The headquarters of Daming Bank is located on the west side of Shibanqiao in Jinling Zhongcheng, covering an area of four acres and renovated from a courtyard.
The courtyard wall is high and the gate is red.
Because it was a bank set up by the imperial court, there were no shopkeepers, accountants, or clerks, but chiefs, directors, and officials.
The person in charge is the bank's palm and is responsible for coordinating all the bank's affairs.
The Secretary will be the accountant, in charge of money coming and going, and responsible for accounting books.
Officials are office workers who are in charge of specific business and are responsible for accepting exchanges, loans, etc.
The first director of the bank headquarters was Xiao Yi, elected by the Ministry of Accounts. Hearing that an official from the Baochao Collection Department was coming to inspect, he brought someone to greet him. After Fei Ju, Zeng Tong, Gu Zhengchen and others arrived, they quickly saluted with a respectful attitude.
The bank originally only needed to be responsible to the Ministry of Accounts, Zhongshu and the emperor, and did not need to care about the attitude of the banknote raising department. It was only the establishment of the Ming Dynasty bank, operation regulations, treasury design, and business process arrangements that the banknote raising department was deeply involved in. Participated in it, so much so that the emperor issued a decree and ordered Baochaoji to supervise the Daming Bank.
The Account Department is responsible for the appointment and dismissal of bank personnel, auditing accounts, and dispatching of money and banknotes, etc. The Bank's Banking Department is responsible for supervision, which is similar to the "Yu Shitai" specifically for banks, and is responsible for finding faults with people.
Although Xiao Yi didn't know why the people who printed the banknotes were supervising the bank, he had to say that the regulations they set up were very specific, down to the specific figures, and clarified how to write account books, how to deposit cashier's money, and how to Exchange treasure banknotes, including guarantees, mortgages, etc. issued by various types of bills.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Fei Zhen with admiration. He implemented some of the ideas he proposed one by one.
According to Zhu Biao, in order to ensure a fast process, Fei Zhen made a special trip to Jurong to learn how to disassemble the process and connect it with high efficiency, and arranged for people to simulate the entire process of bank operations, and then arranged the corresponding areas.
In order to ensure safety while also taking into account the convenience of deposit, withdrawal and exchange, Fei Zhen chose to build a straight corridor instead of the winding scenery, and purchased a batch of Jurong carts specifically for the transfer of money and treasure notes.
Treasury No. 1 is built underground at the end of the corridor. There are no steps between the underground and the ground, only ramps are built on both sides. There is a winch on the ground and a hook at one end of the rope. If you want to withdraw large amounts of money and treasure notes from it, you need to hook the cash box inside and then use the winch to pull it out. To the east of the underground vault is the No. 2 vault, which stores the daily currency banknotes, gold and silver. Every two thousand banknotes need to be transferred to the No. 1 vault for storage.
After Xiao Yi introduced it, he said quite proudly: "The bank is safe enough. There are two keys inside and outside. Only during the day will the two keys appear in the bank at the same time. Without these two keys, no one can break it. Open the cash box. The cash box is made of pure iron and the lock is hidden inside..."
Gu Zhengchen smiled and said, "I actually let you do it."
Built-in locks were rare in ancient times. The locks were often hung directly outside. This thing would break with a hammer if it was stronger. It was really unsafe. However, if the lock is hidden inside the cabinet, it cannot be broken directly and forcefully. To dismantle it, you can only use the key to unlock it. The lock here adopts a three-column lock, which is more complicated than the one-column lock outside. Even if you are proficient in lock picking skills, you cannot open it in a short time.
I don’t know who is evil, but there are only two locks, but there are eight keyholes, euphemistically called the "enchantment array." If someone comes to open the lock, it will really take a while...
There is no big problem with the operation of the Ming Dynasty Bank. After all, the money bank has been around for thousands of years and has rich experience.
But when Gu Zhengchen looked through the bank's account books, his brows furrowed.
Fei Zhen noticed something and asked, "Is there anything wrong with this account book?"
Gu Zhengchen thought for a while, shook his head and said: "There is nothing wrong so far, but maybe it should be improved. Let me think about it carefully before talking about it."
Fei Zhen did not ask further questions.
On this day, after observing the Baochao Office and Daming Bank, Gu Zhengchen put forward some opinions. Fei Zhen ordered people to write them down one by one, and arranged for people to rectify them.
On the way back, Fei Zhen said quite openly: "I am really relieved that Gu County man can return to Jinling this time. The circulation of treasures all over the world is a state matter, and the court is paying attention, and His Majesty is watching. Because gold and silver cannot be restrained. Circulation allows money, gold and silver to circulate in the world side by side. Treasure money is likely to be unable to open up the situation in a short period of time. I am worried that your majesty will punish you, so I request an order to recall you..."
Gu Zhengchen understood Fei Zhen.
This year I was not in Jinling, but many officials in the court were convicted. The Minister of Rites was demoted by one, and Yan Xizhe, the Minister of Household Affairs, was sent to Shanxi to participate in politics because of something. He was far away from the court, and the Ministry of Punishment was dealt with. There are more, eight ministers up and down, and now only one is left...
Fei Zhen was worried that Zhu Yuanzhang would question him, not because he couldn't do these things well, but because he was worried that Zhu Yuanzhang wouldn't be able to give him too long to open up the situation bit by bit. Zhu Yuanzhang has a relatively impatient temper. He hopes that many things will work in a short time. If not, he thinks there is something wrong with the officials.
There were quite a few local officials dealt with in the seven years of Hongwu. There had not yet been any cases of empty seals. There had already been collective reclamation of wasteland by officials in Fengyang land. Lao Zhu also made a special decree:
As long as they are not officials with capital crimes, they will go to their hometown (Fengyang) to farm.
Later, another decree was added:
Officials who have performed well in farming and are educated and know how to govern the local area are re-activated.
Zhu Yuanzhang has become bloodthirsty. If nothing unexpected happens, he will first kill Liao Yongzhong, and then kick off the massacre of the founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty. Next year, he will cause the first bloody case in the Hongwu Dynasty due to the empty seal case!
Fei Zhen was in Jinling, and he could feel the dragon's power at the emperor's feet.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Fei Zhen and said with a smile: "Bao Chao is based on the long term and does not strive for one-day achievements. I will write a memorial and hand it to Your Majesty, making it clear that the implementation of Bao Chao should not be rushed."
"Thank you!"
Fei Zhen saluted solemnly.
After Gu Zhengchen said goodbye to Fei Zhen, he looked at the sun setting to the west and asked Xiao Cheng: "At this hour, it's time for the Ministry of Household Affairs to disperse the Yamen, right?"
Xiao Cheng nodded: "Absolutely."
"Let's go to the household department."
Gu Zhengchen changed direction.
Yu Pu and Ma Gui, the Ministers of the Ministry of Revenue, were discussing the matter of the Yellow River bursting its banks in Kaifeng Prefecture. They were very anxious and frowned when they heard that Gu Zhengchen was coming. This guy is really brave. Did he know that there were letters of impeachment against him in the imperial court one after another, no fewer than twelve letters just today, but he actually dared to show up openly and come to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Ma Gui arranged for someone to invite him, and then said to Yu Pu: "He was invited by Fei Tiju. I heard that the emperor asked him to assist Fei Tiju in completing preparations for the issuance of treasure banknotes. He came here probably because the Ministry of Revenue advocated a ban on the circulation of gold and silver. Come."
Yu Pu shook his head bitterly: "No matter what he says, we always need to have an adequate attitude. Your Majesty has been acting too casually recently, punishing officials frequently for small mistakes. If we don't persist to the end, the treasure money will not be circulated in the future, and the people and businessmen will not use it. , Your Majesty has lost face, and if you don’t tell us, we might even lose our lives.”
Ma Gui sighed, it's really hard to say in today's court, the salary is low, and it's easy to lose one's official position and lose one's life.
Gu Zhengchen walked into the lobby of the Ministry of Household Affairs. As soon as he passed the threshold, he raised his hands and said: "Yu Shangshu, Ma Shangshu, you are polite."
Yu Pu and Ma Gui stood up and saluted: "I have seen the Gu County man."
Greetings and tea.
Gu Zhengchen sat down and picked up the tea bowl: "Two ministers, Gu will not stay in Jinling for long before returning to Quanzhou, so he boldly spoke out. Please forgive me for any offence."
Yu Pu and Ma Gui looked at each other and said it was okay.
Gu Zhengchen took a sip of tea and put down the tea bowl: "The first thing is that the Ministry of Household Affairs advocates banning gold and silver to pave the way for the circulation of treasure banknotes. This idea is right, but it is not realistic. Once the imperial court bans gold and silver transactions, then What should we do with the gold and silver in the hands of the gentry, rich merchants, rich peasants, etc.? They will exchange it for copper coins in a very short period of time!"
"If there is a run on copper coins, the 20 million copper coins minted by the imperial court will not be enough. By then, copper coins will be popular and their value will be much higher than that of treasure banknotes, which in turn will hinder the circulation of treasure banknotes. To sum up, banning gold Yin’s claim can be put to rest now.”
Yu Pu shook his head: "Mr. Gu County is right, but if gold and silver cannot be banned, how can we pave the way for treasure banknotes to circulate all over the world? Is it possible that Your Majesty will have to wait five or ten years before you can see treasure banknotes circulate among the people?"
This is very straightforward. If the issuance of treasure banknotes takes five or ten years to show initial results, are you sure the emperor will not send us away within one year?
Gu Zhengchen couldn't guarantee anything to them, so he replied: "I will write a letter to Your Majesty and ask Your Majesty to see the effect of the currency notes after five years. What do you two ministers mean?"
When Yu Pu and Ma Gui saw Gu Zhengchen talking about this, they had no choice but to nod.
Ma Gui also did not forget to shirk responsibility: "Most of the issuance of treasure banknotes is done by your banknote promotion department, and the Ministry of Accounts actually does not contribute much. Since your banknote promotion department strongly advocates gold, silver and copper The banknotes are running parallel, so it’s hard for the Ministry of Finance to say anything.”
Gu Zhengchen looked at these two old foxes and didn't want to take any responsibility.
Yu Pu thought for a while and asked: "Since you said this is the first thing, I guess there is a second thing."
Gu Zhengchen nodded, stood up and said, "I heard that a few people in the Ministry of Household Affairs impeached me, and Shangshu Ma seconded the motion during the court meeting."
Ma Gui looked a little embarrassed, and then smiled and said: "We are just giving advice to the court. Since Mr. Gu County is here, Ma would like to ask, why do you dare to risk the world's disapproval and go overseas to do business?"
Gu Zhengchen chuckled and walked towards Ma Gui: "Why? It's not because of you!"
"us?"
Ma Gui and Yu Pu looked at each other in confusion. You committed the crime for our own good. What’s the logic?
Gu Zhengchen came to the table, took out a copper coin and slapped it on the table: "This is the reason for going overseas for trade, but in the final analysis, it is for you."
Ma Gui frowned: "Gu County man, please explain clearly."
Gu Zhengchen picked up the copper coin, turned it between his fingers, and said in a deep voice: "Two ministers, you should know that there is Yanglian Silver in Jurong County, and there are also Yanglian Silver in the seven counties of Quanzhou. Haven't you ever thought that one day you will be the same? Can you collect the money for raising money openly? Gu risked his head for this reason!"
