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Chapter 716: Phantom of Changmen 4
In Suzhou Prefecture, people are accustomed to calling the wet nurse "Amu", and the woman surnamed Wu came from the Shen Mansion in Suzhou City. She was the original wife of Shen Shixing, the chief minister of the cabinet and the grand secretary of Zhongji Palace in the Wanli Dynasty.

Up to this point, there are many different opinions about the exact relationship between Wu Jin and the Shen family. Basically, everything that could happen in the mansion is covered, but no one can tell what the truth is.

When Wu Jin's grandmother and the elders of Shen Shixing's generation gradually passed away, the details of the Wu family became even more mysterious, and there was no place to find out.

But one thing was real: the business of Wufang Money House was getting more and more prosperous. Wu Jin was just a scholar, but he had connections and often got large sums of silver for turnover. He also offered the lowest interest rates for loans, and his business quickly spread to Yingtian Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, Zhenjiang Prefecture, and Yangzhou Prefecture.

Even if they encountered troubles when collecting loans, they only needed to go to the local government office, and the prefect or the county magistrate would immediately do their best to serve them as if they were doing it for their own family, and everything would go smoothly. At this time, anyone who still thought that the Wu family of Changshu and the Shen family of Suzhou had no relationship was lying.

In fact, this is not a strange thing. A well-known wealthy family like the Shen family usually does not lower themselves to directly participate in the business, and often finds some relatives, servants and the like as agents. In this way, money can be made and integrity can be maintained, without any delay.

"What high opinion or low opinion? We don't have to be so particular about what we do. We take what is profitable. It's only natural. Sun Moon Bank has broken the rules and blocked everyone's way to make money. We don't have to be polite. But after saving the money for more than half a year, my family is almost unable to make ends meet.

Mr. Wu, you came up with this idea, so you have to give me an answer. If there is no fixed date, I won’t be able to explain to the other families when I go back. Don’t blame me for being ignorant of the general situation then.”

If there was no Sun Moon Bank as a target, there would be fierce competition in the money lending business in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas between the big landlord group represented by the Wang family, the official and business group represented by Master Gao, and the gentry and powerful group represented by Master Wu.

Cun Yigong Money House was close to the water and had the upper hand, and it had a firm control over the raw silk and silk industry; Jin Sheng Run Money House's foundation was in grain transport and rice; Wu Fang Money House's biggest clients were private salt dealers and sea merchants who smuggled goods to Japan.

Of the 24 local money houses and silver shops, 90% of them regard these three as the most respected. Their power is similar and none of them can swallow the others, so they simply take care of their own business and do not interfere with each other. For the past hundred years, they have been living in peace on the whole.

However, the rise of the New Deal, intentionally or unintentionally, seriously damaged the common interests of local banks. The establishment of the navy brought disaster to the thriving smuggling industry along the coast; the abolition of the Canal Transport Office dealt a heavy blow to Jinshengrun.

The establishment of Songjiang Spinning Mill and Changping Woolen Mill allowed fine cotton cloth and wool yarn to occupy part of the silk market. In addition, the smuggling of raw silk encountered obstacles, which directly and indirectly led to the decline of life and death and silk prices, seriously affecting the income of large landowners.

Officials, businessmen, gentry, and landlords resisted, but Emperor Jing was determined to implement the new policy, and his actions were so cruel. He also controlled the military power, so they could not defeat him in a head-on confrontation.

Fortunately, the matter had not been done to the extreme, and there was no sign that the new policy would spread to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so they could only bear the loss for the time being. However, the sudden emergence of Sun Moon Bank once again broke the already fragile balance.

The issuance of Victory gold and silver coins, the implementation of universal deposit and exchange, the granting of agricultural and commercial loans, and the provision of interest-bearing deposit services, all of which were done to dig at the foundation of the money industry and cut off the livelihood of all money houses and silver banks. As the saying goes, blocking someone's financial path is like killing their parents. This time, they couldn't bear it even if they wanted to. There were only two options for the money houses and silver banks in Suzhou Prefecture and even the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions: either fight to the death and defeat the Sun and Moon Bank, and everyone can still survive. Otherwise, they had to clean up the mess, close down the business, and go home.

Most of the shopkeepers and owners of the money houses chose the former. Although there were many signs that Emperor Jingyang was behind the Sun Moon Bank, it was not under the name of the government. In theory, everyone was a common people against common people, and who won and who lost depended on their own ability, so there was still a chance for them to fight.

Of course, the prerequisite is unity. Regardless of whether their respective industries are affected by the new policy, they must work together to defeat Sun Moon Bank first, and then share the fruits of victory.

"Manager Wang, don't be anxious... Mr. Wu, the Lord also wants to know when the rebellion will start. This year's new disaster relief method has caused huge losses to the Jiangnan rice market, and Jinshengrun doesn't have much money either." Master Gao spoke in his usual gentle and soft voice. On the surface, he was advising Wang Dan not to be anxious, but in fact, he meant the same thing, presenting facts and reasoning, and was unwilling to drag it on any longer.

More than half a year ago, an alliance was formed consisting mainly of twenty money houses and silver banks in Suzhou Prefecture, plus eight in Changzhou Prefecture, Zhenjiang Prefecture, Yingtian Prefecture, and Yangzhou Prefecture, and six in Jiaxing Prefecture, Huzhou Prefecture, and Hangzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang Province. They raised more than five million taels of silver and deposited them into the Sun Moon Bank in an orderly manner, intending to use the stockpiled silver as a breakthrough point to attack the Sun Moon Bank.

This idea was proposed by Master Wu, and it was agreed upon by the money houses. At first, they just wanted to counterfeit a large number of Victory Silver Coins and replace them with lower quality and lower cost.

However, after many attempts by various casting masters, they found that it was almost impossible to counterfeit. Even if they ignored the cost, they still could not make a similar casting mold. Although it was a counterfeit coin, the quality could be reduced, but the appearance could not be too different, otherwise people would know the authenticity at a glance and no one would be willing to use it.

Everyone is an industry insider, and they are familiar with minting private coins. They can tell the quality and cost of coins at a glance. According to past experience, the Victory Coins issued by Sun Moon Bank are of high quality, with exquisite patterns, and the cost is naturally not low. There is no profit at all. The more they issue, the more they lose.

So if one plan fails, we'll try another. If we can't make inferior currency, then we won't make it. The Sun-Moon Bank can exchange silver for silver coins, and we can also use silver coins to pay interest. So we can deposit silver separately, and then collect all the silver coins we can find on the market, forcing the Sun-Moon Bank to increase the production of Victory Silver Coins.

The Sun-Moon Bank is in trouble at this time. Issuing a large number of Victory Silver Coins can alleviate the circulation problem, but it will also greatly increase costs, which is equivalent to cutting meat to feed the eagle, and is not a long-term solution.

Without issuing more victory silver coins, it would be impossible to expand its influence, which would be the same as not issuing them at all. Not only would it undermine the credibility of the Sun and Moon Bank, it would also be possible to obstruct the new measurement system promulgated by Emperor Jingyang.

The reason why this method won the support of dozens of banks and silver shops is mainly because the risk is small, and no matter whether you win or lose, you will not lose a lot. The quality of the Victory Silver Coin is very high, and there is no difference between depositing silver and depositing silver coins, and it will not depreciate even if you hold it in your hands.

(End of this chapter)