On this day, companies, stock markets, and banks were born into the world at the same time, making the originally ordinary day on the third day of August extremely special.
In addition to a brief charter, the three companies did not even have a business address. In later generations, they would not even be considered a leather company. However, they were still listed on the market at the urging of the gentry.
Perhaps it was because of the crying pleas of the gentry, or perhaps because the King of Yan wanted to strike while the iron was hot, he actually agreed to allow credit, that is, he could subscribe to the stocks of three companies first and pay the funds in full within half a month.
Looking at the crowds of people queuing up in front of the counter to subscribe for stocks, Zhao Mengqi felt dumbfounded. It was money that really moved people's hearts the most.
He was also a little uneasy at this time. He didn't know whether it would be good or bad for the world if he gave birth to these things and turned a group of landlords and wealthy people into capitalists.
No matter what, this was the best way he could think of to revive the Song Dynasty's economy.
It not only solves the land problem, but also releases the wealth in the hands of powerful people and invests it in the field of production.
Royal Bank of the Song Dynasty is better than the three companies. It has set up a temporary business office in the middle east of the exchange, and it is officially opened. Gentlemen are constantly coming in and out, most of them are consulting on loan details, and a few people are holding land deeds. Such proof of title to start lending.
It is said to be a bank, but in fact there is no gold or silver in it, not even copper coins, which are of no use anyway.
After the loan process was completed, the bank left the pledge and then issued a payment note representing the funds. The gentry took the payment note to the trading floor to subscribe for funds and receive stocks. The so-called funds were actually a book change.
Of course, after the gentry's own funds were obtained, they usually deposited them into the bank first, and then used the payment slip to purchase stocks.
In other words, except for some small transactions, most other transactions are settled through banks, thereby slowly establishing the bank's credibility and influence.
Because these are new things, although they have been fully prepared, the actual operation is still a bit chaotic, and some unexpected problems always arise, so Zhao Mengqi cannot be the hands-off shopkeeper this time and has to sit on the scene.
After half a month of continuous work, everything was on the right track, and it was able to operate normally without Zhao Mengqi's constant attention.
During this period of time, the transaction of one million acres of land has been completely completed, and the stocks worth 50 million guan have been subscribed. What remains is 100,000 shares of Liuqiu Development Company, which Zhao Mengqi specially reserved for the Fujian gentry. After all, development flow cannot be separated from their support.
Although more than half of the 50 million yuan was borrowed from the Royal Bank and some book changes were made, it still received more than 20 million yuan in various properties, bringing the funds controlled by the Royal Bank to nearly 100 million yuan.
Having more money is a good thing, but after inspecting the warehouse, Zhao Mengqi had a headache.
The currency of the Song Dynasty was really messy. Strictly speaking, copper coins were legal tender, but they were not enough!
In a small-scale peasant economic system where men farm and women weave, most people are self-sufficient, and limited transaction needs can usually be met by barter. Even taxes are paid in kind, so there is basically no need for " money".
In other words, agricultural products such as cloth, which have general properties, and even eggs, are people's money. At this time, the entire society has very little demand for money.
However, with the development of productive forces, the division of labor in society became more diverse. Starting from the Middle Tang Dynasty, when commerce gradually developed, the "money shortage" that has plagued China for nearly a thousand years began to appear.
Money shortage refers to the shortage of copper coins for circulation in the market. Even if there are enough products on the market, transactions cannot be smooth, which makes the people suffer.
Business was prosperous in the Song Dynasty, and currency penetrated into people's lives as never before. Copper coins were needed to buy things in the market, and people needed copper coins to pay taxes. Some of the official salaries and military pay issued by the court were also copper coins.
In order to meet this huge demand, the imperial court continued to increase the amount of copper coins minted, reaching a peak of 6 million coins a year. You must know that the most coins minted in a year in the Tang Dynasty was only 320,000 coins.
Metal currency is strong and can be used for hundreds or thousands
It is possible every year. Logically speaking, such a large amount of money minted, coupled with accumulation over the years, can definitely meet the needs of circulation.
However, money shortage has always been the nightmare of the Song Dynasty, which occurred frequently and severely affected the social and economic development.
Why is there not enough money?
First of all, saving is one of the traditional virtues of the Chinese people. For people at this time, the best way to save is to bury their belongings. Especially those wealthy families often hoard large amounts of copper coins, even for generations. Don't even use it.
Moreover, the greater the money shortage, the more valuable copper coins are, and the more prevalent this hoarding behavior becomes, thus falling into a vicious cycle.
Another thing is that there was a saying in the Song Dynasty, "It was cast in one dynasty and shared by all four dynasties." The copper coins of the Song Dynasty were all used by the Liao, Xixia, and Jin countries. In addition, they were also the main currency of Japan, Goryeo, Jiaozhi and other countries, and flowed to South Asia. and West Asia, became the auxiliary currency of the southern region of Tianzhu, and even the great Persian region.
In other words, the money of the Song Dynasty had the international currency status of the US dollar in later generations, but the United States took advantage of it, but the Song Dynasty suffered deeply from it.
Mainly because copper itself has value, the Song Dynasty could not earn profits from minting coins. In addition, the outflow of copper coins made it insufficient for its own use.
In order to stop this problem, the Song Dynasty introduced a strict money ban. It once stipulated that anyone carrying more than five copper coins would be punished by death. They also tried their best to change "international trade" to barter, such as "tea and horse trade", but the effect was not good. It is not ideal, but it seriously restricts normal trade.
Normal trade is just a matter of coming and going, but the Japanese people are very thieves. When they come to the Song Dynasty to sell things, they often do not buy or buy much. They just transport the copper coins back by the whole ship, each time there are hundreds of thousands of them. Through.
Just five or six years ago, Japanese merchants were selling Japanese goods at low prices and trading copper coins in Wenzhou and Taizhou. After that, for a month, almost no copper coins could be found in Taizhou city, and transactions in the city were almost paralyzed.
Overseas, the copper coins from the Song Dynasty were just like the U.S. dollar during the hardening period. They were extremely valuable in overseas countries, and their actual purchasing power far exceeded those at home.
"Every consistent number can be used to exchange hundreds of items. A hundred items can be used to exchange thousands of items. This is normal."
Under the trend of huge profits due to the copper price difference, some people tried to bypass the maritime ban and sell copper coins overseas to make huge profits, just like the Liu family colluded with Japanese merchants.
Finally, when the imperial court used most of the copper to mint coins, the people had strong demand for copperware, causing the value of copper itself to skyrocket, far exceeding the face value of copper coins.
At this time, naturally some people melted copper coins and cast them into bronze mirrors, copper basins, Buddha statues and other bronze objects in order to make huge profits of more than five times. And this phenomenon was very serious.
In the antique collection market of later generations, Song Dynasty bronze mirrors have never been sold at high prices. One of the important reasons is that too many were cast privately and passed down in large numbers, so they are not rare.
When the loss of copper coins is difficult to reverse and there is a lack of currency in the market, various substitutes are involved in circulation.
Iron money is the backup tire of copper money. Paper money such as Jiaozi is essentially a kind of deposit certificate and deed, which is also supported by copper money. The Song Dynasty court gave it the nature of a credit currency and also established financial systems such as reserves. Unfortunately, the court It is difficult to control oneself. Over-issuance and spam issuance are common. The devaluation of banknotes has become the norm and credit is on the verge of collapse.
Gold and silver are not currencies, but because of their own value, they will be used for circulation. However, the price of goods in the Song Dynasty has never been said to be how many taels of silver.
In addition, valuable instruments such as tea bills, salt banknotes, and certificates, as well as actual goods such as silk and cloth, also performed many circulation functions.
These substitutes have alleviated the money shortage problem to a certain extent, but have also further increased the value of "copper coins" and exacerbated the lack of copper coins in circulation.
At the same time, this also brought a lot of trouble to the financial management of the Song Dynasty, making the money bank and grocery store the same.
Zhao Mengqi had long had the idea of establishing a new currency system, but at present, all conditions were not met, especially the lack of precious metals, which made him even more eager to launch his plan against Japan.
After looking at the warehouse, Zhao Mengqi led everyone to sit down in the official room and start arranging things.
"Brother Heyun, many projects have been started recently.
, your bank must ensure timely delivery of funds without affecting the construction period. As for review and supervision, given the current shortage of manpower, it can be relaxed. I would like to see those who are not afraid of death and dare to stretch their hands. "
The Royal Bank is now Zhao Mengqi's money bag, and it will also be the money bag of the royal family in the future. It may also be the money bag of the entire Song Dynasty court. From a certain perspective, it is even more important than the hundreds of thousands of troops.
Therefore, Zhao Mengqi hesitated for a long time when choosing the president of the Royal Bank, and did not get rid of the limitations of "nepotism". In the end, he still preferred to use clan members.
Zhao Heyun was born in the Nanwai Sect in Quanzhou. His family also ran overseas trade, and he was very familiar with business. What was even more rare was that he had a good foundation and talent in arithmetic.
Since the establishment of Dongwei, Zhao Mengqi has also trained with them in the camp for a long time. In his free time, he often exchanges knowledge and concepts that are different from this world with these pro-soldiers, so as to cultivate these child soldiers' sense of identification with him.
Regarding mathematics for later generations, Zhao Mengqi was only at a common sense level, but he had rich practical experience in accounting. Seeing that Zhao Heyun was interested in this aspect, he did not hesitate to teach it to him.
After Zhao Heyun understood these mathematics and accounting knowledge, he was able to quickly master and apply them, and he could also combine them with China's existing arithmetic knowledge to further study on his own.
With his strengths in this area, Zhao Heyun naturally became the first president of the Royal Bank of the Song Dynasty.
After nearly half a year of training in the military, Zhao Heyun's complexion has darkened. He is no longer the graceful young man with beautiful trees in the wind. His eyes have become sharper, and he is strong and tenacious in his humility. He no longer has any frivolous and dissolute appearance. Feel.
"Your Majesty's instructions, please take them to heart. I will fulfill my duties to the fullest and live up to His Majesty's trust. If I make any mistakes, I will be willing to be dealt with by military law!"
Zhao Mengqi chuckled lightly, "Now that you are not in the army, you don't need to be so serious... Also, prepare one million copper coins as soon as possible and hand it over to Donghai Trading Company."
Zhao Heyun was stunned, "Donghai Company? Does His Highness mean to transport copper coins to Japan!?"
