"Is he so courageous?" Wu Kaidi said in surprise, "Guanshi Qiao is from the Qiao family in Pingyao! Even though he is a collateral branch, the Qiao family will not give up."
"So the force behind the kidnapping is probably not Shanxi House. First of all, the Xia family cannot be such evil people; secondly, Shopkeeper Shen does not have such courage."
"So, this is the force behind what you always say."
"That's right. It's probably because Shopkeeper Shen got some kind of promise or benefit from the other party." Leng Ningyun knocked on his head, "The things here are very complicated. Let the people from the Foreign Affairs Bureau worry about it. We should still consider opening the business.
Bar."
The 100,000 taels of silver that Eunuch Yang originally deposited has been prepared. As usual, for large accounts to be withdrawn, only a notification is needed, and the bank will send someone to deliver it to the mansion. There is no need for anyone to come. But Eunuch Yang specially sent Bao Yu.
"The money is all ready." Leng Ningyun said with a pleasant smile, "I finally lived up to Eunuch Yang's trust."
"That's right, that's right." Bao Yu was full of flattery, "I also told Eunuch Yang: Shopkeeper Leng is the most honest person and handles things properly. Originally, I didn't even mention the money. It's just that Eunuch Yang needs it urgently. I have no choice but to do it."
"
"Did I load the money on a mule cart and transport it to my house immediately, or..."
"I'm not busy. Mr. Yang has taken the photo. He needs to take a look first and check it out. It's also a process. Haha, haha." Bao Yu laughed dryly a few times.
"Okay, this is what it should be."
Leng Ningyun immediately led him to the backyard, where a hundred silver sheaths had been placed. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, large sums of silver were transported in boxes without boxes. Instead, logs were sawed in half and hollowed out. Fifty taels of silver ingots were placed in order.
They are interlocked and set into each other. Each tile contains ten ingots and one thousand taels of silver. After it is full, it is closed and bound with iron hoops. It will not fall apart no matter it is bumped or dropped.
The silver stiles were all open, and the yard was filled with bright silver light. As soon as Baoyu walked in, his legs suddenly became weak.
"Brother Bao, please take a look."
Baoyu had never seen so much money piled together, and he felt his heart swaying. He reluctantly calmed down and walked to the courtyard to take a look.
Leng Ningyun looked at the matter with cold eyes. The original inspection was just a formality: the bank had never done any fraud in the transfer of large amounts of money. Otherwise, the bank's sign would not stand up. Seeing how seriously Baoyu took it, it was obviously Eunuch Yang's special order.
Has the reputation of our bank suddenly deteriorated to this extent? Eunuch Yang will have to do some careful reckoning in the future!
However, from the clue that "father and son are not getting along", we can start to look for opportunities to bring down little Eunuch Yang.
After Baoyu finished the inspection, Wei Xiangli immediately ordered someone to close the silver bars, put on the iron hoops, and stamp the seal. Baoyu handed back the deposit slip, Leng Ningyun asked the person to write it off, and stuffed another red envelope into his hand:
"Thank you for your hard work, Third Brother Bao!"
"There, there," Baoyu himself felt quite embarrassed, "It's not that I'm a meddlesome person who just eats a bowl and is sent around by others. Don't take it personally, Mr. Leng."
"Brothers will settle accounts clearly. How can you say that?" Leng Ningyun said with great sincerity, "I will ask Brother Bao for more support in the future."
These words are not polite. For such a big matter, Eunuch Yang did not send his personal eunuch to handle, but called Bao Yu, a footman, which shows that this person's status with Eunuch Yang is promising. He will be of great use in the future.
The place.
"I don't dare, I don't dare. Mr. Leng has his place, so I will try my best." He said goodbye and left. Wei Xiangli directed the men to load the silver into the truck one by one, and He Liansheng escorted it to the place designated by Eunuch Yang to be stored.
.
"Eunuch Yang and his son are really dishonest. They took a hundred thousand silver in thousands of kickbacks, but in the end they only let it go for less than two months, and they still have to calculate the interest!" Wei Xiangli muttered, "It's better to rob it!
"
Leng Ningyun smiled and said: "Isn't this just trying different ways to steal money? Let's tolerate him for a while. It won't be long before he comes to save money again."
On the eighth day of the first lunar month in 1637, Delong Jingshi Bank finally opened its doors amidst much attention. Leng Ningyun told people to buy more 10,000-word whips, and hundreds of them were hung, dyeing the entire street red.
The specially created joy could not conceal the nervousness of Delong's opening. Shuntian Prefecture and Wanping County, and Daxing County sent brigade of government officials to the scene early to suppress it. Official Liu of Shuntian Prefecture came directly to the scene and placed the public case across the street.
On the steps of the store.
"Someone, put the notice up!"
The huge official notice was posted, which immediately attracted many people to watch.
After hearing the news early in the morning, there was a large crowd waiting in front of Delong Gate. The streets in front of Delong Gate were completely crowded with darkness. If the government officials hadn't kept shouting to clear the way, the entire street would have been blocked.
Inside the Delon Gate, although the blockers had already held a meeting and knew that the biggest threat had been eliminated, when they first saw the crowds of people outside, the slightly experienced blockers still took a breath of air.
"Xiao Xiangli! Is this, this, sir, okay?"
"What the hell are you worried about! The master has taken care of all the old ladies, and there are just some retail investors outside, with at most fifty taels of notes, what the hell are you afraid of!"
Having said that, Xiao Xiangli himself was unsure. Indeed, he and Wei Xiangli took back almost 100,000 taels of notes from each of the seven Shanxi houses on the list without any hindrance. In addition, the previous shopkeeper Leng
After raising the money, there was no big problem for the store. But yesterday's wasted hundred thousand taels of silver were taken away, which still made him heartbroken.
It would be nice if the money could be delayed for a few more days.
I was on edge in my heart, but I still had to force myself to calm down. Maybe Master Leng was watching me secretly! So I kept yelling loudly and finding faults everywhere, wishing that there wasn't even a speck of dust on the counter.
Seeing that the preparations in the store were completed and the government officials outside were in place, he immediately shouted: "Get off the plate!"
Following his shout, the two apprentices opened the side door and began to remove the door panels.
The crowd outside suddenly became commotion and swarmed toward the store door, including many women and elderly people. The officials from Shuntian and two counties immediately threw away their long whips and kept waving them in the air, cracking the whips and forcing the crowd back.
.
As they advanced and retreated, someone was already being pushed to the ground, screaming as they were being trampled.
Sitting on the steps, Liu Tuiguan quickly ordered his subordinates to instruct the government officials to separate the crowd, leaving only one passage, one in and one out. He also separated the crowds who were coming one after another, and let them out one by one. Only then did the order be restored.
Maintain it.
"Go ahead with the order. Anyone who takes the lead in making noise or incitement will be taken down on the spot and the shackles will be displayed to the public!" he ordered.
After a powerful blow, the order at the door of the store was finally maintained. However, the depositors were vying for the first place, and everyone was squeezing into each other, almost to the point where their chests were pressed against their backs. Many of the women had no time to come back to cash in because their husbands were working outside.
, not caring about the difference between men and women, and being so crowded in the queue at this moment, some people took the opportunity to harass the frivolous people in the crowd. Some people had their shoes stepped off, some people had their hair tied up in a bun, and some people were so squeezed that they fainted.
There were cries and curses in the team, mixed together with the roars of the government officials, the swishing sounds of whips, and the screams of pain.
Leng Ningyun looked out the window on the second floor of the bank and sighed secretly. He was no longer worried about the run at the moment, but the chaos outside was really worrying.
Ninety percent of the people who came to queue up for the bank run were ordinary citizens with some assets in the capital. They had a few taels of silver in their hands, which they used to collect interest on deposits to supplement their family income. For wealthy families, these silvers were nothing more than an ingot of ink or a jar."
"Fresh Fruits from Nanyang", a piece of jewelry... But to them, it is the hard-earned money accumulated over the years.
If the bank really went bankrupt, many of those who came to bank would have to hang themselves in the river!
He called Wei Xiangli and asked him to take a few apprentices outside to build a temporary shed, turn on the stove and prepare hot sugar water, so that the old, weak, and fainted people could have a place to rest.
"Tell Xiao Xiangli to put all the barriers up and open all the windows. After two days of busy work, I will treat everyone to a treat."
After all these arrangements, there was actually nothing to do. Leng Ningyun had not slept well for several days, but he was not sleepy at all. He just sat and watched on the second floor.
Fortunately, the crowd gradually decreased as they tried their best to cash out, and the crowd no longer increased at noon. The amount of silver and banknotes cashed out was also within the estimate.
Xiao Xiangli did not dare to slack off, and did not stop the window. He only asked the kitchen to make more steamed buns, pies, etc., and put them on the counter for the waiters to satisfy their hunger. He ate and worked at the same time.
The expected large-scale bank run did not occur. The largest banknote was only more than 500 taels, and the amount was only 50 taels of small deposits and banknotes. It was not until noon that someone came to exchange the large banknotes at once.
It's only more than five thousand taels.
As the money continued to be cashed out, the number of people queuing up became smaller and smaller. By the time they came to the board, the crowd that came to redeem money had dispersed. Only then did everyone feel relieved. Wei Xiangli came out to thank the government officials for their hard work, and then
Everyone sealed a red envelope.
The accounts were checked in the evening, and only more than 39,000 taels were exchanged throughout the day. Checking the deposit directory again, in addition to the deposits of "affiliated enterprises" such as Shanhai 5th Road, 90% of the original fixed deposits have been paid. The notes issued have also been withdrawn.
More than 60%. There is more than enough money left.
Inside Delong, from Leng Ningyun down to the apprentices, no one had the intention to eat at first. They just ate steamed buns and sesame cakes and drank strong tea to do the accounting. When the accounting was completed, everyone was relieved. Everyone was beaming with joy. Leng Ningyun immediately took care of the kitchen.
Have a sumptuous supper.
"Except for not drinking, everyone has a good time. Just don't go to bed too late and miss tomorrow's business."
"Don't worry, shopkeeper, nothing will happen to you!" Wei Xiangli said happily. Not to mention, his annual salary of 180 taels of silver and bonuses at the end of the year were completely saved.
Leng Ningyun returned to the inner house, hurriedly washed up and went to bed, snoring as soon as she hit the pillow.