readx;?readx; Chapter 424 Borrowing Debts, Paying Off Debts with Xi'er

Qin Lei came prepared, did his homework in advance, and explained it naturally and clearly. He said that the diversion www.biquge.info of the Grand Canal can not only solve the shackles of river siltation and greatly increase the canal's shipping capacity, but also turn the 10,000 acres of cultivated land along the Xiaoqing River into fertile land that is not subject to floods and droughts, which is really a good thing of both worlds.

In addition to causing everyone to nod frequently, Qin Lei also allowed them to ask questions freely and declared that the speaker was not guilty. He knows that these people will not oppose it in person for the sake of his own face, but if he doesn't think about it, he will inevitably be unhappy in his heart, and the implementation will be greatly reduced, so he wants to convince the councilors.

Sure enough, after a while, someone stood up and asked: "The prince's idea is very great, and the five bodies that the villain admires are just a little ...... It is said that the Jingshui River flows slowly, and it is impossible to pass through large boats during the dry season, so there was a matter of cutting the bend and straightening it to take the Xiaoqing River. As he spoke, he looked at Qin Lei with some concern, and said softly, "I don't know how the prince will solve this problem." ”

Qin Lei smiled and said, "I've got to the point!" What's your name? ”

The man hurriedly announced his name aloud. Qin Lei said with a commative smile on his face: "If you ask well, it means that you have thought about it seriously and are worthy of rewards!" After speaking, he asked Shi Dang to bring a plate of tribute silk and rewarded it to the man. As soon as the councilors on the side saw that there was a reward for questioning, which was a good thing that had never been done before, they spoke enthusiastically, and Qin Lei also answered them one by one, but if he felt that it was good, he would be rewarded immediately.

After a round of questions, except for the first question, most of the people's puzzles have been answered. But that is the premise of the whole thing, and only when the problem of the slow flow of the Jingshui River is solved can the matter be discussed.

So Qin Lei tore down the first map, and everyone found that after that map, there was actually another one, which looked like a water conservancy project.

"Bashui River!" Those who knew the goods couldn't help but blurt out: "The prince wants to lead the water into the capital? The atmosphere had already been mobilized by Qin Lei, so the councilors had a lot less scruples when they spoke.

Qin Lei approvingly: "Reward! Another plate of precious fruit was placed on the man's table.

After the man thanked him happily, Qin Lei tapped the drawing with a bamboo whip and said loudly: "Yes, this is the Bashui River, the southern tributary of the Weishui River, which has abundant water and a huge gap with the Jingshui River, which can provide it with a steady stream of water......

Xu Tancheng was quite suspicious and said: "Seeing that the prince has investigated so fully, it is obvious that he has already grasped the wisdom pearl, I don't know how you solved the sediment problem in the Bashui River?" "After all, he is the former governor of a province, and he can speak better than ordinary people.

Qin Lei smiled and said, "Give that to Lord Xu." The councilors, including Xu Tancheng, thought that it must be some kind of silk melon and fruit, but they didn't want Shi Dare to bring up the tray this time, only a piece of red silk cloth covered with it, which looked empty.

In front of everyone's eyes, Shi Kang stood in front of Xu Tancheng with the tray covered with silk cloth, and said with a smile in his mouth: "Congratulations, Lord Xu!" ”

Xu Tancheng knew that the prince would not humiliate himself in public, nodded calmly, uncovered the red brocade, and saw that there was indeed something on the tray, his heart couldn't help but pound.

It was a thin text, and there would not even be a slight bulge when lying on the tray, but this little thing made Xu Tancheng, who had always been as steady as Mount Tai, lose his temper...... In the more than 20 years of his career, he has seen this thing seven times, the first six times he was promoted from the county order of the seventh grade to the governor of the third grade, and the seventh time, that is, the last time, demoted him to a casual official at home......

It's just that I don't know if this time it's the promotion document of the Anthology Division, or the dethronement document of the Examination Division?

He couldn't help but glance at the prince, only to see him nodding at himself with a smile. Xu Tancheng stretched out his trembling hands and picked up the text that seemed to weigh more than a thousand catties. Taking a deep breath, he resolutely unfolded it, and the white paper, black and red marks on the document came into his eyes, the content was very simple, but it was shocking enough: 'I hereby order the minister Xu Tancheng to enter the capital immediately, there must be no mistake!' The Ministry of Rites examines the Department of Officials. On a certain day, a certain month, '

It's the Gong Division, and it seems that it's going to recover. As for entering the capital to face the saint, it is because high-ranking officials above the third rank must be appointed by the emperor himself after meeting His Majesty. In other words, his position this time was either a scholar or a governor, how could this not make him very excited?

The whole audience looked at him, and people's curiosity was extremely high, and they all wanted to know what official he had been sealed. It was still Qin Lei who smiled and solved the doubts for Xu Tancheng and everyone in the audience: "Congratulations to Lord Xu, Your Majesty said that even if you come, you can at least give you a second grade." "Second Grade...... Shangshu, the governor, and the imperial history of the capital, for civil officials, there are only these three possibilities.

No matter which one it is, it is gratifying and congratulatory, so there was a congratulatory sound in the field, and the councilors either congratulated or blessed, no matter which one Xu Tancheng finally served, it was the glory of the southerners.

After a long time, Xu Tancheng came back to his senses, gently put down the purple-skinned text, walked to the front of the stage, and respectfully bowed to Qin Lei, and then said word by word: "No matter where Tancheng goes, he will always be the prince's disciple and horse, and he will always be our southerners!" ”

In the midst of cheers, Qin Lei helped him up and said with a pleased smile: "It's good that Lord Xu can not forget his father!" ”

After sending Xu Tancheng, who was already a little dizzy, to take his seat, Qin Lei drew everyone's attention back to the drawings and told everyone what Qin Qi had said. In the face of well-conceived engineering planning, people have nothing to say except to be impressed.

But Qin Lei didn't think the impact on these guys was enough, and pulled off the drinking water engineering drawing, and the third drawing appeared in front of everyone's eyes, which was a schematic map of the city, although the proportion was much larger than the first two, but people could still see that the city was built at the inflection point of the Jingshui River, and the channel that diverted water from the Bashui River also flowed into the canal here.

What's more, this city is just a hundred miles southwest of the central capital, which can be used as a distribution center for goods entering Beijing, so as to avoid the high transaction taxes and labor costs in Beijing.

After Qin Lei announced that the city would be permanently exempt from all taxes, people's emotions were finally mobilized to their peak. Even if they think with their feet, they also know the energy contained in it...... I'm afraid it won't be long before the second Xiangyang will appear there...... At the foot of Kyosan Mountain.

Linking the first two drawings again, people found that an unprecedented three-dimensional project in Daqin had emerged. As long as these three major projects are completed, tens of thousands of hectares of land along the coast will be turned into fertile land, countless merchant ships will gather outside the city, and a new commercial city will also rise. The prospect of all of this is so great that you can't wait to be a part of it.

Looking at the faces that were flushed with excitement, Qin Lei knew that he had succeeded. He threw the whip into Shi Kang's arms, clasped his hands around his chest, and said with a smile: "Is this plan good?" ”

"Good ......" "That's great...... "The people agreed with each other.

"But there is a problem that the Lone King can't solve." Qin Lei smiled and said: "The three major projects combined, how much will it cost? Even the imperial court didn't dare to talk about it, so what ability did the lone king have to contract? ”

Everyone didn't eat him, and said with a smile: "If you take it out, you have a solution...... "There's no way, I've been with Qin Lei for a long time, everyone knows his temper, and it's no longer so easy to make a fool of it."

Qin Lei pursed his lips boringly, and muttered in a low voice, "Won't you cooperate?" With a snap of his fingers, Shi Dang peeled off the drawing, revealing a huge sample of the bill.

"Silver ticket?" I saw that the thing had a riding stamp, a rich village drawing, and a chapter at the end of the world. The councillors are no strangers to this thing, and now whoever doesn't have tens of thousands of taels of silver in Datong Money Village is embarrassed to say that he is a landlord.

"Wrong!" Qin Lei corrected with a smile: "This is called a bond." Of course, you can also call it an IOU. Pointing to the blank space on the bond, he said, "This is reserved for the guarantor's signature." ”

"Oh......" The councillors understood, and said in their hearts: 'It turns out that the prince is going to borrow money!'

"But this bond is different from the past," Qin Lei said in a clear voice: "In the past, the loan was one-to-one and not public. What about this time...... But it's one-to-many, completely open. ”

Seeing that everyone was still a little confused, he said in another way: "The royal government will issue this kind of financing bond through Datong Qianzhuang, with the rights and interests of the canal, the fertile land that has been silted, and the income of Jingshan City in the future. ”

The councilors said in their hearts: 'The prince is going to take out his family funds as collateral and borrow money from the big guys.' ’

"The face value of this bond is based on one tael of official silver, and a total of 10 million taels will be issued in the first phase. There are five types of periods: one-year, three-year, five-year, eight-year, and ten-year periods, and the principal is repaid at maturity and the interest is paid annually. Of course, the longer the maturity of the bond, the higher the annual interest you can receive. ”

"How much is each?" Someone couldn't help but ask.

"The minimum one-year term is to receive interest equivalent to half of the principal amount every year. The maximum ten-year term is 10% interest per year. Afraid that they would be confused, Qin Lei gave another example: "For example, if you buy a bond of 10,000 taels, if it is a one-year bond, when it matures, it will pay you 500 taels as interest in addition to the principal." What if it's a ten-year period? It will pay you a thousand taels of silver every year as interest. If you don't redeem it early, it will be paid for ten years, and by the time you repay the principal, you will have received a full 10,000 taels of interest, and the income will be doubled. ”

In this era, in addition to consumption, the only investment for the old wealth is to buy a house and buy land. And more real money was packed in pickle jars and buried in cellars...... For example, the secret library of the Wen family that Le Buyi once patronized. Although they can also put money in India, the object is often a desperate bitter haha, and under the profit, eighty percent of them can't pay it back. In the end, apart from snatching Bo Tian and Xi'er to pay off their debts, they didn't get any benefits.

It is no exaggeration to say that the lack of investment channels is outrageous. In addition to spending time and drinking and buying houses and land, the old rich people don't know how to use the money in their hands at all. So when they heard the prince's explanation of bonds, the impact in their hearts could be imagined.

Looking at the deliberaters with straight eyes, Qin Lei smiled and said: "The biggest difference between this bond and an IOU is that it can be withdrawn in advance at any time, and the price is only the loss of a part of the interest. ”

Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief and said, "This is a lot less risky." Old Master Xu stood up, patted his chest at Qin Lei and said: "We just believe in the prince, don't say that you use the property as collateral, you can redeem it at any time, just by virtue of your words," he said with a heroic appearance, and said with a frothing star flying sideways: "Our Xu family has subscribed half of it!" ”

There was a bang in the field, and the councilors plucked their ears vigorously, and said in disbelief: "Old man, are you really going to subscribe half of it?" That's five million taels? "Five million taels, which is about one-third of the annual fiscal revenue of Great Qin......

According to a certain law, how social resources are distributed will be how social wealth will be distributed. For example, the financial revenue of the Great Qin government is about 13 million taels of silver. Coupled with the part that has been stripped away by officials at all levels, the total should be about fifteen million taels.

Less than one-fifth of the social resources under the control of the imperial court were concentrated in the hands of the vast number of scholars led by the Qin family, which accounted for about fifty percent, and about two and a half belonged to the landlords and merchants of the Shu nationality. What remains is the peasant brothers, who account for ninety percent of the total population, which is almost negligible.

From the ratio of fiscal revenue to the resources controlled by the imperial court, it can be inferred backwards that the national income of Great Qin was about 75 million taels of silver.

Having said so much, I just want to explain that five million taels is equivalent to one-fifteenth of Daqin's annual national income, which is a huge amount of money from any point of view.

Just when everyone was immersed in the impact of five hundred taels of silver, they couldn't extricate themselves for a long time. Zhuo Bingchen, who had been silent since he sat down, stood up, and he said tremblingly: "Our Zhuo family has ...... for the rest."

If the appearance of a benevolent brother who lent money for five million taels of silver is considered a wonder of the ages, then the appearance of two of them is a wonder that can only be seen once in 5,000 years.

Why not say it's a wonder of the ages? Because he stood up again, this time it was Xu Tancheng, and he only heard him say unhurriedly: "The Han family can't be left behind, it's five million taels." ”

Okay, 1,500 taels came out all of a sudden, which is equivalent to the taxes paid by the whole country in a year! No matter where the money comes from, the wealth of the wealthy family has been vividly reflected.

In addition, Old Man Qiao, who was unwilling to be lonely, also had to take out two million taels to buy, and Qin Lei's bonds were short of seven million taels.

The four masters argued endlessly, but no one refused to give in, and the scene froze for a while. Chai Shifang, the director of the Bureau, had no choice but to get up and said: "Lord Wang, it seems that your bond issuance is a little less, just Xu Zhuo Qiaoxu and the four families are not enough, and there is still a room of people who have not bought it, you think it will be changed to 30 million taels." In the following estimates, many outsiders also want to buy it. ”

Qin Lei shook his head in embarrassment and said, "Of course it's good to have more hair, but it's not good," he said with a serious face: "Although the value of those three major projects after completion is hundreds of millions, after all, Jingshan City has only been built by one-third, and the other two simply wait for the rice to go into the pot." After estimation, the current sum of these three places is worth more than 10 million taels. ”

I just listened to him and said seriously: "Because Datong Qianzhuang accepts all bonds, they will not agree to issue additional bonds without full guarantees." ”

"It doesn't matter, our revival yamen can vouch for the prince." Someone said in a loud voice, and this immediately caused a response.

Qin Lei smiled in his heart: "If you really want to sleep, someone will send you a pillow, and I am worried and don't know what to say." In this day and age, related-party transactions are not illegal and cannot be violated. Therefore, he made up his mind early on to let the Fuxing Yamen guarantee the issuance of bonds, so that he could win the trust of the rich people in the world.

After all, although he Qin Lei has a big face, he is only good in the two southern provinces. Once out of the two provinces, I'm afraid there will be few people who buy his account. The Fuxing Yamen, on the other hand, is an entity united by all the big households in the two provinces of Jiangbei and Shannan, and has grown into a behemoth recognized by the world while the vitality of the two provinces has recovered rapidly. If it is guaranteed by him, it will naturally reassure people from other provinces and even foreigners.

Yes, Qin Lei's bonds do not limit the identity of the buyer, as long as they are people and rich, even if they are from the Qi State and Chu State, they can buy it...... Even if the Persian people wanted to buy it, there was no additional trouble other than the fact that it was too far away to exchange it.

That's the benefit of bonds.