prosperous age

"What's the deal with this money exchange's IPO?"

Wang Jiaping suddenly asked.

Now that the topic has come up, Wei Guangde explained that he had persuaded Emperor Wanli to use the imperial treasury to invest three million taels of silver in the money shop, while the imperial court would also invest in the money shop with the official residences and shops of various prefectures and some prosperous commercial counties.

In addition, the plan that officials and nobles in the court could also voluntarily invest was mentioned.

However, neither Shen Shixing nor Wang Jiaping really listened to anything else; they were both shocked by the news that Emperor Wanli had used three million taels of his own private funds to invest.

Moreover, Shen Shixing only realized at this moment that the reason why several officials in the court had reportedly asked their families to borrow money from all sides some time ago was because of this matter.

"Your Excellency, does the Great Ming Bank make its profits solely through lending?"

Wang Jiaping asked.

They all knew that lending money could make money, but they simply didn't want to get involved in it.

I never expected that Wei Guangde would use the imperial court to do this.

However, the cabinet ministers could actually accept it.

In fact, this kind of government lending practice existed in Wang Anshi's reforms during the Song Dynasty, namely the Green Sprouts Act.

Although a problem arose, those who understood history knew that it was because subordinates were deliberately distorting the court's laws.

As a result, the implementation went astray, turning a good policy that was beneficial to the country and the people into a policy that harmed the people, and Wang Anshi's reforms failed.

Wei Guangde likely used a similar method to the Green Sprouts Act this time.

However, the difference lies in the fact that instead of issuing loans through local government offices of the imperial court, they raised funds by establishing a separate chamber of commerce.

At the same time, their main customers are not farmers, but businessmen.

They can actually understand that.

Wang Anshi's reforms were a movement during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty. Although the Northern Song Dynasty also valued commercial activities, they were ultimately not as prosperous as those in the Southern Song Dynasty.

At present, although the economy of the Ming Dynasty may still be slightly inferior to that of the Southern Song Dynasty, the gap is no longer significant.

In particular, the several open ports attracted merchants from all over the world, and trade was extremely active.

Now, after Zhang Juzheng's Single Whip Law, the imperial court has gradually shifted its focus to collecting commercial taxes.

With the Wei Guangde Chamber of Commerce actively paying taxes, setting a good example, the Ming Dynasty's fiscal and tax system showed signs of shifting towards that of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Wei Guangde's preparations for the establishment of the Daming Money Shop at this time were clearly aimed at further supporting private commercial activities and reducing their interest burden on loans.

At the same time, the shareholders of Daming Qianzhuang will certainly also profit from it.

In fact, even with the monthly interest rate of three percent stipulated by the imperial court, the profit would still be quite high.

As for those private lenders who turn a profit in just over a year, that's really too high.

Shen Shixing and Wang Jiaping were both considering whether to follow in the footsteps of Zhang Xueyan and Jiang Zhi and sell their possessions to raise money to participate in the money exchange.

The business that Wei Guangde spearheaded was bound to be profitable.

Thinking that they could also make money from it, the two naturally did not object to it, but instead became very concerned about the rules and regulations of the money shop.

Wang Jiaping was particularly interested when the topic of "making money" came up.

"Exchanges, using the taxes collected by the imperial court in local areas and the silver absorbed in prosperous commercial areas, are quite interesting."

Wang Jiaping said.

Every year at the beginning of the year, Shanxi merchants would travel out to do business with large sums of money.

At the end of the year, he would close his business, return to his hometown with the profits of the year, and then work with the shareholders to settle accounts and distribute dividends.

Next year, we will take the funds raised out of Shanxi again.

The entire journey, from entry to exit, relied on the escort agency for protection and safety, resulting in significant losses along the way.

If you use a draft from the Ming Dynasty Bank, you only need to transfer the money back to the branch in your hometown of Shanyin. You can travel home lightly and simply, without having to transfer any money. You can directly divide the money in the bank.

The same applies to taking it out next year; it's convenient and safe that way.

Don't think that having a security escort agency means you can rest assured; in fact, escorting someone with a security escort agency is just as dangerous.

Escort agencies, in essence, usually operate on a few fixed routes, and they would make arrangements with the bandits along the way in advance.

Just like local officials paying tribute to officials in the capital, they would send gifts during festivals to ensure the smooth operation of their businesses.

To put it bluntly, it's about sharing the profits. The escort agency would share a portion of the profits from each escort trip with the bandits, so everyone could make money peacefully.

However, there were inevitably some unruly bandits among them who still tried to rob the caravan.

Although the Wang family had fallen into decline due to business practices in their early years, they were still a force to be reckoned with. Even though they no longer engaged in business themselves, they still held shares in other merchants' associations and could still generate some income each year.

In Datong, it's actually quite difficult to make a comfortable living by relying on the land.

Wang Jiaping had already realized the benefits; it seemed that he could also use the funds he had prepared to invest in the Chamber of Commerce to invest in the Daming Money Shop.

Even a 20% profit margin each year would be enough to make a decent living.

The key point is that this deal is basically risk-free.

The emperor had invested, the imperial court had participated, and it was led by Chief Minister Wei.

He lends money to others, and even if a merchant's business fails, he will never lose money because of the collateral.

This business offers stable profits and carries less risk than the previously launched Maritime Trade Chamber of Commerce and Grassland Chamber of Commerce.

Those chambers of commerce that were involved in maritime trade initially had few shareholders, and now they are all kicking themselves and full of regret.

When the Grassland Merchants Association started its uprising, all the nobles in the capital flocked to the area and snapped up all the available shares, which had little to do with the imperial court.

Now, it's obvious that this Daming Money Shop is Wei Guangde giving everyone a benefit.

"Your Excellency, the Wang family will definitely give our full support to this bank."

"I'll write to my father later and ask him to raise the money for the shares of the Daming Money Shop."

Wang Jiaping made his judgment and decisively expressed his intention to invest to Wei Guangde.

"Hehe, that's easy to say."

Wei Guangde looked at Wang Jiaping with a smile, "I originally planned to raise ten million taels of silver in the first round of share issuance."

Unexpectedly, His Majesty emptied the imperial treasury to participate in the scheme.

It appears that the initial share capital raised may increase to 20 million taels of silver.

Once the Ministry of Revenue has completed its preparations, it will begin collecting share capital.

We'll register people first to see how many are willing to participate.

If, and I mean if, it exceeds 20 million taels, all share capital may be reduced accordingly; it cannot be that whatever amount is reported will be taken.

It's best to spread the benefits evenly across the board in this business.

If everyone participates, especially the businessmen who each take a stake, their chambers of commerce will be more proactive in cooperating with money shops in the future.

This also helps to retain some customers.

Later, perhaps when the Great Ming Money Shop is launched, some wealthy merchants in the private sector will follow suit and launch some regional money shops.

They may not be able to transport goods between the north and south, but they certainly can in certain areas.

For example, the area around Songjiang Prefecture, and the surrounding areas of the capital.

Wei Guangde began by saying that once a money shop starts operating and makes a profit, it will inevitably be imitated.

Wei Guangde had no intention of pursuing a monopoly; any business associated with "monopoly" was bound to run into problems sooner or later. However, Wei Guangde still didn't intend to treat the money shop as an ordinary chamber of commerce.

Moreover, in Wei Guangde's plan, the Daming Money Shop was actually a central bank with retail business, similar to the Federal Reserve.

In the future, the financial business of the Ming Dynasty will mainly be maintained by the Ming Money Shop, and the imperial court will naturally grant it certain financial management rights.

Private money shops were all subject to the supervision of the Ming Dynasty's money shop supervision agency to ensure the financial security of the Ming Dynasty.

It wasn't that Wei Guangde had particularly good judgment, but rather the lessons learned from later generations.

If a country's financial system overheats, it will eventually create a huge bubble, which will then collapse.

For the Ming Dynasty to overcome what he considered an extremely difficult obstacle, utilizing the financial market was a meaningful attempt.

When landowners discover that the wealth produced by the land is limited, and that large amounts of silver stored in cellars not only fail to generate income but may even depreciate, they may try to make changes.

That is to take out money and invest it.

They may not participate in business, but they can invest money in business activities to support those businessmen who are willing to try.

Wei Guangde's ultimate goal was naturally to find a few capable and ambitious industrialists to drive the Ming Dynasty's economy to new heights.

"Although my strength is limited, I am willing to contribute some shares."

Shen Shixing also spoke up.

In fact, Wei Guangde was already quite satisfied as long as the two of them were willing to participate in the investment, which meant that they would not hold back the money exchange business.

What I fear most is that they bring up ancestral traditions and believe that since this didn't happen before, doing it now is heresy and a violation of ancestral rules.

"I summoned Minister Zhang from the Ministry of Revenue this afternoon and asked him to clean up the shops and residences in various places as soon as possible."

As for the money shop's staff, as you all know, I have long been lending money to outsiders in accordance with the laws of the imperial court.

One thing we must adhere to when launching our money exchange is that we must strictly comply with the laws and regulations of the imperial court, and all loans issued will have a monthly interest rate of three percent.

If the other party provides more collateral, the monthly interest rate can be reduced to below 3%, provided that the safety of the loan is fully guaranteed.

Okay, so it all boils down to this: high-quality customers deserve lower interest rates.

If the other party only requires 50% of the value of the collateral, then a reasonable interest rate discount is acceptable.

However, if the collateral is 80% of its value, then interest will be calculated at 3% per month.

At least after a year, even if the business fails, the worst that can happen is a loss of more than 10% in interest, and the actual return is only 20%.

"In this way, as long as the Ming Dynasty Money Shop is established, those outrageously expensive private lending businesses can come to an end."

Controlling interest rates on private loans was actually the fundamental purpose of money shops.

Wei Guangde further explained, “In the past, the court only had laws to punish those who violated them, but never considered how to manage them.”

With the establishment of the Great Ming Money House and His Majesty as its major shareholder, the real purpose is to let those usurers know that their comfortable days are over.

The imperial court would not tolerate them exploiting merchants; money shops would provide merchants with loans to support their development at low interest rates.

After leaving the cabinet, Shen Shixing and Wei Guangde followed Wang Jiaping out.

Tonight is a gathering of cabinet ministers, and Wei Guangde is covering all the expenses.

When they arrived at the destination, the chief examiners for this imperial examination, Yu Youding and Xu Guo, had already arrived and were drinking tea and waiting for them.

After exchanging pleasantries, the group quickly began discussing their exam results.

"Uncle Zhong, what dishes did you order? Let me see, I need to order some good ones."

This banquet should be properly paid for by the Grand Secretary.

After all, we deserve credit for winning so much money.

When Yu Youding heard that Wei Guangde had won both the top two prizes in the imperial examination, he was surprised, but immediately laughed as if he wanted to eat up all the money Wei Guangde had won.

"Order whatever you like, but you can just mention your merits during the meal."

If word gets out, someone might accuse you of colluding to manipulate the imperial examination results.

Wei Guangde reminded him with a smile.

"It's not that serious. I believe none of you here are involved in any cheating during the imperial examinations."

Shen Shixing smiled.

He also correctly predicted the top scholar in the imperial examination, but he didn't think about the possibility of winning the Five Classics examination.

It's important to understand that while creating a talent list is difficult for those below, it's not difficult for those in power at court.

First of all, the chief examiners are well aware of the preferences of the examiners when it comes to reading articles.

By simply looking at the essays of the candidates, one can roughly guess whose writing caters to their tastes.

Based on their past writings, one can get a general idea of ​​the candidates' level.

This narrows down the scope.

While it may not be entirely accurate, its hit rate is actually quite high.

This time, there was an element of luck involved, which is why Wei Guangde's bets seemed so accurate.

He had also placed bets on the imperial examinations several times in the past.

The candidates I favored all ranked highly, but their wins and losses were mixed, unlike this time when they won by a large margin.

The conversation that followed mainly focused on the talents that Yu Youding and Xu Guo had discovered during this imperial examination.

Most of these people are going to become their disciples.

Mentioning one's favorite student to other cabinet ministers beforehand can also benefit their careers.

The banquet lasted for two hours. Because everyone belonged to different camps and had complicated relationships, Wang Jiaping did not hire any maids to accompany him while he drank. It was just a few people drinking and chatting casually.

He speaks casually, and because he's been drinking, he simply ignores everyone around him.

During the meal, Wei Guangde inevitably discussed the preparations for the money shop with Yu Youding and Xu Guo.

Although the two were initially quite surprised and hadn't quite figured out how to act perversely, after hearing that the emperor was going to invest three million taels of silver from the imperial treasury as shares in the money shop, and that the main purpose of the money shop was to curb soaring usury in the private sector, the two knew they couldn't object.

The emperor used his private funds to invest in money shops, clearly intending to make money.

Otherwise, the silver piled up in the imperial treasury would not bring the emperor any interest whatsoever.

By investing in a money exchange and lending it out at low interest rates, one can always generate some income.

When it comes to the prevalence of usury in the private sector, both of them know that cracking down on it is impossible.

However, if money shops could provide low-interest loans to outsiders, it would certainly be helpful in curbing usury.

As for the Beijing debts, since the Grand Secretary has already decided to handle them, let him do it.

If it is successful, all the scholars and officials of the Ming Dynasty will benefit from it.

In any case, since they didn't have any money to invest in Beijing bonds, the losses wouldn't affect them.

Those who lent money only harbored hatred towards Wei Guangde.

In a very short time, the five cabinet members reached an agreement.

After learning that Shen Shixing and Wang Jiaping would both invest in Daming Qianzhuang, Yu Youding and Xu Guo made the same guarantee.

Upon returning to his residence, Wei Guangde sent messages to the other households.

In particular, the three million taels of imperial funds invested by the Wanli Emperor had to be guaranteed to ensure that the emperor was the largest shareholder of the Ming Dynasty Money Shop on the surface. (End of Chapter)