,000 silver of current silver, Sun Kehong, the merchant of the Songjiang Ocean-going Firm, took out 500,000 silver of current silver, and the Northern Yamen Meeting Hall urgently transferred 1.5 million silver of current silver. With the efforts of many parties, the liquidity crisis of the meeting hall was lifted, and its promise was fulfilled. Seven days later, people began to handle acceptance and exchange business in the meeting hall again.

When people went to handle it, they found that the meeting hall had set a threshold. The threshold was very high. The official money shop meeting hall did not handle the exchange of silver below 1,000 taels.

Because when the run appeared, Sheng Huairen found that the number of these small households was the largest, accounting for more than 80%, and the silver scale of these small households, even if it was full, only accounted for less than 20% of the meeting hall's exchange scale. And the yamen of the meeting hall was not very large, and the reception capacity was limited. The inability to handle business in time was the reason for the run in the meeting hall.

The public opinion clamored by the powerful gentry was not worth mentioning. The main reason was that the meeting hall only received so many customers at the same time. A large number of small households could not handle it, and the panic would intensify, and even almost caused a storm of impacting the meeting hall.

Since then, the meeting hall no longer handles the exchange of silver below 1,000 taels, and in the 12th year of Wanli, this threshold was raised to 5,000 taels.

Just like when there were weavers who used their identity to cheat marriage, leading to the official workshop completely closing the door to weavers, after that run, the convenience of acceptance and exchange of the meeting hall became the exclusive enjoyment of a few people. This is reality, and it is also a contradiction. Many experiences are life-and-death crises. The meeting hall must first survive before talking about the future.

Chen Mo didn't think these people were pitiful. Most of them were speculators, listening to things that fell from the sky. They knew clearly what the insurance villa took the silver to do, what business to do, and what kind of profit could have such high interest. Those flowery promises, but if they were a little rational, how could they believe it?

Holding the mentality of getting rich overnight, pressing all their family wealth into it, and even borrowing money to invest, it was not a small amount. If nothing happened, they complained that the court managed too broadly and too much. If something happened, they asked the court to preside over justice.

Speculators are ghosts who act as tigers for the tiger, because in this era when the carriage and horse are very slow, every insurance villa has a very distinct regional characteristic. The people who lend money are people pulling people, all fellow villagers. Knowing that it is usury and usury, they still gave the silver to the insurance villa.

The Great Ming Law and the Great Ming Code's control of interest rates are also opposed by these people, who still think that the court manages too broadly.

Now that the run appears, if Chen Mo handles it, he will definitely ignore it. A fall into the pit, a gain in the wit. Only by suffering a loss can they understand the court's good intentions.

"Open the road." Chen Mo firmly executed the imperial order. Since His Majesty wanted him to come, he had to do the errand His Majesty gave him well.

Two Embroidered Uniform Guards pushed away the crowd. Chen Mo held the iron plate and came to the door of the Zhengqi Insurance Villa. He stood on a stool and nailed the iron plate to the wall. He didn't get off the stool, but looked at everyone. With the appearance of the thousand-household officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in flying fish suit, the crowd quieted down.

"Military master, what is this?" A person with a relatively large courage asked Chen Mo what he was going to do.

"Don't call me military master. You can call me Thousand-Household Officer Chen. I am Chen Mo, the thousand-household officer of the Northern Town Fusi. On this notice board, the true master of the Zhengqi Insurance Villa, Zhou of Shanghai, is engraved. You can go to ask for it. The brokers of the insurance villa cannot run away, and the business cannot run away." Chen Mo didn't dare to let others call him military master.

Calling himself military master in front of the people, and not correcting it when being called military master, if he was known by the soldiers, it would not be a lip-to-lip battle, but a life-and-death uncertainty. Chen Mo had punished more than one case, fully armed for ten miles, and ran for a month.

The military discipline of the Capital Battalion and the navy newly formed by Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou is very strict.

This big master Zhou of Shanghai is named Zhou Ba, nicknamed Zhou Ba Pi. Before Songjiang Prefecture returned the land, he had 1,000 hectares of land in his hands, but these 1,000 hectares, it was good to have 300 hectares planted, and the others were all abandoned. It was not that Zhou Ba Pi didn't want to plant, but no one planted.

Because the tenant farmers working under him would be peeled off even if they didn't die. The only way for tenant farmers who did Zhou Ba Pi's work to survive was to flee and become refugees.

When returning the land, Zhou Ba Pi only returned 300 hectares, and the remaining 700 hectares, Zhou Ba Pi refused to return the land on the grounds of abandonment. The Shanghai County Yamen had not had time to find his trouble, and he was about to be found trouble by the excited speculators.

"Go, go to the Zhou family!" The person who asked the question waved the insurance policy in his hand hard and shouted with all his strength: "Today, we must let Zhou Ba Pi give us an explanation! If he doesn't give silver, rush into his home!"

Chen Mo looked at this scene coldly, watching the crowd leave, and had no intention of following. What happened, he was too lazy to care. If Zhou Ba Pi was beaten to death, that was the matter of the Shanghai County Magistrate. He was just here to nail the iron plate. Seeing the crowd all leave, Chen Mo held the iron plate and went to the next house.

After the Tax Audit Bureau completed its investigation, the iron plates were ready, just waiting for this scene to unfold. Every injustice has its perpetrator, and every debt has its debtor. Chen Mo only felt that what His Majesty said made sense: the paper money in the currency system was debt—debt the imperial court owed to the people. Were the deposit certificates in the hands of these speculators not a form of paper money?

The entire Songjiang Prefecture, under the clamor of the Emperor nailing the iron plate, had no door to run, and the angry crowd surged toward these powerful gentry.

"I thought I would be scolded, but these pen-holders seem to be busy collecting debts and have no time to scold me." Zhu Yijun flipped through the miscellaneous newspapers on the table. August 15th should have been the day when the semi-monthly newspaper was published, but in the Songjiang Prefecture area, there were no families that could publish miscellaneous newspapers, and there were no pen-holders in the Songjiang area who wanted to scold the Emperor.

They were all very busy. They didn't have time to collect debts, so who had time to scold the Emperor?

"Your Majesty, they don't have that effort now. Songjiang Governor Shen Shixing submitted a memorial, requesting to limit the folk money shops, ticket numbers, money shops, insurance villas, etc. in the folk, strictly review their qualifications, and unify their accounts to the Tax Audit Institute for supervision." Feng Bao handed a memorial to His Majesty.

This memorial is translated as financial management system construction and exploration. The Insurance Division was renamed the Insurance Supervision Division. At the same time, its functional functions also expanded from official insurance to supervision and management. For internal yamen, various shipping divisions, direct yamen, and dispatched yamen, preliminary planning was carried out, and it would work with the Tax Audit Institute to conduct penetration-style supervision of the entire industry involving silver, ensuring the financial stability of Songjiang and even the prefectures where the shipping divisions in the hinterland were located.

"Add the Ningbo Shuangyu Shipping Division, and set up the Ningbo Meeting Hall together." Zhu Yijun had no doubts about this chapter, but he added the Ningbo Shipping Division.

The east wind of opening the sea never blew to Zhejiang. Zhu Yijun finally chose to forgive. The Great Ming Emperor's knot in his heart for the Zhejiang area disappeared with the copying of the powerful gentry with more than 100 hectares in the Zhejiang area.

"The minister obeys the decree." Feng Bao bowed again and said.

Zhu Yijun approved the memorial, full of doubts, and said: "This is not written by Shen Shixing himself, right? He has this ability, and he should have entered the cabinet now. Did the teacher help him?"

Zhang Juzheng is the Minister of Personnel in the 13th year of Wanli. He has very rich experience in system design. The transformation from the Insurance Division to the Insurance Supervision Division looks like only one word difference, but the two are worlds apart. The system design in this memorial is rigorous, and even specific personnel appointments are in it. For example, the Insurance Supervision Division Secretary Sheng Huairen was the original Songjiang Prefecture Meeting Hall colleague.

No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like Shen Shixing did it himself.

"Your Majesty is wise. It was indeed done by the teacher. Your Majesty, the teacher is now the Grand Tutor, Earl of Yicheng. If he submits this memorial, it is a bit presumptuous to rely on favor. Even if Your Majesty doesn't want to agree, he can only agree if he looks at the teacher's face. So it was proposed by Shen Shixing, conceived by the teacher, and written by Shen Shixing on his behalf." Feng Bao explained that Zhang Juzheng was not cherishing his feathers, but was in a high position and feared that the Emperor would be difficult, so he pretended to be Shen Shixing's name.

What if the Emperor had the idea of watching the fire from the other side and letting the contradictions conflict again? So, Shen Shixing writing on his behalf was just right.

"The teacher is worried too much. But the teacher's hand is ruthless." Zhu Yijun smiled. He and Zhang Juzheng had many arguments at the table. Zhang Juzheng had never relied on favor, and Zhu Yijun had never been afraid of Zhang Juzheng. The future of the new policy was in his hands, which was what Zhang Juzheng cherished most.

Of course, it was also what Zhu Yijun valued most.

In the rules and regulations, the punishment for stealing and stealing is beheading and displaying to the public, and the family is exiled to Java; the financial supervision system is fully connected with the Ministry of Justice and the Northern Town Fusi Yamen to ensure smooth connection. In crimes that cause major adverse effects, the highest punishment is also entering the Dissection Institute.

This is one of the two crimes in the Great Ming Code that enters the Dissection Institute. There is another crime, which is colluding with the Japanese.

Colluding with the Japanese, a private room in the Dissection Institute, now there is one more major adverse effect.

As for rebellion, it belongs to the non-punishment of the ten evils, which is the power scope of the Emperor.

Zhang Juzheng is still that Zhang Juzheng, ruthless.

Zhu Yijun fully affirmed the content of this memorial. The system design of the Insurance Supervision Division has been planned, and the deployment will be completed by the end of the 13th year of Wanli.

"How is the situation in the Southern Yamen? Does Hai Zongxian have any difficulties?" Zhu Yijun inquired about Hence Hai Rui's situation in the Southern Yamen. When Zhu Yijun left, he left two things. The first thing was to comprehensively dismantle the Southern Yamen. This work, Li Le couldn't do it, and Hence Hai Rui had to come forward in person; the second thing was anti-corruption and governance. In this matter, the court did not trust the Nanjing Governor Li Le. To be precise, Zhang Juzheng did not trust him.

Zhang Juzheng also suspected Yin Zhengmao and Ling Yunyi. For the governors who arrived in the local area and the frontier officials who held one side, Zhang Juzheng did not trust them so much. He knew better than anyone that power alienates people. The former Sichuan Governor Luo Yao was his direct line, and he was handled by his own hands.

Whether Li Le is colluding with the local area, Zhang Juzheng suspects that there is, let Hence Hai Rui check it, and it will be clear. If the body is straight, the shadow is not crooked. If there is a problem, check it first.

"Governor Li is still that Governor Li, actively cooperating with Hai Zongxian. At present, there is no problem. As for the dismantling of the Southern Yamen, it is considered smooth." Feng Bao found Hence Hai Rui's memorial and placed it in front of His Majesty: "Nanjing Garrison Eunuch Zhang Jin said that Hai Zongxian is very difficult, but in the memorial, Hai Zongxian said everything is smooth."

The news that Feng Bao learned is that Hence Hai Rui experienced one after another very difficult political struggles, pushing the government orders to move forward in an orderly manner, but Hence Hai Rui reported the good news and not the bad, only saying that everything is good.

"What happened to Hai Zongxian?" Zhu Yijun finished reading the memorial. Just as Feng Bao said, it was all good news. It seemed that the Southern Yamen was united and fully executed the court's government orders.

"In fact, it is those old means, Hai Zongxian responded smoothly, but there are still some difficulties." Feng Bao explained Hence Hai Rui's situation in the Southern Yamen in detail. All crises, because they could not eliminate Hence Hai Rui himself, became not so important. This is also the reason why Hence Hai Rui did not request the Emperor's support.

Under the protection of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, as long as Hence Hai Rui is alive, the policy must be pushed down.

"Hai Zongxian is still very powerful. Just like what you said, I don't hold him back. These guys, Hence Hai Rui can handle them." Zhu Yijun finished listening to Feng Bao's statement.

The most dangerous time here was that someone held gunpowder and rushed to Hence Hai Rui's sedan chair. The Embroidered Uniform Guard found it in advance and blocked the other party. Except for the assassin, no one died.

Hence Hai Rui didn't waste time investigating, because it was firecracker gunpowder used by the people, not granular gunpowder used by the military, so there was no possibility of military equipment outflow, so Hence Hai Rui didn't spend effort to investigate, and put his main energy into pushing the dismantling of the Southern Yamen.

Jiangsu successfully set up a yamen in Suzhou, and the speed of Fengyang was slightly slower, but it could also catch up before the autumn examination, and could set up a yamen.

But the autumn examination of the 13th year of Wanli was still held in Yingtian Prefecture. The next time it would be held in Suzhou, Fengyang, and the Southern Yamen.

Hence Hai Rui's energy is now on the autumn examination, because the ban on the examination must be strictly implemented. This is a punishment. Any behavior that dares to offend the imperial power needs to be severely punished to achieve the effect of intimidation.

Hence Hai Rui's memorial is mainly about the autumn examination.

"Most of the insurance villas in Songjiang Prefecture have closed down, but the insurance villas of the Sun family in Songjiang have become more prosperous." Feng Bao said a very special situation. In this run, the powerful gentry were not completely losers. There were winners. Many sea merchants led by Sun Kehong, the merchant of the Songjiang Ocean-going Firm, resisted the run.

"Oh? Is Sun Kehong's silver so much?" Zhu Yijun asked with a frown.

Feng Bao said with a smile: "Because the masters of the ocean-going firm are truly operating insurance, not operating money shops and ticket numbers under the name of insurance. But if the Wan Long Villa was more profitable than the ocean-going firm, I am afraid no one would be a sea merchant. Sun Kehong, this person, is a bit vicious."

Compared with the insurance villa that supports more currency, sea merchants are more inclined to more goods, and Sun Kehong clearly stipulates that if you do money shop business, you will withdraw from the ocean-going firm. The sea merchants of the Songjiang Ocean-going Firm can make a lot of money, and Sun Kehong is also famous for being vengeful. If you offend him, it is difficult to survive in the Songjiang area.

Doing insurance alone can also make money, but the profit margin is very low, only about 3% to 5%.

"Invite this Sun Kehong to the fleet review in a few days." Zhu Yijun frowned and decided to invite Sun Kehong to participate in the Songjiang Prefecture fleet review. The Great Ming Navy will dispatch two fast sailing ships, ten five-masted ocean-going ships, twenty three-masted plywood ships, and four hundred battle ships for the fleet review.

The reason why it is not certain which day it is is mainly because of the weather. Clear sky is one aspect, and visibility is another aspect.

"The minister obeys the decree." Feng Bao bowed again and said.

The Great Ming never thought of letting the powerful gentry all die. What the Great Ming wants is for them to abide by the law. For merchants like Sun Kehong, Zhu Yijun is very willing to support and is willing to give more social status and care.

"Your Majesty, there is another thing." Feng Bao said with schadenfreude: "The run of the insurance villa, the panic spread from the insurance villa to the money shops and ticket numbers. Several money shops and ticket numbers were squeezed to the point of not being able to survive, and they were dismantling everywhere, but they were all being squeezed everywhere. It was really a big fun."

The panic caused by the run is not just in the insurance villa. The money shops that watch the fun are also unlucky. Unlike the insurance villa that says run, the masters of the money shops and ticket numbers are mostly transparent. This time, the masters of the money shops and ticket numbers have to dismantle everywhere to solve the liquidity crisis.

"Governor Shen submitted a memorial, saying that the folk money shops, ticket numbers, money shops, insurance villas, etc. in the folk should be limited, their qualifications should be strictly reviewed, and their accounts should be uniformly handed over to the Tax Audit Institute for supervision." Feng Bao looked left and right and whispered.

"Is this how scholars are bad!" Zhu Yijun widened his eyes and looked at Feng Bao in disbelief: "This master of balancing water, I really look at him with admiration."

Shen Shixing took the ride. He took advantage of the panic of the run and the need for silver to solve the liquidity crisis, and immediately promoted the Land Return Order. Those powerful gentry who followed the court's orders to return the land could mortgage and borrow from the meeting hall, but those powerful gentry who did not follow the court's orders, Shen Shixing chose to bless. ===== CHAPTER 704 =====

Shen Shiying hitched a ride. Taking advantage of the panic from the bank runs and the fact that the powerful and wealthy needed silver to resolve their liquidity crisis, he immediately pushed forward the "Return the Land" decree. Those powerful families who complied with the imperial court's order to return land could borrow from the Huitong Hall, but for those who did not, Shen Shiying chose to offer his blessings.