Fan Xian's chopsticks dug around in the plate. He picked up a piece of beef soaked in sesame oil and placed it on top of the white rice. He slowly brought it to his lips and chewed carefully, savoring it. He still did not pay any attention to Ming Qingda kneeling to the side.
Ming Qingda was not a simple character. The meaning this kneeling represented was also not that simple.
Fan Xian needed time to think.
After he finished thinking, he gently put down his bowl and chopsticks and said, "Old Master Ming, you are much older than me. How can I accept this?"
The imperial envoy's hands were empty and powerless, but Ming Qingda had to stand.
The conversation between officials and merchants began very calmly and steadily. Fan Xian gazed at him and said, "What is the old master prepared to explain?"
What kind of explanation could be exchanged for the lives of Fan Xian's subordinates? What would it take for Fan Xian to let the Ming family go? Ming Qingda did not know and did not need to know. Everything he needed was for Fan Xian to temporarily let the Ming family go and buy the necessary buffer time for his family and Jingdou. Right now, the situation was too unclear. Even if he was prepared to be a grass on the wall, he still had to know where the wind was coming from.
He was only begging for his stance to be able to make the imperial envoy loosen his grip slightly. To make the imperial envoy believe him, he also had a strong desire to lean toward his side.
Fan Xian did not wait for the scheming and farsighted old master to reply and said, "Your heart is not sincere, so there is no need to surrender."
Ming Qingda's expression was calm, but he sighed and said, "The imperial envoy cannot believe me."
"It is not that I cannot believe you," Fan Xian lowered his head and said. Fan Xian lowered his head and said, "Even you can't trust yourself. You've been on that boat for too long. To come down … is very difficult. You should know this very well. If you are still on that boat, the other people on the boat will always have to ensure your safety. If you come to my boat, what about the goods you left on the original boat? "
Naturally, this goods was not the goods they were talking about. Ming Qingda also knew this in his heart. Hearing Fan Xian's words, he knew it was impossible to convince this young imperial envoy. With a trace of tiredness, he self-mockingly begged, "Please show me the way."
Fan Xian's gaze continued to linger on the delicacies on the table. After a moment of thought, he quietly said, "You have many brothers. Recently, I heard that master Xia of room B4 is also your brother?"
Ming Qingda's expression did not change, but his heart began to ache. The Ming family had followed Fan Xian's enemy for too long. If he wanted Fan Xian to truly believe that the Ming family was willing to lean toward him, he had to be confident he could completely control the Ming family in his hands. Xia Qifei was clearly a pawn Fan Xian was using to control the Ming family. If it had been anyone else, Fan Xian would not have accepted this agreement.
Fan Xian's words were, without a doubt, giving his own conditions. However, Ming Qingda could not accept these conditions no matter what. Putting aside the fact that Ming Qingda could not let go of his family business, just thinking of Xia Qifei's icy gaze and the wretched whip marks under his clothes, his heart began to twist.
In the present situation, the one attacking was the Overwatch Council, and the one defending was the Ming family. Furthermore, the Ming family was retreating step by step. Today, the price increase in the palace treasury was only the first link in a chain of events. Following events followed one after another, and the Ming family was in a precarious position.
Only now did Ming Qingda realize that this seemingly young imperial envoy was actually so conservative, cautious, severe, and sinister in his bones. Faced with such a large temptation, he was not moved at all.
Only now did he realize that what Fan Xian wanted was far more than he could pay. It was not just 400,000 liang. It was not just the Ming family's secret cooperation in Jiangnan from now on. It was a somewhat arrogant and incomparably arrogant desire for complete control of the palace treasury's production and sales.
"Please give me a way out," Ming Qingda said with a pained smile. Earlier, they were talking about a clear path. Now, they could only talk about a way out. "If the last four bids continue like this, the tens of thousands of disciples in the family, as well as the countless servants hired around, will probably not be able to feed the family next year."
"The Ming family does not lack silver."
Fan Xian looked at the Master of the Ming family in front of him and admired him more and more. It was clearly threatening him, yet he said it so gently and lowly. It was not harsh at all. On the contrary, it was filled with comfort. "In a moment, the last four bids … just pretend that the Ming family has spat out the silver they swallowed a few years ago."
He tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes as he examined the slightly dispirited Ming Qingda. In his heart, he endlessly guessed what this Master of the Ming family was planning. "You should know my past. I do not appreciate your methods of selling things in the past. Of course, I am not an unreasonable bandit. As long as you do things more reliably, naturally, I will also be more reliably. "
The so-called reliably referred to last night's matter.
Fan Xian used the tip of his chopsticks to knock against the edge of the porcelain plate, making a crisp clanging sound. In the end, he said, "Hold the bowl like a dragon spitting out pearls, use chopsticks like a phoenix nodding its head, eat until you're 80% full, if you can't finish, take it away … being a person and doing things is the same as eating. Your posture must be beautiful, and you must know your limits. This is good."
Ming Qingda knew that he would not be able to make any more progress in front of this imperial envoy. Hearing Fan Xian's last words, his heart relaxed slightly. Although he could not believe it completely, he absolutely believed that Fan Xian did not have any intention of forcing the Ming family to collapse. He still wanted to control the Ming family and not destroy it.
To control the enormous Ming family … Xia Qifei could not do it, his mother could not do it, only he could. Ming Qingda had this confidence. Thus, in a moment, he would certainly vomit blood because of the last four bids. In his heart, he knew that in the days to come, he would still have to discuss things with the imperial envoy.
Merchants were least afraid of discussing things. Haggling was their forte.
Ming Qingda bowed respectfully to Fan Xian again and retreated.
Looking at the slightly hunched and slightly aged back of the master of the Ming family, Fan Xian once again gently placed his chopsticks on the table and narrowed his eyes slightly. Up until now, he still could not see through Ming Qingda's depths.
The meaning behind that kneel earlier was too rich. Admit defeat? Ask for peace? Surrender? Make up for last night's matter? If the Ming family truly intended to lean toward him, then the palace treasury's open and aboveboard situation was, on the contrary, the best place to show their true intentions.
The problem was, Fan Xian did not believe that this old man would willingly surrender. He had not played all of his cards, and the Ming family was not at the end of their rope. The painful price that the big tree, which was used to standing on the other side of the river, wanted to be uprooted and moved to this side of the river. It should not be something that the Ming family was willing to pay right now.
Why would the other party put on such a lowly posture? He still had the old matriarch above him. Which side the Ming family should lean toward was a major matter that concerned the future of tens of thousands of people in the clan. Ming Qingda should not have the power to make an arbitrary decision.
Furthermore, this kneel was not hidden. Someone should have already seen it and would immediately spread. Fan Xian's eyes narrowed even more. Was the other party preparing to play the tragic card? In this world that had not yet produced someone like Bian, perhaps tragic was a feasible move. However, purposely kneeling in front of everyone, how tragic could that be?
If it had been any other official, faced with the inclination that Ming Qingda displayed, they would certainly be secretly happy. Only Fan Xian did not think this way. Just as Ming Qingda had expected, he wanted too many things that the Ming family could not afford to give. Furthermore, he had prepared for this matter for a long time. He had the confidence to swallow the Ming family and not accept their surrender.
Since Fan Xian could swallow the Ming family at any time, then why should he haggle with the Ming family to obtain their surrender?
It was not that he did not want to, it was not that he could not, it was that he disdained it.
— —
The cool breeze passed through the door and blew away the remnants of the aroma of food in the courtyard of the palace treasury. It also blew away a sliver of the scent of firecrackers. Only the heavy atmosphere remained unmoved. Tension permeated the courtyard. It was like thousand-year-old ice, like a giant rock at the bottom of a river, difficult to melt in the spring wind, and difficult to move in the great river.
The voice of the transport company official in charge of the ceremony had already become hoarse. It wasn't because he spoke too much, nor was it because he drank too little water, but because he was nervous.
The merchants who lived along Corridor A and Corridor B could no longer sit still. Separated by the open door lattice, they stood on the high sill of the door and stared nervously outside.
In the afternoon, it was the bidding of the palace treasury's last four lots. After two rounds of bidding, no one cheered. No one even wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads. The Quanzhou Sun family, who had been scared off by the Ming family in the morning, listened to the price with a deathly pale face. Their eyes were lifeless as they looked outside. They had been scared again by the two madmen. All of the merchants felt that today's trip had broadened their horizons. At the same time, they had received a great shock.
That was silver, that was silver! Why did the Ming family of Room A1 and the Xia family of Room B4 dare to throw it out like that? Could it be that in their eyes, those thick banknotes were no different from waste paper?
Xiong Bailing of the Lingnan Xiong family looked outside with bloodshot eyes. He didn't quite believe his ears. He said to the accountant beside him, "Did the announcer make a mistake just now?"
The accountant of the Xiong family wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "How could the numbers calculated by the Flower Hall be wrong? Dear heavens, a few of master Xia's brothers were killed yesterday. Today, he began to go crazy … the Ming family has also gone crazy! The old Ming master is not a bandit. "
Xiong Bailing was so nervous that he didn't have time to swallow his saliva. He choked in the middle and almost stumbled. With a flip of his hand, he snatched the teacup from a subordinate's hand and gulped it down. Lowering his voice, he scolded, "Xia Qifei is the Seventh Ming master. I think the two of them are fighting for real … brothers fighting against the wall, it is really exciting. It looks like the Ming family are all crazy in their bones."
Not only was the announcer's voice trembling, but the Jiangnan merchants were sweating incessantly. Even the three masters sitting in the main hall were beginning to become nervous.
Hearing the second round of bids, Eunuch Huang and Guo Zheng looked at each other. Their faces became deathly white. The two of them had never thought that the last four consecutive bids of the palace treasury bidding would be driven up by Fan Xian and the Ming family to such a terrifying level.
The Ming family was set to lose money on these four consecutive bids, and it would be a huge loss. For Eunuch Huang and Guo Zheng, the Ming family's income would decrease, and the amount of money that Jiangnan would send to the capital, which could not see the light of day, would also be less … too much. Thinking of this, the gazes the two of them stared at Fan Xian with a bit of hatred.
Although Fan Xian used his powerful state of mind to maintain the calm expression on his face, if one was attentive, they would still be able to see that the stiff and starched cuffs of the imperial envoy's purple official robe were slightly trembling. His thin and delicate lips were pressed together tightly, and there was a slight redness under his earlobes.
After all, a scene like the one today was rarely seen. The Qing Emperor was known as the wealthiest person in the world, but Fan Xian was willing to bet that the Qing Emperor, who had never entered the Ministry of Revenue's treasury, had never seen so many banknotes floating around in the air with the announcer's raspy and trembling voice.
11.5 million liang of silver!
Ten years after the founding of the Qing Kingdom, the entire nation's financial taxes added together would only amount to 10 million liang. Even for the Qing Kingdom, which was now at its peak, such a large amount of silver was still an inconceivable number. If this 10 million liang of silver was used to buy death soldiers in Jiangnan, it was enough to destroy the small vassal states around Dongyi with the wave of a hand. It was enough to become a tyrant.
Such a large amount of silver, how many beauties could it be exchanged for? How many warhorses and weapons could it be forged? If it was all invested in the people's livelihood, how many li of dikes could it build? How many pots of porridge could it cook? How many halls could it open? How many people could it save? And … if it was all changed to silver ingots, how many people could it crush to death?
The 5 million liang in the morning was already the highest price in the history of the palace treasury. In the afternoon, it easily broke the record, particularly in the second round of bidding. The Ming family had called out a price that broke 10 million liang. This not only broke the record, but it also broke through everyone's psychological defenses.
The reason for such a result was, of course, due to the Ming family's current situation of being besieged both internally and externally, as well as the large amount of gold and silver Fan Xian had borrowed from the Northern Qi Emperor. The Ming family had to fight for this bid, but Xia Qifei had the ability to hedge against it. All of these factors added together to create such a terrifying number.
Fan Xian drank a mouthful of cold tea and forcefully suppressed the emotions in his heart. He made a very secretive hand gesture.
Alright, let's stop here. Rest, rest.
…
…
It was not until now that Fan Xian gradually understood Ming Qingda's thoughts, the Emperor's thoughts, and many people's thoughts.
When Ming Qingda was fighting for the bid, he obediently followed Fan Xian's plan. For one, he was under pressure from Xinyang. For another, his thoughts were somewhat mysterious. Either way, he was just giving away silver. If he called out a low price, a portion of the silver he earned would have to be given to Xinyang. If he called out a high price, it was the same as giving the silver to the palace treasury … which was also the same as giving it to the Emperor and Fan Xian.
Ming Qingda saw things very accurately. He saw that the court needed his silver, so he decided to be ruthless. He wanted to throw out half of his family business. In this way, he won the bid and also suited Fan Xian's wishes. He didn't offend a single person on either side that he couldn't offend.
It was a pity that he had offended money. With so much gold and silver, who knew how many years it would take for the Ming family to recover. The so-called spending money to get rid of disasters, the silver the Ming family used to get rid of disasters this time was truly going all in.
In Fan Xian's view, the Ming family's economic strength had truly reached a terrifying level. The Qing Emperor would not allow such an existence to grow. He would either weaken them or destroy them.
This was the Emperor's true intention in having Fan Xian go to Jiangnan.
Ming Qingda also clearly grasped this intention.
However, Shen Wansan had still died back then. Could the Ming family survive? This was something that happened later. Even Fan Xian had no way of completely controlling it. However, Fan Xian felt that the Ming family's performance was very useful. Thus, he made a hand gesture to have Xia Qifei stop bidding.
It was not the mischief of a small farmer's mind, nor was it because he felt pity. Rather, Fan Xian knew that the old Ming master's act was certainly not over. Eleven million and five hundred thousand liang of silver was already enough. Fan Xian did not wish for too much discussion in court and bring too many negative evaluations to himself.
— — —
Seeing the bandit in room B4 stop bidding, everyone, including the officials and merchants, did not feel regret or anger at not being able to watch the show. On the contrary, they all let out a breath at the same time, feeling as if a heavy burden had been lifted from their shoulders.
The bidding this afternoon had been too terrifying. That number was too sensitive. The merchants did not want to cause something bad to happen. The officials also did not want the situation to be dragged to an explosive level.
In the Flower Hall, the joint examination officials of the Ministry of Revenue and the palace treasury began to carry out intense examination work. In the end, they confirmed this bid. They used a red brush to carefully and nervously write the final report and handed it to the front hall.
The officiating official walked to the stone steps and swallowed a mouthful of saliva to moisten his hoarse and burning throat. In a trembling voice, he said, "Goods from the Southeast Road and Sea Road, four consecutive bids, room A1, Ming family, 11.5 million liang … Yes!"
No one cheered or cried out. Everyone wanted to quickly escape the palace treasury courtyard and get as far away from this number as possible.
"Father! Father! "
It was at this moment that a cry of surprise came from room A1, which was closest to the main hall.
For a moment, everyone stood up from their chairs in shock. Looking in that direction, they didn't know what had happened to the Ming family.
"Father! What happened to you? Someone come! Someone come! Quickly come and save him! "
From room A1, young master Ming Lanshi's panicked cry for help rang out. Amidst the chaotic sounds, the officials quickly pushed open the door and entered. Only then did they find that the master of the Ming family, Ming Qingda, had fainted on the ground with an ashen face.
Regardless of whether it was the officials or the merchants, they all thought they knew what had happened. Everyone thought that the master of the Ming family had been pressured from inside and outside to forcefully snatch these four consecutive bids and had been forced to bid a sky-high price. Thinking that the Ming family might decline because of this sky-high price, the old Ming master was so anxious that he fell unconscious.
Everyone knew who had forced the Ming family into such a wretched situation. Thus, the gazes of everyone in the courtyard unconsciously turned toward the imperial envoy standing on the stone steps. Fan Xian was not very shocked.
He narrowed his eyes and scolded, "What are you panicking about? Quickly seal the treasury and deposit the silver. After the process is over, quickly send the old Ming master to see a doctor! "
There was a whole set of procedures for opening and closing the palace treasury. There was also a lot of banknotes in the courtyard, so it took some time before the unconscious old Ming master was carried out. He was moved into the Ming family carriage that Fan Xian had specially allowed to drive to the front door and headed straight for the doctor.
…
…
No one had expected that the lively palace treasury bidding, after consecutively setting a few records and provoking countless dangers, would have such a bleak and light ending.
Watching the Ming family's carriage depart into the distance and thinking of the unknown fate of the master of the Ming family, the Jiangnan merchants couldn't help but sigh endlessly. A glimmer of sympathy grew in their hearts.
The people of the Ming family left first. After the merchants went through the inspection, they also left the palace treasury courtyard. What remained were all officials who began to carry out the final finishing touches of the palace treasury.
Since it was a business of selling money, naturally, the work of counting the 40% deposit silver banknotes was the most important.
The three important figures stood in the Flower Hall and watched as the Ministry of Revenue and transport company officials entered the books and sealed the banknotes.
Fan Xian looked at the Ming family's final 4 million liang deposit. At the bottom was a thick stack of banknotes from Zhaoshang money house. His eyes narrowed slightly and knew that the matter had finally been completed.
Originally, in the plan, the last four consecutive bids would force the Ming family to use the banknotes from Zhaoshang money house. Fan Xian would purposely make things difficult for them. After all, Zhaoshang's credibility was not as good as Tianxia's. At that time, Eunuch Huang and Guo Zheng would certainly speak up for the Ming family. Thus, Fan Xian would be able to remove himself even more cleanly.
However, he had not thought that Ming Qingda would do things so straightforwardly and efficiently. Fan Xian was too lazy to smear the small details. However, in the end, Ming Qingda fainted …
"Pretend, keep pretending."
Fan Xian smiled coldly in his heart, but his face carried a sympathetic expression. He sighed to Eunuch Huang beside him and said, "The Ming family won the bid with great difficulty. However, the old Ming master is still old and unable to withstand such joy. Instead, he fainted. It is best if this happy event doesn't become a funeral."
Eunuch Huang, who was currently rubbing his fingers and drooling as he looked at the banknotes, still a little nervous, heard the imperial envoy's words. In his shock, he almost broke his fingers. He opened his mouth to curse, but he didn't dare. He thought to himself, What kind of person would make such sarcastic remarks after playing with someone?
Eunuch Huang huffed angrily and didn't say anything. Guo Zheng smiled insincerely and said, "This year, the palace treasury's income is a full 80 percent higher than in previous years. When this gets back to Jingdou, the Emperor will certainly reward Sir Fan junior greatly. In the future, becoming a king or marquis is just around the corner."
Given Fan Xian's identity and the power he currently held, becoming a king or marquis in the future was a sure thing. He also didn't want to listen to Guo Zheng's flattery. He smiled coldly and said, "It's all thanks to all of you and the Jiangnan merchants who sympathize with the court. They would rather lose their hard-earned capital to supplement the palace treasury … as for me, in this matter, I did not play much of a role."
Guo Zheng was stifled. He thought to himself, The Ming family almost sold their pants today. Wasn't it all because of you? And you still have the face to say I didn't play much of a role? He huffed coldly and didn't say anything else. He only cursed endlessly in his heart, "Pretend, keep pretending!"
(Monthly tickets, come quick.)
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