The imperial officials who participated in the financial meeting did not know what Zhu Houzhao meant by the financial meeting, what was to be held, and what was to be discussed.

Even the cabinet ministers and Wang Hua, the secretary of the household department, did not know, and even Wang Hua and Jiao Fang and Xu Jing, who were in charge of the household department, were summoned by Zhu Houzhao in advance to prepare for the convening of this financial meeting.

On this day, the imperial officials who participated in the financial meeting all went to the platform outside the Qianqing Palace, the reason why they were not in the palace was because the palace was not bright enough, since it was a financial meeting, it was natural to involve looking at many numbers, and some older ministers were difficult to see these numbers clearly without bright light.

"Today, I summoned Zhong Aiqing, in fact, to put it simply, in a word, today is to give you accounts and dividends, and to be specific, it is the day of the money, in addition to the officials of the Ministry of Households, the Royal Tax Office and the Royal Bank, they are all shareholders of the Royal Bank, and now that the Royal Bank is profitable, it is natural to give you money!"

Zhu Houzhao personally spoke first, pointed to a stack of account books in the center, and said:

"When I was in the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, I asked Xu Jing to find you to invest in silver, and said that the proportion of how much you invested, and now two years have passed, and the Royal Bank has made a profit, and now these account books are calculated by them overnight, and you remember the details very clearly;

Later, the people from the Royal Bank will read it again, and you will come to get it when you hear your name, and if you have any objections after reading it, you can directly question Xu Jing, lest he be greedy for your money. ”

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, Xu Jing smiled, except for the emperor, the investors of the Royal Bank were all important members of the imperial court, so he didn't dare to be greedy for ink.

And the other officials also smiled slightly, and seemed to feel that Xu Jing didn't have the courage, but these officials felt more at this time that they felt very fresh, and felt that the freshness was because the emperor wanted to send money to themselves, because they didn't expect the emperor to really return the money to themselves when they took out the silver at the beginning.

This is the case with Ma Wensheng, the first assistant of the cabinet, the five thousand taels of silver he took out at the beginning was actually the funeral silver prepared for him by his family, after all, he is not young, and he is an important minister of the court, and the funeral of his death in the future must not be so-so.

It was precisely because he took out the only five thousand taels of silver in the family that his son complained very much.

Now, after hearing Zhu Houzhao say that he wanted to give money to his officials, Ma Wensheng also felt very novel like other officials, and at the same time felt strange, thinking that since ancient times, the emperor had money, if he was a Ming monarch, he would reduce the world's money and grain, govern the river, and repair the official road, and if he was a faint monarch, he would build a large number of buildings, such as building a garden or something, or sealing Zen and sacrificing to the sky;

And His Majesty is different from the emperors in the past, he does not return the benefits to the people and does not enjoy himself, but he wants to share with these officials who participate in the shares, and he does not look like an emperor but a businessman doing business.

However, Ma Wensheng and other officials are no strangers to the Royal Bank now, because the cabinet has received numerous requests from the imperial historians to suspend the Royal Bank since the establishment of the Royal Bank, on the grounds that they cannot compete with the people for profit, cannot open the imperial store as a precedent, and leave a reputation for eternity.

However, because Emperor Zhu Houzhao did not pay attention to these songs, the Royal Bank is still in operation, and even more and more people know about it, even if Zhu Houzhao does not mention it now, Ma Wensheng can also learn about the Royal Bank from his colleagues and family members, and hear whether the interest rate has risen or fallen.

Moreover, Ma Wensheng also knows that the current Royal Bank is getting bigger and bigger, and even branches are all over the capital, and there are branches in important towns in Gyeonggi such as Tongzhou and Baoding, and because of the advanced business model and the high credit brought by the royal background and the huge reserves, many money stores have been crowded.

Therefore, like other imperial officials, Ma Wensheng was also curious about how much profit the Royal Bank had gained.

"I know that you are all curious, how much profit the Royal Bank has gained, it will be written in your account book later, you can ask someone to review it again, and now you can start reading the name and dividing the accounts", Zhu Houzhao instructed.

So, Xu Jing came over with an eunuch, and the eunuch first read: "Wang Hua family, seventy-two thousand and six taels of silver!" ”

In this era, many clans do not divide their families, and even regard the division as a manifestation of the decline of the family, so what kind of family are the shareholders of the Royal Bank, Wang Yangming invested his wife's dowry and family savings in it, and became the largest shareholder except Zhu Houzhao, and now his Wang family naturally has the most shares.

The imperial officials present were stunned for a long time when they heard this, and their hearts were very shocked! Because 70,000 taels of silver was not a small amount in this era, many important ministers in the court did not even have so much cash in their homes, and they all looked at Wang Hua with brushes.

Wang Hua was also very surprised, he was still worried about his son Wang Shouren taking out more than 30,000 taels of silver to Xu Jing, and even Wang Yangming's father-in-law's family was also worried about it, so that Wang Hua now feels sorry for his in-laws, after all, he embezzled all the dowries of other people's daughters!

Moreover, now Wang Hua is often slandered and said that he bought the Hubu Shangshu with more than 30,000 taels of silver, and even his Wang family said so, and he had very opinions on his behavior of using the family's money only to seek officials for himself but refusing to take care of other family members.

Now when he heard that his family had received 70,000 taels of silver, Wang Hua couldn't believe his ears, but when he took the voucher from the people from the Royal Bank, he was convinced that his Wang family had indeed received 70,000 taels of silver through the Royal Bank!

Although the gentleman is ashamed of his words, Wang Hua is still smiling, but he is still happy in his heart, thinking that he can also explain to the clansmen, his uncompetitive son is not taking money to buy officials for himself, but really for the benefit of the family, 70,000 taels of silver, at least the private school in the family can be expanded, and the family members of several Shu clans can also get more subsidies.

"Ma Wensheng's family, 12,400 and 7 taels of silver!"

After reading the Eight Tigers and several other officials, he read Ma Wensheng, Ma Wensheng didn't expect that he could get more than 10,000 taels of silver, he was even a little worried, worried that he would be impeached if he got this silver, impeachment of himself for greedy ink, and damage his reputation of integrity.

However, at the same time, Ma Wensheng was also very happy in his heart, he didn't expect that he had been a clean official all his life, and one day he would get a legal income of more than 10,000 taels of silver, which was more cost-effective than doing business, and he thought that he didn't have to worry about making a coffin out of thin wood after he died.

Because the emperor Zhu Houzhao did not gain power at the beginning, there were not many officials who were willing to give money to Zhu Houzhao, and of course it was not excluded that they would pretend to be honest, so there were not many imperial officials who were divided, and it took not much time.

In this financial meeting, he gave money to distribute profits to those who followed him and were willing to contribute to him, and at the same time attracted some officials to follow him to make a fortune and thus be loyal to him, but this was not his ultimate goal, his ultimate goal was to cultivate an expansive class, so he had to use his status as an emperor to advocate.

"Now that all the secretaries have got a share of the money, the secretaries don't have to worry about this, worry that someone will impeach you for your own profit, the gentleman loves money and takes it in a good way, this is what I give back to you, it is reasonable and lawful, but the secretaries are the same as me, we are not businessmen, the secretaries are court officials, and they are responsible for the affairs of the Ming Dynasty! Therefore, even if the gold and silver things are in the hands of the people, they should be used for the benefit of the people, just like me! Not for personal and family self-interest. ”

As soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, the officials who were happy because they got a lot of silver just now suddenly felt unhappy, thinking that they were really happy in vain, and the emperor said that it was sent to himself, but after all, he still had to take it back, and the reason was very legitimate, and he wanted to use it for the well-being of the people.

Ma Wensheng, the first assistant of the cabinet, like other officials, was naturally a little disappointed in his heart, but he felt that as the first assistant, he still had to set an example, so he stood up first: "What Your Majesty said is very true, and the minister is willing to give this silver to the household department. ”

"The minister is also ...... The minister is also willing! ”

"Minister...... Willing to do so! ”

……

The imperial majesty taken by Zhu Houzhao, these officials did not refuse.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile dumbly: "What are you doing, I don't mean to ask you to donate the silver to the treasury, I mean to plan for the Ming Dynasty, I and the secretaries should make a covenant, a covenant on how to use the benefits obtained today." ”

When the imperial officials heard Zhu Houzhao say this, they all breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was good that there was so much silver that they didn't have to give, otherwise it would be a pity, and now they didn't feel anything when they heard Zhu Houzhao ask them to abide by the contract, and guessed that maybe they shouldn't be arrogant or lascivious.

So, a civil and military official replied: "Please show your majesty!" ”

"Okay, you are all people who have been officials for a long time, you should know the importance of the amount of land occupied by the people and the number of people to the imperial court, so I ask you that the profits obtained in the future shall not be used to buy land in the customs and accept contributions, second, shall not be used to buy the people of the Ming Dynasty as slaves, and third, the family shall not use it for business, and shall not save it for future generations!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he looked at these officials, and these officials were a little incomprehensible, secretly thinking that it was understandable that this was not used to buy land and accept contributions, it was to ensure the source of taxes for the imperial court, and it was understandable not to buy people as slaves, and it was understandable not to do business to avoid using their power for profit, and it should be based on agriculture and business, but why should it not be saved, should it be spent?

At this time, Xu Jin, the secretary of the Ministry of War, asked like this.

"That's right, I just let you spend it, buy ginseng to make up for those who are in poor health, buy famous paintings if you like paintings, buy antiques if you like antiques, and govern the garden if you should manage the garden, or put it in the royal bank and lend it out."

Zhu Houzhao gave silver dividends to these officials this time, just to let them spend the silver, make the economic life of the Ming Dynasty active, and in this way, let silver gradually become the mainstream currency of the empire, and prepare for the opening of the sea in the future;

At the same time, Zhu Houzhao's implication was to encourage these people to expand abroad, and the land and population inside the customs could not be bought and sold, but overseas and outside the customs could naturally be.

Zhu Houzhao did this, but also to let them use their power and financial resources to promote the development and change of the empire's science and technology and economy, instead of existing underground or becoming bigger landlords, as for not allowing them to do business directly is to avoid collusion between officials and businessmen, although it cannot be completely prevented, but at least on the surface, Zhu Houzhao does not support or even prohibit it.

The current Ming officials, especially the officials who are now in the financial meeting, are not businessmen, and even personal interests are not so important, and the degree of social corruption is not as serious as that after Wanli, so now Zhu Houzhao has asked for this, and these officials have not refused.

Therefore, all the officials present signed this covenant, and Zhu Houzhao immediately ordered that this covenant be engraved in the Fengtian Temple and erected a monument to remember, and said: "Whoever does not abide by this covenant now, I will directly take back his due share, all understand!" ”

"Wait for you to understand!" Ma Wensheng and other officials replied.

The imperial officials who participated in the financial meeting withdrew one after another with the vouchers in their hands, and many of them still couldn't believe that they had so much more silver at once, and they didn't actually receive it from below, it was given by the emperor, and it wasn't even a reward, it was the profit they deserved.

In order to let his family stop complaining that he would not be an official from now on, and also to see if he really had so much silver, he asked his family to take out his 10,000 taels of silver from the Royal Bank with a few carriages, 10,000 taels of silver is a thousand catties of silver, and the pile is not small, so Ma Wensheng still couldn't help but burst into tears after reading it:

"I really didn't expect it, I didn't expect it, the old man has been a clean official all his life, and one day he can get so much silver!"

"Master, please accept the unfilial son, the unfilial son Fu'er misunderstood the master, sir, you just take it in the right way, not for being a bad official, Fu'er only understands, no wonder you can be a very human minister!"

Ma Wensheng's son Ma Fu knelt down and said with a smile.

"Get up, this is all the emperor's kindness! We have to thank the Emperor! ”

Ma Wensheng entered the house as he spoke, and Ma Fu also took the initiative to help Ma Wensheng, Ma Wensheng saw that his usually cold little son began to know how to be filial to himself, and he smiled very gratifying at this time.

However, Zhu Houzhao only let a small number of officials, that is, the officials who were willing to help him, the emperor, when Liu Jian and others were in power, benefited, so most of the officials did not get this benefit at the moment, and even many of them were very angry, especially when they saw that some officials moved a cart of silver from the Royal Bank to their homes, and some Qing officials who were despised by themselves suddenly changed their mansions, they were even more unbalanced.

What's more, Zhu Houzhao also let these profitable officials consume in a high-profile manner, so there are more officials who are unbalanced or even dissatisfied, although there are also many unbalanced officials who just regret that they did not take the silver to support His Majesty early, but there are also many officials who are so jealous that they want the imperial court to suspend the Royal Bank, especially those officials who have opened money houses at home or made profits by taking usury.

On this day, Ma Wensheng's protégé Gong Shangwei, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, asked to see Ma Wensheng, and said: "Teacher, if you open the royal bank today, it is equivalent to opening the imperial store and taking profits from the people, and the student really can't ignore it, the teacher is the head of the hundred officials, so I come to ask the teacher, can the student make the decision for the people, and say that Your Majesty will stop running the imperial store!" ”

According to the rules of officialdom, if a protégé wants to play a sparse performance, he will ask his teacher for advice, not only so as not to offend the teacher and get the teacher's support because of his rash playing, but also to avoid causing Long Yan to be angry, so that someone can intercede for him.

"Yiqing (Gong Shangwei Yiqing), the Royal Bank is not run by His Majesty alone, most of the important ministers inside and outside the DPRK are involved, it is really inappropriate to speak rashly, you have just been promoted to a ministry official, you should act cautiously, do not do this act of disobeying the monarch and offending the important ministers at home and abroad, so as not to affect the future entry into the cabinet, this matter must not be done!"

Although Ma Wensheng admitted that opening the imperial bank was equivalent to the emperor's business and opening the imperial store, which was suspected of competing for profits with the people, he now knew that the emperor's majesty opened the imperial store for his own personal pleasure, and with his understanding of Zhu Houzhao, it was impossible for the imperial bank to be closed, so he decided to dissuade Gong Shangwei for the career of his protégé Gong Shangwei.

What's more, when he thought that if the Royal Bank was closed, he would lose a lot of money, and he instinctively began to resist the behavior of someone to stop the Royal Bank.

Gong Shangwei didn't expect that if he didn't invest money in the emperor, he would lose so many benefits today, he was already very angry, but now when he saw that Ma Wensheng refused to support him, he was even more resentful, thinking that his teacher had now become a greedy person who was afraid of death, and directly brushed his sleeves and said: "That student is leaving!" In the future, students will not dare to wait for the door of their mentors! ”

In this era of heavy teacher-student etiquette, this Gong Shangwei said this is tantamount to breaking with Ma Wensheng!

Ma Wensheng was so angry that he pointed at Gong Shangwei and scolded: "You! But he didn't know how to reprimand, so he had to sigh.

And this Gong Shangwei came directly to see Jiao Fang.

Jiao Fang has also got a lot of silver now, and has just bought the big courtyard that Yishang Shu used to buy in Beijing, and he is happily talking to his children and grandchildren about how the saint is now gracious, but when he sees Gong Shangwei, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, asking to see him, he was quite shocked for a while:

"Isn't this Ma Wensheng's high feet, why did he suddenly come to see me and ask him to wait in Cirrus Cloud Pavilion!"

Gong Shangwei hurriedly saluted when he saw Jiao Fang appear: "Xiaguan has seen Lord Cifu!" ”

"Tell me, what happened to the old man suddenly, and the first man asked you to come to me?" Jiao Fang asked.

"It's not the first order, and the lower officials have decided not to step into the Ma Mansion for half a step, and from then on, the righteousness of the teachers and students will be broken! Xia Guan is here, just to ask Lord Cifu, Lord Cifu still wants to go further", Gong Shangwei said.

Jiao Fang was almost shocked when he heard this, thinking about why Gong Shangwei suddenly betrayed his master and came directly to him, but on the surface, Jiao Fang still pretended to be calm and said: "Tell me something directly." ”

"Yes! Lord Jifu should understand that now that His Majesty's Royal Bank is really harmful to the people, the merchants and even the gentry in Gyeonggi are not only resentful because of this, but even the ministers of the DPRK and China are even more resentful because of this, and even your family's money bank is not deeply affected by Lord Jifu?

Therefore, the lower officials have the courage to suggest that if the second assistant is willing to come forward to persuade His Majesty to stop the Royal Bank, the people of the world will definitely respect you, and then the lower officials will unite a few colleagues to impeach the inaction of the first assistant of the current dynasty, so that you will not be able to become the first assistant? ”

Gong Shangwei said.