Chapter 697: Isn't this hitting the muzzle of a gun?
"Shopkeeper Zhang, please come this way."
"Shopkeeper Li, long time no see. Please welcome me."
"Shopkeeper Qian, you came so early today."
"Shopkeeper Zhao"
Being able to come here to participate in a meeting may not be considered a big deal at the court level, but in civilian circles, everyone here is a senior figure.
The shopkeepers of each bank control a large amount of loan funds. Nowadays, when ordinary people are still working hard for a month and getting up early to earn more than a dozen dollars, they are already earning hundreds of thousands or even millions.
Even tens of millions of banknotes have been transferred to deal with it.
Perhaps the shopkeeper of each bank usually has his monthly money fluctuating around a few coins, and the difference will not be too big.
In today's day and age, ordinary people may not be able to save hundreds of coins for several years if they live frugally, but this is just a month's salary for shopkeepers.
Especially this is the capital.
These shopkeepers who can attend the meeting are already at the top of the entire industry.
Money is one aspect, but more importantly is the powerful and indescribable personal connections behind each shopkeeper.
Ordinary nobles, and even officials of the fifth and sixth ranks need to give three points of thin noodles when they see him.
To ordinary people, they are already high-ranking big shots.
This compound is not considered luxurious, and it is surrounded by dense guards.
Even the Jin Yiwei couldn't come over and eavesdrop.
Of course, it would be different if you were listening clearly.
The lobby of the courtyard.
The place was filled with chairs, and the shopkeepers of each bank took their seats when they arrived.
On top, there are four top chairs.
It was prepared for the top shopkeepers of the four largest banks.
The four major banks refer to the four largest private banks.
The most basic ones were opened almost all over the Ming Dynasty, at least in every prefecture and city, they had their own branches, which could meet the needs of merchants.
Behind this, there are also four extremely powerful chambers of commerce.
Sihai Bank is naturally one of them.
There are also Jiuzhou Bank, Wansheng Bank, and Shanshui Bank.
The smaller ones are Rishengchang, Wei Taihou, Tianchengheng, Baofenglong, Sanjinyuan, Cunyigong, Huiyuanyong, Heshengyuan and so on.
Behind the bank, there are often nobles, officials, aristocratic families and other parties involved as the backstage.
Among them, the four major banks naturally have the largest backend.
It is said that behind the four major banks, there is support from members of the royal family.
It is said that behind the four major banks, there are feudal kings supporting them.
Rumors are rumors, but in fact many people who know the inside story know that the four major banks are currently doing business in maritime trade, especially the four major feudal lords of Japan, who have extremely close contacts.
"Everyone is here, please be quiet."
Li Xiangfeng sat in the position of the general manager of Sihai Bank, glanced at the noisy people in the hall and spoke softly.
The sound was not loud, but the hall immediately became quiet.
For those who can sit in the position of shopkeeper, it is a basic skill to see all directions and listen to all directions. It seems that everyone is chatting, but in fact, their attention is always on the top four people.
Li Xiangfeng was very satisfied with this feeling, and then he cupped his hands to the left and right: "Brother Cheng, Brother Zhao, Brother Lu, let me tell you this time?"
The other three people laughed and said, "Thank you, Brother Li."
Li Xiangfeng nodded slightly, and then said to everyone in the hall: "The people who can come here today are all the shopkeepers of the major banks. It's the four of you who have given me the dignity to allow the four of me to preside over this meeting."
After saying that, Li Xiangfeng stood up and bowed with his hands in his hands.
Everyone in the audience quickly stood up and returned the greeting.
They are both bank bosses, but the difference in status is actually not too big. It mainly depends on the power behind them.
But of course things like this behind the scenes can't be made public. Everyone needs to be more polite to each other in public.
Furthermore, when it comes to the position of bank manager, there are not many easy ones.
Li Xiangfeng went straight to the point.
"I won't stop chatting today. Whether it's the four of us, everyone sitting here, or those who couldn't come because we are small here, everyone's situation is basically the same, and no one is feeling better."
"In the current situation, it is clear that the imperial court deliberately released the news to test us, and at the same time wanted to run against us. It has only been a few days, and everyone must have felt it. If it continues to be delayed, reputation is one thing.
I’m afraid that I don’t know how many stores will close down because of this.”
"We are here to talk about this matter today because we must concentrate our efforts in one place and we cannot allow the situation to worsen from this."
After Li Xiangfeng pointed out the purpose, everyone began to speak freely.
"Who says otherwise? I can only do this for three days at most. No, I won't be able to hold on for two days. If I don't get any treasures and can't get out the money, won't those people go crazy?"
"You still have two days. Now I'm worried about how to open the door tomorrow. I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on for half a day, eh."
"Any talk of banning private banks is completely based on rumors. This must be someone deliberately spreading rumors and trying to hit us. They don't even think about how much people's hard-earned money will be lost if all the banks like us are shut down.
Flooded."
"I think we must jointly report this matter to the court. Only when the court takes action to cut off the rumors can this turmoil be stabilized."
Everyone was filled with righteous indignation, and everyone sighed, as if they were forced into a desperate situation.
Li Xiangfeng just picked up the tea cup from the tea table, blew on it gently, and then took a sip of hot tea.
He didn't even look down.
Reporting to the imperial court, to put it lightly.
Anyone here who is not a human being can guess who is behind this, no matter how ill-informed they are.
It is clear that he is the current His Majesty the Grand Sun.
Still playing.
Is it possible that His Highness the Grand Sun must come forward in person and stage a drama about "who in the audience will sue me?" in order to live in peace.
In fact, this seemingly tense scene, but if you look carefully at everyone's expressions, it turns out that it's really not that stressful.
If you want to submit a memorial, I guess no shopkeeper here will submit his or her name.
Just joining in the fun, whoever takes it seriously is the fool.
Who is not a wage earner? Even if the bank really can’t get out the money and is about to close down, what does it have to do with all of you sitting here?
It's good to turn it off, it's easy to turn it off once.
There are even some shopkeepers who are eager for the imperial court to issue a notice prohibiting private banks, which will save them more worry.
There are a lot of tricks in the bank, and the bad debts are the most troublesome.
No shopkeeper here is familiar with the operation of tearing down the east wall to repair the west wall.
There are seven or eight books of accounts in the bank that are true and false, and the main one is a matryoshka doll.
There are even some who are so shady that they have lost count of how many holes their own banks have.
So, even though I was extremely happy in my heart, I still felt filled with righteous indignation and burning with urgency.
It's really difficult.
There is no way, this must be performed for who knows how many bosses in the future.
"Okay, stop arguing. This matter is imminent now. You can't hide from it. Don't even think about Hulong. You have to work hard, otherwise it will be irreversible. Most of you here may not be able to do it.
Have a good life."
Li Xiangfeng said in a deep voice.
Of course he knew what these shopkeepers were thinking, but he was different.
In other words, the top shopkeepers of the four major banks are all different.
Before coming today, I received a warning.
If it's really irresistible, don't blame it. If they do nothing, don't blame it for being unkind.
Obviously, Li Xiangfeng's words are still somewhat intimidating.
There was silence in the venue for a moment. A shopkeeper of a bank stood up and bowed and said: "Shopkeeper Li, a snake can't fly without a head, and a bird can't fly without a head. We all know how serious this matter is, so we point our fingers at you to see what's going on.
This is a method, I will do it together later."
"My boss has also given instructions to follow the four major shopkeepers, and I will definitely not be a hindrance."
As soon as this was said, everyone immediately agreed.
Li Xiangfeng and other big shopkeepers of the four major banks looked at each other, and then nodded slightly.
Hold a general meeting for small matters, and hold a small meeting for big matters.
Apparently the four of them had secretly discussed the countermeasures together.
The body Li Xiangfeng was leaning on straightened up. After taking a serious look at everyone present, he said:
"The four of us have indeed discussed a countermeasure. Thinking about the current situation, all the bosses have already thought of ways to deal with it, but everyone knows who they are up against, so there is nothing they can do, and they dare not take the lead."
"If you act like the first bird, you will be beaten down in the future."
"Straight won't work, so we have to bend it."
Having said this, Li Xiangfeng paused for a moment, and then continued after everyone's attention was focused:
"As we all know, for now, Royal Bank's main business is housing loans."
"Only the Royal Bank can handle this kind of business. How can a small family like us get involved?"
"But we are not vegetarian here. We must let others know. If we all unite, we will definitely bring a huge shock to the market."
"This water is too clear, so we fish are very visible to others. Only by making the water muddy can we have a chance of survival."
"The population of the capital is getting larger and larger, but the price of houses has not increased much. I think it's time to help in this regard."
"All of you here are shopkeepers, and your business is spread all over the Ming Dynasty. I mean, not only in this capital, but also in the major cities further away, you should be able to make a move."
After the words fell, there was silence.
At this time, many shopkeepers began to mentally calculate how much money they would have to pay.
It's not a small amount of money.
And this is to quarrel with His Highness Taisun.
Li Xiangfeng's words were a bit euphemistic, but in fact the meaning was very simple, that is, all private banks unite to speculate in real estate.
Zhu Ying was a little confused when she heard the news.
He didn't expect that something like this would happen at this point in time.
As we all know, meetings like this are secretly against the imperial court, especially when so many people participate.
If there is a mobile phone or something, then Zhu Ying and Zhu Yuanzhang can watch the live broadcast.
Of course, now it almost means live broadcast, but it is a text version.
These Jin Yiwei must have several brushes.
In the document that was handed over, it was written in detail what so-and-so said.
There are also special names in front.
For example, at the beginning, Sihai shopkeeper Li Xiangfeng said:
Then the so-and-so shopkeeper said so-and-so.
"Jiang Wei, how many listeners did you bury in that yard?" Zhu Ying asked with a smile.
The listening tube was the one most used by Jinyiwei, and it was equivalent to the listening device of later generations.
Zhu Yuanzhang was able to control the officials of the capital, and could even know the content of other people's private whispers in the room. Naturally, Jin Yiwei relied on these to monitor.
The so-called listening tube actually has the same principle as the traditional tubes of later generations, but naturally there are many special changes in production.
These secrets are considered high-level secrets in Jinyiwei. Of course, if His Highness Taisun asks, he will naturally say what he has to say.
"Because there are many people who need to be monitored this time, we not only prepared the supervisors in advance, but also arranged a dozen supervisors underground to better record the information." Jiang Wei replied respectfully.
Zhu Ying did not ask further questions.
A listening urn is actually a jar with a small mouth and a large belly.
When in use, bury the listening urn in the ground and cover the mouth of the urn with a thin layer of leather. When detection is needed, lean on it and hear the movement above.
If necessary, professional intelligence personnel are directly asked to sit in the urn. This is called "playing listening."
In order to reduce intelligence errors, blind people are often trained to perform "listening" tasks.
Blind people have poor eyesight, but their hearing is often excellent.
There is a Juesheng Guard in the Jinyi Guards, and the commander is Yang Zhongkai, whom Zhu Ying has met before.
Later, a school for the deaf and mute was specially opened for him, and Liu Bowen's elder brother, Lu Bu, was asked to come out to help.
"Dasun, these little bastards have dark hearts. They are all profiteers as expected. How dare they try to manipulate public opinion and target the imperial court."
"We're going to teach them a lesson this time."
"Jiang Wei." Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was filled with obvious anger.
Jiang Wei quickly bowed: "I'm here."
Zhu Yuanzhang said sternly: "Immediately send an order to the Jin Yiwei to arrest all the people on this list and put them in the sky prison."
"If anyone is found who dares to do this again, inform the Chief Secretary of the Thirteenth Anniversary. No need to tell us, just arrest the person."
Jiang Wei's heart trembled: "I obey your order."
"Wait a minute." Zhu Ying interrupted.
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly: "Dasun, these guys have already made trouble on Tai Sui's head, how can we make them feel better?"
Zhu Yingpo said with some helplessness: "Grandpa, don't worry, their methods may seem incomprehensible, but in fact, in the eyes of my grandson, it's just that."
Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows and asked: "They can move very fast, can they make it in time?"
"If it's too late, it will be our people who suffer."
The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to use thunderous means to suppress it was because he felt that once these bank bosses really inflated housing prices, it would be difficult for the court to find a solution.
When the time comes, the people at the bottom will be the ones paying for it.
Zhu Ying smiled and said: "Grandpa, don't worry. My grandson has been waiting for this matter for a long time. I had already expected such a possibility. I didn't expect that the one who would be hit by the knife would be the banks from all over the world."