Joy of Life: I'm really not a saint

Anyway, I haven't done anything excessive, so even if there is a reckoning, it won't be my turn.

Seeing that Master Cheng had given in, Li An couldn't help but sneer and said sarcastically, "This is just like a person going to the execution ground. No matter if you stick your head out or hide it, you will still be stabbed. Why do you have to make it so undignified?"

"Now that the bad stuff is done, let's talk about the good stuff."

After saying this, Li An pulled out the silk cloth covering the table, revealing what was hidden underneath - pieces of bamboo slips.

Everyone was still in shock and lost their minds. They didn't hear Li An's words clearly, so Li An had to raise his voice and said, "Re-identify the land, and nationalize the non-cultivated land! And the person who executed all this is the man next to me, Mr. Chen Xiao! Mr. Chen, why don't you say hello to these adults? After all, you will meet them often in the future."

"Yes, teacher." Chen Xiao turned around and said loudly: "I am Chen Xiao, the humble official, appointed by His Majesty to be the chief of the People's Bank and the Salt and Iron Bureau. At the same time, I am also the manager of the Imperial Merchants! Hello everyone, please take care of me in the future!"

He bowed with his hands clasped together, his expression showing sincerity.

I don't believe you, you, Ang Lee's disciple, are really bad!

Everyone smiled and greeted each other reluctantly, expressing their support for Mr. Chen's work in the future. The scene looked very warm for a moment!

Chen Xiao stood up and said, "You should all know that the court is in a state of disrepair and is changing with each passing day. After the war with Nanqing, the domestic economy and military were damaged, and the court decided to get rid of the salt and iron business. But it is not realistic to rely on the court alone for everything, and it still requires everyone present to contribute to make it happen!"

He pointed to the bamboo slips on the table and said, "The court has decided to issue salt permits, which are certificates approved by the court to prove the permission for salt transportation and sales. You are authorized to legally buy, sell and transport salt. Of course, each salt permit here has certain restrictions, such as the specified transportation quantity and price, etc. Of course, these will require more communication and adjustment with you in the future."

As for iron ore, it is not open to the outside world.

At this time, Chang Ning Hou's eyes lit up, and he was no longer afraid. He asked in a trembling voice, "Is this thing permanent?"

"Change every three years." Chen Xiao also breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that no one would ask.

The teacher just established his authority too harshly, and the Marquis of Changning just set a good example.

It was the first time for him to be in charge of something on his own, and he was afraid that he might not be careful enough and ruin the plans of his teacher and His Majesty.

"How to get it?" Mr. Cheng asked.

Chen Xiao glanced at Li An, and seeing that he didn't say anything, he turned around and pointed at the blackboard and said, "This is what will be auctioned next."

Lord Cheng and Marquis Changning nodded, indicating that they understood.

This move seemed to make many businessmen in the audience smell business opportunities.

"Master Imperial Master!"

A young man gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "I have a question!"

"Oh?" Li An raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Tell me about it."

"Yes!"

The young man bowed and said, "I have inherited the influence of my ancestors and am a wealthy businessman in Nanling County. I would like to ask the State Master if we can also participate in the auction of the salt permits?"

This question is quite redundant but not redundant.

Anyone present is naturally qualified, otherwise how can it be called an auction?

It was obvious that the young man wanted the imperial court to endorse him. Some of these wealthy businessmen had deep backgrounds, while others started from humble beginnings. This young man was obviously the latter. Without the imperial court as a backer, how could they compete with those clans? Even if they had great financial resources and won by chance, they would not be able to keep it.

"Those who win in fair competition will be protected by the court! I'm putting my words here. Even if the court is far away and cannot reach you, and your family is attacked by someone, I will let those people accompany you afterwards!"

Li An smiled slightly and instructed Chen Xiao: "Of course, we must try to improve these in the future to avoid the above incidents from happening again."

"Teacher is right, and this is what I promised you."

This explanation is indeed heavy.

"In that case, thank you very much, Master Imperial Master and Master Chen!"

The young man understood that this was an opportunity, a good chance to take off! But his family alone could not afford a salt permit. In terms of wealth, he was far inferior to the aristocratic families.

But he can unite!

Unite some people who are similar to you, create a business alliance, and jointly take one or several salt permits!

Thinking of this, he apologized to Li Ang and hurried to contact someone.

Seeing that the rules were clearly explained, Li An signaled Chen Xiao that he could start.

Chen Xiao stepped forward and said loudly: "There are thirteen salt permits. The auction will begin now!"

······

When he heard the shouts coming from the audience, Ang Lee also became happy.

This is the time to make a fortune. I think, after today, the national treasury will not only not be empty, but will be very full!

In the end, the thirteen salt permits were sold at a high price of more than seven million taels!

This is equivalent to half of Beiqi's annual tax revenue! How can this not be shocking, and how can this not be frightening?

The shopkeeper of Baisui Songju had seen a lot of big scenes, but he was so shocked that he couldn't speak. Even the Jinyiwei killing people in the restaurant just now didn't move the shopkeeper, but now he couldn't even control his expression.

He glanced at Li An secretly. For the first time, he was not moved by a person's identity or martial arts, but by his wisdom.

What kind of brain could come up with such a brilliant idea of ​​salt voucher and auction, which easily added such a large amount of revenue to the court. As for the voice and power of resistance, the state master probably didn't care.

This is exactly the fact. Ang Lee not only doesn't care, but he hopes that someone will run into his gun. As the saying goes, killing people and arson can win you a gold belt, but confiscating property is even worse.

The auction has come to an end. Although the process has been bumpy, it is still considered a success.

It is worth mentioning that there were some minor incidents during the auction.

It is obvious that there are some powerful backgrounds behind some wealthy businessmen, but in the process of bidding for salt permits, it is obvious that some people betrayed the forces behind them and acted on their own!

In their view, if they could win a salt permit, their backers would be the imperial court and Li An. Why should they pay tribute to these officials every year?

Ang Lee gave a thumbs up to this and asked for greater efforts.

He used his smile to suppress the ferocious looks on the faces of several family heads, and made the merchants who had obtained the salt permits breathe a sigh of relief. They wiped the sweat from their heads, feeling relieved.

"Okay, the auction has ended successfully. Now it's almost the end of March. Once the Salt and Iron Bureau has counted the non-cultivated land, you can send someone to the Salt and Iron Bureau to negotiate the matter. It will be limited to one month. The salt permit period will start from the end of April and last for three years!"

"Congratulations everyone!"

"Thank you, sir! The money will be delivered to the Salt and Iron Department within half a month!"

"Why are you all going through so much trouble? Here we have to talk about the function of the People's Bank!"

Chen Xiao smiled mysteriously.

Chapter 196 People’s Bank.

Today's Northern Qi has not been able to escape the shackles of being a feudal dynasty and is still a huge self-sufficient family model.

No matter what they did, for the sake of convenience, they would set up a special department to deal with it. There were rarely any comprehensive departments to coordinate everything, so as long as the court had money and food, there would be no major events in the world.

Food is the most important thing for people, and grain is what Li An values. However, most of the grain that can be harvested grows in Nanzhao, south of Qing.

Now, this money-management department was born in the imperial court.

We are not talking about the Ministry of Revenue here, which is just a dispatching department and does not have too many financial attributes.

"You can deposit the silver you bid into the newly opened local People's Bank, and you will get a receipt. With this receipt, you can go to the Salt and Iron Bureau to get the salt permit in one month. It will also save you the trouble of carrying money."

Chen Xiao explained with a smile.

In fact, opening a bank not only brings convenience to these wealthy businessmen, but also brings endless benefits to ordinary people.

For example, if a student was intercepted by a thug on his way to Beijing for an imperial examination, he might be able to escape with his life, but how could he get to Beijing without money? Even if he managed to survive, how could he stay in the expensive and hard-to-live-in city of Shangjing?

People's Bank can solve this problem for you.

In addition to bringing some money you need for the journey, the rest can be deposited in a bank. Bring something to prove your identity and a deposit slip. Even if you are intercepted on the way, you can use the deposit slip to withdraw the previously deposited money after arriving at your destination to get through the difficult times.

This is even more convenient for those who are escorting mercenaries to transport silver across regions.

However, there are two issues involved here. The first is that in order for a silver shop to be opened and to fulfill the functions mentioned above, it is necessary for this money shop to gain the trust of everyone.

So where does this credibility come from?

Yes, the role of the royal family is reflected here.

Reputation, yes, the reputation of the royal family, Zhan Doudou's name! Is there any better collateral in the world than this? Anyway, Beiqi belongs to their Zhan family. What belongs to them is hers, and what belongs to the people of the world is also hers. Anyway, everything belongs to her. Therefore, Li An did not feel guilty at all for using the reputation of the Zhan family to open a bank!

As for the second point, it is the anti-counterfeiting of deposit tickets (that is, silver tickets).

If this point is not met, then all your credibility will be in vain.

So, Ang Lee took out his phone and used Baidu

"Master Chen, what is the difference between this People's Bank and ordinary banks?"

"Of course there is a difference!"

Chen Xiao smiled and explained, "This People's Bank was built with funds from His Majesty and the Imperial Master. It will be spread across all the towns in Northern Qi. It will not only be credit-secured. I also guarantee on behalf of the People's Bank that if there is any loss of money deposited in the bank, the bank will pay in full."

"Not only that, all future transactions with the imperial court, including the settlement and payment of silver and money, will be handled by the People's Bank."

"The last point is also the most important one. The money you deposit in the People's Bank will earn interest!"

"What?" Someone asked in confusion, "Do we have to pay interest to the bank when we deposit money?"

As soon as these words were spoken, those who had been somewhat excited and moved just now all lost interest.

"This guy has understood it the wrong way!"

Chen Xiao laughed out loud. He felt the pleasure of the teacher teaching them knowledge. "It is the bank that will give you interest every year!"

“There is such a thing!”

"Don't talk yet, listen carefully to what Master Chen has to say!"

"May I ask, Master Chen, how much is the interest?"

Chen Xiao raised two fingers and said, "There are two situations here. One is a current account, which means you can withdraw money from the account at any time. The interest is not much, and it is also difficult to calculate. If we calculate it for a full year, it is about 0.03%. "

That is to say, if they deposited 100,000 taels of silver in the People's Bank, they would get 300 taels of silver for free one year later.

Everyone calculated in their minds in an instant. Although it was not much, it was better than hiding the money in the cellar at home! Besides, storing it at home would also cause loss. Not only would it be troublesome to clean it regularly, but there would also be the risk of it being stolen or robbed.

If you deposit money in a bank, you can withdraw it at any time. Even if the bank is stolen or robbed, they will pay the full amount!

Everyone nodded.

"But regular payments are different. Regular payments mean an agreed time, usually calculated on a yearly basis, and you can only withdraw it when the time comes. One year is 20/1000, two years is 25/1000, three years is 30/1000, and the highest is 30/1000 after that."

"What if there is an emergency and you want to take it out midway?"

"Of course you can withdraw the money, but if it is not paid within the agreed time, you will not get the above interest, only the interest on the current account."

When Chen Xiao finished his explanation, everyone in the room fell into deep thought. As businessmen, they were also calculating the pros and cons.

Of course, Ang Lee and Chen Xiao are not in a hurry either.

They will figure it out eventually, and this is the general trend. When everyone does this, they will naturally do the same. And Li An had so much free time to let Chen Xiao explain this to them, naturally he wanted to use these people's mouths to spread the benefits of the People's Bank.

When it was noon, the lunch prepared by Baisui Songju was served.

And everything that happened in the field today had already been reported to the palace.

Looking at the letter on the imperial desk, Zhan Doudou vented to the Queen Mother helplessly: "Mother, I don't know what the Imperial Master is thinking! He is a person who can't sit still. In addition to the bank, he also wants to run a market. Tell me, should I let him continue to do this?"

In Zhan Doudou's opinion, it would be best to quickly promote the new grain throughout the country and then recruit soldiers and horses, so that she would have the strength and confidence to restore her female body as soon as possible and become the world's number one empress!

Then with Li An

But what is Li An doing now? It's simply not doing his job properly, leaving such a beautiful person like him alone.

The Queen Mother smiled and said, "My son, do you know how much silver the Imperial Master brought to the national treasury today? More than seven million taels! How many great things can be done with this money? Not only that, this is only the money for the salt permits. After the salt itself is nationalized, we will also use the standard price to get a large sum of money after the goods are sold. Although the profits are taken by the salt merchants, we don't need to worry about transportation, loss, and everything else!"

After a brief pause, the Queen Mother let out a sigh of relief: "This is what the Imperial Master said, the power of business!"

Zhan Doudou nodded. Compared with this, the seven million taels could only be regarded as small money, after all, it was auctioned every three years. But the salt and iron profits that rolled in every year were real.

She also knew that she was a little anxious, and the three years that Li Ang mentioned was not a random statement.

It seems that he has also thought carefully about their future.

Inexplicably, Zhan Doudou's mood miraculously improved again. The Queen Mother was stunned. Although she didn't say anything, she knew that this was the power of love.

She couldn't help but feel a little envious of her daughter.

Although she and the late emperor were husband and wife, they were also bound by political interests. Although they had been together for nearly ten years, it was more of a family relationship or responsibility.

As for love, how could there be such a thing in the royal family?

Maybe, Ang Lee can bring something different to Doudou.