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Chapter 1055 Stock Trading
"Your Majesty asked me to sell tulip futures quickly, and then introduced them to the Ming Dynasty. This is inconsistent. I wonder if there is another hidden meaning?"

Silva hadn't sat down in the first place. After hearing the emperor's suggestion, he couldn't understand it no matter how hard he tried. This was not in line with the emperor's usual style, so he simply didn't sit down and asked directly.

"Hehehe, it seems that Grand Secretary Xi understands me better. My fellow ministers, please don't rush to object. It won't be too late to make a final decision after I finish speaking.

What I want to import is not tulips. What the Dali Qing said is very right. That thing cannot be eaten or drunk. After all the speculation, what we finally get is nothing more than a plant. It is too extravagant to spend thousands of taels of silver.

What I want to introduce is the concept of futures, using this concept to reasonably and legally collect idle funds from the private sector for use by the court. In this way, the private sector has projects to invest in, and the court has money to circulate, which is the best of both worlds.

Some people may ask, what is futures? Two words: expectation! For example, if Prime Minister Yuan came to borrow money, I would give it to him without hesitation; if Xi Daxueshi also came to borrow money, I might not be so happy.

Why? Because I have different expectations for them. Yuan Shoufu left a very credible impression on me, and I have high expectations for him, so I am not afraid that he will not pay me back after lending him the money.

It was different for Xi Daxueshi. He even bought tulips from thousands of miles away and took all the risks on himself. He might be penniless one day and not be able to repay the money he lent.

Now the question is, if the tulips are exchanged for shares of Haihe Machinery Factory or Songjiang Shipyard, are you willing to pay for them?"

With Silva's question, Hong Tao finally found the most appropriate introduction and led the topic to the direction he expected. Next, he could no longer discuss the topic collectively and express his own opinions, but had to enter the detailed explanation stage.

No matter how high their positions or how senior their qualifications, the officials present here must be completely confused now because the concept of stock trading is too new and has never been seen before, so there is no reference at all.

"…Your Majesty wants to sell shares in the machinery factory and the shipyard? I wonder how much and at what price?" Li Ruzhang was the first to stand up and answer, but he did not give an answer. Instead, he asked a question in return.

"Your Majesty, I think this is inappropriate. The shares of the machinery factory and the shipyard are all in the imperial treasury. If the imperial treasury is used to withdraw money every time the court encounters difficulties, wouldn't today's imperial meeting be unnecessary?"

Yuan Yingtai then stood up as well, and with his eyes he suppressed several officials who were eager to stand up and ask questions, and then he solemnly raised his questions to the emperor.

"Who said I'm going to sell my shares? You're dreaming! I have so many royal family members to support, and I rely on these shares to support me. If I sell them, I'll just be left with nothing and have to ask the court for more. Grand Secretary Li, you have a very bad conscience!"

Without waiting for any more ministers to stand up and agree, Hong Tao quickly explained. The stocks are not for sale! At the same time, he pointed at Li Ruzhang with his finger and made a judgment with a grim smile, saying that he was a culpable person!
"However, the reaction of Li Daxueshi also confirms what I just said. As long as there is a promising future, there will be people willing to spend money to buy it. Think about it again, everyone. In addition to the industries under my name, there should be more industries that can be sold..."

"Your Majesty, you can't do that! The industries under the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Industry can earn a lot of income for the court every year. If we sell them off, it will definitely solve the urgent problem. However, if the income is reduced in the future, the court will still be out of money, and then there will be nothing left to sell!"

Before he finished speaking, Wang Zheng stood up and raised an objection. In addition to the factories and mining shares owned by the emperor, the departments with the most factories in the court were the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Construction. If all these factories were sold for money, he would definitely not agree!
"Tsk... When did I say I wanted to sell the imperial court's property? It's not too late to object after I finish speaking. Apart from my and the imperial court's property, does the Ming Dynasty have no other property?

My intention is to allow privately held businesses to sell shares in exchange for cash, but the operation must be guaranteed by the court. Therefore, a new department must be established to manage share transactions.

Wang Chengen, send out all the materials, and then go ask what to eat for lunch, and prepare a portion for all the officials. You will have to pay for meals in the palace in the future. Today is the last meal, and it will not happen again! "After more than an hour of guidance, Hong Tao finally gave up. The more he guided, the more he went astray. He might as well just read the materials. It was written clearly in black and white. He could discuss the parts he didn't understand, and the progress would be faster.

But no matter how fast we tried, we couldn't finish it before noon, so we still had to provide food. When Hong Tao thought about how he had been frugal, but in the end, all the money was given to the ministers who came to the meeting, his cunning character came out again.

I was thinking whether I should build a small canteen in the palace and let the eunuchs cook and sell food to the ministers who came to the meeting. As for the price...it must be a little more expensive than the most upscale restaurant in the capital.

"Your Majesty, there is one thing I don't understand. If the people are allowed to sell their shares of property, the money won't belong to the court, and we have to add more staff to the department for this purpose. It seems unprofitable."

I don't know if the method of asking for money for meals in the palace has worked, the ministers read the documents faster. In less than ten minutes, Liu Lishun, the Minister of Taxation, saw something wrong.

"I want to ask you, do I need to pay a handling fee when selling shares?"

"That's true... but the handling fee is so low, I'm afraid it won't help!"

"Let me ask you again, where do I need to go to purchase shares?"

"We should go to... the Stock Exchange."

"and then?"

"And then... then you hand over the silver in exchange for shares, and the stock exchange will then deliver the silver to the person who sold the shares, and the payment will be cleared." Liu Lishun and the emperor answered each other very smoothly, which showed that he had finished reading the materials and remembered most of the content.

But the more I think about this, the more I wonder why the emperor allowed private industries to sell shares and even set up an institution called the Stock Exchange to manage it. What was the purpose? The transaction fees that both parties had to pay were not enough to offset the cost of adding officials and offices.

"Minister Liu seems to have forgotten one thing. The exchange does not collect cash but silver notes. What is delivered to the seller is not cash but silver notes.

In this way, no matter who wants to buy stocks, they must first deposit silver coins or silver into the Sun and Moon Bank in exchange for silver bills before proceeding to the next step, and there must be at least a few days interval in between.

However, the person who sells the stocks may not cash the silver bills immediately after receiving them, so the silver can be kept in the bank for a period of time. Your Majesty, I roughly understand the reason, but I don’t know whether my understanding is right or wrong. "

It was not the emperor who gave Liu Lishun the answer, but Silva. He read it very quickly, and pulled his hair while reading it, making his few curls into a mess. However, his expression was not painful, but a little excited, and he interrupted the conversation between the emperor and the minister without regard for etiquette.

(End of this chapter)