The temperature in Jiangnan was naturally much warmer than in Kyoto. Although there had been a heavy snowfall around Suzhou and Hangzhou before the New Year, the snow clouds had stretched from the coast directly into the hinterland of Qing, enveloping all the fields and rivers in white. However, once the New Year had passed and winter was nearing its end, the snow in Jiangnan stopped. When the sun came out, the melting snow and ice quickly dispelled any sense of bitter cold.

Even the branches of the trees outside Suzhou city had prematurely sprouted tender, downy leaves.

Ming Qingda, the current master of the Ming family, known as the wealthiest merchant in the world, was sitting in the small pavilion in Ming Garden, his gaze passing over the high walls of the courtyard and landing on the tender green shoots among the trees. Although the walls of Ming Garden were extremely high, turning it into a heavily guarded fortress once the gates were closed, these high walls could not block his vision, nor could they conceal the burgeoning signs of spring, still weak but gradually burgeoning.

Even in winter, he yearned for the coming of spring.

Ming Qingda sighed, a trace of light adding to his somewhat tired and aged face. He thought happily that winter was about to pass, the flowers and grass were about to revive, and his Ming family, this vast Ming family, should also revive.

In the past year, the Ming family had experienced too many changes. The huge profits it used to make through the Internal Treasury had been reduced by half. Its various sales routes were constantly harassed by the Supervisory Council, making the flow of goods and money very difficult, and it gradually felt like it was facing its decline.

Moreover, the Old Matriarch who secretly controlled the Ming family had been "forced to death" by the Imperial Envoy, Master Ming the Third was almost exiled, and suddenly there was another Master Ming the Seventh trying to seize the family property.

In short, countless knives and swords had been aimed at the Ming family, making it difficult for Ming Qingda to breathe and survive. He knew that the mastermind behind these events was the supreme ruler sitting on the Dragon Throne, and the executor was the Imperial Envoy Fan Xian, who had a gentle face but a sinister mind. Fortunately...for the past six months, Fan Xian had been staying in Hangzhou, playing in Wuzhou and Danzhou, rarely returning to the Suzhou Internal Treasury Office to handle affairs, especially during the two months around the New Year, when Fan Xian had left Jiangnan and returned to Kyoto.

With Fan Xian's departure from Jiangnan, the dark clouds looming over the Ming family also shifted. Although the Jiangnan Branch of the Supervisory Council was still working hard to implement Fan Xian's instructions and suppress the Ming family's business, the Ming family had deep roots in Jiangnan after all, and countless officials secretly helped, so the Ming family's business suddenly came to life, ushering in a rare period of activity.

That was why Ming Qingda had sighed happily when he looked at the tender branches outside the courtyard walls.

...

...

However, his face immediately darkened, because he suddenly realized that he had been overwhelmed by joy. Spring was coming, the trees were sprouting, but...the Imperial Envoy was also coming back.

His mood suddenly became gloomy. He rose angrily and headed towards his courtyard. Ming Garden occupied a vast area, and most of the men from both branches of the family lived in the garden. In theory, after the Old Matriarch's death, Ming Qingda, as the current head of the family, should have moved into the Old Matriarch's courtyard, which was the highest point in the garden. However, Ming Qingda firmly refused the family's consensus, using the excuse that he missed his mother and turned the courtyard into the Hall of Missing Kin.

He knew why he dared not move into that small courtyard, because he was afraid that when he woke up in that courtyard, he would see the white cloth tied to the beam and the pair of small feet constantly twitching.

...

...

That morning, after dealing with the affairs of the family's branch firms and estates in Ming Garden, Ming Qingda picked up a hot towel and vigorously wiped his face, feeling a fatigue that seeped from his bones. This family was too big, and there were too many things to worry about. In the past, as the head of the family, he could handle specific matters more easily, because the overall direction and the collusion with the powerful figures in the court were all handled by the Old Matriarch, which saved him a lot of trouble.

But now it was different. He needed to personally handle the secret communication with Kyoto. What troubled Ming Qingda the most was that the Imperial Envoy had never stopped suppressing the Ming family. With external troubles looming, problems had also arisen within the Ming family. Fan Xian had forcibly, through lawsuits, inserted that bastard Xia Qifei into the family...and he had recently heard that Master Ming the Third was getting very close to Xia Qifei.

Faced with the pressure from the court, Ming Qingda had no good solutions, so he had to watch Xia Qifei step by step approach the core of the Ming family, and even on the first day of the New Year a month ago, he had watched Xia Qifei return to the clan and worship his ancestors.

Internal and external troubles were becoming too much for Ming Qingda to bear, but he had to persevere, for the sake of this family, he had to endure, and endure until Princess Chang achieved success.

He glanced at the two people beside him and sighed in his heart. The man and woman beside him were the people he could trust the most now. One was his son, Ming Lanshi, and the other...was the Old Matriarch's personal maid, now his Second Concubine.

If it weren't for this maid, Ming Qingda would not have been able to take over the Old Matriarch's secrets and become the true master of the Ming family, so he had given this woman enough compensation and love.

As for Ming Lanshi...Ming Qingda glanced at his son and frowned. In fact, he knew that Ming Lanshi was capable and had good vision, but the father and son had recently had a major conflict over the future of the Ming family.

In Ming Lanshi's view, since the court was suppressing them so fiercely and the Internal Treasury was firmly controlled by Fan Xian, it was impossible for the Ming family to make huge profits from the Internal Treasury as they had in the past. They should take advantage of the current缓和 opportunity to gradually withdraw from this business and, relying on the Ming family's large number of fields in Jiangnan and its network throughout the country, stop being an Internal Treasury merchant and instead engage in import trade between Qing and Dongyi. This would please the court and the Imperial Envoy, and also protect the Ming family's foundation.

But Ming Qingda firmly opposed this proposal. Even though the Ming family was struggling now, he still did not allow the family to deviate from the Internal Treasury in the slightest and develop in other directions.

The Second Concubine left the front hall, and Ming Qingda looked at his son and said with a frown, "Your proposal last night...won't work."

"Why?" Ming Lanshi said sadly, "Who can go against the court? If we don't retreat now...when Fan Xian returns to Jiangnan, I'm afraid we won't be able to retreat even if we want to."

"What can Fan Xian do?" Ming Qingda glanced at him and said, "Can he mobilize troops and kill us all?"

"Hmph, who knows? That Imperial Envoy is the Emperor's illegitimate son. If he really acts recklessly...who would he be afraid of?" Ming Lanshi knew that Fan Xian would not use this method, but he couldn't help but say it.

"We also have people in the palace," Ming Qingda frowned and said, "The Empress Dowager, the Empress, Princess Chang...can't these nobles stand up to His Majesty's illegitimate son?"

"Then what about the business? If Fan Xian does what he did last year...how much silver will our Ming family have to fill in to make up for the losses?" Ming Lanshi said indignantly, "In the past, when we did Internal Treasury business, we could earn as much as we wanted, but now we lose money on every deal. The price set during bidding is too high, so there is no profit at all, and the people from the Supervisory Council are making trouble every day...Father, if this goes on, we won't be able to last long. If we continue for three more months, I think the family will have to start selling fields."

"What's the rush?" Ming Qingda said disapprovingly, "The Internal Treasury business must continue. This is what Princess Chang wants. If we withdraw at this time, Fan Xian may let us go, but how can we explain it to Princess Chang? Without the Internal Treasury quota, our Ming family is just a piece of fat, and we could be eaten at any time."

He did not realize that he had said this to his son a year ago.

"Then...at least reduce the amount of goods going to Dongyi City...so we can lose less money," Ming Lanshi said tentatively.

Ming Qingda shook his head and said decisively, "No! We can't offend Si Gu Jian...we still need the cash from Taiping Bank."

At the mention of cash, the father and son fell silent. The reason why the Ming family had been able to survive until now and protect its thousands of acres of fertile land in the face of the full suppression of the court and Fan Xian was its good relationship with Dongyi City and the steady supply of cash from Taiping Bank and Zhaoshang Bank.

"What if...I mean, what if Taiping and Zhaoshang think our family can't hold on anymore and want to collect the money?"

"Collect the money? We mortgaged our fields and commercial banks," Ming Qingda said with a sneer, "What can the banks do with them? Can they sell them? They have to continue to support us...otherwise, what they get back is just dead assets that can't make money at all."

"What should we do?"

"Endure!" Ming Qingda stood up, clenched his fists slightly, coughed twice, and said firmly, "As long as there are no problems with Taiping Bank and Zhaoshang Bank, we can endure. There's nothing Fan Xian can do to me."

"How long do we have to endure?" Ming Lanshi looked at the storms that the family had weathered this year and felt that he could not take it anymore mentally.

"Endure until Fan Xian falls, endure until His Majesty knows he's wrong," Ming Qingda's eyes were sunken, with a trace of viciousness in his weariness, "Even if it takes two or three years, we have to endure. We have to wait for the movements in Kyoto."

"But there are too many places in the family that need money now. I'm afraid we'll have to continue to borrow money from the banks," Ming Lanshi said worriedly.

"The clan's share...was forced to give Xia Qifei a share," Ming Qingda closed his eyes and calculated, "Even if the third and fourth concubines have ulterior motives, they don't have much in their hands. Most of it is in our hands. Just don't exceed the limit when borrowing money from the banks."

Although the experienced and cunning merchant did not think that Taiping and Zhaoshang Banks would suddenly withdraw their support, he was always cautious and careful, of course, he knew to keep the risk to a minimum.

...

...

The street in Suzhou City that was full of banks and pawnshops was not very long. The bluestone street surface looked particularly quiet. The people who could come here were either poor to a certain degree or rich to a certain degree.

As the successor of the Ming family, Ming Lanshi was naturally the latter, so when he quietly arrived at the bank with the Zhaoshang banner, he was immediately respectfully welcomed in by the head manager of Zhaoshang Bank.

Since Fan Xian came to Jiangnan, the Ming family's expenditure of silver had increased greatly, especially the Internal Treasury bidding. Even with the strong strength of the Taiping Bank, which was all over the world, it was unable to raise so much cash in a short period of time, so the Ming family took the risk of seeking help from Zhaoshang Bank.

Unexpectedly, Zhaoshang Bank actually agreed after many difficulties. This cooperation left a very good impression on the Ming family. After conducting a very detailed background investigation, the Ming family confirmed that the source of funds for Zhaoshang Bank was the inheritance of Shen Zhong's family, the commander of the Northern Qi Imperial Guards, and a family in Dongyi City, so they felt relieved.

The cooperation between the two sides gradually increased, and the cooperation was seamless. Zhaoshang Bank had become the Ming family's largest partner besides Taiping Bank. In more than a year, the Ming family had borrowed more than three million taels of silver from this bank.

Ming Lanshi was here to borrow money again today. The two sides signed the contracts and notarization documents very familiarly and completed each other's procedures.

The head manager of Zhaoshang Bank suddenly looked embarrassed and said, "Young Master Ming, there is one thing I don't know whether I should say."

Ming Lanshi frowned slightly, but his heart skipped a beat, thinking that Zhaoshang Bank might have suddenly become suspicious of the Ming family?

Sure enough, the ordinary-looking head manager said tentatively, "Business has been good in these two months, but I heard...the Imperial Envoy is about to return to Jiangnan."

Ming Lanshi snorted coldly, thinking that the whole world knew that his family was at odds with the Imperial Envoy Fan Xian, but Zhaoshang Bank wasn't afraid before, so why are you afraid now?

The head manager smiled gently and said, "The Ming family has been the leader of the Jiangnan business community for a hundred years. Our small bank naturally wouldn't dare to doubt anything, but...I'm just reminding you, Young Master, there are many ways to make money in the world, why bother arguing with the court?"

Ming Lanshi's heart moved. This coincided with his intention to transfer the Ming family to another track, but after all, he was not the person in charge of the Ming family, and he also felt a trace of suspicion about the head manager's sudden reminder. Of course, he was unwilling to say anything in front of this outsider, and said with a smile, "What business can be more profitable than the Internal Treasury?"

The head manager chuckled twice and said nothing more.

...

...

After the Ming family's carriage left the bluestone street, the head manager of Zhaoshang Bank hunched slightly and returned to the heavily guarded inner vault behind. The vault was filled with cash and receipts from various places, and the head manager clearly attached great importance to the Ming family's borrowing slip in his hand. He carefully placed it in a separate wooden compartment and glanced at it.

The slips inside were already very thick. If Zhaoshang Bank forced the Ming family to repay the money at this time, and the Ming family could not break its contract with the court and withdraw from the Internal Treasury affairs, then it would only be able to sell its wealthy family property to repay the money.

Of course, Zhaoshang Bank would not do such a thing.

The head manager suddenly thought of something and said with a smile to his assistant beside him, "How much money has Master Ming the Sixth borrowed?"

"He has already exceeded the limit," the assistant said respectfully. He admired the head manager's methods very much, because he knew that Zhaoshang Bank actually owned nearly half of the Ming family at this time. Although the value of the Ming family's assets was definitely more than this, wealth was a thing that, once reflected in the receipts, once in a relatively clever moment, would always shrink a lot.

"That guest...brought the seal contract?"

"Yes."

The head manager nodded, knowing that the master was preparing to take action, but...wasn't he still not back in Jiangnan?

In the side room behind Zhaoshang Bank, the head manager saw the green banner at a glance and respectfully asked, "This Lord, what should we do next?"

Wang Shisanlang came to Zhaoshang Bank as soon as he entered Suzhou. Of course, he knew the cooperative relationship between this bank and the Ming family, but he never thought, no, it should be said that no one in the world thought that...this bank...was actually Fan Xian's!

His lips were a little bitter, and he once again felt why his master valued Fan Xian so much, why he let himself represent a part of his attitude. He also knew that what Fan Xian said to him in that broken temple was not false. Zhaoshang Bank already had enough IOUs from the Ming family. In this matter, he was just a debt collector...and could not change anything.

Even if he notified Dongyi City and notified the Ming family at this time, it would not be possible to change the already doomed fact.

The Ming family was finished. To be precise, before Ming Qingda knelt in front of Fan Xian, secretly killed the Old Matriarch, and begged for the sympathy of the world with a sad attitude, delaying Fan Xian's thunderous blow...the Ming family was already finished.

All these efforts made by the Ming family were just superfluous actions, very weak struggles.

The reason why Fan Xian had not taken action was because he had to deal with the pressure from Kyoto before. And now he was taking action because he knew that the nobles in Kyoto no longer had the extra power to help the Ming family.

Wang Shisanlang frowned, wondering what means Fan Xian would use to hold back Princess Chang's support for the Ming family in Kyoto.

"I don't understand these things," Wang Shisanlang sighed, "When are you going to collect the debts? I'll go with you."

The head manager smiled. A long time ago, he was a very successful official in the Ministry of Revenue. Now, he was a very successful usurer. He was very good at such things as liquidation. "The master will also have actions to cooperate with. Please wait a few more days in Suzhou City, Lord."

Wang Shisanlang thought to himself, Fan Xian was going to liquidate the Ming family, and it was definitely not enough to rely on IOUs. What other actions would he have?

...

...

Fan Xian's actions in Jiangnan started ahead of schedule, because he needed to gain this time difference, and the Kyoto actions that truly led to the Jiangnan actions also began slowly at this moment.

One day in mid-February, the owner of the Dongyi City Embroidery Shop, who had been dragged to the point of exhaustion, finally received good news. The silver note he sent out had worked. Tomorrow, yes, tomorrow, the embroidery...was going to enter the palace.

...

...

(Tomorrow, yes, tomorrow, the double monthly tickets...will stop...Everyone who still has tickets in their hands, throw them over, thank you.)
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