In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

As the capital of the Song Dynasty, Bianliang City was not only beautiful and prosperous, but also full of dignitaries.

I don’t know who the princes, nobles and high-ranking officials are.

Sometimes a stone is thrown from the third floor of Fan Tower, and you don't know whether it hits a common person or a high-ranking official.

At the feet of the emperor, the most indispensable thing is the powerful, especially the generals of various families since the early Song Dynasty.

After the official rewarded the Cao family, there was no sensation in the court. On the contrary, the generals were quite surprised and sent people to the Cao family to inquire about the situation.

The generals of the Song Dynasty have been marginalized, a bit like the nobles of the Ming Dynasty.

The families of the generals have no real power, and their children have no other rights except for being awarded some honorary officers. They basically just eat and wait to die.

Originally, the same was true for the Cao family. Except for Cao Xiu who reluctantly served as the Imperial City Envoy with some real power, the rest of the family had little power and were often suppressed and restricted by the civil service group.

You must know that this is true even for a queen from the Cao family, not to mention other general families. Therefore, everyone was surprised when they heard that the Cao family had received an unprecedented reward and the officials praised the Cao family.

Soon Cao Cong followed Empress Cao's instructions and hosted a banquet for other members of the general family in Fanlou. More than ten people who were friends with the Cao family attended the banquet.

At the banquet, everyone realized that the officials wanted them to deposit the money in Jiaozipu.

After learning about this, some people were hesitant because no one was sure about Jiaozipu. If Jiaozipu went bankrupt like Chengdu, they would lose everything.

However, anyone who is wise will not hesitate. After the banquet, he went back to take out a large amount of cash from home and deposited it in Jiaozipu.

Because they know that no matter whether they can get the money back in the future, at least for now, they just pay to ensure safety.

Otherwise, the officials have many ways to deal with the generals who now have no military power.

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On June 29, there was a long queue at the entrance of Bianliang Jiaozi Shop.

At this moment, on Zhouqiao Street next to the Xiangguo Temple in Nancheng, the streets were crowded with people, all kinds of noisy sounds gathered, people coming and going were crowded together, and the whole street became blocked.

There were already many vendors on the streets here, but now there are countless more. Some are shopping, some are passing by, and most of them come to watch the excitement.

Wu Yaya, probably hundreds or thousands of people, filled Zhouqiao Street, and gathered outside Jiaozi Shop to watch.

Even the restaurant opposite was full of people.

Beside the railing on the second floor of Xiangde Building, several elegant and wealthy businessmen were sitting on it with contentment, overlooking the Jiaoziwu Gate below.

They were Zhou Yunsheng, Wang Min and others, representatives of Bianliang tea merchants, and there were several other wealthy businessmen beside them.

Apart from the tea merchant, the most conspicuous among them is a middle-aged man.

This man was quite thin, with a serious face and a mustache at the corner of his mouth. His name is Kang Xi, and he is a famous salt merchant in Bianliang.

Salt merchants are different from tea merchants. Tea merchants need to get tea from the court to do business. But there are no salt merchants, only official salt merchants, that is, the government appoints the salt to be sold to someone, who then sells it.

Therefore, before Fan Xiang, the salt envoy of the eighth year of Qingli Dynasty, carried out the salt law reform, the salt law in the Song Dynasty was a government monopoly, and at most there would be lower-level agent dealers, which meant that all salt was sold by the government, unlike tea. You can also have a private boss.

Kang Xi is the largest official salt dealer in Bianliang. He has a very good relationship with the government and is also a friend of Zhou Yunsheng and others.

At this moment, he looked down, his face a little ugly, and said to Zhou Yunsheng and the others: "Brother Zhou, Brother Wang, as the saying goes, the people do not fight with the officials. You are so grand and gathering people to withdraw money, aren't you afraid of angering the court?"

Wang Min smiled bitterly and said: "If it were not a life-and-death situation, who would want to offend the government? The reason for making the matter bigger is to save lives."

Zhou Yunsheng also said: "Yes, the imperial court wants to show face. There is nothing illegal about our payment. Shouldn't tea merchants from Chengdu come to Bianliang to withdraw money?"

"This is the principle, but sometimes, when we do business, we still have to be accommodating to the court."

Kang Xi advised.

But the two of them obviously didn't listen. They didn't feel that they had done anything wrong, because since the imperial court opened a Jiaozi shop, it was natural for them to save money and then exchange it, and it was not an offense.

So even if the court knew that someone was behind this incident, they would not dare to do anything to them.

Otherwise, who would dare to go to Jiaozipu to save money in the future? Then the court's credibility will be in vain.

It is precisely because they want to understand this joint that businessmen are unscrupulous.

After all, when they saw Qian Fakai, they chose to refuse admission, and the court had nothing to do with them.

"The door is open, the door is open!"

At this moment, as someone shouted from below, the businessmen swarmed to rush inside.

But he was soon stopped, and the official who handed over the affairs came out. An official wearing a blue official uniform stood on the steps and shouted down: "What are you yelling about? What are you yelling about? It's so early in the morning, you don't know how to queue up." ?"

More than a dozen officials who were responsible for maintaining order around them immediately raised their sticks. They also had knives on their waists. Jiaozipu Mansion had a lot of coins in stock, so the facility was comparable to a government office and was guarded by officials.

Seeing this battle, the merchants quickly took a few steps back, and then someone said: "Official, we came to Bianliang to sell, and we need capital. Come to Bianliang to pay Ziwu to get the deposited coins."

"Yes, sir, we deposited money in the Jiaozi Shop in Chengdu and came to Bianliang to withdraw money. This is the law set by the court. Is there anything wrong with it?"

Another person asked.

"Since you are here to withdraw money, it is fine. The court has credibility and will not owe you a penny."

The official said: "Come to the door to register, one by one, do not cut in line, make noise, or make a scene, do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, yes."

The merchants nodded in agreement.

They set up an open conspiracy, but they did not intend to fight the government head-on, so they all behaved well.

Soon, merchants entered the Jiaozi Shop one after another. The Jiaozi Shop was a bit like a government office. After entering from the outer gate, there was a large courtyard. Dozens of tea merchants lined up outside the door, and they lined up in the streets.

Kang Xi, who was standing on the top of Xiangde Building outside, looked at the scene below and said, "You need to register in advance to withdraw money. The government said that you can withdraw money within ten days at most. If you do this, they will also have ten days to turn around. Aren't you afraid that the court will be able to come up with money?"

Zhou Yunsheng sneered, "June and July are the most busy times for trade in Bianliang. There will be more Chengdu merchants coming to Bianliang within ten days. At most, we can withdraw money and then buy equivalent Jiaozi from others."

"There is no need to do this. What's the difference between this and a desperate situation?"

Kang Xi still persuaded.

Wang Min shook his head and said, "Brother Kang, you don't need to persuade me anymore. This is also unavoidable. You don't know how difficult it is for us to sell tea when you sell salt. Now that the court is like this, it almost cuts off our livelihoods, and we are helpless."

"Okay."

Kang Xi had to shut up and not talk about it.

There were a lot of people queuing below. In addition to the tea merchants, there were also other merchants from Chengdu.

Chengdu merchants deposited money in Chengdu, so they didn't have to take copper coins out. After they arrived in Bianliang to continue their business, they would definitely withdraw the money.

Originally, there was no need to rush, but today, seeing so many people withdrawing money from the Jiaozi shop, it caused a certain panic of bank run. Many Chengdu merchants who heard the news came to line up.

So this time is extremely testing the storage capacity of the Jiaozi shop in Bianliang.

From the opening of the Jiaozi shop in the early morning, there were still a steady stream of people coming in the morning. There were more than 100 registered merchants, and the amount of money to be withdrawn reached more than 400,000 strings, far exceeding the expectations of Zhou Yunsheng and Wang Min.

When the people they sent out to withdraw money came back to report this matter to them, both of them smiled from ear to ear, thinking that this was God's will, and God was helping them.

However, just when they were about to go back at noon and wait for news from the government, the door of the Jiaozi shop was opened to the maximum.

The official in the blue official uniform came out again and said to the people outside: "The court opened the Jiaozi shop to facilitate merchants to travel north and south for trade. When trade is prosperous, the people will be prosperous. Therefore, the court prepared sufficient coins for merchants. If you withdraw today, you will have it today."

He clapped his hands.

Behind him, more than ten officials came out with two baskets on their shoulder poles and placed them on the street in front of the shop.

Everyone could see clearly that the baskets were full of copper coins tied together.

One bundle is one guan. At a glance, each basket must have at least ten or twenty bundles, weighing more than 100 kilograms. The number picked out by more than ten officials was probably about 300 or 400 guan.

Although not much, it is still very visually impactful. After all, for ordinary people, 300 or 400 guan may not be earned in a lifetime.

The official said: "The court is trustworthy. Since the money is deposited in the Jiaozi shop, it will definitely not let the merchants not be able to withdraw the money. Where is Cheng Da Weng? Is Cheng Da Weng here?"

Cheng Da Weng is not a tea merchant. He is an ordinary merchant who came to Bianliang to do business. He wanted to withdraw 800 guan. When he heard the official's words, he quickly stood up and said, "I'm here."

"Did you bring anyone?"

The official asked.

Cheng Da Weng immediately said, "I thought I couldn't withdraw money today, so I just came to report and register, but I didn't have time to hire someone."

"Then hurry up, don't delay others from withdrawing money."

The official said.

"Yes, yes, yes."

Cheng Da Weng hurriedly got out of the crowd to hire a carriage and porters.

The official said again, "The rest of you who want to hire people should go quickly, and you can come to redeem in the next few days."

The merchants around woke up as if from a dream, and hurried to do it. The tea merchants looked at each other in bewilderment. No one thought that the court's Jiaozi shop actually had cash.

On the top floor of Xiangde Building, Zhou Yunsheng, Wang Min and other tea merchants looked extremely ugly. Zhou Yunsheng gritted his teeth and said, "This must be a strategy of the court to stabilize the hearts of the people. Don't worry, let's continue to watch."

Everyone continued to watch from above.

Soon, time passed by minute by minute, and merchants with a large number of carriages and people squeezed into Zhouqiao Street. The originally wide street became completely crowded with people. From morning to evening when the Jiaozi shop closed, people came to exchange money without stopping.

According to a rough estimate, nearly 100,000 strings of cash were exchanged today. Originally, it was thought that the Jiaozi shop did not have so much money, but the Jiaozi shop was like a bottomless pit. A large number of officials carried out money and delivered it on the spot at all times.

For a time, the reputation of the Jiaozi shop spread throughout Bianliang. Merchants from other places envied Chengdu merchants for being able to have such an easy thing without having to carry tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of kilograms of copper coins when going out.

When it was almost dark, Zhou Yunsheng and others in Xiangde Building had dull faces.

Kang Xi sat with them for a day. After watching the officials outside the Jiaozi shop below announce that they would temporarily stop here today and continue to redeem tomorrow, he stood up and patted Zhou Yunsheng on the shoulder, leaving a sentence.

"There is no good end to going against the court, so just go along with it."

He left with his hands behind his back.

Zhou Yunsheng, Wang Min and others were already as pale as death.

The tea merchants' actions this time were actually quite hasty. From May when Shengdu organized the establishment of the Bianliang Jiaozi business, to the end of June when they tried to gather many Chengdu tea merchants, it was only less than two months, resulting in limited strength.

But there was no way. First, Chengdu Prefecture had its own Jiaozi business, so the Chengdu tea merchants deposited money there, and they arrived in Bianliang on time. They didn't know what was going on when they were summoned by the tea shop staff, so there must not be many people.

Secondly, since the Jiaozi business did not have outlets across the country, only Chengdu tea merchants deposited money in Chengdu. Compared with the huge strength of tea merchants across the country, the Chengdu and Bianliang tea merchants were still not enough, so they could not gather more strength.

The third is the most important issue. They want tea permits and inflated values. First of all, you must have food and goods on hand to transport to the border.

How can you inflated the value of goods without goods? How can you get money out of the pocket of the court?

It happened that during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, Champa rice had been introduced to the southeast region. After nearly 30 years, Champa rice was promoted to the entire south. By the reign of Emperor Renzong, double-season rice had appeared in the south, and even three-season rice in Lingnan. Through this agricultural revolution, the population began to grow significantly.

Champa rice has a short growth cycle. Basically, it is planted in February and harvested in May. In addition, wheat in the north also matures in May. Therefore, from June to July every year, there is a great increase in grain on the market.

Generally, merchants in China and France will buy grain on the market at this time, and then hire people and horses to transport it all the way to the northwest and Hejian. At the end of the year, they will get tea permits and inflated high-value coins, return to the south to purchase tea, and continue after selling tea. In this way, the arbitrage cycle will continue to suck the blood of the court.

If they do not resist the cash method at this time, they will lose a lot of profits.

Therefore, they must cancel the court's policy as soon as possible in this short period of time, and then immediately buy goods, otherwise, if it is too late, there will be less food on the market, and they will have no chance to get tea permits again.

So in summary, it is indeed as Zhou Yunsheng and Wang Min said, this is the only chance for tea merchants.

But the reason they think they can win is that they know that the court is using a large amount of money from the Jiaozi shop to purchase food and grass, and the money from the Chengdu Jiaozi shop cannot be sent to Bianliang in time. If there is a run in Bianliang, it is very likely that the Jiaozi shop will go bankrupt directly.

Now that they see that the Jiaozi shop can take out money continuously, they know that it will be difficult for them, the tea merchants, to suck the blood of the court in the future.