Chapter 39 What a Big Surprise (Second Update): Guangyuan Bank's usury drove Manchus to their deaths; His Majesty orders a thorough investigation of all major banks and money shops for usury...
The news that Guangyuan Bank's usury had driven a Manchu to his death spread quickly after the Emperor ordered a thorough investigation into all major banks and money shops for usury that had driven people to their deaths. The investigation also included a crackdown on Manchus for usury, gambling, and prostitution.
Yu Lang had heard some things about it at Yuqing Palace. He happened to be chatting with someone in his duty room when he heard it. Lord Yu was quite moved by this and said that he was lucky he didn't have any money on hand, because he had spent all his money on buying knives and horses.
"You're actually proud of that, aren't you? We open a stall to kill time in the evenings, and when we ask you, you always say you have no money. Yesterday, Muge said his uncle wanted to sell a waist knife, and this kid didn't even say he wanted to take a look at the item first. He just kept insisting that the man leave the knife for you."
Yu Lang's money probably only went to a few places: either he spent it on building relationships and connections, or he bought all sorts of knives, or he spent it on food. He was a typical Manchu young master with a lot of minor flaws but no major ones.
"Muge's ancestors ran an ironware shop. Their blacksmithing and forging skills were unparalleled before they entered the pass. How could the knife his uncle is making be of poor quality? Besides, even if I don't like this knife, what does it matter? Next time he needs to make a knife, shouldn't he think of me first?"
Muge was born into the Plain Red Banner, and her family background was not good. Normally, she should have joined the Plain Red Banner as a bondservant, but fortunately, her ancestors had this unique skill, which caught the eye of Prince Li, the banner lord of the Plain Red Banner, and she was promoted from a bondservant to the Plain Red Banner. Her family had been subordinates of Prince Li's family for generations.
The lineage of Prince Li has now been passed down to Jieshu, the third son of Daishan's eighth son, Husai. Seventeen years ago, he was appointed as a general to quell Geng Jingzhong's rebellion and his title was changed to Prince Kang. Over the years, he has been considered a powerful member of the imperial family in the court.
Muge's father also went to war back then, and was always in charge of the supply of weapons and logistics. Such a position may not be inconspicuous, but in the eyes of the master, it was an indispensable role.
Muge was one of the guards from the Lower Five Banners who were promoted after His Majesty dismissed a group of guards from Yuqing Palace. No one would believe it if you told them there wasn't a recommendation from Prince Kang's household. Capable and well-connected, Muge had only been at Yuqing Palace a few days before Yulang, yet he was quite popular.
"You little rascal, you're so cunning. You won't let go of anything good that a thief has."
"That's right, that's all I have. What's the point of living if I don't put some effort into it?"
His Majesty wanted to investigate the loan sharking, and the people in the room started chatting and their conversation drifted away from their usual business. There was only one first-class guard in this shift, Geng E. After he finished his shift, he stayed in the room with Yu Lang and E Shan and didn't come out. At this moment, there was only one second-class guard in the room besides Yu Lang.
The man was from the Fucha family of the Bordered Yellow Banner. He was older than the others and was usually a man of few words. From the moment he entered, he sat to the side, peeling peanuts and sipping a little wine without saying much. Yu Lang naturally didn't stop him.
I can't stop them, and I don't want to cause trouble with my words. This matter will either not be investigated or it will have far-reaching consequences, so why should I offend people just to satisfy my urge to speak?
So when Eshan brought up the matter of money, he took the opportunity to change the subject. As everyone followed Yulang's lead and talked about not having enough money, the conversation naturally drifted further and further away, and by the time the party ended, no one remembered what they had been talking about at the beginning.
Yu Lang felt deep down that this matter had nothing to do with him, but little did he know that a big surprise was waiting for him not far away.
Five more days passed. This time, he finished his shift and left the palace in the evening. Stepping out of the Forbidden City in the sunset brought a different feeling. Unlike last time, he felt less sentimental. The first thing Yulang did after leaving the palace was to find the carriage to pick him up.
Unfortunately, the carriage couldn't be found, but Chang Shun was seen standing by the wall in the distance, leading a horse. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather turned cool, and the light green silk robe that Shen Wanqing insisted on bringing when she went to the palace for duty this time was already wearable for Yu Lang when he left the palace.
A cool breeze was blowing at the palace gate in the evening. Chang Shun hunched his shoulders and neck against the side of his horse, letting the horse shield him from most of the wind. Watching his master walk towards him from afar, he straightened up, shook his hands, and greeted him with a smile.
"Master, you must be tired. Look what I brought you."
Chang Shun pulled out two oil paper packages from his sleeve, one containing donkey rolls and the other containing salt and pepper flavored crispy crackers.
"Why are you so clever today? You even knew to bring me something."
"It was the eldest mistress's order. She said that someone who comes out of the palace at this hour must not have eaten anything, so she wants you to have something to eat first."
"By this time we'd be home already. And your great-grandmother, do you think a grown man like me would get sick from starvation?"
Even as he said that, Yulang's eyes were filled with a smile when he opened the oil paper package. He had been serving in the palace for several years and no one had ever worried about whether he would go hungry. No wonder his mother used to say that he should get married. Once he got married, his mind would be at peace and he wouldn't feel that life was hard.
Yu Lang used to think this was absurd, wondering what the difference was between having more or less people and how difficult life was. But now he realized it really was different.
Why wasn't a carriage prepared today?
Yu Lang ate several pieces of donkey roll, then took two thin crispy pieces in his hand before wrapping them up again in oil paper, intending to take them back to Shen Wanqing to sweeten her mouth.
"Grandma is urging you to hurry back; it'll be faster to ride a horse."
"What's wrong? Did something happen at home? Did your eldest mistress anger the West Courtyard? What did I tell you before I left? If anything happens, keep an eye on things and stop them. Or, you could ask someone to go to the palace and send me a message. Have you forgotten?"
When Yu Lang is really anxious or angry, he can be a bit talkative. Everyone who serves him knows this, but Yu Lang himself doesn't realize it.
Seeing his master standing beside the horse muttering to himself without moving, Chang Shun simply reached out and helped Yu Lang onto the horse. "Master, you'll see when we get back. Madam is waiting at home."
Seeing that Chang Shun hesitated and refused to speak, Yu Lang guessed that it must be something bad. He raised his whip and lightly lashed the horse's rump before urging it to turn back, leaving Chang Shun to trot behind. When the horse stopped at the gate of the house, Chang Shun actually caught up quickly, without even panting.
After dismounting, Yu Lang casually tossed the riding whip to the servant at the gatehouse, and while walking quickly inside, he couldn't help but glance back at him.
"Zhu Zi, what's wrong with you? You're not crying or laughing at the same time."
"This servant is smiling. I'm so happy that I don't know what to do when my master comes back."
Zhu Zi is two years younger than Yu Lang and has always been an honest child. "Honest child" also means someone who isn't very bright.
His family originally wanted him to work for Yulang, but the boy couldn't even tell a lie or say nice things, so they were worried about taking him out and left him at the gatehouse.
Both of them were acting strangely. Yu Lang raised his hand and nodded to Chang Shun, who was following behind him, meaning that he would deal with him later after he figured out what was going on.
Who knew that when he returned to the East Courtyard and heard Shen Wanqing tell him what had happened, he felt like he had been hit on the head with a blunt object, and he no longer cared about dealing with that brat Zhu Zi.
"His Majesty ordered a thorough investigation into the matter of usury. He not only investigated the banks that lent money at usurious rates, but also the families in the capital who deposited silver into those banks specifically for usury."
Our second wife has deposited over ten thousand taels of silver with Guangyuan Bank. Guangyuan Bank has been paying her the maximum interest rate, and the deposit slips clearly state that if the bank cannot recover the lent silver, the second wife will also lose her principal.
Such statements are usually written down, and large banks like Guangyuan Bank would certainly not allow depositors to lose their money when there is no crisis.
The high interest rates of lending money at exorbitant interest rates and the unscrupulous methods used to collect debts ensured that Guangyuan Bank maintained its reputation. As long as the second wives and others were entitled to their full interest and principal, they naturally wouldn't interfere with anything else.
“Guangyuan Bank has been investigated, and it seems that the Second Madam’s money will not be returned for the time being. However, this is not a big deal. Even if her money is returned, it will not be of use to us. The important thing is that this matter involves the Second Uncle.”
While Emperor Kangxi wanted to thoroughly investigate usury, he also knew that it was impossible to investigate it completely. Or rather, even if this round of investigation was carried out, once the storm subsided, new money shops would take over those who wanted to deposit or borrow money. As long as these people didn't all die, this business would continue indefinitely.
"Who cares what kind of person the Second Madam is? I heard that when the Infantry Commander's Office and the Military Governor's Office checked the list and submitted it to the palace, they wrote in black and white that she was the wife of He Yi, a Second-Class Imperial Guard. Isn't that just asking for trouble with His Majesty?"
There were many people like Shumulu who openly let Guangyuan Bank lend their money at exorbitant interest rates. There were even more families in the Upper Three Banners, and some of the men in their families worked in the Imperial Guard.
But He Yi had made a name for himself in front of the emperor in the past two years, and was someone that Kangxi knew and remembered, and who was often asked to run errands.
The emperor had just made up his mind to make an example of someone, only to find that the chicken was right under his nose. Shen Wanqing felt embarrassed for him just thinking about it.
"I heard that His Majesty scolded several guards involved in the incident at the Qianqing Palace, but they still had to go to work as usual. No news came out, at least not in our family. We only found out the whole story when my second uncle went home and rushed back to the west courtyard to have a big fight with my second aunt."
"No wonder I only knew about Guangyuan Bank in Yuqing Palace, and didn't hear about anything else. It seems that His Majesty is determined to take drastic measures this time, and even kept it from the palace, just to prevent anyone from going to the Qing Palace to plead for mercy."
"What do you mean? It was Guangyuanxing who forced people to their deaths. The Imperial Guards were all selected from the sons of the Manchu and Mongol Upper Three Banners. Can His Majesty really be so ruthless? Is there something else the court is planning? Could it be that war is about to break out again?"
The three campaigns against Galdan were only the first one; Shen Wanqing didn't know exactly when the second one took place.
But the principle of "an army marches on its stomach" has remained the same for thousands of years. The difficulty in fighting a war has never been about how to fight or which general to send, but rather the preparations beforehand.
How much grain and fodder to prepare, how many laborers to conscript, bedding, clothing, armor, weapons, military supplies, logistical support, warhorses, and medical personnel—everything must be carefully planned and arranged. Otherwise, if the army marches to the front lines with nothing, it's no wonder they'll lose.
The only possibility that Shen Wanqing could think of for Kangxi's sudden and serious approach to the Eight Banners, making it seem like he was determined to bleed the execution grounds to intimidate them, was that he was already preparing for the next campaign, and that the current show of force was just a side effect of his deterrent.
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