Isn’t this just whimsical? I’ve never heard of the emperor borrowing money.
"On this trip, Shaanxi merchants, Hui merchants, and salt merchants took advantage of the occasion when King Yu gave birth to an heir, and presented three million taels of silver. How can such a huge sum of money be spent in a short time?"
Faced with everyone's doubts, Zhang Qi did not panic at all.
He knew his son-in-law very well, he was only interested in profit, and he was very fond of gold, silver and other things, no less than a woman.
Money is stored in the treasury, how can it be better to borrow it to earn interest?
"Instead of doing this, if you pay ten cents per year, King Yu will definitely not refuse."
Zhang Qi immediately raised his hand and said to He Zongcheng: "And once other merchants and people know that we can borrow silver from King Yu, who will question us?"
"That makes sense."
He Zongcheng nodded, showing a hint of excitement: "We must dare to be the first for the world and do things that others dare not do."
"You don't need a million taels, you just need to borrow three to five hundred thousand, which is enough to open a bookmaker."
"However, the annual interest rate of ten cents is too little. I am afraid that King Yu may be hesitant, so I think it is appropriate to adjust it to fifteen cents."
Fifteen cents, that is, 15%. If you borrow 500,000 yuan under the guise, you will have to repay an additional 150,000 taels a year. Although this interest rate is high, it cannot be said to be usury.
Shaanxi businessmen are not short of money, only short of time.
At this time, everyone agreed and agreed with this whimsical idea.
"Uncle Zhang, there is no one more suitable than you for such matters."
He Zongcheng turned his head and showed some compliments.
"This matter is related to the future of Shaanxi businessmen. How dare I not try my best?"
Zhang Qi couldn't hide his excitement on his face, he patted his chest and promised.
Once this is completed, it will be extremely helpful to improve his status among Shaanxi businessmen.
Thinking of this, he was very motivated.
He wheezed and begged to see the King of Yu. After waiting for a long time, the King of Yu finally agreed to see him while changing clothes.
At this time, His Royal Highness Prince Yu took off his robes and crown of the sun, moon and stars, and only wore a pair of silk white underwear. He was eating iced sour plum soup with a look of exhaustion on his face.
Whether it is clothes or etiquette, they need to be rehearsed over and over again, and there must be no mistakes or omissions to avoid making people laugh.
"What? You want to borrow money from me?"
When Zhu Yixi heard this, she smiled dumbly, but her brain couldn't react for a while.
Since ancient times, feudal society has always despised businessmen, and even if they borrowed money from them, it was very rare for fear of losing face.
Otherwise, when all the wealthy businessmen from all over the world gathered in Beijing, as long as Emperor Chongzhen was shameless enough to borrow a thousand or eight million taels, it would be just a joke.
Unfortunately, he would rather borrow money from officials and lose the majesty of the king than face merchants.
Let alone a businessman borrowing money from the emperor, even if he is currently just a supervisor of the country, he is still a semi-king.
Thinking about it, he suddenly understood that the salt merchant's first donation of one million taels might have a profound meaning.
The Shaanxi merchants were bound to be hindered and had to seek help from him, the King of Yu.
Although he does not suppress business, Zhu Yixi wants to control business. An uncontrolled behemoth like the Donglin Party can be described as a cancer.
The chemical effect produced by the money of merchants and the power of officials is immeasurable.
"What do you Shaanxi businessmen need money for?"
Faced with King Yu's question, Zhang Qi made no secret and said directly:
"Shaanxi merchants were not willing to stay in the barren land of the northwest. They wanted to get involved in the south of the Yangtze River and get a share of the richest territory in the Ming Dynasty."
"It is also through His Highness's east wind."
With that said, Zhang Qi prepared a joint venture with Shaanxi businessmen to build three or five money shops to be responsible for the exchange business in Huguang, Shaanxi, Nanjing and other places.
The so-called money shop, also known as the exchange shop, is the prototype of a bank. In the beginning, many banks did not just do money exchange, but often also engaged in other industries.
For example, there are banks in Nanjing and Jiujiang that are also engaged in lottery business; there are people in Leping who are also running cloth stores; in Nanchang, there are some banks in Songjiang Prefecture that are also called "money rice stores" because they also operate rice businesses.
As the saying goes, silver is the living water of all industries, and it is obvious that Shaanxi merchants took advantage of the opportunity to borrow money to shop, and also sold some tea, salt, furs and other items, gradually penetrating into the Jiangnan area.
"Can."
After careful consideration, considering the salt merchants' considerable wealth and the Huizhou merchants' business all over the south of the Yangtze River, Zhu Yixi felt that it would be a good idea to let the Shaanxi merchants do this catfish.
"Five hundred thousand taels of silver, with an interest rate of fifteen cents, let's set it for half a year!"
"Thank you, Your Highness. Shaanxi merchants will never forget your great kindness!"
Zhang Qi bowed down and showed great respect.
After waving her hands, Zhu Yixi fell into deep thought.
Thirteen on the side was playing with his clothes with great interest, both novel and a little cautious.
Power can give ordinary clothes different meanings.
"Thirteen, do you know the money shop?"
"Know!"
Stunned, he quickly turned his head and said respectfully: "There are many people in Xi'an who are responsible for exchanging copper for silver or transferring money between the two places, but they are usually big merchants. How can ordinary people have so much money?"
"How old are you?"
Suddenly, Zhu Yixi changed the topic.
"Sixteen, no, seventeen."
Thirteen said doubtfully.
"four years ago."
King Yu sighed.
From the 16th year of Chongzhen to the second year of Hongguang, time flies by and four years have passed in the blink of an eye.
The once thin young man is now tall and handsome, showing talent.
"You have grown up. After some time, I will give you another job."
King Yu's erratic words surprised Zhu Jing.
Leaving the sect leader was something he had never thought about.
But as he said, he is already old.
For example, Zhu Yi and Sun Lin, who were 18 or 19 years old, had been in charge of the Military Justice Department for two or three years. They had completely transformed and their qualifications had greatly increased.
And according to the usual tone of King Yu, these two people will have to leave the Military Justice Department after a while and go to work as officials somewhere!
And where will I go?
Zhu Jing fell into deep thought.
…
And in early May, with the smooth flow of the canal, news that Nanjing City had been recaptured by the Ming army reached Beijing again.
Putting aside Dorgon's violent outburst for the time being, Hong Chengchou's treatment was put on the agenda.
Regarding Hong Chengchou, the court at this time was polarized between the north and the south.
Civil servants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, led by Chen Mingxia and Chen Zhilin, demanded strict punishment to serve as a warning to others.
"Hong Chengchou first lost Luoyang, then Nanjing, and now lives in Yangzhou. Does he have to wait until he loses Shandong before he is punished?"
The northern civil servants headed by Feng Quan tried their best to protect it:
"Hong Chengchou was in Luoyang, with only ten thousand soldiers and ten thousand taels of silver. How could he resist a hundred thousand Ming troops? Nanjing was lost because of the rebellion of internal traitors..."
In response to this, the regent, who had just released the fire from the Queen Mother's fleshy body, said:
"Nanjing fell, firstly because of internal thieves, and secondly because of poor arrangements, so that the city of Nanjing was destroyed."
Dorgon settled the controversy: "Hong Chengchou was dismissed from his official position, returned to Beijing to reflect, Wu Sangui cut his salary for half a year, and that's it."