In the Zhengshi Hall, Yuan Guizheng walked up the stairs. Zhang Yan called him from behind: "Master Yuan..."
Liu Zhi was still recuperating, and Zhang Yan was still serving as the Internal Affairs Supervisor and in charge of the Salt and Iron Department. However, after the Royal Horse Supervisor in charge of the palace guards was abolished, the Internal Affairs Supervisor's original title of "Internal Prime Minister" became somewhat weak.
Yuan Guizheng stopped, waited for Zhang Yan to come over, and asked: "Master Zhang, do you want to see me?"
"The Ministry of Household Affairs proposed to use salt profits as pledge to raise funds from Huaidong Bank. What does Mr. Yuan think?" Zhang Yan asked.
"So it's about this..." Yuan Guizheng responded, but was not in a hurry to answer Zhang Yan. He stood in front of the steps and frowned in thought.
The Zhengshi Hall, also known as Zhongshu Menxia or Zhongshu Dutang, is where all ministers discuss matters. Zhang Yan is the governor of the province, and if there is no important matter, access to the capital hall is still restricted. However, when the Yuan Dynasty returned to power, he returned to Jiangning and parted ways with Shen Rong. He was appointed as the minister's disciple to give advice to Zhizhong and Zhizhi, and he was added as a bachelor of Chongwen Palace and a bachelor of Chongzheng Palace. It would be more convenient to enter and exit the capital hall.
When the Yuan Dynasty returned to the government, he was appointed as a subordinate of Shangshu Mengei Shizhong, who had the right to refute the memorials; while Shen Rong was appointed as an admonisher, an admonisher outside the imperial court system, specializing in correcting the conduct of ministers and the emperor - Shangshumen Gei Shizhong The two positions of Zhijian and Zhijian were established in the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, but were abolished during the Kaiping period. The re-establishment of these two officials this time is a concrete manifestation of the Yongxing Emperor's sin and the Queen Mother's supervision of the government - both positions are from the fourth generation. Although he is of high rank, his position is humble and powerful, and he has a bachelor's degree in the palace, so he can't help but walk around the palace.
When Yuan Guizheng went to live in the nest, he met Zhang Cheng, Yu Zuo and others who wanted to divide the bank deposits of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Internal Affairs Bureau, and the Ministry of Works that had been moved away from Jiangning by ship, so as not to give it to Huaidong. This was when Yuan Guizheng arrived. At that time, Nanyang also made a fortune, but this time the bank split completely caused the central government's financial pocket to be completely wiped out.
Cheng Yu, Zhang Zuo and others can only fend for themselves at this time and have to deal with the financial crisis that the central government is currently facing.
Speaking of which, it is also Huaidong's trick of playing hard to get - if Huaidong takes over all the political power, Cheng Yu, Zhang Zuo and others will naturally not ask about money and silver, and any trouble can be pushed to Huaidong. On the head.
However, after Emperor Yongxing returned to Jiangning with hundreds of officials, Lin Fu did not try to completely control the court. Except for the Privy Council, which held military and political power, there were only a few officials from the Zhengshi Hall and the Six Ministries in Huaidong.
Under this situation, if Cheng Yu, Zhang Zuo and others did nothing, they would first offend the officials of various ministries and temples who had defaulted on their salaries, and push them to Huaidong - flee Jiangning, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, It was no secret that the government's silver reserves were moved onto the ship, but they came back empty-handed. The documents were burned and there was no way to check the accounts, but it was impossible to appease the anger of the officials.
If Cheng, Yu, Zhang Zuo and others did not have a proper plan, they would leave the mess to Huaidong to take over. If Huaidong completely controls the government at this time, who in the world can say that Huaidong is not good?
Lin Xuwen, on behalf of the Ministry of Revenue, came up with a plan to borrow money from Huaidong Bank. He only wanted to borrow four million taels of silver from Huaidong Bank at a time to deal with the current crisis. The conditions proposed by Huaidong Bank were naturally harsh:
Four million taels of silver, with an annual interest rate of 20%. The loan period is ten years. Interest will be paid yearly within ten years. The entire principal will be returned in one lump sum after ten years. Borrowing four million taels of silver will require a total of 12 million taels of silver to be repaid within ten years. Not only the silver, but also the salt tax revenue from the workshops, mines under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry and the Salt and Iron Department must be used as collateral for the loan.
The workshops and mines were entrusted to banks to operate, and any surplus would be used to offset the annual interest. In the view of Yuan Guizheng, Huaidong should pay more attention to the salt profits of the two Huaihe rivers.
When Lianghuai salt was marketed to surrounding counties, the highest salt tax revenue was as much as 3 million taels of silver a year. At this time, it has shrunk to less than 1.5 million taels of silver. Huaidong Bank proposed to use salt profits as collateral, that is,
Every year, half of the salt profit must be directly transferred as annual interest, and the bank must recommend officials to serve as deputy salt and iron envoys, who directly have the power to transfer and transfer salt and silver.
I have seen shameless people, but I have never seen such shameless ones - Yuan Guizheng knew that returning to Jiangning this time would tear apart the veil of tenderness between him and Huaidong, and face Huaidong who had become a giant, but he didn't
Thinking that Huaidong's methods were so cunning, he frowned and said, "If we agree to these conditions, we can solve our urgent needs, but there is a danger of drinking poison to quench our thirst: How can we save the annual interest of 800,000 taels of silver? We will arrive in ten years.
How to accumulate the principal of four million taels in the future? The entire central finance department is constantly sucking blood from Huaidong, and finally it forms a mess. In the end, you have to ask Huaidong to take over and solve it... I have never seen any of the powerful officials in the past and present.
His methods are so feminine!”
"But it's not a matter of dragging it on - there are rumors below that if the salary is not paid, the officials will gather outside Chong'an Gate to kowtow..." Zhang Yan said, stamping his feet.
"What do Cheng Xiang, Zuo Xiang and Yu Xiang mean?" Yuan Guizheng asked.
"Drinking poison to quench thirst is a last resort. You have to survive the difficulties before you," Zhang Yan said. "Most of the factories and mines under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry have been destroyed by the war and cannot recover. There is no regret in throwing them away.
Salt profit is the only major income that can be grasped in the future. It will be infiltrated by Huaidong, and the consequences will be endless. Furthermore, the annual interest rate for two years is too heavy. In the next ten years, the court may have difficulty paying the annual interest..."
Zhang Yan did not elaborate on which idea was which, but what he said was generally the consensus of Cheng Yuqian, Zuo Chengmu and Yu Xinyuan - it is imperative to borrow money from Huaidong Bank, but they just hope that the conditions can be negotiated loosely
Some.
Seeing Yuan Guizheng frowning like this, Zhang Yan stamped his feet and said: "The annual interest rate has dropped to less than 10%, and we can still do it. The worst is to leave the hat of salt and iron envoy to Huaidong. We must get over the current difficulties first!"
Yuan Guizheng smiled bitterly, Zhang Yan and the others were at their wits' end, so what could he do?
Speaking of which, Huaidong Bank still has a principal of 100,000 taels of silver invested by Yongchang Houfu. I didn't expect it to be such a huge thing today. In addition to the previous loan to Jiangning Mansion, it turned out to be just one month.
In that time, he could take out five million taels of silver - Yuan Guizheng thought to himself: From now on, should he hope that Huaidong Bank will collapse or not?
When Yuan Guizheng and Zhang Yan entered the capital hall, they saw Cheng Yuqian, Zuo Chengmu, and Yu Xinyuan, but not Lin Xuwen. The five of them discussed it together and sent someone to summon Lin Mengde. Although the general manager of Huaidong Bank was
Zhou Guangnan, but Zhou Guangnan was a businessman and not an official. Cheng Zuo, Yu Zhang and others could not let go of their dignity and directly summoned Zhou Guangnan to the political hall to discuss the loan.
Anyway, Lin Mengde is the real God of Wealth in Huaidong, so calling Lin Mengde over would always be a good idea.
***************
For thousands of years, national finance has mainly relied on land tax and Ding tax, and the increase of land tax and Ding tax has been the slowest, and the collection of it has been the most laborious. In addition to the land tax and Ding tax, there were also over-taxes in the world.
Municipal taxes, consultation taxes (salt tax, brewing tax, tea tax and other specialty taxes), miscellaneous taxes such as donations, military donations, and capitation assessments with various names.
Among them, taxation was placed under the inner government. However, after Emperor Yongxing ascended the throne in Jiangning, in order to increase the income of the inner government and expand his imperial power, he incorporated municipal taxes and over-taxes into the collection scope of the inner government. In fact, he could only control the surrounding areas of Jiangning.
The municipal tax, land tax, and Ding tax are assigned to the Ministry of Household Affairs; the miscellaneous donations such as fire expenses, foot fees, and capitation and other miscellaneous taxes that come with the collection of land tax and Ding tax are mainly sources of local revenue.
Since the Yue Dynasty, imperial estates have been set up in various places, directly occupying large areas of grain fields, and the income and tribute paid by various places in response to orders are all placed under the jurisdiction of the inner government - these are all aspects of imperial power in this world.
reflect.
Lin Fu made Lin Xuwen directly control the Ministry of Household Affairs. The next goal was to deprive the inner government of its financial rights and merge them into the Ministry of Household Affairs.
When Lin Xuwen and Gao Zongting went to Juchao to welcome Emperor Yongxing back to Jiangning, both parties acknowledged that what had happened was that the Jiangning government office borrowed money to redeem rice and pledged the municipal commercial tax revenue from the surrounding areas of Jiangning to Huaidong Bank.
It was set aside from the income of the internal government.
For this reason, Huaidong Bank specially recommended Zhou Guangdong to establish the Jiangning Lijin Bureau to take charge of this matter. The principal and interest collected from the levy would be repaid to the principal and interest of the bank first, and any excess would be allocated to the Jiangning government office.
This time, Lin Fu even wanted to divert the Lianghuai salt tax from the inner government. Otherwise, the loan of four million taels could be mortgaged with the land tax under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue.
The ministers summoned Lin Meng to the Zhengshi Hall to discuss the matter of borrowing money. Lin Meng was obedient and went to the Zhengshi Hall with Lin Xuwen and Zhou Guangnan, the manager of Huaidong Bank.
The so-called asking for high prices and paying back the money on the ground - the annual interest can be reduced to the same level as the former Huaidong Military Division, but the pledge cannot be reduced.
In the view of Cheng Yuqian and others, the municipal taxes in the areas around Jiangning are still small. The Queen Mother agreed to cede the jurisdiction to Huaidong. The salt and silver of the Huaihe River cannot be given up easily. The compromise method is for Zhang Yan to resign as the salt and iron envoy and transfer the salt and iron department to the salt and iron department.
Merged into household department.
No matter what the Ministry of Revenue is, it is still the Ministry of Revenue of the imperial court, which is better than having people recommended by merchants to be in charge of the Salt and Iron Department.
After the negotiation was completed, a document was prepared to request the imperial edict, and the news also reached Chen Yuan at the same time...
****************
When the news reached Chen Yuan, Chen Huawen was coming over to say goodbye to Lin Fu. Except for some of the remnants of the Haiyu Army who were incorporated into the county sword and bow soldiers as local security forces, most of them and Su Pinxiao's Bai Nao Navy Army would be camped in the west of Zhejiang Province.
After taking over and reorganizing, Chen Huawen handed over his military power and was recommended by Lin Fu to serve as the prefect of Luzhou.
Chen Huawen will leave Jiangning, and his brother Chen Huazhang will also leave Jiangning and return to Haiyu. Today, they went to Chongguo Duke's Mansion to bid farewell to Lin Fu and drank tea in the front hall.
"The bank just lent one million taels of silver to Jiangning Mansion to tide over the crisis a while ago. Now it has to come up with four million taels of silver immediately. I'm afraid it's a bit difficult, right?" Chen Huazhang heard from the political hall that both parties were borrowing money.
He asked with some concern about the news of the compromise.
"It's not difficult," Lin Fu shook his head and said, "The Song family and other big families in eastern Fujian put all their grain fields into banks in exchange for equivalent shares. The banks immediately sent people to Fujian.
Dong divides the grain fields into pieces and sells them or sells them on credit to local farmers who are short of land. He is quite successful at the moment - some farmers are short of money and can't get any money, so they can only buy farmland on credit and pay for it with grain every year.
, but there are also quite a few farmers who have some savings in their hands and can use it to buy land. In three months, Quanzhou Prefecture and Jin'an Prefecture raised more than 1.6 million taels of additional land through this method.
Cash silver…”
It is unbelievable that the Huaidong bank was able to suck out so much cash in such a short period of time. The other shortfalls are probably caused by the Dongyang Township Party transporting grain to Jiangning to make a lot of profits.
, the excess silver is stored in the bank and can be misappropriated.
"My lord's ingenious plan is still unbelievable," Chen Huawen praised. "I don't know how many sages there are, but I have never seen such a method of raising money..."
"Hua Wen is too polite," Lin Fu smiled and said, "In the eyes of others, these are just side tricks." He thought that in future generations, it would be rare for a government to not borrow from the public and banks. As long as the government's credibility can be maintained,
You don’t have to worry about the size of your debt.
Lin Fu has no intention of directly intervening in political affairs for the time being, so he cannot implement the New Deal in the Seven Prefectures of Jiangnan and the Weiyang Prefecture on the bank of the Yangtze River. However, with the large amount of land in the hands of the Chen family, the Seven Prefectures of Jiangnan have also reached an agreement with a few wealthy families such as the Chen family to follow the example of Fujian.
The Eastern Song family used the model to deal with the land in their hands. Chen Huazhang went back this time to deal with this matter.
He mentioned these things at this time to further reassure the Chen family. The Chen family, father, son, uncle and nephew, could be said to be immediate choices, but Chen Mingzhe was still stubborn in Jiaxing and did not express his position.
Speaking of which, Chen Huazhang was indeed a little uneasy. He was worried about whether Lin Fu would be able to take the last step, and he was also worried that the world would be lost to other families, the Yanlu or the Cao family. But after living in Jiangning for these days, he was a little more thoughtful.
An - Chen Huazhang is not trained in martial arts and does not know how to use soldiers, but he also knows that throughout history, the collapse of power, the rise and fall of dynasties, or the invasion of foreign tribes, in the final analysis, are all bad for political affairs.
Compared with Lin Fu's invincible military tactics, what impressed Chen Huazhang more was Huaidong's political skills.
The She family and other eight surnames have been established in eastern Fujian for more than two hundred years. With such a solid foundation, it is not a fluke that Huaidong has surpassed and disabled them in just a few years. Taking the Cao family as an example, three generations of frontier
Shuai, two generations of county kings, have occupied Guyuan for nearly sixty years and expanded the elite force from 30,000 to 130,000 in four years. When the Yan invaders invaded, they were still unable to stop the invasion, which was obviously insufficient compared to Huaidong...
Maybe the world is about to fight between Huaidong and Yanlu. The Chen family cannot vote for Yanlu. The move of joining Huaidong cannot be considered a mistake.
Thinking of this, Chen Huazhang said: "Huazhang returned to Haiyu this time to handle some matters in the clan according to the Lord's instructions, and then come here to serve..."
In the past, Chen Huazhang valued the clan and despised officialdom. In his early years, he passed the examination and returned to his hometown to take care of clan affairs. At present, the core policy of Huaidong is to suppress land annexation. After the land is handed over, the silk village will not be destroyed for more than ten years.
With great improvement, there would be nothing wrong with Chen Huazhang continuing to stay in Haiyu.
"That's great," Lin Fu said happily, "Mr. Chen said so, then I will wait for you in Jiangning..."
Before the Northern Expedition, Lin Fu first had to straighten out the political affairs in Jiangning. Chen Huazhang, who was pragmatic in governance and experienced in financial management, was the most urgently needed talent in Huaidong. In fact, although Chen Mingzhe was appointed as the prefect of Jiaxing, he was still not ready.
His father, Chen Huazhang, has a relatively conservative weakness, but for Huaidong at this time, it cannot be called a weakness.