"As long as Lord Cao can stay, I am willing to exchange the silver in my family for silver coins and support the currency reform!"
"I am also willing to support currency reform, provided that Lord Cao stays!"
"Me too!"
Four or five gentry and businessmen came to Cao Huachun and begged him to stay.
Cao Huachun sneered in his heart.
These people were not really trying to keep him, but they were afraid that he would leave and Wang Zhixin would come.
He will only harm the interests of the gentry, and Wang Zhixin will make the gentry lose their money and their lives.
However, he did not expose the gentry's disguise, but took the opportunity to count the number of people who supported him.
There were five people, accounting for 30% of the total number of people present.
Although it was not much, it was enough for Cao Huachun.
The key to currency reform is to break the offensive and defensive alliance between gentry and merchants. As long as there is a gap in the offensive and defensive alliance, it is only a matter of time before it is broken.
He bowed to the five people and said, "Thank you all for your support. I am very grateful!"
"What are you saying, Lord Cao? This is what we should do." The gentry and businessmen returned the greetings one after another.
Cao Huachun continued, "Since you have given me face, I must also give you face."
The five gentry merchants immediately became excited and gathered around Cao Huachun, nodding and bowing: "Master Cao, please speak. We are all ears."
"Please wait a moment!"
After saying this, Cao Huachun leaned close to Lu Daqi's ear and whispered in his ear.
Lu Daqi first shook his head to refuse, then lowered his head to think, and finally nodded in agreement reluctantly.
After getting the support of Lü Daqi, Cao Huachun said in a clear voice: "You all know that there is a six cent profit for exchanging a silver coin, and the court left three cents for the local government. I just discussed with Lord Lü and decided to take out one cent from the three cents and return it to you. What do you think?"
Return money?
The gentry businessman was stunned.
The government has always been extremely greedy, what happened today?
"Too little?" Seeing that no one said anything, Cao Huachun asked unhappily.
"It's not that it's too little, it's that it's too much. Thank you, Lord Cao and Lord Lu, for your reward!" The gentry and businessman nodded to the two men like chicks pecking at rice.
"That's good, let's drink!" Cao Huachun waved his hand and picked up the wine glass.
When they picked up the wine glasses again, everyone felt mixed emotions.
Some were happy, some were depressed, and some began to hesitate.
Hesitating whether to compromise with the court...
The banquet lasted until the evening.
Before leaving, Cao Huachun counted and found that 40% of the people at the scene expressed their willingness to cooperate. The remaining 60% responded with silence, obviously having no intention of cooperating.
After returning to the Shaanxi branch of Daming Money House, Cao Huachun washed his face with cold water to sober himself up.
He asked the Jinyiwei beside him: "Have you taken note of all the people who didn't express their opinions at the banquet today?"
"I've taken note of your words, sir."
"Send someone to investigate immediately to see if they have any bad records, disputes or incidents. If there are any, pick two typical ones to interrogate directly, and after the evidence is confirmed, hand them over to Lu Daqi for disposal."
"Also," Cao Huachun gritted his teeth, "These bastards are really shameless. Pick out two or three typical ones and set fire to all their houses and businesses in the dark and windy night!"
The Imperial Guard thought for a moment and asked, "Sir, isn't it too obvious to set fire right after dinner? I'm afraid it will arouse their suspicion!"
"It doesn't matter," Cao Huachun sneered, "So what if you suspect me? Go ahead and sue me if you have the guts. I want to see who dares to sue the Jinyiwei!"
"Lord Lu..." the Jinyiwei asked again.
"Don't worry, Lu Daqi needs evidence to solve the case."
"I obey your orders!" The Jinyiwei had a smile on his face and hurried away with his men.
They are professionals in setting fires.
No evidence will be left.
That night.
In Xi'an, two gentry's houses and shops caught fire at the same time.
Although the fire was quickly brought under control, after the news spread, the gentry and merchants attending the banquet began to tremble.
Especially those who did not express their opinions at the banquet, they witnessed Cao Huachun's vicious side for the first time and were afraid that their own homes would catch fire.
While the gentry and merchants were worried about the fire, the Jinyiwei began to make efforts in the areas in which they were good at.
They first found the bullied people, and then obtained the dirt on the gentry through coercion and inducement.
Then list the charges and expand the scope.
After collecting enough evidence, the Jinyiwei directly broke into the other party's house to arrest people for interrogation.
The rest is easy.
The Jinyiwei are good at criminal justice, and few people can withstand their interrogation.
After obtaining the confession, Cao Huachun handed the confession and the prisoner over to Lu Daqi.
Because the evidence was conclusive, Lu Daqi had to convict the gentry.
The news quickly spread throughout Xi'an Prefecture.
"Have you heard that Mr. Li from the east of the city was thrown into prison for oppressing the people and occupying their land. He was sentenced to confiscation of his property and exiled to Lingnan."
"Not only Mr. Li, but Mr. Sun from the north of the city was also convicted of the same crime."
"It's their due! They were the two who were the loudest in opposing the imperial currency reform. They deserve to be arrested."
"But there are so many people who oppose it, why only arrest these two?"
"Because they have a bad record!"
After dealing with two gentry in succession, Cao Huachun became famous.
Shaanxi gentry and merchants began to be shrouded in terror.
Before, they had only seen Cao Huachun's gentle side, but now they saw his tough side.
Cao Huachun did not stop there, but continued to lower the price of grain.
This indiscriminate commercial war harms everyone's interests.
The gentry and merchants who were willing to cooperate initially blamed Cao Huachun, believing that they had already expressed their willingness to cooperate and that he should not continue to use such means to harm their interests.
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