"The Qing Times is the mouthpiece of the imperial court, so naturally it has to say good things to that little fool. You don't even know what's going on..."
A small group of more than a dozen people, all of whom have been friends for several lifetimes. They are all die-hard Eight Banners disciples. As long as Zai Chun's eagle claws and eyeliner are not around, they dare to talk loudly.
"There isn't that much food at all. Even if there is, it can't be transported. It's all moved to make room for cement, steel and ammunition... You can see, this afternoon there are soldiers going from house to house to seize private granaries..."
"This is all the property of the nobles and nobles in the capital. If all this is stolen, what will the Hunjun do with him in the future?"
"There is another fatal news... I heard that the Hunjun wanted to exchange silver for the gold in our hands, but he only gave us ten for one. Isn't this a clear sign of bullying?"
"What are you doing in exchange for gold?" Some people in the crowd didn't understand.
"Shhh... keep your voice down. Are you going to give gold to the Japanese devils in exchange for gold? Damn it, are you pretending to be Japanese devils out of charity? Are you going to sell us things properly? I heard that in the Chinese parliament, there are many thieves who are against our Qing Dynasty..."
"All the remnants of the Changmao Rebellion went to the Chinese side... I made it clear that I won't sell you anything unless you buy it with gold..."
"Look, are you black-hearted? The people under Xiao Letian are all wolf-hearted..."
"Ouch... So there is another trick? One tael of gold for ten taels of silver? Isn't the price right? I can exchange it in a gold shop, but I can exchange it for twelve taels!"
The domestic financial system of the Qing Dynasty is like this now. There is more silver and less copper coins. Of course, the least valuable thing is gold!
Since the main body of European currencies is gold, silver is just a precious metal in Europe and a supplement to currency, while Chinese silver is the main legal currency.
Therefore, European silver is very cheap. They exchange the silver for Chinese goods and ship them to Europe to sell them. What they get is currency that can be exchanged for gold.
This trade model will allow silver to continue to flow into the Qing Dynasty. If this continues, there will be more and more silver, and naturally it will become cheaper and cheaper.
The comparative price of silver and gold set by the imperial court was still the rule during the Kangxi and Jiaqing years. Ten taels of silver were exchanged for one tael of gold.
However, the exchange of gold and silver during the Tongzhi Dynasty has long since changed. If you don't hold twelve or three taels of silver among the people, do you still want to exchange for one tael of gold?
And the more war-torn the time, the more valuable this gold becomes, gold in troubled times and antiques in prosperous times! All the disciples of the Eight Banners understand this.
"Oh, this can't be done. Isn't this a money grab? The court is so unreasonable..."
"Be reasonable? Damn it, our dignified Eight Banners uncles have even gone to the streets with good citizen certificates. What are you saying about being reasonable? What the hell is this world!"
They took out their certificates of good citizenship and threw them on the ground to vent their anger, but after throwing them twice, they had to pick them up and stuff them into their arms. Without this thing, it would be difficult for you to move forward in the capital.
"Hold on...when will it be over? I will go home later and hide my wife's last bit of gold jewelry. I can't let them deceive me!"
There was a cold voice in the crowd saying, "Look, this foolish king won't be able to survive for a few days. He was already unconscious last night. If it weren't for those Chinese doctors who used the evil method of taking a body to exchange a life, he could be revived." He, I guess today is the day he dies!"
"We will live well until Emperor Guangxu comes to Beijing, and then we will have a good life!"
At this moment, a hand suddenly covered the speaker's mouth and said, "Keep your voice down, there are soldiers..."
Sure enough, a group of new troops, loaded with guns and live ammunition, trotted past the street uniformly, kicking up smoke and dust along the way. These soldiers approaching from south to north were aiming straight for the commercial street of Nancheng!
On the afternoon of April 18th, the rumors in the capital suddenly became true. Almost all the grain stores were surrounded by the army. The account clerks of the imperial household department brought pens, inks, papers, inkstones and books with the household seal. The seal came up.
"According to the order of the imperial court, I will take over all the grain... Count it immediately, and the Ministry of Revenue will issue you a note. Then go back to the Ministry of Revenue to settle the money..."
"How many granaries are there in your family? It's best to report them clearly. If there are any secretly hidden, we will immediately confiscate them if we find out..."
"Hurry up and count, report the real figures, and settle the money according to the figures... Those who hoard will be charged with treason!"
This has stirred up a hornet's nest in the capital. The grain merchants in the capital all have extremely deep backgrounds. Who can do this business without a backstage? Now the court has made it clear that they are going to rob them openly.
Some big shopkeepers even had the courage to ask, "Masters... I don't know... I don't know at what price the grain is settled..."
"Bold... Do you still dare to bargain with the imperial court? You profiteers, didn't you hoard these grains a long time ago? Do you still want to sell them at high prices to make the country rich?"
"If you say one more thing, I'll put you in jail..."
The shopkeeper's face turned pale. He looked at the wolf-like soldiers at the door and the officials who were coming in and out. He felt so distressed that he was bleeding. Some people couldn't bear it anymore and secretly stuffed some banknotes into the leading officials and whispered in a low voice. reported the font size of his backend.
In the past, people would always give some small favors to merchants with backends like this, but today everything was different. None of the officials dared to accept money.
"Haha...Prince? Baylor? They all live in the imperial city. If you want to beg for mercy, go to Lord Long Live. It's so close!"
"Copy..." Cold-blooded and cold-faced, without the slightest emotion, these grain merchants in the capital wailed.
Only the Chinese grain stores are very peaceful. There is no need for the Chinese grain merchants to find the aristocrats of the Eight Banners as their backers. The Chinese grain merchants are basically branches of a few large commercial trusts.
All emergencies in this kind of war are planned. When the imperial court came to take control of the food, the shopkeeper and the waiters did not panic and cooperated to hand over all the accounts and food.
After the Ministry of Accounts issued the receipt, they could take it to the head office for reimbursement, and they didn't need to worry about the rest. Through the relationship with the embassy, they got the train tickets to leave the capital, and the Chinese grain merchants left quietly. .
And the remaining grain merchants from Shanxi, Zhili, Henan, and Shandong are really lying in the wilderness! Some big shopkeepers had an emotional breakdown, and their grain worth millions was seized, and they went crazy at that time.
Some people were wailing in the street, some were cursing with black faces, and some were talking crazy and nonsense... Of course, some of them were hiding their intentions.
It's a pity that the court had already made preparations this time. All the grain merchants who were hiding were caught at night, and those secret warehouses were directly confiscated by the court. This time there was no note, so it was regarded as military rations given to the court for free!
The shocking news spread to the imperial city, and all the royal nobles who were gathered together in the name of safety were dumbfounded. They did not dare to speak nonsense under the low wall.
They looked out the window at the dark walls of the Forbidden City and cursed with all the curses in their hearts!
"Damn you, you stupid king... Why aren't you dead yet? You, like your father, will die early..."
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Oh,my God, my ancestors! More than one million yuan in food is gone...all was taken away by this foolish king..."
"Ancestor! Take this little bastard away!"
