I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 945: The Financial Giant Emerges (Combined Chapter)
The next day, in the Southern Palace of the Imperial City, the Secretariat, and the Council of State Affairs.

"Your Highness, something happened!"

Wang Ling, who was in charge of the Jinyiwei, came running over and urgently reported the situation:
"The shares of the Western Region Development Company have suddenly been snapped up. Many people have taken advantage of the loopholes in our policies and raised the price to buy out the subscription rights of ordinary people and merchants, hoarding shares!"

"Oh?" Su Yao came back to his senses, a playful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Someone found out so soon?"

Jia Xu stroked his beard and chuckled: "Those who can gain a foothold in the capital are all smart people."

Su Yao chuckled and asked, "How high has the stock price risen now?"

Wang Ling was slightly at a loss, and after a pause he replied, "This morning, the private price has reached three guan per share."

"Three kan?!"

Wang Yun's eyes widened, and he almost dropped the teacup in his hand: "It tripled in one day?!"

Jia Xu laughed and said, "If this happens, the threshold of the subscription office will probably be broken down."

"really."

Wang Ling shook his head helplessly:

"Early in the morning, before daybreak, there were already crowds of people there. Many people even did not go home after the court session yesterday and were waiting there the whole time."

"If the Luoyang magistrate had not been afraid of trouble and asked the Grand Commander to dispatch troops to maintain order, I would not have noticed that such a big mess could have occurred in just one day."

Upon hearing Wang Ling's words, Zhu Jun slammed the table and stood up:

"Your Highness, the King of Tang, the court must take immediate action!"

"Either we order the private resale of shares to be invalid, or we simply raise the selling price. We can't let this money go to others for nothing!"

Selling cheap!

Yes, this is the first thought of many people.

Now that the public can accept the offer of three guan, wouldn’t the court be losing money if it sold it too cheaply?
However, Yuan Shao, who had been silent as a clay man, immediately stood up and expressed his opposition to his words:
"The Minister's words are wrong."

Yuan Shao straightened his clothes and said seriously:
"Since the imperial court has clearly marked the price, how can it change its order overnight? If it adjusts it arbitrarily due to market fluctuations, wouldn't it be a breach of trust?"

"Besides, the initial offering of shares by the Western Region Development Company is a critical moment to rally the people's hearts and gather financial resources. The enthusiastic subscription of the people and merchants shows that they have full trust and expectations for the court and Your Highness."

"If you change your mind every day for a little profit, it will destroy the people's trust in the court and make them think that His Majesty the King of Tang is fickle. It will be extremely difficult for you to implement new policies and expand into Southeast Asia in the future."

Seeing Yuan Shao's rare long and eloquent defense, Jia Xu suddenly smiled:
"What Mr. Yuan said, does it mean that he has already invested heavily?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the government hall suddenly became quiet.

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Yuan Shao remained calm and said:

"Not bad!"

"I, Yuan, have subscribed to 100,000 shares. If calculated at the current price, I should have made a net profit of about 200,000 strings of cash."

hiss--

Wang Yun gasped, and the teacup in his hand fell to the ground and broke into countless pieces.

One guan is equal to one thousand coins. The Yuan family invested 100,000 guan, which means they have a fortune of hundreds of millions!

It is said that the Yuan family of Runan had three officials in four generations and once owned countless fertile fields and beautiful houses, so this amount of money did not seem to be a big deal.

However, the present is different from the past. After experiencing countless changes and wars, the Yuan family's foundation has not disappeared, but has been severely reduced. Even the mansion they live in in the capital now was a reward from Her Majesty the Queen of Tang when she married her daughter.

Now, the Yuan family took out 100,000 strings of cash to invest in the company in one go. Their desperate gamble really shocked everyone.

And the reward he got now was just one day's reward, which was indeed worth the gamble.

"Brother Benchu ​​is really generous." Cao Cao's voice was slightly sour.

Although he also believed that following King Tang would not be a loss and his family had invested a lot of money to subscribe for shares, it was still a drop in the bucket compared to the Yuan family's investment and not worth mentioning.

Yuan Shao obviously enjoyed the surprised and envious looks from everyone. He suppressed his inner laughter and bowed slightly with a stern face:
"It is just a response to the call of the imperial court. His Royal Highness the King of Tang wants to march west, and my Yuan family will give full support."

"What Mr. Yuan said is indeed righteous and awe-inspiring."

Wang Yun finally couldn't help it:

"But this share offering is an opportunity given by the Tang Emperor to the people of the world to participate in the great cause of the Western Expedition, so each household has a limit. You knew this, but you bought up the shares privately. How can you buy so many shares by yourself? Isn't this competing with the people for profit?"

After saying that, Wang Yun turned to Su Yao and angrily bowed:
"Tang Wang, please be wise. This trend must not be allowed to continue! Otherwise, these noble families will compete to buy and control the quota. In the future, they will unite and influence everything from the daily operation of the company to the decision-making of the country's western expedition."

"I request the court to issue an order to severely punish those who take advantage of the situation, stop the transfer of shares, and invalidate their excess quota!"

Good guy.

Wang Yun's words did not leave Yuan Shao any face at all, and he directly stabbed the spear into his face.

This was definitely an extremely exciting scene for all the ministers. Most of the people present were moved and their eyes were on the faces of Wang Yun, Yuan Shao and Su Yao.

However, facing the attack, although Yuan Shao's face turned blue, he remained calm. He did not fight back, but just closed his eyes and waited for what happened next.

He is still here.

No, it would be a bit of an exaggeration to say that it was a gamble. This was more of his experience over the years.

Since he first met Su Yao in Bingzhou, he has suffered countless losses, both openly and secretly. He knows very well that once the kid surnamed Su makes a move, he will not give anyone a chance easily.

And now, he has made such a grand event of developing the Western Regions, but left such a big loophole in the share subscription. Is this possible?

This can't be possible!

There must be something wrong when things are abnormal. Although Yuan Shao didn't know what the Su boy's back-up plan was, he was obviously waiting for someone to exploit this loophole.

Then the only thing left to consider is whether that guy wants to harm someone or something.

Considering the importance of the Western Region Development Company and its thirst for funds, Yuan Shao immediately understood and bet almost all of his fortune on it.

And sure enough, he won the bet this time.

Su Yao slowly spoke:
"The Imperial Censor's concerns are indeed justified, but have you ever thought that this is what I wanted in the first place?"

"what?!"

Wang Yun's eyes widened, looking puzzled.

Could it be that after his "resurrection from the dead" this time, King Tang has changed?

Not only did he not suppress the powerful, but he also gave them the opportunity to become more powerful? !
this.
"The Western Regions are thousands of miles away from the Central Plains, and Parthia and Rome are even further west."

"The imperial court's westward expedition requires a large amount of talent and financial support. If these aristocratic families are willing to invest their resources here, it would be better than letting them stay in the local area and compete with the common people for food, right?"

"Besides, I am not without a backup plan."

Su Yao chuckled and took out two more documents.

In addition to one amendment to the charter, another one had the five big words "Luoyang Exchange" written on it.

"Luoyang Exchange?"

Wang Yun took the document and saw that it was clearly written in the Luoyang Exchange Charter:

"All shares of the Western Region Development Company must be registered with the exchange to be valid; the exchange will publicly announce the market price every day, and private transactions outside the exchange are strictly prohibited." "What does the Tang King want?"

Su Yao chuckled and said, "Since there are already spontaneous transactions among the people, why not let the court set up a formal venue, clearly mark prices, and conduct fair bidding? At the same time, the court can also collect some taxes."

"Collect, collect taxes?" Wang Yun was speechless.

"That's right." Su Yao nodded with a smile: "Starting tomorrow, all share transfers must be conducted publicly on the exchange, and the court will collect a 1% stamp duty for each transaction."

"One percent?!" Zhu Jun's hands trembled, and he quickly calculated in his mind, "If the current market price is three guan per share, a transaction of 100,000 shares would be three hundred guan, if the business is booming."

"Moreover," Su Yao added, "in order to prevent speculation, if a stock is held for less than three months, a short-term transaction tax of 5% will be levied on the transfer."

There was an uproar in the government hall.

Jia Xu's eyes sparkled: "Great! This way, not only can we regulate transactions and bring everything under the supervision of the court, but even better -"

Jia Xu glanced at Yuan Shao meaningfully: "Those who hoard goods will probably find it difficult to cover up the sky with one hand."

Yuan Shao's expression remained unchanged, but he was terrified in his heart.

Only then did he fully understand Su Yao's intention - first let the share price surge to attract powerful people to enter the market, and then bring everyone under his control through the stock exchange. This conspiracy made him both admire and frightened.

"Not only that." Su Yao unfolded the exchange's charter, "All major transactions must be publicized, and those holding more than 5% of the shares must report to the court. More importantly -" he tapped his finger heavily on a special clause, "the court reserves the right to issue new shares at any time."

Wang Yun took a deep breath: "Issuing new shares?!"

Su Yao raised his lips slightly: "If someone hoards and drives up the stock price, the court can issue new shares to stabilize the market price. In addition, the development of the Western Regions is very expensive, and subsequent projects also require continuous investment."

Yuan Shao's face changed slightly when he heard this, and the teacup in his hand made a "click" sound. He then realized that he had underestimated the Tang King after all - he thought he could make a fortune by buying shares at the bottom, but he didn't expect that the other party had already made a backup plan and firmly controlled all the variables.

Jia Xu clapped his hands and chuckled: "This way, we can not only make the powerful families willingly spend their savings, but also prevent them from monopolizing and controlling. What's even better is that we can open up a steady stream of funds. The King of Tang's plan is really killing three birds with one stone."

"but."

Cao Cao suddenly frowned and asked carefully:

"People are very enthusiastic now, but I'm afraid the stock price won't continue to rise like crazy, right?"

"If the stock price falls in the future, won't those who bought at high prices suffer heavy losses? If things go wrong, it may lead to civil unrest."

"Meng De is worthy of the reputation of being a capable minister who can govern the country. I am very relieved to see this."

Su Yao nodded:

"That's right. In the stock market, there are ups and downs. So we must not only do a good job of educating investors, but also take adequate precautions to prevent the market from overheating."

As he spoke, Su Yao flipped to the back of the booklet of the exchange's charter, which clearly read:

"The daily fluctuation of stock prices must not exceed 20%. Three consecutive days of daily limit increases or decreases will trigger an abnormal movement reminder, warning of investment risks. If necessary, the court must even be prepared to use funds to repurchase shares and intervene in the market."

Cao Cao was stunned: "The King of Tang even thought of this?"

Su Yao's expression was a little subtle. With a father who trades stocks, it was hard for him not to know these things.

I just never expected that one day I would be able to use this knowledge to become the banker.

While Su Yao was immersed in his own thoughts, the ministers in the Political Affairs Hall were completely stunned by this system derived from the modern financial system. Wang Yun's hands were shaking slightly as he held the document: "This, this is simply..."

"Shang Yang's strategy?" Lu Zhi suddenly asked.

Su Yao shook his head: "Shang Jun built a tree to gain the trust of the people; I set up an exchange to get money from the people - but I get it in a proper way, for mutual benefit and win-win results."

As he said this, he stood up, walked to the window and looked at the bustling Luoyang City: "Once the trade route to the world is opened, the annual profit will be more than tens of millions of guan. Only by sharing the benefits with the people and keeping the wealth with the people can the people be prosperous and the country strong."

In the autumn of the third year of Kaiyuan, Luoyang Exchange was officially established.

This is a three-story pavilion located next to the West Market in Luoyang.

This used to be a property of some powerful person in the capital, but it had been vacant since it was confiscated. Now Su Yao made use of it, quickly put it up for business, and it was immediately packed with customers as soon as it opened.

Compared with the horse market in the East Market and the South Market outside the city gate that was open to the general public, the West Market was originally the most prosperous area for commercial activities in the capital.

Since the Chinese Money House opened here, the West Market has become extremely popular. Merchants and goods from all over the country meet here, and many people call the West Market the Gold Market to highlight its prosperity.

Now, the establishment of Luoyang Exchange has added fuel to the West Market.

Early in the morning, a long queue had formed in front of the exchange, with two large slogans hanging at the gate saying "There are risks in entering the market, please invest with caution".

Countless young men from noble families, businessmen, and wealthy people were waiting here in large crowds.

They were shoulder to shoulder, holding cash or previously subscribed stocks in their hands, their eyes fixed on the door of the exchange, fearing that they would miss the first moment of opening.

You know, the first batch of shares of the Western Region Development Company has been announced to be sold out. Those who want to participate in the Tang King's Western Expedition can only hope to bid for shares at the exchange.

In order to strictly prevent risks and facilitate transactions, the exchange has also made a special announcement that it will not accept any currency or physical objects and will only recognize banknotes from Chinese banks.

For this reason, the door of the China Money Bank has been crowded with people in the past two days, and funds from the entire Luoyang city have been flowing into the Money Bank.

In fact, the amount of funds was so huge that in order to receive the gold, silver, copper coins and various cloths and brocades of equal value, Su Yao specially opened several new warehouses to store the goods.

Now, the real master has arrived.
"clang--"

As the gong sounded three times, the door of the exchange slowly opened and people poured in like a tide. The huge trading hall was instantly packed.

Especially when they saw that the official opening price was 3.5 yuan, all those who had bought at a low price before burst into cheers of surprise.

In the VIP room on the second floor, Yuan Shao sat upright on a rosewood chair, looking at the bustling crowd downstairs, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

He himself did not expect that the Western Region Development Company, in which he had invested more than 100,000 strings of cash just to cling to Su Yao's thighs, would see its share price skyrocket and he had already made a fortune.

"Mr. Yuan, I'm afraid the stock price will continue to rise." The strategist beside him whispered, "Look at this situation, the whole Luoyang City is eager to rush into this exchange."

Yuan Shao looked outside and saw huge silk cloths hanging on the walls of the three-story high space, with the stock price trend of the "Western Region Development Company" inscribed on them. Before the ink had dried, a clerk climbed up the ladder to update it - the opening price was three strings of coins and five cents, but it jumped to four strings while he was talking, and it was only a stone's throw away from the daily limit of four strings and two cents.

At the railing on the second floor, several Sogdian merchants were stamping their feet in anxiety and shouting in stiff Chinese to raise the price; in the corner, the accountants of Zhen's Trading Company were writing quickly and the beads on the abacus were clattering; and there were also shrewd brokers who were moving among the crowd, buying low and selling high to make a profit.

"It's reached its daily limit! It's reached its daily limit!"

"Is there anyone else selling?"

"Four strings of cash and twenty cents per share. We in Hedong Sima family will take as much as we can!"

——"Crazy! All crazy!"

Hearing the shouts from the noisy crowd downstairs, in the private room on the other side of the second floor, Taifu Lu Zhi widened his eyes and said in disbelief:

"How can this be called buying and selling shares? This is simply like betting in a gambling house!"

Cai Yong beside Lu Zhi also shook his head repeatedly: "I have lived for more than sixty years and have never seen such a crazy scene."

Su Yao, the one in the center of the group, just smiled without saying a word, pursing his lips and looking calmly at this crazy feast of wealth in front of him.

The financial behemoth was finally released from its cage more than a thousand years in advance and came to the ancient Han Empire.

The power it brings is naturally beyond the imagination of these traditional scholars.

In the face of this hot trading scene, countless hidden wealth among the people was activated, flowing into the national treasury through exchanges and banks, and joining this wealth game.

Then, everything started to speed up.

(End of this chapter)