Zhu Yijun listened to the speeches of Liang Menglong and others, and the cabinet ministers in the Political Affairs Hall felt quite satisfied with this. Wang Guoguang, Zhang Juzheng and other senior officials from the Political Affairs Hall have had long-term contact with Zhu Yijun and have a relatively deep grasp of the economic principles he often expounds, such as the nature of currency, market regulation, productivity, investment, fiscal and taxation regulation, etc. They also have a relatively systematic understanding of it. Therefore, It is not surprising that Wang Guoguang can keenly discover the problems existing in Linqing, Hangzhou and other cities and propose solutions.
But Liang Menglong and Luo Wanhua were able to come up with innovative ideas soon after they entered the political hall. One was because they had great vision, and the other was really capable - at least better than Zhang Siwei. Although the chief minister of the cabinet is obedient and easy to use, his mind, structure, and ability are not the slightest bit inferior to Zhang Juzheng. Zhu Yijun is also helpless about this.
Seeing that everyone was talking about the same thing, Zhu Yijun concluded: "The so-called autumn can be known from one leaf. This is what I call it. Before, my energy was limited, and I focused more on studying things, but I had no time to take care of the economy. Now in today's world , there are not many people who study this way deeply."
This is too narcissistic to say. Although Zhu Yijun has been shocked by courtiers for writing "Three Treatises", philosophical thoughts are certainly related to governing the country, but the liberal arts and science tycoons here are not ordinary people, and they are all immersed in it. The way of governing a country has been passed down through the years.
At this time, the ministers of Wenhua Palace had at least completed their research on "Guanzi" and "Shihuozhi". As for economic works such as Sang Hongyang's "Pingzhun" and "All Loss", Xunzi's "Fu Guo", Li Gou's "Fu Guo Policy" and other economic works, most of them have also dabbled in it, and they also have relatively pragmatic thoughts on the so-called "discrimination between justice and benefit". ——If you still don’t understand this clearly, you won’t be able to reach a high position in the imperial court.
In the face of the emperor's boasting, even if the ministers don't flatter him, they can at least remain silent. Only Wang Guoguang had a deeper understanding of Zhu Yijun. He was so impressed by the royal family reform that he felt from the bottom of his heart that the emperor was not bragging.
Zhu Yijun continued: "Now the Hanlin in the Hanlin Academy has really become a 'ci minister'! If there are many talented people in the imperial court, if there is someone who can shed light on the economy and write the "Ping Bian Fa" like Li Kui, it is a special purpose What’s the point of ordering him to be a member of the Imperial Academy? Well, the guidance of the imperial court is very important. Mr. Fengpan, the Political Affairs Hall has to issue regulations on this matter and handle it well."
Zhang Siwei saw that the emperor had been talking about this topic for a long time and did not return to the matter of private banks. Instead, he talked about the incompetence of the Hanlin Academy. He said in his heart that you don't like the Hanlin Academy. It is known to the world that we have no objection to recruiting talents. Why bother stepping on them again? With this thought in mind, he bowed his head and carried out the mission.
Shen Shixing, who had been silent in the audience, bowed slightly in his seat and said: "Your Majesty, all the Hanlin Academy candidates are outstanding in their subjects. Since Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty established this position, all the Hanlin Academy in the past 800 years have been serving as a talent reserve for the imperial court. All the talented people in the world are proud of Dian Hanlin, considering it to be the most noble and the most noble one.
"Although His Majesty has disliked the fact that some of the Imperial Academy have written poems and essays in recent years, and have been obsessed with rhetoric, and even have some political styles that are not practical, the Imperial Academy has also done some practical things such as formulating imperial edicts, compiling national history, and giving lectures on classics and banquets. If there is a special purpose to select ministers who have not passed the imperial examination - the minister is afraid that future generations of saints will use this method to select those who are lucky enough to succeed, and will disrupt the country's selection method, so we must not be careless."
Zhu Yijun listened and paid attention to Shen Shixing. Seeing that his face was serious and frank, he pursed his lips and smiled and said, "What Mr. Yaoquan said is not unreasonable. Let's discuss this matter later." There was no grudge against being remonstrated by the emperor, and the ministers also had a good attitude towards accepting remonstrances from the emperor. Take it for granted.
Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment, then took the initiative to change the topic and said: "As for what was discussed today. I have been thinking about it for a few days and feel that it is better to approach it both ways."
"First, the imperial bank should operate in reverse, without exempting those who deposit gold and silver. This method should go one step further and provide interest on deposits to those who deposit dragon yuan and banknotes. Second, for private banks, For deposit and loan business, deposit interest payment and loan interest collection shall not exceed the range specified by the Imperial Bank, and violators will be punished by law; among the three, anyone who wants to engage in this business must obtain a license and pay reserves to the Imperial Bank. , to prevent it from being bankrupt and causing industrial turmoil in a certain place. This is a big article, Mr. Shu'an must handle it well - be cautious, it is best for the court to do a few pilot projects first."
Upon hearing this, all the ministers here felt as if they were enlightened. Wang Guoguang was especially excited and said: "Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful! I obey the order!" Like a cat in heat, all the ministers present looked sideways.
This method is not only wonderful in terms of interest, but also in the case where the imperial bank wants to carry out loan business, it is reasonable to introduce preferential policies to attract private gold and silver. This is just a layer of window paper that no one has pierced before.
What excited Wang Guoguang was the emperor's reverse operation of Liang Menglong's suggestion - if the gold and silver were put into the bank, the fire consumption would be collected correctly, and only the silver notes issued by Long Yuan and the imperial court could earn interest! This provision will directly result in the following consequences:
First of all, according to the emperor's method, the massive gold and silver stored by the people today cannot earn interest if they are not exchanged for dragon dollars and silver notes. This means that gold and silver holders must first exchange their gold and silver for dragon yuan and silver notes. Because only the imperial bank can do this exchange business, a large amount of gold and silver will inevitably be absorbed into the imperial bank. And the imperial court did not actually issue a large amount of currency—does this money still need to be placed on the imperial court's account to earn interest?
Secondly, if the fire consumption is collected correctly, the massive gold and silver in circulation will continue to be kept in the hands of the people - for ordinary people who cannot save a lot of money, even if they want to save money and earn interest, the fire consumption money will be lost. It would block this impulse, thereby alleviating the pressure on the court to mint coins.
Again, this will give birth to a new industry among the people. There will be large fund holders who will use dragon yuan and silver notes to go to the private sector to exchange for scattered gold and silver at a price lower than what banks charge for fire money, and then go to the imperial bank to deposit and collect interest. Because these people can hold funds for a long time, they can earn interest to offset the fire consumption losses of scattered gold and silver.
In other words, if the money spent by the imperial bank in collecting fire is equal to the cost, people who are engaged in the private industry of exchanging Long Yuan silver notes for gold and silver will inevitably incur costs if they want to successfully exchange them. This part of the cost is equivalent to sharing the cost given by the imperial bank. part of the interest. And these large funds deposited the collected gold and silver into the bank to earn interest, and once again paid the cost of fire consumption - the Imperial Bank made twice in the fire consumption, a win-win situation.
As long as large capital holders have enough time, the one-time fire cost will be earned back sooner or later, which is also a profit - it is still a win-win situation.
Wang Guoguang first admired him, then drew inferences and thought of the shortcomings of the emperor's method:
First, there may be private banks that use scattered gold and silver to build a system of collecting, storing and lending. These gold and silver have nothing to do with the dragon yuan and small banknotes issued by the imperial court. However, the cost of doing so will inevitably be high, because the fineness of the scattered gold and silver circulating in the world at this time is of different colors and difficult to price. If banks want to expand their business, they must melt the loose silver into easy-to-value wealth such as standard silver ingots. When the imperial bank only charges costs and consumes money, and limits the interest on deposits and loans, this business method is destined to be a small business.
The second is that there may be private banks that collect savings at high interest rates and lend money at high interest rates - because this is the only shortcoming in the emperor's policy that requires law enforcement. Law enforcement has its limitations, and Wang Guoguang is very aware of this. Although strict penalties can be used to restrict it, as long as the profits are high enough, it is still difficult to put an end to it.
The last drawback that Wang Guoguang can think of is that the bank may not be able to make ends meet. After all, if you pay interest on deposits, you must lend money to earn back the interest and the bank's operating costs, and good projects are hard to find - most merchants in the Ming Dynasty now have their operating funds either deposited in their own banks or borrowed from banks. Relatives and friends are afraid of operating in debt. If the loan amount is not enough, the court is likely to continue to lose blood.
Wang Guoguang made one point and explained his concerns. After hearing this, Zhu Yijun smiled broadly and said to Wang Guoguang: "Shu'an has great abilities, but you can't keep them to yourself. I suggest you go to Capital University and Normal University as a part-time visiting professor - teach these college students about economics." "
"As for the points you are worried about. Well, you can be a student with me first. After returning from the Political Hall, I will instruct the staff to recommend a group of good seedlings. I will hold a financial and economic training class in this Wenhua Palace. As for what finance is, I will talk about it in class."
