Chapter five hundred and eighty eighth white smoke
On the first day of April, Li Zhi's third Jinqi Bank branch opened in Acropolis, Tianjin. From the first to the tenth day of April, more than 20 bank branches opened in various prefectures and counties in Tianjin. At the same time, in
The first Jinqi Bank branch in Jinan Prefecture and Shandong Province also opened.
As soon as the Jinqi Bank in other prefectures and counties in Tianjin and Jinan Prefecture opened, it welcomed a large number of people exchanging banknotes, and the crowds were huge.
However, in Fanjiazhuang and Tianjin, there are not as many people changing banknotes as there were at first, and the counters of the three branches have become empty.
Today, there are more than 200,000 taels of banknotes in circulation in the markets of Fanjiazhuang and Tianjin. Banknotes and silver play the role of currency at the same time, and the demand for banknotes has basically been saturated.
If banknotes are to completely replace silver, it will take a longer period of accumulation before the people can trust this new type of currency more and more.
Li Zhi had free counters at three branches in Tianjin and began to accept deposits from the public.
For a bank, deposits are an important source of funds for loans. Using funds from other channels is not as long-term and safer as using deposits.
However, no matter what source of funds is used for loans, as long as the loans are issued, the total amount of money in the market will increase. Even if physical silver is used as currency for loans, the money multiplier effect will expand the amount of currency in circulation. Li Zhi said, "Silver
The "silver standard banknote system" does not increase the total amount of money. It is not talking about the loan business.
Loans to customers who start businesses not only increase the total social output and increase the demand for money, but also increase the supply of money.
Fortunately, the silver standard system is self-adjusting. Li Zhi’s banknotes can be freely exchanged for silver. Once prices rise, merchants will use their silver to purchase goods from other places, and silver will flow out of Li Zhi’s territory, reducing Li Zhi’s
Planting physical silver reserves, thereby forcing banks to tighten credit, will eventually control the monetary aggregates in Tianjin and Shandong.
Therefore, under the silver standard system, the total amount of money and the society's money demand are always roughly matched, and there will be no significant inflation.
In the later 19th century, countries used the gold standard, and inflation was not sustainable. The same was true for the silver standard. The reason why the Ming Dynasty's banknotes depreciated rapidly was because the banknotes and silver were not freely convertible.
However, to attract people to the bank to deposit money, it is necessary to provide convenience to customers who deposit and withdraw money. In the past, people who came to exchange banknotes had to queue up for an hour, and no one wanted to deposit money.
Bank. Now that the counters are empty, it is more convenient to come to the bank to do business, and it has become possible to accept deposits.
Li Zhi gives an interest rate of 3% for one-year time deposits. For people who have a small amount of savings but no investment projects, this interest rate is still attractive. More than 30 taels of silver can be obtained by depositing it in the bank for one year.
One tael of silver interest is more cost-effective than hiding the money in your own home.
Moreover, Li Zhi requires deposit customers to leave their fingerprints when applying for passbooks at the bank. In the future, when withdrawing money, they must present their passbooks and fingerprints at the same time. In this way, others cannot withdraw the deposits in the bank, and it is easier to deposit money in the bank than at home.
It's safer to hide your money.
As soon as the deposit business was publicized in newspapers, people gradually came to the bank to deposit money. I believe that with the continuous development of this business, more and more people will come to save money, and even the concept of "depositing money at home" will be completely eliminated.
An ancient way of saving money.
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On April 10th, Li Zhi took Li Laosi, Zhong Feng and others to inspect Shandong.
Last year's winter wheat in Shandong was not planted due to drought, so the people relied on the sweet potatoes provided by Li Zhi to survive the year. Li Zhi passed through the villages along the way, and the people were very thin. Obviously, eating one and a half kilograms of sweet potatoes a day was not enough.
The people lived half-starved and half-fed this year.
However, even if they are half hungry and half full, as long as they can survive the day, the people will not raise a flag to rebel. There were no large-scale bandits in Shandong last year, which is the credit of the sweet potato. In comparison, the same year, the
Good places like Henan and Huguang have become a mess.
Compared with Henan and Huguang, Shandong, where you can eat sweet potatoes, is like a paradise.
While walking, Zhong Feng suddenly said: "Commander, I heard that the intruders have surrounded Kaifeng again this month, gathering 200,000 hungry people, and they are fierce. Huguang is not peaceful either. Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son Li Dingguo also captured four county towns.
This Li Dingguo used the slogan of dividing grain, equalizing farmland, and exempting from taxes. Wherever he went, the people ate pots of pulp."
"The imperial court appointed Sun Chuanting as the prime minister of the six provinces and mobilized 100,000 border troops to go south to fight against the bandits. However, the bandits' army was so powerful that it was difficult to quell them for a while."
Listening to Zhong Feng's words, Li Zhi nodded.
It is now the seventeenth year of Chongzhen. In the original history, this year, bandits captured the city in the Central Plains of Guanshan and Shaanxi. Li Zicheng invaded Beijing in March, and the emperor Zhu Youjian hanged himself.
However, now because of the emergence of Li Zhi, history has turned a corner. The peasant army was defeated a few years ago, and its current momentum is not as great as it was in history. So Li Zicheng is still attacking Kaifeng in Henan. The imperial court has 100,000 border troops, and the uprising
The army is fairly evenly matched.
Zhong Feng said: "Last time the emperor asked us to fight the Tatars, the commander took Shandong. Now the emperor is afraid of the commander's appetite. The traitors are so powerful, and the emperor has never mobilized our tiger warriors to defeat the thieves."
Everyone laughed when they heard this and thought the court was very funny.
Zhong Feng smiled and said: "Sir, when will we start equalizing land tax in Shandong? Kill these gentry who evade taxes!"
Li Zhi did not answer Zhong Feng's words, but just rode all the way east, observing the living conditions of the people along the way.
After walking for dozens of miles, Li Zhi also saw a small water conservancy project under construction under his "Water Conservancy Bureau". It was a small reservoir. Once built, it could store water to prevent droughts and raise the water level to irrigate fields.
Li Zhi walked to the outskirts of the construction site and was sweating a little. He was about to stop his horse and take a rest when he suddenly heard an angry shout from the company commander of the personal guard: "There are assassins! Protect the Duke!"
The company commander gave the order, and dozens of personal guards surrounded Li Zhi like a human wall to protect Li Zhi's horse. The company commander of the personal guards also ignored the etiquette, pulled Li Zhi off the horse, and held him down tightly.
on the ground.
There were only three soft sounds of "pah pah pah", and three assassins on a mound more than 100 meters away to the west opened fire. The two personal guards protecting Li Zhi were immediately shot and fell down screaming.
Go down.
Twenty personal guards rode towards the mound. Li Zhi looked over there, and sure enough he saw a piece of white smoke floating on the mound, and three assassins holding matchlock guns were hidden in the grass. At this time, they
Seeing that the personal guards were protecting Li Zhi, he immediately got on the horse behind him and ran away.
Li Zhi's bodyguards chased him on horseback, getting closer and closer to the fleeing assassin.
Li Zhi frowned and secretly wondered which force was so bold as to assassinate him. 8
