Five miles southwest of Xiangyang City, there is Hutou Mountain. The mountain is not very high, the slope is gentle, and it is not noticeable. There is a pen-washing pool on the top of the mountain. It is said that Emperor Zhaolie of the Han Dynasty once washed pens here. A few years ago, the Jin army attacked, killed and looted here, and the people fled. After Wang Xiaolie took possession of Xiangyang, he set aside a five-mile radius as a manor controlled by the government.
One day in mid-May, Wang Xiaolie summoned his officials and came to the foot of Hutou Mountain. Entering the garden, we reached halfway up the mountain. A small waterfall came down from the mountain and fell into the pool below, splashing water. There is a row of houses beside the pool, hidden among the flowers and trees. The peach blossoms around have withered long ago, but the peaches are still green. There are several pomegranate plants nearby, and their flowers are in full bloom.
Arriving in front of the house, Wang Xiaolian said: "Xiangyang is located between the north and the south. It is neither cold nor hot. Whether it is trees from the south or trees from the north, they all grow well here. The year before last, this area was set aside to plant trees and flowers from all over the country. . Now that we have achieved some results, and the scenery here is beautiful, you all can come and stay here for a few days. Take a look at the scenery, and discuss the next political affairs."
As he spoke, he entered the hall. Everyone sat down one after another, and the soldiers served tea.
Invited tea. Wang Xiaolie said: "Xiangyang connects the north and the south and has convenient transportation. Many officials and people from the north and the south live here. When I went to Lumen Mountain last month, I happened to meet two former calligraphy and painting institutes who were waiting for the imperial edict. They were busy for half a day. After many months, I worked with the engraver to make the Huizi copper plate. I think it is very fine and can almost be engraved."
After saying that, the soldiers took a few stacks of printed huizi and distributed them to everyone.
Wang Xiaolie said: "Everyone, take a look, how does the newly printed Huizi look? Are there any changes that need to be made?"
All the officials took the Huizi in their hands and watched it carefully. I saw that Huizi was covered with cloud patterns, with Lumen Mountain printed on one side and Zhaoming Terrace printed on the other. The four seal characters "Xiangyang Huizi" are written in the middle of the head, and different amounts of money are painted below. Under the Huizi, there are writings of ten, twenty and fifty articles.
Zeng Dun said: "There have been several kinds of Jiaozi, Huizi, and Qianyin printed in the world. Although the shapes are different, there is no one like this. The general Huizi is printed vertically, but this one is horizontal. But this Huizi is printed horizontally. Beautifully printed, nothing else compares.”
Wang Xiaolie said: "Printing it horizontally makes it easier for people to spend it. Moreover, it is convenient for typesetting and printing."
Cai Anqiang, a member of the judicial army in Xiangyang, said: "The printing of Huizi is not cheap, and the amount will not be too small. But this Huizi has a maximum of fifty coins, and the denomination is a bit small. If it is popular, the people will not want to use copper coins."
Wang Xiaolie said: "The copper coins are too heavy and are inconvenient to use. People can use Huizi to store the copper coins in the bank, which is a good thing for the court and the people. Only when the bank has enough copper coins can it guarantee exchange at any time."
For a while, there was a lot of discussion. Most people's opinions are that they don't like this situation and find all kinds of faults. Wang Xiaolie answered them patiently, but he was not impatient.
After it gradually calmed down, Wang Xiaolie said: "I invite you all to come today for two major things. One is to issue Huizi, which involves many things. The other is that with Huizi, the people will not be too short of money, and there are many things to do. Issuing huizi is not a simple matter. If you issue too much, it will depreciate quickly, which is equivalent to officials robbing people's wealth, and the people will suffer. If you issue less, it will still be inconvenient for the people to lack money. I decided that in the future, huizi will The printing is handled by a special Yamen official, and Yang Shen is tentatively in charge of this matter. The number of Huizi's printings is determined by the Zhiji Department, and Yang Shen organizes the printing. After printing, it is deposited as a deposit of the Yamen. Bank. When each yamen needs money, it will withdraw the money according to the amount set by the Procurement Department. If there is no deposit, it can only borrow money from the bank. Deposits have interest, and loans have to pay interest to the bank. Everyone remember."
Chen Qiudao couldn't help but frown after hearing this: "It's too complicated to do this. All the money is taken from the bank, does the bank count as a yamen?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "Banks are not considered yamen, but are set up by the Department of Production and Construction and run by themselves. In addition to the printed huizi, the source of their money is also the money deposited by yamen and ordinary people, and the interest collected on loans. Money. Of course, the bank is run by the Department of Construction, which is half a government office."
Chen Qiudao shook his head, feeling that this was too troublesome. Now is the time of war. How much money does the government spend? If this is the case, it will be too troublesome to withdraw money from the bank. And once you have no money, you have to take out a loan, and repaying the interest will put a lot of pressure on the yamen.
The officials below discussed this and felt the same way. As officials, we are all used to giving orders. Who cares where the money comes from? If you have it in the treasury, you can withdraw it directly from the treasury. If there is no money in the library, taxes will be increased and taxes will be levied on the people. For some minor matters, the officials would pay for them themselves. Now when withdrawing money from the bank, you have to always think about how much money you have in deposit. The procedures are really complicated.
Wang Xiaolie said: "There is no room for negotiation on this matter. To be an official, that is, to run a place, of course you need to know how much money you have, how many things you have to do, and how much money you need to spend to get it done. All future officials must have this ability."
This is the basis for financial standardization, and Wang Xiaolie certainly cannot give in. After this step is completed, the budget and final accounts can be made later, and officials can be rewarded and punished according to the financial situation. Unlike before, the assessments were all lumped together.
Everyone discussed for a while. Wang Xiaolie said: "I have thought about it again and again, and the number of banks cannot be too small. My initial thinking is that there should be at least three. One is mainly for business, one is mainly for agriculture, and the other is mainly for postal transportation. Think about it. Don’t think enough.”
Who could have thought of this all at once? After hearing Wang Xiaolie's words, they looked at each other.
Wang Xiaolie waved his hand: "That's all, we have to stay here for a few days. You can discuss this later. In short, in the future, Huizi will be spread from the banks to the people, and then collected and recovered by the banks. As for deposit interest and loans The interest will be discussed in detail later. From now on, the money on Jingnan Road will be distributed around the bank, which is different from before. Both the yamen and the private sector must abide by this."
Why do this? To be honest, Wang Xiaolie couldn't explain it at the moment. He just made this decision based on the memory of his previous life and his own understanding. How could the truth behind it be explained clearly at once? This matter is not urgent. As long as it runs smoothly and is done successfully, there will naturally be smart people in the world who will come up with this idea and make sense. Over time, a complete theory will be formed.
The core of this is that banks cannot print their own currency, but must be subject to official control. Each yamen cannot control the bank, and cannot withdraw as much money as they want from the bank, but must make their own budget. The connecting point between the two is their own system. Through this system, the economic power under the rule is firmly controlled. If you control the financial power, you also control most of the power.
This was a practice that the officials had never heard of before. They said anything, and the hall was noisy for a while. For many people, they no longer know how to do things in the future.
Everyone discussed it for a while. Wang Xiaolie said: "Another thing, when the people have money, the government will have to consider how to develop -"
Chen Qiudao said: "The money is in the bank. Whether it is the government or the private sector, how come there is money?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "Banks are different from wealthy households. They have no use for saving money, but they have to find ways to lend it out. As long as they can make more money, they can borrow money from banks. Of course, if they can lend money, the private sector can When you have money. Speaking of which, everyone knows this truth. Just like rich households, if they have more money, they will also find ways to open a treasury and lend money to the private sector. The principle is the same, but who will lend it? The interest rate is just different. Banks not only want to make money, but also support local development."
Chen Qiudao looked at the other officials and shook his head helplessly: "Observation, to be honest, this is a bit hard to understand."
Wang Xiaolie said: "It's actually not complicated. Just like Xiangyang and Dengzhou, the climate is suitable for growing rice, and the harvest of rice is greater than that of wheat. If you want to grow rice, you need water. Where does the water come from? You need to build a pond. , digging canals. In the past, this kind of thing was organized by the government and private people paid for it. It doesn’t have to be like this in the future. You can borrow money from the bank to build it, as long as you pay it back with interest in the future.”
Chen Qiudao thought for a while and nodded silently. When Zongze was guarding Kaifeng Mansion, Chen Qiudao was the envoy of Dushui, and he was very effective in controlling the Bianhe River. I can't figure out other things, but I can figure out how to control water. As long as there is money in hand, there will be no shortage of workers and many water conservancy projects can be started. The government guarantees that the money spent on water control will be recovered soon. Once the money is recovered, it can be returned to the bank with interest and other projects can be built.
Wang Xiaolie said: "This is not just about building water conservancy, but also many things among the people. With a bank, many things can be done."
