Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

These Zhangjiakou merchants are naturally willing to become royal partners and obtain the status of royal merchants.

However, they still have concerns about how to cooperate.

After all, the royal family's credibility is not good in this regard.

Even if the emperor is kind and does not covet their money, the eunuchs in the inner court may squeeze them dry.

Qu Youliang, who was born in Qi County, asked:
"We can trust the reputation of Eunuch Wang."

"I'm just afraid that after my father-in-law leaves, the next generation won't follow the rules."

"I wonder what the rules of this cooperation are. Has the palace decided on it?"

Wang Chao said with a fake smile:
"Don't worry, I can't leave even if I want to, so just rest assured."

"The regulations regarding the Imperial Merchants were also set by the Imperial Capital Commission, and no one has the right to change them at will."

"The proportion of shares will be based on the business tax set some time ago. The royal family's share will only be less than the required public shares, and will not exceed that proportion."

"As long as you make money according to the rules and don't do anything illegal or harmful to the public interest, the royal family will not get involved in your management."

"I can't manage so many inner court enterprises, so who has the time to manage you!"

These words were not polite at all, but after hearing them, the businessmen felt relieved.

Indeed, after the current emperor ascended the throne, the biggest change to the inner court was to allow the eunuchs who went out to run businesses.

There are more and more enterprises in the inner court now. In Zhangjiakou alone, there are Shuntian Bank, Shunning Commercial Bank, etc.

The objects of their cooperation are also these enterprises, and the inner court obtains dividend income while providing protection.

Thinking about the difficulties of doing business alone, these businessmen were all tempted. Qu Youliang spoke first:

"Eunuch Wang, I want to open a bank. I wonder if we can cooperate with Shuntian Bank to run a foreign exchange business."

"The people of Shanxi are eagerly waiting for Shuntian Bank to open there."

This matter immediately aroused Wang Chaoyong's interest.

Since not everyone can afford to open a money shop or a bank, Qu Youliang must have a lot of capital to dare to say this in person.

According to the business tax regulations, a company with a turnover of more than 100,000 yuan can be called a large enterprise. The bank that Qu Youliang opened must have exceeded this scale, and it might even reach hundreds of thousands.

Thinking that he could make hundreds of thousands of dollars with the help of the policy, Wang Chaoyong said with interest:
"How big do you plan to make your bank?"

“What is the annual turnover?”

The Qu family of Qi County started doing business as early as the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, and has accumulated considerable wealth by now.

Moreover, they are not the only ones doing business in Qi County. Many people from Qi County do business in Zhangjiakou and Shahukou, forming a powerful Qi County business group.

As the leader of the Qi County business community, the Qu family can raise a lot of funds.

Qu Youliang thought that he could not show his weakness, so he made up his mind and said to Wang Chaoyong:

"As long as my father-in-law can make all the investors become royal merchants, I am confident that I can raise millions of shares."

"If next year's turnover is less than one million, Father-in-law can send someone to take over the bank!"

Wang Chao loudly said "OK" and was in a very happy mood.

A turnover of one million is already a relatively large enterprise. According to regulations, at least 20% of the shares must be publicly owned to enjoy the tithe tax. In addition to the 10% held by employees, the inner court can hold 10% of the shares, which will give it 100,000 taels of money.

This made him smile and said:

"We can trust the reputation of Shopkeeper Qu."

"Come here, please invite Manager Qu to take a seat."

"If your bank is really successful, you will definitely be a royal merchant in the future and a guest of honor in our family."

"As long as anyone else holds more than half of the shares, they can get a seat on the board of directors and have the status of a royal merchant."

After making a promise to Qu Youliang, he said to the merchants:

"For larger companies with a value of one million taels, the royal family usually holds a 10% stake, which is worth one hundred thousand taels of silver."

"These 100,000 taels are not taken for free. They can be regarded as donations to shareholders, shopkeepers, officials, or even hereditary knighthood."

"With this, and the Royal Partner Certificate issued by the Royal Assets Commission, you can seek help from the Inner Court wherever you encounter problems, and your legal rights will be protected from infringement."

"Manager Qu, you have won the first place. From now on, you will be the first among the royal merchants in Shanxi!"

Qu Youliang kept saying "I dare not", but he was quite proud in his heart.

After learning that the Zhang family, Wang family and other big families were preparing to invest heavily in border trade and go to the grasslands to become merchants accompanying the army, he realized that business would be difficult in the future and the Qu family would face many competitors.

He originally planned to join one of them, but after learning that the inner court was recruiting imperial merchants, he immediately decided to join the emperor.

Compared with the emperor, the family of the prime minister and the family of the grand secretary are nothing. The royal family has the most honorable status in the entire Ming Dynasty.

Now he has reaped the rewards and is regarded by Wang Chao as the number one imperial merchant in Shanxi.

As long as this money house can be run successfully, he can use his status as an imperial merchant to keep his own business and earn more money.

Wang Chaoyong knew that the Qu family’s main business was not a money house, but he knew that the emperor attached the greatest importance to the financial industry.

The Imperial Assets Committee, the core organization of the inner court, also controls other industries through the financial industry. The emperor had long ago issued instructions to control Shanxi's financial industry.

Therefore, he wanted to squeeze more money out of her, so he gave her a good idea:

"It is better to run a bank than a money house. The scope of business is larger and there is policy support."

"Eunuch Tu from the Imperial Capital Commission has already instructed Shuntian Bank, Yingtian Bank, and Sihai Bank to help various places set up banks."

"In Shanxi, the inner court plans to open two major banks. One is the Shanxi Industrial and Commercial Bank, which is mainly responsible for lending to the industrial and commercial sectors in the mainland."

"A Shanxi Export-Import Bank, which is mainly responsible for border trade and helps Shuntian Bank with trade settlement."

"Zhangjiakou is an important border trade center, and the head office of Shanxi Export-Import Bank is planned to be located here."

"If Manager Qu is interested, he can take up this responsibility."

When Qu Youliang heard these words, he was surprised and happy at the same time.

What surprised him was that the inner court had already planned to open a bank in Shanxi, but what made him happy was that the money shop he planned to open was included in it and had the power to import and export.

This power was previously enjoyed exclusively by Shuntian Bank, and all trade with the grasslands had to go through them.

Looking at the manager eunuch of Shuntian Bank next to him, Qu Youliang said cautiously:
"How dare we compete with Shuntian Bank for this?"

"Besides, if both banks are doing this, how will the trade quota be calculated?"

Wang Chaoyong said with a smile:

"So Shanxi Export-Import Bank and Shuntian Bank must acquire shares, and they must hold half of the shares to gain control."

"It can be said to be a subsidiary bank of Shuntian Bank, helping Shuntian Bank to undertake business." "The two banks share data and will open up inter-bank remittances in the future."

"The branches of Shuntian Bank in various places are mainly responsible for collecting data, including trade quotas and the like."

"Except for Northern Zhili, all other businesses must be released."

I briefly talked about the transformation of Shuntian Bank, which was transformed into a holding bank outside of Northern Zhili. To avoid the need for more and more employees, the inner court could not manage them all.

In this era of inconvenient transportation, Zhu Youjian had no confidence in maintaining the profits of foreign enterprises. Therefore, he required that the inner court enterprises be concentrated in the southern and northern Zhili, and foreign enterprises should mainly hold shares and cooperate with local capable people to obtain dividends.

Although Qu Youliang and others did not quite understand what was being said, they all realized that the royal family was cutting off some of their own flesh and blood and giving up Zhangjiakou's trade power.

In the past, they would never have had the opportunity to get involved in this power. Qu Youliang, who had previously planned to open his own bank, immediately said:

"Since you are so kind, I would be disrespectful to refuse."

"I am willing to invest 100,000 taels of silver to buy shares in the Export-Import Bank."

Other businessmen were not to be outdone and wanted to buy shares.

Wang Chaoyong was so happy that he asked the eunuch next to him to take note of it. He planned to talk to the big families in Shanxi to see how much they were willing to pay.

After all, the emperor's order was to allow more businessmen to engage in foreign trade, and the Export-Import Bank should absorb as many people as possible.

In addition, he also had a task, which was to set up the Shanxi Foreign Trade Association to supervise merchants engaged in foreign trade and prevent the emergence of people who secretly communicated with the Jianlu.

As the first big businessman to join him, Qu Youliang was appreciated by him and was responsible for the establishment of the Foreign Trade Association.

The business landscape of Zhangjiakou and even the entire Shanxi Province underwent a tremendous change as merchants who colluded with the enemy were punished.

The power of the inner court further deepened and began to control all aspects of Shanxi's economy.

The Royal Energy Group, in particular, dispatched a large number of personnel to search for open-pit coal mines that are easy to mine in Shanxi, preparing to mine the coal and transport it to northern Zhili.
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At the same time, the rectification of Shanxi officialdom began again.

The newly appointed Shanxi governor Yang He, in accordance with the court's order, implemented a "everyone passes" policy for Shanxi officials.

The fall of two consecutive governors and the civil unrest in Shanxi made the court ministers realize that there was a big problem in Shanxi.

Under the emperor's strict order, the Ministry of Personnel decided to conduct a comprehensive review of Shanxi officials and require everyone to pass the review.

Now, officials from the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Procuratorate have come to Shanxi and formed an inspection committee with local officials who have passed the test. Similar to last year's Beijing inspection, Shanxi officials are asked to evaluate themselves and declare their property.

Everyone in Shanxi's officialdom is in danger, and many officials realize that it will be difficult to get through this time.

Some people even deliberately played badly, causing the civil unrest that was about to be quelled to become serious again.

Yang He was so angry that he slammed the table. Sun Chuanting, the governor of Sanbian who came to suppress the bandits, said coldly to all the generals:

"The reason why the bandit problem in Shanxi has not been quelled is because some officials do not take action or even deliberately sabotage it."

"All these people must be captured and handed over to the court for disposal."

"The garrisons and the army in Shanxi must also be fully rectified to be responsible for stabilizing the ground."

In Shaanxi, an elite force was built up by clearing out the garrisons, and Sun Chuanting planned to do the same in Shanxi.

Moreover, compared to Shaanxi, where he was unfamiliar with the place, he was more familiar with the situation in Shanxi as he was born in Zhenwuwei, Daizhou.

If it weren't for the fact that he was only the governor-general of the three provinces to suppress bandits and it was not convenient for him to interfere in government affairs, he would probably clean up the entire Shanxi Province to free up more land.

Yang He had worked with Sun Chuanting in Shaanxi for two years and knew the governor's temper very well. He took the initiative to say:
"I'll trouble you, Sun Zhitai, to take care of the land survey of the garrisons."

"I will definitely clean up the Shanxi bureaucracy and re-measure the land."

"I only ask Sun Zhitai to let General Zu stay for a little longer to completely wipe out the Shanxi bandits."

When Sun Chuanting heard this request, he frowned slightly and said:

"General Zu was appointed as the governor of the Hetao Protectorate by the imperial court a long time ago."

"Now that the war in Mo Nan is about to start, I can't keep anyone here!"

As a precursor to the Battle of Liaodong next year, the Battle of Mobei has already begun under the planning of the imperial court.

Man Gui, Zhu Mei and Zu Dashou had already mobilized their troops and prepared to enter the grassland in winter to trap the Jianlu troops on their westward expedition in the south of the desert.

Yang He also knew that this matter was decided by the imperial court, and the local government had no right to interfere. However, Zu Dashou's cavalry was very important for suppressing bandits in Shanxi, and he said:
"Without the cavalry, it will be difficult to hunt down the scattered bandits."

"And I also heard that Xuanfu Guard Commander Shen Qi was arrested and was suspected of colluding with the enemy."

"Shen Qi negotiated peace with Zu Dashou under Yuan Chonghuan. I'm afraid it's inappropriate to send Zu Dashou to the grassland now."

Shen Qi's arrest not only implicated many officials and businessmen, but also people like Zu Dashou who were transferred from Liaodong in previous years.

Now many people have realized that the emperor's purge of the Liaodong peace faction was not only to strike a blow against the local forces in Liaodong, but also because there was indeed a group of people in Liaodong who were in contact with the Jianlu under the name of peace talks.

Zu Dashou, who secretly hid the surrendered prisoners, once again became a suspect. Many people were worried that he would have an affair with the Jianlu after going to the grassland.

Sun Chuanting was also worried at this time.

However, it was he who recommended Zu Dashou to be the governor of Hetao, and both he and Sun Chengzong, the governor of Liaodong, had recommended him.

If he suspected Zu Dashou at this time, it would undoubtedly be an opposition to his previous behavior.

Not only would the imperial court doubt his ability, but Zu Dashou would also become completely alienated from him.

So when he heard Yang He's words, he immediately said:
"Father Yang, be careful with your words!"

"Zu Dashou's position was appointed by the imperial court."

"Until the imperial court changes its decision, everyone must cooperate and implement the Hetao strategy."

"I believe Zu Dashou is loyal to the court and he can build the Hetao Protectorate."

When Yang He heard this, he was speechless for a moment.

Indeed, Zu Dashou's position was appointed by the court. Before the court changed its decision, he really shouldn't have suspected anything, because any suspicion would have kept Zu Dashou in Shanxi.

Although he wanted to keep this elite force in Shanxi to suppress the bandits, Yang He finally gave up the idea and said:

"This time, the people who recovered Hetao include not only General Zu's men, but also some bandits who surrendered to the imperial court."

"I think we should send a capable guard to prevent them from causing chaos on the grassland."

The subtext is to send someone to keep an eye on these people and supervise Zu Dashou at the same time.

Sun Chuanting understood what he meant, and he was a little worried about Zu Dashou, so he said after thinking about it:

"Shaanxi Counselor Yang Wenyue has made many contributions to the establishment of the Shaanxi Civil Service Bureau and should be promoted."

"How about you and I jointly recommend him as the commander of the guard army of the Hetao Protectorate?"

Yang He had been fighting against bandits in Shaanxi before and knew Yang Wenyue. He knew that Yang Wenyue was a capable person who was sent by the imperial court.

He and Sun Chuanting immediately wrote a joint memorial to recommend him to take up the post in Hetao. (End of this chapter)