Sun Yanqing's face stiffened and he said, "Your Majesty, the specific deficit cannot be calculated."
The stock market goes up and down, and there’s no way to say what’s going wrong.
"However, since the seventh princess left the Ministry of Commerce, the number of new stock issuances has surged. Current statistics indicate that since the seventh princess left, the Ministry of Commerce has raised a total of more than 400 million silver."
"Of the 400 million silver, it is still unclear how many are shell companies and how many are regular companies..."
What? Four hundred million?
Upon hearing this number, there was an uproar in the court.
No wonder, the tax revenue for one year away from the court is less than 30 million taels.
Four hundred million, that's ten times more. This is such a huge sum of money. All the officials looked shocked.
Zhu Tianzheng also had an incredible look on his face, and seemed to be shocked by this number.
"Then where did all the money go?" he asked urgently.
Sun Yanqing said: "Back to Your Majesty, according to the regulations of the Securities Regulatory Bureau, companies go public to raise funds. If they sell equity, the funds will naturally be taken away by the company, and then they will expand production and so on, thus forming a virtuous cycle."
"During this process, the China Securities Regulatory Bureau strictly checked the qualifications of the companies applying for listing to ensure that they had the ability. Before the Seventh Princess, the China Securities Regulatory Bureau had always been like this. The companies listed at that time were generally in good operating conditions."
"But after the Seventh Princess, the China Securities Regulatory Bureau relaxed restrictions, and a variety of uneven business names were listed, resulting in many shell companies being listed to make money. There was so much chaos that it was difficult to find out at once."
"This is the relevant account book seized by the Ministry of Commerce, which can give a rough idea of the whereabouts of the funds."
As he spoke, he handed over a ledger and his expression became a little complicated.
Eunuch Huang took the account book and handed it to Zhu Tianzheng.
Zhu Tianzheng opened it, his face became a little weird and became more and more ugly.
The courtiers below were making a huge quarrel.
"This money must be recovered to seek justice for the people."
"That's right! These are the people's hard-earned money, which they have worked hard to save for half a lifetime. Just because of the inaction of the Ministry of Commerce, they have suffered huge losses. The court must pursue it to the end."
"..."
All kinds of noise.
However, all the ministers did not speak, their expressions solemn.
Since Yan Zhenlin resigned and Guo Wankai died, the six departments in the court were headed.
But at this juncture, the six ministers obviously did not want to get involved. After all, this thunder was too big and no one could contain it.
Zhu Tianzheng closed the account book with a gloomy look on his face. He looked at Sun Yanqing and said, "If the Criminal Department fully investigates this case, how much money can be recovered in how long?"
Sun Yanqing had a troubled look on his face and said, "Your Majesty, after so much time, these funds have already disappeared. Moreover, the accounts of the Ministry of Commerce are complicated, and it may be unrealistic to recover the funds in a short time."
"Even if we recover it, I don't know if we can recover one-tenth of it."
As soon as these words came out, the ministers became even more nervous.
Two out of ten? Then wouldn’t the rest of the silver be all lost?
What's more, it can't be recovered in a short time. I don't know how long it will take to wait. Even if it is 10% or 20%, it is still unknown.
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible. The exchange has been overcrowded by the people. If the court does not take measures, it will easily lead to trouble."
"That's right! The people can't wait that long. The top priority is to stabilize the people's emotions as soon as possible."
"I second the proposal, please Your Majesty to make the decision for the people!"
"..."
Voices came one after another, all asking for solutions to the problem.
Zhu Tianzheng's teeth were chattering. Didn't he want to solve the problem? But the problem is money. Where can I get so much money?
Four hundred million!
Even as an emperor, he felt a little numb when he heard this number.
But he still said: "Let's talk about it! Do you have any good suggestions?"
"Thoroughly investigate the Ministry of Commerce and make up for all the shortcomings."
"We're already checking, but what's the use? We just found more than a million taels of silver, which is not even a drop in the bucket."
"They must have hidden money. They must dig it all out. The most important thing right now is the money."
"How much can you dig? That's 400 million!"
"..."
The huge court hall was like a vegetable market, with all kinds of noise and noise. Unfortunately, there was not even the slightest constructive suggestion.
No wonder, they have never seen such a situation.
Zhu Tianzheng also looked at the various ministers with a cold face and said, "You guys should also talk about it!"
He Donglai, Minister of the Ministry of War, came out and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that the top priority is to stabilize the mood of the people, and those involved in the case of the Ministry of Commerce should be severely punished to quell public resentment."
"Where is Mr. He! What if all the people from the Ministry of Commerce are escorted to Caishikou and beheaded? The key is money, money! The people's lifetime hard work has been wasted. Without money, it is useless to kill more people."
"Yes! Silver is the key."
Many officials agreed.
He Donglai hummed: "At the beginning of the establishment of the exchange, the Southwest King once reminded that the stock market has risks, and you have to be responsible for profits and losses. Why didn't you say it when you made money before? Now if something goes wrong, the court will take the blame?"
"How can this be confused? The normal rise and fall of stocks is understandable, but this time it was caused by the Ministry of Commerce's random issuance of new shares. What is the difference between this and robbing money?"
"Such behavior is indeed too bad. The court cannot sit back and watch people being robbed."
"I second my opinion. The people's reaction has been fierce, and the number of people involved is immeasurable. If it is not handled properly, there may be big trouble."
He Donglin said angrily: "If they dare, I will take them down one by one."
"A group of ordinary people are naturally easy to suppress, but right now we have an invasion from the Kingdom of Jin outside our country, a rebellion from the Red Lotus Sect inside, and snowstorms in many provinces. If chaos occurs again, the situation will become even more precarious."
"That's right! Stabilizing the people's sentiments is a top priority, and we must not cause any more trouble."
"..."
He Donglai was silent. This was indeed a fact. The Li Dynasty was suffering from internal and external troubles and could no longer withstand the torment.
Although it is indeed not difficult to deal with ordinary people.
However, once something like this happens in Kyoto at the feet of the emperor, especially at this moment, it will definitely be a huge blow to the entire Li Dynasty.
The fact that the imperial court was unable to pay the bill already indicated a big problem. If this happened again, the people would definitely lose confidence in the imperial court.
In addition, there are countless officials involved this time, so the Red Lotus Sect will definitely make trouble. If it really makes trouble, it is unknown whether it will shake the country.
Zhu Tianzheng's face was gloomy and ugly, and he said: "What else? Who has a better way?"
The ministers looked at each other, obviously there was nothing they could do.
Zhu Kun originally wanted to stand up, but he was glared at by Zhu Tianzheng before, and felt inexplicably weak.
But at this moment, Zhu Tianzheng looked at him again and said, "Second brother, please tell me what you think!"
The voice was a little cold, and Zhu Kun suddenly had a bad feeling. It seemed that as long as he couldn't solve this problem perfectly, he would be in bad luck.
This feeling was very strange and made him a little panicked. He immediately tried to calm down his mind and then said: "Back to my father, I agree with what you have said. The top priority is to calm the people's hearts."
"But now the only thing that can calm people's hearts is money."
…
