Chapter 43 Reform Plan II

"Oh, then Aiqing hurry up and listen!" Emperor Longqing said eagerly, to be honest, in fact, he very much approved of the way to alleviate the current dilemma of the imperial court's shortage of silver money by lifting the sea ban, but like Chen Yiqin, he was worried that once the sea ban was lifted, it would lead to other disasters, and then the gains would outweigh the losses.

Now Shen Chongming said that he has a way to prevent this kind of thing from happening, teach Emperor Longqing how not to be in a hurry to listen to it, if it really works, then everything will be fine.

"Your Majesty, although Lord Li and Lord Chen's worries are different, they boil down to only one thing, that is, they are afraid that the merchants will behave indiscriminately if they are not restrained, but once there are people from the imperial court involved in their business, can't they be restrained?"

Shen Chongming's words did not convince Chen Yiqin: "Lord Shen's words are wrong, how can those businessmen easily agree to let the imperial court send people to follow, and once they send people to follow, then they will have to mobilize the sailors, the journey is far away, the boats are tired, and this investment is not small!" With the current financial resources of the imperial court, I am afraid that it will be difficult to bear! ”

Shen Chongming smiled: "Lord Chen, don't be impatient, let the lower officials finish their words and then make a conclusion, as you just said, once you send someone to follow the caravan to sea, you must use a sailor, but this sailor is not only responsible for monitoring the caravan, you must know that the sea is vast, there are many places where pirates are rampant and dangerous, and the imperial court sends sailors to follow, you can use the name of protecting the safety of the caravan, then the cost on the way should naturally be paid by the merchants, and since the ban on trade is lifted, the people can trade freely, So why can't the imperial court get involved? Just like Gonggong Zheng did back then, traveling around the world with a huge fleet can not only promote the prestige of our Celestial Empire, but also earn silver money through the exchange of goods to alleviate the current predicament of the imperial court, isn't it a good thing to kill multiple birds with one stone? ”

"This ......" Chen Yiqin hesitated, shook his head and said: "Lord Shen must not have such an idea, all dynasties and dynasties, but there has never been a business in the imperial court!" ”

Shen Chongming's smile did not decrease, and he waved his hand and said: "Although what you said is good, Lord Chen, someone has to try everything, and it is okay for us to open this precedent!" ”

"No, no, no, absolutely not!" Without waiting for Chen Yiqin to speak, Li Chunfang vetoed very firmly.

"This precedent is absolutely unopenable, the duty of the imperial court is to govern the world, and now it is against the teachings of the saints to run into business, once it is implemented, the scholars of the world will definitely oppose it, and it will also cause a big mess!"

Shen Chongming doesn't like to hear this, and he doesn't think that doing business is a lowly business: "At present, the court is in financial difficulties, and the emperor is worried about this matter all day long, why didn't he see them donating money and food to alleviate the difficulties, and now we finally think of a way to solve the difficulties, but they have to come out and pretend to oppose it, what kind of reason is this, Your Highness, surrender obediently!" ”

This more truthful word is absolutely impossible to convince others, but Shen Chongming's next sentence made Li Chunfang have nothing to say.

"The sage cloud, the people are the most important, the society is secondary, the king is light, solving the current difficulties of the court through the court business is a major matter for the benefit of the country and the people, according to the sage, no one is qualified to obstruct this matter, if they speak out against it, it is really against the words of the sage, if it also causes chaos, then these people who are in chaos are enemies of hundreds of millions of people in the world, and all such people should be executed!"

The murderous words shocked Li Chunfang, an old scholar who had been an official all his life, and the corners of his mouth twitched a few times, but he couldn't make a sound.

"Well said!" Emperor Longqing stood up with excitement on his face, looked at the five courtiers in front of him and said excitedly: "Ladies and gentlemen, as Shen Aiqing said, solving the current difficulties of the imperial court is a major matter related to the livelihood of the people in the world. ”

As soon as he heard this, he knew that Emperor Longqing had an idea in his heart, and several people were shocked by Shen Chongming's words just now, and after thinking about it carefully, they also felt that it made a lot of sense, and immediately said in unison: "My Emperor Shengming!" ”

After receiving the instructions of the cabinet to discuss carefully, the four ministers withdrew from the Heart Cultivation Palace, but Shen Chongming was left alone by Emperor Longqing.

But it was a big matter, and Emperor Longqing, who couldn't hide the excitement on his face, ordered someone to move a small bench for Shen Chongming.

Pretending to be frightened, Shen Chongming, who couldn't resist Emperor Longqing, had to sit down with half an ass, but his heart was too beautiful, look at this treatment, it seems that only Yan Song and the teacher and his old man have had this treatment in the past hundred years.

"Aiqing, you can tell me about your ideas again!" Emperor Longqing asked with great interest, he should take a good look at it and see if he can find some space to get some benefits for himself, after all, the imperial court is the imperial court itself, the imperial court's account room is the household department, and his own account room is the inner treasury, these two things cannot be confused.

Shen Chongming sorted out his thoughts, picked up the good ones and began to say: "Your Majesty, it is indeed very dangerous to do business across the vast sea, and even if you reach the destination, you can't take it lightly, you must know that those places are not like a civilized state like my Celestial Empire, so for the sake of safety, it is very necessary for the imperial court to send sailors to escort them, if not, they can only let the merchants organize their own escorts to ensure safety, which is also the main reason why businessmen colluded with the Japanese in the early years, and now as long as they send sailors to escort, There is no reason for them to organize an escort, and of course there is no way to cause any chaos from this, and with the sailors, the merchants can also reduce their investment, and they must be in favor of this move! ”

"Anything else?" This is not what Emperor Longqing wants, but he is embarrassed to ask directly, and can only hope that Shen Chongming can understand it on his own.

Shen Chongming is also a smart person, and when he saw Emperor Longqing's expectant look, he had a little bit of a plan in his heart, but such an idea really damaged the image of the emperor, and he didn't dare to be completely sure, so he could only say with the attitude of giving it a try: "Your Majesty, Weichen has just discovered a drawback, and this statement of doing business in the imperial court is indeed a suspicion of competing with the people for profit, but I am afraid that it will inevitably be criticized!" ”

Emperor Longqing was secretly happy in his heart, but he nodded thoughtfully on his face and said: "Well, what Aiqing said makes sense, do you think it is better to change the name of the imperial court to the name of a certain person?" ”

Now Shen Chongming has a certainty in his heart that he is sure that Emperor Longqing also wants to make a windfall from it, think about it, this person who does not love money is rare in this world, and the emperor is also a person with seven emotions and six desires, and it is reasonable to like money.

With a brain teaser, Shen Chongming had a more ambitious plan in his heart, suppressed the excitement in his heart and said: "Emperor Shengming, everyone in the world knows that the imperial court is powerful, once involved in it, ordinary businessmen cannot compete with the imperial court at all, if individuals are allowed to participate in the merchant ships operated by the imperial court, it will be much fairer, and the beauty has been lying down!" ”

Raising his eyes, he found that Emperor Longqing's face was a little anxious, Shen Chongming hurriedly said: "This so-called 'individual', the scope is wide, it can be the rich people in the countryside who have surplus wealth, or it can be the merchants who have been doing business in the original way, or these princes and nobles in the capital, of course, the emperor You can also participate in the shares, waiting for the dividends to be shared, which can be used as the money needed for the daily expenses of the royal family, so that it can also relieve the pressure on the household!" ”

"Well, reasonable, very reasonable!" Emperor Longqing nodded hurriedly, since Shen Aiqing said that this thing can be done, it is definitely possible.

After the excitement, Emperor Longqing frowned again, although it is easy to participate in shares, but his own emperor is a poor jingle, where is the extra silver put into it! You can't just beg for nothing, reach out to the household!

"Shen Aiqing, you said that if I participate in the shares on behalf of the royal family, how many silver taels will I need!" Emperor Longqing asked weakly, if the number is small, he can quietly sell the extra treasures in the palace to deal with the emergency, anyway, those things can't be eaten or worn, and they still occupy space there, so it is better to exchange them for some silver taels for the benefit of future generations.

"Your Majesty, you don't need to pay out money, once you really participate in the shares, this firm will be marked with the royal symbol, just with such a golden signboard, that is the biggest proprietor!" Shen Chongming knew everything about Emperor Longqing's family background, how could he let his old man give this money.

Emperor Longqing's smile was full of humility, and his face was slightly red: "Aiqing, I'm afraid it's not appropriate to do this!" ”

"The emperor is too worried, what's wrong with this, if others are unwilling, Weichen can be the master here on behalf of Tongda Carriage and Horse Bank, and invest one million taels of silver to subscribe for 20% of the share of the Royal Commercial and Trade Bank!"

Shen Chongming's words were loud, and Emperor Longqing, the lord of the world, was also stunned, one million taels of silver subscribed for two percent of dry shares, doesn't this mean that this is still the royal trading house in the mirror that is worth five million taels of silver.

"Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that there is a shortage of silver in the imperial court now, and he is afraid that he will not be able to take out too much silver to do business at once, so once a commercial bank is established in the name of the royal family, he can also let the imperial court obtain some shares with the help of the sailor, if one million taels of silver is not enough, he can also divide some dry shares again to be subscribed by meritorious and merchants from all over the country, so that this commercial bank is complete in all aspects!" According to his own plan, Shen Chongming said that only by tying the interests of all parties together can the idea of lifting the sea ban and the imperial court participating in it proceed smoothly.

After such a while, Emperor Longqing's mood also calmed down a lot. Although according to Shen Chongming's statement, his reputation is not so valuable, but he doesn't care how much this kind of pie-in-the-sky good thing is, and immediately nodded: "Aiqing is reasonable, then how do you say these shares should be divided!" ”

"Your Majesty, Weichen feels that once the royal trade house is formed, the most important components of it are the royal family and the imperial court, so the two should have the same share, each family is more appropriate, and Tongda Carriage and Horse Bank invested one million taels of silver, which is counted as one percent of dry shares, and the remaining three percent can be subscribed by merchants from all over the world and the nobles of the capital, so that the business house has four million taels of silver, and it is enough to build a big ship for long-distance voyages and deal with various consumption!"

Shen Chongming directly reduced the two percent of the dry shares possessed by one million taels of silver to one percent, which was also carefully considered, the so-called tree is a big move, once all aspects of the forces participate, there must be many people who will be jealous of the Tongda car and horse company that holds two percent of the dry shares, and the enemies on all sides of it are forced to lower the dry shares, but it is better to reduce the dry shares to one percent by themselves in one step.

Of course, we can't underestimate this into a dry stock, you must know that the sea trade profits are very large, often tens of times, waiting for the trade to flourish, with the royal trade in all aspects has an absolute advantage, it is not impossible to make tens of millions of nearly 100 million taels of silver every year, just with this dry stock can also make a lot of money,