People of this generation do not understand the power of financial institutions. Li Xiang is a person from the 21st century, and of course he knows how powerful financial institutions are. No matter what business you are in, unless you are never short of money, you don't have to worry about financial institutions.
But such a person is simply impossible to appear. Once your business reaches a certain scale, there will be many cases of withdrawing funds. Zhidaobao is currently the strongest financial institution in the entire Tang Dynasty. If you offend them, as long as they say something, those who curry favor with Zhidaobao can put you to death.
In the early days, no one noticed it, and always thought it was nothing more than a pawnshop and a money lender, but later they discovered that their influence was getting bigger and bigger, and even infiltrated into every aspect. Although it is impossible for them to enter every industry, the tentacles of capital can go in. They usually do not participate in management, but only invest in a part of the shares. But if you go against them, then this part of the shares may be withdrawn immediately. It's like a building. If the foundation is lost, can you still maintain it?
So when Li Xiang's words spread, no matter whether they were merchants in Chang'an City or merchants from all over the country, as long as they were people with a certain reputation, even if they had no cooperation with Zhidaobao, they were unwilling to get involved in this muddy water. Just because you don't need Zhidaobao now doesn't mean you won't need it in the future. It will be too late to regret it when you need it.
Of course, some people don't care about getting the treasure. They also want to take over the assets of His Royal Highness the King of Wu, but the problem is that they don't have that much money. They don't have the ability to come up with so much money at once like an ordinary businessman.
There are only a few people who can take over these industries, and now they all know what Li Xiang said. If they are not crazy, they will not get involved in this mess.
King Wu Li Ke looked at Steward Kang. Actually, there was no need for him to report anymore. The expression on his face already showed that he had reported everything. If someone took over, they would probably be shouted in from the front door. The three stewards in the family had tried their best and had established all the necessary connections, but no one dared to take action.
"Perhaps this is the power of capital..."
His Royal Highness the King of Wu suddenly remembered what Li Xiang had talked to him at that time. The power of capital is endless. At that time, His Royal Highness the King of Wu did not understand what capital was. Today, he finally understood it, but everyone has lost the opportunity. Li Xiang has already controlled the capital. It is too difficult for you to get the capital from him. The Five Surnames and Seven Families have no chance, Li Shimin has no chance, and he, the King of Wu, has even less chance.
"Your Highness, I've come up with an idea. Since we can't exchange them for money, why don't we just give these properties to them? We have quite a few properties, both large and small. Using the same shareholding system as Zhidaobao, we can divide these properties into several parts and give them directly to them. Isn't that the same as giving them money?"
The second steward of the Prince of Wu's Mansion suddenly came up with an idea. Since we can't exchange them for money, then we can just give these things away. What's more, these things are all high-quality assets. If they can't be sold in our hands, they may be able to be sold in the hands of those generals.
After hearing his method, everyone suddenly realized, why do we have to exchange these things for money? Wouldn't it be better to just give them away directly?
"Then hurry up and practice writing the documents to divide up our assets. I'm hosting a banquet for over twenty people tomorrow night. Here's the list. Divide them according to their official positions."
The King of Wu quickly took out a list from his pocket. These were some military generals he was going to bribe. Although their current ranks were not very high, these people were capable. They were not successful in the army mainly because their channels for advancement were blocked. This time, if the King of Wu could bring them some prospects, he would do so even without paying them. However, for insurance purposes, the King of Wu still wanted to give them a sum of money first, as a deposit. After they returned from the eastern expedition to Goguryeo, these people could take positions.
The subordinates were happy to do this task. Unexpectedly, after several days of worrying, they finally came up with a solution. The King of Wu also breathed a sigh of relief. If there was nothing tomorrow night, these people might say they didn't care on the surface, but there must be a thorn in their hearts.
Prince Wu was also Li Shimin's son, but compared with the sons born to Empress Zhangsun, Prince Wu's chances were very few. If he missed this opportunity, the next chance he would have in the future would probably be when he was already old and gray.
While His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu was busy, Li Xiang was not idle either. Of course, his current identity was very awkward, and he naturally could not do direct work in the army, but he had many subordinates, such as Qin Huaiyu and Fang Yiai.
Qin Huaiyu was the son of General Qin Qiong, and Fang Yiai was the son of the prime minister. When some low-ranking officers in the army received their invitations, they didn't know how to be happy. After all, to them, people like Qin Huaiyu were like white clouds in the sky. Although their official positions were similar, how could they be like them? They had a father who was a general, while we could only work hard.
Although the officialdom during the Zhenguan period was relatively clean, if Qin Huaiyu had been credited with the same achievement, he would have been promoted three levels immediately. However, if ordinary generals like them had been credited with a promotion of one level, it would have been considered a relatively outstanding achievement.
During the time when His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu commanded the Beijing Army, they did live a good life. At least compared to those sons of nobles, they felt hope. But the old ideas in the army have been around for a long time, so don't expect them to change so quickly.
"Lao Xiao, have you received the invitation?"
In a military camp in the southwest of Chang'an City, a sixth-rank cavalry captain spoke stealthily. Next to him was a seventh-rank cavalry captain.
"I got it too. The time these two gentlemen invited us coincides with the time His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu invited us. So where should we go?"
The Cloud Cavalry Captain was also hesitant. Although they were soldiers, in Chang'an City, if they were not good at hearing, they would lose their heads without knowing how they got there. The struggle between His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the King had reached a fever pitch, and they had to start choosing sides...