Zhao Xin was depressed.
It's not that he was short of money. Not long ago, Beihai Town issued a ten-year public bond, and Shanxi merchants, salt merchants and the Thirteenth Bank of China secretly bought a lot of it. Not to mention that he also stored a lot of thousand-foot silver ingots in several caves in the mountains east of the Xila River.
What made him depressed was the feeling that his newly bulging wallet quickly deflated just before his eyes. He was unhappy!
The original purpose of this meeting was to summarize the past, talk about the current situation, and focus on the future. As a result, it has now become an Autumn Wind Club, and all departments are asking for money.
He had been staying on the Liaodong front line before, and everyone couldn't catch him. When he came back, he and A Miao would be happy, so they had to let him go temporarily, and then it would be the Mid-Autumn Festival. In short, Zhao Xin gave everyone in the committee enough preparation time, and they all thought about how to use the most reasonable reasons to ask for money. Although there is a lot of meat, there are also a lot of wolves. Time waits for no one!
Even the old man Yudelina also proposed in the report that an examination institute should be built in Dengzhou and Qingzhou, and next year's imperial examination and pre-examination training will be held there; in addition, the administrative school should also open a branch in Jiaodong to directly train civil affairs students locally. Talent.
The second new imperial examination in Beihai Town was held before this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, and the number of people who came was three times that of last year. You must know that the Beihai Navy also fought hard in Shandong this year, taking over most of Laizhou Prefecture, Qingzhou Prefecture and Wuding Prefecture in one fell swoop. Among them, Qingzhou Prefecture has been a place of culture and education since ancient times. Liu Yong's hometown, Zhucheng, is in the south of Qingzhou Prefecture.
The momentum of the change of dynasty became more and more obvious, which made many Jin gentry who were in a wait-and-see state unable to sit still, so they secretly sent their servants to Dengzhou to inquire about the news. When they learned that last year Beihai Town admitted all 241 candidates regardless of whether they were children or talented students, and that they could become officials after one year of training, they immediately exploded.
The imperial court is about to be finished, and the imperial examination held every four years is meaningless, let alone the so-called "Enke" next year. Who knows if Jiaqing will still be in the Forbidden City next year?
Why did King Zhao hold the imperial examination every year? It was obviously because he was short of men! If we don’t hurry up now, if we wait for someone to come to Beijing and sit down in Longting, and an imperial decree changes the subject back to every four years, it will be a big loss! In the words of farmers, you have to eat shit as early as possible, otherwise you won’t even be able to catch the hot stuff.
The sudden increase in the number of people taking the exam is certainly a good thing, and it makes old-style literati such as Wang Zhong and Duan Yucai excited; but as the head of the Education Committee, Yu Deli knows that it is not feasible to cross the sea by boat every year in case of danger at sea. , hundreds of scholars will have to meet the Dragon King, and the impact will be very bad.
By the way, everyone in the committee had finished reporting loudly, and Zhao Xin also estimated the increase in their budget next year, which is approximately between 10 million and 12 million. Okay, at least I can still keep half of it.
"Let me ask a question. Why don't we issue banknotes?"
Everyone heard the sound and saw that it was Yang Yi, the person in charge of the Jilin Reservoir Project. He participated in Beihai Town's political discussion meeting as a non-voting member last year, and was unanimously approved by the committee at the regular meeting after the Spring Festival this year and became a regular member.
This 45-year-old mid-level water conservancy engineer had served as the vice president of a water conservancy engineering design company in the north before coming here. Because I was talking about work and sex with a beautiful young woman in my unit, I lost my job.
It’s funny to say that Vice President Yang was almost blocked in the room by his boyfriend at that time. As a result, he panicked and wrapped himself in a sheet without any clothes on. He climbed down the water pipe outside the bedroom balcony, and the woman even went out from the balcony. Throw away his clothes. Fortunately, it was an old-fashioned building on the third floor. If it were to be replaced by a high-rise slab building, Vice President Yang would have to become a falling object.
However, precisely because it was an old community, Yang Yi was noticed as soon as he came out from the balcony. As people continued to join in, someone soon posted this scene online through self-media. So he became famous, his company died, his wife divorced him, and he was fired from his workplace after leaving home. Then, he was deceived by Zhao Xinlian.
There are many rivers in the outer Northeast, which will overflow during the heavy rains in summer. There is also the problem of farmland irrigation. It is really difficult without professional people in the water conservancy industry. For example, how to repair canal water intake hubs and irrigation canal systems? How to build a flood control and drainage system? What are the design standards for river flooding? What to do with the reservoir?
However, this man is a master in water conservancy projects, but he is a bad guy in finance. Yang Yi's
The problem had actually been brewing for a long time. When he was unemployed and had nothing to do at home, he used to go online to kill time. Those guys who traveled to ancient times and became emperors were always making banknotes, so the financial problem was easily solved.
Zhao Xin shook his head and said: "It can't be done. Or maybe we don't have the conditions to issue banknotes at the moment."
Yang Yi asked: "Why?"
Damn it, how can Zhao Xin explain this? This kind of thing cannot be explained clearly in just a few sentences. He thought for a while and said: "Gong Yang, the issuance of banknotes must be based on bank notes, and the bank note system must be based on the property rights system. Today, Guan Nei is still a centralized power. Thoughts, property ownership is not clear, and bank notes cannot be obtained. Can you understand if I explain it this way? "
Liu Zheng asked curiously: "What are bank notes?"
"Cashier's check, money order, check."
Liu Zheng nodded and blurted out: "The ticket number of a Shanxi person." He had often dealt with Shanxi business groups in Kulun in the past two years, so he immediately thought of it.
Zhao Xin showed a teachable expression and said: "The ticket number is just the prototype of a bank note. It can also be said to be a kind of informal banknote. In the jargon, it is called a private note."
Yu Deli said at this time: "Zhao Xin, among us, you are the one who knows the most about economics. It's still early now, so let's talk to everyone. I don't understand these things very well either."
"Yes! Tell me." It was Zhou Weiguo who encouraged him.
As soon as this person heard the word "property rights," his eyes immediately lit up, and he immediately thought of the citizenship issue he raised during the meeting the year before last. As soon as he started, Yu Deli and Liu Zheng jointly pushed him back because the conditions were immature, which made him very embarrassed. Now Zhao Xin mentioned property rights, which are the material basis for the realization of citizenship rights.
Zhao Xin felt a little funny when he saw Zhou Weiguo's appearance, so he stood up and pulled a whiteboard in the corner, and wrote the words "ticket number", "credit" and "property rights" on it with an oil pen.
"If you want to set up a bank these days, you must first have a strong firm, and then have commercial outlets all over the country. Only then can you evolve from commercial credit to monetary credit. With monetary credit, you must also have a national credit trust. At the end of the day, for example, helping the government collect taxes and advance payments will make the bank grow bigger. No business is as big as doing business with the government. Let’s talk about the Shanxi merchant bank. Why is it the first company to dare to say "Huitong Tianxia"? Rishengchang bank account was not established until more than 20 years later? It was because the Lei family's paint store had developed and spread its outlets across the country at that time that Lei Lutai had the confidence. Didn't the reason why the Shanxi Merchant bank account grew so big was that it helped the Qing government collect advance compensation? Hu Xueyan's Fukang Bank also developed by helping Zuo Zongtang borrow money. "
Liu Siting interjected: "But our Beihai Bank does not need this process."
Zhao Xin nodded and said: "Our situation is different. The early immigrants were essentially long-term workers. All our systems must be compulsorily obeyed, otherwise we will not get fifty acres of land. When Beihai Bank was first established, Son, Lao Chen and I went to the factory to inspect the factory. The workers didn’t understand why their wages had to be paid from banks instead of directly from us. At that time, they all said privately that it was unnecessary.
At that time, you all thought that I wanted to open a bank to make money. In fact, what kind of money could I make? Losing money is the real thing. But I want to establish a credit system through this. Now, the salary of more than 100,000 yuan from the Beihai Navy has to be paid from the Beihai Bank. The common people have to pay taxes to the bank, and the annual grain collection is also transferred to the account. Everyone thinks it is quite good. Well, this shows that our business credit has been initially established. "
Yang Yi asked at this time: "When can we issue banknotes?"
"Actually, we were able to introduce banknotes in the Northeast two years ago. The problem is that the population under our control is too small and the scale is not enough. Even if we introduce banknotes, it will not solve the problem. We must focus on the whole country."
Zhao Xin tapped the words on the whiteboard with his pen and continued: "We already have a business name; I believe anyone who has been to Anping Port can see its influence; needless to say, the government's credit, Beihai Bank is our own. The key is to establish a national commercial network. Once these are in place, we can launch bank notes. And to achieve global integration, we must have the ability to centralize clearing and occupy a large proportion of the bill market. Only then can we Consider issuing banknotes
. "
He was just talking in general terms today. The actual operation is far more complicated than what he said, and the biggest problem with issuing banknotes is the unavoidable devaluation caused by the abuse of government credit. Nowadays, the price of silver and copper coins has skyrocketed in various parts of the customs. If we want to rashly introduce paper currency, as long as it depreciates, the people will definitely turn to copper coins and silver again, thus creating a vicious circle.
Historically, the Song, Jin, Yuan and Ming dynasties issued various banknotes, such as Jiaozi, Qianyin, Huizi, Baocao, Jiaochao, Zhongtong banknotes, etc., all of which relied on government credit as a guarantee of value. However, the credit of the government of the feudal dynasty was the least trustworthy. Once a war or famine broke out, in order to alleviate the financial shortage, it would be over-issued, and all kinds of banknotes would eventually become wiping paper. After the "One Whip Law" was implemented, silver became the only currency with full monetary functions, and ancient China's credit paper money could no longer survive.
After the afternoon meeting, Chen Qingsong stopped Zhao Xin who was about to go out and said: "Although I don't know much about finance, if you want to establish a national business network and clearing center, the relevant personnel must prepare in advance. You see Should we find two professionals from our side?"
Zhao Xindao: "There is no rush to find someone. You have forgotten that we have a group of people who are most suitable for the banking industry."
Chen Qingsong was stunned for a moment, then slapped his forehead and said, "Hey! My mind is too busy."
Jews, this is a group of people ignored by many people in Beihai Town, but Zhao Xin always pays attention to them.
After Zhao Xin captured Yeniseisk, the local Jewish groups took the initiative to request attachment because they did not want to be displaced again. After Zhao Xin issued a proclamation abolishing the alcohol tax package system and prohibiting Jews from engaging in the loan sharking industry, the Jewish groups in Siberia quickly split. Some of them returned to Tsarist Russia in the spring of the next year, while others went to the Lower Uginsk and Tulun areas designated for them by Zhao Xin.
Now four years have passed, and the Jewish population under Beihai Town has grown from more than 6,000 to more than 10,000. Since the year before last, the civil affairs authorities have moved more than 4,000 Jews out of Siberia through land replacement and tax holiday extensions, and resettled them in various villages and towns from Whale Town to Khabarovsk.
Zhao Xin's next plan is to wait for the situation in the newly recovered Liaodong region to stabilize and continue to move Siberian Jews out of the country. The reason for doing this can actually be summed up in four words, turning the barbarian into summer.
Although various ethnic groups in ancient China were mixed and their customs and languages were different, they could all agree with each other on the level of etiquette. No matter where you are, as long as you recognize the "etiquette" of Chinese civilization and abide by it, you are Chinese. For example, the Kaifeng Jews in the Song Dynasty, the Semu people in the Ming Dynasty, and even the Russian leaders of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Nowadays, every Jew under the rule of Beihai Town must have a Chinese name, even if he cannot speak a word; children of school age must go to school to learn Chinese without negotiation.
In addition, Jews like to gather together to pray. According to Jewish law, adult men must gather together with more than 10 people to pray three times a day. Theoretically, Jews can pray anywhere except in unclean places, but as long as their lives are settled, who doesn’t want to have a church? For this reason, the civil administration specially built two courtyards with carved beams and painted beams in Khabarovsk and Whale Town and used them as Jewish churches.
As for the layout of the room, it was based on the rabbi's advice. In fact, the interior of a synagogue does not need to be filled with idols or pictures like a Catholic or Orthodox church; it is enough to have a large platform for reciting the Torah, a long-lit seven-menorah, and a small podium and seats. .
This kind of thing cannot be rushed. Even if the Russian commanders of the Manchu Qing Dynasty were forcibly reformed as prisoners, they would have to live in the circle of bannermen in Beijing every day and experience the fusion of Chinese and Manchu folk culture. It would still take hundreds of years. "Reborn".
The reason why Chen Qingsong ignored Jewish matters was because of the strategy he and Zhao Xin had previously set: to prevent Jewish groups from getting involved in the financial industry until they became proficient in Chinese.
Zhao Xin's idea is that four years have passed, and now it should be possible to select a group of people who are proficient in Mandarin from the Jewish community and make preliminary preparations in order to achieve the goal of "connecting the world."
In his plan, in the future the banking industry in Beihai Town will not only include Jews, but also people from Shanxi merchants and Jiangnan Bank.
Everyone has to be brought in. Internal checks and balances are on the one hand, and on the other hand, these people have spent one or two hundred years building a business network all over the country. It would be a waste not to use it.
