To be sure,
At that time, the Great Ming had no banks, only money shops, money shops, and those money shop merchants had always used disasters to buy the property of common people at a low price, which was different from modern banks. Whenever everyone mentioned money shops, they immediately thought of this.
So by analogy, although Zhu Mo had raised so much money and seemed to have taken advantage, what was the reality? What if he fell into the trap of those people? If the imperial court did not compensate, would the national credit not be ruined? If they compensated, would the Weaving Bureau collapse?
With this explanation, what else could Xu Jie and the others say? Even the Emperor could not stand idly by!
"And... cough cough..."
Yan Song stood up and paced a few steps, saying:
"The salt inspection by Mao Qing should not be a problem... Shifan, immediately send someone an urgent dispatch of eight hundred li, asking Mao Qing to supervise it more strictly this time! At a critical juncture, everyone must cough up some silver! Handle more! At least three million taels! Anyone who disobeys, report them immediately!"
"Uh, tomorrow is the sixth day, Wu Ri, the Emperor will not meditate as usual... Morning discussion! In three days! Otherwise, the night is long and dreams are many, go and tell Xu Jie and the others, and then discuss the matter of ten million taels... You all prepare more..."
"Yes."
Seeing Yan Song personally take action, everyone's confidence soared.
...
And the reason Yan Song said three days later,
Was because the Yan family had a unique secret skill—
Spreading rumors!
The Yan family members rushed everywhere that night, and by noon the next day, the entire capital was in an uproar. Even in the Hanlin Academy, the stronghold of the clean officials, many people were criticizing Zhu Mo, let alone the Six Ministries.
Officials were jealous of others' rapid promotions. Zhu Mo, from an ordinary citizen, had instantly become an imperial envoy for Jiangnan, which had already made them gnash their teeth with hatred. If they did not attack and slander now, when would they?
Such rumors were terrifying and spread very quickly. By noon, eunuchs in the palace had also begun to discuss in low voices, all saying that Zhu Mo had caused a great disaster in Jiangnan and had led the Great Ming into a ditch.
By noon the next day, in the streets, taverns, and teahouses, many rumors were being mass-produced—
"Zhu Mo is a corrupt merchant, he's just making money for himself!"
"Zhu Mo was a swindler from the beginning!"
"It is said that Zhu Mo is a lecher..."
"He's trying to empty the Great Ming!"
"What? The Great Ming has been emptied by Zhu Mo?!"
"People in the south say that Zhu Mo was a Japanese pirate..."
"Twelve million taels of silver, why did Zhu Mo embezzle so much money?"
"Those lenders were coming to claim the Weaving Bureau's assets as debt repayment..."
"Zhu Mo colluded with lenders all over the country to bring down the Great Ming!"
"This damned fellow! I still regret saying he was good at the time!"
"This beast!"
"He doesn't look like a refined scoundrel..."
"..."
...
At the Mao Shi on the third day.
The ministers of the Grand Secretariat and the Vice Ministers of the Six Ministries had long been waiting outside the Hall of Yuxi.
And Jiajing, as usual, sat with his eyes closed, holding a whisk, and looking from behind the gauze curtain, he truly looked like a Taoist priest, as if all the important and trivial matters of the mortal world had nothing to do with him...
Yan Song and Yan Shifan stood in the left column as usual, while Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng stood in the right column, all with solemn expressions.
Lü Fang coughed and said, "Today's court discussion was proposed by Grand Secretary Yan, please speak first...?"
Without waiting for Yan Song to reply, Yan Shifan said loudly:
"Eunuch Lü, everyone, today's matter is very important! That's why my father wanted to convene a court discussion... Uh, no more idle talk, let's get to the main point! This matter concerns the fate of our Great Ming. Do you all know that Zhu Mo, under the guise of the Weaving Bureau in Jiangnan, raised twelve million taels of silver from the common people!"
This matter,
Everyone already knew, but at this moment, when Yan Shifan said it loudly, the lingering sound echoed in the empty Hall of Yuxi, and everyone was immediately shocked...
Those familiar with the Great Ming's finances knew very well—
This sum of money,
It was a huge sum, rarely seen by the Great Ming court!
Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng knew that only during the Yongle era did the court have tens of millions of taels of silver. After that, it declined, and three to four million taels were considered good.
"Twelve million taels..."
"Many people thought, isn't it good to have money? Then spend it! Military supplies, disaster relief, buying silk, indulging in pleasure... anyway, spend it if you have money... But—have you all thought about it? Did this money fall from the sky?"
With a bang!
Yan Shifan slapped the table.
"This money is borrowed! It has to be repaid!"
"But can we afford to repay it? Can Zhu Mo afford to repay it? I ask you all, with what can he repay this money? To put it bluntly, even if he sold all of us present, he still couldn't repay it! If riots break out then, who will be responsible? Tell me, who will be responsible?"
"Therefore, we have discussed and decided that this money cannot be spent! It must be returned to the merchants as soon as possible... Keep one million taels for military supplies, fifty for disaster relief, fifty for the Weaving Bureau to buy silk, a total of two million! The remaining one thousand must be repaid as soon as possible! Every extra month is one month's interest..."
His original intention was to overwhelm Zhu Mo, using Yan Maoqing's three million taels from salt inspection to overwhelm Zhu Mo's two million taels, and the remaining million could be used to build palaces for the Emperor. This way, they could overcome this hurdle.
And before he finished speaking,
Zhang Juzheng stepped forward and said sternly:
"Just because we can't repay it now doesn't mean we can't repay it in three years! This money can be used for business, or lent to others, and it can generate profits... Moreover, according to Young Master Zhu's strategy, many people will convert to shares in three years, and not necessarily have to repay so much... Little Grand Secretary, you are exaggerating!"
Aha,
Yan Shifan said with a strange tone, "Zhang Taiyue, you say it lightly, but who will be responsible in three years? The burden of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Great Ming still rests on me!"
"It rests on the imperial court, not on you alone!"
Zhang Juzheng retorted on the spot.
Hmph!
Yan Shifan immediately brought out his trump card, swept his sharp eyes over everyone, and said slowly:
"My subordinates have found out... Do you think those merchants are giving money for free? To tell you the truth, most of these people are running money shops! Will they deliver the money obediently? Don't be dazed by the large sum of money... What is their purpose? Have you thought about it?"
Zhang Juzheng said sternly, "What purpose could they have? Isn't it just to earn interest steadily?"
"Ha!"
Yan Shifan was furious and said:
"To tell you the truth, my people have found out! Many merchants who subscribed to that damned debt have already colluded! They are waiting for the repayment to fail in three years and want to take the assets of the Weaving Bureau as debt repayment!"
He sneered at Zhang Juzheng, then at Xu Jie and Gao Gong, and continued:
"I find it strange... Would you not see through the tricks of those money shop merchants? Why do you all support that Zhu Mo and even praise those money shop merchants? Could it be that you... you also want a piece of the pie?!"
Hiss!
Wow!
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire hall fell silent.
If this charge were proven, it would be a great matter!
Xu Gaozhang and the clean officials from the Six Ministries could be said to have all rebelled. At this point, even Zhang Juzheng, who had always dared to speak and act, did not dare to respond...
Lü Fang, who had been observing all along, finally understood—
This was why the Emperor did not express his opinion yesterday!
This charge was indeed not small, and the facts were all there. Even if the Emperor intended to help Zhu Mo, there was no good reason...
At this moment,
He couldn't help but secretly glance at Jiajing and muttered to himself—
So he was protecting his illegitimate son!
I was wondering why he wasn't speaking?
It turns out he had long anticipated this!
Lü Fang then followed his train of thought and the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong, and a cold sweat broke out on his back—
Indeed,
Anyone could tell that Yan Shifan was deliberately framing him, but what he said made sense! And it could gain the support of the Yan faction throughout the country!
Since the Northern Song Dynasty had money shops, weren't all money shop merchants in the world like this? Those who lent money, who had good intentions? Weren't they waiting for the time when the debtor was at his wits' end to squeeze them to death?
Therefore,
Zhu Mo, although a big winner on the surface, in the end, how different was he from those small citizens on the verge of bankruptcy? Wasn't it that he was short of money and went to borrow from money shop merchants? The only difference was the low interest rate, but it couldn't stand the large quantity...
Hundreds of thousands of taels of interest every year, where would it come from? The principal spent on military supplies and disaster relief, how could it be repaid in three years? Could it be that they really had to sell their property by then? And if the Weaving Bureau was used for debt repayment, what would happen to the Great Ming in the future? Wouldn't that mean the Great Ming was bankrupt?
Thinking of this,
Lü Fang became more and more worried about Zhu Mo. He stole another glance at Jiajing, but he still sat there like a wooden statue, not even moving his clothes...
"This is difficult to handle...?"