prosperous age

"Your Excellency, I have no objections after these revisions."

In the main hall of the Ministry of Revenue, Vice Minister Pei finished speaking and sat back down in his chair, looking quite relaxed.

Zhang Xueyan nodded and said to his subordinate, "Li Langzhong, please write down Lord Pei's suggestion and come up with revisions after careful consideration."

On this occasion, Zhang Xueyan did not comment on whether Pei Shilang's opinion was reasonable, but instead presented himself as someone who humbly sought advice.

"I understand. I will go back and discuss it with my colleagues to see how to make the changes."

Li Langzhong immediately said.

"Lord Zhang, is the stock exchange mentioned in these articles of association the same as the shares held by the Chamber of Commerce?"

Minister Pei had already spoken, and a physician surnamed Zhao, sitting below him, also spoke up to ask a question.

"Exactly."

Zhang Xueyan nodded slightly and said.

"Lord Zhang, does the stock traded on this stock exchange include personal shares?"

Zhao Langzhong immediately asked.

"I've actually thought about this issue a long time ago."

However, considering the special nature of the shares, the decision is to leave it to the Chamber of Commerce to make.

If they allow shares to be traded on the exchange, there will naturally be no objection.

But if they don't allow it, then the deal cannot be made.

Zhang Xueyan explained.

There are indeed some omissions in the articles of association, and they do need to be supplemented and improved, such as this stock.

During the Ming Dynasty, no laws or regulations similar to the later Partnership Law or Company Law were promulgated.

However, in general, many business models had already emerged, and some were in no way inferior to those of later generations.

While the Ming Dynasty did not have a legal concept of "shares" in the modern sense, a partnership profit-sharing mechanism centered on "silver shares" and "personal shares" had been widely formed in commercial practice.

The investment ratio and profit distribution are agreed upon in the contract and are a matter of private self-governance. Unless it involves litigation or debt evasion, the imperial court generally does not interfere.

"Silver shares" are actually capital shares, which are shares formed by the money invested by shareholders.

"Body shares" are somewhat special. These are shares given by the owner to important members of the chamber of commerce, and they have many restrictions, such as some only allowing dividends and not bearing losses.

Some agreements stipulate that once a certain goal is achieved, the shares can be converted into equity.

These types of stocks are commonly known as "labor stocks" or "power stocks".

It's similar to equity incentive policies in modern companies, where you can get a certain number of shares after achieving your goals.

Of course, most chambers of commerce prefer to give such important employees "shares" that only involve profit sharing, unless the chamber of commerce really cannot do without this person, or he has mastered a certain technology.

In ancient China, skills were often considered essential for making a living and were passed down through generations within families, never to be shared with outsiders.

Therefore, if the Chamber of Commerce needs this technology, the employer is willing to use "shares" to keep the employee and keep him working in the Chamber of Commerce.

In most cases of civil disputes, the Ming Dynasty adopted a policy of non-intervention. Unless it was a major case such as murder or arson, in which case the government would take the initiative to intervene, civil disputes were generally resolved privately by the people unless they reported them.

Because of this relaxed scope, commerce in the Ming Dynasty developed very quickly, and many methods that later generations considered ingenious emerged.

Of course, the "company structure" of the Ming Dynasty was still very crude, and because there were no legal constraints, it relied more on established rules and conventions from a moral perspective.

It should also be noted that in the business model of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court did not recognize "limited liability," and the owner in commercial transactions bore "unlimited liability."

Therefore, in later generations, the law sometimes struggles to deal with "debt dodgers," but in the Ming Dynasty, that was simply not a problem.

If a business suffers losses or even goes bankrupt, then it is a true bankruptcy. Apart from the family property donated previously, all assets will be handed over to the creditors for disposal.

Such people will see their status within the family plummet after their failure, and they will generally find it difficult to gain much benefit from the family property.

"That is to say, the imperial court will still follow its usual practice and will not interfere in private commerce, but will act in accordance with their established rules."

"I asked, Dr. Zhao."

"That's right. The imperial court has no intention of issuing any documents to restrict merchants. Everything will remain the same."

Zhang Xueyan said, "As long as the contract is observed and does not violate the Great Ming Code, then it is acceptable."

Upon seeing this, Dr. Zhao immediately nodded in agreement and said no more.

This actually incorporates Confucian thought, namely, governing by non-action.

Although the idea was proposed by Laozi, the founder of Taoism, Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, consulted Laozi on matters of ritual, and the teachings of Confucius and Mencius were also influenced by the Huang-Lao philosophy.

This idea is also one of the important bases for Confucianism's opposition to Legalism.

Ancient Chinese feudal dynasties operated under a small government model, making it impossible for them to handle everything perfectly.

Although "governing by doing nothing" was not the mainstream ideology in ancient feudal dynasties, it was a key strategy in governance for a long time.

It played a foundational role, especially in the early years of a dynasty or during times of peace. Its core was the "Huang-Lao philosophy"-led policy of recuperation and development, which aimed to achieve social stability and economic recovery through the principle of "the ruler doing nothing while the ministers do something".

The idiom "wuwei er zhi" (governing by non-action) first appeared in its entirety in the Analects of Confucius, specifically in the chapter "Wei Ling Gong". Its core idea actually originates from Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, meaning to follow the laws of nature, refrain from arbitrary intervention, and allow the people to develop on their own, thereby achieving good governance.

It is by no means the literal meaning of the later interpretations, such as lying down or doing nothing. In fact, that interpretation is a misinterpretation.

The reason why the custom of "officials not investigating unless the people complain" has formed in China is actually related to this.

If the people can solve the problem themselves, then of course we won't interfere.

If all else fails, go to the authorities and have the case judged according to the laws and ethics of the imperial court.

In fact, during the Ming Dynasty, apart from important resources such as salt, iron, and tea that were subject to national taxation, both the government and the people preferred to handle things independently and did not want the court to interfere.

Many officials, regardless of their past or present circumstances, have some degree of business involvement in their households.

In particular, many officials in the Ministry of Revenue came from families with a strong business background. Having been exposed to it since childhood, they were often selected to manage the court's finances after entering officialdom.

They were extremely sensitive to this, fearing that the imperial court would control commerce in the same way it controlled salt, iron, and tea, which would have a huge impact on businesses.

In recent years, the imperial court has been constantly introducing new ideas and reforms, which is in fact a form of reform. It is impossible for them not to have noticed this.

However, the driving forces behind this were Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde, both of whom were highly regarded by the Wanli Emperor, so naturally they dared not openly oppose it.

But in private, he never let his guard down.

Even though Wei Guangde has shown sufficient attention to business, and even personally immersed himself in it.

However, these officials with business backgrounds would never forget that on many occasions when the court discussed tax policies for commerce, it was always Wei Guangde, who was regarded by outsiders as the "Grand Secretary of Commerce," who was the first to nod and generously pay taxes.

It can be said that these people both respected Wei Guangde and were very wary of him, fearing that he would betray the interests of merchants for the sake of the so-called imperial court and national righteousness.

However, overall, they still support Wei Guangde for the time being.

After all, having this prime minister in office helps to elevate the status of merchants.

In fact, some merchants in the Jiangnan region are already planning to add "merchant registration" to the register of people to facilitate their participation in the imperial examinations.

The household registration system in the Ming Dynasty was largely based on occupation, with different occupations having different household registrations. Among them, the most common household registration categories were military, civilian, artisan, and stove.

During Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, he implemented a nationwide household registration system, which included two basic categories: good households and lowly households.

The categories of good and bad household registration can be further subdivided, namely, secondary household registration.

The categories of "good register" are: military personnel, civilians, artisans, and kitchen workers.

The lowest social class could be further divided into beggars, entertainers, fishermen, clerks, delinquents, prostitutes, and servants. Among them were the legendary "Six Doors" (a group of government officials), who were essentially constables. Those with good social class status could participate in the imperial examinations, while those with lowest social class status were not allowed to participate at all.

In the first stage of the imperial examination, the county-level examination, applicants needed to be sponsored by a local student, and five local candidates had to jointly sponsor each other in order to prevent those of low social status from sneaking in.

If it is confirmed that the candidate is of low social status and is taking the imperial examination, then the guarantor will be stripped of his academic title and sentenced to exile.

The other four candidates were implicated and barred from taking the imperial examinations for life.

Therefore, the chances of someone of low social status sneaking into the imperial examination hall were absolutely zero.

Because of this strict distinction, local authorities treated the matter with extreme caution whenever it involved registration for the imperial examinations.

At this time, the common people's registration was generally divided into four categories: city, agriculture, industry, commerce and trade. However, the "Great Ming Code" did not include a "merchant registration".

It is said that this was because Zhu Yuanzhang disliked merchants, so the Ming Dynasty had a long tradition of suppressing commerce.

Of course, some later generations have said that in the early Ming Dynasty, the government could arrest merchants at will, but this is a bit far-fetched.

The reason, of course, is that the "Great Ming Code" clearly stipulates that those who "idle and do not engage in business, or abandon the fundamental and pursue the trivial, and specialize in trivial occupations" can be "put in cangue for one month and sent to the border garrison to serve in the army."

Many people equate this with businessmen.

However, this provision targets itinerant people without a fixed livelihood, not specifically merchants.

Although the Ming Dynasty emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce in the early period, merchants who operated legally usually owned a portion of land and were typically registered as "civilian households" to avoid being seen as "not engaging in livelihood" or "specializing in secondary occupations".

This also led to the practice that successful merchants would return to their hometowns to buy up large amounts of land, thus solidifying their status as "civilian households".

However, merchants had to travel all over the country to do business, especially salt merchants after the "opening of the market". Merchants from Shanxi and other places mostly chose to live around the salt fields in Jiangnan and try to exchange their salt certificates.

Other merchants generally have the same need.

As a result, they were separated from their place of household registration for a long time because of doing business.

According to the regulations of the imperial court, their sons were required to return to their hometowns to take the imperial examinations.

However, there are many problems with returning to one's hometown to take the imperial examinations, especially since these people are often away from their hometowns, and no one in their hometowns can verify whether they have committed any crimes while away.

As a result, some people find it difficult to take the exam and fail to even register.

The only thing that merchants from Jiangnan could think of was whether they could include their merchant registration in the "Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty" since it wasn't there.

Merchants could register as merchants in the local area, and since they were not of low social status, they were naturally eligible to take the imperial examinations.

Now is not the perfect time to achieve this goal.

The Grand Secretary of the court did not look down on merchants; on the contrary, he was very supportive.

This is a good opportunity to finalize the "business registration".

Having confirmed that the imperial court had not used this legislation to restrict merchants, Zhao Langzhong naturally chose to remain silent.

Others raised questions one after another, and Zhang Xueyan simply told them to write them down and revise them later.

However, after this incident, news of the imperial court's plan to establish a stock exchange quickly spread from the Ministry of Revenue.

At first, no one knew anything about it and had no idea what the chamber of commerce did.

However, as the detailed rules of the articles of association were gradually released, the outside world learned that the shares of those chambers of commerce could be transferred on the stock exchange.

This is naturally meaningless to the vast majority of people.

Since they didn't have much money, they naturally wouldn't hand it over to others to do business.

After all, it has been known since ancient times that doing business involves both profits and losses.

Once the money is handed over to someone else, who knows if there's any shady dealing involved in the profit or loss?

As for the wealthy individuals who invest in or hold shares in the chamber of commerce, they naturally have other intentions.

In reality, the people were still conflicted about what the notice issued by the Ming Dynasty money shop said: depositing money would earn interest from the money shop.

The stock exchange was being prepared, and the Ming Dynasty Money Shop's efforts to attract private deposits had long been on the agenda.

After all, everyone wanted to emulate the money shops and for local gentry to re-enter the lending market.

Although we can no longer lend money at exorbitant interest rates, even a monthly interest rate of 3% is better than letting the money sit in the warehouse collecting dust.

Meanwhile, Wei Guangde, in his duty room, looked at the deposits collected by Daming Bank over the past few days and shook his head slightly.

327 taels and 5 mace of silver—that's the amount of deposits that Daming Bank has collected from the people in the capital over the past three days.

They all uniformly chose a one-year fixed deposit, with principal and interest repaid upon maturity.

The annual interest rate isn't high, only 0.5%.

"Hehe, I understand. You can go back now."

Tell him not to worry. It's normal that people are initially hesitant to put their money in because they're worried about potential risks.

"Things will improve in two months."

Wei Guangde waved his hand and sent the messenger sent by the money shop back. He remembered this person; he used to work in the mansion.

As for his current position within the Ming Dynasty money shop, he had no idea.

I reckon his position isn't low, otherwise Old Zhou wouldn't have sent someone to deliver a message to him.

Old Zhou was the steward who used to be in charge of lending money at the Wei family.

Now he has been released and entered the Daming Money Shop as a manager.

"Reed cloth".

After everyone left, Wei Guangde called Lu Bu over and asked, "The money exchange is taking in deposits; have you deposited any at home?"

Upon hearing Wei Guangde's words, Lu Bu's eyes narrowed and he lowered his head.

"What, did you lend it out?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

"Some were lent out by relatives and friends, but some are still kept at home."

Lu Bu answered in a low voice.

"Oh, then why not put it in a money exchange? Are you worried about losing everything?"

Wei Guangde asked with a smile.

"Master, I'm not worried about that, it's just that my family is afraid."

Lu Bu explained.

"What good is a hundred taels of silver if you keep it at home, besides being able to take it out and look at it whenever you want?"
But if you put it in a money exchange, you can make at least five taels of silver a year.

Never mind, I originally wanted to give the people a way to make money without taking any risks.

But since I don't like it, it doesn't matter anymore.

If Lu Bu is at home, there must be an elder in the family keeping him in check.

However, the fact that someone like him didn't deposit his money in a money exchange was somewhat unexpected for Wei Guangde.

It can only be said that most of the people are good people, but they will also have other thoughts about this matter, worrying that someone might be after that insignificant amount of money.

"A year might be too long; let's get the current account settled." (End of Chapter)