Capital, Shangshu Gaofu, Rixin Building.
This building, nicknamed the "seven-level pagoda" by the people, has a distinguished guest today. This distinguished guest did not visit each level, but went directly to the top floor accompanied by Gao Pragmatic.
The top floor of Rixin Building has a separate name, "Tianhanxuan". As the name suggests, this is the place where "Tianhan", the emperor's calligraphy treasure, is stored.
Zhu Yijun, a master of calligraphy, was famous for giving calligraphy treasures to his ministers. Among them, he was especially pragmatic and received the most gifts. He was given a lot of large and small calligraphy, calligraphy and statement, which almost filled the "Tianhan Pavilion".
Seeing that his calligraphy treasures were well preserved, Zhu Yijun felt extremely comfortable. He greeted Gao Pragmatic with a smile and walked with him to the hanging railing to climb up and look far into the distance.
Zhu Yijun came here today to see the Rixin Building and Tianhanxuan. His real intention was to cover up the Queen's secret medical treatment.
Queen Wang has not been pregnant since she gave birth to her eldest daughter. This incident has led to a series of variables. The biggest trouble is the dispute over the country. Gao Pragmatic was unwilling to choose Zhu Changluo or Zhu Changxun, so he always suggested that Queen Wang leave the palace quietly and let Li Shizhen check her pulse personally.
The emperor himself agreed very much with this, but it was extremely rare for a queen to leave the palace in the Ming Dynasty. In addition to accompanying the emperor to Tianshou Mountain to pay homage to previous emperors, even if there were one or two cases, they would just go home to visit relatives, and how could they go to the mansions of ministers? The truth?
If word of this gets out, no matter what the queen is doing, and no matter how many people are present at the time, it is almost certain that this minister will be sprayed with blood by the officials, and maybe even the queen herself. Unavoidable.
Zhu Yijun discussed this with Gao Pragmatic many times, hoping to find an opportunity to perfectly hide the Queen's whereabouts.
In fact, it was not difficult for Gao Pangshi to just quietly take the queen out for medical treatment. The dilemma for him lay in two points: first, the queen had a distinguished status, and he, the master, had to be absent when she came to Gao Mansion; second, the queen, after all, She is a young woman, he is pragmatic and not an old minister. If the emperor does not come with him, then he, Situ Gao, must avoid suspicion.
It’s very annoying to ask him to be present and not present at the same time. Therefore, Gao pragmatically made up his mind long ago that this matter must be arranged so that the emperor travels and the queen follows quietly, so as to get the best of both worlds.
However, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was no better than the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Traveling freely was almost a luxury. Unless Zhu Yijun was willing to have his reputation become as bad as Wu Zong, it would be difficult for him to find any suitable reason to slip out.
In particular, the Ming Dynasty also had a strange tradition inherited from the Han Dynasty. Generally speaking, the emperor did not go to the homes of important ministers. He usually only visited the homes of important ministers once, and there was only one situation in which he would go: the old minister was about to leave Hexi. , the emperor went to see him for the last time to show his honor.
[Note: When Xu Jie's reverse arch was about to be successful, Gao Gong claimed that he was seriously ill and asked to resign. This was the reason why Long Qing did not visit him in person at that time. Because Gao Gong only said that he was seriously ill, and the Director of Ceremonies did not say that he was about to die of illness, so the emperor could not go casually, otherwise he would be suspected of forcing the emperor's master to death - when the emperor went to visit, the default was that you were going to die soon, you If this doesn't die, everyone will be embarrassed. 】
However, Zhu Yijun has set a precedent in this matter. He has visited Gao Pangshi's house more than once. Fortunately, everyone knows about their relationship, which is really a rare situation in history.
In addition, Gao Jingshi, an important minister, is quite special - he is too young, unlike other ministers who are all elderly gentlemen. Therefore, the emperor left as he left. He could not be too pragmatic and therefore committed suicide to express his gratitude.
In this case, Gao Pragmatic must find a suitable reason for the emperor to come to his house. This reason is not easy to find. After all, the last time the emperor came openly was because he was getting married to someone else. This kind of thing only happens once in life.
However, the completion of the Nixin Building can be used, because the Nixin Building itself has special significance. It is not only the reason for Gao Pragmatic's nickname, but also the first tall building in the capital. This tall building is even suspected of "overlooking the harem".
In this case, it makes sense for the emperor to go and see it in person, and it can even be understood as a sign of scrutiny by the outside world. In addition, the Rixin Building adopted a new construction method, which may be used for the renovation of the three main halls in the future. This method can also be used by the emperor to find a reasonable footnote for his departure from the palace.
Therefore, today the emperor and the empress came both brightly and secretly, and the empress was even accompanied by Princess Yongning when she came to see a doctor.
Of course, Gao pragmatically and Zhu Yijun would not be with them. Gao pragmatically wanted to take this opportunity to talk to the emperor about the "Ming Fed".
After Zhu Yijun listened to his description of the Ming Dynasty Federal Reserve, he thought for a while and suddenly frowned: "In other words, the key to this Ming Dynasty Federal Reserve is that it must be able to decide the number of treasure banknotes it issues? Then I have to ask... Who controls it?"
This question is very "Emperor", but Gao Pragmatic has already predicted it and replied: "It is an independent institution and should operate on its own. No one or yamen directly manages it. However, Your Majesty, management is actually divided into two levels. One is daily Operation is what I said is the part that no one is in charge of; the second is supervision, this level cannot be left to itself."
Zhu Yijun's face relaxed a little, and he nodded slightly: "This is your usual style, so tell me, who is responsible for this supervision? Let me remind you first, don't say that it is you who supervises.
It's not that I don't believe you, but according to what you just said, the Federal Reserve will definitely set this as a permanent precedent. In that case, how long can you supervise? Ten or twenty years, or thirty or forty years? You can't live forever, can you? "
"The emperor has turned evil into a minister." Gao Xiang certainly didn't dare to respond to the word "Wanshou Wujiang", so he immediately replied: "In fact, what I mean is that the main investors will jointly form a board of supervisors responsible for supervising the daily operations of the Federal Reserve Bank of China."
"Who are the investors?" Zhu Yijun frowned slightly.
Gao pragmatic smiled and replied: "I am about to ask the emperor to take the lead."
Zhu Yijun was stunned: "What do you mean, I'm taking the lead...you mean I also contribute money?"
"That's natural." Gao Pragmatic said calmly: "The Ming Fed can issue 'treasure notes' on its own. What kind of power is this? If the emperor is not involved, how can the ministers do what they want? What's more, the reason why the Ming Fed's treasure notes can ensure The key to the stability of the face value is that the people can pay various taxes. Taxes are a major national affairs, and since they are major national affairs, how can it be without the participation of the Heavenly Family?"
Zhu Yijun's face relaxed again, obviously very satisfied with Gao's pragmatic attitude, but he quickly frowned and asked: "Then how much money should I put in? Oh, by the way, how much do you put in?"
Gao Pangshi pretended to be a little distressed and said: "I asked the children at home to do some calculations. They can get ten million taels of silver by selling iron... Even if there is a shortage elsewhere, they can't care about it at the moment."
Although Gao Pragmatic's words were not true, Zhu Yijun was shocked when he heard that he directly took out 10 million taels of cash as a reserve: "You...you actually have so much cash?"
Gao pragmatic smiled bitterly and said: "I planned it in advance and then made it up from various places. Besides, I have been wearing the hat of a golden master for more than ten years. If I can't get this little money, then what will happen?" It’s a name worthy of its name.”
There is some truth to this. Zhu Yijun calmed down and accepted this statement. But he quickly grimaced and said in embarrassment: "Then...how much should I pay here?"
Gao Pragmatic was very rude and said directly: "In my opinion, it is best for the emperor to take as much as he has internal funds."
"Ah, this..." Zhu Yijun was stunned: "It's all posted, what should the palace do?"
Gao Pragmatic seemed to be very surprised, and said with a surprised look on his face: "The palace is using the Ming Dynasty Federal Reserve banknotes. Your Majesty, didn't I just say that this banknote is not that banknote, and the denomination is written as one or two ku If it's flat silver, it's worth one or two ku flat silver, and it won't be discounted.
The money put into the Federal Reserve Bank of China from the internal funds is only converted into treasure notes for use. The money itself will not disappear - at most, it is just transferred from the internal funds bank to the bank bank of the Federal Reserve Bank of China. "
"Oh..." Zhu Yijun felt relieved, thought for a while, and then asked: "Then how much do you plan to raise this time?"
"At least 20 million, preferably 30 million." Gao pragmatically replied.
"Why this amount?" Zhu Yijun asked: "I mean, is this money enough?"
"According to the economic scale of our Ming Dynasty, it is definitely not enough, or even far from enough. But the road has to be walked step by step, and the food has to be eaten one bite at a time. Our main task at the moment is to lay a foundation, establish rules, and put down the roots first. Here, it’s not too late to grow slowly in the future. If you are greedy for the big and seek perfection from the beginning, do you really have to spend all your money to do it? "
"Now that the two to thirty million dollars are put together, what problems do you think can be solved?" Zhu Yijun asked again.
Gao Pragmatic replied: "It's not about solving specific problems. The key now is to establish systems and cultivate habits. If we have to talk about solving specific problems, then let's use an analogy: This time we can raise 30 million. These 30 million If the reserve is placed here, even if I am more cautious, I can issue at least 40 million treasure banknotes and ensure the stability of the currency value of these treasure banknotes..."
"What if people don't believe it and come to you to exchange the treasure notes for cash?" Zhu Yijun still seemed worried.
Gao pragmatically said calmly: "Then give it to them as much as they come."
Zhu Yijun said in surprise: "Then aren't all the 30 million we have on hand gone? And you gave 40 million, and that's not enough to redeem it!"
Gao pragmatic smiled and said: "How is it possible for everyone to go out? How much of the 40 million do we hold for ourselves? Jinghua alone accounts for 10 million. As long as Jinghua does not redeem it, I can redeem it for them as much as I come. ? Besides... Your Majesty, do you also want to tear down the minister?"
"Of course I won't..." Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said, "But what's the point of doing this? The city gate is standing tall?"
"Your Majesty is wise, the purpose of doing this is to erect the city gate." Gao Yingshi suddenly became serious: "As long as we survive this primitive period, everyone who comes to cash in silver will be cashed to them. Over time, everyone will They will believe that no matter how much treasure money they have in their hands, they can withdraw cash from the Federal Reserve Bank of China at any time, and then the status of the treasure money will be stable."
Zhu Yijun digested Gao Pragmatic's words for a while, and then asked slowly: "I guess... you will expand the reserve fund in the future and issue more treasure notes at the same time. Is that what you mean?"
Gao Pragmatic nodded and said, "That's natural."
Zhu Yijun was surprised and said: "But where will the reserves that will be filled in in the future come from? If the Federal Reserve itself does not have the ability to make profits, how can you, Jinghua, just keep pouring money into it?"
Even if you have the Midas touch, it's not cost-effective to do so, right? Don't talk about investing in it all the time. Even if you don't invest in it now, even if you don't invest it, how many things can be done, how many factories can be built, how many mines can be opened! "
Gao Pingshi smiled and said: "If you put it this way, you will definitely lose money at the beginning. But it is like if I want to do maritime trade. At the beginning, I will definitely have to build ships, recruit sailors, captains, and equip these ships. Artillery and guns to prevent pirates... But these investments cannot be said to have been a loss, they are just necessary investments.
The same goes for the reserves of the Federal Reserve Bank of the Ming Dynasty. I invested so much money in it just to establish the credibility of the banknotes. As long as the credit is solid and the over-issuance starts according to the actual situation of the private economy, then every one or two over-issuance is actually equivalent to the Federal Reserve making one or two taels. How can this be a loss? "
Gao Pragmatic will definitely not talk to Zhu Yijun here about the economic crisis, such as a large-scale nationwide run due to some reasons. Zhu Yijun obviously did not expect this, because the premise of Gao Pragmatic's words just now is that the Ming Dynasty Federal Reserve banknotes have already Credit is established.
He thought for a while and accepted Gao's pragmatic statement, but then thought of another question: "But in this case, as long as the credit of Baochao is established, why should we continue to invest money in it and continue to increase the total reserve fund?"
Gao pragmatic smiled and explained: "This is a question of development level. Because sometimes, even if the credit of the treasure banknotes is established, we cannot think that no one will exchange the silver. No matter those people are out of Why do you need cash? But there will definitely be some.
In this case, as the Federal Reserve gradually spreads across the country, we must have more money... To put it simply, a relatively safe ratio must be maintained between the reserves and the actual issuance of banknotes.
Treasure notes must be issued in excess, but the degree of over-issuance must be controlled. This control must have a standard as a rule, which must not be violated at any time. The board of supervisors must always supervise whether this principle is properly implemented. "
Zhu Yijun gradually understood and nodded: "In other words, if you invest five million taels of internal funds first, then you will actually have six to seven million taels. Although this money is precious money, it is guaranteed to be useful. And In the future, as the Federal Reserve expands, internal funds can continue to be invested, and these investments can also expand...and expand together with the over-issuance ratio, right?"
Gao Pragmatic nodded and said: "Yes, this is an early way to make money."
Zhu Yijun nodded slowly, thought for a while, gritted his teeth and said: "Well, you dare to sell iron, and I, as the emperor, have nothing to dare to do. Although the internal funds are not rich, I have made up my mind, so I will take five million Take two out and put them in the Ming Fed for you to operate!"
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