In the quiet valley, there was a stifling and panic, but no one dared to make a move.
Of course, Ming Lanshi knew that this was something Fan Xian had arranged. It had been so from the beginning, but he didn't understand. After all, the other party was an official of the court. How could he do such a shameless thing? Faced with such a terrifying cavalry, Ming Lanshi didn't want to fight it out with the other party and throw away his life. However, the shattered pieces on the ground filled his mind with anger.
"I'm going to Jingdou to fight a lawsuit!"
Ming Lanshi cursed in a sharp voice.
"Whatever, I won't keep you company."
Jing Ge coldly threw down these words and led his troops away. Before he left, he didn't forget to lift the heavy stone wheel back onto the carriage, leaving behind Ming Lanshi, who wanted to cry but had no tears, the dumbstruck Ming family private soldiers, and a large pile of sparkling glass shards scattered on the ground.
In the past, the Ming family had secretly raised pirates and colluded with the Jiaozhou Navy to steal ships and goods in the East Sea. They killed people like flies and harmed countless lives. They had forcefully stolen countless goods from the court. Now, Fan Xian had done the opposite. He did not act on the sea but on land. He did not harm the Ming family's lives nor did he steal their goods. He only destroyed everything so that the Ming family could not cry even if they wanted to.
The cycle of nature was fair and just. It should be like this.
The matter was not over yet.
Wearing official robes, Hong Changqing coughed and walked down the mountain to Ming Lanshi's side. Smiling slightly, he said, "Greetings, young master Ming."
"Sir Hong?" Ming Lanshi was already numb. He was not surprised to see Fan Xian's trusted aide. He just didn't know what he wanted to say to him.
"My original name was Qing Wa. So, I was also a brother on that island." Hong Changqing moved closer to Ming Lanshi's ear and said coldly and ruthlessly through gritted teeth, "These worthless pieces of glass are my thanks to you on behalf of Brother Mengzi, Sister Lan Hua, and the hundreds of brothers who died on the island. Don't tell me you've forgotten Sister Lan Hua, right? She was your favorite concubine … "
After Hong Changqing said this, his chest was filled with the pleasure of revenge. In a loud voice, he said, "Thank you!"
Laughing loudly, Hong Changqing left confidently, leaving behind Ming Lanshi with an ashen face and a shocked expression. He looked at his hands in astonishment. It was as if he had just remembered that he had once used these hands to end the life of a woman who was infatuated with him.
…
…
The news traveled back to Ming Garden outside Suzhou. Ming Qingda's right hand trembled. The fine porcelain bowl in his hand fell to the ground with a crash and shattered into countless pieces. However, he did not feel any pain.
Because the crisp sound of the silver mirrors shattering into pieces had already made his heart ache so much that he could not feel it anymore. This old man suddenly felt that his heart, like the porcelain bowl on the ground, had shattered into countless pieces.
— —
"Lawsuit? I'm not afraid. He's even less afraid of a lawsuit before the Emperor … Who will he find to fight for him? "
After enjoying himself in Yingzhou for half a month, Fan Xian waited for Wang Qinian. He finally got on the carriage and continued on toward Hangzhou.
The news from the Overwatch Council had long arrived. Fan Xian raised his eyebrows. He found it funny and happy. Although he had also been able to summon wind and rain last year in Jiangnan, he had always been depressed and delayed by Ming Qingda, that old fox. Now that Jingdou was at peace, he could play with the other party in the palm of his hand. It was truly a very happy matter.
He had only given a general plan, but the people carrying it out were the people below him. He had not thought that Hong Changqing would still remember the tragedy on that island and stubbornly refuse to let the Ming family die quickly, insisting on cutting flesh with a slow knife.
"Cutting flesh with a slow knife, boiling a frog in warm water," Fan Xian said to Wang Qinian beside him. Fan Xian said to Wang Qinian beside him, "Even I feel heartache for the Ming family. Send down the order, the time has come. Tell the children to stop playing and quickly stop."
Wang Qinian had stayed in the capital for almost a month just to watch the movements in the Palace. He said, "In another two days, the Eldest Princess and the Crown Prince will no longer care about the life and death of the Ming family. They will act before the Ming family can react. Now is the time."
Fan Xian nodded and said, "What I want is for them to not expect me to be so ruthless … I'm afraid I will continue to slowly endure with the Ming family. I want to catch them off guard."
He suddenly smiled and lifted the curtain in front of the carriage. Looking at the Jiangnan road that was slowly retreating, he couldn't resist the joy in his heart and began to hum a little tune.
Wang Qinian listened to the strange tune and couldn't resist smiling. "Sir, is there a need to be so happy?"
Fan Xian laughed loudly and said, "After holding it in for a year, I can finally let go and do things. It's hard not to be happy."
…
…
When the imperial envoy's carriage and guard of honor headed toward Hangzhou at the slowest speed, the people in Suzhou all had their own thoughts. After Xue Qing, the powerful governor of Jiangnan, received Fan Xian's personally written letter, he sat in his study in a daze. His two advisors to his left and right also knew the contents of the letter and were in the same daze as him.
They looked like three clay Bodhisattvas.
Xue Qing had left the capital early and traveled quickly. He had arrived in Suzhou 20 days ago and was well aware of the losses the Ming family had suffered. He had thought this was just the Overwatch Council weakening the Ming family once again. He had not thought that Fan Xian would be so confident in his letter. It was as if he was prepared to finish everything in one go.
"What right does Fan Xian have? It's not like this is a fight. "
It was clear that the Jiangnan governor, Xue Qing, did not know about the shady business of Zhaoshang money house. He was thinking hard about where Fan Xian's confidence came from and why he would inform him in the letter to have him prepare.
"Since the imperial envoy has said so, then he must have a plan in mind." The left advisor furrowed his brows and suggested, "The question now is, what should we do?"
Xue Qing sank into deep thought. If Fan Xian could truly take out the Ming family, as a trusted aide who knew the Emperor's intentions, he would cooperate well. However, the problem was … he was also quite afraid of the royal power behind the Ming family. As long as there was no clear inclination in the capital, he would not make the first move.
"How about … we do what we did last year and keep watching?" The right advisor thought for a long time and could only think of a way to smooth things over.
Xue Qing suddenly opened his eyes and two beams of cold light shot out. "Watch … of course, we have to keep watching, but we can't just watch. Fan Xian is only the imperial envoy of Jiangnan Road. Even if he has a way to drive out Ming Qingda on the surface, it is not convenient for him to have the Overwatch Council act in secret … he has to take care of the hearts of the Jiangnan people."
The Jiangnan governor finally said, "Move the provincial army to watch Ming Garden and the Ming family's 1,000 private soldiers … if Fan Xian has no way, we will continue to watch. If Fan Xian succeeds, we will have to help him take out these people!"
The right advisor said in a trembling voice, "Sir, moving troops to kill people … if the people in the Palace find out, there will be big trouble."
Xue Qing waved the secret letter Fan Xian had sent in his hand and calmly said, "Since he dares to do it, then he must have a grasp of the situation in the capital. This young imperial envoy is not an idiot … he wrote to tell me because he wants to share the credit with me … but this year, the Jiangnan Road yamen has not done anything. If he wants to share the credit, then he must put in effort."
Suddenly, a hurried knock came from outside the study. Xue Qing furrowed his brows. The advisor went forward to open the door. A subordinate official of the Jiangnan Road yamen hurriedly walked in. Without time to bow, he directly reported to Xue Qing, "Governor, something has happened to the Ming family!"
Something had happened to the Ming family?
Xue Qing's heart jumped and he silently sighed at how fast Fan Xian acted. His expression remained calm and he asked, "Tell me the specifics."
The official swallowed and said, "In the morning, the palace treasury transport company yamen went to Ming Garden to collect a batch of accounts. The name seemed to be silver mirrors."
Xue Qing knew the inside story of how Fan Xian had people smash that batch of silver mirrors. He furrowed his brows slightly and couldn't help feeling a bit of heartache. He asked, "So what? The Ming family signed the agreement, so naturally, this silver had to be paid. "
These words were clearly on Fan Xian's side. When the court dealt with merchants, they were always this shameless.
"What's important is not this amount of silver." The official glanced at the governor and carefully said, "I heard … the Ming family has a cash flow problem. A few of the money houses connected to the family … have all gone to Ming Garden to press for a debt!"
Press for a debt?
Xue Qing abruptly stood up. The Ming family had been in Jiangnan for a hundred years. There were not many who dared to go to Ming Garden to press for a debt. For one, the Ming family had a lot of silver. For another, no money house wanted to offend them. Why … why had it suddenly changed today? Countless thoughts immediately spun through Xue Qing's mind. Had Fan Xian, after messing with the Ming family for a year, forced the Ming family to the point of no return?
If the Ming family actually couldn't pay up and were forced by those money houses to sell their businesses cheaply, the family would fall into chaos … this … Xue Qing furrowed his brows. He knew the Emperor's meaning. The Ming family would be controlled by the court, but the Ming family could not fall into chaos.
Once the Ming family truly went bankrupt, never mind the tens of thousands of commoners in the family, what would happen to the Jiangnan people who were closely related to them?
"Taiping money house has also gone?"
"No."
"Send people to keep an eye outside Ming Garden." Hearing that the Ming family's largest partner, Taiping money house, was not involved in this matter, Xue Qing's heart was slightly at ease. However, his expression remained dark. He ordered, "Tell those people, the court does not care about the dispute between the Ming family and the money houses, but the Ming family cannot fall!"
…
…
Fan Xian and Xue Qing were the same. They both understood the Emperor's meaning. The Ming family had to be eaten, and they had to be eaten whole. Their table manners could not be too ugly. They couldn't let the Ming family's own strength fall too much and affect the stability of the entire Jiangnan.
Thus, he would not watch as the Ming family fell. Ming Qingda also could not watch as the Ming family fell. Thus, he did not have the intention of clearing out the debt this time. He only wanted to obtain some great benefits. The reason why a few money houses went to Ming Garden together to ask for money was purely because Fan Xian still held onto a glimmer of hope … to be able to hide the master behind Zhaoshang money house.
…
In this world, those who owed money were always more reasonable and confident than those who lent it out. Thus, the current master of the Ming family, Ming Qingda, held a slightly warm teacup and slowly sipped the tea. He couldn't even be bothered to raise his eyelids. Although the people sitting below him were the representatives of the various money houses and were his creditors in name, the shopkeepers of the money houses did not have the self-awareness of being debt collectors.
They sat wretchedly on the chairs and only dared to put a third of their buttocks on the chair. Occasionally, they would raise their eyes to glance at the master of the Ming family. A glimmer of fear would flash through their eyes. They did not look like they had come to collect debts.
The shopkeepers of the money houses knew they were all ants. As long as the master of the Ming family moved his finger, he could crush them to death and chase them out of Jiangnan. However, they had no choice but to come today. The ups and downs the Ming family had experienced over the past year had already made them worried. Additionally, they had been provoked by others. Today, they had all gathered in the Ming family's guest hall.
They represented capital. Although it was not a lot of silver, it was still capital. Capital cared about itself the most. What it could not tolerate was loss. Particularly during this month, everyone knew that the Overwatch Council's attacks on the Ming family had increased again. The Ming family had continuously suffered losses … the recent scrapping of the silver mirrors and the palace treasury transport company's forced silver this morning had finally successfully crushed the psychological defenses of these money house shopkeepers.
An old shopkeeper had a pained expression and respectfully said, "Master Ming, the Ming family has dominated the Jiangnan business world for nearly a century. If they say they still don't pay up … that is something no one would believe. However, there have been a lot of rumors in the market recently. We always want to ask you to give us a definite answer."
"A definite answer?" Ming Qingda furrowed his brows in disgust. These shameless leech-like things! Usually, when they came kneeling to his door, he couldn't even be bothered to look them in the eye. Now, they dared to come … to ask him for an answer!
The old Ming master did not care about these money house shopkeepers at all. Even if the Ming family's cash flow was difficult right now, it was more than enough to pay off this amount of silver. Out of the corner of his eye, he only lightly glanced at the shopkeeper who had been sitting quietly at the very back.
That shopkeeper was the head shopkeeper of Zhaoshang money house. Behind him stood a handsome young man. Not many people knew about the relationship between Zhaoshang money house and the Ming family. Zhaoshang money house's reputation in Jiangnan was not very well known, so he sat at the very back. Ming Qingda had a bad premonition in his heart. What was Zhaoshang money house doing here today?
He had no interest in saying anything more to these shopkeepers. He picked up his teacup to send off the guests. At the same time, he coldly had these people go to the accounts room to clear off all the debts. The Ming family could not endure such humiliation.
After the great joy in the hearts of the money house shopkeepers, they were shocked. First of all, they had finally gotten their money. Although they had lost some interest, they were shocked to see the Ming family's generosity … was there a problem with the rumors they had received?
…
…
All of the shopkeepers retreated. Ming Qingda tilted his head and looked with interest at the shopkeeper who had not moved all this time. In a quiet voice, he said, "I know, they were all persuaded by you to come."
The head shopkeeper of Zhaoshang money house smiled warmly and did not refute these words.
Ming Qingda furrowed his brows slightly and said, "Speak, what do you want?"
They were both old foxes who had floated in the business world for countless years. From their cooperation this year with Zhaoshang money house, Ming Qingda knew that this unknown head shopkeeper of the money house must have been a ruthless character in the past. At this moment, all of the miscellaneous small fries had left, so the two of them spoke much more directly.
Ming Qingda knew how much silver the Ming family had transferred to Zhaoshang money house. If Zhaoshang money house had also joined the ranks of the debt collectors earlier, the Ming family could only sell their land and houses. Even if they managed to survive this time, the family's strength would be greatly damaged. Since the other party had been silent until now, it was certainly not to laugh at the Ming family. They must have other requests.
Given the promissory notes in Zhaoshang money house's hands, they indeed had the right to ask for something from the Ming family's hands.
The head shopkeeper smiled slightly and said, "Master Ming, my master wants … to cooperate with you."
Cooperate? Ming Qingda's eyes narrowed. A cold light flashed and was immediately restrained. What kind of cooperation would it be for a money house to cooperate with a merchant? He closed his eyes and thought deeply for a moment. In a quiet voice, he said, "No."
Although the word "no" was light, it was powerful and resonated, leaving no room for doubt.
The head shopkeeper seemed to have not expected the Ming family to refuse so directly. After a slight pause, he still smiled and said, "No … it has to be possible."
Ming Qingda opened his eyes abruptly and stared at the shopkeeper with a gaze of pity and disdain. His cold voice seeped out from between his teeth, "You … are threatening me?"
"I wouldn't dare," the head shopkeeper of the money house said warmly. "It is only a request."
Ming Qingda once again sank into deep thought. He didn't ask what the other party was relying on to threaten him. He had borrowed a lot of money from Zhaoshang money house this year. This was enough to give the other party a bit more confidence in his words.
The head shopkeeper said slowly, "Business is business. Master Ming, you also know the present situation. If the money house uses the notes to demand silver, the Ming family's cash flow will immediately be cut off. What will you use to provide for the palace treasury's subsequent silver? Sir Fan junior is waiting for you to be unable to produce the silver … then he can cut off your right to travel east. Although the Ming family is rich and powerful … you can't lose your identity as a royal merchant, and you can't lose the silver flowing out of the palace treasury. "
Ming Qingda fell silent. He knew the other party had hit the nail on the head. The Ming family's biggest problem was that their cash flow was gradually showing signs of drying up.
"It is written clearly on the transfer of silver. Before the time is up, don't even think about taking back a single tael of silver." Up until now, Ming Qingda still did not panic at all because he had enough confidence.
Unexpectedly, the head shopkeeper of Zhaoshang money house smiled slightly and said, "Who says I can't take it back? It is written on the contract that if the money house is willing to pay a shallow price, you must return the silver within five days. This lawsuit … even if it goes all the way to Jingdou, I will still win. You must still return the silver. "
"Shallow price!" Ming Qingda abruptly stood up. An expression of disbelief appeared on his tired face. Lowering his voice, he scolded darkly, "You're crazy! You're going to lose 30 percent! "
The head shopkeeper's expression did not change. "If we really can't work together … even if we lose 30 percent of the silver, our money house will still ask you to return the silver ahead of time."
Ming Qingda stared at him coldly as if trying to determine whether or not the other party was a madman. He slightly relaxed his tone and said, "If we really do this, the Ming family can at most sell our land. It's not like we can't pay you back, but your money house's losses will be great …"
"This proves our determination and sincerity," the head shopkeeper smiled warmly. The shopkeeper smiled warmly and said, "My master has always been in the money house business, but he is very interested in your country's business. He is an ambitious person and is willing to cooperate with a hero like you, so please do me the honor."
Ming Qingda slowly sat down. He finally understood. It turned out that the master of Zhaoshang money house had wanted to borrow money to join the Ming family's business a year ago. This scheme … had been set up for too long.
"Who is your master?"
"On the day the agreement is reached, the master will certainly come personally to thank you, Master Ming."
"What if I really don't want to?" Ming Qingda had already recovered his calm. He lightly said, "A lawsuit is fine. The Ming family will accompany you all the way. As for this silver, we can at least drag it out for a year or so."
"Can it really drag it out?" The head shopkeeper smiled warmly. "A lawsuit before the Emperor is just a joke. According to the first three rules of Qing law, you should understand that a lawsuit for a private loan can at most reach the Jiangnan Road yamen … until it reaches Sir Xue Qing. Are you sure you want to do this?"
Of course, Ming Qingda did not want to do this. The court had been watching his family like a tiger for an entire year. If they ran into this kind of lawsuit, they would certainly think of a way to kill him.
He had not thought that Zhaoshang money house had already calculated all the escape routes and understood the conflict between the Qing court and the merchants so clearly. Ming Qingda's finger trembled slightly. He stared at the head shopkeeper and roared in his tired old heart, "This is a conspiracy!"
…
…
After a long silence, Ming Qingda said tiredly, "How does your master want to work with me?"
"Debt to silver and shares," the head shopkeeper said cleanly.
…
…
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