prosperous age

Rumors are terrifying; they can kill.

In just two days, Wei Guangde understood why Zhang Juzheng had defied public opinion and ordered the closure of all academies in the country.

Public opinion is a truly terrifying thing.

Even though he considered methods to control public opinion, he was still somewhat alarmed.

Newspapers still have too little influence.

Today, feedback from the prefectures near the capital indicates that newspaper sales figures are still not very encouraging.

"You go down first, find the source, and you don't need to worry about the rest."

After Wei Guangde finished speaking to Liu Shouyou, he waved for him to leave.

Afterwards, Wei Guangde summoned Lu Bu and instructed him, "Go next door and have them copy down the recent war reports from Japan that the Ministry of War has sent, and bring them to me to see."

"copy?"

Lu Bu asked, somewhat surprised.

Wei Guangde merely raised an eyebrow slightly and continued, "Yes, the original will be preserved, but I need a copy."

"Yes, sir."

Lu Bu immediately bowed and agreed, then left the duty room.

"Hopefully it's not a trick played by colleagues. If it's just those businessmen, it'll be easier to handle."

Although Wei Guangde would represent businessmen to seek their interests, he acted primarily as an official.

Moreover, even if he maintained close ties with many chambers of commerce, the Ming Dynasty was too vast. The chambers of commerce in which he held shares or could exert influence were insignificant compared to the Ming Dynasty's enormous commercial institutions.

Wei Guangde opened up trade channels between the Ming Dynasty and the Mongols, including the large-scale purchase of wool from the grasslands. The grassland merchants' association once almost monopolized this market.

However, with the booming wool textile industry, Wei Guangde has received news through multiple channels in the past year.

In provinces like Shanxi, merchants partnered with border generals to establish connections with tribes on the grasslands in exchange for wool.

They have already established a huge workshop in Shanxi to spin cashmere.

Even the Lanzhou Textile Chamber of Commerce was involved.

The production of cashmere is far too small to satisfy their desire for profit.

The largest shareholder of the Grassland Chamber of Commerce is now the Beijing-based Xungui Group.

Although no single person's share could exceed his, their relationship was closer, and they naturally banded together in the chamber of commerce.

The Grassland Chamber of Commerce had once tried to use its official influence to take action against this emerging textile chamber of gentry.

Monopoly is ultimately the best option for obtaining huge profits.

However, Wei Guangde did not agree and forcibly suppressed their idea.

Cashmere merchants in Lanzhou have long been making a fortune due to the huge profits from Lanzhou cashmere.

However, the breeding of Lanzhou goats has never been able to expand, resulting in consistently low production of Lanzhou cashmere, which has also helped maintain huge profits.

However, when they saw the huge profits generated from the textile processing of Chayuan wool, they began to actively expand, following the example of the Grassland Chamber of Commerce in investing in the textile industry.

This is exactly what Wei Guangde thought and saw.

A country's economic development cannot always be led by one entity.

Money can never be fully earned, and we can't let the Wei family take all the profits.

Separating from the family was a necessary choice to protect the family.

Only by showing the local gentry that investing real money can yield huge profits can these wealthy landowners be transformed and taught the capitalist way of thinking.

Therefore, Wei Guangde chose to relinquish the interests of the grasslands in order to attract more people and more capital to participate.

He did all this intentionally, to show everyone that business was not just Wei's private domain, and that everyone could participate.

Market competition, not official power struggles.

However, he did not expect that the businessmen would start making underhanded moves so quickly.

For profit and to make money, they don't hesitate to fabricate rumors.

This is definitely not a good sign.

What Wei Guangde wanted was for merchants to operate honestly and earn the money they deserved.

Instead of using information to exploit ordinary people at the bottom of society.

When the market is disrupted, it is always the ordinary people who suffer the most, and they are the ones who pay the price for the actions of these businessmen.

The imperial court should not interfere in the normal competition between chambers of commerce, but that does not mean it can allow merchants to make unscrupulous profits.

In the afternoon, Wei Guangde finally received a document from the Ministry of Revenue in his duty room. The document recorded the status of official residences and shops held by officials in the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty and various prefectures and counties.

Wei Guangde casually flipped through the pages, and dozens of houses and shops in the capital came into view.

These were assets confiscated by the imperial court in earlier years.

Many of these shops are rented out, while the houses are locked up.

In recent years, due to the high housing prices in the capital, the imperial court often selects one of these residences for high-ranking officials who have been promoted but do not have a residence in the capital.

They were all free, and the emperor often used these houses as gifts.

Wei Guangde focused on two addresses: one was a house at the intersection of Chongwenmenli Street and East Chang'an Street, and the other was in Dongjiaomi Lane.

Both residences were located in the inner city, in a place he was quite familiar with, both in Nanxunfang.

Wei Guangde picked up his vermilion brush, drew a circle around the two houses, and then had Lu Bu send the document back to his residence.

These two locations were of high satisfaction to him, serving as the headquarters of the Daming Money Shop.

Generally speaking, the government offices in the capital were located on the south side of Chang'an Street, while the inner court offices were located on the north side.

Wei Guangde chose to set up the Daming Money Shop around various government offices in the capital.

In comparison, this was designed with reference to the Federal Reserve's model.

It is a private banking institution and is currently the most readily accepted form of banking.

The Federal Reserve is a privately owned joint-stock bank that performs the functions of a central bank.

It is said that the Morgan and Rockefeller families, both Anglo-Saxon, together hold 46% of the Federal Reserve's shares. Together with the smaller Anglo-Saxon shareholders, the Anglo-Saxon group holds more than 70% of the Federal Reserve's shares.

Using a private bank to perform the duties of a central bank, and issuing banknotes that become the world's universal currency, it must be said that they designed this institution extremely cleverly.

The Ming Dynasty was perhaps the first regime in the world to issue legal tender.

Of course, this legal tender is the "precious paper" that we now consider too dirty to even wipe our butts with.

In feudal dynasties where royal power was supreme, it was difficult to issue credit currency.

However, Wei Guangde felt that it might not be impossible to establish a private bank with royal family participation, and issue alternative paper money by discovering banknotes through the private bank.

The "bill of exchange" that Daming Qianzhuang will soon put into the market can be understood as bank notes, or in other words, paper money.

This business is actually very profitable.

To obtain this kind of paper money, one needs to deposit enough gold and silver with the Ming Dynasty's money exchange.

This paper money can also be obtained through loans.

In fact, the Federal Reserve's design is a very clever way to make profits.

Whether it's a bank or a government, if they want to get that piece of paper from the Federal Reserve, they have to borrow from the Federal Reserve and pay interest first.

The bank notes issued by the Federal Reserve do not accrue interest; they only incur printing costs.

It can be said that all circulating US dollars are constantly generating interest income for the Federal Reserve. Of course, this income is not fixed.

In fact, changes in monetary policy and benchmark interest rates will affect bank profits.

As monetary policy, interest rate environment, and balance sheet size change, the value of long-term holdings, including bonds and debt claims, is constantly changing, and profits may decrease from time to time.

For example, fixed-rate bonds held during periods of low interest rates tend to have higher prices, while their market prices often decrease when interest rates rise.

Investors will sell these bonds and buy newly issued bonds with higher interest rates.

At this point, the Federal Reserve will show a loss on its holdings of these bonds.

Overall, however, these were all sure-fire deals, which was Wei Guangde's ultimate expectation for Daming Money Shop.

From lending and foreign exchange to printing banknotes, they reap wealth without limit.

Now, Wei Guangde has basically figured out his ideas, and the next step is to quickly promote the establishment of the bank.

When Wei Guangde returned to his residence after the afternoon court session, Zhang Ji was waiting for him at the door.

As Wei Guangde entered the mansion, Zhang Ji whispered, "Master, I personally led people to inspect those two houses, and in the end, we chose the house on Chongwenmen Street as the headquarters of the bank."

That's also the closest place to our clock tower.

“Very good, that’s why I thought of that place.

Wei Guangde paused slightly and said something.

When will that place be able to open for business this year?

Wei Guangde continued to ask.

"The interior decoration will be almost complete in a month at most."

Actually, the shops downstairs are already ready to open, but since the two buildings are part of a single complex, the upstairs area isn't fully completed yet.

Zhang Ji hurriedly said.

"They've already wasted enough time. Tell them to hurry up, and you keep a close eye on things yourself."

Furthermore, after the training was completed, the personnel were assigned to different prefectures to choose branch locations.

After giving his instructions, Wei Guangde strode towards the backyard.

"Yes, sir."

Zhang Ji stood there with his head bowed, not following Wei Guangde inside.

After Wei Guangde's figure disappeared through the second gate, he straightened up, found a steward behind him, and instructed him: "Starting tomorrow, you will go to the Drum Tower Building every day to keep an eye on things and make sure the people don't slack off and finish the work as soon as possible."

If you delay any longer, I'll skin you alive.

"Yes, Master Zhang, I will definitely urge them to work overtime and make sure there are no mistakes."

The manager hurriedly expressed his opinion.

"If there's anything you haven't finished, hand it over immediately. Don't delay the master's important business."

After Zhang Ji finished speaking, he turned around and walked into the courtyard.

Although the Gulou Building only had a few floors, it was undoubtedly a true "skyscraper" in Beijing at that time.

It should be noted that at that time, multi-story buildings like this were also very rare in Europe.

At this time, the most magnificent palace in Europe, the Palazzo Parnassus, was "magnificent" but only about three stories high, which is typical of the scale of Renaissance palaces, with very limited height.

There are already many towers and spires there, reaching heights of up to 100 meters, but these are not actual building heights; they just give the impression of being very tall.

The Drum Tower that Wei Guangde built in the capital of the Ming Dynasty was actually a five-story building, without taking into account the seven-story Bell Tower next to it.

At a height of several tens of meters, it would have been considered a magnificent building in Europe at that time.

Even in the Ming Dynasty, such stone houses amazed the people of the capital who were used to seeing great storms.

However, building only a Western-style building in the capital of the Ming Dynasty was certainly not what Wei Guangde wanted.

In fact, based on this clock tower building, the construction of clock tower buildings from the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty to various prefectures has already been put on the agenda.

Now, Mario and his apprentice Panpassatnani have personally gone to Nanjing to conduct an on-site survey and determine the construction plan for the new building in Nanjing.

What Wei Guangde wanted was to build this Western-style building in the most prosperous center of various prefectures and cities in the Ming Dynasty, so that all Chinese people could see the Western architectural technology.

Sometimes, this kind of subtle influence might be better for them.

Regardless, although many people in later generations have boasted about the wonders of Chinese architecture, wooden buildings have never been able to match the lifespan of Western stone buildings.

Each has its own strengths.

The advantages of Western architecture should be clearly recognized by the Chinese people, as this will make it easier for them to absorb Western knowledge.

Once they get used to Western architecture and then come into contact with Western knowledge, their resistance will be much less.

Learning from both the East and the West—that's what Wei Guangde wanted to see.

Preserving the essence of Eastern culture while not rejecting the advantages of Western culture is helpful for the advancement of Chinese civilization.

Of course, this is also a kind of investment.

That evening, in the study of the Wei residence, Wei Guangde held a fist-sized Hetian jade seal and played with it.

The deep blue Hetian jade seal gleamed with an oily sheen under the candlelight.

"The product is good; the color is even and the texture is delicate."

Wei Guangde praised him.

“Sir, this piece of material was found after a long search. Although this color is not particularly rare, it took a lot of effort to find such a large piece.”

Zhang Ji said in a fawning tone.

People in the Ming Dynasty highly valued Hetian jade. It was not only an exclusive treasure of the royal family and nobility, but also widely popular among the common people, becoming a valuable item that people from all walks of life competed to collect and wear.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, regarded Xinjiang Hetian jade as a symbol of supreme authority and used it to make core ritual objects such as imperial seals.

Subsequently, the imperial court and nobles used a large amount of Hetian jade to make jade belt plaques, jade tablets, jade pendants, jade bowls, jade cups and other objects.

The jade used for precious jade artifacts mainly comes from Hotan and the Pamir Plateau region of Xinjiang, with mutton fat white jade being the finest.

Carving a seal from mutton-fat white jade, especially one that was to be taken out, was something Wei Guangde was naturally reluctant to part with.

But the demands he made this time were indeed very high.

So, Zhang Ji finally managed to find this piece of jade, which was of the highest quality, and carved the seal that Wei Guangde wanted.

At this moment, Wei Guangde held the seal in both hands and gently stamped it on the Xuan paper placed in front of him.

When he picked up the seal, the four ancient and elegant characters “Da Ming Qian Zhuang” were clearly displayed on the Xuan paper.

"The carving is also quite good."

Wei Guangde praised.

"Hehe, this was written by Meng Lin, a scholar from the Imperial Academy, and carved by Master Lu Zigang."

Zhang Ji smiled ingratiatingly.

"Yes, I'm very satisfied."

Wei Guangde smiled.

Yu Menglin, courtesy name Boxiang, was a native of Jiangning, Jiangsu. He was the second-place scholar in the imperial examination in the second year of the Wanli reign and was currently serving as the Director of Studies at the Imperial Academy. He was skilled in regular and cursive script and was a famous calligrapher in the court.

As for Lu Zigang, he established a jade carving workshop in Suzhou during the Jiajing period. His works integrated calligraphy and painting, and incorporated the flat reduction technique with "poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal" into jade design, creating the "Zigang brand" style. His signature was also found on imperial jade artifacts.

Wei Guangde gently stroked a raised area on one side of the seal with his thumb and smiled. (End of Chapter)