"Actually..." The close steward thought for a moment and then said, "Grandpa, do you still remember the business of collecting silk cocoons a few months ago?"
Hearing him mention this, Gu Changchun's face darkened and he let out a breath.
Thinking about it carefully, this year the Gu family seems to be in trouble. Everything is not going well whether it is personnel or business. The Gu family's business is mainly bank and silk brocade. They make a fortune based on silk brocade and grow stronger based on the bank. A few months ago, I learned that there are silk merchants in Chaozhou. A large number of silk cocoons were eager to sell, and Gu Changchun ordered them to grab them, but in the end he fell one step behind and watched the big profits fall into the hands of others.
"What?" Gu Changchun said, pressing his brow.
"Actually, the price was already negotiated at that time...it's just that our cash arrived later than others..." said the confidant.
"It's embarrassing to say it." Gu Changchun snorted, suppressing a bit of annoyance, and then froze for a moment, squinting slightly and looking at his confidant, "Could it be..."
"At that time, the money was transferred from the capital semicolon..." the confidant said in a low voice and nodded.
"You mean he delayed on purpose?" Gu Changchun asked in a deep voice, with a hint of coldness in his voice.
In order to successfully obtain this batch of silk cocoons, Gu Changchun mobilized a large sum of cash and deposited it in a bank in the capital.
The confidant steward hesitated for a moment, "It's not a delay. He said that a large amount of money was released to generate interest, so it was a few days late to collect and send it... I also questioned him, and the steward in the capital was also aggrieved, saying that he didn't know about the money. It was used for this purpose, so as soon as I received the money, I released it as usual..."
Gu Changchun felt sulky and went back. For the sake of business insurance, the bank did not know what was going on when transferring the money. This has always been the rule. When a large amount of cash is deposited, the bank will lend money at high interest rates. , this is also a rule, we used to live in peace and harmony, but I didn’t expect that this rule collided with the rules and caused such a hidden loss.
"Are you sure he didn't mean it?" Gu Changchun asked after a moment of thought.
The confidant looked slightly hesitant and said vaguely: "Probably not...Old Chang is not an outsider..."
Gu Laochang, the steward in the capital, is Gu Changchun's family member. He has been helping in the bank since he was a child. He has worked hard for decades and has been the steward of the largest branch of the Gu family bank since he was a boy.
Gu Changchun's expression flickered and he was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: "Add the account books of the capital bank."
A few days later, a middle-aged man in luxurious clothes walked into the Gu family bank branch in Beijing. Seeing this man coming in, the busy boys immediately picked him up.
"Fifth Master, that gust of wind brought you here..." All the people bowed in unison and said with smiles.
This was a person with a high status in the Gu family. When the manager heard the news, he immediately accepted it respectfully. They sat down in the back hall and had some good tea. The two of them chatted for a while.
"Such a big thing happened at home..." The two of them were talking about Gu Shen'an's matter, and both looked a little sad.
"But, fortunately, there is Brother Yu...so we won't be in a hurry..." Gu Wuye cheered up and said with a smile.
A strange look flashed across the face of Gu Laochang, the steward of the capital, and he immediately lowered his head and said yes repeatedly.
"By the way, Lao Chang..." Gu Wuye took a sip of tea and changed the subject, "I have something urgent to do when I come to the capital this time. Please give me a bank check for five hundred thousand taels."
While taking out the note written by Gu Changchun himself.
Gu Laochang took over the careful inspection, and then won happily with a smile on his face, "Fifth Master, wait a moment, I will get it for you right now..."
Gu Wuye took the banknote, chatted for a few words, then got up and left. A group of people walked to the door in person and watched Gu Wuye get into the car and sway toward the most prosperous place on the street.
Not long after Gu Wuye's car had gone far, he suddenly turned a corner and turned into an inn with a bright facade. He didn't need a waiter to guide him, he went straight upstairs, came to a door, opened the door and went in.
In the room, Gu Changchun was sitting quietly eating tea. When he saw him coming in, he raised his head and asked, "How is it?"
"Uncle, he didn't shirk, he gave it to me quickly..." Gu Wuye put the banknote on the table with a somewhat relaxed expression.
Gu Changchun picked up the banknote and looked at it carefully, and let out a sigh of relief.
"It seems like the 700,000 taels of silver in his account are not fake..." he said, pushing the banknote to Mr. Gu Wu, "I'll return it to him in two days..."
Two days later, after seeing the banknotes that were sent back, Gu Laochang sat in the room with a relieved expression. He reached out and opened a locked box in front of him and took out an account book.
If Gu Changchun were here, he would recognize that this account book is exactly the same as the account book of the Beijing branch he transferred to, except that the content...
Gu Laochang slowly opened the book and his eyes fell on the last line, which clearly showed that the capital's current bank balance was less than 100,000 taels.
"Even though you are the leader of the clan, you still have to listen to my old plan when I come up with the empty city..." Gu Laochang said in a low voice, his voice lengthened, and he really started humming. After singing a sentence, his face was filled with a mixture of fear and gratitude. , unfold a piece of paper, pick up the pen and write a letter.
"Thank you, sir, for concealing Lao Chang's crime, and for pointing out that the Gu family had no big business dealings at this time, so that I had the courage to not panic under his probing move. I have no retribution, and I will only follow your orders." Well, after the goods from the South China Sea arrive, I swear to stop, and I will never do this kind of smuggling using public money again..."
After a few words, Mr. Gu often put down his pen, shook it dry, folded it and called a confidant.
"Go and send it to Young Master Yangzhou to collect it personally." He said in a low voice.
The confidant took the order and left.
After sending his confidants away, Gu Laochang stood up and went to the window to see the dark clouds in the sky and the north wind blowing.
"A big snowstorm is coming..." he said to himself, reaching out to close the window.
Towards the end of November, the weather in Jiankang became colder and colder. There had been heavy wind and snow for several days, and there were obviously fewer pedestrians on the streets.
Mr. Guo sat in the room with his eyes closed and chanted Buddha's name, but he felt upset and agitated because of the coldness.
"Come on, bring me some more braziers," she shouted as she opened her eyes suddenly.
The maid standing by the side hurriedly lowered her head and came over, timidly saying: "Madam... the master has ordered... the order... can only use one..."
Guo was so angry that he raised his beads and threw them at them.
"What kind of peace of mind do you want to freeze me to death before marrying me again?"
Gu Leshan stepped in at this moment and was furious when he heard this.
"It will only be clean if everyone dies."
Ms. Guo didn't dare to reply, so she sobbed in a low voice, "Master... How can we live this life... We can't even afford charcoal... The houses of the boss and the elders have been sold... If the whole family is crowded here, there will be a huge quarrel. …It’s better to die clean…”
Gu Leshan's face was livid, his eyes were depressed, he exhaled heavily and sat on the chair.
Just a few days ago, Gu Changchun suddenly sent someone to chase the one hundred thousand taels of silver they wanted to borrow. He had a tough attitude. If he didn't return it, he would open an ancestral hall, remove the family tree, and sell off his family property.
Seeing that Gu Changchun was not joking and begging for mercy in vain, Gu Leshan did not dare to neglect. He sold off all his belongings and collected one hundred thousand taels of silver to hand over. From then on, his life was like fire and water.
"Your supercilious son refuses to give out even a penny. I didn't believe it before, but now I believe it. Even if your father died tomorrow, he wouldn't even blink an eye..." Guo cried. said.
Gu Leshan's cheeks bulged angrily, he grabbed the tea cup and threw it on the ground, "Shut up! How can he have money?"
"That person named Huang who has a lot of money will get maggots," Guo retorted with tears.
"Stop arguing, the money has already been given to the clan," Gu Leshan shouted loudly.
Guo's crying stopped and she raised her head in surprise.
"Master..." Thinking of the atmosphere in the clan recently and looking at Gu Leshan's face, Guo's heart suddenly tightened. A cold wind blew in, and she felt chilled all over her body. "There is a meeting in the clan today, but... but What happened?"
Gu Leshan closed his eyes fiercely and leaned back on the chair slumped.
"The bank...run..." he murmured.
"What?" Guo covered her mouth and exclaimed.
In the Gu family, it was dark at night, but the hall was still brightly lit. The room was crowded with people, and everyone looked panicked.
"...More and more people are withdrawing silver..."
"...Grandpa... Taikang refuses to accept silk brocade..."
"...Grandpa...the four major banks refused to borrow revolving bank..."
One bad news after another means that one road after another is blocked.
Gu Changchun sat on the chair, his whole body turned to stone, and he seemed to have lost sight of the chaotic sounds in the hall.
How could things be like this... In other words, until now, Gu Changchun didn't even know how all of this happened.
Years ago was the peak of silver exchange. Logically speaking, this is not surprising, but I didn't expect it to be so violent this time. The most important thing is that I suddenly discovered that the bank's circulating silver was gone.
"It's been found out..." A loud shout woke up Gu Changchun, and several accountants came over with account books, "It's the capital branch, and three million taels of silver were transferred..."
"Gu Laochang" Gu Changchun slapped the table and stood up.
Only then did the room full of people realize that among the stewards who had gathered at home, Gu Laochang was not alone.
Once the source was discovered, the matter was quickly clarified. Over the years, Gu Laochang has been using the bank's money to make profits for himself, from privately lending foreign debts to converting interest to misappropriating the bank's money to sell goods by sea. The amount embezzled has also been More and more, until this time it was a huge sum of three million.
"Where's the goods?" Gu Changchun took a few deep breaths before asking completely.
"They said they were robbed by pirates...so...Gu Laochang also knew that he would die, so he ran away..." someone replied.
Gu Changchun felt his eyes darken and reluctantly stretched out his hand to hold on.
"Grandpa is not good..." someone shouted and ran in.
This kind of sound has never stopped in the past few days. Everyone is numb when they hear it, and their eyes are blankly following the sound.
"Grandpa... The Jiankang government office... I'm here. I want to raise... three million taels of official silver..." The person's face was as pale as paper, and he knelt on the ground.
"It's over..." Gu Changchun swayed and fell forward.
In Yangzhou, Huang Shiying stepped into Gu Yu's study. Gu Yu, who was leisurely writing ink, heard the sound and looked over.
"Mother is here..." he said with a smile.
"Yu'er..." Huang Shiying looked at him, "Is there still no news about the cargo ship hijacked by pirates?"
"No..." Gu Yu said with a smile and put down his pen.
"...Yu'er," Huang Shiying was silent for a moment, "The Gu family is in trouble..."
"Yeah..." Gu Yu said with a smile, "People's hearts are unstable, and once the crowding starts, it's like snowballing... My uncle's official career has been defeated, rumors are spreading among the people, and the court is full of doubts... It's really a leak in the house and it rains all night long. …”
"Yu'er..." Huang Shiying looked at him and said, "Mother has never asked you for anything..."
She bowed slowly.
Gu Yu lifted up his clothes and knelt down, "Mother is hurting the child right now..."
"Please solve the Gu family's dilemma..." Huang Shiying said.
Gu Yu raised his head, and Huang Shiying saw a real smile on his face for the first time.
"My child..." He shook his head and smiled slowly, "I can't solve it.