prosperous age

Later that evening, Wei Guangde walked into the Qianqing Palace step by step.

Before entering, Wei Guangde had previously drafted an edict to restore the academy, which was quickly stamped by the Directorate of Ceremonial and then sent to the Six Ministries.

After that, the news naturally spread.

Although rumors had circulated beforehand, this time was different; it was a genuine imperial edict.

Once approved by the Ministry of Rites, this imperial edict will be a valid decree.

The news spread quickly, and all the officials were overjoyed.

Regardless of the circumstances, Zhang Juzheng's decision to ban academies was truly unpopular with the people.

He did this to prevent anyone from using the academy to oppose the new policies. Although few officials dared to speak out against it at the time, there were still some.

On the contrary, there are many people who oppose it.

They just kept it to themselves, and no one dared to speak out.

After all, Zhang Juzheng at that time had Emperor Wanli on one hand and the Iron Triangle on the other, making him virtually unstoppable.

Wei Guangde entered the main hall and met the Wanli Emperor, who seemed to be in good health.

After all, he already knew about the 300,000 taels of silver that had been deposited last night.

Moreover, this amount will continue to come in every year. All things considered, the palace's own assets are now bringing in close to one million taels of silver annually.

This includes the annual tariff revenue from the four open ports, a share of Japan's vast wealth, and royal estates, shops, and other royal privileges.

This doesn't even include the 300,000 to 400,000 taels of silver that the Ministry of Revenue sends to the palace every year. Even though the palace's finances are now sufficient for self-sufficiency, Emperor Wanli has no intention of stopping asking the Ministry of Revenue for money.

This is already a system, and he cannot break it.

Whether you have money or not, you must get silver from the Ministry of Revenue, and you must get more.

Only when the silver enters the inner palace treasury does it belong to him.

In the imperial warehouse, which belonged to the imperial court, he could see it but couldn't touch it.

"Master Wei, please rise."

Just as Wei Guangde was bowing to the emperor, the Wanli Emperor had already risen from his throne and asked Wei Guangde to stand up.

Afterwards, he had the eunuch beside him bring Wei Guangde a wooden stool so that he could sit down.

Just like in the book, Wei Guangde sat on half of his buttocks.

This rule still needs to be followed. In fact, even in later generations, lower-ranking officials would still behave this way when meeting their superiors if they were not very familiar with them.

Otherwise, it will leave superiors with the impression that you don't follow the rules and lack tact.

For this kind of person to get promoted, it all depends on luck.

Unless your competitors are all incompetent, you'll only get the chance to rise to the top among the dwarfs.

"I do not know Your Majesty's request."

The two then exchanged pleasantries in the main hall.

As the weather warmed up, Emperor Wanli had already left the warm pavilion and could now work outside.

The main reason I called Wei Guangde over today is because Japan's war spoils have arrived in Tianjin.

Last night and this morning, Zhang Cheng sent messages to the palace.

The first memorial to the throne estimated the value of Japan's gold and silver to be over one million taels of silver.

The second memorial was naturally an inquiry into whether the gold and silver should be placed in the palace as they are now, or transported to the mint to be minted into coins.

The issue, which could have been addressed in a single memorial, was reported to the capital in two separate letters by Zhang Cheng, who simply wanted to linger in the sight of the Wanli Emperor.

Once a eunuch reaches his rank, the only way to advance further is through the emperor.

It's not that he's currently ranked second in the palace, but if Zhang Hong steps down, he can be promoted another rank.

To be promoted to another position, the emperor's approval is required.

Otherwise, one could promote someone approved by the emperor from behind and surpass him.

In the palace, the most important thing for eunuchs vying for the emperor's favor was not only to please him, but also to make a lot of appearances so that the emperor would remember them.

"Your Majesty, I suggest that we first transport most of the gold and silver to the mint to be minted into coins and then store them."

One hundred thousand taels of silver were left in the palace as reserves for imperial materials.

Wei Guangde still answered Zhang Cheng's question.

The palace often made ornaments and trinkets according to the preferences of nobles, and these were all gilded and silvered.

Generally, brass is used as the base material, and it is plated with gold or silver to make it look more upscale.

Gilded artifacts were mostly used by the royal family, while silver-plated artifacts were mostly given as gifts.

However, in reality, very little of this gold and silver was consumed, at most a few hundred taels a year.

"Alright, let's do as Master Wei says. Send 200,000 taels to the mint for minting, and transport the rest to the palace for storage."

Emperor Wanli said cheerfully, "By the way, Master Wei, you mentioned the imperial examination a couple of days ago. After thinking about it these past two days, I have decided to appoint Yu Youding and Xu Guo as the chief examiners for this imperial examination."

In the next imperial examination, Wang Jiaping was appointed as the chief examiner.

Do you have any objections?

"Your Majesty can make the decision on this matter independently; I have no interest in it."

Both Yu Youding and Xu Guo are suitable to serve as chief examiners for the metropolitan examination.

Wei Guangde immediately said.

Yu Youding was a little younger than Xu Guo, but his status was always slightly higher than Xu Guo's.

This was already determined by their ranking in the palace examination.

Therefore, it is unlikely that the chief examiner for this imperial examination will bypass the cabinet's ranking.

The reason for having them proctor the imperial examination was also because there was a concern that Xu Guo might not be able to endure it.

Of course, the deeper reason is that Emperor Wanli is currently experiencing some internal conflicts.

He wanted to support Xu Guo, but he was also very dissatisfied with the trouble caused by Huizhou Prefecture.

However, the idea of ​​consolidating imperial power ultimately prevailed, and he needed to support the Xu state to ascend to the throne.

The simplest way for a cabinet minister to maintain his position is to gather a group of people in the court.

What could be more convenient than presiding over the imperial examinations and becoming the tutor of the newly appointed scholars?

By presiding over a single imperial examination, one can gather a group of successful candidates and thus solidify their positions in the court.

Therefore, this is why Emperor Wanli was so eager to have the two Grand Secretaries serve as chief examiners.

Wei Guangde, as if he didn't understand what he meant, readily agreed.

In fact, it is not uncommon, but not rare, to send two chief examiners at the same time, who are also cabinet ministers.

Generally, two people are appointed as chief examiners for the metropolitan examination, but usually one person from the Grand Secretariat and one person from the Hanlin Academy are jointly responsible.

In terms of ranking, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet was naturally the chief examiner, while the Hanlin Academician was the deputy chief examiner.

This time, Emperor Wanli did not mention the chief examiner or the deputy examiner, which means that both of them were considered chief examiners, so it was not common.

"In that case, I will issue the decree shortly."

The Wanli Emperor spoke.

The provincial examination is just around the corner, only two or three days away, so it's time to finalize the candidates.

Once the chief examiner is appointed, the other examiners, who have been prepared by the Ministry of Rites, will enter the examination hall with the chief examiner and will not be released until the end of the metropolitan examination.

Well, being an examiner is actually pretty much the same as being locked up.

Although the cabinet is now two people short, Wei Guangde is not worried about the busy cabinet affairs.

Firstly, there aren't many official matters to attend to right now; most are routine memorials, which are easy to handle.

Secondly, there are still three people in the cabinet, so the workload is not much if everyone shares the burden.

Are there any other matters concerning the outer court?

At this point, Emperor Wanli, perhaps feeling a bit tired after talking with Wei Guangde for so long, seemed inclined to see him out. Wei Guangde, however, remembered Zeng Shengwu's earlier visit to the palace, but this matter required very confidential handling.

But the palace is like a giant sieve.

If he were to bring this up in public now, believe it or not, by the afternoon, most officials in Beijing would know that the Ministry of Justice had a plan to crack down on usurers nationwide.

By then, if people hide in secluded places, even the Embroidered Uniform Guard probably won't be able to catch them.

However, given the gravity of the matter, Wei Guangde felt it was best to inform the emperor beforehand.

So, he looked slightly embarrassed and glanced around.

The meaning behind the gesture was obvious, and Emperor Wanli immediately understood.

Master Wei had something difficult to say, but he didn't want to talk about it in this environment.

"You may all leave now. I have some private matters to discuss with Master Wei."

Emperor Wanli immediately spoke up.

As soon as he finished speaking, the eunuchs standing around him stepped forward, bowed to the Wanli Emperor, and then backed out of the hall.

After the palace doors closed, the hall became slightly darker.

However, the atmosphere felt somewhat like discussing confidential matters.

At least in the current atmosphere, it feels very comfortable to talk privately.

"Your Majesty, just now, Zeng Shengwu, the Minister of Justice, came to the cabinet and discussed a matter with me."

Wei Guangde spoke up.

"Ah."

When the Wanli Emperor learned of this, it was because the Ministry of Justice had discovered something.

Afterwards, Wei Guangde recounted in detail to Emperor Wanli the case that Zeng Shengwu had mentioned, as well as the information that the Ministry of Justice officials had gathered about usury and debt in the capital.

“Master Wei, I remember you once said that when you first arrived in the capital, your family gave you money to bring you to the capital, and you lent out the excess to merchants, which can be considered lending.”

Emperor Wanli suddenly asked at this moment.

"Ahem, Your Majesty, I did lend out gold and silver, but it wasn't a loan. Rather, they had cash flow problems and came to me for help."

Actually, the money wasn't handed over to me at that time; it was settled through the merchants' association of people from Jiujiang in the capital.

I need to take the receipt they gave me to the Beijing Chamber of Commerce to withdraw the money.

That's how we learned they were short of cash, which led to the loan agreement.

Wei Guangde hurriedly explained.

The feeling is quite different when you actively seek out lenders versus being begged to borrow money.

In the past, Wei Guangde actually sent people to find merchants who were willing to borrow money, and as long as there was collateral, the interest rates he offered were really low.

For merchants who were desperately short of cash, this was like rain after a long drought, something they couldn't ask for more.

Later on, merchants who were short of money but had credit and collateral would approach him to ask for loans.

Wei Guangde would never admit that he was the one who took the initiative to have someone lend out the silver.

"Oh, so what percentage of interest do you charge on these loans?"

The Wanli Emperor asked.

"Three percent interest is clearly stipulated in the Ming Dynasty Code. Anything exceeding three percent monthly interest is considered usury."

All the money I have lent out over the years has been settled in this manner.

Wei Guangde explained.

"Tell me what the meaning of 'nine out, thirteen back' and 'returning profits as the foundation' means."

Emperor Wanli became interested at this moment. He was very eager to learn, especially about the ways in which people were exploited and made rich overnight.

Next, Wei Guangde recounted all the loan sharking models he knew.

Upon hearing Wei Guangde mention that he charged others an annual interest rate of 3.6%, while private usurers often lent money at double or even several times the rate in a year, he couldn't help but stand up abruptly.

"They dare to lend this kind of money? Are they out of their minds?"

Even Emperor Wanli himself was frightened; if he borrowed one tael of silver, he would have to repay two or even three taels within a year.

What business in the world makes money so fast?

How come he doesn't know.

Yes, he does want to invest.

"Those who borrow at high interest rates often believe that they can make a quick comeback, which is why they grit their teeth and agree."

However, in business, nothing is absolute.

"Then, if even the slightest mistake is made, you could get trapped."

Wei Guangde explained.

Nobody's a fool. As for why they eventually get trapped, it's mostly because of unexpected events that prevent them from repaying their loans on time, leaving them with heavy debts and being exploited by loan sharks.

Generally speaking, doubling the interest rate in a year is already the limit for usury.

"Master Wei, what are you thinking?"

The Wanli Emperor sat down and then asked in a calm tone.

Although the Wanli Emperor was experiencing turmoil, he remembered Wei Guangde's words and remained calm in the face of adversity, so he asked the question with composure.

However, deep down he was also calculating his family's assets.

Don't be fooled by the palace's constant complaints of poverty to the outside world; he's seen the palace's accounts, and the imperial treasury has at least three million taels of silver.

These were all left over from previous emperors, and he had saved up over 100,000 taels of silver in the past two years.

This high-interest loan is great! If you lend it out, you can earn three million taels of silver a year. It's much better than letting the money sit in the warehouse gathering dust.

Three million a year, that's six million in two years.
Uh, that doesn't seem right. There's also interest. In the second year, you can lend out six million taels, which is twelve million taels of silver.

However, he dared not ask this question, for how could he let the money out and let such a fool take the fall?

Little did Wei Guangde know that the emperor opposite him was already calculating how much more silver would be in his private treasury if he also became a usurer.

He had already begun to report his idea of ​​establishing the Daming Money Shop to the Wanli Emperor, and to gather idle funds from the inner court, various departments of the court, meritorious officials, and some wealthy merchants to establish a business association that would specialize in lending to the public.

The interest rate for the loans was strictly in accordance with the imperial court's regulations, at three percent per month, in order to reverse the rampant usury in the private sector.

"Your Majesty, it is better to guide than to block lending."

Since ancient times, merchants and ordinary people have all experienced times when they are short of money. It is not feasible to simply prohibit lending.

The main problem with private lending now is that interest rates are too high, so high that ordinary people cannot afford them.

Therefore, I think that we should use the surplus funds of the court and wealthy merchants to make loans, thereby breaking this lending environment.

This allows ordinary people and merchants to borrow money without being driven bankrupt by usurious loans.

Wei Guangde was still saying that Emperor Wanli's attention had finally returned.

"Master Wei, do you mean that I, the court, meritorious officials, and wealthy merchants should jointly invest in setting up a money exchange specifically for lending?"

He had just been imagining what it would be like if he were a lender, but he never expected that Wei Guangde's solution would be this, making him a creditor as well.

hiss.
It sounds pretty good.

It's a pity that the monthly interest rate is only 3%, unlike those people who can turn their money back in a year.

It's a bit of a pity.

"The fundamental purpose of establishing this chamber of commerce is to stabilize interest rates."

In addition to lending money, the Chamber of Commerce can also resolve private remittance issues.

For example, when I came to the capital, my family needed to send money, so I could only do so through a merchant from my hometown who did business in the capital.

If the Great Ming Bank were established nationwide, silver could be deposited and issued locally. The silver notes would be delivered to the cashier via postal relay, and the cash could be redeemed on the spot.

Wei Guangde began to promote the benefits of money shops to the emperor, but at this time, Emperor Wanli was still preoccupied with lending business. (End of Chapter)