In principle, for private loans, the people will not be held accountable unless they sue the government. However, once you are accused and the interest rate exceeds the interest rate stipulated by the court, the government will step in and not only declare usury invalid, but also confiscate the principal. In other words, as long as you dare If you lend money at high interest rates, you must be prepared to lose all your money.
Of course, if the interest rate is lower than the interest rate stipulated by the court, there will be no problem.
In addition to the group of loan sharks whose interests have been harmed by this change, there are also money bankers whose interests have also been harmed, and they are the biggest.
Not only can't you continue to open a bank, you have to go to the Financial Secretary to apply for approval before you can open it again. The most terrible thing is that you must pay a deposit to the Central Bank of Ming Dynasty.
Under this regulation, many banks have chosen not to open. Only those banks with strong strength are likely to open again. In this regard, private banks can be opened casually and have little impact on the national economy and people's livelihood. Anyway, the Central Bank of Ming Dynasty is performing the functions of banks.
Of course, some people say that the court is competing with the people for profit and using its power to squeeze out colleagues. This is the most shameful form of competing with the people for profit.
In response to this, a commentator named Zhongyuan Wubai in Ming Pao specifically commented on this point of view.
A very simple point is to compare the situation with the Central Bank of Ming Dynasty and the situation without the Central Bank of Ming Dynasty. Will the people benefit more or will it harm the interests of the people?
What is the people? People all over the world call them the people! Ordinary people for the people! Compared with this, can an individual person represent the people?
Benefiting the people of the world but harming the interests of individual people, is this called competing for profits with the people?
Taking the so-called "people" aside, there is no need for the government to debate the following matters. The people who benefit will naturally sit on their side, and a mouthful of water can drown those who dare to say that the court He is a person who competes with the people for profit!
Therefore, matters related to this bank cannot actually attract the attention of most people.
Most people's focus is on the newly issued coins. What is the situation?
Because of the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, there is a fear of being bitten by a snake for ten years, which is also reasonable.
Even if the court has regulations and gives a five-year period so that the existing currency and the currency to be issued can coexist, they are still worried after all. If the new currency is like the Ming Dynasty banknotes, what will happen in five years?
For this reason, on the first day when the imperial court distributed salaries, many people went to the Central Bank of the Ming Dynasty to see the situation.
I feel ashamed to say that because of the rush, the Central Bank of Ming Dynasty does not yet have its own yamen.
Then, a side door was opened from the household department to open to the outside world.
As the Minister of Household Affairs in charge of the Financial Department, Fang Kongzhen, has been very busy these days.
There were too many things to do with the establishment of the new Yamen, and the printing of coins also had to be rushed. There are so many officials in the imperial court in Beijing, and they have to open new accounts and prepare coins, so they are simply too busy.
In addition, he must also receive training from Xing Guogong and explain to him the relevant knowledge and precautions of the Financial Department and the Central Bank of Ming Dynasty.
It was also the first time for his subordinates to experience these things, and many things happened with a blind eye.
However, although Fang Kongzheng was exhausted, he was still happy!
In the end, since everything was a scratch creation, we had no other choice but to stipulate that only officials above the fifth rank in Beijing would issue new coins. Otherwise, I would be really busy.
Zhang Mingwei is also very busy in order to open the door. Because of these things, he is the chief designer, and he teaches every aspect step by step, including how to open an account, what information needs to be provided, how to keep accounts, how to reconcile accounts, etc.
Fortunately, he was only a part-time professional in Chongzhen in later generations. His main job was to be a bank development programmer. After he got older, he became an architect. I am relatively familiar with banking business and history.
Emperor Chongzhen was also very concerned about this unprecedented thing.
Because according to what Zhang Mingwei heard, whether Ming Dynasty is rich or not, this banking system will play a very important role.
For this reason, on the day when the Central Bank of the Ming Dynasty officially opened, which was also the day when hundreds of officials received their salaries, Emperor Chongzhen personally visited the Ministry of Revenue.
Needless to say, when he came, all the civil and military officials also came. It's like having a court meeting here.
Emperor Chongzhen was sitting on the side of the entrance of the Central Bank of the Ming Dynasty. A dragon chair was placed where two soldiers would have stood guard. He sat under the yellow umbrella, watching the civil and military officials, and came forward to receive their salaries in turn.
The First Assistant of the Ming Dynasty first stepped forward, arrived at the counter, took out his official seal as a voucher, and got a passbook.
There are eight golden characters "Da Ming Central Bank Passbook" printed on the cover, and there is a number at the bottom. Du Yinxi's is naturally 001.
When you open the passbook, you will see a line of words printed with special ink, including Du Yinxi's name, year, month and day, deposit or expenditure, and finally the amount.
At this time, no one knew that this kind of passbook would be out of print in a few years.
Because the banking function of the Central Bank of the Ming Dynasty will eventually withdraw and become the management office of banks all over the world. Therefore, the passbooks with "Da Ming Central Bank Passbook" printed on them only exist in these years.
At this time, the emperor was sitting next to him, and Du Yinxi participated in the entire discussion of the financial system, so he did not say that he wanted to withdraw money. After obediently taking the bankbook, he stepped aside.
Then, the next official came forward to collect it.
In the distance outside the martial law, a large group of curious babies were watching such a large formation from a distance, and they were even more curious about the Ming Dynasty Central Bank and the new currency. Even the emperor is here, and there are hundreds of civil and military officials. Only those of fifth rank and above can receive it. What is it like?
It’s no wonder they were so curious, because the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty actually consisted of three parts: physical goods, currency and land.
The annual salary is paid out once a year. For the first grade, the salary is 1,044 stone, and the monthly salary is 87 stone. From the ninth grade, the salary is 60 stone, and the monthly salary is 5 stone.
Although the annual salary is actually measured in meters, when it is distributed, the rice is either folded with banknotes or folded with silk, and the officials in the capital are different from the officials in the outside world.
By the mid-Ming Dynasty, official salaries were divided into two types: original salary and partial salary. "Essence" (year-old salary rice) is divided into moon rice, folded silk rice and folded silver rice. Moon rice is worth 1 stone for each member regardless of official grade; folded silk rice is worth 6 coins of silver per piece; folded silver rice is worth 6 coins. 5 cents is equivalent to 1 stone. "Zhese" is still measured in stones, and is divided into silver and banknotes, each with different conversion standards.
It’s complicated!
And there will be a lot of tricks in it.
Being an official in the Ming Dynasty was actually very hard sometimes.
For example, if the court has no money and the emperor slaps his head, he will use Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes to distribute it. Do you think it is hard for Ming officials to suffer?
Fortunately, most officials don't care about this salary, otherwise they would really starve to death.
In this reform of the financial system, all official salaries were issued in new currency. The amount of money converted into new currency was a focus of my previous work.
After all the officials of the fifth rank and above in the capital received their bankbooks, Emperor Chongzhen stood up and said to them with a smile: "I have witnessed a grand event that has never happened in our Ming Dynasty or even in ancient times. You are all mine. Ministers of stock, I believe you all know how important this will be to our Ming Dynasty. If you have spare money in the house, you can also take the initiative to come to the Central Bank of Ming Dynasty to exchange for new coins according to the prescribed ratio for your convenience."
After saying that, he drove back to the palace.
Because the salary distribution in the palace will be like this, he has to go back and watch. But it's not the same as the outer court, because the salary in the palace is not from the household department, but from Emperor Chongzhen's own small treasury.
After respectfully seeing the emperor off, these Ming officials began to disperse one after another without going to withdraw money.
They were all the most discerning people. From the emperor's words, they could tell that the emperor wanted them to save money instead of withdrawing money.
Of course, if they insist on withdrawing money, no one will stop them.
However, a discerning person would not do this, at least not immediately.
Anyway, if you want to withdraw money, as long as you have a passbook and a withdrawal letter stamped with an official seal, you can still withdraw it even if you are not the person.
As soon as they left, the curious people from the capital gathered around them.
There were soldiers standing at the door. No one dared to come forward to watch. They just kept a certain distance, looked curiously, and talked in low voices, but no one took any action.
At this moment, I saw a carriage coming from a distance. Several servants lifted boxes one by one from the carriage and placed them on the ground in front of the counter. After opening them, they said to the people at the counter: "Please exchange them for new ones." coins.”
When the box was opened, many sharp-eyed people saw that it was full of copper coins, silver, etc. Suddenly, their sharp-eyed eyes lit up, rich people!
Which company is this, so arrogant? If they use so much money to exchange coins, aren't they afraid that the new coins will lose value?
So, the more prudent old man stepped forward, leaned over to the old man who was looking at the affairs, and kindly reminded him: "Isn't it a little inappropriate to take out so much money at once?"
The steward glanced at the old man and immediately said with a smile: "If there is anything wrong, the court has stipulated that taxes can be paid with this new coin. If you feel it is wrong, just pay the tax later." alright."
Having said this, he added with a smile: "There are many shops in the house, and it is too troublesome to do business. It is very simple to use these new coins. It saves a lot of time and money, how good it is!"
After hearing this, the onlookers realized that this was a large business with many shops in the capital, and they wanted to use the new coins to do business. Moreover, it seems that he knows some inside information, so he is not panic at all about the new coins.
So, someone asked curiously: "I wonder who your master is?"
When the steward heard the question, he immediately smiled.
