After resigning from Wang Yu, Zhang Yue also felt that 90% of the time he would be sent to the local government to serve as magistrate.
I just don't know if it will lead to a good result. It seems that when Ouyang Xiu was demoted to the state, he wrote a Drunken Old Man's Pavilion and remembered it for Emperor Renzong, and it is uncertain whether he was transferred back to the capital again.
Therefore, Zhang Yue decided to revive his interest in writing books in the past. The book on speech economics that he had previously dedicated to the officials seemed to have been well received by the officials, so he ordered it to be hidden in the imperial study and no one was allowed to read it. As for what kind of book he would write when he got there in the future, Zhang Yue had no idea for the moment.
I was sitting at home when my future was uncertain, but now that I had made up my mind, my mood was different.
Now he takes advantage of his free time to visit Bianjing City and take a look at the people's sentiments.
On the afternoon of September, Zhang Yue drank tea and met guests in the teahouse.
Zhang Yue occupied one table alone, while Huang Haoyi, Peng Jingyi, Tang Jiu, and Zhang Gong were having tea at another table.
In the tea house, a group of businessmen in brocade clothes were climbing up the stairs. The shopkeeper of the teahouse saw that these businessmen were all important figures in Bianjing City, so why were they here today.
The shopkeeper immediately ordered the store clerk to stop the idle people from going upstairs. He personally went up to greet them, and when he saw the other party made a silent gesture, he immediately stepped aside knowingly.
The leader was a shrewd and capable man in his forties. When he saw a young and handsome man sitting by the window, he immediately bowed down and said excitedly: "Shen Chen has met Mr. Zhang!"
Zhang Yue looked at the other person and smiled. The other person was the big shopkeeper of the exchange office back then.
His uncle Shen Yan died of illness last year, and now he is responsible for taking care of all the Shen family's properties.
In the past few years after Wang Anshi took office, he also started to rectify the exchange and replaced a group of people in it. Later, the official family, the two empress dowagers and the royal relatives all got involved.
In addition to five branch offices in Bianjing, Luoyang, Yongxingjun, Qinzhou, and Chengdu, the Citation Office now has branch offices in more than seventy-eight military prefectures, including Damingfu, Nanjing, and Hangzhou.
The exchange of salt banknotes, tea coins, alum coins and other items with gold, silver and copper coins has completely replaced Jiaozi.
The annual dividend of the Exchange has also reached more than 3 million yuan.
As new shareholders continue to be introduced, the equity is continuously diluted.
Today, the imperial court still accounts for 35% of the shares, the royal relatives account for 20%, the people here also account for 15%, and the rest are scattered shareholders.
Old people like Cai Jing and Shen Chen now have much less say in the exchange. Now they only have some shares and can receive dividends every year.
Zhang Yue helped Shen Chen up and said, "Sit down!"
Several people who followed Shen Chen were also shareholders in the Exchange. These people had received Zhang Yue's favor and invested in the Exchange.
They were all the leaders of that era. With this opportunity, they gambled all their wealth to enter. Now they have changed dramatically. At least the people here are all members with a net worth of more than one million yuan.
Although these people are not as powerful as Shen Chen, they are also very powerful in their respective industries, and they are even the best in the industry.
The most important thing about the Exchange for Zhang Yue is the monetization of salt banknotes. As for benefiting these people, it is just a matter of convenience. I didn't expect that a few millionaires would be created casually.
Zhang Yue smiled and said: "It's nothing to get together with you today. I just want to drink tea and chat."
Shen Chen said: "Whether Mr. Zhang returns to the northwest or goes to local prefectures and counties in the future, if you give him any instructions on how to use money or people, we will support him."
】
The rest of the people all spoke up. Everyone said that if they want money, they will have money, and if they want people, they will have people.
Zhang Yue said with a smile: "You are able to come forward because of your own opportunities. It was you who happened to see the opportunity to invest money in the branch office. I didn't force you to come with a knife, so you really don't need to thank me."
One person said: "Mr. Zhang, we are not ungrateful people. If I hadn't followed Brother Shen and listened to your words, I wouldn't be where I am today. It was you who showed me the way, and I sold all my wealth and invested it in shares on the Stock Exchange.”
"Don't forget the well digger when you are drinking water. Without Zhang Gong, where would we be today?"
Seeing what they said, Zhang Yue nodded and said, "I'm not asking you for money or people. Just tell me the pros and cons of this market change."
As soon as Shen Chen and others heard Zhang Yue mention the words "market change law", they couldn't help but burst into tears.
…
The Market Change Law is one of Wang Anshi's reforms, and it is also the most controversial one among the ruling and opposition parties over Wang Anshi's reforms today.
This market change law is mainly aimed at businessmen, because all walks of life in Kaifeng are controlled by business leaders, and there are many big businessmen under the business leaders. These businessmen colluded with powerful figures in the government and monopolized the market.
Taking tea as an example, it is controlled by more than a dozen big businessmen. When tea merchants from other places arrive in Beijing, they must first banquet these more than a dozen businessmen one by one, and must constantly send gifts to gain the power to set high prices.
Tea is priced at a high price, and the profits are paid by ordinary people as consumers.
So Wang Anshi came up with the idea of marketing, bypassing big businessmen, implementing government procurement, and then government sales to stabilize prices and at the same time make some money for the court.
Zhang Yue heard from various merchants the pros and cons of the implementation of the Market Change Law, and was about to record them one by one.
After leaving the teahouse, Zhang Yue visited several merchants one by one after receiving the exact news.
Among them was Xu Ji, who originally supplied meat to Kaifeng Mansion. Xu Ji originally offered meat, but in addition to offering meat, he was blackmailed by the subordinate officials of Kaifeng Prefecture in every possible way.
The meat Xu Ji gave to the Kaifeng Mansion Yamen was extorted countless times by the Yamen and he was miserable. Later, Wang Anshi issued an exemption law and asked Xu Ji to pay the exemption fee to be exempted from the rules of sending meat to Kaifeng Mansion.
Zhang Yue carefully inquired from the opponent's mouth about the pros and cons of the avoidance method.
…
On this day, Wang Anshi was riding on his horse on his way to court, surrounded by Yuan Sui.
At this time, his son Wang Yu received the report from his entourage and suddenly rode up to Wang Anshi, and then whispered a few words beside Wang Anshi.
Wang Anshi looked stern after hearing this and asked, "Is this really true?"
Wang Yuqing said with a face: "That's true. I've asked people to investigate carefully. The exemption from market changes has been criticized frequently by the old party in recent years. Zhang Duzhi must have grasped some clues from his sudden unannounced visit. . This person is also very powerful, he actually knows how to strike first to gain the upper hand."
Wang Anshi said nothing when he heard this.
Wang Yu was also a very thoughtful person. He ordered Zhang Shangying to prepare for the impeachment of Zhang Yue, and sent people to keep an eye on Zhang Yue's whereabouts to prevent the other party from making a preemptive strike. Now he really has a handle on it.
Wang Yu said to Wang Anshi: "Dad, please leave this matter to me!"
Wang Anshi nodded.
Wang Yu immediately rode to the palace first, and then met Zhang Shangying among the officials waiting to go to court and asked, "Have you written the memorial to impeach Zhang Yue?"
Zhang Shangying smiled slightly and said: "Don't worry Yuanze, Shu is already in his sleeve!"
