Water Margin people

Chapter 1434: Encirclement and Suppression of the Barbarian Lane

"Who are we, the navy, afraid of? We will rush to their door tomorrow and smash it down!"

Ruan Xiaoqi spoke immediately.

"Your Majesty, I understand!"

Qian Zhen bowed and said that he felt relieved after hearing Sun Lei's words.

"I heard that those people in Fanren Lane refused to cooperate with the registration, right?"

Sun Lei looked at Qian Zhen again and asked.

"Your Majesty, have you already known about this? Those barbarians colluded with each other and hid for each other. I have sent people to search for them several times but to no avail."

Qian Zhen said helplessly.

"I think it's not just the Tibetans colluding with each other. Are some locals also cooperating? Are there really people who would do anything for money?"

Sun Lei looked at Qian Zhen and asked, this kind of thing cannot be done by only the barbarians, it is common sense that the insiders are in collusion with the outsiders!

"I'll give you one day to get this done. I want to see the results tomorrow! As for manpower, we can loan some to you from the navy. Go get it done quickly!"

Sun Lei looked at Qian Zhen and spoke.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Qian Zhen quickly saluted Sun Lei.

The door of Quanzhou Silver Bank was already crowded with people wanting to exchange silver. From wealthy merchants to ordinary people, everyone was vying to exchange silver.

"Everyone, everyone, don't worry, everyone has one, please line up to exchange!"

The guy at the door was shouting and trying to control the situation, but those who were exchanging money were unwilling to fall behind and were still scrambling to get in.

The guys had no choice but to call in government soldiers to control the situation. In the face of swords and guns, the chaotic scene instantly quieted down.

The line stretched from the bank door to the end of the street, and almost everyone in the city came to exchange money.

While everyone was surrounding the bank, Qian Zhen led his navy to Fanren Lane and surrounded the place.

"Anyone who disobeys orders will be killed without mercy!"

Following Qian Zhen's order, the soldiers rushed into the Fanren Lane in small groups.

The barbarians had no idea what was going on, so they closed their doors and halls, and every house was guarded, and there was no one on the streets.

"My Lord, what has happened?"

Several barbarian leaders who were brought over looked at Qian Zhen with horror, wondering why the prefect suddenly brought troops to seal off the Barbarian Lane.

"Don't worry, I'm here to count the population according to the law. Don't you keep saying you abide by the law? Then let me see if it's true!"

Qian Zhen looked at the barbarian leaders and smiled, then flipped through the list in his hand, which was the population numbers reported by the barbarians.

"Sir, if you want to collect taxes, we are willing to pay them!"

Several foreign leaders hurriedly said that they had hidden a large number of people, and if they were really investigated, they would not be able to escape.

"Who do you think I am? This is in accordance with the law! Search me carefully!"

Qian Zhen glanced at the barbarian leaders coldly and sneered, saying that these guys were actually thinking of getting through by bribery, how stupid.

The soldiers took the roster and began to search house by house, and soon found a large number of hidden foreigners.

"You are so brave. A family registered ten people, but in the end, thirty were found! What do you foreigners want to do? Rebellion?" Just by checking, Qian Zhen was surprised. There were only more than 20,000 registered foreigners in Quanzhou. If this was the case, there would probably be 60,000 to 70,000 foreigners in Quanzhou.

Pu Kaizong, who was queuing to exchange money outside the bank, immediately led his men back to Fanren Lane after receiving the news, but they couldn't get in at all. They were controlled by soldiers as soon as they approached Fanren Lane.

"What are you doing? This is Fanren Lane, a place for us Fanren people! You have no right to search!"

Pu Kaizong roared.

"Snapped!"

A whip hit Pu Kaizong's face hard.

"Barbarian dogs, the whole world belongs to the king. When did you barbarian dogs have a share in the territory of my Great Qi?"

The soldiers were furious and whipped them severely. They fought for the territory at the risk of their lives, but these barbarians actually wanted to occupy it. This was considered a declaration of war in the army.

Pu Kaizong and his group were wailing in pain from the beatings. They had never expected the newcomer to be so powerful. In the past, the officials of Quanzhou had always given them face.

Zhang Boshi, who was hurrying over, saw all this from afar. He stopped and watched from afar the soldiers beating Pu Kaizong and his men, as well as the shouting of the barbarians in the alley.

"not good."

Envoy Zhang Bo had no intention of stepping forward. He turned around and left, fearing that he would be implicated.

"Quick, go and invite everyone from the Maritime Customs Office!"

Envoy Zhang Bo whispered to the guards around him that he knew the affairs of the barbarians could no longer be concealed and they had to find a way to deal with it.

The news about Fanren Lane spread quickly, but it did not affect the enthusiasm of the people to exchange money. The people lined up and said that the arrogance and domineering of the Fanren over the years had finally paid off.

Sun Lei looked at the urgent memorials sent in from all over the country and found that the bank's business was developing very well.

"Your Majesty, at present, more people withdraw money from the bank than deposit it. Rumors have spread in many places that the interest rate of 1% a year is too low. Some people even say that depositing money may result in a total loss!"

Zhu Wu reported to Sun Lei.

"Find out who is spreading the rumors."

Sun Lei didn't care, he was just curious about who dared to be so bold.

Since he opened the silver bank, it represented the country, and the currency was all physical objects such as gold, silver, and copper. This was an extremely safe form of currency. As long as he did not over-issue notes and did not embezzle too much money, there would be no crisis. Moreover, because it was spread across the country, a bank run was unlikely to occur.

"There are some clues, it seems that those merchants and wealthy people!"

Zhu Wu said.

“As expected, these people know there’s trouble.”

Sun Lei smiled and said that because deposits earn interest and can be freely exchanged in all prefectures and counties across the country, silver banks instantly became a necessary place for the flow of money, which was no longer something that an individual or a group could stop.

"Although the people don't have much money, there are many of them. A little bit of money accumulated together can also be a considerable number. The people don't have much to invest. If they have money, they naturally want to save it safely to prevent accidents. What's more, there is interest, which is almost impossible for the people to refuse."

"As for those merchants, they don't care about such a small amount of interest. They are all businessmen and are very skilled in making money from money, but they can't refuse the national freely convertible currency."

Sun Lei said with a smile, just this one move has divided and disintegrated the merchants, and now they are probably thinking differently and are on the verge of falling apart.

"Your Majesty, those wealthy merchants have already started exchanging money on a large scale, with the amount reaching millions! These people act very disciplined, and they went to the bank with great fanfare, and they also repeatedly emphasized that if there were difficulties in turnover, it would be okay to exchange a few days later."

Zhu Wu reminded.

"You want to run a bank run with just a few million dollars?"

Sun Lei said disdainfully that he had prepared over 100 million coins for the new currency, and the mint was still constantly minting new coins. Overseas mines had gradually been brought into operation, and the coins would only continue to flow in.