What Tong Yaowen was worried about finally happened one morning a few days later. In fact, the matter was much more serious than he expected.
After discovering the conspiracy, although more and more people came to exchange money at the bank every day, the Tong family still gritted their teeth and held on in order not to cause greater commotion.
Although two million taels of cash will severely damage the Tong family's vitality, as long as the business is still there, it can slowly recover.
However, just when the Tong family was about to fight to the death with the person who secretly set up the trap, things developed out of control:
I don’t know where the rumor came from, saying that Tongjia Yinzhuang was about to collapse and could no longer survive. This news seemed to have grown wings and soon swept through Yinzhou City.
As a result, people who deposited money in the bank could not sit still. They took their ticket stubs and went to withdraw the money, for fear that they would not be able to withdraw their money.
At the beginning, Tongjia Bank could barely support itself, trying to tell everyone with actions that the collapse was just a rumor and that anyone who deposited money could withdraw money normally.
But as time went on, not only did the rumors not stop, but they became more and more violent, so much so that the Tong Family Bank was surrounded by a sea of people every day.
Originally, a family with two million and two children could grit their teeth and get through it. But now, all the depositors are flocking here to withdraw money.
The money in the bank is like running water, deposited in and loaned out, and the actual cash left for turnover is not particularly large.
How could the Tong family survive under such circumstances, so on the third day after the rumors spread, the Tong family bank finally couldn't stand it any longer and had to close its doors.
At that time, the cash cash exchanged by the Tong family had exceeded four million taels. These four million taels were the entire wealth of the Tong family, and they were used as working capital for emergencies.
However, the turnover money had been spent, but the rumors were not suppressed, but intensified. At this time, Tong Yaowen realized that the black hand behind this was not something that his Tong family could compete with.
Tong Yaowen thought hard and couldn't figure out what kind of hatred the Tong family had. He could only guess that maybe someone disliked the Tong family, or maybe there was no reason at all.
But there is no reason, is it really possible? Who would target him when they are full and have nothing to do?
So, Tong Yaowen gathered all the brothers in his family to discuss the solution together, and also guessed who was behind it. If he could find the person behind the scenes, he might be able to figure out how to solve it.
...
The main room of the Tong family's courtyard was filled with people. On the left were the men in charge of the Tong family's business, and on the right were several big shopkeepers of the Tong family.
Tong Yaowen sat at the head of the table and took the lead in speaking, "You must know the reason for calling everyone here today, so I won't say more. I want to hear your opinions on how to solve the problems the Tong family is facing now.
Opinion."
The second child of the Tong family immediately said: "The problem we are facing now is essentially a 'money' problem. We are short of money, so we have to start from the 'money' aspect.
My idea is that the bank and the pawnshop are the two most important businesses of the Tong family, and this is not a shame.
The Tong family also has many other businesses. Even if the east wall is demolished to repair the west wall, these two walls must be repaired first.
Firstly, our reputation has been preserved, and secondly, we have lost our teeth and swallowed blood, so we can do nothing ourselves and outsiders won’t see it, so we won’t lose the Tong family’s face.”
Tong Yaowen nodded slightly, "My second brother's intention is to sell off other family properties in order to preserve the reputation of the bank and pawn shop, as well as the Tong family."
The third son of the Tong family immediately retorted: "I don't agree. First of all, the silver we lack is not a few taels or tens of thousands of taels, but millions of taels. Even if we sell off the property, we will have to sell a lot.
But if we really sell other property to make up for the shortfall, who knows if we have fallen into someone else's trap again? Who knows if the black hands behind it are waiting for us to take this step?
His purpose may simply be to annex our Tong family. If we really sell it, wouldn’t it be just as he wanted?"
This is not unreasonable. Tong Yaowen has experienced great decline these days, and he can't help but agree with his third brother's words. The most likely thing is that the black hand behind the scenes forced them to sell their property, and then took action to completely engulf the Tong family.
.
The second child did not refute again. After all, these words sounded somewhat reasonable.
The fourth child thought for a while, "How about we borrow some money first? The Tong family also has many connections in Yinzhou, so they should be able to borrow some money to cope with it."
Tong Yaowen immediately shook his head. The Tong family was originally in the business of lending and depositing money, but now they have to ask other people to borrow money. This is unreasonable. What's more, even if it is a loan, how much can it be borrowed? This is simply drinking poison to quench thirst.
He then looked at the other people who had not yet spoken and asked, "Do you have any suggestions? Let's hear them all."
The others were silent for a while, and finally the big shopkeeper spoke, "Now we only focus on solving the problem with money, but money is not something that can only be obtained if we have it.
In my opinion, it is better to change the direction. The fundamental problem now is that some people deliberately spread rumors, which caused the depositors to panic and thought that they would not be able to get their money back, which led to our current predicament.
If it was only two million taels, we could still sustain it, but the problem lies here. What is causing trouble to us now is not the two million taels, but more depositors.
Therefore, I believe that solving the problems of depositors is the key.
We need to regain their trust, appease the panic of depositors, and curb the spread of rumors. As long as depositors no longer come to withdraw money in large numbers, our crisis will be over.
Otherwise, no matter how much money there is, it will only bring down the bank and the entire Tong family." After all, even if the depositors' demand for withdrawing money is met, the bank will be gone.
After hearing this, Tong Yaowen nodded and agreed: "That's right. It's just where the rumors come from and how to stop them, but that's another problem."
The person who spread the rumor was obviously very powerful. In just one day, the news spread throughout Yinzhou, causing panic among the depositors of Tongjia Bank.
In the following days, rumors continued to spread. Even though the Tong family took positive measures, they still failed to calm the panic of depositors.
These words made everyone fall silent again. People's words are scary, especially those who are in the bank business. It is easy to fan the flames, but it is even more difficult to put out the flames.
The second child of the Tong family continued: "They can spread it, and so can we. I'm going to find hundreds of them now, and I'll see who spreads it more powerfully."
Tong Yaowen sighed, although this method seemed clumsy, but, "This is the only way now. It is better than sitting around and waiting for death. My second brother will be responsible for this matter." Even if it cannot solve the problem, it can at least relieve some pressure.
"In addition, some of the property can be sold to support the business. The business in the shop will not be stopped for now. There will be no harvest from the land this year. Zhuangzi can sell it first. The third brother will be responsible for this matter." Tong Yaowen added.
The third child answered yes. At this time, the housekeeper hurried into the main room, looking panicked, "Sir, it's not good, many people have gathered in front of our door, and they are calling the door now, saying that if they don't open the door, they will break into it.