P.S. Sorry, the eunuch in charge of ceremonies is Chen Hong now, not Teng Xiang. I made a mistake in the previous chapter and have corrected it.
"How should I know?" Shao Daxia sneered and raised his voice, "They have handed the impeachment letter to the Prime Minister, and also attached the two letters you wrote to Wang Chonggu!"
"Ah, how is this possible?" This time, not only Zhang Siwei, but also Yang Sihe screamed.
"To be on the safe side, I have not used carrier pigeons to deliver the letters from my dear brother Ziwei to Uncle Wang recently. Instead, I have arranged for loyal servants to deliver them on express horses, with more than a dozen guards accompanying them. They set out in the morning and arrive in the evening. They do not stay overnight on the way." Yang Sihe said in disbelief, "How could the secret be leaked?"
"You ask me, who should I ask?" Shao Fang spat in annoyance, and asked her son-in-law to repeat the two letters that Mr. Zhang had written from memory to him.
"Yesterday morning I received Sanri's letter, and I also received a letter from the two chiefs. I learned that the old chief had been waiting for a long time and was getting impatient. Fortunately, the imperial edict was issued at breakfast yesterday... This matter is of great importance, and there are many words in the memorial that cannot be read in detail..." Shen Yingkui read slowly.
Yang Sihe listened and looked at Zhang Siwei. He saw his pale face turn ashen and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He knew that this must be true.
"How is it possible..." Yang Sihe sat down on the chair and looked up at the sky. He didn't know which link had gone wrong to cause such a big mess.
However, Zhang Siwei thought that Yang Sihe had figured out that if something went wrong, he would be like a deflated ball, and he would become another deflated ball.
What's more, the important thing at this time is not to find loopholes, but to clean up the mess!
"Mr. Chu Xiu, please sit down and talk." Zhang Siwei said, taking out a Xinlong Bank bill from his sleeve.
The so-called Xinlong Bank is Xinlong Money House, one of the original four major money houses.
In just over two years, the four major money houses were left far behind by Jiangnan Bank, and Xinlong's deposits were only 30% of the original amount, all relying on the support of Shanxi merchants. Xinlong's behind-the-scenes boss, Zhang Xialing, Zhang Siwei's uncle, was anxious.
He was also a man of great courage, who could think of change when he was poor. He gritted his teeth and smashed the old pots and pans, and copied the Jiangnan Bank's system. He also followed suit and started to do "paying interest on deposits", "reducing exchange costs", "issuing silver bills"... Of course, they were not called silver bills, but "Xinlong silver coupons".
But the problem is that Jiangnan Bank has been in a serious loss since its establishment. It would be strange if Xinlong Bank, which was copied by the old Westerners, did not lose money. In the past six months of restructuring, it has lost so much money that it has urinated blood...
However, the old guys have a sharp business acumen. After careful research, they also discovered that in the Jiangnan Group's system, Jiangnan Bank provides blood supply to various companies.
In other words, Jiangnan Bank uses its own losses to inject a steady stream of funds into the group's companies, allowing them to grow rapidly. After the companies grow and become stronger, they can gradually feed back to Jiangnan Bank, allowing Jiangnan Bank to turn losses into profits.
This business strategy of borrowing chickens to lay eggs is really amazing. The old people know very well that if they don't follow it, they will only end up dead.
Therefore, Zhang Xialing imitated Zhao Hao's company system, constantly attracting shareholders to join and increase the bank's capital. At the same time, he also learned to issue bonds to maintain the competitiveness of Xinlong Bank.
At the same time, it is hoped that after the tribute, the business in Xuanda area will prosper and people's livelihood will be restored, so that Xinlong will have the opportunity to lend a large amount of money and complete its own business closed loop.
In any case, Zhang Xialing invested heavily and finally stopped the decline. He quickly restored the deposits to the previous level and became the second largest bank in the Ming Dynasty after Jiangnan Bank.
Although Daming currently only has two banks...
However, Zhang Xialing and Zhang Siwei were very clear that the reason why everyone was willing to buy Xinlong’s bonds now was not only because of the Shanxi Gang’s face, but also because they believed that they could facilitate peace talks with Altan and restore vitality to Shanxi, which had been extremely impoverished.
It can be imagined that if the peace talks fail, especially because of Zhang Siwei's fault, the financiers who are extremely disappointed and angry will definitely make a mad run on Xinlong Bank and ask them to repay their debts in advance.
In that case, the Zhang family would be doomed to eternity...
~~
At the critical moment of life and death, Zhang Siwei was willing to give it his all. Without asking any questions, he gave Shao a bill for 10,000 taels of silver.
Considering that Xiao Wei was so polite, Shao finally calmed down a little, sat down and conveyed Gao Gong's intention to him.
"The Prime Minister will reject Cao Daye's impeachment letter on the grounds that it does not comply with the procedures, and order him to submit it to the Ministry of Public Security again." Shao Fang said in a deep voice: "This way, we can buy you at least two or three days."
"And then?" Zhang Siwei was not stupid, but extremely smart. How could he not understand what the other party meant? But he would never give up until he heard it with his own ears.
"What else can I do?" Shao Fang said with a straight face, "Do you still want the Prime Minister to protect you? Even if I want to protect you, it's not now!"
"I don't dare to hope for that." Zhang Siwei said bitterly, "Who made me stir up such a big mess?"
"Your Excellency is right. You are indeed sensible." Shao Fang gave him a thumbs up and falsely praised him, saying, "Right now we can only think of ways to preserve the most important things and minimize the losses." As he said this, he looked at Zhang Siwei and asked in a deep voice, "What is the most important thing?"
"Altan Fenggong and the Prime Minister cannot be implicated." Zhang Siwei laughed to himself, "In order to ensure these two things, my uncle cannot be implicated, so only I, an insignificant Hanlin scholar, have to take all the responsibility."
"Yes." Shao Fang nodded and said with a smile, "It's easy to talk to smart people. Anyway, you don't rely on this salary to make a living. Just have fun at home for a few years. Isn't it faster to eat, drink and have fun? When this storm is over, the prime minister will naturally reinstate you and find you a lucrative position."
"Thank you, but can I bear it?" Even though Xiao Wei knew it clearly in his mind, he still felt very aggrieved.
"It doesn't matter, there are people who will help you." Shao Daxia sighed. Compared with the reasonable Xiao Wei, his lack of a good friend was a big problem.
"Oh, which eunuch is willing to take the blame?" Zhang Siwei couldn't help but ask curiously. Does Gao Huzi really have the ability to make the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department take the blame for him?
"The eunuch Chen was on duty at the Imperial Household Department that day." Shao Fang said calmly.
"Good fellow, the eunuch in charge of the seal." Zhang Siwei couldn't help but whistle, showing the calmness and elegance of the son of an aristocratic family. "But although he obeys the orders of the old man Gao, he shouldn't be willing to let him die, right?"
"It's not that serious. It was his disciples who accidentally leaked the information to your servants, and then told you." Shao Fang said calmly, "You didn't know whether it was true or not, so you wrote a letter to tell Governor Wang. As for the parties involved, they naturally committed suicide out of fear of punishment. So for Eunuch Chen, it was 'lax in governing his subordinates', and for Grand Historian Zhang, it was 'hearsay and reckless discussion of state affairs'. In this way, a big matter was reduced to a small one, and a small matter was eliminated, which is also a good thing."
"How can it be that simple?" Zhang Siwei sneered and said, "This won't settle the matter at all. Instead, it will only stir up trouble."
"What if the two of you voluntarily resigned?" Shao Fang said slowly.
"This..." Zhang Siwei's face turned pale. With Gao Gong and his gang's help in covering it up, it would be almost done.
"Why, brother, are you still clinging to this mere position of Hanlin scholar?" Shao Fang said sarcastically. It's just a fifth-rank official. I wonder where you get such a strong desire for power?
But who will be assigned to be a Hanlin scholar? With Zhang Siwei's background, if he stays in this position, he may be promoted to a minister or become a prime minister in a few years.
This is the starting point of his glorious life! Is it going to wither before it blooms?
A string of tears slid down from Xiao Wei's eyes, coupled with that cynical expression, it was particularly distressing...
"No, I just got sand in my eye." Zhang Siwei took out a handkerchief and covered his right eye with it, saying, "Being an official is a blessing for others, but for my family, being an official is suffering. It just so happens that I don't want to be an official anymore, so I can be a rich man..."
As he was talking, tears started to flow from Xiao Wei's left eye again. He had no choice but to take out a handkerchief and cover it again.
But Xiao Wei could hold back his tears, but he couldn't stop his emotional breakdown. He couldn't utter a word.
"Okay." Anyway, she had said what she needed to say. It looked like Zhang Siwei would cooperate, so Shao Fang didn't need to give him a taste of her big stick. She stood up and said to Xiao Wei, "Submit your request for punishment to the Ministry of Public Security by tomorrow afternoon at the latest, as I said. Don't delay!"
"Hmm..." Xiao Wei responded vaguely, and his shoulders began to twitch.
Seeing the submissive look on his face, Shao Fang couldn't bear to say anything more. She told Yang Sihe to remind Zhang Siwei that she would also wait for news, and then she took her son-in-law back home.
~~
Not to mention how heartbroken Zhang Siwei was, it was already late at night when Shao Fang returned home.
When he was hesitating whether to go to see Chen Hong again tomorrow morning, the servant reported that the eunuch Chen next door had sent people to ask about him several times, and asked him to go over and talk as soon as he came back, and they would wait for him no matter how late it was.
"It seems that Eunuch Chen has also heard the letter." Shao Fang said to his son-in-law, "I guess he will ask me for help."
"Almost." Shen Yingkui agreed and said, "Father-in-law, do you think that Eunuch Chen can accept the Prime Minister's plan?"
"It's difficult. He doesn't care about the peace talks and he didn't make any mistakes. Why should he take the blame?" Shao Fang shook his head and said, "I think not only will I not be able to convince him, but I will also offend him."
"Then what are we going to say?" Shen Yingkui couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. Gao Gong was indeed a strong supporter, but Eunuch Chen was also a strong supporter. If they held on tightly, it would be enough for their whole family to prosper.
"Let's see what happens." Shao Fang didn't have any good ideas. At this time, the neighbors came to urge him again, so he had to calm down and follow them to Chen Hong's house through the side door.
When they met, Shao Fang was shocked to see Chen Hong's pale face, panic, and a look of impending disaster.
"Brother, you have to help me!" Before Shao Fang could say anything, Chen Hong grabbed his shoulders and cried, "Feng Bao wants to harm me and put me to death. Only Mr. Gao can save me now!"
"Ah?" Shao Fang's jaw almost dropped to the ground. She thought to herself, Mr. Gao wants you to take the blame, so why would he choose you?
"What's going on?"