"The Skynet is vast and there are no omissions! Anyone who is a treacherous person will definitely be found out!"
Zhu Cixiang's face was gloomy and he looked very scary, as if he was really angry!
He looked at Zheng Zhilong intently and said word by word: "Before the old emperor and his senior brother came to the East Lake Palace, Zhang Shize, Zhu Chunjie, and Su Guansheng handed over the invitation papers. It seems that they have found something. The old emperor Dear, why don’t we listen to what the three of them have to say!”
"Okay... let's listen together."
Zheng Zhilong was so intensely stared at by Zhu Cixiang that he thought to himself: This matter is not related to my family, right? No way! I have never participated in the sale of feudal debts. That kid Zheng Sen wanders around Annan and Shuizhenla and doesn't even know about it. Zheng Jiangong, that silly boy, only wanted to make meritorious deeds, so he devoted all his attention to the naval academy. How could he have the time to interfere with the feudal debt? Could it be that tea girl did it? Unlikely? All she had to do was spend money and write a letter to ask for it... Also, how was this feudal debt bought and sold? Should it be sold on a stall or in a store?
The mastermind behind the speculating on vassal debts is of course not Zheng Zhilong. How could he be of that level? He has never seen what the feudal debt looks like, and he doesn't know how it is traded...
Although he is the major shareholder of Maritime Bank and is involved in some bank affairs on weekdays, he really doesn't know anything about bonds, stocks and futures and has never heard of them. His involvement in banking affairs is limited to attracting customers and introducing loans...and the loans introduced by him (all to other maritime merchants) will definitely be continued unless the ship is destroyed and everyone is killed. The capital is recovered with interest.
Even if the ship sinks, the owner's property on shore can be seized and sold to recover the capital. Therefore, the bad debt rate is extremely low compared to the interest rate income.
As for matters such as misappropriating funds from Maritime Bank and using related transactions to harm the bank, Zheng Zhilong has never thought about it - if this major shareholder were to be left in the 21st century, he would also be a model major shareholder!
When shareholder Zheng was feeling furious, Zhang Shize, Zhu Chunjie, and Su Guansheng had already arrived. They had been waiting at the East Lake Palace for some time, so they came immediately after being summoned.
After completing the courtesy of the emperor and his ministers, the three Qingtian lords who were ordered to investigate the feudal debt speculation incident began to report the investigation results one by one.
"Your Majesty, according to the investigation by the Jin Yiwei, those who speculated on the vassal debt and set traps to deceive people are not rogue bandits or Tartars."
Nonsense...Zheng Zhilong's teacher, the Dutch, only speculated on tulips. How could Li Guo and Dorgon use things like bond futures to deceive people? If Li Guo had this level, could he still be a bandit?
"Your Majesty, the Metropolitan Procuratorate has not found any civil and military officials in Wuhan involved in speculating on vassal debts."
Very few officials in Wuhan can tell the difference between speculation and bond speculation. This bunch of feudal bureaucrats were either written by eight-legged essays, or they cut people off from professional accounts. Who knows about stocks, bonds and futures?
If you really want them to stir-fry, they might take out the pot and spoon!
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Accounts discovered that the abnormal transactions of feudal debts were all conducted through Maritime Bank!" Su Guansheng spoke in a gloomy tone, while looking at Zheng Zhilong with righteous eyes.
Zheng Zhilong looked innocent and looked at Emperor Zhu for help: Your Majesty, you must trust me! I am a loyal businessman and will not do anything harmful to nature...
"Old Taishan," Zhu Cixiang asked with a smile, "You are the boss of Maritime Bank, you must know something, right?"
"I, I, I don't know anything!" Zheng Zhilong shook his head repeatedly, "And the big boss of Haishang Bank is not just Chen, there is also..."
There is also a major shareholder named Zhu Cihong!
When Maritime Bank first started, it was a joint venture between three major owners: Zheng Zhilong, Zhu Cihong, and Shen Tingyang. But later Shen Tingyang fell into the trap of running an industry and opened shipyards, gun factories, gun foundries, gunpowder factories, and armor factories in Dengzhou and Shanghai. Oh, I have recently become obsessed with making cars. I invited craftsmen from Macau who can build four-wheeled carriages and opened a carriage factory in Pudong, Shanghai.
These factories of his are quite large and employ many Western craftsmen, so the investment is not small, and most of the factories have not yet reached profitability. In order to raise funds, he had to sell his shares in Maritime Bank to Zhu Cihong, Zheng Zhilong, Huang Jiang and some executives of Maritime Bank.
So now Zhu Cihong and Zheng Zhilong hold the majority shares of Maritime Commercial Bank, while Huang Jiang and a group of shopkeepers, accountants, and stewards hold a small portion of the shares.
But Zheng Zhilong doesn't care about the bank's operations, so the actual major shareholder at the helm is Zhu Cixiang himself...
Now Zheng Zhilong didn't know what to say. He couldn't expose Zhu Cixiang to Zhang Shize, Zhu Chunjie, and Su Guansheng, right?
Seeing that Zheng Zhilong had nothing to say, Zhu Cixiang turned to look at Su Guansheng again, "Su Qing, what else did you find out?"
"Your Majesty, I apologize for my incompetence," Su Guansheng said, "I am a scholar, I don't understand business, and I don't know how to manage money. I can't even read the bank's account books (all in Arabic numerals)... so I can't check it. Well, it’s better to ask the emperor to hire someone else, Gao Ming!”
Zhu Cixiang asked: "You don't understand business, you don't know how to manage money, and you don't even understand bank account books. How can you be the Minister of the Ministry of Accounts?"
Su Guansheng sighed and said: "It is indeed difficult for me to take on the responsibility of the Ministry of Household Affairs..."
Zhu Cixiang nodded, "It is indeed necessary to find an official who is good at financial management to be the Minister of Household Affairs, so that we can thoroughly investigate the shady story of the feudal debt! Tell me, who is the best at managing money in the court today?"
Su Guansheng said: "Of course he is Duke Quan!"
Zhu Chunjie also said: "According to Jinyiwei's investigation, the best-run official in our dynasty is undoubtedly Duke Quan!"
Zhang Shize stroked his beard and looked upright: "I recommend Duke Quan to be appointed as the Ministry of Household Affairs and investigate the case thoroughly!"
"Prince Zheng," Zhu Cixiang looked at Zheng Zhilong with a half-smile, "Everyone recommends you to be the Minister of Household Affairs... I also think it is most appropriate for you to investigate this shady case of feudal debts! What do you think?"
Emperor Zhu's meaning is very clear - do you want to investigate the case, or do you want to be investigated?
You need to think this issue through carefully!
Because being investigated was nothing more than losing money and avoiding disaster, Zhu Cixiang would not investigate Zheng Zhilong into prison.
But if you want to be the Minister of Household Affairs, the pitfall will be huge!
Because Ming Dynasty's fiscal reform will soon enter the "deep water zone", starting from next year, the land tax in the "Four River Provinces" of Jiangnan, Jiangbei, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang will be levied!
In addition, Zhu Cixiang is very dissatisfied with the current commercial tax collection situation! The commercial tax of more than 13 million taels (excluding the approximately 3 million shi of grain and rice) seems to be a lot, but after deducting the salt tax, North and South Ocean tax, seigniorage and interest, it is only 200 taels. More than ten thousand taels.
This number simply does not match the new situation of Ming Dynasty’s rapidly developing capitalism!
If you want to receive more money without suffocating the Ming Dynasty's economy, you need an official who truly understands the actual situation of industry and commerce and is good at financial management to be the Minister of Household Affairs.
Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty officialdom, who else besides Zheng Zhilong can fill the hole in the Ministry of Household Affairs?
But Zheng Zhilong is not a fool either. He knew how deep the pit was and jumped into it with his head covered. Wouldn’t he be a fool?
So Zhu Cixi unkindly tied up the vassal debt... If Zheng Zhilong didn't obediently become the Minister of Household Affairs, then he would be the number one profiteer who destroyed the financial security of the Ming Dynasty!
I'm not afraid of being fined several million taels of silver, but after the fine, Zheng Zhilong's reputation will be ruined...
Zheng Zhilong had no idea for a moment and had no choice but to look at his son Zheng Sen and ask for an idea.
Zheng Sen asked Zhu Cihong, "Your Majesty, after my father takes office as the Ministry of Household Affairs, who will be in charge of Quanzhou Prefecture and Nanyang affairs?"
“Here you go!” Zhu Cixiang said, “Let’s merge Quanzhou Prefecture and Taiwan Island and set up a vassal town... call it the Dongning Army, and you will be the Nanyang Trade Ambassador and the Dongning Army’s Military Envoy!
The amount of tax that the Dongning Army and the Nanyang Trade Department need to pay, as well as various restrictions, remain the same as in the past. "
After hearing this, Zheng Sen immediately stood up and kowtowed to Zhu Cihong respectfully: "Your Majesty, Zheng Sen, thanks you for your kindness!"
