Fenghou

Qin Hui sighed and said: "The price of rice is not a problem. Rice is produced in the south of the Yangtze River. The imperial court has transferred rice from various places to Lain'an. It will come down in two days. The key is that the real estate has collapsed. I can't explain it to the emperor. It is very likely that this time I will going to be dismissed."

"Is this matter operated by the master?"

Qin Hui shook his head, "The specific sale of houses and shops was manipulated by Wan Qixie, but I decided, but in fact it was decided by the officials, forcing me to sell houses and shops."

"That's fine! Since the official is the decision maker, he will definitely think that there is no problem with the sell-off, but the specific implementer didn't handle it well. What does that have to do with the master?"

One sentence reminded the dreamer that there are decision makers and executors in this matter, and the official is the decision maker, so it is definitely not a decision-making issue, but the responsibility of the executor, so the person who bears the responsibility should be Wan Qixicai right!

Qin Hui breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "Thanks to Madam for reminding me in time, there should be no problem with my husband's aspect."

"But is the housing price really unrecoverable?" Wang was very worried. She herself had suffered a huge loss. She had a house of three and a half acres, which was originally worth a hundred thousand yuan. It was eight thousand, and it plummeted more than nine times, cutting her bloody.

Qin Hui shook his head, "There are no buyers, how can we recover? Originally, merchants could still buy them, but now that there are no more merchants, who will take over?"

"Hey! Why do you treat the merchants like that? Drive them away, now it's all right, and the evil has appeared!"

Qin Hui smiled wryly and said: "The root cause is not our ministers, but our territory is too small, the land is occupied by the rich and powerful, and the land tax cannot be collected. The salt tax has also been severely damaged because the rich and powerful sell private salt, and the main source of income is gone. However, the official family still needs to support 15 troops, and the monthly military salary and other expenses cost 50 guan, 600 million guan a year. How can the court have so much money? They can only rob the wealth of merchants and kill chickens to get eggs, which finally led to the current situation. Evil consequences."

"What should we do now?" Wang asked worriedly.

"How much money does our family have now?"

"There are about 3000 copper coins, 2000 taels of silver, [-] taels of gold, [-] bolts of high-quality silk and satin, and jewelry."

Qin Hui nodded, "Don't store these wealth in the mansion. I will immediately deposit the gold and silver anonymously in Yangzhou's Sichuan-Shaanxi No. [-] Cabinet."

Wang was shocked, "Isn't it dangerous to have the No. [-] cabinet in Sichuan and Shaanxi?"

Qin Hui said lightly: "Then you are wrong. The most dangerous place now is Baoji Cabinetry. The No. [-] Cabinetry in Sichuan and Shaanxi is the safest place."

The first thousand and 420 eight chapters of responsibility

Under tremendous pressure, Emperor Zhao Gou suffered from insomnia for several consecutive nights. Housing prices in Lin'an collapsed and plummeted, while the prices of food and daily necessities skyrocketed. People's grievances boiled over, making Zhao Gou feel an unprecedented crisis.

In the past few days, he held meetings in the political hall to discuss solutions. Xu Xiantu proposed to open Changping warehouses to sell cheap grain to stabilize grain prices, and Zhang Jun proposed to purchase living materials in other counties and counties to supply Lin'an in large quantities.

Just today, Xu Xiantu opened the Changping warehouse, intending to take out 20 shi of grain to stabilize grain prices, but Xu Xiantu unexpectedly discovered that the Changping warehouse, which should have 40 shi of grain, only had less than 30 shi of grain left. A total of 12 shi of grain was missing, Zhao Gou was so angry that he almost fainted, and immediately ordered the Meihuawei to arrest the officials in charge of the granary of Shaofu Temple and interrogate them severely.

In the Imperial Study Room, Xu Xiantu reported to Zhao Gou: "The lowly officials have probably checked. The food shortage happened at least ten years ago. It may be related to several officials of the Shaofu Temple. The Plum Blossom Guard has started to investigate. Soon The truth can be found out, but Wei Chen suggested that the theft should not affect the grain output of Changping warehouse, and the grain price should be stabilized as soon as possible."

Zhao Gou nodded, "I agree, sell the official grain at the price of one hundred coins per bucket as soon as possible, and bring down the price of grain. How much can you sell for 20 shi of grain?"

"Report to Your Majesty, about [-] guan!"

"Only twenty thousand?"

Zhao Gou was disappointed. He had always wanted to sell grain to earn income, but now that the income was so low, Zhao Gou was a little shaken.

At this time, Qin Hui, who had been silent all this time, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I still insist on my previous opinion. There is no need to open a regular warehouse. There is no shortage of grain in Lin'an. Every manor has stored a large amount of grain. Now that grain prices are high, they will definitely Take out a lot of grain for sale, and the price of grain will naturally come down. Yesterday the grain price was [-] yuan per bucket, but today it has dropped to [-] yuan per bucket. There must be grain coming in."

Xu Xiantu shook his head and said: "Confidence is very important to stabilize prices. If the court takes action, it will give confidence to the people, and the prices of various materials will drop. On the contrary, if the court remains silent, it will make the people feel pessimistic. If it falls, it will rebound soon, and the people will see no hope, besides, the grain in the manors outside wants to sell at a high price, and counting on them to stabilize the grain price is tantamount to seeking skin from a tiger."

Zhao Gou was not confused about this matter, and he immediately said: "There is no need to argue any more, just follow the previous decision, put 20 shi of grain at a par price into the market, and bring down the price of grain as soon as possible, and Xu Xianggong is fully responsible for this matter. "

"The minister obeys the order!"

Xu Xiantu bowed and went first.

Zhao Gou said to Qin Hui and Zhang Jun again: "Now there is only 20 guan in the left treasury of the imperial court, which is not even enough to make up for one month's military salary. You should think of a way to get the money out as soon as possible."

Zhang Jun bowed and said, "Humble job has thought of a way!"

Zhao Gou was overjoyed and quickly asked, "What way?"

"Your Majesty, we can borrow money from the cabinet workshop and mortgage the houses and shops that we cannot sell to the cabinet workshop. It should not be a big problem to borrow 100 million yuan. It will last for two months. By December, the tax on Guangnan East Road Fu should be escorted to Beijing."

Qin Hui immediately said: "Your Majesty, this method is very good. If Xiangguo Wanqi had done this earlier instead of hastily selling it at a low price, the housing price would not have collapsed. Because his improper operation caused such serious consequences, the responsibility is heavy. If Your Majesty does not want to punish Wan Teng Xiangguo, let him be responsible for borrowing money from the counter shop, even if he makes him pay off the crime."

Taking this opportunity, Qin Hui quietly shifted the responsibility for the collapse of housing prices to Wan Qixie. Qin Hui made sense!Obviously you can borrow money from the cabinet with the mortgage of houses, houses and shops. Why do you have to be stupid to sell at a low price? This is not your responsibility. Whose responsibility is it?

Zhao Gou nodded, and he also agreed with Qin Hui's point of view. He just urged them to deal with houses and shops to exchange money, and did not let them sell at a low price, causing market turmoil, so the responsibility should be borne by the executors.

"Xuanwan will meet with the prime minister!"

Not long after, Wan Qixi came in a hurry, these days his pressure was also enormous, he really did not expect that selling houses and shops at a low price would actually trigger the collapse of real estate and land prices in Lin'an, which made him too regretful.

Of course, although Wan Qixi knew that he was responsible, he believed that he was at most secondary responsible. He was only the executor, but Qin Hui was the decision maker, and Qin Hui should bear the main responsibility.

Wan Qixi stepped forward to salute, "My minister sees Your Majesty!"

Zhao Gou said coldly: "Wan Qi Xiangguo, this time your improper operation has caused serious turmoil in land prices. I am very dissatisfied, but now I will not hold you accountable for the time being, but I will entrust you with one more thing. Get things done, or I will never forgive you lightly!"

Wan Qixi was stunned, how did it become his responsibility?He hastily argued: "Your Majesty, this minister only carried out the instructions of Mr. Qin, which caused the land price to fluctuate. This minister is only the executor, and the responsibility has nothing to do with this minister!"

Qin Hui sneered and said, "President Wan Qi, it was my instruction to sell the house, but I didn't ask you to sell it at a low price, did I?"

Wan Qixi said angrily: "Why did Mr. Qin say this? After the price is fixed, I will show it to you for your purpose. If you still say that you can't sell it at a low price, why did it become me selling it at a low price without authorization?"

"Wan Cheng Xiangguo, I just asked you to sell a house at a low price first, and didn't ask you to throw out hundreds of houses and shops all at once. Wouldn't that be scary?"

"You didn't say to sell only one first!"

"This is common sense. I think everyone should know common sense. There is no need to remind you. If you don't try to sell a property first, how do you know whether it is expensive or cheap? You don't know common sense, and you operate indiscriminately, causing Serious consequences, and want to pass the responsibility on to me, Wan Cheng Xiangguo, this is not something a virtuous person should do."

"It's nonsense. You asked me to sell all the houses and shops within three days. The time is so tight, can I still experiment a little bit? I also ask you for a grace period of ten days. You said it was the government's intention. It must be sold within three days, what should I do?"

"enough!"

Seeing that he was involved in their quarrel, Zhao Gou interrupted them with an angry shout.

"Let's put aside the matter of pursuing responsibility. In Wancheng Xiangguo, I want to borrow 100 million yuan from the cabinet and use the house and shop as collateral. This matter will be left to you."

Wan Qixi was shocked, and just as he was about to refuse, Zhang Jun hurriedly gave him a wink, but Wan Qixi swallowed back the words that had just come to his lips, so he could only hold back his dissatisfaction and said, "My minister obeys the order!"

"Okay! Go get in touch today and report to me at any time."

……

Coming out of Ziwei Hall, Qin Hui walked away first, Wan Qixie waited until Zhang Jun, he bowed and said: "Mr. Zhang, this matter is so difficult, how can I complete it?"

Zhang Jun asked with a smile, "How many houses and shops do you have?"

Wan Qixie sighed and said, "In fact, I only sold one house and one restaurant, earning [-] yuan, and no one took over the others. I still have hundreds of houses and shops in my hands."

Zhang Jun said indifferently: "Isn't it possible to exchange hundreds of houses and shops for 100 million yuan?"

Wan Qixi was stunned, "What Zhang Xianggong means is that all the houses and shops are sold to the counter shop at a low price?"

Zhang Jun shook his head: "If you really sold it cheaply, the government will definitely not let you go. I came up with this plan. I mean to use it as collateral, borrow 100 million yuan, and see the specific situation at the end of the year. If the market If things get better, then redeem the houses and shops, if the market is even worse, I believe the government will make a decision, then it will not be your responsibility."

Wan Qixi suddenly realized, "I see, thank you Zhang Xiangguo for his wonderful plan!"

The first thousand and 420 chapters nine borrow money

There are currently three major cabinet workshops in Lin’an, Baoji Cabinet Workshop, Wanbao Cabinet Workshop and Jiangnan Cabinet Workshop. They each have their own background. Baoji Cabinet Workshop is composed of five powerful families headed by Shi Guangping. their assets.

Both Wanbao Cabinet and Jiangnan Cabinet are newly established cabinets. Wanbao Cabinet Zheng Tongquan and thirteen meritorious families funded the establishment, of which Zheng Tongquan accounted for [-]%. The head office of Wanbao Cabinet is in Jingzhao, on the Jiangnan side The main store is in Pingjiang Mansion. They originally wanted to put it in Lin'an, but the court didn't allow it, so they opened a branch in Lin'an.

Jiangnan Guifang was jointly funded and established by eight families in the Jiangnan area. Zheng Tongquan also invested 20 yuan and accounted for [-]%. , but Jingzhao’s branch is much larger than Bianliang’s.

This is the cleverness of the Jiangnan family. They did not irritate the imperial court and put the nominal northern head office in Bianliang. Jingzhao only had the name of a branch, but it performed the functions of the head office.

The first thing Wan Qixi visited was Baoji Cabinet, where he met Shi Guangping, the owner of the cabinet. Shi Guangping looked extremely tired, and Baoji Cabinet was in a huge crisis at this time.

The cabinet store stores wealth for big customers. They have a large warehouse, which is divided into small warehouses. Each warehouse stores the wealth of a customer. They cannot move these wealth and must be placed in the warehouse intact. However, there are only a small number of customers who can enjoy a separate warehouse. Most of the customers' money is stored in the public warehouse of the cabinet workshop, and they can be withdrawn with counter tickets, seals and tokens.

The money in these public treasuries can be embezzled by counters and used for lending to earn interest. This is an ancient business, and it is not only the current banks that lend.

However, the money in these public warehouses is mainly from small and medium-sized businessmen, and the customers of the cabinet lending are also small and medium-sized businessmen. This year, Lin’an merchants have fled on a large scale. The money was withdrawn, and Baoji Cabinet had to transfer money from branches in Pingjiangfu and Yuezhou to support it.

At the same time, they tried every means to recover the borrowed money, but many merchants who borrowed money also fled, leaving shops and houses behind. cabinet shop.

This is the crisis of Baoji Cabinetry. If it was a peaceful and prosperous age, it would be no problem. Selling the mortgaged house and shop can also recover the loaned money, but now...

Some of the mortgaged houses and shops were directly confiscated by the government, and the other part of the houses and shops that were not taken away by the government were instantly worthless. Wanguan money.

No one can afford such a huge loss, and only a few big proprietors can bear the loss separately. The Shi family accounts for 90% of the cabinet workshop, which means that the Shi family will have to pay more than [-] guan, making Shi Guangping want to cry without tears.

The chief steward whispered: "Proprietor, the current plan is to sell the two big restaurants in Jingzhao, and then sell the shops in Chengdu, Xiangyang, Bianliang, Jiangdu, and Suzhou, and rent them back for operation. some money."

Shi Guangping sighed, "That is to say, Jingzhao's restaurant is worth more, and other places can't sell it at a higher price. The current plan is to sell the members of Fengle Restaurant. Didn't Uncle Wei Guo always want it?"

"Uncle Wei Guo is a wolf that eats people and doesn't spit out bones. It's very risky to sell him."

"It's okay, I'll go talk to him!"

At this time, a small steward reported at the door, "Proprietor, Wan Qi Xiangguo has come and said he has something important to discuss!"

When Wan Qixie was mentioned, Shi Guangping was instantly furious. This bastard came just in time, and he was about to beat him to death, so he actually collapsed Lin'an's real estate.

"Please come in!"

Not long after, Wan Qixi walked into the inner hall quickly, clasped his fists and said with a smile: "It turns out that the Duke of Wei is also there, it seems that I came just in time!"

Official Shi Guangping is appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Rites. This is a false and honorary position, but his title of duke is real, and his title is higher than Wan Qixi's duke. The Song Dynasty belonged to the dignitary level, so Wan Qixie had to be more courteous to him even if he was the prime minister.

Shi Guangping snorted and said, "Wan Qi Xiangguo is really a good trick. With a few swings, he beat Lin'an Real Estate to pieces. With this ability, I should really recommend you as the coach to fight against the Western Army."

Wan Qixi was stunned, and quickly explained: "This is not my responsibility. I am just an executor. Mr. Qin is the real decision-maker. I am just executing his orders."

"Really? But everyone thinks it's your responsibility."

Wan Qixi became anxious immediately. The people Shi Guangping mentioned were not ordinary people, but those dignitaries who hid behind the court, former powerful ministers, relatives, descendants of the founding heroes, etc. They held a lot of wealth and were the kings of the Song Dynasty. If the foundation of his life is targeted by them, his life will not be easy.

He hurriedly said: "Everything I said is true. How can it be my turn to decide on such an important matter?"

Shi Guangping looked at him for a while, then waved his hand and said, "Please sit down!"

Shi Guangping didn't want to pursue any responsibility with him, he wanted to get back some of the real estate stores in Wan Qixie's hands. Those were used by merchants as collateral, no matter how low the price was, they were still valuable things.

Wan Qixie sat down, and before he could speak, Shi Guangping handed him a list, "Wan Qi Xiangguo, please have a look!"

Wan Qixie took the list and saw that it was densely packed with real estate shops, and there were hundreds of them. He asked puzzledly, "What does Wei Guogong mean?"

"These are real estate and shops that merchants borrowed money to mortgage to the cabinet workshop. The land deeds are all here in the cabinet workshop, but they are all sealed by the government and confiscated by the government. I hope that Xiangguo Wanqi will return them to me. "

Wan Qixie looked at the list, and indeed, he picked a dozen properties at random, and they were all in his list.

The other party's list accounts for about [-]% of his property.

"This...it's important. It's not mine to decide. As I said just now, I'm just an errand runner. The decision maker is Qin Xianggong. Wei Guogong went to Qin Xianggong to ask for it."

"Forget it, I'll go back and look for Mr. Qin, and ask Mr. Wan to tell us about your visit!"

Wan Qixie handed his list to Shi Guangping and said, "I am here to borrow money from Baoji Cabinetry under the order of the government. The houses and shops on the list can be used as mortgages."

Shi Guangping frowned, he was devastated now, Baoji cabinets were all empty, so there was no money to lend to the court, but since it was an official asking for money, he couldn't refuse it straight away.

"I wonder how much the government wants to borrow?" Shi Guangping asked tentatively.

"Borrow 100 million guan first!"

"How much?" Shi Guangping's eyes widened suddenly.

"One million guan is nothing to Baoji Cabinetry!"

Shi Guangping stood up, took out a thick stack of deeds from the cabinet next to him, and threw them heavily in front of Wan Qixi, "These are businessmen who have borrowed more than 56 guan, and there are a total of 150 deeds. No one can find them. They left me a pile of real estate. , there are hundreds of loans of thousands of dollars, which are also mortgaged by the store, and I can't find the borrower. I thought I could keep the capital by selling the property, but the property plummeted, and Baoji Cabinet Square suddenly lost money. [-] million coins, I have lost all my money, how can I have money to lend to the court?"

Chapter 430 Retaliation

Wan Qixie blinked and said, "If I'm not wrong, the loss of 150 million is just that the borrower can't be found, but they have real estate mortgaged to Baoji Cabinet, that's right!"

Shi Guangping shook his head and smiled wryly: "If this is the case, the matter is simple. The total value of these properties was more than 300 million guan ten days ago, and now there are only less than 50 guan left. Real estate stores, isn’t this a loss of 200 million coins?”

"If the market picks up, I think the capital should be able to rise back."

"Is the market recovering?"

Shi Guangping sneered and said, "Don't think that Xiangguo Wan is so easy to fool me. You and I know whether the market will pick up. Now it's not just a matter of plummeting prices. The key is who will take over and who will I sell these properties to?" ?”

Wan Qixi's face was a little ugly, and he said coldly: "Don't talk so much, it means that the 100 million Guanbaoji cabinet will not be borrowed, that's what it means!"

The other party represented the Son of Heaven, and Shi Guangping didn't dare to speak so coldly. He sighed and said, "It's not that Baoji Cabinets didn't borrow it, it's because they lost all their capital. We have exhausted all our reserve money, and the reserve money is the capital. Now not only is the capital gone, I also borrowed 30 yuan from Pingjiang Mansion and Yuezhou each for emergency. This is the customer's money, that is to say, I still owe it. The guest has 60 guan, how can I lend 100 million guan to the imperial court?"

Wan Qixie exchanged glances with Liu Chen, the Duzhi doctor who came with him, and neither of them could hide the disappointment in their eyes.

……

Wan Qixie finally gave up on borrowing money. He knew that Baoji Cabinet was just like himself. There were only a bunch of houses and shops left. Without the money, it was just an empty shell. The wealth in the inner treasury was stored by the powerful. , How dare he move.

I can only go to the other two cabinet shops to try my luck, especially the Jiangnan cabinet shop, which is opened by a Jiangnan family. Maybe they are interested in the houses and shops in Lin'an.