The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

The two of them had just said a word when a servant suddenly ran in and said, "Sir, Boss Chen from Suzhou North and South Goods Store is here."

Hu Yinglin saw that Wang Mingden's bright smile froze slightly on his face, and then he quickly smiled and said: "These businessmen are all vulgar and uncultured. If you ask them to do something, won't it be done? It's always done." What are you urging behind?"

Just as he was talking, he heard the servant outside yelling: "The master is waiting for guests inside, and you are not allowed to go in."

Someone else shouted: "We are a small business, how long have we been owed this money? Whether we pay it back or not, Mr. Wang has to give us an explanation, right?"

After a while, I saw a group of people pushing and shoving. In the middle was a fat businessman with a few thugs. He was making a lot of noise. The servants of the Wang family couldn't stop him. Finally, a group of people came through the door.

After Boss Chen entered the room, his stern look calmed down a little. He bowed to Wang Maodeng first, and then said with a smile: "Mr. Wang is a decent man, so he won't rely on the business of our small shop, but in business, we still have to settle the accounts." It’s better to settle things first.”

"Master Wang promised to give me five taels of silver every month. This jade screen and this glass cup are all top-quality goods. I worked hard to move them for him..."

Wang Maodeng's face turned dark, and he frowned and said, "I'll settle it with you later, don't delay my visit."

Boss Chen was invited out, but he probably didn't go far and waited directly in the side room.

Hu Yinglin was stunned when he heard this, and asked: "Friend Wang, are all these furnitures rented?"

Wang Maodeng originally wanted to trick Hu Yinglin into buying shares, using his fame as a sign, but how could he have thought of such a thing?

Now that he can't cheat money, he can only forcefully explain: "I'm used to traveling around. Where can I bring a lot of furniture? It's all dumped on the ground, so I rent it locally. Isn't it more convenient?"

Hu Yinglin couldn't tell the truth in person, so he could only nod.

Naturally, Hu Yinglin did not dare to invest any more money. The two said a few random words, and Hu Yinglin handed over his hands and left.

When he walked out of the yard, he saw Wang Zhideng entering the side room angrily. After a while, he heard the quarrel between Wang Zhideng and Boss Chen.

Hu Yinglin immediately felt happy, and even felt a little grateful to Wang Wenlong, because he would have thrown his own coffin into it if it had been a step later.

Five days later, the front page headline of the "Suzhou Xunbao" read: "The famous official Wang Zhen ascended to build a pavilion, but his money was missing."

As soon as the report came out, it caused a sensation among the public.

Wang Maodeng didn't have much background. With such a big news, Wang Wenlong naturally wanted to join in the fun.

He directly asked local low-level officials in Nanjing to help investigate the situation of Changyin Pavilion, and soon discovered that the pavilion was actually still in ruins after being bought by Wang Maodeng, and not even a single tile had been replaced.

Amateur journalists came to investigate again, and Wang Mingden initially welcomed him warmly. But when the official revealed his identity as a reporter and asked where the money was used, the Wang family suddenly changed their attitude and even drove the reporter away.

The strange behavior of the Wang family naturally aroused heated discussion among the people, and "Suzhou Xunbao" reported in three consecutive issues to dig deeper into the matter, and gradually discovered more inside stories: Wang Maodeng went to Jiangnan to raise at least 20,000 taels, and when he raised money, he was unclear. It was promised that the principal could be repaid, but only a small amount of interest was paid to the first person to pay.

"Suzhou Xunbao" reported the matter and caused a sensation instantly.

Many wealthy people in Jiangnan realized that they had been deceived after reading the newspapers, and hurriedly ran to Nanjing to ask for their accounts. Wang Maodeng directly closed the door and thanked the guests. It is said that they had fled long ago.

Then more information came together. It turned out that Wang Maodeng’s house, furnishings and even servants in Suzhou were all rented, and he also had a special idea:

He hired some smart servants in Nanjing to put on a show in Suzhou, and hired some smart people in Suzhou to bring them to Changzhou. In these days, when information was not flowing smoothly, Wang Maodeng relied on this method to deceive for a month or two without being discovered. .

It is difficult to sue this matter, because Wang Maodeng's explanation for raising money was to rebuild Changyin Pavilion. He only vaguely promised that the money would help the upward movement and be used for business, but he did not leave any specific documents.

Wang Maodeng's deception has mostly ended in vain in history. It is something that cannot be brought to the table. If the matter is dragged out for several years and Wang Maodeng's people are gone, how can we investigate?

These Shanren celebrities were able to pocket tens of thousands of taels of silver just by relying on their reputations. Not to mention ordinary people, even some officials were deeply surprised. This matter quickly became a topic of discussion in the streets of Suzhou, even all the way. Into the capital.

At this time, the demon book case is breaking out in the capital. This time the demon book is not "Continuing Worry and Wei Hong Yi", but has been renamed "Jie You Wei Hong Yi". No matter what the name is, it is the general content anyway, and it is also causing trouble. Everything turned upside down. Emperor Wanli, Crown Prince, Prince Fu, Concubine Zheng, and Zhu Geng, Shen Li, and Shen Yiguan in the cabinet were all involved.

At this time, Emperor Wanli, who was worried about this, accidentally learned about Suzhou from the eunuch, and felt angry and funny.

What's funny is that this thing is too ridiculous. Such a clumsy trick can actually steal tens of thousands of taels of silver from the rich people in Jiangnan. What's angry is that he feels that these mountain people are really lawless, and it was too late for him to issue the "Expulsion Order" , otherwise the second demon book case would not have happened.

As a result, Emperor Wanli paid more attention to the elimination of mountain people, and once again issued an edict requiring strict law enforcement.

Soon, checkpoints were set up in the markets in central Beijing to ask passers-by about their place of origin and work. Those who entered the capital without any reason were immediately brought to the judicial department for interrogation.

The relevant yamen in the capital already lacked officials, and they also had to dispatch people to investigate the demon book case. Suddenly, they had so much more work, and they were so busy that they hit the back of their heads.

As a direct result, within a year or two, there were almost no Shanren activities in the capital. The public security in the market has improved a lot, but there are also disadvantages. In the past two years, even foreign opera troupes have not dared to go to the capital. The tailors, salesmen, and knife sharpeners also fled, fearing that they would be caught walking on the road and accused of deceiving others and be imprisoned.

The man at the center of the topic, Wang Zhideng, did it with ease. He made tens of thousands of taels of silver, and he was already a veteran. He knew there would be trouble and made preparations in advance. All the money he made was stashed away, and he didn't put a penny away. In Changzhou's hometown and his house in Nanjing, debt collectors broke into his house and dug three feet into the ground, but found nothing.

Wang Maodeng planned to slowly release the money to pay bribes, so that he would gain some convenience from the official side and most likely would not be jailed.

He is over sixty, and he can grow old comfortably just by earning interest on the money he has hidden away.

And those who were deceived by Wang Zhideng can only consider themselves unlucky.

……

"What a fluke."

In Suzhou, Wang Wenlong's home, Shen Jing, Shen Xuan and Hu Yinglin, who came from Zhejiang, gathered together.

Hu Yinglin raised his glass as if he had experienced a disaster and said: "If Jianyang hadn't reminded me in advance this time, I would have probably invested my money in Wang Ming's place. I thank Jianyang for this glass." .”

"I don't want to thank you, I just analyzed the news a little bit." Wang Wenlong declined modestly.

"Jianyang's analysis saved us thousands of taels of silver." Shen Xuan also said with a smile.

Hu Yinglin said: "I didn't have the eyesight at that time, and I even doubted what Jianyang said."

"I'll give Jianyang another drink."

At this time, Wang Pingbao also came in from outside and said with a smile: "Wenlong, the Fuzhou Guild Hall brought a gift and said it wanted to thank you for the reminder."

Wang Wenlong quickly stood up and everyone went out to pick him up.

Wang Wenlong not only helped the Shen and Hu families during Wang Zhideng's fraud this time, he reported the inside story of Wang Zhideng's fraud as early as possible, which greatly shortened the time for Wang Zhideng's fraud. Many people reacted in advance and watched without investing money for Wang Zhideng. , otherwise the number Wang Maodeng could deceive might reach thirty or forty thousand.

It is also because the investment channels these days are too narrow. In addition to buying land in their hometowns, rich people are easily deceived when they go out to do business, so it is especially easy to trust famous people.

A once-famous scholar like Wang Zhideng really wanted to defraud money. If he ran it properly, the harm he could cause would be beyond the imagination of future generations.

(End of this chapter)