Ten days have passed since the lawsuit between Qianqiu Zhiku and Dongyuan Zhiku.
In the past ten days, the secret guards used Jiang Qinghe's case as a breakthrough and verified that in the past five years, Dongyuan Zhiku had committed 26 crimes using the same method, involving 2.78 million taels of silver and murdering 11 people. Twenty-nine people were involved in the QQ case, and Bai Jiangchuan, one of the only suspects, is on the run and his whereabouts are currently unknown.
After verification, the secret guards handed over relevant evidence and prisoners to Jingzhao Mansion, which immediately sentenced eight of them to death and reported them to the Ministry of Punishment for approval. The others were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to 11 years.
At the same time, the secret guard Zha Shiliyuosi colluded with Dongyuan Zhiku and framed others many times. A total of eight people including Si Yue and his subordinates were involved in the case, and they were all handed over to the Ministry of Personnel for handling.
Due to poor supervision of the Liyue Department in the Ministry of Household Affairs, one doctor and two principals were dismissed, and Huang Tao, the right servant, was reprimanded by the emperor.
Later, Huang Tao wrote a letter, saying that he was old and suffering from various diseases, and that he no longer had the ability to serve the court. He requested to resign from his official position and return to his hometown.
Your Majesty agrees.
As time went by, this uproar gradually calmed down.
Just when everyone thought the matter had been settled, today the matter was brought up again and became the focus of political discussions in the court.
Qiao Chu, the left minister of the household department, suddenly denounced Dongyuan Zhiku in the meeting hall, saying that he was greedy, shameless and bloodthirsty. It was a heinous crime and completely violated the original intention of His Highness the Crown Prince to establish Dongyuan Zhiku.
Qiao Chu's impassioned speech in the meeting hall attracted other officials to look askance at him, almost thinking that he was going to draw a clear line with King Qi.
But in the end, he wrote to His Majesty, believing that today's Qianqiu Zhiku is like yesterday's Dongyuan Zhiku. In order to prevent tomorrow's Qianqiu Zhiku from becoming today's Dongyuan Zhiku, the interest charges for mortgage loans from Qianqiu should be restricted according to national policy. The annual interest charged should not exceed 6%.
Moreover, except for profit, no fee can be collected under a random name. In this way, the prince's heart of loving the people can be upheld, and the people can benefit from it and relieve the people's worries.
As soon as this plan came out, there was a lot of discussion in the hall.
Now everyone knows that this is King Qi's counterattack strategy. Qianqiu Qiku absorbs deposits at a profit of 1 cent, and then lends them out at a profit of 1 cent and 8%, making a profit of 8% every time.
If the loan interest rate is limited to 6%, Qianqiu Qiku will not only make no money, but will also lose 4% between entry and exit.
However, although the ministers discussed it a lot, no one spoke out against it.
First of all, Su Shi caused heavy losses to King Qi this time, so it was natural for King Qi to fight back, so no one wanted to provoke King Qi at this time to avoid getting angry.
Furthermore, Su Shi was so aggressive at this time that both Qi King Zhou Yu and Zhao King Zhou Jin wanted to suppress his arrogance.
In the end, if the interest rate for borrowing money from the Qianqiu Bank can be set so low, it will definitely be a good thing for the people. As for whether Qianqiu Qianqiu is damaged or not, it doesn't matter to them.
However, after hearing this, Zhou Yi looked as usual and did not express his position on the spot. He just said that since the national policy was to be implemented, the Ministry of Revenue must come up with a charter and discuss how to implement it after the court meeting.
Qiao Chu was pleasantly surprised when he saw that the emperor had no objection, and hurriedly promised to come up with the charter for discussion within five days.
Su Shi had no idea what was happening in the court. It was rare for him to have free time today. In addition, his eldest brother Su Zhou was about to leave the capital, so he and Su Zhou spent a day sightseeing around the capital before returning that night.
After they returned to the mansion, they discovered that Princess Pingle Zhou Jin and Master Qin Zhidao had been waiting in the mansion for a long time, saying they had important matters to discuss with Su Shi.
Su Zhou had put down all matters in the capital at this time. After meeting Zhou Jin and Qin Zhidao with Su Shi, Shi Shiran left.
Zhou Jin and Qin Zhidao were not as cool as Su Zhou. Both of them looked at Su Shi worriedly.
Su Shi looked at them in confusion and couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"
Zhou Jin looked at Qin Zhidao, who nodded, and then told Su Shi in detail what happened in the hall today.
However, after hearing this, Su Shi didn't look worried at all. Instead, he nodded and said, "King Qi finally did something right."
Then he looked at Qin Zhidao and said with a smile: "Uncle, you have no objection, right?"
Qin Zhidao shook his head slightly and said: "My nephew once said that the King of Qi will not be reconciled to such a heavy loss and will wait for an opportunity to counterattack. Don't overpower him no matter what. So today in the main hall, I did not speak out against it."
Zhou Jin couldn't help but ask: "Are you not worried at all?"
Su Shi said leisurely: "I am indeed very worried. I am worried that King Qi will not think of this solution."
Although Su Shi said it lightly, it did not dispel their worries.
Seeing that their faces were still heavy, Su Shi explained: "If King Qi still wants to use some despicable means to deal with me, it will make me very annoyed. Now using this upright method is the way to solve the problem. .”
Zhou Jin was confused and said: "Brother Da Huang clearly targeted Qianqiu Zhiku deliberately, and you still say that he is upright?"
Su Shi said: "Not only who is his original intention to target, but also who will benefit if the annual interest on pledge loan is really limited to less than six cents as King Qi wants?"
Zhou Jin and Qin Zhidao's eyes lit up at the same time, because they understood what Su Shi meant.
If this item really becomes a national policy, not only Qianqiu Qiku, but also Qiku in Daqian will abide by this regulation. Naturally, the people will benefit, and many tragedies will be avoided.
Su Shi continued: "And if we really only rely on profit margins to make profits, this Qianqiu Warehouse will collapse sooner or later."
Zhou Jin and Qin Zhidao both knew Su Shi's follow-up plans and knew that Su Shi had unique insights in business, so they were not worried about making money.
However, Zhou Jin still pondered: "But now I am still worried that if this matter is really settled by the court, will those who have kept their money in the Qianqiu Treasury demand to withdraw it one after another? Now we don't have that much money to pay to them."
Su Shi nodded and said: "Although we have signed an agreement with those people, whoever withdraws the money before it is due will be compensated with two portions of Qianqiu Zhiku's interest. I am afraid that most people will not do this, but they have to be careful."
"Then how should we guard against it?"
Su Shi smiled and said: "Of course it makes them have confidence in Qianqiu Zhiku."
Then he thought for a while and said to Zhou Jin: "You will report it to His Majesty when you return to the palace. This matter will be formulated as a national policy according to King Qi's proposal and announced to the world. But please delay your Majesty's time. It is best to give us half a month." Time to cope.”
Zhou Jin said: "This is no problem."
Su Shi suddenly laughed and said: "Since it is a national policy, we must not only limit the pledge of funds. All loans should limit the annual interest to six cents."
