This is a good question. If Zhu Zaiyu hadn't asked it, Gao Pragmatic wouldn't know how to continue the next topic.
However, this is actually not one question, but two.
So Gao pragmatic smiled and said, "Mr. Jiu Feng, these are two questions, but it doesn't matter. The students will answer them one by one."
"First of all, where do the local government offices in Huguang get the money to build water conservancy projects?" Gao pragmatically said, "Usually, when our local government offices build water conservancy projects, they either have a slight surplus and take the initiative to start construction on their own. But generally speaking, sir, as you know, absolutely In fact, most local yamen don’t have much money. Even if they build water conservancy projects, they can basically only do some repairs, but they can’t do anything great. If they really want to carry out larger projects, they can only apply to the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Ministry of Household Affairs is not rich either. , unless disasters are too frequent in the local area, they will find ways to scrape together a small amount to fund the project. Not to mention that it is a drop in the bucket, it will take a long time, and the efficiency is extremely low."
"Another option is for the yamen to take the lead and contact the local wealthy gentry to jointly fund the construction of water conservancy projects. In this case, more funds will generally be raised, and the scale and quality will be relatively more guaranteed. But at the same time, this This construction method often causes some troubles, and the biggest problem lies in focusing on one site."
"Since it is the local wealthy gentry who have contributed the money, their main consideration must be for their own interests, and they will not take into account neighboring prefectures and counties. For example, the wealthy gentry in County A raised funds to build an aqueduct. , they will most likely not consider whether neighboring County B will be short of water after their aqueduct is completed. In many cases, this will cause conflicts between the two counties, and it will also make the aqueduct Engineering is not really getting the most out of it.”
Zhu Zaiyu secretly marveled that many Beijing officials had secretly called this young man Xiao Ge Lao over the years. He originally thought that he was just like Yan Shifan, just relying on the power of his parents to act recklessly. But today, when I saw his true appearance, I realized that this young man was really thinking seriously about how to govern. This is amazing. How old is he? Fifteen or sixteen. Gao Xinzheng thought of him with all these things in his mind. It seems that there is some truth in cultivating people who inherit the mantle. Well, the late emperor asked him to accompany me today, which seems to be a good move.
Gao Pragmatic didn't know that Zhu Zaiyu was a little distracted, but continued to analyze, "So, these two construction methods have problems. First, there is insufficient funds to start major projects, and the efficiency is still low. Second, they are not comprehensive and limited to one city. In one place, the effects of water conservancy facilities are not maximized.”
Zhu Zaiyu became interested and asked, "Gao Longwen's analysis is indeed thorough, so what are the ways to solve these problems?"
Gao pragmatic smiled and said, "If someone is willing to lend money to the local government and plan these water conservancy projects in a unified manner to achieve the effect of one project benefiting many places, these things will be solved."
Zhu Zaiyu was stunned for a moment, "Who can lend money to the Yamen?"
"Why can't you lend money to the Yamen?" Gao Pragmatic laughed. "Is Mr. Jiu Feng worried that the Yamen won't pay back the money?"
"Uh, well," Zhu Zaiyu was a little surprised and hesitantly said, "The Yamen will probably pay back the money, right? But even if the Yamen is willing to pay back, what if they don't have the money to pay back?"
"It's easy to handle." Gao Pragmatic smiled and said, "Just mortgage the customs and commercial taxes. If they can't come up with the money for a while, they will mortgage the commercial taxes to the people who lent them the money, and pay back part of it every year until they are all repaid. Of course, These commercial taxes do not have to be fully mortgaged, but can also be a partial mortgage, such as a half mortgage, a 30% mortgage, etc. The specific situation can be negotiated in detail."
"Lending money to the yamen seems to be a bit." Although Zhu Zaiyu was a great scientist, he obviously had never considered playing this way. China has always been an authoritarian politics, not a businessman's politics, so Zhu Zaiyu was a little confused for a while. How could the Yamen owe money to an individual?
If you do this, the person who is willing to lend money will become the creditor of the Yamen. Where can you put the Yamen's face?
Gao pragmatically asked with a smile, "Mr. Jiu Feng thinks it's a bit outrageous for the yamen to ask someone to borrow money."
"Well, this is a bit, a bit embarrassing." Zhu Zaiyu couldn't find any suitable words for the moment, so he could only make do with "a bit embarrassing."
Gao Pragmatic shook his head and said, "Actually, individuals lending money to yamen has existed since ancient times."
Zhu Zaiyu was surprised and said, "Is there any example?"
"Of course." Gao Pragmatic smiled and said, "For example, it was recorded in the book that in the third year of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, in order to quell the rebellion of the princes, a large amount of money was needed. The leading generals of the Han Dynasty had to borrow money from merchants, and they borrowed money at usury. However, , many businessmen refused to lend money because they were worried about whether the massive rebellion could be quelled."
Gao pragmatic paused and blinked, "However, there was a Wuyan clan who was willing to lend money to the court. However, this person asked for a very harsh price. He wanted ten times the interest. In order to quell the rebellion, the Han court had to borrow money in the end. With this money, three months later, the Wu-Chu Rebellion was put down. The Wuyan family recovered the principal and interest as scheduled, becoming a wealthy man in Chang'an. As a result, lending even became the main way for the families of high-ranking officials in the Western Han Dynasty to obtain wealth. one."
When he said this, Zhu Zaiyu immediately understood and said, "This is the Ziqian family of the Han Dynasty. If you say so, there have been such people in all dynasties. For example, in the Song Dynasty, there was money and money, and there was lamb profit in the Yuan Dynasty. Guan Hanqingli said The cadres of the Qian family are mischievous and idle, and they buy the emptied ones to see what they can get from the lamb. Zhao Yi also has a poem saying that it is like a poor person paying off old debts, the lamb profit is more than the capital."
Gao pragmatically nodded, "Yes, it's somewhat similar."
Zhu Zaiyu said anxiously, "But this dynasty does not allow it. Our dynasty has expressly stipulated that for private lending of money, debts and pawned objects, the monthly interest cannot exceed three-thirds. Although there are many years and months, it is only one profit per dollar. Violators, Forty floggings are used to judge the viscera based on the remaining profits, and those who are more serious will be judged by the viscera.”
Gao pragmatic smiled, "So what the student just said is somewhat similar, not the same." He held out three fingers, "If you lend money to this person in the government, you will only receive three cents of interest, or even less, maybe even less." After all, it’s not illegal, right?”
"Uh" Zhu Zaiyu was stunned for a moment and said hesitantly, "This shouldn't be illegal." But he thought of a big problem again and opened his eyes wide and said, "But we are talking about major water conservancy repairs. This requires a lot of money." It's not a small number. The money that the Wuyan family lent to the Han Dynasty court was only a mere thousand gold. But when building water conservancy in Huguang, where a thousand gold can't buy it, ten thousand gold can't stop it. Maybe it even costs 10,000 gold. Who is willing to borrow such a large amount of money for 100,000 gold, and who can borrow such a large amount of money?"
"Mr. Jiu Feng, that's a good question." Gao Pragmatic laughed. "It's just that Xinzheng Gao is pragmatic and not talented. He is willing to borrow this money, and he can borrow it."
