Chapter 672: Lost Until Only Half a Street Remained

The twelfth month of the first year of Hongxing in the Great Ming.

It was now the coldest time of year in Wuhan Prefecture. The north wind howled, snow filled the sky, and even on the eastward-surging Han River and the Yangtze one could see chunks of floating ice.

A scene of ice floes covering the Han River and the Yangtze would be unimaginable in later ages, but for Yao Daqiao, Ye Jiaxin, and the rest of their generation of Hubei people, it was a sight they saw every year.

Only for the two of them, this year's winter cold was especially bitter — not a cold that came from outside in, but a cold that came from inside out!

Their hearts were now frozen through. If you dug them out, they would probably be two blocks of ice!

At this moment the two men were walking one behind the other along an embankment near Hanzheng Street, with the ice-choked Han River right beside them.

The price of the princely bonds had now fallen below fifty taels per certificate. Yao Daqiao's position had been closed out, and when the accounts were finally settled, he had lost two hundred twenty thousand taels of silver in this princely bond speculation frenzy!

He had charged into the market with three hundred eighty thousand taels, and now only one hundred sixty thousand remained. If that three hundred eighty thousand taels had all been his own money, it would not have mattered so much. But of that three hundred eighty thousand taels, two hundred eighty thousand was payment for goods that had to be paid out before the end of the year.

Yet he had only one hundred sixty thousand taels left on hand — still short one hundred twenty thousand taels.

One hundred twenty thousand taels of silver!

If this had been before Li Zicheng invaded Huguang, Yao Daqiao could never have been driven by one hundred twenty thousand taels of silver to pace the banks of the Han River day after day.

Back then he had owned twenty or thirty thousand mu of paddy fields in Hubei — those alone were worth several hundred thousand taels. But those paddy fields had all been redistributed under the land-equalization scheme, and moreover Yao Daqiao had registered the land under the names of twelve juren. So he had not even received any land-redemption rice, and several hundred thousand taels' worth of landed property had simply vanished.

Still, a little of his Wuchang Prefecture holdings remained, enough to prop up the facade of a great merchant. So after Li Zicheng had been driven out, he seized the opportunity of the court's urgent need for men to go to Hubei to purchase white rice and rose again from the ashes.

But Yao Daqiao's comeback was somewhat hollow. His operations looked impressive, but his foundation was thin, sustained entirely by borrowing and robbing Peter to pay Paul. Because his capital was insufficient, Yao Daqiao had spent the past two years buying and selling quickly. Though he had earned a good deal, he had also missed the chance to make a fortune when grain prices skyrocketed.

So by the time of the "princely bond affair," what supported the Yao family's surface prosperity was only a bit over one hundred thousand taels of his own capital.

Now that money had been completely gambled away, and on top of that he owed one hundred twenty thousand taels!

And the moment he was wiped out, Ye Jiaxin, who had risen again on his coattails, went down with him.

Ye Jiaxin was now a tenant-farm operator. He owned no land of his own; everything he worked was rented. He ran it well enough — this year's harvest had been excellent, and after deducting all costs there was still a profit of around two thousand taels, of which one thousand four hundred went to Yao Daqiao and six hundred was his own.

Good days had seemed just around the corner. Who could have known that Yao Daqiao would suddenly run a deficit of one hundred twenty thousand taels? Now the farm that Ye Jiaxin and Yao Daqiao ran together could not be saved either — the farm's assets (tools, land leases, and so on) all belonged to Yao Daqiao. Ye Jiaxin was only responsible for operations and entitled to thirty percent of the profits.

Now that Yao Daqiao had collapsed, the farm could only be sold off, and Ye Jiaxin would get nothing beyond his six hundred taels in dividends. And now he had been entrusted by Madam Yao to watch over Yao Daqiao every day — to make absolutely sure he did not do anything desperate!

This princely bond storm had truly ruined a batch of Wuhan Prefecture's gentry and merchants. Every few days someone would despair and take his own life.

And the amount Yao Daqiao had lost was no small sum — among all the losers he could rank in the top ten!

Whether or not he was thinking of doing something desperate, Yao Daqiao suddenly stopped in his tracks, faced the surging Han River, and stood motionless.

This frightened Ye Jiaxin, who was following behind him, out of his wits.

Was he about to jump? If he jumped, should he save him or not? The river water was so icy cold — going in would be very dangerous. Better forget it!

Ye Jiaxin waited a long while, but Yao Daqiao did not jump. So he breathed a sigh of relief, stepped forward a few paces, and said, "Brother Yao, don't—"

Yao Daqiao seemed not to hear him. He merely began muttering to himself: "It's all settled, all settled. The shops on Hanzheng Street can't be kept, and the Yao family mansion will have to be mortgaged away too! This round has been a crushing loss! I, Yao, have nothing left but half a street of the Yao family's property!"

He had lost until only half a street remained — and that half a street was in the center of Hankou! Who knew how much it would be worth in later ages? But for now, Hankou property prices were not high, and the Yao family street was no commercial street, so half a street was not worth much.

"Brother, you still have half a street — don't do anything rash!" Ye Jiaxin hastened to console him. "I'm down to seven or eight hundred taels of assets, and I'm doing just fine, aren't I?"

"Am I not doing just fine?" Yao Daqiao turned his head and glanced at Ye Jiaxin. "By the way, why have you been following me around every day these past few days? I don't owe you money, do I?"

"N-no, not at all!" Ye Jiaxin quickly shook his head. "I — I just had nowhere else to go, so I figured you, Brother Yao, must have some plan."

Yao Daqiao nodded. "So that's how it is. Since you ask, I do have a way out. I just don't know whether you'd be willing to follow me."

"There really is a way out?" Ye Jiaxin asked. "Out to where?"

Yao Daqiao did not answer directly. Instead he asked in return, "Do you still remember Scholar Peng?"

"Peng Ziqin?"

"Right, him." Yao Daqiao said, "He lost too. Yesterday I ran into him outside the Maritime Merchant Guild, crying like a soaked rag. He told me he'd lost so badly there was nothing left for him to do but go abroad and take a gamble!"

Peng Ziqin had received some land-redemption rice and had also become an official, and his circumstances had gradually improved. But he was not content. A ninth-rank petty official post led nowhere, the salary was meager, and there was little opportunity to squeeze anything extra.

So he had thought of speculating in princely bonds — and had ended up as fodder for the harvest.

Ye Jiaxin asked, "Go abroad? Where to?"

"To some place called the Water Chenla Kingdom," Yao Daqiao said. "That imperial brother-in-law Zheng Sen has acquired a piece of land there that can be opened up for settlement and military farming. They need people to go and manage it. Scholar Peng wants to sign up as a settlement officer — that way he can rise two grades, draw double salary, and also stake out a parcel of office land in Water Chenla, up to five thousand mu, as much as he likes. He asked me whether I had anyone to recommend to go manage the office land for him. How about we go together?"

"Go together to the Water Chenla Kingdom?" Ye Jiaxin asked. "Is it far?"

"It's far to the south of the Annan Military Commission," Yao Daqiao said. "Fortune is found amid danger! Are you going or not?"

"I'm going!" Ye Jiaxin stamped his foot. "I still have seven hundred taels — just enough to use as capital!"

"Your Majesty, these past days the gentry and merchants of Wuhan have been ruined by the princely bonds. Households reduced to utter destitution are beyond counting."

"Your Majesty, this is a joint petition from the Wuhan gentry and merchants, requesting a thorough investigation into the hidden hand behind the princely bonds' violent rise and fall!"

"Your Majesty, this subject also feels that such wild swings in the princely bonds are highly unusual. There must be villains at work behind the scenes!"

East Lake Palace, the Hall of Diligent Governance. The Zhu Emperor, who had just sent off the debt collectors Wu Sangui, Ma Shiying, and Zhu Cijiong, had not enjoyed a few days of peace before running into new trouble.

Some gentry and merchants who had lost badly and grown desperate were unwilling to bear the risk themselves. Instead they wanted the court to drag out the hidden hand behind it all. And it seemed there were even several ministers who sympathized with them and spoke on their behalf at court.

"So there is a hidden hand behind this affair? I truly did not expect such a cunning villain!" Zhu Cilang naturally took it very seriously, and his expression immediately darkened.

This was an attack on the nation's financial security! This was digging at the foundations of the Great Ming's feudal edifice! Such an evildoer must be caught and severely punished!

"This hidden hand must have been sent by Li Guo!" Zhu Cilang said with a grim face. "Or it could be Zhu Chunjie, sent by Dorgon!"

"This subject is present!"

Zhu Cilang said, "We command the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate this matter thoroughly. If there truly is a hidden hand, you must drag him out before Us! No matter who it is, We will not let him off lightly!"

Zhu Chunjie immediately beat his chest and vowed, "Your Majesty, rest assured — this subject will investigate to the very bottom!"

"Good!" Zhu Cilang nodded heavily. "Investigate without restraint! Even if you find imperial relatives entangled in this, We will punish them without mercy!"

(End of Chapter)