Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 25 The storm is coming

People's imagination for things they have never seen is always limited, and some laws governing human resources operations are difficult to summarize and discover without strong enough demand to drive them.

Zhang Luo, with his common sense of finance in later generations, believed that since the counter already had the function of storage, it was natural for foreign exchange services to be derived from it.

However, Wang Yuanbao did not have such an idea, and he did not even dare to think about it. He even regarded this business as something that was in essential conflict with the storage duties of the shop and seriously affected its reputation.

After all, the development of things always requires objective laws and processes.

Zhang Luo also understood the huge cost that Wang Yuanbao had invested in setting up this shop, and most of this series of investments were to demonstrate his own financial strength, thereby gaining the trust of the people of Luoyang and attracting more deposits to achieve profitability.

Wang Yuanbao was clearly still struggling with this process, and it didn't look like things were going well. He'd managed to attract a big boss like Wang Yuanbao with just a few quips and a number, which showed he was truly a poor seller and desperate for customers.

Now even the most basic storage business has not been done well, and the people of Luoyang are still on the sidelines about this Wang's shop. If the remittance service is provided at this time, it will undoubtedly deal a fatal blow to the already poorly developed storage business: I knew that you Guanxi guys have bad intentions, and you really want to defraud the money of the people of Tianzhong and transport it back to Guanzhong!
Zhang Luo vaguely remembered that the ancient flying money business, which had the nature of foreign exchange, seemed to have been born in the middle Tang Dynasty.

At that time, the feudal lords were divided and although the regime still maintained the appearance of unity, the local governments were independent and sometimes even went to war with each other, which undoubtedly increased the risks and costs of logistics and transportation. Therefore, the feudal lords in various places used the Jinzouyuan, an institution for internal and external communication, to deposit and exchange money in different places. This is how Feiqian, a financial bill similar to bank drafts in later generations, came into being.

The development of the financial industry in ancient times certainly had basic characteristics such as lending and integration of funds. For example, temples often engaged in businesses such as usury.

In addition, due to the physical properties of currencies such as money, logistical issues such as the storage and transportation of currency have also become an important part of financial activities.

Ancient logistics technology and methods were relatively simple, relying solely on vehicles and ships. Transport cycles were long and risky, and high logistics costs were a heavy burden not only for individuals but also for entire political regimes.

Especially in an era like the Tang Dynasty when the country was unified, the commodity economy was developing, and regional exchanges were becoming increasingly frequent, the significance of logistics was even more related to the rise and fall of the country's destiny.

In short, the fact that Wang Yuanbao dared not even think about the foreign exchange business does not mean that it has no future. On the contrary, it has huge potential. It just requires an appropriate time for deeper resource integration. Once it is developed, it will inevitably show tremendous energy.

Thinking of this, Zhang Luo no longer continued to discuss this topic. He could just regard this career as one of his long-term goals and main tasks after coming to this world.

If there is an opportunity and ability to make it happen in the future, it will become a great support for me to make a living in this world, so there is no need to rush to share it with others.

"Shopkeeper Wang's family is originally from Guanzhong and is well-known in Chang'an. He suddenly came to Luoyang to start this business. I think it's not just me, others would probably have such doubts, right?"

He smiled again, treating the previous topic as a test and his own concern.

Hearing this, Wang Yuanbao couldn't help but sigh. "People's hearts are like a fortress, truly difficult to break. Master Zhang's concerns are commonplace. I've entered the market, spending over 100 million yuan. My original intention was to announce to the people of Heluo that I have ample financial resources. This investment is a long-term plan, and I will manage it diligently and never give it up easily. But this has only increased others' suspicions. There's no shortage of nagging complaints from the street about me spending so much money, aiming for huge profits, and not just the small commissions from the shops..."

He had indeed been feeling very depressed during this period. This time, he had spent nearly 100,000 strings of cash on the property purchase from Chang'an to Luoyang, along with all the expenses he had to pay. Even though he was wealthy, such a huge investment still made him feel very stressed.

In particular, the local people who ran pawnshops and pawnshops in Luoyang joined forces to run him out, and recruited rogues in the city to fabricate slanderous rumors about him, which made it difficult for his pawnshop business to develop. He felt that a strong dragon could not defeat a local snake.

Zhang Luo laughed again when he heard Wang Yuanbao's complaints. No wonder the question he just asked made him so sensitive. It turned out that he was already troubled by the rumors.

He was not worried that the shop would go bankrupt and his savings would be wiped out. After all, the other party had invested such a huge amount of money, which showed that they had high expectations for it. Even if the business was not doing well, it would at least last for a while before closing down.

I don't plan to save that little bit of money here for three to five years. I just want to save it for the convenience of shopping in Nanshi in the near future.

Then he said, "I do have a sum of money that I need to deposit temporarily with a bank, but I need it to be sent in batches. I can withdraw it in small or large amounts when the time comes. How should I calculate the commission for this?"

"So, sir, you've really come. Other shops start calculating commissions as soon as money and silk arrive at the counter. In my shop, we don't calculate commissions based on the amount of capital. We calculate commissions based on the amount of money."

The guifang (a shop selling goods) was a relatively new industry. To operate this business, one had to have a fixed business location in a busy city and a storehouse to store money and silk. This requirement alone meant that practitioners were limited to wealthy merchants and local tycoons. Merchants who needed this service were often those carrying large amounts of goods and finding it difficult to travel in and out. As a result, guifangs held an absolute dominant position in the business, and their fees were extremely high. When money was deposited into the guifang, a service fee was deducted upfront. A hundred guan deposited into the warehouse might only yield a little over ninety guan, and another portion would be deducted upon withdrawal, resulting in double-dipping.

In order to attract customers to deposit money, Wang Yuanbao's shop does not deduct commission from deposits. The commission will only be deducted based on the amount withdrawn when the money is withdrawn. The charges are very reasonable and humane.

Zhang Luo also made some preliminary exploration of the ancient financial industry. After learning more about it, he decided to keep the money in Wang's shop for the time being.

He stayed here for the time being, and arranged for Ding Qing to lead the horse and carriage servants of the shop to go outside the city to collect money. After deducting the amount for the purchase of incense and medicine, there was still more than 1,600 strings of cash left. Zhang Luo deposited 1,500 strings of cash with the shop, and kept the remaining 100 or so strings for daily expenses.

Wang Yuanbao naturally had no idea that this guy was a hollow old man. When he heard that the first batch of money deposited into the cabinet was 1,500 strings of cash, he was very happy. To show off his power, he said with a smile: "Young master, if you put money and silk in this cabinet, you can deposit and withdraw it at will with the written contract, copper deed, and secret code as proof. Without these three proofs, even if the officials come to ask, you can't enter!"

He saw that although the young man had a young face, he was well-spoken and obviously the son of an official. However, no matter how good his family background was, as long as there were elders in the family, they would not hand over such a large amount of money to the younger generation for disposal. A very likely possibility was that the money was not clean, such as stolen money.

Zhang Luo's eyebrows slightly raised when he heard this. He guessed in his heart that Wang Yuanbao must not be a simple businessman. He must have an official behind him as his backer, otherwise how could he have the confidence to make such a guarantee.

It takes more than two hours to travel from Nanshi to Gande Township where Zhang Luo deposited his money. Zhang Luo went to the market in the afternoon, strolled around Nanshi before coming to Wang's shop. If he waited for more than two hours, it would be dark by then, and he would have to wait until tomorrow to deposit the money.

However, seeing that Zhang Luo had no intention of staying overnight, Wang Yuanbao arranged for a servant to accompany him on horseback. After counting the money and silk, he would return to report and leave the transportation matters to other servants. In this way, the operation of putting the money into the cabinet could be completed in advance.

Even so, by the time the servant returned, it was already evening. Wang Yuanbao personally handled the deposit procedures for Zhang Luo, issuing a deposit slip for 1,500 strings of cash, known as a book deed, and also a copper deed, similar to a copper token. Each party would keep half of each for reference when withdrawing money.

In addition, Zhang Luo also wanted to leave a secret code, similar to a bank password. After thinking for a while, he picked up his pen and wrote a poem by Ouyang Xiu, "Shengchazi": Last year in the first month, the lights in the flower market were as bright as day... Speaking of confidentiality, naturally, this kind of unpublished poetry is the most confidential.

After the ink dried, he rolled up the paper and stuffed it into a bamboo tube, then handed it to Wang Yuanbao, who had retreated behind a screen to avoid suspicion. Wang Yuanbao then sealed the bamboo tube with wax in front of him, and put it away along with the other half of the written contract and the copper deed, completing the storage operation.

After depositing the money into the shop, Zhang Luo breathed a sigh of relief. However, he felt the predicament facing Wang's shop might not be as simple as Wang Yuanbao had described. After all, before making such a large investment, it was impossible not to conduct an in-depth market research and to be aware of the xenophobic and resistant sentiments of the Luoyang people.

Since he had foreseen this situation and still decided to invest, it means that the exclusion of local tyrants is not enough to threaten the survival of his business. Therefore, if the shop is currently operating in a state of half-life, there must be other reasons.

Although Zhang Luo was only temporarily depositing the money here, he could not say that he had no interests involved. He also wanted to understand the inside story of the business of this shop, so before parting with the broker, he paid him two pieces of silk as a reward and asked him to inquire about the relevant situation of Wang's shop.

"Don't worry, my dear. I will find out everything clearly before reporting to you!"

Seeing this unexpected gain, the broker Wei Lin was very happy and nodded repeatedly.

After leaving Nanshi, Zhang Luo and Aying went straight home. As soon as they arrived at the Zhang family mansion in Kangsufang, they happened to meet his father Zhang Jun returning home, so they went up to greet him: "Aye, you're back."

"Where have you gone?"

Zhang Jun was traveling with a few other people, who seemed to be his colleagues. When they saw that Zhang Luo had also returned, he frowned and asked in a deep voice.

"The preface is about my mother making a stele. I went to the market to look for a craftsman."

Zhang Luo bowed again and replied, "You can just find a random excuse to get away with it. You have to save some face for this old man in front of outsiders."

Zhang Jun's expression improved slightly after hearing this, but he still said in a deep voice: "If there is no urgent matter in the near future, stay home and don't wander around!"

After saying this, he and several of his companions hurriedly left the hall. Zhang Luo looked at their backs, a thoughtful look on his face.

(End of this chapter)