Ruins of the past

Chu Qiguang next returned to Qingyang County. When passing by West Street, he could see the current Qingyang Chamber of Commerce Exchange from a long distance away.

The exchange has swallowed up the restaurants and shops on both sides. At this time, it was crowded and extremely lively.

But only a small number of people buy and sell stocks. Most people come here to trade information, inquire about news, and check stock prices...

There are also many small vendors selling snacks, steamed buns, tobacco and alcohol nearby.

Not long after walking through West Street, Chu Qiguang came to the door of the Wu family mansion.

‘We still have to give the Wu family a chance. ’

Chu Qiguang thought to himself that Wu Siqi was the current chief minister after all, and he would continue to run rampant for nearly ten years.

He could consider selling the other party a favor so that he could act in the court more easily in the future.

'And if Wu Wei is willing to shed some blood... I can't be at odds with Yinzi. ’

'If he refuses to bleed...then I will have to be more ruthless. ’

'Although I have a grudge with the chief minister, looking at it on the other hand... with Emperor Yong'an's character, I am afraid he will trust me even more after he knows that I am not at odds with the chief minister. ’

…

In the Wu family mansion, Sun Bin listened to the boy's report and said with surprise on his face: "Chu Qiguang is here?"

Since being promoted by Wu Wei as the new president of the Qingyang Chamber of Commerce, Sun Bin has been very proud for more than half a year.

As he continued to expand the scale of the Qingyang Chamber of Commerce, wealthy families became shareholders of the Qingyang Chamber of Commerce, and even Prince Hui was brought in.

Today, Sun Bin has become a guest of a wealthy family and a popular person under Wu Wei.

Hearing the news about Chu Qiguang after half a year, Sun Bin seemed to be in a trance, recalling the past when Chu Qiguang created the Qingyang Chamber of Commerce, and he came to ask to see him, but the other party didn't see him at all.

Sun Bin asked: "Did Chu Qiguang say anything?"

The boy said: "He asked me to tell the master that he has some business to discuss about the Chamber of Commerce."

Sun Bin sneered after hearing this, guessing that Chu Qiguang was probably jealous of the achievements of the Qingyang Chamber of Commerce and wanted to come back to get a share of the pie.

'You even want to come back and take my place...'

Thinking of this, a cold light flashed in his eyes.

"Master Wu is still drunk from yesterday." Sun Bin ordered to the boy beside him: "Go and tell Chu Qiguang that if you have any business with the chamber of commerce, go to the exchange and talk to the shopkeeper."

"This is a private residence. The Wu family has nothing private to discuss with him."

"Also, just say this is what Mr. Wu said."

The boy hesitated when he heard this: "This... should I tell the master?"

Sun Bin raised his eyebrows and said with a fierce look: "I will explain this matter to Master Wu myself, so you don't need to worry about it."

The boy immediately lowered his head and said yes.

"Why don't you go quickly?" Sun Bin snorted coldly: "If you can't handle this matter, the whole family will stop staying in the county. Do you hear me?"

The boy repeatedly said yes and conveyed Sun Bin's instructions to Chu Qiguang.

Chu Qiguang shook his head: "Tell Wu Wei that I will wait for him for three days at most, and he will have no chance within three days."

When Sun Bin heard the boy's report, he sneered: "Alarmist."

…

Three days later, members of Wang Cailiang's family, Tuesday's dog's family, and Chen Gang's family were all taken to Tianqu Mansion and were protected by Zhong Shan'e.

And as Liu Yao's funds were in place, Chu Qiguang laughed: "We can finally start."

Although Wang Cailiang didn't know what Chu Qiguang was going to do, he had a total of 600,000 taels of silver in his hands. He had never mastered so much silver in his life. Just thinking about it now made his mouth dry.

Wang Cailiang swallowed and asked, "What should we do next?"

“Depress their stock price first.”

Wang Cailiang wondered again: "But how can the stock price of Qingyang Chamber of Commerce plummet? Today's stock investors have been tested for a long time, and ordinary gossip is probably of little use."

Chu Qiguang smiled slightly: "Haha, stock investors... like to swarm like bees the most. The gossip is not useless, but the noise is not big enough."

"A lie will become the truth if repeated 100 times. As long as the noise is loud enough, I just said that there is a virus in the stock and that wearing cotton-padded clothes will make you possessed. Believe it or not, someone will take it seriously."

Although Wang Cailiang didn't understand what Chu Qiguang was talking about, he still nodded slightly: "Then what are we going to spread?"

Chu Qiguang said: "Don't there happen to be monsters among the craftsmen of the Qingyang Chamber of Commerce?"

Wang Cailiang instantly remembered that the first batch of craftsmen of the Qingyang Chamber of Commerce were used by Chu Qiguang to build the foundation of the Heavenly Demon.

That night, two Chongming birds flew over each county town.

Under Chu Qiguang's instructions, the leaflets that Yaoyin Village had prepared long ago were being sprinkled down in sheets.

The next morning, a clerk picked up the flyer that fell on the ground, barely recognized the words on it and said: "Qingyang Chamber of Commerce... Workshop... Demon..."

The shopkeeper on the side grabbed the flyer and said: "I can't read the words well, let me take a look. Qingyang Chamber of Commerce..."

After the shopkeeper was silent for a moment, he said in surprise: "Is there a monster pretending to be a craftsman in the Qingyang Chamber of Commerce's workshop?"

The description in the flyer was so vivid that the shopkeeper looked at it with some doubts.

And as thousands of monsters in Yaoyin Village worked overtime to copy flyers, the rumors about the monster craftsmen of Qingyang Chamber of Commerce also spread towards the entire Lingzhou at an incredible speed.

If they were only dubious at first, as the momentum grew, the investors holding shares in the Qingyang Chamber of Commerce became uneasy, and the market's confidence began to decline...

What if it were true?

What if someone else starts shipping?

What if it starts to fall?

For half a month, the rumors of monsters became more and more intense.

Gradually, some landowners and gentry began to sell their stocks under this trend.

The stock price of Qingyang Chamber of Commerce has also fallen continuously in recent days, from the initial price of 4 taels and 2 cents to 3 taels and 1 cent.

But at this moment, Chu Qiguang ordered: "Start scanning the goods."

Wang Cailiang said in surprise: "At this time?"

Chu Qiguang said: "Wu Wei and the others will not ignore the drop in stock prices, otherwise shareholders will be dissatisfied with them."

"And no one in the workshop can find monsters now, and they are in the same group as the Tianshi Sect."

"As long as they clarify and refute the rumors, the Qingyang Chamber of Commerce's stock price will naturally start to rebound."

"I will buy the stocks of Qingyang Chamber of Commerce now to make the first wave of profits."

…

Wu Wei and Sun Bin on the other side were no longer willing to let the rumors spread wider and wider.

At noon these days, guys set up a high platform in front of the exchange's gate.

After a while, Wu Wei, Sun Bin, and the abbot of Qingyang County, Chen Zhu, came on stage one after another.

Wu Wei laughed, looked at the crowds of people on the street and said, "I heard there are rumors recently that our workshop is full of demons."

"I'm here to clarify that everything is a rumor."

"Next, Abbot Chenzhu of Qingyang County Taoist Temple will lead all the Taoist priests to our workshop."

"Perform demon-subduing rituals there to dispel rumors and rectify people's hearts."

After stepping down, Sun Bin smiled coldly: "These investors are just following the wind."

In the next few days, Qingyang Exchange continued to provide daily clarifications, which anyone who came to trade stocks could see.

Following the actions of Wu Wei, Sun Bin and Chen Zhu, and after the demon-killing ritual was performed in the workshop, the stock price seemed to gradually stabilize and then began to rebound.