Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Frightened Bird

"Hey brother, have you heard? That Deji Bank, which is about to open, is going to issue... issue what was it called again?"

"Issue, they are going to issue a banknote worth ten thousand strings of cash!"

"Right, right, that’s it! I heard that on the twenty-sixth of the seventh lunar month, they’re going to hide that banknote somewhere in Bianliang City. Whoever finds it can take it to Deji Bank and redeem it for ten thousand strings of cash!"

"Do you even need to ask if I’ve heard of it? In Kaifeng City, even the deaf must have heard by now. My old woman has already told me not to open my stall that day and to wait at the entrance of Deji Bank instead. As soon as the general location of the banknote is revealed, I’ll rush to find it. Once I find it, our family will become wealthy overnight!"

"Same here, same here. I’ve already agreed with my wife that we won’t open the shop on the twenty-sixth. I’ll be at South Gate Street before dawn to see if I’m lucky enough to find that banknote."

"Then I won’t be blacksmithing that day either. I’ll be waiting at South Gate Street the night before!"

The people of Kaifeng were not just passionately discussing the massive banknote. On the same day that Zhao Dezhao’s servants posted notices all over the city, a promotional jingle for Deji Bank began to circulate. From the white-haired elderly to the young children just starting school, everyone was singing it in anticipation of making a fortune at the bank’s entrance on the twenty-sixth.

"The bank is great, the bank is grand, the bank's banknotes are the best in the land! Trading goods, no need for gold, no need for silver, no need for copper or iron. A few notes to settle the bill, making trade easy and profits fill! Extra money? Put it in the bank, earn some interest, keep it in the tank. Need cash in a rush? Come to the bank, fair rates, fast service, helping your business reach the top rank!"

After leading his cronies and lackeys, including Liang Zhouhan and Wang Zhifa, through the streets and alleys and finding that almost the entire city of Bianliang was discussing his bank, Zhao Dezhao was satisfied. However, he also had to consider the issue of order on the opening day. He consulted with Liang Zhouhan, "Brother Yuanbao, looking at this situation, our bank’s entrance will surely be packed with people on the twenty-sixth. Shouldn't we consider how to maintain order? Otherwise, it’s very likely trouble will arise."

"The Prince's words are wise," Liang Zhouhan agreed, then suggested, "For the sake of security, it would be best for you to go to the palace and request an imperial decree, asking His Majesty to order your uncle, General He, to bring the Imperial Guards to maintain order on that day."

Zhao Dezhao certainly trusted his uncle and nodded in agreement. But halfway through, a thought struck him, and he said, "Would that be appropriate? Our bank is currently a private enterprise. To maintain order on opening day, shouldn't we seek help from the Kaifeng Prefecture first?"

"Your Highness, do you dare to trust the people of the Kaifeng Prefecture to help us maintain order?" Liang Zhouhan asked with a bitter smile. "With your talent, you must have heard the saying about 'asking a tiger for its hide,' haven't you?"

Zhao Dezhao did not answer immediately. He rolled his cunning triangular eyes a few times before saying, "Brother Yuanbao, please go to the Censorate for me. Ask Song Qi to step forward and negotiate with my second uncle. Ask him to dispatch a large number of Kaifeng Prefecture bailiffs on the twenty-sixth to help us maintain order at the scene."

"Your Highness, are you joking?" Liang Zhouhan almost doubted his own ears and said in surprise, "Ask Song Shubao to negotiate with the Second Prince? Don't you know about the bad blood between them? Sending Song Shubao forward—isn't that just adding fuel to the fire and achieving the opposite result?"

"How could I not know?"

When Zhao Dezhao asked this, the smile on his face became even more cunning. Liang Zhouhan was even more astonished, but remembering the nearly hostile relationship between Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Guangyi, he suddenly understood Zhao Dezhao's intention. He couldn't help but laugh out loud, saying, "Your Highness, you’ve developed a habit of setting traps for your uncle while eating and drinking. Your subordinate understands; I will head to the Censorate now."

Zhao Dezhao smiled and then instructed Wang Zhifa, "Zhifa, let’s go to the palace to pay our respects to the Emperor."

...

Under Zhao Dezhao’s personal arrangement, after some time, Song Qi—the current Investigating Censor who had once served as a magistrate in the Kaifeng Prefecture—returned to the back hall of the prefecture after several years. He met his former colleagues, Chen Congxin, Dou Cong, and Yao Shu, but Zhao Guangyi, whom he had come to see, did not appear.

Since they were already enemies, Chen Congxin gave Song Qi no pleasant looks. He went straight to the point: "The Second Prince is handling important official business and has no time to see you. Whatever the Censor has to say, just tell me directly."

"Very well." Song Qi’s attitude was equally cold. "It is like this: the Prince's bank will open on the twenty-sixth. Many people will surely come to watch. To prevent accidents, I ask the Second Prince to dispatch as many bailiffs from the Kaifeng Prefecture as possible to help maintain order at the scene, so as to avoid any chaos."

After speaking bluntly, Song Qi bowed symbolically and turned to leave, saying, "The message has been delivered; I shall take my leave."

...

Needless to say, as soon as Song Qi’s figure disappeared, Dou Cong and Yao Shu flew into a rage, cursing, "A petty man drunk on his own success! He thinks he has found a new backer, and now he dares to speak to us, officials of the Kaifeng Prefecture, like this?"

Meanwhile, Zhao Guangyi emerged from the adjacent room. With a gloomy expression, he calculated for a moment before asking, "What do you think should be done about this?"

"Your Highness, ignore him!" Yao Shu said angrily. "He asks for our help but dares to use such an attitude? If we actually do it, wouldn't we be bowing down and admitting defeat?"

"Your Highness, I also feel we don't need to give the Prince this face," Chen Congxin said with a sinister tone. "Our Prince is whimsical; he actually wants to attract customers with a ten-thousand-string banknote. By then, his bank entrance will be packed. If there’s even a slight accident, it wouldn’t be impossible for people to die. If that happens, the Prince will surely have a hard time explaining it to the Emperor and the people."

"Why not just go with the flow?" Dou Cong was even more ruthless, suggesting, "Arrange for some ruffians to cause trouble at the Prince’s bank on that day. Let him lose as much face as possible!"

To the surprise of his confidants, Zhao Guangyi did not applaud. Instead, his expression grew even gloomier. "If we do that, we will surely fall into that little rascal's trap."

"A trap? What do you mean?"

His confidants were all surprised. Zhao Guangyi sneered, "Don't you find this strange? If that little rascal really wanted our help, he should have come to see me himself. Even if he were too busy, he should have sent someone without a conflict with us. Why would he ask for our help while deliberately sending Song Qi, who has a grudge against us?"

As Zhao Guangyi’s chief strategist, Chen Congxin’s eyes darted around, and he immediately realized something was wrong. He hurriedly said, "Could it be that you, Your Highness, are saying the Prince actually has no sincerity in asking for our help, and that sending Song Qi to negotiate was deliberately meant to provoke us?"

"Why would the Prince deliberately provoke us?" Dou Cong was still very confused.

"Of course, to dig a pit and set a trap for us," Chen Congxin immediately replied. "The Prince’s bank has made such a big splash. Given the Emperor's temperament, he will most likely visit the scene himself to see the excitement. If we take the bait and, instead of helping maintain order, arrange for ruffians to cause trouble, the Emperor will surely be furious, thinking that the Prince is narrow-minded and doesn't understand the big picture!"

Dou Cong and Yao Shu gasped, saying, "That's right, that makes sense. The Prince's bank is in Kaifeng City. If any trouble breaks out on opening day, the Kaifeng Prefecture will be the first to be held accountable. The Prince might lose a little face, but he will gain the substance!"

Zhao Guangyi finally laughed out loud, self-deprecatingly, "Our ancestors have accumulated merit, yet we ended up with such a ruthless person in the Zhao family, always looking for ways to trap me. I don't know what sins I committed in my past life to end up with such a nephew!"

Chen Congxin, Dou Cong, and the others sighed, expressing their sympathy for Zhao Guangyi having such a supreme-level nephew. Then Dou Cong asked, "Your Highness, what should we do then?"

"There is a ninety percent chance that the Emperor will visit the scene incognito," Zhao Guangyi said expressionlessly. "Attempting to issue banknotes is indeed a great benefit to the country and the people. The Emperor certainly won't want any accidents. Since that is the case, we must prioritize how to make the Emperor happy and satisfied."

After saying this, Zhao Guangyi casually ordered, "On that day, have Gao Qiong and Zhang Ping both mobilize all available bailiffs to South Gate Street to maintain order. Make sure the Emperor sees with his own eyes how much effort I have put in to ensure his son's bank opens smoothly."

As it turned out, Zhao Guangyi’s prediction was correct. That evening, he received intelligence from the palace that Zhao Dezhao had visited the Emperor during the day and obtained permission for He Huaipu to station his troops secretly in the Four Sages Temple near Baokang Gate, ready to move at any time to maintain order at the bank.

Confirming this, Zhao Guangyi smiled bitterly again, realizing that Zhao Dezhao’s true purpose was to remind the Emperor that he might ignore the big picture and deliberately let the scene descend into chaos.

...

Thus, knowing that his unfilial nephew was setting a trap, Zhao Guangyi chose to swallow his pride once again. In the early hours of the twenty-sixth, before the curfew had ended, his two most capable generals, Gao Qiong and Zhang Ping, had already led hundreds of bailiffs to South Gate Street, setting up guard posts and using military supplies like caltrops and obstacles to maintain order.

The facts proved that Zhao Guangyi’s arrangement was very correct. By dawn, tens of thousands of Kaifeng residents had surrounded Deji Bank, creating a crowd so dense that not even water could pass through. If not for the large number of bailiffs maintaining order and dealing heavy blows to those intending to cause trouble, the scene would have been in total chaos before the bank even opened.

Zhao Guangyi also guessed the Emperor’s reaction correctly. During the morning court that day, the Emperor found an excuse to cancel the session. Zhao Guangyi, unable to suppress his curiosity, put on plain clothes and went to the scene to see what other tricks his wicked nephew had up his sleeve.

...

However, Zhao Guangyi clearly underestimated the level of excitement. By the time he reached the vicinity of State Bridge, the surging crowd had already blocked his path. Helpless, Zhao Guangyi and his men found a spot near Daxiangguo Temple that wasn't too crowded, stopped there, and listened to Chen Congxin’s introduction of Zhao Dezhao’s bank while looking south.

"...The nominal owner of the Prince's bank is Liang Zhouhan’s elder brother, Liang Zhouyu. In addition, two experienced managers have been invited from the Lingjin Academy and the Transport Commission to assist. The first batch of banknotes, besides the ten-thousand-string note, includes one-string and half-string notes. The paper used is birch paper, which is forbidden to be traded among the people, and the woodblocks were carved by masters skilled in micro-carving. Besides the exceptionally complex patterns, they even carved the 'Preface to the Lanting Collection' to increase the difficulty of counterfeiting..."

As Liang Zhouhan was carefully describing the information he had gathered, a huge commotion suddenly erupted from the south. Someone was heard shouting at the top of their lungs, "The location of the ten-thousand-string banknote has been announced! East of South Gate Street, south of Lushi Lane, east to Lijing Gate, south to Baokang Gate—it’s in a remote corner within these areas. Everyone, hurry and search!"

With the crowd roaring and news spreading, countless passersby rushed toward the designated area. The area in front of Daxiangguo Temple was no longer packed, as most people headed toward Lushi Lane, searching every inch of ground for the legendary banknote.

It was only then that Zhao Guangyi, who had been squeezed to the point of suffocation, breathed a long sigh of relief. As he looked around, he was startled to find his brother, Zhao Kuangyin, and sister-in-law, Empress Song, standing not far away, accompanied by his second nephew, Zhao Defang.

Having long guessed that the Emperor would visit the scene, Zhao Guangyi was not too surprised. He stepped forward to pay his respects to his brother and sister-in-law. Zhao Kuangyin was not surprised to see his brother either, asking with a smile, "You came to see the excitement too?"

"Since Dezhao has made such a big scene, of course, I had to come and see," Zhao Guangyi replied with a bitter smile, then added sincerely, "I must admit, I am impressed by your eldest son, Brother. To think of such a way to attract popularity—it seems it would be hard for this bank he opened for the imperial court not to be a booming success."

"I also hope his business booms and that the banknotes he issues gain the trust of the people," Zhao Kuangyin said meaningfully. "Guangyi, haven't you noticed that the banknotes Dezhao proposed issuing are an excellent tool for the court to accumulate wealth? As long as the people get used to using banknotes for transactions, the court can directly print them to use as copper, gold, and silver. At critical moments, this can serve as a vital tool to achieve great results with minimal effort."

"The Emperor's words are wise. I also believe that if the banknotes Dezhao proposed can succeed, they can be of great benefit to the country and the people," Zhao Guangyi agreed, while sneering inwardly: "I certainly hope he succeeds. As long as the banknotes gain the public's trust, when I ascend the throne, I won't have to worry about not having money."

At this moment, Zhao Defang spoke up, pleading pitifully, "Father, let me go and look for that ten-thousand-string banknote too. If I can find it, I will immediately follow my brother's example and donate the ten thousand strings to the Fengzhuang Treasury to fund the military campaign against Liao."

"Your Majesty, it's rare for Defang to get out of the palace; let me take him to join in the fun," Empress Song, who was one year younger than Zhao Dezhao, also pleaded.

"Is it that you want to go and play, too?" The Emperor saw through his beloved wife's intentions, asked with a smile, and then said casually, "Go ahead, but be safe."

Empress Song and Zhao Defang were overjoyed and hurriedly rushed toward State Bridge under the protection of guards to participate in the banknote-hunting game. The Emperor and Zhao Guangyi went to the top of State Bridge, looking down at the situation at Deji Bank.

Many hands make light work. Although the designated area was quite large, after more than an hour, a earth-shattering roar erupted near Chunming Ward. A lucky person had found the ten-thousand-string banknote hidden inside a wall crack, sealed in an envelope. The lucky person was naturally overjoyed, while others were envious and regretful, crowding around him as he rushed to Deji Bank to redeem the cash.

Unfortunately, although the lucky man saw the ten thousand strings of cash immediately, he had no way to carry so much copper. So, he followed the advice of Zhao Dezhao’s proxy, Liang Zhouyu (Liang Zhouhan’s brother), and deposited part of the copper into Deji Bank, taking the rest in smaller denominations. Deji Bank thus completed its first transaction—to be precise, using Zhao Guangyi’s money.

Watching from afar, the Emperor, who had decisively decided to support his son’s banknote issuance, smiled with satisfaction. Just then, a guard in armor suddenly ran onto State Bridge, stepped straight up to the Emperor, and saluted: "Reporting to Your Majesty, an urgent six-hundred-li express report has just arrived from Liao Prefecture!"

A six-hundred-li express was the most urgent communication method in the Song Dynasty, and the news came from Liao Prefecture, which bordered the Khitan Liao and Northern Han. The Emperor dared not be negligent. After opening the urgent report marked with chicken feathers and reading it for a few seconds, the Emperor turned decisively and said, "Let’s go, return to the palace immediately. Send someone to tell the Empress and Defang that I have an urgent matter to attend to and have returned first; tell them to return to the palace on their own when they are done."

As the accompanying eunuchs agreed, the Emperor added casually, "Also, send an imperial decree to Dezhao, telling him to enter the palace immediately to see me and participate in the discussion of major state affairs."

The guards and eunuchs agreed again. Zhao Guangyi’s heart sank once more, thinking to himself: "Being explicitly called to participate in major state affairs... it seems this little rascal is becoming an increasingly greater threat to me."