Realm of Power

At the end of May, the rain comes with summer, and the river water fills up and surges. At the backwater, the duck herders watch the fluffy ducks tumbling in the water for food. On the bank, the newly cut branches of the willow trees sway in the wind, and the river bank Above, carriages and horses came and went like a shuttle. In the river, ships loaded with cargo came in a line. On the dock, all kinds of goods from the entire continent were piled on the dock. , businessmen from the east and west continents gathered here, with mixed accents from the north and the south. The sight of Imperial and Central Asian languages ​​on the dock surprised the middle-aged man who had just got off a transport ship. This middle-aged man was thin. , the clothes on his body are not luxurious, but they are definitely made of Lianghehu silk with a very good texture. His eyes are dull, but occasionally there is a sharp luster.

"Father, have we come to the wrong place? Didn't we say that the prairie people are raging in the Imperial Capital and there is no human habitation for hundreds of miles? Why is this scene in front of us even better than my Longchang Port?" Behind the middle-aged man, there was also a group of people. A young man who looks like a guard. At this moment, this young man is looking around with curious eyes, looking interested.

"The place is right, but the scene has changed so much that you can no longer recognize it!"

The middle-aged man looked hesitant and said, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. The vibrant land in front of me was the Dijing West Road that I passed by half a year ago. At that time, I saw with my own eyes that the land was barren. There is no one inhabited for ten miles, and now, in just a short time, I almost thought that the prosperity of the Imperial Capital has returned again. Now I just hope that person is right, otherwise..." The middle-aged man stopped, and stopped talking.

"What if the empire doesn't see us? After all, Longchang is still in Central Asia." The young man saw that his father was so unsure, and the curiosity in his eyes faded a lot. They are Zheng Zhi and Zheng Zheng from the Zheng family in Longchang Port. Long and his son, although the Zheng family is also powerful in Longchang Port, they are not the strongest. Zheng Zhi knew that his Zheng family was too weak and would not be able to catch the eye of the empire. He carefully took out a letter of introduction from his arms and walked to a nearby shop. "Since you are here, just follow what that person said." , it would be better to ask someone first, at least to know how powerful this so-called Imperial Bank is.

"The Imperial Bank has an office on the pier. Turn left fifty meters ahead and you will see a three-story house." When the two people in front of me asked about the Imperial Bank, the owner of the store seemed very enthusiastic, which actually made him angry. Zheng Zhi felt surprised for once. After chatting with his boss for a while, he learned a piece of news that shocked him.

This place is one of the largest waterway hubs on Imperial Capital West Road. All the shops in this port belong to the Imperial Bank. Zheng Zhi was secretly speechless and took a deep breath. Although he had expectations for the so-called Imperial Bank, he also He didn't expect it to be so powerful. His son Zheng Long looked dull. Under his eyes, there was a row of shops that could not be seen. There were more than three to four hundred shops.

"The entire port belongs to the Imperial Bank. So how much financial resources and industries does the Imperial Bank have..." Soon, they found the Imperial Bank's branch on the dock.

"My name is Sun Hanli, and I am the person in charge of the Imperial Bank branch here. Is this letter of introduction yours?"

The person who received them was the head of the branch, a Central Bian named Sun Hanli. After reading the letter of introduction brought by Zheng Zhi, Sun Hanli's face became much more enthusiastic. After the two parties talked for a while, Sun Hanli said, "The Zheng family in Longchang, I have heard before, now that you have obtained the letter of introduction, I will tell you frankly that the Imperial Bank can agree to your request for a loan from the Imperial Bank, but this amount..."

"I also know that this is a bit against the rules. I borrowed money from your bank without any collateral, so the loan amount only requires two thousand imperial gold." Zheng Zhi blushed and said first.

"Two thousand imperial gold coins?" Hearing Zheng Zhi's words, Sun Hanli almost bit his tongue. He originally wanted to say one hundred thousand imperial gold coins, but he didn't expect that the other party only asked for two thousand imperial gold coins... This is not even the most basic bottom line. Not reached. You must know that these letters of introduction are from people sent by the empire to Liucheng Port. It was opened after recognizing that the other party was worthy of support. It can be said that a lot of money can't buy a port. Only one family can have such an opportunity. It can be said that it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to embrace the elephant's legs of the Imperial Bank. But in front of you Zheng Zhi said that even though it was worth two thousand gold coins, he was still hesitant.

Sun Hanli felt like he couldn't laugh or cry.

"If there are too many problems, a thousand gold is enough. My Zheng family has suffered this hardship this time. As long as we can get through it, we will definitely return it as soon as possible."

Zheng Zhi's face changed slightly, and he looked at Sun Hanli nervously. He obviously misunderstood what he meant. Seeing Sun Hanli's embarrassed face, he thought that his request was too high, so he quickly reduced the two thousand imperial gold coins to one thousand.

This time I came to see the Imperial Bank on Dijing West Road because I encountered an unavoidable difficulty. Zheng Zhi proposed to borrow two thousand imperial gold coins, which was already a considerable loan. In comparison, the Zhongbia court wanted to celebrate the emperor. Nangui, the latest iron money issued is too inferior, even if it is not available In the South, which was affected by the war, no one wanted the iron money. However, the government still used this worthless iron money to forcefully purchase supplies on the market. This was naked forced buying and selling. As a city in the South, Liugang City The center of commercial trade is naturally the most affected by this forced transaction.

But this time, the Zheng family was affected by this.

The Long family retreated to the southwest and took away the grain that Zhongbia purchased from the empire. Therefore, the court used the excuse of buying grain to provide relief to the refugees heading south and sent officials to the port city to buy grain. The purchasing official only agreed to pay with iron money. Whoever was willing to sell the last official simply forcibly apportioned the big families. As the largest family, the Wu family, with the reputation of being the family members of the court ministers, did not contribute a single thing or money in this apportionment, but instead received a lot of money. The Zheng family ranked first on the official commendation list, but because they had no support, the Zheng family was directly pushed to the point where they had to pay more than one-third. Don't look at the fact that the Zheng family is considered a wealthy businessman in Longchang Port. In fact, it is only based on assets. The theory is that it is about 10,000 imperial gold. The refugees are going south and the price of food is soaring. If the Zheng family completes the assigned tasks, they may have to sell off most of the property. At that time, the Zheng family may be far away from the Wu family. Swallowing is not far away

"You guys stay here first, I will report this matter immediately."

Sun Hanli hesitated for a moment and promised Zheng Zhi to report to the superiors as soon as possible, and sent someone to take the two of them to a nearby inn. With the letter of introduction, it was no longer as simple as a loan, it even related to the empire. The banks control the Six Ports City in the south. As the person in charge of this place, Sun Hanli naturally knows that the most powerful force in Longchang Port in the south is not the Zheng family but the Wu family in this intersection of north and south. However, This is exactly why the Zheng family was found.

Behind the Wu family is the second-rank Wu clan in the court. The Wu clan has always regarded Longchang Port as its source of financial resources. Now that the empire wants to get involved, there is no way the Wu family will agree, but Zheng The Zheng family is different. Since the Zheng family has been recognized by the people sent there, it proves that it is also important to the empire. There is no sense of rejection, and it can be seen from the other party's borrowing from the Imperial Bank that the other party is encountering difficulties. The Imperial Bank is completely following the trend, and then takes this opportunity to intervene in Longchang, one of the six port cities, as long as the Imperial funds Being able to enter Longchang, just a Wu family doesn't matter!

After sending Zheng Zhi away, Sun Hanli immediately boarded the carriage and disappeared far into the street.

In the dark night, Zheng Zhi stood at the window, looking at the bright lights in the direction of the port, his eyes full of worry. Two thousand imperial gold was not a small amount. You must know that the purity of imperial gold coins is extremely high, and the goods of imperial merchants come from the mainland. Everywhere in the world does not recognize the inferior iron money from China and Libya. They only recognize imperial gold coins. Therefore, the value of imperial gold coins is not affected by price fluctuations. , it is hard currency that can buy anything in Central and South Africa. Even in the black market, only imperial gold coins are accepted. One imperial gold is enough to buy thirty so-called slaves transformed from refugees. This kind of slaves are Those who sign a slave contract with their master can be said to treat themselves as goods and completely sell them to the master. Even if the master beats them to death, the government will not take care of them.

The Zheng family may be considered prestigious in Longchang Port, but in front of the huge empire, a mere Longchang Port is nothing, and the Zheng family is nothing! Even this port belongs to the Imperial Bank, which shows how powerful the Imperial Bank is. A little guy like me wants to borrow two thousand. It’s good that the other party didn’t directly slap me. The so-called reporting is just an excuse. Tomorrow I'm afraid we'll never see each other again, so take me with you By a stroke of luck, the next morning, Zheng Zhi and his son were at the Imperial Bank branch. Sure enough, they did not see Sun Hanli. Only one person greeted him. He brought two cups of hot tea and said, "You two came too early. Mr. Sun Hanli went there yesterday." I’m in town, I’m afraid I won’t be able to come here that early.”

"It seems that we are too ignorant." Zheng Zhi stood up with an ugly face and smiled bitterly. Why did he go to the city? Who would be so stupid as to lend money to myself with a letter of introduction? I just believed it. Damn it. I traveled hundreds of miles of waterway to get here. I am afraid that I will be delayed for more than ten days. How can I raise so much money to buy food before the deadline? , I am afraid that the Wu family will take this opportunity to add insult to injury and drive the Zheng family out of Longchang! "

"Please tell Lord Sun Hanli that we appreciate his kindness."

Zheng Zhi stood up and sighed. There was no point in waiting like this. He might as well rush back immediately. Although he couldn't escape this time, he might be able to save some foundation and leave a glimmer of hope for a comeback in the future.

"Your Excellency, please wait. Mr. Sun Hanli has specially told you that if you two come, you must wait for him."

"Really?" Hearing such words, Zheng Zhi blinked. Didn't he leave on purpose because he was avoiding him? If that's the case, why would you let yourself stay like this?

"Father, since Mr. Sun Hanli has said it, we should wait," Zheng Long also said next to him.

"Okay, I'll wait." Zheng Zhi nodded.

At this moment, Li Yuehua was standing in front of a desk with a respectful look. A young man with black hair fell on a report about the Zheng family in Longchang in his hand. He tapped his fingers on the desk. After more than ten seconds, the black-haired young man The young man raised his hand, pressed the report on the table, and said in a solemn voice, "These people sent from the south take the Zheng family very seriously and think that This is an excellent opportunity for the Imperial Bank to intervene in Liugang City. The report also said that the Longchang Wu family wanted to squeeze out the Zheng family, so they did this deliberately. If the Imperial Bank can lend money to the Zheng family to tide over the difficulties, it will be equivalent to giving the Imperial Bank money to help the Zheng family tide over the difficulties. The port city has done an outstanding job of publicity, but I think it is just a publicity and it has not achieved the effect that the empire needs at all."

"What does your Majesty mean?"

Li Yuehua raised her pretty face, looking a little haggard and pale. The person in charge of the Imperial Bank in Central Asia was actually Princess Mingyue, but Princess Mingyue had been trying to raise funds to save the refugees who were still stranded on the river for more than ten days. She no longer manages the affairs of the Imperial Bank, so she, Li Yuehua, is actually in charge now, not to mention that the infiltration of Six Ports City was her original plan.

"One million will be poured into Longchang, and another three million will be used to take this opportunity to fully intervene in the market of Liucheng Port. We might as well buy all the properties in Liucheng Port!"

The black-haired young man stood up, touched his nose with his hand, and wore a straight black empire uniform with a golden falcon inlaid on the cuffs, which increasingly showed a capable and capable masculinity. Since there is a gap that can be entered, then simply Use a huge enough capital flow to completely cover the entire Liucheng Port market

"After buying the Liucheng Port, your Majesty is not afraid of intervention from the Central and Asian courts?" Li Yuehua's body trembled slightly. She did not expect that the emperor was going to use such a big deal. It is conceivable that with so much money flowing in, the entire Liucheng Port would be affected. The city and port will collapse. Those so-called wealthy families will definitely be swept away in the face of such financial resources.

"Intervention? Haha, what are China and Bia using to intervene? Just rely on their iron money that can't even buy a piece of grass?"

"And we are not in the name of the empire, but Princess Mingyue, the wealthy eldest princess of China and Belgium who runs up and down the river, trying her best to save more than a million refugees!" The black-haired young man smiled nonchalantly and held up his hands. I patted on that report and said, "Tell the people in the Empire in Liucheng Port to push this matter forward with all their strength and to completely seize the actual power of Liucheng Port at lightning speed."

"Your Majesty did this. If Her Majesty the Princess finds out, I'm afraid..." Li Yuehua looked at the evil smile on the corner of the fat man's mouth and couldn't help but shudder.