Water Margin people

"Have you arranged a place to stay?"

Sun Lei looked at Qian Zhen and asked.

"It's arranged. It's in the north of the city. It's a nice inn!"

Qian Zhen said that he had just received the news in the morning and was in a hurry and had no time to prepare the palace. Fortunately, there was an imperial decree to arrange a secluded residence.

"Okay, we've been on the boat for a long time, let's take a rest first and prepare some special dishes!"

Sun Lei was not polite either. He said that his southern tour was the most shabby in history. Which emperor would go on a southern tour without spending several million taels?

I didn't spend much money on the trip. Not only did I spend less money myself, but I also didn't ask the local government to pay for it.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Qian Zhen quickly smiled and said that as long as His Majesty was satisfied with his temporary arrangements, and he even asked him to prepare food, which meant that he was not angry with him.

The entire streets of Quanzhou City were emptied in an instant. The people waited temporarily in the shops, stretching their heads to look outside, wanting to know what the emperor looked like. No emperor had ever been to Quanzhou.

"Why did you clear the streets?"

Sun Lei frowned as he looked at Qian Zhen. He didn't like this kind of street clearing, which made him feel like he was disturbing ordinary people when he was traveling.

"Your Majesty, Quanzhou is not like the Central Plains. There are many foreigners here, and their minds are different. You'd better be careful!"

Qian Zhen said that when he arrived in Quanzhou, he found that it was different from the Central Plains, and even different from the Liangzhe Road. There were many local ethnic groups and foreign people here, and the situation was very complicated.

"You are quite cunning, boy!"

Di Cheng looked at Qian Zhen with a smile. This was why Sun Lei revealed his identity when he arrived in Quanzhou and also showed his large army.

"Hehe, we also fought with His Majesty and the generals."

Qian Zhen said with a smile.

All the way to the inn, I saw that it was surrounded by mountains and water, and green pines and willows.

"Not bad!"

Sun Lei was very satisfied when he saw it. This residence was no worse than a palace.

"Your Majesty, this was originally the property of the prefect of Quanzhou. It was used to entertain dignitaries and wealthy merchants. When the corrupt official's property was confiscated, this inn was also confiscated! I have already had it cleaned up."

Qian Zhen introduced with a smile.

After Sun Lei left Quanzhou City, the streets quickly returned to prosperity, and the people were discussing the reasons for the emperor's arrival.

Pu Kaizong had already gathered a group of merchants from the Arab world at this time.

"Keep an eye on your men. Don't run around. Also, follow the rules when doing business. The Emperor of Qi is coming. Be careful!"

Pu Kaizong instructed everyone.

"Don't worry, sir. We know what's going on!"

Everyone was determined. Now that the emperor was here, who would dare to act presumptuously? After all, this was the territory of Qi.

"Oh no...the overseas ships were destroyed by the navy!"

A servant ran in and said.

"what!"

The people who had smiles on their faces just now now all looked angry. There were a lot of goods on those ships, and they made money from those goods.

"Oh no, it's the Emperor's guards!"

Pu Kaizong realized that the emperor was escorted by a naval fleet and traveled by land and sea, so it was very likely that he encountered a smuggling ship at sea.

"The Emperor's Guard?"

Those merchants all looked dejected. If it was someone else who had wiped out the property, they could still find a way to get it back, but if it was the Emperor's Guards, then they would have no way.

"Damn it!"

Pu Kaizong was also gritting his teeth. There was a shipload of his goods in there, worth hundreds of thousands of guan. With the addition of another ship, he lost hundreds of thousands of guan in one go. "Sir, how come there is no news that the emperor is coming? We send so much money every year, what do those officials do?"

The rest of the people all had indignant looks on their faces. The loss this time was not small. The reason was that they did not get the news in advance. In the past, when the government launched a siege, they would have received the news first.

"They don't know either. The emperor came suddenly! Didn't you see that the prefect also made hasty preparations?"

Pu Kaizong said that if the emperor had an imperial edict, Quanzhou prefect Qian Zhen should be the first to know.

"The emperor has come with bad intentions this time!"

Everyone also sensed something was wrong. The emperor suddenly came to such a remote place like Quanzhou, and his purpose must be not simple.

"Let's just be careful, the emperor won't stay long!"

Pu Kaizong shook his head.

Just when everyone finished their discussion and prepared to leave, a merchant from the Arab world came hurriedly.

"Everyone, the Qi State Bank is open. There are banks in every prefecture in Jiangnan. You can use gold, silver and copper to exchange for coins at the bank. Take a look!"

The Arab merchant took out a box full of exquisite gold coins, which he had just exchanged.

"so much?"

The eyes of all the Arab merchants lit up. They liked these exquisite coins very much and wanted to exchange them in large quantities and take them back.

"Are there any restrictions?"

Everyone asked anxiously.

"There are no restrictions, but the bank has a bill business. You can deposit money in the bank and exchange it for a silver bill. This silver bill can be exchanged in various places in Qi State, but a certain handling fee will be charged. In addition, you can also get a certain amount of interest for depositing money. If you deposit it for a full year, you will get 1% interest! If you deposit it for three years at a time, you can get 5% interest..."

The merchant immediately told the news he had seen.

"This……"

All the Arab merchants' eyes lit up. They had come from far away to do business, so they were naturally smart. With just a simple thought, they knew how much convenience this silver bank would bring.

"Exchange money? Deposit money as a merchant!"

Everyone was conflicted.

"Don't worry about it for now. Go and exchange the gold and silver for new coins. We'll see what to do next!"

Pu Kaizong said that no matter what they chose, it would not be wrong to change to new coins.

After hearing this, everyone left and moved all the gold and silver out of their homes to exchange for new money.

Inside the inn.

"Your Majesty, the bank's business is booming, everyone is rushing to exchange money!"

Chai Jin smiled and said that today was the day when silver banks in various parts of Jiangnan opened for business. From the information received, everyone welcomed the new currency.

"My appearance is to give them one last chance. The smart ones will behave themselves. If they insist on going down this path, then you can't blame me for being ruthless."

Sun Lei smiled and said that another reason for his appearance was to remind the merchants from all over Jiangnan to stop before it was too late.

"Qian Zhen, you are a little too slow in doing this."

Sun Lei pointed to a pile of documents in front of him. Zhu Wu was quickly browsing through them and handed any that required a decision to Sun Lei.

"I am incompetent and have failed your majesty's expectations!"

Qian Zhen knelt down and said with a guilty look on his face.

"I'm not asking you about your crime, but reminding you not to be so reserved when doing things. Sometimes you have to use your hands!"

"For the Yao people in the mountains, we can first contact their clan elders and spread the teachings of our Qi State. Life outside the mountains is always better than in the mountains, right? Young people will be more receptive to this!"

"As for those foreigners, they should be strictly managed. If you want to kill them, then kill them. Why do you keep them? Are you afraid that the Arabs will help them get revenge? Do you look down on your brothers in the navy?"

Sun Lei looked at Qian Zhen and said that Quanzhou involved some ethnic minority issues, which made Qian Zhen somewhat constrained. (End of this chapter)