The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

After Xia Mianwan caught a cold, he rested at home for a long time. The longer he rested, the lazier he became. Until Mrs. Sang came to urge him to bring back the script, Xia Mianwan went to the bookstore with Mrs. Sang somewhat embarrassedly.

After arriving at the bookstore, Madam Sang said to Xia Mianwan, "Mianwan, I didn't call you out just for the book. Something happened in Manyue Tower."

Xia Mianwan couldn't help but sit up straight when she heard this, "Sister Sang, please speak slowly."

Madam Sang took a sip of tea and said, "Mianwan, you know that the sisters in the building are well-off because they have a lot of rewards. On weekdays, there is not much cash in Manyue Building, and we basically exchange it for silver notes in the bank. That day, something happened at Liuji Bank, and I couldn't withdraw the silver. I thought about paying the monthly salary a day later, so I went back to Manyue Building and talked to the sisters.

But who would have known that Hongtao and Hongying would immediately fall out and were unwilling to receive the monthly salary a day later. The other sisters were also hesitant and unwilling to do so.

This kind of thing has happened before, and the sisters were all very easy to talk to. I don't know what happened this time. I had no choice but to use my private savings to cover the cost. The sisters didn't say anything after receiving the money, but I always felt strange because I had never seen them so short of money before.

So, I was cautious and asked someone to follow them.

It turned out that they had taken all the money to a man named Chen Er. Yan Niang later found out that this man named Chen Er had only recently appeared. According to legend, he was a very important person, but Yan Niang did not find out who was behind Chen Er. "

When Xia Mianwan heard this, her eyes became serious, "No clues at all?"

"No." Madam Sang shook her head.

Yan Niang is a very capable person. There is very little information she cannot collect. Even if she cannot get any substantial information, it is impossible that there are no clues at all. If there are no clues at all, it would be really weird.

"Go on, Sister Sang."

Madam Sang took out an IOU and said, "Take a look."

Xia Mianwan took a look and asked, "This interest..."

Madam Sang nodded and said, "That's right. The girls in Manyue Tower all gave their money to Chen Er. Chen Er guaranteed that it would be 9% interest in three months, double it in half a year, and quadruple it in a year."

Xia Mianwan took a deep breath. Such a high interest rate?

Xia Mianwan thought about it carefully and felt that something was wrong. "Even if the interest rate is high, there is no reason for people to get something for nothing. Why do they believe Chen Er? According to what you said just now, Chen Er just appeared out of thin air. This doesn't make sense."

Madam Sang said, "Because Chen Er promised everyone that he would pay interest every thirty days, but if you take the interest on weekdays, the total interest will be less. At first, the girls chose to take the interest on weekdays, but later they found that Chen Er's service was safe, so they all chose to take it all at the end of the year."

"Yes, Chen Er's behavior will foster greed in people's hearts and make them lose their sense of proportion." Xia Mianwan nodded secretly, this made sense.

But Xia Mianwan still felt something was wrong.

Seeing Xia Mianwan frowning, Madam Sang said, "Mianwan, listen to me first. I originally thought that this was only targeting our Manyue Tower, because our Manyue Tower has good business, and other people who are dissatisfied will come to mess with our girls, so that they can control our girls in the future. But who knew that after checking, Madam Yan was surprised to find that people in the entire capital and even the surrounding areas have put their money with Chen Er."

Xia Mianwan raised her eyebrows slightly. It was the whole capital?

Suddenly, Xia Mianwan had an idea.

"Sister Sang, how many years was the longest and highest interest rate period with Chen Er?" Xia Mianwan asked.

Mrs. Sang thought for a moment and said with certainty, "It is one year. Yes, it is one year."

There must be someone behind Chen Er, otherwise the entire capital would not have been implicated. This is a pyramid model, and there must be a steady stream of new people coming in to avoid a sudden disaster.

Normally, with such high interest rates, the longer the principal can be paid, the better. But why is it one year? Isn't one year too short?

From the source, why is it one year, and who needs such a huge amount of money in one year.

Who could have done such a thing that even an expert like Yan Niang couldn't find out who was behind it?

If you can't deduce it from the forward direction, then deduce it from the reverse direction.

If this is the case, then all the possibilities strangely point to... the Xu family.

War is ultimately about fighting the economy. If the Xu family wants to seize the throne, it will not be possible without huge financial expenditures, especially since the regular army is now in the hands of the emperor. Whether it is to instigate a rebellion or to raise private soldiers, huge amounts of money are needed.

Shangshu Qiu was indeed in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and its money, but the other officials in the Ministry of Revenue were not fools, and neither was the emperor.

There is a lot of money in Jiangnan, so if the Xu family could control the salt merchants, that might be a solution. However, Pei Yanxu had just inspected the entire Jiangnan, so it would not be easy for the Xu family to start with the salt merchants.

So if you want to make money quickly, what other way is there? The only way is to rob.

What's the difference between Chen Er's way of collecting money and robbery?

The more Xia Mianwan thought about it, the more this seemed to be the case. So why was it only one year... Unless!

Unless the person behind the scenes knows that the money does not have to be repaid after a year, then why not? The natural reason is... if you have the ability not to repay it, then it doesn't matter if you don't repay it.

If the person behind the scenes is really Duke Xu's Mansion, then the most likely possibility is that they will actually rebel a year from now.

"This matter is a bit complicated. Sister Sang, I think the sisters in Manyue Tower are going to lose all their money. It would be better for them to cash in as soon as possible while there is still time." Xia Mianwan said.

Madam Sang frowned, "Who said it wasn't true? Of course I know, but... I can't persuade them at all. People are really greedy. I don't have any way to deal with them."

Xia Mianwan felt that it was difficult to save a greedy person. "Sister Sang, let's not talk about anything else. You should pay more attention to the situation in the building. They are too careless now. No one dares to say whether they will harm Manyue Building because of money."

Madam Sang listened to what Xia Mianwan said, "I understand. I will go discuss it with Madam Yan now."

After Xia Mianwan sent Madam Sang away, she did not go home immediately. "Ruzhu, I want you to do something for me."

Ruzhu heard this and said hurriedly, "Young Madam, please give me your instructions."

"There are some coarse linen clothes worn by ordinary people upstairs. I want you to do something for me. Deposit 100 taels of silver with Chen Er. Remember not to go through the sisters in Manyue Tower."

Ruzhu responded readily, "Yes, Madam."

"Rumeng, go to the academy. I need you to help me secretly find out whether anyone in the academy or the workshop has deposited money with Chen Er. The more information the better. I want to know all kinds of information. But you have to be careful and don't be too deliberate. Arrange another person to go to the workshop. It has to be a stranger who can be trusted. I want her to be my eyes in the workshop."

"Yes, Madam. I'll come back and report to you as soon as I find it." Rumeng took the order and went out.