Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 653 The merchants asked the emperor to regain power

The area around Mochou Lake in Nanjing City has become the most prosperous area in Ming Dynasty, even surpassing the Qinhuai River.

Because this is the Daming Financial Center.

Since the 17th year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Youjian changed the mansion of the traitor Qian Qianyi in Nanjing into the base of the Central Bank of the Ming Dynasty, and this place has become the concentration of banks and securities institutions of the Ming Dynasty.

The Central Bank of Ming Dynasty is still here today, and it is the institution that truly controls the most wealth in the empire.

The empire's national tax revenue, national debt revenue, and many large capitals such as royal capital are stored here.

At the same time, it is the only currency issuer, making the Central Bank of Ming Dynasty the most powerful bank in Ming Dynasty.

What's more, with the development of the power of the Ming Empire, the silver dollar currency of the Ming Dynasty has been implemented throughout East Asia and even South Asia, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Americas.

In addition, the Daming Central Bank also has its own subsidiaries, namely Daming Investment Bank and Daming Ocean Bank, which are responsible for foreign investment and colonial plunder. Even the funds of the Daming Central Bank can affect the stock price of Xiyi.

However, Daming is naturally not limited to the Daming Central Bank, Daming Investment Bank, and Daming Ocean Bank. There are also many other banks. The financial business has taken root by the Mochou Lake in Nanjing, and controls the economic market of Daming together with the Central Bank of Daming.

It can be said that the area around Mochou Lake has become the settlement of the imperial rich.

When Zhu Youjian appeared here, he found that this place is different from other places. Countless people are dressed in brocade clothes and satin, and they look like they are holding wisdom beads, but they also seem very busy and cynical.

"I have seen His Majesty!"

When Zhu Youjian appeared in Mochou Lake, Yang Mingshen, the current president of the Daming Central Bank, had no choice but to come out to greet him in person. Apart from the executives of the Daming Central Bank, there were other bank presidents following him, and they were quite He stood in front of himself and saluted in a gentlemanly manner.

"Be flat."

Zhu Youjian looked at all this with a smile. Over the years, through the eradication of the gentry class, he gave the common people the opportunity to be freed from the shackles of the gentry class to participate in the industrial and commercial activities of the empire. The cultivation of power, as well as the encouragement of the establishment of business associations and the promulgation of private property protection laws have enabled the common people to avoid being exploited by bureaucratic groups and have the ability to resist, thus realizing the current situation where a large number of wealthy businessmen appear.

Today's rich businessmen represented by Yang Mingshen are the class that rose because of him, Zhu Youjian. These people are naturally very grateful to Zhu Youjian.

In Zhu Youjian's eyes, they are outstanding representatives of the first-class citizens of Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Youjian believes that they will be the masters of this empire in the future.

But Zhu Youjian was not worried about it, and even everything in front of him was the result of his deliberate efforts.

From the very beginning, Zhu Youjian, as the emperor, never regarded Daming as his own private property, and never thought of maximizing his own personal interests. He just wanted Daming not to be wiped out by the Manchus and humiliated by the West in the future. , so that the whole of China will no longer repeat the cycle of dynasty changes.

Therefore, what Zhu Youjian only wanted to do was to break the family pattern.

Zhu Youjian wants to make everyone in the empire realize that the empire is their common country, not the Zhu family's world.

Officials don't have to embezzle and seek their own best interests because it's only the Zhu family's world, businessmen don't have to sell the country just because it's only the Zhu family's world, and farmers don't have to think because of this. What is the difference between Zhong Aixinjueluo's land and Zhu's land?

And to make people realize that the empire belongs to them, and to make them have a sense of belonging to the empire, it is natural to align their interests with the interests of the empire, and the way to align interests is to let them control the empire, not just let them Zhu Youjian took control of the empire alone.

Since the reform of the political system, Zhu Youjian began to consciously decentralize powers. It was not just as simple as acknowledging the chief minister of the cabinet as the head of administration. This phenomenon had already begun to appear in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Part of the retained tax is used for public administration.

But Zhu Youjian felt that this was not enough, but he didn't know where to start, so he had to take a closer look. Yang Mingshen and other rich people treated Zhu Youjian kindly, and they had no ill feeling towards Zhu Youjian, the emperor.

Logically speaking, capitalists and handicraftsmen should hate the feudal emperor, but because Zhu Youjian did not excessively ask for his own interests, the conflict between the bourgeoisie and the bureaucratic class did not intensify in Ming Dynasty.

At this time, Bai Yunzhen, the governor of Yingtian, rushed over suddenly, and when she saw Zhu Youjian, she hurriedly prostrated herself on the ground: "I don't know that your Majesty's special train came so fast, and I am really disappointed, I hope your majesty will forgive me! "

"Get up, your status as governor is responsible for the people, not for me, and I don't need you to greet me, what's wrong with you, and you don't have to report political affairs to me, I have handed over administrative matters to the cabinet Commander, I came to Nanjing just to see the changes in Daming, you don't have to pay attention to me, just do what you have to do."

When Zhu Youjian finished speaking, Yang Mingshen suddenly walked in front of Zhu Youjian: "Your Majesty! I would like to ask your Majesty not to return to the cabinet. The cabinet has become more and more out of order recently, and taxes have been increased frequently. Now it is more than last year. Thirty percent more, although the ministers and others will not go bankrupt, those small workshops cannot afford it. Nowadays, the number of social refugees has increased a lot. Most of them are engaged in theft and robbery. As a result, there have been many accidents in Nanjing recently, and the people are deeply affected. Its harm, and the government only cares about making money, and doesn't care about it at all."

Zhu Youjian was stunned. He didn't expect that the wealthy people like Yang Mingshen would want to regain the imperial power by themselves. He couldn't help thinking: "As a capitalist, don't you want the feudal emperor to delegate power more? Why did these capitalists in Ming Dynasty turn the other way?"

At this time, Bai Yunzhen, the governor of Yingtian, also hurriedly came to Zhu Youjian: "Your Majesty, don't listen to Mr. Yang's lies. The imperial court has its own difficulties in raising taxes. Since last year, there have been floods in Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other places. , the victims of the disaster amounted to millions, and the imperial court had no choice but to increase taxes, please trust the old man, Your Majesty."

"Nonsense, the national treasury is full now, and the annual income is already quite a lot. Why is there a tax increase after a flood? This is clearly your sophistry!" Yang Mingshen directly quarreled with Yingtian Governor Bai Yunzhen.

Zhu Youjian couldn't help laughing. It was unimaginable that a businessman could quarrel with the first governor of Ming Dynasty before, but now it happened in front of Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian didn't know what to say, he no longer wanted to manage the administration, and he couldn't tell who was right and who was wrong, but he still stopped the two from arguing: "Don't mention this matter, I'm going back to Beijing I will send an inquiry to Zhang Huangyan later."

(End of this chapter)