In the early morning of April 19, before the curfew was lifted at 4:30 in the morning, there was suddenly a loud sound of leather boots on the street.
Many new army teams suddenly appeared in the south city and north city, as well as the cavalry of Guaizima. At this moment, the sky was just getting dark, and the people were sleeping in a daze, and many of them were still dreaming.
"What's going on...what's going on...Prince Gong has come to Beijing..."
"Shh... don't talk. There are soldiers passing by outside. Thousands of soldiers are passing by one after another... I don't know what's going on. Are you trying to arrest someone?"
The common people in the capital were holding open the cracks in the windows and climbing on the walls to peek outside. As expected, there were countless soldiers on the street.
People's hearts are in their throats, God knows what kind of madness the court is going to get!
The operation first started in Nancheng, Wanqing, one of the largest pawnshops in the capital!
Li Tuo personally led the team, followed by Yang Zhi's direct descendant Liu Peiqi. A group of new troops surrounded the store in Wanqing Headquarters. The chaotic footsteps had already awakened the shopkeepers inside. Li Tuo had actually seen the door when he came. Eyes in the seam.
"Be polite for a moment and don't disturb the merchant. We are trying to persuade you to redeem, not force you to redeem...knock on the door!"
An accountant from the Ministry of Revenue walked over and started banging on the door, "Open the door! People inside listen carefully, open the door... The court has decree, open the door!"
I heard a burst of busy footsteps behind the door panel. Many tables, chairs and benches were knocked over. It took five or six minutes to remove the first door panel.
The shopkeeper, whose face turned pale with fright, rushed out and knelt down in front of Li Tuo, "I'm kowtowing to you, how dare you ask me what you do for me!"
Li Tuo jumped off his horse and helped up the shopkeeper, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid! This time the imperial court has official business... From today on, the imperial court prohibits the private storage of gold, and the national treasury must use silver to exchange private gold..."
"Don't worry, it's not forever, it's just like this during the war..." Li Tuo saw the figures in the surrounding shops out of the corner of his eye, and knew that everyone was listening.
"The national crisis is approaching and the rebels are strong. All walks of life must share the same hatred and fight against the enemy! And the imperial court needs gold to purchase weapons and ammunition... His Majesty kindly rejected the proposal to borrow gold and chose a fair exchange!"
"Everyone, remember, I am not robbing your gold, nor am I borrowing your gold. The imperial court will exchange it with you in cash... The current situation is difficult, and everyone must be united with the imperial court!"
The merchants on a street had their hearts in their throats, fearing that something might happen. Yesterday's rumors would become true today!
The shopkeeper knelt on the ground again with a thud, "Sir...Sir... our small account is not large in scale. We just do some pawn business and provide emergency relief to the poor. Where can we find so much gold..."
"Haha... Shopkeeper, don't be joking. Your Wanqingqing family is one of the best in the capital. Your business has spread to the south of the Yangtze River. How can you still make gold?"
"If I don't have accurate information, I won't come to you... Don't take any chances. Starting today, not only pawnshops, but also gold and silver jewelry shops, glass shops, foreign goods shops... and even private banks will have to exchange money!"
"This is the first store I've come to. The shopkeeper, please don't let me get into trouble!"
Li Tuo spoke very politely and sang with a red face, but Liu Peiqi sang with a black face today. He coughed at the side, "Haha... Shopkeeper Wang, long time no see!"
"You still know me, right? If your family doesn't have gold, I'll gouge out your eyes! When the capital stock market was booming last year, you pledged your gold to exchange for silver to speculate in the stock market. Did you ask me to match you?"
"A word of advice to you, good money is hard to part with, but you can't let it go! Don't waste your time...don't you know what happened to those grain merchants last night?"
"If the rebels enter the city, let alone exchange them for gold, I'm afraid they won't even rob you of a single copper plate!"
"Don't toast and you'll be fined if you don't eat!"
Shopkeeper Wang leaned on one side and fell to the ground with tears streaming down his face. "I don't know... I don't know how you can redeem it?"
"Haha, I won't let you suffer any loss if you beat ten to one!"
"Ah? Sir, you are trying to kill us! Nowadays, the private exchange rate for gold is fifteen to one, why are you still paying ten to one?"
"Unbridled!" shouted the accounting clerks around him, "The imperial court has laws and regulations, gold and silver can be exchanged one to ten. This was a rule that existed during the Qianlong Dynasty? How dare you abolish it privately and drive up the price? This is beheading. sin!"
"Catch him, this guy is dishonest. Catch him and check the accounts!" The clerks from the Department of Accounts, including Bi Tie Shi, Zhang Jing, and Accountant Huazi, were even more fierce. They scared many people in the pawn shop to their knees.
Li Tuo smiled, "Okay, okay... don't scare Boss Wang! We have to exchange in a friendly manner, Boss Wang, don't be afraid, who is the first to redeem gold in this capital, and the top ten with the amount of gold exchanged." , the imperial court will reward you!"
"As long as Boss Wang cooperates, how about I go back and ask for a pair of His Majesty's calligraphy treasures? This is a great gift!"
Shopkeeper Wang was already crying so much that his nose was running out. He cursed in his mind: Why do I want the emperor's calligraphy treasure? Town house? Looking back, Emperor Guangxu's army has entered the city. If I hang this calligraphy treasure, I won't let the Japanese behead six of them!
But I can't do anything without bowing my head now. "I...I accept...three thousand taels of gold..."
"Hahaha... Shopkeeper Wang, are you kidding me?" Li Tuo said this and walked away, directly knocking on the door of the gold and silver shop next door.
Today, Li Tuo made up his mind to be a good person, and he was determined not to talk too much nonsense with anyone. If he couldn't talk to anyone, he would just go to the next one!
But Liu Peiqi and the others behind him were very excited. "The people...surrounded the Wanqing Hao. They had a total of five branches in the capital and surrounded them all..."
"All the guys were separated and asked individually... I want to see how brave they are!"
Interrogate separately and testify against each other. As long as a coward reveals his secrets, we will continue to interrogate you in depth. No matter what, we will wipe you clean!
There were more than 20 people in the pawnshop's head office, including the clerks, court servants, second counters, and even the handymen. The wolf-like soldiers and servants threatened each one one by one, and they slapped and slapped their noses and ears until their noses and ears started to bleed.
The small traders had never seen such a scene before. In less than a quarter of an hour, they all confessed. The cellar door was opened and all the gold hidden in the secret compartment was taken out.
Liu Peiqi looked at the account book and laughed, "Is this right! Wan Qingdang, as the leader of the five major dangs in the capital, how can he get 20,000 taels of gold? Otherwise, how will you make money?"
"Look, how good the court is to you. I don't want any silver, I want gold... I don't want any remaining antiques and treasures, I want gold!"
"Write him a note and ask him to go to the Ministry of Accounts to collect two hundred thousand taels of silver! The rest of the people will follow me and copy it, put the gold on the door panel, and carry it through the market!"
Boom boom boom... boom boom boom... the gong rang, and twenty thousand taels of gold were piled on the thick door panel and paraded down the street under the escort of soldiers.
"Wan Qing... voluntarily redeemed twenty thousand taels of gold! The imperial court commended... a pair of big red flowers in front of the door!"
