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Chapter 715: Phantom of Changmen 3
The public issuance of bonds by Sun Moon Bank gave some people hope. The navy, army and new army, including the construction of granaries, water conservancy facilities and roads, all require only one thing: silver.

The Sun and Moon Bank was the accounting office that managed silver and made money by lending it out. As long as it could be eliminated, the pace of further deepening and spreading of the new policy could be slowed down. Perhaps a loophole could be found, allowing for a more effective counterattack.

As for whether they were afraid of being suppressed by the navy or the army like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, of course they were afraid. The thousands of corpses in front of the gates of the Songjiang Shipyard and the spinning mill were still vivid in our minds, and it seemed like yesterday that the Caojun rioters disappeared without a trace. Who would not be afraid when it comes to life and death?

But the Sun and Moon Bank was not a government or military bank, nor was it a royal property. It was completely different from a shipyard or a spinning mill. It was just a private shop, and it was no different in nature from all the banks and silver shops in the Ming Dynasty. Commercial competition between peers did not violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

Even if the public issuance of bonds had not taken place, many experienced people in money houses and banks were secretly contacting each other, intending to use commercial means to reasonably and legally make the Sun Moon Bank suffer a huge loss, and take the opportunity to drive this troublemaker out of the money industry.

There is a street called Wuqufang in the northwest of Suzhou City. It has an elegant name and is derived from Wuquxing by Lu Ji of Jin Dynasty: Please don't sigh, Princess Chu, and don't sing, E' Qi, please listen carefully, let me sing Wuqu.

Such an elegant name must have attracted the love of scholars and literati. Therefore, many officials and officials appeared in Wuqufang, such as Wang Yonghe, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works during the Zhengtong period, Yu Zhen, the Imperial Censor during the Xuande period, and Zhu Xizhou, the Nanjing Minister of Personnel during the Jiajing period, all of whom built houses here.

However, most of these mansions are located in the middle and southern parts of Wuqufang, while the northern part is occupied by another more elegant group of people, flower houses, or brothels. What? Brothels are not elegant...

You can't really say that. In the Ming Dynasty, visiting brothels was considered elegant. If you didn't have real talent or official rank, no girl would pay you any money. You would spend a few taels of silver to chat and have a cup of tea. If you didn't spend tens of thousands of yuan, you wouldn't even get a chance to visit. It was all about the feeling of being close yet distant.

In addition, Suzhou people are born with the habit of thinking like businessmen. The northern section of Wuqufang connects with Xizhongshi Street, and a little further west is Changmen. This street is the most prosperous and wealthy commercial street in Suzhou, with many shops, especially money houses and ticket shops. There are 24 famous shops in the city, 20 of which are located on Xizhongshi Street.

Building a house for living in such a prosperous area is neither economical nor comfortable, but more suitable for running a brothel. Who has a grudge against money? As long as the quality is high enough, it is okay to share a street with a brothel. It may even be a good thing.

As soon as it got dark, brothels began to hang up red lanterns, one string after another, each one taller than the other. Even the streets and the nearby Gaoqiao Bridge were colored pink, which made people think of certain things.

The three-story building on the west side of the intersection was very impressive. On the plaque at the door were two large gold-plated characters: Changge! If it weren't for the frequent sight of couples swaying behind the brothel upstairs, no one would have mistaken this place for a brothel at first glance.

In the private room at the corner of the second floor, there was a table of fancy wine, with all kinds of creatures flying in the sky, running on the ground, and swimming in the sea, accompanied by two pots of sugarcane wine in transparent glass bottles. It must have been a top-notch display.

But what was strange was that there were only three men sitting at the round table, and not even a girl. Although the brothel also hosted banquets, it was not famous for its food and wine. Who would spend a lot of money to go to a brothel to drink and eat?
"It's so messed up, so I can't figure it out... Wait, wait, if you wait any longer, the money will fly away! The Sun Moon Bank's vault is clearly empty, so why are they opening a branch? It's just nonsense, it's bullshit, only idiots and fools would believe it."

Look, the fat man sitting in the main seat facing the door gave the answer. He spoke in Suzhou dialect and commented on the Sun Moon Bank's public bond sale. More than half of his three sentences were slang, which was slightly inconsistent with the silk and satin he was wearing and the scene. "Hehe, Manager Wang, don't be so angry for now. This matter can't be rushed, in case something changes." The man sitting in the east was a little older, with a long beard, no hat, but wearing a round-necked robe, like a government official. But his tone of voice was very friendly, and he smiled before he spoke, like a gentle breeze and drizzle.

"Master Gao, I wonder what the Great Master thinks?" The man sitting at the west end was the youngest, about thirty years old, with a dignified appearance, wearing a square scarf and Taoist robe, and his every move was elegant.

"To be honest with you, Mr. Wu, your Majesty is also undecided. That's why I sent me here to meet you. I want to listen to the opinions of Manager Wang and you." Master Gao bowed slightly, looking embarrassed. He kicked the ball back very tactfully, then picked up the wine glass and tapped it lightly without saying anything else.

These three were the largest money house operators in Suzhou. Manager Wang was a bold man, and was the illegitimate son of the Wang family in the south of the city. The Wang family had several capable men who had served as officials in the imperial court, and took advantage of the situation to buy a large amount of land in the south of the city, making him one of the largest landowners in Suzhou.

The Wang family has been without successors for nearly a hundred years, and the current head of the family is barely a juren. But this does not mean that the Wang family has completely gone downhill, at least in terms of economic strength, it is still very strong.

Its representative is the money house called Cun Yigong, the undisputed number one in Suzhou Prefecture, with a long history and strong capital. Its branches are spread across various counties and prefectures in Nanzhili, making it a typical local tyrant.

Master Gao, from his title to his attire, has a distinct official aura. Therefore, he has a close connection with the government. In name, he is the shopkeeper of Jinshengrun Money House, but in reality, he is an assistant to Wang Huazhen, the governor of Suzhou. In public, he is respectfully called Master.

Mr. Wu's name was Jin, and his courtesy name was Qingyu. He was a real scholar. It was said that he could write poems when he was very young. He had some talent. For some reason, he did not continue on the path of imperial examinations, but became the head of Wufang Money House.

Although the name is not very well-known and sounds a bit like a small business, Wufang Money House attracted many financiers as soon as it opened, and royal institutions such as Suzhou Weaving also came to support it.

Seeing this, some people who had ill intentions, including colleagues, immediately stopped their actions and tried their best to find out the origins of this bank and Wu Jin, and then they all fell silent.

Wu Jin was from Changshu, Suzhou Prefecture. His father was a teacher in a private school and had a small piece of land, so they could barely be considered a farming and reading family, but they were still far from running a money house.

But the older neighbors who were more familiar with the Wu family in Changshu knew a secret: every December, a group of people would come from Suzhou Prefecture to visit the town, bringing cartloads of gifts. The visitor was also surnamed Wu, a middle-aged woman who privately called Wu Jin's grandmother "Amu".

(End of this chapter)