able to control the Liao Dong army for over a decade without issue, was not only skilled in leading troops into battle but also possessed considerable political acumen.Li Chen chuckled lightly and sa...Chapter 1711: Meet Someone, Accomplish Something

These summaries will be delivered to the Ministry of Household by official post stations, reaching Beijing from all over the country. As for the journey distance, the Jingji region is the fastest, with summaries arriving at the Ministry of Household on the same day they are generated.

Next is the southern region. The south is prosperous, with a large volume of transactions at money houses, and there are dedicated personnel responsible for summarizing work, so it can be done in about one and a half to two days to reach the Ministry of Finance.

“Although the cipher mentioned that the capital region was the first to erupt, from the summary received by the Ministry of Revenue that day, there were already signs of abnormal withdrawals in several southern provinces. There were many withdrawers but few depositors, which was a warning sign.”

“According to the schedule, it can be seen that a large-scale intentional withdrawal of funds occurred in the South a day and a half, even two days, or even longer ago. However, the scale was not large enough to cause panic among the people. Most were large merchants in the local area who withdrew their money, so it did not attract the attention of the Ministry of Finance.”

"Merchants have large cash flows and high demand for physical currency, which is normal. However, it's abnormal when many large merchants in an area withdraw money simultaneously."

“When a merchant takes money out, it naturally has a purpose – whether to buy goods, pay off debts, or invest in business. But for every inflow, there must be an outflow. If merchants in one area are simultaneously taking money out, and no one else is depositing money, even if they’re doing business with other regions, it's impossible for everyone to have found customers elsewhere at the same time.”

"So this time's run on the banks didn't start in the Jing-ji area, it began in the Jiangnan region."

Li Chen said that the clearer his thoughts were, the more clearly he spoke. With a light palm pressed against the table, he said solemnly, “Some things, no matter how tightly they are kept secret, will eventually come to light. There is no wall in this world that is completely impenetrable.”

"Right now, the malicious run is clearly being manipulated by someone behind the scenes. Such a large-scale event couldn't be orchestrated by just two or three people, so it requires more manpower. But the more people involved, the greater the risk of leaking information."

"In a region, the most well-informed people are often not the government officials, but those local figures, businessmen and merchants. They come into contact with all walks of life, have sharp senses, and once they sense someone is going to attack the money lender, who wouldn't be afraid of losing their silver So taking the risk is also about getting the silver out first."

"This explains everything then."

After Li Chen finished speaking, Zhou Ping'an and Zhou Changshou looked at each other, then bowed together and said: "Your Highness is truly insightful. One fallen leaf reveals the coming of autumn throughout the land. We admire you greatly."

All three understood, except for Chen Tong who widened his eyes and listened to a jumbled mess, completely bewildered and clueless.

He only understood one thing, the squeezing issue, it was not necessarily Zhao Xuanji as he thought, Wen Wang had a greater suspicion.

At this point, Zhou Ping'an had shifted his thinking and said, "If the mastermind behind all this is Wen Wang, then expecting him to take money is indeed impossible."

Li Chen's face was not looking good. He said, "King Wen is not considering it, and King Ning's side is also unrealistic. The pressure I've put on him is already significant. If I push him to contribute another ten million taels, I fear it will lead to a mutiny. If the 150,000 Yan Yun Sixteen Riders were to move, it would cause us to lose the subsequent war entirely. Such an act of killing the goose that lays the golden egg is absolutely not feasible."

After he finished speaking, Li Chen seemed to have made up his mind. He suddenly turned his head and looked at the Zhou brothers, saying: "Zhou Changshou, Zhou Ping'an, this palace wants you to return to Beijing immediately and meet someone for me to do something!"tisfied."Very good."Li Chen rose and walked around the imperial table to come before Xu Wei, giving his shoulder a heavy pat. "I've been waiting for you," he said. "When you return after making your m...