prosperous age

After discussing with Shen Shixing, it was almost time to leave the office.

Wei Guangde asked Lu Bu to invite Yu Youding, Xu Guo, and others over for a chat, which would mark the end of today's work.

This is the cabinet's daily routine before leaving work; it's a long-standing custom.

In addition, Wei Guangde was also calculating the time; he knew that an imperial edict would be issued from the palace shortly afterward.

At that time, Yu Youding and Xu Guo will have to live in the examination hall, and it will be impossible for them to return to the cabinet to perform their duties for at least half a month.

Today's memorial is still of no importance.

Wei Guangde simply told everyone about the situation he had encountered at Tianjin Port; in fact, even if he hadn't said it, most of the people present already knew.

The news that the expeditionary fleet had returned with a huge sum of money—a million taels—was not concealed at all. It first spread among officials early in the morning, and then quickly reached the common people.

Wei Guangde's perspective on Yu Youding and Xu Guoshi today is different from usual.

After all, the emperor was about to order them to start recruiting disciples.

Only after passing the provincial examination can one truly secure their position as a cabinet minister.

Both men were not only cabinet ministers, but also graduates of the Hanlin Academy, so their appointment as chief examiners for the metropolitan examination at this time met all the requirements.

He not only held the title of Grand Secretary of the Imperial Academy, but also the title of Hanlin Academician, so he was naturally qualified to serve as the chief examiner.

Sure enough, just as the discussion was about to end, the eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs arrived to deliver the imperial edict.

This was actually an imperial edict, but since the chief examiner for the metropolitan examination was chosen by the emperor, the court didn't really need to make the decision.

Therefore, after receiving the imperial decree, Yu Youding and Xu Guo were immediately "escorted" to the examination hall by eunuchs and a group of imperial guards.

All they could do was inform the clerk in the room to relay the message back to the mansion and prepare changing utensils to be sent to the examination hall.

Only Wei Guangde, Shen Shixing, and Wang Jiaping remained in the duty room. Wei Guangde could see the envy in Wang Jiaping's eyes.

"Hehe, Uncle Zhong, don't be envious. In three years, you will be the chief examiner of the imperial examination."

"With two Grand Secretaries dispatched this time, the Examination Hall can no longer accommodate a third."

Wei Guangde chuckled and joked.

"Your Excellency is too kind. I am truly convinced that both of you are in charge of the imperial examination."

Wang Jiaping hurriedly explained.

"No wonder I noticed you were paying attention to those two people earlier, and your gaze was all wrong."

Shen Shixing, standing to the side, also chimed in with a smile.

With nothing else to do, the atmosphere in the room became more relaxed.

"I just went to the palace to report to His Majesty, and he spoke first."

To be honest, I didn't expect that two people would be presiding over the imperial examination at the same time.

This time, Xu Guo and Yu Youding jointly presided over the imperial examination, which was somewhat unexpected for Wei Guangde.

After all, the case is under investigation in Huizhou, and it is still unknown whether Xu Guo will be implicated.

But there's no need to worry about that now. Emperor Wanli has already shown Wei Guangde through his actions that he intends to use Xu Guo.

In that case, there's no need to continue preparing for the actions originally planned against Xu Guo.

If he hadn't presided over this imperial examination, and if the Huizhou Prefecture had discovered that Xu Guo and the six counties of Huizhou were involved in the collection of exorbitant taxes such as "fire loss," Wei Guangde would definitely have instructed the censors to impeach Xu Guo and bring him down.

This was Emperor Wanli's attitude; at a crucial moment, he used an imperial edict to stop Wei Guangde from taking any further action.

After chatting and laughing for a while, seeing that nothing else was going on, Wang Jiaping, who was losing interest, took his leave first, followed by Shen Shixing, who also got up to say goodbye and leave.

After Shen Shixing left, Wei Guangde did not follow him, but instead summoned Lu Bu.

"Go to the library and look for the replies from the European missions, focusing on the records about Venice and Genoa."

See if there are any records inside, um, of a merchant guild like a money exchange.

Go quickly and come back soon, I'll be waiting for you here.

With nothing much to do at the moment, Wei Guangde sat in the outer room drinking tea, waiting for Lubu to go find the information.

Lu Bu was very experienced in handling such matters. As long as he clearly stated what he needed, Lu Bu would call a few reliable secretaries to go to the library to search for the files that Wei Guangde needed.

After more than half an hour, past Shen Shi (3-5 PM) and into You Shi (5-7 PM), Lu Bu finally came in carrying several files.

"Sir, there are too many files, and they are still searching through them. This is the first record of the mission's report that they found."

These books are introductions to Venice, Genoa, and the surrounding cities. Please take a look, sir.

Lu Bu placed the file on the coffee table before stepping aside.

He no longer needs to go over there; someone will deliver it to him once it's found.

"Okay, I'll find it and send it over in a bit. Later, you can invite them to Fangfei Garden as a treat."

Wei Guangde gave the instructions.

"Thank you, sir."

Lu Bu immediately smiled and nodded in agreement.

Fangfei Garden is a newly opened restaurant on West Chang'an Street. It is a legitimate brothel, offering not only excellent food but also beautiful women as company.

However, compared to brothels that also functioned as brothels, it was quite pure, offering only drinking and dancing.

Because of this signboard, a large number of officials have recently been attracted to come and go.

In this era, prostitution was not attractive to officials. Everyone had a few concubines, so what difference did it make after the lights were turned off?

It is precisely this kind of performance—selling art but not one's body—that tantalizes people's hearts and makes them flock to it and linger.

The so-called famous courtesans of Qinhuai were nothing special; they all raised their value by selling their art but not their bodies before turning to prostitution.

Of course, these famous courtesans also needed to be exceptionally talented, otherwise they wouldn't be able to attract gentry to spend lavishly on them.

This is actually the gradual process of brothels. At first, they were purely for innocent young women, but after a few years, they gradually transformed into brothels that also provided overnight accommodation.

Therefore, it is not wrong in principle for later generations to regard brothels as prostitutes.

As Wei Guangde flipped through the files in his hand, his brows quickly furrowed slightly.

Wei Guangde had always believed, in his memory, that the earliest financial centers in Europe were Venice and Genoa.

However, when he looked through the files in his hand, which were the mission's observation records in Venice, there was no mention of the existence of a "bank".

However, similar places do exist in Venice, but they are "lending and borrowing centers," which are actually closer to the structure of an exchange.

Here, merchants from all over the world seek partners, engaging not only in trade but also in lending.

Even some countries raise funds by issuing bonds, also known as "government bonds," through "lending and borrowing institutions."

Wei Guangde was unaware that although Venice had long been a financial center in Europe and its finances were highly developed, one should not forget the era in which it existed.

In later generations, besides being a city of water, where else did Venice still serve a financial function?
In fact, China has the Grand Canal, which connects the north and south and supports the country's economic development.

In Europe, this was achieved through the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea is not a sea, but rather the Grand Canal connecting Eurasia and Africa.

Venice is located in northeastern Italy, at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea, which is a subsidiary sea of ​​the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, Venice is a typical Mediterranean coastal city.

Genoa is located in northwestern Italy, directly bordering the Ligurian Sea, which is part of the Mediterranean Sea.

Because of its proximity to Europe and its traditional rivalry with France, the port of Genoa has developed into the second largest port on the Mediterranean coast, after Marseille, France.

Because of their convenient transportation, these two places became centers for trade with European countries and city-states.

The Venetian financial market, recorded in the archives as the "National Lending Center," was an institution operated by the Venetian city-state that helped merchants from various countries conduct business and borrow money in Venice.

In the past two years, this institution has begun a major transformation, changing from a pure exchange to a "bank".

Not all businessmen who need to lend money can find borrowers in the market, and the same goes for borrowers.

Therefore, it will soon begin to accept deposits from merchants and lend money to borrowers, becoming a loan and interest collection institution operated by the "state," and will also be regarded as the prototype of modern banks.

The bank initially began its deposit and loan business under the name "Rialb Market Bank," and a few years later it was renamed "Venetian Bank," becoming one of the world's earliest national banks.

However, none of these things are recorded in the archives.

Wei Guangde naturally couldn't find any banking institutions in Venice that he could learn from, which made him slightly disappointed.

However, while he was looking through the archives of Genoa, Wei Guangde saw the name of the Bank of St. George, which had a history of over a hundred years and was perhaps the first national deposit bank in Europe. Its business scope was closer to that of a modern commercial bank, including deposits, loans, and remittances.

The exchange mentioned here includes what later became known as foreign exchange business.

After all, Europe is full of countries and city-states with different currencies. Money exchange is a long-term and lucrative business in Europe, providing European financial institutions with a steady stream of income.

As for the debate in later generations about which bank was the world's first bank, it is actually not very meaningful.

Wei Guangde is now paying attention to the records of this bank called St. George's Bank.

The Bank of St. George, one of the oldest banks in Europe, was founded in 1407 by creditors of the Genoese government.

Its core businesses include government debt management, customs duty custody, deposit taking and currency issuance, and it has long served as the financing platform for the Genoa government.

The bank had been deeply involved in the administrative operations of the Genoese government, but its excessive lending to the government led to a break in its funding chain. In the early 19th century, Napoleon's army invaded Genoa, which directly led to its disintegration.

Genoa, as a city-state on the Italian peninsula at the time, could also be considered an independent kingdom.

By reviewing the records, Wei Guangde also realized that European financial institutions today, similar to the Ming Dynasty money shops he envisioned, did not actually regard deposit business as an important business.

St. George Bank's core businesses include government debt management, customs custody, currency issuance, and government lending. Private deposits are only one of its businesses, but not its main focus.

The main focus of San Giorgio Bank's operations is actually centered around the operation of the Genoa government, including the management of government bonds, the unified custody of various municipal bonds issued by the Republic of Genoa, and the establishment of a debt certificate circulation mechanism.

Secondly, it was responsible for collecting customs duties and supervising the collection of customs revenues at Mediterranean trading ports and the transfer of these revenues to the national treasury.

They also have the right to mint currency, and are authorized to issue credit money bearing the bank's seal.

In addition, it provided financial credit to the Genoa municipal authorities, offering war funds and infrastructure loans.

Generally speaking, Wei Guangde was able to accept it.

I was slightly taken aback when I saw that St. George Bank had the right to mint currency, but I quickly realized what it meant.

In ancient times, currency consisted of precious metals such as gold, silver, and copper, not paper money, so there was no issue of credit.

It is the norm for customers to price their currency based on its metal content and exchange different foreign currencies.

Unlike later generations, when currencies like the US dollar, British pound, and Chinese yuan were clearly distinguished.

The exchange rate is determined by the gold or silver content of the currency, and the bank then charges a certain handling fee as its profit.

If the Ming Dynasty still used silver, there would be ways to make money from it.

But that's no longer possible. The Ming Dynasty minted Tongbao coins, and the imperial court established a fixed ratio between copper and silver coins through monetary laws, so this market no longer exists.

Although he did not have the stable income from the right to mint coins, Wei Guangde knew that the Ming Dynasty was a vast and resource-rich country, and the huge amount of cash involved in long-distance transactions by merchants was actually enough to make the money shops rich.

As long as the money exchange's credit is established, the profits involved will be enormous.

As for the security of transporting money, although the Ming Dynasty is not exactly peaceful and prosperous at present, as long as the escort of large sums of money is carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of War, bandits generally will not dare to make a move.

You should know that if anyone really touches the interests of the Ming Dynasty Bank, they will be hunted down to death.

Look at the shareholders of the Ming Dynasty Bank: the emperor, various government departments, hereditary nobles and important officials of the Ming Dynasty. The smart ones should know their place.

Wei Guangde even considered whether to offer deposit services, or even anonymous deposits, to major clients, establishing a system similar to the Swiss Banking Act in later generations.

While this might allow some corrupt officials to hide their ill-gotten gains, a large portion of this money is likely to remain in banks, especially in cases where the entire family is exiled or executed.

The minimum deposit was one hundred taels of silver, and then this dirty silver would become the profit of the money shop after several decades or even hundreds of years.

It's often said that Swiss banks may have acquired billions of dollars worth of Jewish assets from World War II, money that seems quite acceptable.

Wei Guangde was increasingly convinced that the money lending business was viable, as long as he could establish a good reputation.

Is there anything in this world more lucrative than finance?
"Lubu, tidy up and put all the files on my desk."

The rest that arrived later, I've organized them all; I need to see them tomorrow.

Wei Guangde had already stood up and was giving instructions as he walked out.

It's getting late, time to go home.

In the Ming Dynasty, working overtime didn't come with overtime pay.

Wei Guangde left the palace gate, got into a sedan chair, and returned to his residence.

Upon entering the house, he saw Zhang Ji greeting him and casually asked, "When will the silver from Tianjin be transported back?"

"The day after tomorrow or the day after that, when the gold and silver are transported back from there, a large army will definitely be dispatched to escort them, and it will take quite a while."

Zhang Ji immediately said.

This matter was coordinated between the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War. Wei Guangde had not seen the plan beforehand, so it must have been carried out in secret by them.

Although the matter wasn't kept secret and had already spread, they still had to put on a show.

"Okay, also, in a little while, take stock of the silver in the manor, as well as the surplus silver in the Jiujiang family and various properties."

"The master might need it for a while."

Wei Guangde spoke up, saying that the money in the mansion, needless to say, was all accounted for in the accounting office, along with the money in the household and various properties.

The amount may not be accurate, but it is a rough estimate of the amount that can be used.

Wei Guangde did not intend to take the lead himself, but planned to invest in Daming Qianzhuang under different identities.

His identity was still somewhat conspicuous, and he worried that he would become a target of public criticism.

Diversified investment ensures safety.

However, no matter how he diversifies his investments, he needs to know how much money he can actually afford.

The lending market in the Ming Dynasty is quite large. (End of Chapter)