Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Clothing, food, housing, and transportation are basic necessities for everyone, and the wedding economy is not limited to clothing.

After arranging for the Imperial Clothing Bureau to customize clothing, Zhu Youjian instructed the head of the Imperial Kitchen to make proper arrangements for food and lodging:

"It's impossible for all those attending the celebration to have housing in the capital."

"The Royal Hotel must do a good job of receiving guests and ensure that everyone has a place to stay."

“Especially for wedding celebrations, there needs to be a dedicated venue.”

"The Royal Hotel can focus on hosting banquets in the future."

This was his arrangement for the Royal Hotel, and he requested that the Royal Hotel cooperate with car dealerships and even provide its own vehicles to facilitate guests' travel.

This also involved the vehicle workshop, where Zhu Youjian specifically inspected the latest model of carriage they had produced.

The vehicle workshop was jointly run by the Court of Imperial Stud and the Directorate of the Imperial Household. Wang Chengen, the Director of the Directorate of the Imperial Household, stated:

"Your Majesty, please look, this is a wedding car specially made by the vehicle workshop."

“During the wedding procession, guests can ride in a decorated carriage, driven by a designated person.”

This is a four-wheeled carriage, extremely large, almost comparable in size to the imperial palanquin used by Zhu Youjian.

It could even be said to be based on the imperial carriage, only with a reduced scale.

Zhu Youjian nodded, expressing his appreciation for the vehicle workshop's approach.

Then, considering the wedding needs, he instructed:
"We need to arrange not only a wedding car for the newlyweds, but also for the guests."

“Those people would buy even the lowest-priced blessing slots, which cost at least 10,000 taels, so they wouldn’t care about the cost of the carriage.”

"We should take this opportunity to sell more carriages and horses, and strive to establish a trend among the people of using horse-drawn carriages instead of sedan chairs."

"The sedan chair is used for human labor and is not suitable for use at weddings."

Zhu Youjian came to this conclusion hoping to replace the sedan chair with a flower-decorated carriage, just as in later generations.

Even if there were no cars now, horse-drawn carriages could take their place.

Only by establishing this trend can the carriages from the vehicle workshop sell better.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian recalled the story of five sons passing the imperial examinations after marriage in later generations, and after some thought, he made the following arrangements:
"Weddings are commonly known as 'small successes,' and there is also the idiom 'five sons achieving success.'"

"To get married, you must have a house, a car, gold, a wife, and children, to form the 'five blessings'."

“A carriage is a vehicle, and it needs a house to park it.”

"Ten newly built houses in the capital should be reserved for married couples to choose from and purchase, and they should be allowed to transfer their household registration here."

"Gold jewelry, including gold rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and pendants, is provided to the newlyweds."

"For wives and children, we can provide lifelong insurance that provides lifelong protection after purchase."

This is another new concept. Wang Chengen could understand the idea of ​​his five sons passing the imperial examinations, but he didn't quite understand the concept of lifelong insurance.

Zhu Youjian explained in detail:
"This life insurance can be viewed as a lump-sum deposit with periodic withdrawals, and it can be processed by banks that have obtained insurance qualifications."

"For example, if you deposit 1,000 yuan, the beneficiary can receive one yuan per month until the end of his/her life."

"Once the life insurance is purchased, it will pay out regardless of the circumstances. If the beneficiary dies before receiving the full 1,000 yuan, the remaining amount can be claimed with the death certificate."

"If someone has been receiving the money for eighty or ninety years and has already withdrawn all of the 1,000 yuan without dying, the bank will continue to pay one yuan every month as long as it confirms that the beneficiary is alive."

"I believe there aren't many centenarians like this, and banks won't lose out on whole life insurance."

This is an insurance policy he introduced after proposing social security, specifically for the situation in Daming.

Many people are unsure how their pension insurance will be paid out in the future.

It's easier to understand why you can withdraw a portion of your own savings each month.

Zhu Youjian hoped to establish the concept of social security through lifelong insurance, allowing more people to understand it. However, Wang Chengen saw this as an opportunity to make a fortune. He proposed:
"Your Majesty, one yuan per month is too little."

"Moreover, Shuntian Bank's practice of processing 1,000 yuan for decades is a huge waste of manpower."

"I believe it can be increased to 10,000 yuan, with a monthly allowance of 10 yuan."

"Many wealthy families' matriarchs receive about this amount of money each month, which allows them to save for their wives and children and then withdraw it from the bank."

They believed that this lifelong insurance could be combined with the monthly allowances of wealthy families.

These families, when they were wealthy, could easily come up with ten or twenty thousand yuan. They would probably be willing to do so to secure their own future.

Even if the family falls into ruin in the future, ten silver dollars a month would be enough to ensure their survival.

Zhu Youjian nodded, quite appreciating Wang Chengen's suggestion.

Even when deciding to pay monthly stipends to the concubines and female officials in the harem, they also used bank withdrawals as an example.

If he could get wealthy families in the capital to deposit their money in the bank and receive monthly allowances, his bank would make a large sum of money.

Wang Chengen also considered this point and offered his suggestion:

"Your Majesty, this whole life insurance business should be handled by a reliable bank."

"Banks that lack sufficient funds and cannot guarantee long-term operation are not eligible to offer lifetime insurance."

"Only banks like Suncheon Bank, which have the support of the royal family and are unlikely to go bankrupt, can offer lifetime insurance."

Zhu Youjian nodded in agreement, considering it a matter of course.

This lifelong insurance was proposed by him in combination with the bestowal of marriage and blessings and the wish for five sons to pass the imperial examinations. It can be said that it was guaranteed by the emperor's reputation, so of course he would not let others reap the benefits.

However, since only Shuntian Bank could handle it, it would easily attract hatred. After thinking it over, he said:
"All banks under the Inner Court Holdings can handle it, and the cooperating banks and money shops can handle it on your behalf."

“You should come up with a charter so that the Federal Reserve Board and the Financial Stability and Development Committee can formulate relevant regulations.”

"As long as we can ensure that the deposits of life insurance are controlled by the Royal Bank, we don't need to be too restrictive in terms of the handling institutions."

Wang Chengen thought it made sense; the business could be handled by other banks. He happily agreed, feeling that the revenue generated from the implementation of the whole life insurance alone would cover the expenses of the celebration.

However, Zhu Youjian would not be satisfied with this. He thought of the "three turns and one sound" that were popular during the era of material scarcity, inspired by the success of his five sons in the imperial examinations.

In those difficult times, they were still willing to spend so much on their weddings. Now that there are so many wealthy people in the Ming Dynasty, they should be willing to do the same.

Considering that the Ming Dynasty did not yet have a radio with three turns and one sound, Zhu Youjian decided to use musical instruments such as the qin, zheng, sheng, and xiao as a substitute. Musical instruments were called "xiangqi" in folk terms, which could serve as the "one sound".

The sewing machine and watch that were part of the three-stage process had already been commissioned by Zhu Youjian.

Research on bicycles has been ongoing, but progress has been slow. He inquired:
"How's the bicycle manufacturing going?"

When will it be available for practical use?

Wang Chengen was in a difficult position and replied:

"The bicycle frame has been built, but it's not sturdy enough and won't last long."

"Moreover, it's too strenuous to ride, and two-wheeled vehicles are prone to tipping over. Tricycles are also more strenuous than human-powered vehicles."

This is the biggest problem in promoting bicycles. Before tires and bearings were available, riding a bicycle was more strenuous than pulling a cart.

We now have bearings, but the chain drive is not yet perfect.

Tires were out of the question, and Zhu Youjian was unable to get the Ming Dynasty craftsmen to make them quickly.

He could only treat this project as a research topic to be studied in the long term.

The bicycle was replaced by a vehicle, whether it was a horse-drawn carriage, a rickshaw, or a cart or wheelbarrow used by ordinary people to carry people and goods. These could all be considered major items and were one of the three types of vehicles.

The "three turns and one sound" (referring to a specific type of jewelry, a "turn-around" designation, a "ring," and a "sound") will become a requirement for weddings in wealthy families, boosting consumption of musical instruments, cars, sewing machines, and clocks. (End of Chapter)