"Let me give you an example. The people deposit their money in the Royal Bank. My Royal Caravan sells Song Dynasty ceramics to Japan or Korea and earns a net profit of 40%. For example, this 40% is 3,000 strings of cash. Of these 3,000 strings, 20% is returned to the people who deposited the money. If the people want to withdraw their original principal, they can do so at any time."
Upon hearing this, the men's eyes lit up, but then they looked at each other in bewilderment.
Which of those who could enter the two ministries was an ordinary person? Moreover, the Song Dynasty was already half a commercial society. Being good at accounting and understanding commerce was the foundation for becoming a prime minister. Even people as single-minded as Sima Guang and Wang Anshi knew the importance of commerce.
The prime ministers present were very clear about the Song Dynasty's commerce, and their attitudes were all very supportive.
Hearing the emperor say that, isn't this just the imperial court openly borrowing money from the people? Is that even possible? It does sound quite plausible!
The imperial court has powerful ships and large-scale official kilns, which can be sold overseas to make huge profits. However, it is currently short of capital. Borrowing money from the people is an option. Moreover, after distributing profits to the people, they will have money to buy things, merchants will make money, and the imperial court can collect more taxes.
In that case, this is something that benefits everyone!
Thinking it over, the prime ministers seemed to understand what the emperor meant earlier, and instantly began to look at him in a new light. They never expected that the emperor, who was always shouting for war, would have such a unique way of thinking. It was truly strange.
After this discussion, the gentlemen each had their own plans.
As soon as Wang Boyan returned to his residence, Zhou Chao rushed to his house.
"Master Wang, something terrible has happened!"
Seeing Zhou Chao in such a hurry, Wang Boyan asked, "What's wrong?"
"The Emperor arrested 153 people in the capital in one go, including 89 officials. Even Li Zhongxun, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Tian Hui, the Left Assistant Minister, were arrested, as were the Vice Minister and Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War. In addition, Zhang Shaohan was thrown into the Imperial Prison by the Imperial City Guard!"
Wang Boyan's expression changed drastically: "Zhang Shaohan is a confidant of Prince Su, and he's involved too? Could it be..."
Zhou Chao sighed: "It seems that Prince Su has also been involved. The emperor summoned us to a meeting, but did not mention this matter at all. Instead, he bypassed us and directly ordered the Imperial Guards to arrest people."
"What do we do now? Is the Emperor really going to launch a major military campaign?"
After hesitating for a moment, Wang Boyan finally made up his mind and said, "Let's go find Tang Ke, Xu Churen, and He? We will jointly petition the Emperor. We must not let the Emperor go on a killing spree, otherwise it will cause great turmoil!"
Zhou Chao, however, was somewhat afraid. This emperor killed people without batting an eye. Would this approach be of any use?
"Lord Wang, the Emperor is deliberately avoiding us because he doesn't want us to get involved. I think we should wait and see. The Emperor hasn't said he wants to kill anyone."
"Brother Zhou, don't you understand? The scope and number of people involved this time are beyond our imagination. If we let the emperor act recklessly, it will chill the hearts of the scholars and officials of the world. Who will dare to serve the court then!"
“Lord Wang, neither of us was involved. In my opinion, we should just let this matter drop and let the emperor handle it himself. Even if the scholars and officials of the world want to make a fuss, they should go to the emperor. It won’t be our fault. If we go to see the emperor together at this time, he will be furious and throw us into the imperial prison as well, which would be bad!”
Wang Boyan was a coward who clung to life. His earlier talk of meeting the emperor was just a momentary whim. Now, hearing Zhou Chao's words, he immediately felt a chill run down his spine.
"So be it! It's best to protect yourself!"
These past few days, people have been seeing prisoners being escorted from other places to the capital. It wasn't until they heard a storyteller in a restaurant say that a few months ago, when the emperor launched his northern expedition, there was a major problem with the transport of grain and supplies from the Hubei and Hunan regions. It was said that the grain and supplies had been embezzled, which enraged the emperor, who then arrested all the officials involved.
The next day, a piece of news that shocked the entire capital city of Tokyo spread: the emperor was to personally oversee the execution of as many as six hundred court officials outside the Five Dynasties Gate! Among them was Zhang Shaohan, a well-known wealthy merchant in the capital and a prominent figure in the upper echelons of Tokyo. It was said that he was very close to Prince Su.
The night before, storytellers in major restaurants throughout Tokyo gave detailed accounts of the incident.
The key point of the interpretation is that these more than 600 people completely disregarded the war between Hebei and Hedong and wanted to plunge the entire Song Dynasty into chaos.
It must be said that the storytellers were very eloquent and had a great ability to create a lively atmosphere. They made everyone listening want to tear those six hundred people to pieces, and they all said that the Holy Emperor had done a good job killing them.
At this moment, in the Prince Su's residence, Prince Su Zhao Shu, who had been riding high just a few days ago, was sitting at home drinking. His face was gloomy, and the princess next to him kept crying, which made him feel agitated. He smashed all the wine on the table.
"Don't cry!"
"Your Majesty, you must save my brother!"
Her brother was Zhang Shaohan, a wealthy merchant from Tokyo. The Zhang family was quite wealthy. Not only did Zhang Shaohan's sister marry Prince Su, but Zhang Shaohan's younger brother, Zhang Min, also rose to the position of Vice Minister of Works, an important official in the court.
The Zhang family is a large and powerful family, and they are well-known and influential in Tokyo. However, they did not expect that this time they would interfere with the supply of provisions for the Northern Expedition. If this had happened during the reign of the previous emperor or even the reign of Emperor Shenzong, they would have simply arrested a few officials to take the blame and let it go. The ministers of the two prefectures mostly used gentle methods and focused on stabilizing the situation.
But the current emperor is completely different; judging from his stance, he intends to eradicate him completely!
"I am in dire straits myself, how can I be saved!"
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