Heh,
What was bound to come had finally arrived...
Seeing these slogans that were meant to pierce the heart and lungs, even to the point of speaking sarcastically, Zhu Mo was reminded of the power sorcery orchestrated by Yan Song in the past two instances. Especially those lines, such as "Merchants are without virtue, please Scholar Zhu to handle it," which clearly told him—
This was the Yan family making a move!
Moreover, they had already dealt with the merchants.
To use the merchants as a shield was naturally the most troublesome aspect of this gambit. This was because Zhu Mo's reforms aimed to absorb the profits of maritime trade. In fact, since the very first reform, he had always protected ordinary merchants. Otherwise, how could there have been so many merchants among the initial subscribers of the anti-Japanese war bonds?
Where did Zhu Mo come from? How could he not understand the role of merchants and enterprises? But precisely because of this, he firmly believed in one thing—
What true merchants wanted most was an environment! For instance, the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law" that was trialed in the capital previously had won the support of the majority of merchants. The opposition came only from merchants affiliated with the Yan family faction.
But this time, it was indeed a little different—
The state-run financial house was manipulating the entire textile industry, the Weaving Bureau issued unified tenders, and the suppliers were thousands upon thousands of small workshops. These large workshops were naturally impacted. Although Zhang Juzheng later made amends, allowing for unified procurement of their silk, the loss of profit was considerable. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Additionally, the employment laws and the restrictions on outright land purchases led to large workshops being unable to acquire cheap labor and low-priced silkworm cocoons and mulberry leaves, causing their costs to soar. These people could no longer sit still.
From these slogans, it was also evident—
These people were indeed using the employment laws to make their case, and the key factor was the indentured servants. This was quite interesting.
...
It was noon,
Many people were already idle and soon, hundreds, even thousands, of commoners gathered.
When the merchants suddenly saw Zhu Mo dismount, they all turned to glare at him, but remained silent.
Zhu Mo snorted, and simply ignored them, pacing back and forth to examine the slogans, occasionally letting out a scoff. He secretly observed the merchants' expressions and found them to be utterly fearless! At this moment, he had also clearly identified the leading affiliated merchant as Xu Yang.
He did not understand the situation for the moment and knew well that it was crucial not to speak too much at this juncture. Any wrong word or slip of the tongue would be used as a fatal handle against him later. Moreover, their insinuating attitude also greatly displeased Zhu Mo.
He waved his sleeve and, with his hands behind his back and chest held high, strode into the main hall.
And at this very moment,
Enraged by his silent demeanor, the merchants erupted—
"Scholar Zhu, please speak!"
"Zhu Mo! Give the merchants an explanation!"
"Indentured servants are treasures, and we are villains?"
"Zhu Mo, a cruel official! You rob the rich to help the poor, you are despicable!"
"Zhu Mo, if you don't speak, we'll kneel all the way to the capital!"
"Zhu Mo, the cruel official, has driven us to desperation!"
"We can't go on living!"
"..."
But strangely, no matter how furiously the merchants cursed, the onlookers among the commoners merely laughed and watched the spectacle, with no one lending their support.
Seeing the surrounding commoners mocking them, the leading Xu Yang's anger surged, and he shouted, "What are you looking at? Get lost!"
"Right! Scram!"
"Ignorant commoners, begone!"
"We are speaking with Scholar Zhu, you uncivilized ruffians, away with you!"
"Guards! Drive these commoners away!"
"..."
Unbeknownst to whom the order was given, a group of retainers suddenly rushed out from the side, brandishing long staffs, and indeed began to push and pressure the onlookers.
However, with so many commoners gathered, they were not to be trifled with! Someone in the crowd immediately shouted:
"You scoundrels! Scholar Zhu has abolished retainers, who are you people?"
"That's right! Who are these thieves?"
"Scholar Zhu forbade retainers, whose men are you! Come out!"
"Whose retainers? We'll tie them up and hand them over to the Provincial Administration Office!"
"I'm reporting this to the authorities!"
"..."
It should be known that
Retainers were a massive malignant tumor that had inflated since the Hongzhi reign, especially during the Jiajing reign. It was commonplace for ordinary people to be beaten by retainers. Zhu Mo's recent abolition of affiliated retainers had naturally avenged the common folk. Seeing the retainers committing violence again, how could the people not be enraged?
Zhu Mo also found a good point of leverage at this moment, turned around, and shouted, "Are you retainers? Whose retainers are you?"
With his words, the commoners became instantly impassioned. A few brave souls snatched the long staffs from the retainers. With a clamor and commotion, more people were attracted.
The leading retainer was immediately discouraged. He secretly glanced at Xu Yang, but then defiantly said, "We are not retainers! We saw you ignorant commoners mocking noblemen... we were just indignant!"
But although his tone was tough, he knew he was in the wrong and greatly feared Zhu Mo, appearing pitiable and laughable, which elicited another burst of laughter.
Heh,
Zhu Mo waved his hand, and everyone immediately quieted down,
"Since you are not retainers, then you are ordinary citizens. You cannot cause a disturbance here, disperse now! If you disobey, the Provincial Court will come to apprehend you!"
Xu Yang gave a look, and the leading retainer reluctantly led his men away in a dejected manner.
Zhu Mo then stared at Xu Yang with a half-smile, remaining silent for a long while, only to let out a scoff. He turned and entered the main hall, paying them no further mind.
Upon entering the inner hall, he saw Ma Ziqiang, Zhang Siwei, Gui Youguang, Xu Xuemo, and others all present.
Zhang Siwei stepped forward and said, "Grand Academician Zhu, those merchants have been making a scene for most of the day, saying they insist on an explanation from you. We have told them many times to wait for the matter to be handled, but these people just won't listen!"
These men of Zhang Juzheng had been cursed at by the merchants that morning and were already in a bad mood. They now started to clamor one after another.
Xu Xuemo, being the most impatient, angrily said, "Grand Academician Zhu, give us your word, and I will immediately dispatch men from the prefectural yamen to drive them all away!"
Zhu Mo smiled, brewed a pot of tea, and had everyone sit down before asking:
"Is it really because the indentured servants burned down the workshops?"
Gui Youguang angrily retorted, "We went to see this morning, where was any of that? It was just one loom that accidentally caught fire, but it was extinguished quickly. Where were any workshops burned down?"
Zhang Siwei, who had been trying to reason with them, and had been met with a barrage of abuse, now said, "Grand Academician Zhu, this continues to be a problem if these merchants keep making a fuss. We are so busy as it is, how can we get things done?"
Zhu Mo saw through the situation—
This time, the merchants were not even giving Zhang Juzheng any face; they had directly implicated Zhang Juzheng's men as Zhu Mo's accomplices.
He smiled and said, "It's good there were no workshops burned... So, did they really not give them wages?"
"No!"
"What did they give?"
"We asked this morning, most indentured servants haven't been paid for a month, and some for nearly two..."
"The indentured servants are grateful to Grand Academician Zhu and say they will handle it, most of them are not causing trouble..."
Mm-hmm,
Zhu Mo suddenly had a clear understanding—
This kneeling at the Ci Ren Temple was likely just an overture; the real big move had not yet been unleashed... Wu Ming and Wu Liang had also been investigating for some time; they should have some clues by now?
He did not want to waste any time. He immediately left through the back door and rode at a gallop to Guanyin Temple. Wu Ming and Wu Liang had indeed found out, that over twenty workshop owners among them were originally associated with He Maocai and Zheng Bichang.
Not only that,
The two had also uncovered a shocking clue—
Yan Maoqing and Luo Longwen had personally gone to Jiangnan!
They were currently in Qiantang.