I stole divine power in Daxia

Chapter 474: Currency Dominance
The next day, the business edition of Tianjing Daily published another piece of breaking news. This piece of news was not as grand as Hao Ren's article, but it also made the headlines in the business world.

From now on, the eight major chambers of commerce and money houses in Tianjin will uniformly pay deposit interest, and new customers who open accounts will also receive exquisite gifts.

When the people in the four cities and one mountain saw the news, they were subconsciously stunned.

Inside the teahouse, amidst the hot aroma of morning tea, guests were talking among themselves.

"It's really a sage ruling the world. It was not easy to make money before, but now there are many ways to make money lying at home."

"Isn't it? I've never heard of making money by depositing money in a bank. I just don't know how much interest we can get. It would be great if it could be like stocks."

"Hey, don't mention stocks."

"What? Did you fall again?"

"Yesterday, the lowest price dropped to 7 taels and 5 cents! Although it recovered a little in the end, to 8 taels of silver, the previous high point was 12 taels! In just two days, it has dropped by 30%! The most terrible thing is that Lord Zhou has been silent. I heard that after the market opened today, the stock of the Railway Chamber of Commerce has been jumping up and down. No one is reassured. Some people say that Lord Zhou wants to set up the Railway Corporation, so he intends to suppress the share price of the Railway Chamber of Commerce. Anyway, the price will not be worth 80 million taels as previously said. In addition, several other stocks have not fallen in the past two days, but they can no longer rise."

"This is really a worrying thing. I guess if Zhou Hou doesn't say anything in two days, I will sell the shares I have."

"Then let's go and take a look at the money deposited in this bank?"

"Go together."

Compared to the mournful scene on the exchange street outside Suzaku City, the downtown area of ​​Youtianfang in Sicheng was bustling with activity.

Youtianfang is connected to Yujing Mountain through Youtian Boat, which is equivalent to the commercial street of every city. It is the place with the largest flow of people and the place where money houses are most densely distributed.

Xuanwu City, Youtianfang, Xicheng Street.

The Wangluo Garden of the Southeast Chamber of Commerce spans almost half a city block. It is not open to the public, but outside the Wangluo Garden is the largest bank of the Southeast Chamber of Commerce in Yujing. It is decorated in an extremely magnificent manner with carved dragons and painted buildings and is four stories high. It usually receives big businessmen who come and go.

More than ten days ago, this money house was expanded again. No one was too surprised because after joining Zhou Tieyi, it has become normal for the Southeast Chamber of Commerce to acquire surrounding shops and expand.

Under Zhou Tieyi's planning, the newly built money house is very similar to a bank counter, divided into several windows for different businesses. There are professional accountants at each window, and two to three tour guides are specially assigned to each area to guide the flow of people on the one hand and answer questions about the current policies of the money house on the other.

"Why is the interest only 30% a year? This is too little!"

One of the two small businessmen who came here after talking in the teahouse just now was surprised.

Thirty percent interest a year is really too little!
The instructor had simulated this situation during the previous training, so he patiently explained, "All deposit interest rates are now uniformly set by the Central Bank of Daxia. Thirty percent is the rule set by Zhou Hou."

Instead of explaining complicated terms, the simplest way is to make an authoritative statement. A person's name is like the shadow of a tree. Zhou Tieyi's name can give a direct explanation.

"But the stock price can increase tenfold in seven days. It's the same policy set by Lord Zhou. How can we favor one over the other?"

Some people are still unwilling.

The instructor continued patiently, "Everyone has read the fine print when the stock trading was published in the newspaper. It says that you are responsible for your own profits and losses. You can make money or lose money on stocks, just like buying and selling commodities. However, the bank interest is guaranteed by the central bank, so it is a sure win. Naturally, the profit is much less."

"wrong."

Someone immediately retorted, "Although the railway bonds are also guaranteed by the imperial court, the interest rate is much higher than yours, a full 60%!"

"But the railway bonds are eight million taels, and the minimum subscription is twenty taels. You can go to the stock exchange to see how many railway bonds are left. But our bank deposits have a minimum of one hundred wen! The deposits we absorb are used to lend to the people on the one hand, and to buy various bonds of the country on the other hand."

The reason why Zhou Tieyi dared to increase the gap between railway treasury bonds and bank interest so high was because he could completely manipulate the buying and selling of treasury bonds.

The means of manipulation were also very simple. On the one hand, by suppressing stock prices, hot money flowed into treasury bonds. The Railway Chamber of Commerce stocks that were sold at high points in the past two days amounted to several million taels. Among them, four million taels of market funds had been used to purchase treasury bonds because of the good news of debt-to-equity swaps. For the remaining three million taels, Zhou Tieyi also began to hold railway treasury bonds by printing central bank bills.

In other words, only one million taels are actually given to the market. On the other hand, this one million taels for two weeks still sets a threshold.

Its main purpose is to quench thirst by looking at the plum!
The funds of Tianjing’s merchant class have been almost completely absorbed in these rounds, and what needs to be absorbed now is the funds of the grassroots people!

They were hesitant in the previous stock market situation, and began to regret when they saw others making money. But now that the stock market is falling, they are gloating. They are between joy and sorrow, and have the urge to invest, but have no direction.

Therefore, a money house that can provide a minimum deposit of 100 Wen has become the best choice!

Although Zhou Tieyi's ultimate goal was to issue more currency and use debt to promote the industrial revolution.

But before that, he must make sure that he is the dominant currency in the market!
The current stage is not like the financial market in the future. The national court is the absolute monetary leader because of the gold and silver standard. In this feudal economy, currency itself is the leader. If the country does not hold enough currency, it will reduce the circulation of gold and silver in the market, forcing people to use paper money and thus dominate the market. Then the silver bills issued will face the risk of huge depreciation. In addition, the court that issues the silver bills has no supervision, so many silver bills will become waste paper in a few years, wasting people's money and time.

At its core, money is a monopoly.

Of course, it can also be explained from another direction. All production and reproduction require capital accumulation, and capital accumulation can only be carried out through exploitation and plunder. This is a stage that cannot be skipped and is an objective fact.

What Zhou Tieyi is doing now is a means of national capital accumulation. Through various policies, he plunders and exploits the gold and silver currencies on the market. After completely controlling the gold and silver currencies, he will be able to issue silver bills, guide capital into the field of industrial production, and promote industrial transformation, rather than continuing to circle around in the small peasant economy.

"Thirty cents, sixty cents, your bank is too ruthless!"

Even if the logic makes sense, the feeling of dissatisfaction still dominates.

The guide's expression remained unchanged as he continued, "Money shops not only have deposit business, but also loan business. According to the central bank's policy, the current interest rate for a six-month loan is 25%, and the interest rate for a one-year loan is 38%. "

“So low?!”

The people who were complaining just now looked at the tour guide in surprise. In the past, Daxia's money houses also lent money to the outside world, but the interest rate was terribly high, ranging from thirty to sixty percent per month. This was when the imperial court issued an edict. In many places far away from the imperial court, the monthly loan interest rate could even reach 10% per month, or even double that!
"That's right, sir. We just have an assessment for the loan recipients, mainly the collateral of your loan. The purpose is that if you are taking out a loan to start a new company, chamber of commerce, operate coal, iron, railways, steam engines and other related industries, we will also consider providing better loan services and lowering your interest." The person who was making a fuss just now seemed to be thinking about something. Just as Zhou Tieyi expected, the real ordinary people only need to deposit money to get a stable interest. Thirty cents is not a small amount. These participants themselves do not know much about economics. They only know that they have a new and stable way to make money.

The people who were making a fuss just now were able to tell you the interest rate difference between banks and government bonds. Most of them run small businesses and they are jealous of not being able to make more profits.

Now money houses have provided another solution, which is loans.

In the past, loan interest rates were high, so people would not easily take out loans. But now the interest rates are only slightly higher than deposit interest rates, so money houses are truly making money on their hard work. Moreover, the tour guide also said that if you invest in new industries that the court is currently promoting, there will be more loan interest discounts.

Thinking of this, many small businessmen became interested. "30% deposit, 38% loan, it is true that the profit is not much. So this is what Lord Zhou meant. May I apply for the loan you just mentioned?"

"Of course you can. Please go to the Tiangan District window to queue up for the loan. A dedicated person will guide you to fill out the paperwork, determine your collateral and loan purpose, and if you are qualified, we will grant you the loan as soon as possible."

After some explanation, in half a day's time, the money house was clearly divided into two areas. The area where people deposited money was mainly ordinary people, and the method used was very simple and effective. If you opened an account today, you would be given eggs, oil, rice, noodles, and sugar according to the deposit amount.

The Tiangan area is mainly populated by small and medium-sized businessmen who are constantly filling out various materials and waiting for confirmation by specialized personnel.

Inside the Central Bank, Zhou Tieyi and Mei Qingchen kept listening to news sent by various money houses.

"Are there too many people taking out loans? Should we control this?"

Mei Qingchen hesitated.

The main reason for his hesitation was that when it came to lending, one had to consider not only the benefits but also the risks. If a large number of bad loans appeared in the bank, the harm would be no less than issuing false banknotes.

"Do not."

Instead, Zhou Tieyi waved his hand confidently.

Mei Qingchen and the clerks around him looked at Zhou Tieyi.

Zhou Tieyi laughed and said, "If I don't lend out the money, why would I raise the interest rate spread between railway bonds and deposits so high? Am I really letting the bank make money for nothing? If I want to make money, I have to work!"

Everyone linked the two together again. With such a high interest rate spread, as long as Zhou Tieyi continued to issue various government bonds in the future, the money houses with the right of first refusal would make a lot of profits. Part of these profits would be used to fill in the bad debts of loans!
"Since we are distributing money to the market, we should not be afraid of flooding it. Any market will change from irrational to rational. It is impossible for it to be extremely rational from the beginning. We must distinguish what to do at different stages. Now we want to stimulate small and medium-sized merchants to participate in industrial reform. We don't need them to be hesitant, but to let them move forward boldly."

"As long as the industrial reform can be successfully completed, then there will be a way to clear the bad debts of these loans. At this time, everyone can work together to farm. Whoever is braver and pays more will reap more!"

The clerks around seemed to be thinking about something. Zhou Tieyi said this in front of so many people today just to convey his words to the market.

Mei Qingchen carefully sorted out the whole thing and asked, "Is this the practice of your 'theory of human desire'?"

Previously, including the Mohist leader Tian Fu, the biggest criticism of Zhou Tieyi's "Human Desire Theory" was that "Human Desire Theory" would stimulate people's desires and thus cause social unrest.

But considering the current social situation, especially after Mei Qingchen knew where Zhou Tieyi would use the money, his expression became solemn.

This is because human desires not only do not cause social unrest, but under orderly guidance, even what Zhou Tieyi calls "flooding" will help break the original social shackles and allow people's production to be raised to a new stage.

On the contrary, the theories of suppressing human desires advocated by other schools of thought in the past will cause the entire society to continue to cycle around in a circle, making it difficult for a fundamental breakthrough to occur.

"You can say that."

Zhou Tieyi answered affirmatively.

White Tiger City, Qu Mansion.

The exchange was closed in the afternoon, and a group of descendants of military honors gathered here.

"Brother Qu, we were just a little bit short of breaking the seven ounces and five cents mark today. Why did you ask us to buy stocks at the last minute?"

Someone asked Qu Yi.

Today, the stock of the Railway Chamber of Commerce in the exchange hit the lowest point of seven taels and five cents, just like yesterday. The only difference was that after it hit seven taels and five cents, not only Hao Ren and his group bought it, but Qu Yi was also buying it. Therefore, compared with yesterday's closing price of eight taels, today's closing price was two cents higher.

Qu Yi asked in return, "If you don't buy, where will the stocks come from to continue selling?"

Hearing Qu Yi's answer, the person who asked the question was stunned, "That's right."

They started selling at ten taels of silver, and even if several companies joined together, they still did not have enough stocks on hand, because more than 30% of the stocks in Zhou Tieyi's hands had not been moved. They were like a ballast stone in the storm. Watching the Railway Chamber of Commerce's stock price fluctuate dramatically, everyone knew that the Railway Chamber of Commerce would not be completely ruined.

“Buy the stock and sell it tomorrow at a price lower than today’s closing price.”

Everyone was stunned, "Won't we lose money this way?"

Although they were selling them before, the cost was almost nothing, it was just a matter of how much profit they could make. But now the price they are buying is more than seven taels and five cents, and if it is lower than this price, it would be a real loss.

Qu Yi snorted coldly, "Do you care about the loss of this little bit of money, or do you care more about the position of the manager of the Railway Chamber of Commerce?"

Everyone realized instantly that they were all selling at a loss, so Hao Ren, who wanted to protect the price, would only lose more. At the same time, if the stock price continued to fall, those neutral fence-sitters would also join the ranks of selling, and Hao Ren would definitely not be able to hold on.

"Brother Qu is very smart."

(End of this chapter)