() "Your Majesty, this banknote issuance institution is built using cement as raw material, along with gravel and sand. It would be best if there are steel bars, but it doesn't matter if there are not. There are several advantages."
"First, houses made of cement are stronger than houses with wooden structures and are fireproof. These two functions are very important for banknote issuing institutions to store silver coins and banknotes."
Emperor Chongzhen and Wen Tiren nodded in agreement, and even Bi Ziyan did not deny the importance of these two points.
"Second, the raw materials for cement construction are cheap and available everywhere. The disadvantage is that the construction process of excavation, gravel, mixing, etc. requires a lot of physical work. There just happen to be a large number of idle refugees outside the city, and they can be used
Up, the cost of cement construction will be much lower than the current construction cost."
Several people have forgotten that the imperial court can actually hire refugees, and this will be the bulk of them.
"Third, cement is a new thing, and it takes a process to become well-known. Instead of introducing the benefits of cement one by one, it would be better to use cement buildings in conspicuous places to display its advantages. This will also benefit the development of cement after the establishment of state-owned enterprises.
Sale."
After Zhong Jinwei finished talking about the above three points, he concluded: "Your Majesty, building another place with cement has so many benefits. You can do it all at once, so why not do it?"
Emperor Chongzhen was already filled with joy. As soon as Zhong Jinwei finished speaking, he smiled and said to Bi Ziyan, "What do Bi Qing think?"
Bi Ziyan looked a little unnatural and replied to Emperor Chongzhen: "That's right. I have no objection. It's just that the banknote issuance agency has moved out of the Hubu Yamen, making it inconvenient to manage."
Wen Tiren didn't have much idea at first, but now after hearing Bi Ziyan's words, he frowned, his mind turned around, and he bowed to Emperor Chongzhen and said: "Your Majesty, I thought that this banknote issuance yamen would be an extremely important department of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, I
It is suggested that the Metropolitan Procuratorate should send a special censor to supervise."
When Bi Ziyan heard this, he looked at Wen Tiren's back with dissatisfaction, but said nothing.
Emperor Chongzhen nodded after listening to Wen Tiren's words: "The first assistant, Lao Cheng, seeks the country. What he said is absolutely true. I will send Dongchang to take charge."
Zhong Jinwei was a little speechless when he heard that these people had sent people to the organization before the organization was established. However, supervision from all parties was also a good thing, so he didn't say anything and just stood there and watched the fun.
After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, seeing that the ministers below him were silent, he asked: "My dear friends, do you have any other suggestions on this matter?"
Wen Tiren and Bi Ziyan looked at each other, then looked at Zhong Jinwei, and both shook their heads. After all, it was a new thing, and it was impossible to consider everything at once. They had no ideas for the time being.
Seeing that none of the ministers had any objections, Emperor Chongzhen spoke: "Bi Qing, it is up to you to draft a working charter for a banknote issuance agency as soon as possible and submit it to the cabinet for review."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Bi Ziyan bowed and accepted the order.
Then Emperor Chongzhen said to Wen Tiren: "After the cabinet review, hand it over to me for review. If it is correct, we will act according to the rules in the future."
"Yes, Your Majesty." This is a normal process, and Wen Tiren will naturally have no objections.
After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, he saw that Zhong Jinwei was there, so he said to him: "Master Zhong, you will work with the Ministry of Works to make the drawings of the banknote issuance mechanism and submit them to me for review. If possible, we will build it as soon as possible."
come out."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhong Jinwei replied. He has never eaten pork, but he has always seen pigs running away. Later generations have been to banks and watched movies and TV shows about bank thefts, so they always know a little bit about the internal structure of banks.
After Emperor Chongzhen finished his instructions, he felt relieved and joked: "Master Zhong, if your cement is not as good as you said, after building the banknote issuance office, the signboard will be ruined."
"No, no, if the cement effect is not good, just improve it. It will definitely work." Upon hearing this, Zhong Jinwei quickly explained.
Wen Tiren and Bi Ziyan couldn't help but chuckle when they saw Zhong Jinwei's expression, as if the treasure in his hand was mistaken for a lump in his hand and he was eager to defend himself.
Emperor Chongzhen was also amused for a moment. He remembered something and said to Zhong Jinwei: "Master Zhong, have the cement row houses outside the Meridian Gate been built?"
"When I came, I took a look and found that it was almost ready, but there were no tables, chairs or anything like that."
"Okay, tomorrow I will take all the civil and military officials to see it." Emperor Chongzhen said with a bit of expectation. This cement house cannot disappoint me.
Just when everyone thought that the discussion was over and it was time to go back to work, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly frowned and said: "It's hard to pronounce what Master Zhong said about the banknote issuance agency, the banknote issuance yamen. I'm thinking of giving it a name."
Zhong Jinwei opened his mouth and wanted to say, there is a name in the first place, but he didn't say it just to let you understand the purpose of this organization. He immediately noticed that Wen Tiren was winking at him.
As soon as Zhong Jinwei woke up, he stopped his mouth in time and did not make a sound, so as not to disturb the emperor's pleasure in naming.
"This banknote issuance yamen is used for the entry and exit of silver. Therefore, there must be a word for silver in the name. Everything in the world belongs to the three hundred and sixty-five lines. Therefore, I named this banknote issuance yamen a bank. Dear friends, what do you think?
how?"
Zhong Jinwei was stunned when he heard this. Is this how the bank came to be?
Wen Tiren and Bi Ziyan nodded repeatedly after hearing this. One said, "Your Majesty, you can solve it in seconds." The other said, "Your Majesty's words make sense. It should be called a bank."
I don’t know if they were flattering or sincerely agreeing, but Zhong Jinwei couldn’t tell.
Emperor Chongzhen was very happy to see that the two ministers agreed with his point of view. When he was interested, he simply wrote an inscription first and hung it up when the door was opened later, which also showed the emperor's importance.
So, several ministers began to praise Emperor Chongzhen's calligraphy. Finally, the emperor and his ministers dispersed happily, each doing their own thing.
Not to mention that Zhong Jinwei ran to Xu Guangqi to design the bank's architectural drawings. In the afternoon, Emperor Chongzhen was working in the Wenhua Hall, and Wang Chengen suddenly came over.
"Your Majesty, the reasons for the resignations of Yushi Gaojie and Liu Peng, the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, have been found out."
"Oh, what's the reason?" Emperor Chongzhen said as he continued to approve the memorial with his head down.
"These two people are afraid that Your Majesty will ask the factory guards to investigate corruption, so they want to resign and go back." Wang Chengen responded in a normal tone, but his heart was full of pride. Before he could take action, he could scare the two civil servants into fainting.
Only factory guards can do this.
"What? Are you serious about this?" Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly raised his head and looked at Wang Chengen.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Why are these two so corrupt and so afraid of investigation?" Emperor Chongzhen asked immediately.
"Your Majesty, as soon as I find out the reason for the two people's resignation, I will report to Your Majesty. I don't know the details of the two people's corruption yet, so I will let the subordinates investigate." Wang Chengen bowed to explain, and then expressed his position to Emperor Chongzhen.
"Okay, we can't give these two thieves an advantage. It looks like you've made enough money, and then you can be a shopkeeper and go home to enjoy your life. It's not that cheap. Let me check." Emperor Chongzhen put down the brush and instructed Wang Cheng'en.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will go check it out right now." Wang Chengen felt proud that he had work to do again. After answering Emperor Chongzhen, he slowly backed away, then turned around and walked towards the palace gate.
Just when Wang Chengen walked to the entrance of the palace, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly said again: "Come back, my dear companion."
When Wang Chengen heard this, he thought there was something else to do, so he quickly returned to the palace, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, what else do you need your slaves for?"
"There's no need for you to go check. Send Luo Yangxing, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, to see me."
Wang Chengen was startled when he heard that he seemed to have done nothing wrong and did not mess up anything. Why did the emperor not trust him? So he faced Emperor Chongzhen and said in fear: "Your Majesty, have you done something wrong?"
"Haha, there's no need to worry, eldest companion. It's none of eldest companion's business. I had an appointment with the civil servants before, and I asked the Jin Yiwei to investigate corruption. I have to keep my word."
Emperor Chongzhen saw Wang Chengen's frightened look, turned his anger into a smile, and explained kindly.
When Wang Chengen heard that it was not his problem, he felt relieved, went to the door, and asked his chamberlain to convey Emperor Chongzhen's will.
Not long after, Luo Yangxing, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, rushed over. After receiving the order from Emperor Chongzhen, he ran off to investigate.
At this time, in the cabinet, there was a dispute between the chief minister and the ministers.