At the turn of Jiayou Zhiping, Zhang Yue hurried back to Bianjing.
When the weather is snowy and freezing, what Zhang Yue wants most now is the warm charcoal stove at home and the thick quilt.
Since this trip to Shaanxi was out of the gate, Zhang Yue also bought a lot of things and came back to give gifts to his friends.
In addition to green salt, the specialties of Xixia are swords and Kunlun jade.
Among them, Xixia swords are particularly famous, and they are as famous as Khitan saddles. Zhang Yuebu lamented that the Xixia people were really good at making swords. Historically, even the emperors of the Song Dynasty used Xixia knives for their swords.
No matter how the Song people imitated it, they couldn't imitate the swords of Xixia.
In addition to buying some swords, Kunlun jade and other famous products, Zhang Yue also bought two Xixia horses. These two horses were Haomen horses rather than the famous Hequ horses. . He also bought a white falcon to give to Han Zhongyan who was about to return to Beijing.
In this way, we returned to Bianjing with a full harvest.
As for Huang Haoyi, Tang Jiu gained a lot from this business trip with him.
Xue Xiang was courteous to Zhang Yue, and he must not treat the people around him poorly, otherwise these people would be in trouble if they said a few disrespectful words of greeting or secretly made trouble.
Zhang Yue also turned a blind eye when it came to his subordinates collecting money.
If the water is clear, there will be no fish.
If you read Water Margin, you will know what kind of plums are in the bottle. In the Song Dynasty, the officialdom and the people were all based on money and sex. If you restrain your subordinates so tightly, who will help you?
Huang Haoyi took the money and went to Chang'an City to find Hu Ji to accompany him. He was almost too happy to miss Shu. Tang Jiu was so drunk that he had wine now. They exchanged all the money for fine wine. When the two of them returned to Bianjing with Zhang Yue, they were all covered in blood. No money was left without a penny left.
In the end, Huang Haoyi spent all his money, and it was Zhang Yue who personally took the money and went to the brothel to redeem the person before bringing it back.
When Zhang Yue saw him, he lamented again about being unable to hold up the wall. Huang Haoyi was like this. He thought about his feelings for his fellow classmates, so it was difficult for him to help him.
Zhang Yue was extremely disappointed with Huang Haoyi, so he took the money to redeem the man and left.
When Huang Haoyi saw Zhang Yue walking away, he immediately chased him out the door and apologized repeatedly. Huang Haoyi made a lot of mistakes, but he had one good point, and that was that he took whatever Zhang Yue said, he just accepted it with an open mind and refused to change despite repeated admonitions.
But even if you scold Huang Haoyi, he will not get angry with you and even smile at you.
Seeing that Zhang Yue finally scolded him for a few words, Huang Haoyi felt relieved and relieved. Zhang Yue is willing to scold you, which means that the matter has been revealed. On the way back to Bianjing, Huang Haoyi also calmed down a lot, working hard in front of and behind the horse.
Seeing the bustling Bianjing City, Huang Haoyi and Zhang Yue said, "Sanlang, we have finally returned to Beijing. My sister-in-law must have been waiting at home for a long time."
Zhang Yue thought of Qi Niang after not seeing her for several months. How could he not miss her in his heart? She was pregnant at the moment.
Zhang Yue said to Huang Haoyi: "Don't be busy for now. Let's go to Sansi Yamen to resume business first."
Huang Haoyi immediately praised: "Sanlang is great. He puts public before private, which is really admirable. Dayu visited the house three times and it was nothing more than this..."
Huang Haoyi wanted to give him a top hat, but he saw that Zhang Yue had already driven away, leaving him only the shadow of the horse's butt.
Huang Haoyi laughed sarcastically and said something about it, and then walked to follow.
The two of them were equal classmates at first, but now that he is working under Zhang Yue, they are different. Most people can't change their minds, but Huang Haoyi can change without any pressure at all.
Zhang Yue arrived at Sansi Yamen. At the end of the year, Sansi Yamen was very busy.
Every year, the Sansi Yamen would compile statistics on the country's gold, silver, money, silk, military and horse expenditures and submit them to the emperor in a booklet. At the same time, people were also sent to inventory the Zuozang Treasury and internal and external treasury affairs, and review and dispatch the money and grain reported at the road, prefecture, and county levels.
For yamen like Sansi, which oversees the world's finances, the end of the year is definitely the busiest time.
It seems that other yamen have already been thinking about how to celebrate the New Year at this time.
When Zhang Yue entered the yamen, he could feel that the officials below were busy, but the end of the year was also a big test for them, the officials of the third division.
Comparing the revenue and expenditure between last year and this year, whichever official bears the deficit will be blamed for poor supervision.
What's more, this stall left by Emperor Renzong, as the new emperor ascended the throne, countless money was spent like water. This year's third division report will only look good in the account books.
Zhang Yue arrived at his judge's hall. Zhang Kongmu learned that Zhang Yue was back and was the first to come up to attend.
Zhang Kongmu asked: "Did the bachelor's business trip go smoothly?"
Zhang Yue said: "It's good. I haven't been at Yan'an for several months. Nothing went wrong."
Zhang Kongmu said: "As Deputy Ambassador Fan is watching personally, nothing serious will happen. The bachelor has been traveling all the way, so he must be tired. Tonight..."
Zhang Yue stretched out his hand and said: "What's the reception banquet? There's no need for the dust-washing banquet. The minister's money in our hall doesn't need to be spent on these. Where is the deputy envoy?"
Zhang Kongmu said: "Reporting to the bachelor, the deputy envoy is having an affair with the provincial governor."
Zhang Yue thought to himself that he happened to meet him too.
So Zhang Yue put the official hat he had just taken off back on his head and said, "I'll go to the ambassador's office right now!"
Arriving at the main hall, Zhang Yue was notified and came in. He saw Cai Xiang solemnly discussing matters with Fan Shidaozheng, Zhang Yue's immediate superior.
After not seeing each other for a few months, Cai Xiang seemed to have aged a lot, and there were a lot of gray hairs on his temples. It seemed that running a house for the imperial court was really a tiring job.
Zhang Yue sat down at the bottom and listened to Cai Xiang's words: "Nowadays, most of the people employed in the imperial court are based on literature. Ministers are also scribes; ministers who are close servants are also scribes... The transfer envoys of the world are also scribes; state governors are also scribes. . Although there are military ministers, there are only a few of them. This is the disadvantage of employing people."
"Civil officials don't know about military matters and the danger of the country. They only know about life and morality, and ignore military matters and financial management. Zhenzong Dynasty has the alliance of Chanyuan, Renzong Dynasty has Qinglihe, and the national treasury has been depleted. The emperor ascended the throne. And great rewards... alas."
Fan Shidao said: "My uncle Fan Wenzhenggong once said that the disadvantages of the world are three redundancies and two redundancies, redundant officials and redundant soldiers. The redundant expenses make the people poor and weak. If these three redundancies are not eliminated, the country will be difficult to strengthen."
Cai Xiang said: "In the past, the imperial court suffered a deficit of three million guan every year. This year, it has lost more than 12 million guan. As the third envoy, I have now become the target of thousands of people."
Zhang Yue listened to his heart and realized that this year's deficit has reached this level, but it is normal to think about it. The emperor's reward for the Imperial Army and civil servants after he ascended the throne cost 16 million guan, and the cost of the enthronement ceremony was also quite large. , all calculated, Cai Xiang did not lose more than 20 million, which is already quite difficult.
However, the imperial court's deficit had little to do with the Third Division, but all the ministers in the court put the responsibility on the Third Division.
For example, if a large family cannot make ends meet, the person who scolds them must be the housewife who is in charge of the accounts, and the resentment is directed at her.
Master Fan said: "Provincial Lord, it's hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice!"
Cai Xiang said: "I have advocated the selection of officials, appointing talents, eliminating redundancy, identifying evil and sycophants, correcting punishments, suppressing annexations, and enriching the country and strengthening the army. If the country is not revived, the court will not have overnight food."
Fan Shidao couldn't help but sigh and said: "The prime ministers should talk about this matter, but the prime ministers didn't say it, but it was the provincial governor who raised it... People in the world don't know how much resentment they have added to the provincial governor."
Cai Xiang said: "I'm riding a tiger and it's hard to get off."
Cai Xiang looked at Zhang Yue and said, "Du Zhi is back. How about going to Shaanxi this time? Have you reached an agreement with Xue Xiang?"
Zhang Yue said: "It's basically settled."
At that moment, Zhang Yue reported the contents of the negotiations with Xue Xiang one by one. At the same time, the matters concerning the Shaanxi and Luoyang Exchanges were also reported.
After listening to Zhang Yue's report, Cai Xiang stroked his long beard and said with a smile: "It's very good. Even in Shaanxi, the Luoyang Exchange does not cost us three companies a cent, but it can earn tens of thousands of dollars in dividends every year. Taken together, it’s hundreds of thousands of strings.”
"Wang Jiefu often told me that the so-called financial management is only about cutting expenditures and increasing revenue, but cutting expenditures is not as good as increasing revenue. I am still confused, but after thinking about it, I finally understand."
Zhang Yue said with a smile: "For the information of the provincial governor, this is for Luoyang and Shaanxi. Now the official of Bianjing Interchange has made an estimate, and the profit in the second half of the year can reach more than 350,000 yuan!"
Cai Xiang and Fan Shidao both took a breath of cold air.
They knew that the Bianjing Exchange was very profitable, making money every day, but they didn't expect it to be so profitable.
Fan Shidao asked in a trembling voice: "Three hundred and fifty thousand guan in half a year, so wouldn't it be more than 700,000 guan in one year?"
Zhang Yue smiled slightly and thought, where is this? My own exchange has just been established, and the business is not yet mature. I will definitely take a step forward next year.
However, Zhang Yue also understood Cai Xiang and Fan Shidao's doubts. He was also surprised when he saw Cai Jing's letter to him.
But when I think about it, I understand that when future generations look at the financial reports of listed companies, the annual profits of dozens of financial companies are almost equal to half of the profits of all listed companies.
It seems that everyone is busy working for others, but having said that, it is difficult to get rich without finance!
Fortunately, this exchange is in the hands of the imperial court, otherwise so much money would be really...
Cai Xiang and Fan Shidao looked at each other.
Cai Xiang has been an official for so many years and has thought of various ways. As a third envoy, even if he can save hundreds of dollars for the court, he will spare no effort to do it.
Fan Shidao was also like Cai Xiang. Since he knew that the imperial court's fiscal revenue was tight this year, he also deducted some here and there to save some money.
Both of them worked hard to run this home for the imperial court, but Cai Xiang and Fan Shidao both saw another path from Zhang Yue.
At first, they all thought that Zhang Yue was just tinkering around and could lower the price of salt in the capital, but they didn't expect that the exchange was so profitable.
But thinking that the bulk of the money was going to be taken away by Xue Xiang, Cai Xiang couldn't help but feel like a knife was stabbing her heart. She couldn't help but sigh in her heart, if she had known better not to give Xue Xiang shares in the first place.
But now that's it...
Cai Xiang suddenly said: "Du Zhi, I remember that your exchange originally sold fifty shares to the public, right?"
Zhang Yue said: "Yes."
Cai Xiang said loudly and authentically: "How many shares are there for our Sansi Yamen to buy back?"
Zhang Yue was stunned when he heard this and said: "Provincial Lord, as soon as the dividends were paid out at the end of this year, the number of shares in the exchange has increased from 50 guan per share to almost 100 guan per share among the public!"
Cai Xiang almost broke his thigh when he heard this. He regretted it so much!
