"What about England?" Zhu Cihong did not immediately reply to the French envoy Kirkbel, but asked about Britain's needs, "Does England need a loan from the Ming Dynasty?" ”

"England also wants a loan if the interest rate is right." Marveill, of course, would not turn down a low-interest loan.

Although the government of the Republic of England was far better financially off than the Kingdom of France, wars in Europe often lasted for decades, and even the richest lords could not withstand it.

The fiscal revenue of the Republic of England under Cromwell's leadership was about 2.4 million pounds per year, and one pound was one pound of silver, about 12 "bank taels" of the Ming Dynasty, and 2.4 million pounds was about 28.8 million taels of silver. It's more than double the revenue of France, and it's really rich!

However, England's fiscal revenue of less than 30 million taels is not worth mentioning compared with the Ming Dynasty's revenue of 100 million taels to 110 million taels (a considerable part of which is rice and noodles).

From the perspective of financial revenue, the current Ming Dynasty is really worthy of the title of the Celestial Empire!

And the legend that the Great Ming Dynasty is very rich, in the eyes of Zhu Cihong, a financial expert, is credit!

And credit ...... It's the real foundation of the banking industry!

Therefore, Zhu Cihong hoped that the banks of the Great Ming Dynasty would be able to provide loans to England and France...... Even if the interest rate is not high, even if there is a certain risk of bad debts, it is worth doing.

"Of course the interest rate is appropriate!" Zhu Cihong said with a smile, "And our Daming bank will provide a total loan line to a large customer with a good reputation, called a credit line, within the credit line, borrowers can apply for short-term or long-term loans at any time according to their own needs, and the credit line can be recycled, and after the short-term loan is repaid, the credit balance will increase accordingly." In view of the current financial situation of the Republic of England, I recommend that you apply for a large line of credit from the big banks of the Ming Dynasty, which you can use at any time if you need it. ”

That seems like a good idea!

Marville was a Puritan politician, a very calculating master, and of course he had to calculate interest when borrowing money, but he soon discovered a problem.

"Your Majesty, the distance between England and China is so far that it will take at least a few months to go back and forth."

"That's a question...... Zhu Cihong pretended to think for a while, "Why don't you do that...... How about two of the largest banks in the Ming Dynasty co-fund the opening of a bank in Europe to lend exclusively to England and France? ”

Emperor Zhu turned his head to look at the French envoy Kirkbel, and said with a smile: "Mr. envoy, if Bishop Mazarin and His Majesty Louis XIV agree, then the loan of five million taels is definitely not a problem, and the interest rate must be very reasonable!" ”

Kirkbell nodded hurriedly, "I think they'll agree!" ”

How could it be disagreeable? Five million taels of silver! Equivalent to twenty or thirty million francs...... How many mercenaries can I get in exchange? With this military spending, His Majesty's army may be able to bring down the whole of the Spanish Netherlands!

Zhu Cihong nodded with a smile, and then looked at Ma Wei again: "I don't think His Majesty the Lord of the Protector will refuse, right?" ”

"Of course not." Although Marville felt that it was inappropriate, he couldn't think of any reason to refuse.

Zhu Cihong smiled: "That's good...... Our three countries have reached a very crucial consensus! ”

Seeing Emperor Zhu's very happy appearance, Lu Zhenfei, Qian Qianyi, Wu Sanfu, and Huang Binqing who were present couldn't help frowning.

It's easy to borrow money, but it's hard to get into debt!

Especially lending money to countries on the other side of the region, so far away...... There is no way to force the debt! If France and England fail to repay their debts in the end, won't millions of taels of silver be wasted?

This is a loss!

Zhu Cihong also looked at these people with the corner of his eye, seeing that they were all frowning, and a little disappointed, Daming has been running capital for more than ten years, why don't you know the huge value of Daming's banking industry into Europe?

The banking industry! In addition to lending, it can also absorb savings, issue bonds, and engage in remittance and currency exchange...... It is even possible to issue bank notes (banknotes), and there is also a golden finger that creates money through a multiplier effect.

How much credit is it to let Daming's bank open to Europe, and become a creditor of France and England, two first-class European powers, as soon as it comes up?

And the money lent to England and France will not be all in vain - that's money lent to the country!

Although Louis XIV, the Sun King who spent money indiscriminately, is likely to be a liar, but he will not pay a dime unpaid, at most he will only repay interest and not principal.

But it doesn't matter, as long as he can still be the Sun King of Europe, as long as France can still lead the European trend for a while, this deal will not be lost!

As for the money lent to the Republic of England, there was no problem even more, and Charles II did not dare to pay for it when he came to power...... This is England's national credit!

And the war between England and the Netherlands is not over yet, so why don't you push Daming to the Netherlands for two or three million.

Besides, England also has money, and there is no shortage of two or three million taels of silver.

So it's definitely a good deal!

In addition, and most importantly, the "loan intention" reached between Zhu Cihong and the French and British envoys is called the "loan intention...... I didn't really give the money!

In later generations, there are still fewer people in the financial circle who use various "intentions" to deceive people?

So Emperor Zhu is not bargaining with the French and the British at all now, and you can borrow as much as you want - this emperor has intentions, but the emperor is not responsible for lending, and you have to go to the bank to borrow money.

And Daming's bank can't open branches in Europe, because the branches will spill the risk to the head office. Under today's communication conditions, it is impossible to open a branch halfway around the world, and it is impossible to control the risk at all, so it can only open a joint-stock bank with clear capital in Europe. This bank has collapsed, that is, it has lost millions of principal...... And opening a new bank is not something that can be done in ten days and half a month, so Louis XIV and Cromwell had to be a little patient and wait slowly.

But before they could get their hands on the money, the Ming joint-stock bank would have a reputation for lending to Britain and France......

Such a good deal, these high-ranking officials of the capitalist Ming Dynasty are still sad, you don't know how to do it!

Fortunately, not everyone of the high-ranking officials present frowned, and there was one who smiled.

When Emperor Zhu found out that Grand Duke Luo was smiling at this time, he seemed to have picked up money - finally there was someone who knew how to do it! Emperor Zhu said in his heart: It seems that it is time for him to enter the cabinet! Go back and split the Ministry of Rites, take out the Foreign Affairs Department to form the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and let Dagong Luo be the secretary.

"Grand Duke Luo," Zhu Cihong asked as he looked at Grand Duke Luo with a smile on his face, "What should we discuss next?" ”

"Your Majesty, the question of the Americas is now to be discussed." Luo Da Gongdao.

Zhu Cihong nodded, "Actually, a long, long time ago, my country opened up a colony in the northwest corner of the Americas, called the New Island Protectorate. ”

What the? You colonized the Americas a long, long time ago?

When, exactly?

Was it early when Columbus discovered the New World?

When Zhu's words were translated into French, both Kirkbell and Marville (who was a great poet of culture, and of course knew French) were shocked.

Looking at the surprised expressions on the faces of the two foreign devils, Zhu Cihong smiled and said: "Of course, the territory of my country's Xinzhou Metropolitan Protectorate, which is now called the American Metropolitan Protectorate, only includes the northwest of North America...... You don't know yet, do you? In fact, there is a huge peninsula in the eastern part of North America and Shenzhou, which is the northwest of Asia, and the two peninsulas are only separated by a sea surface of more than 100 miles, which is easy to pass.

Therefore, as early as the Tang Dynasty, Chinese explorers went to the northeast of the New World, and also appeased the local natives on behalf of the Tang Dynasty emperor...... Therefore, the northeast of this new continent has been the land of China since ancient times.

England and France have no objection to this, right? ”