Chapter 1,159 The Way of Heaven and the Way of Humanity
Chapter 1167 The Way of Heaven and the Way of Humanity
Ye Zuqia's experience as an official for more than ten years has never been as difficult as it is today.
Ye Zuqia did not make the decision to establish the Exchange Citation Office alone. When Zhang Yue first established the Exchange Citation Office, he set up a board of directors to isolate the Exchange Citation Supervisor from directly managing the Exchange Citation Office.
Although Ye Zuqia could interfere with or directly appoint the chairman of the Exchange, the day-to-day management of the Exchange was run by the chief shopkeeper and shopkeepers.
After so many years of operation, the shareholding structure of the Exchange has become extremely complex.
Among them were members of the royal family, the empress dowagers of the two palaces, relatives of the relatives, as well as the three departments of the imperial court and the former Shaanxi Road Transfer Department (Yongxingfu Road Transfer Department), as well as Han Qi, Zeng Gongliang, Wen Yanbo, Fu Bi, Wu Chong, and Zhang Yue waited for the former or current senior ministers, Huang Lu, Cai Jing, Ye Zuqia and other upstart officials who came from the exchanges, management like Shen Li, Shaanxi's big salt merchants who played an important role in the salt industry, and finally the common people and ordinary businessmen. Retail investors.
Such a complicated structure made it impossible for the imperial court to serve as the home of the Exchange. When Wang Anshi was in power, he did not move the Exchange.
Wang Anshi wanted to manage the world's wealth, so why didn't he want to bring the Exchange completely under the control of the court, but there were too many things involved, so he finally gave up.
Similar to the Exchange Citation Institute, there is the Xihe Exchange Citation Institute.
Xihe Exchange includes not only the shares of Bianjing Exchange, but also the shares of Xihe Road Management Department, Qinfeng Road Transshipment Department, as well as shares of Zhang Yue, Wang Hou, Gao Zunyu and others.
The chief shopkeepers of both the Exchange and Xihe Road Exchange are appointed by the annual board of directors, and the chief shopkeeper does not need to buy into Ye Zuqia's account.
The current boss is Shen Chen. It was his vision that first invested in the Stock Exchange. In return, Zhang Yue also gave the Shen family's uncle and nephew his continuous support.
Now the Shen family is an important family in Bianjing.
Shen Chen's uncle Shen Yan has passed away long ago. As the current head of the Shen family, Shen Chen adheres to the Shen family's business purpose, which is to have a good relationship with the court in any business.
The Shen family can now have the status of an official businessman, which is the dream of many ordinary businessmen.
Shen Chen always insisted on keeping his character straight: "If Zhang Gong continues to be the prime minister, it is better not to offend these yamen too deeply."
Ye Zuqia said: "But Zhang Gong has already sternly said that when the market is about to close, fifteen guan of salt notes will be issued."
Shen Chen said: "Of course we have to do what Mr. Zhang wants. It's still early, so let's not hold on to it for now. Let the salt banknotes fall down in the middle to give the yamen who sold short yesterday a chance, and we can pull them up later." "
Ye Zuqia said: "Are you saying that you deliberately leaked a net first and let a few big fish go?"
Shen Chen nodded and said: "You have to surround yourself on three sides when hunting, otherwise someone will jump over the wall in a hurry."
Ye Zuqian said: "It's just that Mr. Zhang has been planning this matter for a long time, so..."
Shen Chen said: "Those who are willing to give up some money to buy peace can be considered smart people. As for those who are not smart, I guess Zhang Gong has no need to be merciful."
"You and I are doing this for Mr. Zhang's plan!"
Ye Zuqia said: "That's fine."
There was a pile of notes in front of the two of them.
…
All the government officials in the restaurant were pacing anxiously.
"It's down, it's down!"
"Salt banknotes have been reduced from twelve gold coins to one ten gold coins..."
Everyone in the office looked surprised, but immediately frowned.
However, most people sold salt banknotes for five guans yesterday, and today they are asked to buy ten guans. Not everyone can bear the loss of liquidating their positions.
Wang Zhongxiu opened the curtains and looked at the constant flow of people coming in and out of the exchange. They were all businessmen who had heard about it.
Once official salt is liberalized, commercial transporters can freely purchase official salt with salt banknotes. Therefore, in the future, the only way to buy official salt is with salt banknotes, and salt banknotes will be more expensive in the future.
This was something that everyone expected, so businessmen took action upon hearing the news.
It is true that Wang Zhongxiu had some judgment as a yamen official. In another history of time and space, Cai Jing allowed the government to sell salt to merchants, and all payments were made with salt banknotes. Merchants from all over the country were extremely enthusiastic about buying salt.
It’s just that Cai Jing later issued salt banknotes indiscriminately and constantly exchanged old banknotes for new ones to defraud salt merchants, which eventually turned this good law into a bad law.
But Zhang Yue did the opposite. No new salt banknotes were issued, not because he could control it, but because the Exchange's interests were greater.
In the private room of the restaurant, the lights are on during the day because there are curtains on all sides.
Wang Zhongxiu paced back and forth and then said: "Later I will personally negotiate with Ye Zu, discuss it with Chen Chen, and then personally knock on the door to visit Prime Minister Zhang to see if the date of delivery of the salt banknotes can be postponed. I think there are some difficulties at the moment. I can't get the salt."
It is understandable for the Exchange to deliver the money, and Prime Minister Zhang will not be so unreasonable."
"We have experienced a lot of strong winds and waves in recent years, and it is not easy to be in the same boat. Of course, if you want to buy it, you can buy it yourself. The road faces the sky and we go on separate sides. There is no reason to be tied together."
After hearing what Wang Zhongxiu said, everyone agreed.
The yamen in the restaurant are also people who have experienced a lot of ups and downs. With Wang Zhongxiu, they can calm down a little.
Although you can now lose money and leave, people are always unwilling to do so.
But a few people came downstairs quietly.
One of them took a kerchief and wiped his mouth, walked to the side and told another person: "Buy back all the salt banknotes that were sold out yesterday."
"Lang Jun... you have lost a lot of money!"
The other party said: "Wang Zhongxiu didn't listen to his father and thought he could follow Zhang San's path. It's really a dream."
"In the past, I stood aloof and looked down on all living beings without treating others as human beings. Yes, we did make a lot of money from this, but now the court has taken action."
"But you still have to give up when you should. Don't be greedy and think that all these years of hard work have been in vain."
"Lang Jun, I'm going then."
The other party nodded, with a look of determination on his face.
…
As several people bought salt banknotes and left the market at a loss, the price of salt banknotes continued to soar.
After learning about this incident, both Shen Chen and Ye Zuqia breathed a sigh of relief. After hearing the news, merchants flocked to the bank and easily raised the salt note, and finally the price dropped to fifteen thousand dollars at the end of the market.
After Wang Zhongxiu learned that the salt notes had risen again, he went to Zhangfu with Gao Shichong and others before the market closed.
Wang Zhongxiu sent the greeting card and came to see Zhang Yue like a normal person.
Zhang Yue met Wang Zhongxiu. Gao Shichong originally wanted to enter Zhang's mansion with Wang Zhongxiu, but in the end he was timid. He and others waited on the carriage outside the mansion for news.
Wang Zhongxiu said: "I heard that the price of salt has skyrocketed now, which is detrimental to the national economy and people's livelihood. I still remember how the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager asked the Prime Minister to fairly suppress the price of salt. I wonder what my husband has in mind now?"
Zhang Yue said: "The Jieyan Salt Pond was flooded, causing the court to lose 5 million guan of salt profit and more than 1 million official salt seats a year."
"If I can find these more than one million salt notes from elsewhere, why bother?"
Wang Zhongxiu said: "The Prime Minister's analysis is very good, and Wang admires it very much."
"It's just that people's hearts are boiling and opinions are raging. How many people in the world can understand my husband's painstaking efforts?"
"I'm afraid that once the price of salt rises, it will be difficult to suppress it."
Zhang Yue smiled and said nothing.
Wang Zhongxiu said: "My husband is calm and composed. It seems that he has a good plan in his mind. I am afraid that I am worrying too much. My father, Chang Dao, is a man who is like a sleeping dragon and a phoenix. I have seen it today."
Crouching dragon and phoenix chick... Zhang Yue said: "Your Majesty, you are so complimentary. I have received a lot of teachings over the years, and I have really benefited a lot."
"Now I have something to say from the bottom of my heart to the yamen."
Wang Zhongxiu said: "I am listening attentively."
Zhang Yue said: "If you want to grab the meat from the wolf's mouth, you must be quick. You must take advantage of the wolf's mouth to bite the meat out, otherwise you will lose a hand."
"Stop when it's time to stop."
Wang Zhongxiu said: "May I ask my husband, what is the wolf's mouth?"
Zhang Yue smiled and said: "It's the law, it's the way of heaven."
Wang Zhongxiu said: "But as far as I know, my husband gave the order. Is it possible that my husband compares himself to laws and the way of heaven?"
Zhang Yue laughed when he heard this and said: "Yamen is wrong, wrong."
"The way of heaven is to make up for the deficiency when there is excess damage; the way of man is to make up for the deficiency when there is excess damage."
"When it comes to speculating and selling salt money, if it comes to the end, the winner takes all. Once this happens, the thing will be broken. Therefore, the court is following the way of heaven, and makes up for the excess of damage."
"To put it bluntly, you can't let the winner make too much, and you can't let the loser lose too much. Otherwise, the table will be overturned, and no one will be able to play. This is the law, this is the way of heaven, and this is to make up for the shortfall when there is more than enough loss. "
"Even if I didn't issue this order, wouldn't there be another person who would do this? There are still people in the imperial family who have to be in charge."
Zhang Yue's words can be summed up in one line: To do business, you must understand both market economics and political economics.
Not only must you eat meat according to your ability, but you must also know how to look at the sky.
The weather has changed now!
Wang Zhongxiu's face turned ugly. He picked up the tea cup and then put it down. Zhang Yue said: "In the Yamen, your father and I are both teachers and students, as well as ministers in the same palace. If you have anything to say, you might as well tell me directly."
Wang Zhongxiu was already in a state of chaos. He didn't take Zhang Yue's words to heart, but asked: "What are you talking about?"
Wang Zhongxiu was a little embarrassed, then he raised his head and said, "Ms. sir, are you able to set the stage for this?"
Zhang Yue shook his head and said: "There is no plot in this. It's just that I'm surprised that the market in Bianjing only has a million salt notes at most."
"But yesterday, the number of short orders for selling salt banknotes reached more than 200,000 seats."
"How can there be so much goods? How can there be so much money? It's really crazy!"
Wang Zhongxiu sat down heavily. Most of these salt notes were short-sold by them in the market.
Wang Zhongxiu said: "Ms. sir..."
Zhang Yue said: "How much did you sell short? Can you get it back?"
Wang Zhongxiu was furious. If he could get her back, would he still need to come to the house? Even if he could get her back, he would lose everything.
"Can you please extend some time?"
Zhang Yue shook his head and said: "No. In fact, where do you want the court to find hundreds of thousands of silver coins?"
Wang Zhongxiu wanted to speak but stopped.
Immediately Zhang Yue said again: "But it's not impossible. Here is paper and pen. You can write everything down!"
"Write it down first and talk about it later! Otherwise, you can buy it at the closing price of fifteen dollars!"
