Shanyang is very close to Yangzhou and not far from Nanjing.
The slave-building army had just arrived at Shanyang City on the evening of the previous day. By the evening of the next day, this shocking news was rushed four hundred miles to Nanjing.
The shortcomings of poor news in ancient times have been exposed again.
After the news of Jiannu's attack on Huai'an Prefecture was accidentally leaked, ghosts and ghosts appeared, and all kinds of rumors flew everywhere.
Some say that Xuzhou has been lost, Chongzhen has been killed in the battle, the prince, Yongwang and his accompanying soldiers have also died in the battle, and the Ming Dynasty is on the verge of collapse.
It is also said that Chongzhen did not die in the battle, but was seriously injured and fled to Wuchang.
It is also said that Chongzhen's defeated troops had fled to Shandong and joined forces with Wang Jiayan, the governor of Shandong.
Some people also say that Duduo, Prince Heshuo of the Qing Dynasty, is about to lead an army of 500,000 people southward, and threatens to slaughter all the tens of millions of officials and gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, leaving no chickens or dogs behind!
In short, there is no good news, all bad news.
The officials and gentry in Nanjing, including the three cabinet ministers, were all frightened three times a day and were in panic all day long. Some censors even suggested that King Yong ascend the throne as soon as possible to stabilize the morale of the people and the military.
This proposal was firmly opposed by Meng Zhaoxiang and other officials.
It is impossible for Shi Kefa and the other four ministers to agree to this suggestion.
But at the same time, Shi Kefa and others also rejected the clauses put forward by Meng Zhaoxiang, Wu Linzheng and other nine ministers of national calamity who severely punished the censors who took the lead on the grounds that the censor had the right to report the matter.
In short, the Nanjing officialdom was already in a state of turmoil.
If the officialdom is like a formality, it can be imagined that the people will do the same.
The market exchange on Chaoku Street has been surrounded by gentry merchants who are "defending their rights."
No, the big Jin gentry and big businessmen will not come forward. What will come forward are their powerful slaves and the small and medium-sized Jin gentry and small and medium-sized merchants. These powerful slaves and the small Jin gentry and small merchants are waving bonds that have been reduced to waste paper. Some people
Filled with indignation, more people cried bitterly and begged the exchange to buy back their bonds.
"Repay us our hard-earned money, and the dog officer will return our hard-earned money."
"Is there any royal law in the Ming Dynasty? Isn't this a money grab?"
"Oh my god, this is Xiao Lao's coffin book. Ouch."
Looking at these wealthy slaves and gentry merchants who were crying or scolding, Zhu Yousong's brows knitted into a knot.
It was really raining and the house was leaking, and the boat was late and encountered a storm. I thought that if I joined the market and became a clerk, I would get a pretty good salary and live a decent life from then on. Who would have thought?
Before the government entered direct control, bonds issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs began to plummet.
As a result of this drop, bond trading on the stock exchange came to a halt.
Then, those gentry and merchants who held bonds began to cause trouble.
Zhu Yousong could only lament his bad fate. It seemed that his job was useless again.
Oh my god, what happened to the Ming Dynasty? Why is it so difficult to earn a living?
…
There has been an uproar outside the exchange, but Kang Wanwan and other large and small shareholders can only stare blankly, because the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as the largest shareholder of the exchange, has not yet given clear instructions.
Although the Holy Spirit has issued a decree, he has not given a time limit.
Therefore, the final decision-making power rests with Ma Mingluan.
Before Ma Mingluan said anything, no one dared to buy back even one cent of the bonds.
Fang Wenzhen hurriedly returned to the hall and said: "Everyone, a few more Jin gentry fainted on the spot. If this continues, I'm worried that there will be another loss of life, and the censors will make a fuss about it again. What should I do?"
Zhang Han turned to Kang Wanwan and asked, "Brother Kang, why don't you send someone to ask Deputy Chief Ma for instructions?"
"Deputy Chief Ma is already so troubled by the people from the Metropolitan Procuratorate that he has no time to take care of the stock exchange." Kang Baiwan shook his head and said, "Ignore them. If they are willing to waste money, then waste money."
Bar."
After saying this, Kang Wanwan turned his eyes to Zhan Yangzhi: "Brother Zhan, how is the expansion of the arsenal going?"
"Don't mention it, it really didn't go well." Zhan Yangzhi shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "The number of craftsmen is too few, especially the number of skilled craftsmen in casting, mold making, forging and drilling and gunsmithing is far from enough, and the newly recruited apprentices are not good at their craftsmanship.
Therefore, it is impossible to increase the production of Bird Guns, Rumi Guns, Crouching Tiger Cannons and Red Yi Cannons in a short period of time."
"This is a big deal." Kang Wanwan said with some annoyance, "Originally, the only thing that restricted the arsenal was raw materials. After finally solving the problem of raw materials, we found that it is more difficult to recruit skilled craftsmen."
"No." Zhan Yangzhi said with a bitter smile, "If an apprentice wants to grow into a skilled craftsman, he must work hard for three to five years. However, the Holy Spirit and the Ministry of Internal Affairs have to do it in such a hurry, which is really worrying."
Fang Wenzhen said: "How about buying it directly from Hongyi? Doesn't Hongyi also have Hongyi cannon?"
"The quantity is too small." Kang Wanwan shook his head and said, "And I bought it from Hongyi. It is difficult to quench my thirst with water far away."
While a group of shareholders, big and small, were talking, a figure flashed outside the door, and Ma Mingluan, wearing a green robe, hurried in.
Ma Mingluan was originally the magistrate of Yangzhou Prefecture and was qualified to wear a scarlet robe. However, since he became the deputy chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he could only wear the green robe he had worn when he was a county magistrate.
However, stock exchange shareholders do not dare to underestimate him.
Including Kang Wanwan, everyone present quickly stood up to greet him, calling him Deputy Chief Ma.
Ma Mingluan seemed to be getting thinner and thinner now, with his cheekbones protruding. He bowed his head and said: "Everyone, the heat is almost here, let's start buying back the bonds, and we will buy them back at a 40% discount."
Chongzhen said it was half price, but Ma Mingluan was only willing to buy it back at a 40% discount.
In fact, Ma Mingluan feels that the 40% off price is too high.
If he were given full power to make the decision, he would only give a 10% discount on the price.
…
At this time, outside the gate of the Exchange, Wang Tao was regretting his mistake.
Wang Tao had already changed his title to Sun Tinglan: "Brother Tinglan, I regret not listening to your good advice. If I had listened to you and sold the bonds at the highest position, I would have made a guaranteed profit of fifty thousand taels!"
After a pause, he said sadly: "It's not like now, all the capital has been lost."
"Mr. Wang, don't be anxious." Sun Tinglan said, "The exchange may buy back the bonds."
Wang Tao smiled bitterly and said: "Even if we buy it back, the price will not be as high as the original price. It will be a loss of blood!"
Sun Tinglan advised: "Wang Gong, you are already better than most people. How many people have not sold even one cent of their bonds, and then they will really lose their entire family."
"That's true." Wang Tao was in a slightly better mood.
Regardless, he sold a small portion before bond prices plummeted.
Therefore, even if you lose money, it will only be a slight loss and will not hurt your muscles and bones.
But those merchants and merchants of the Jin gentry who had staked all their wealth on bonds really lost everything. Thousands, tens, or even hundreds of thousands of taels of real money were exchanged for a pile of beautifully printed waste paper.
While he was talking, the closed iron door of the exchange suddenly opened.
Then a steward came out and posted a notice on the bulletin board.
The wealthy slaves of aristocratic families, small gentry and small businessmen who were guarding the market exchange square suddenly swarmed over.
After reading the announcement, some people burst into tears of joy. While crying loudly, they knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty is wise, Your Majesty is wise, we are saved, we are finally saved!"
"Great news, the stock exchange has repurchased bonds."
"Everyone, we don't have to go bankrupt."
"The Holy Father is kind to you, and I will repay you by making a grass ring in the next life."
The reason why Ma Mingluan delayed the repurchase until now was because he wanted this effect.
If these gentry, merchants, and slaves make trouble, the exchange will immediately buy them back. Not only will they not be able to gain the gratitude of these people, but they will also embolden their arrogance. Future bond transactions will no longer be able to proceed normally, because once the price drops again
, these people will gather together to cause trouble again and force the exchange to buy back bonds. How can this be done?
So I kept putting it off until these people were almost desperate and completely lost their temper before they repurchased it.
Only in this way, these people will not develop the bad habit of gathering in crowds to make trouble, and they will also be grateful to the Holy One.
Ma Mingluan was ruthless enough to let these gentry and merchants lose most of their wealth, but he also wanted to be grateful to Chongzhen.
Judging from the current situation, Ma Mingluan's method of extreme pressure has been extremely effective, and almost everyone is grateful.
Wang Tao was also very lucky. Although he could only sell all the bonds in his hands for 4,000 taels, which was far from the original 50,000 taels, but having said that, mosquitoes are still meat no matter how small they are.
At that moment, Wang Tao was ready to call in a clerk to sell the bonds.
However, at this moment, Sun Tinglan suddenly whispered: "Wang Gong, wait a minute!"
"Huh?" Wang Tao looked at Sun Tinglan with some surprise, "Brother Tinglan, do you have any suggestions?"
Sun Tinglan frowned and thought for a while, then said to Wang Tao: "Wang Gong, don't sell the bonds in your hand yet."
"Ah?" Wang Tao was stunned for a long time and then said again, "Why? Didn't you just persuade me to sell?"
Sun Tinglan said thoughtfully: "The exchange is actually willing to repurchase, which is really beyond my expectation. There may be other unknown reasons for this."
"Oh." Wang Tao also reacted and said, "Brother Xian, you mean..."
"Hush!" Sun Tinglan signaled to be silent and said, "If I guessed correctly, the situation in Xuzhou must have changed. The imperial court was sure of victory, so it dared to buy back the bonds at a low price, because they knew
When the news of the great victory in Xuzhou spreads back to Nanjing, those Jin gentry and merchants will come in droves and demand that the bond trading be reopened."
Wang Tao also whispered: "Then, the bonds will rise back to the sky, right?"
"Yes!" Sun Tinglan whispered, "So not only can't you sell bonds, but you also have to buy them in large quantities!"
"Ah? You still want to buy?" Wang Tao was a little worried and whispered, "Brother Xian, just forget it if you buy a large amount?"
"Mr. Wang, please do it yourself. I'll excuse you now." After saying this, Sun Tinglan turned around and left in a hurry, but went straight to the Royal Bank on Chaoku Street to deposit money.
