In the eighth year of Jiajing, the smuggling of copper coins was rampant, and the imperial court issued an order to prohibit the sale of copper coins, which led to the money tables and money shops that operated currency exchange businesses. In the fifth year of Wanli, Pang Shangpeng approved the establishment of a money shop, which was the beginning of the law for the money village, and the Yin Shi household in the town was filled, and according to the amount of his capital, he bought money from the government and traded through it.

In the beginning, many money banks were not just engaged in money exchange, but often engaged in other industries. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the money bank has become an independent financial organization, not only operating exchange, but also lending, providing the convenience of issuing posts and withdrawals, and the original exchange of bills in the two places has also become a credit circulation tool for the money bank to issue banknotes. In addition, a number of small-scale money exchange shops and money and rice shops are quite active in rural areas.

Shanxi's economy is developed, Jin merchants are rich, and many Jin merchants rely on money to make their fortunes. Moreover, the business is prosperous, and the exchanges of commercial circulation are also very prosperous, and there are more money banks and the like with business names. As a large port in the north, there are at least a dozen money villages in Yanghe City.

This Maude Money Village is the largest of them.

It is said that the proprietor behind Maode Qian Zhuang is the Jin merchant magnate and one of the seven great families known to Dong Ce, and there are also shares of the governor of Datong in it. The background of hard tie and strong financial resources have made Maode Qianzhuang one of the most reputable ticket numbers in northern Shanxi.

Qian Zhuang is in the middle of the northern section of Qipan Street, but not facing the street, but at the end of a small alley. In fact, the storefronts of Yanghe City are basically concentrated on both sides of this street that is several miles long and ten feet wide. The reason why Qian Zhuang was chosen in the alley was for safety reasons. There is only one opening in this alley, and at the end is the gate of the money village, so that even if someone is plotting against him, he can only go back and forth in one way, which is the most suitable for catching turtles in the urn.

Qianzhuang looks no different from other stores, but the wall is extraordinarily high, I am afraid that there are more than three zhang, and the gate is also very high, but it is very narrow, and only one person can pass back and forth. The gate is made of large blue bricks, and the surrounding area is made of large stones.

All this, naturally, is for anti-theft.

In fact, in this era, the anti-theft measures are not only these, and the Jin merchants are actually a very shrewd group and very creative. They set up money banks, and in order to work capital, it was inevitable to transport gold and silver and other precious metals back and forth between the banks, even if they did not open money banks, when a large caravan pulled out to sell goods, it was necessary to carry large sums of gold and silver with them.

In order to prevent robbers and bandits, they melted the silver and cast it into a large silver ball weighing 3,000 catties or 5,000 catties, the size of a large urn. In this way, even if they were robbed by bandits on the road, those bandits were in a hurry to leave, and they couldn't carry such heavy objects at all, so they could only sigh helplessly, and then leave quickly. When the time comes, follow the location and look for it, and the big silver ball will still be there.

The name of helplessness is really worthy of the name.

In later generations, especially in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, relying on Zhangku Avenue and the commercial port of Zhangjiakou, the Jin merchants have achieved a great leap forward, and their financial resources far exceed those of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, as long as the money bank was larger, it would make two of them, so they would be placed at the door of the money bank, and no one would be sent to take care of them. This kind of behavior is purely a display of financial strength.

At this time, there was no helplessness at the door, Dong Ce squinted at the inside of the high wall, thinking that he was afraid that there would be a lot of money in this bank.

There were two big men in cotton jackets at the door, with a fierce face, but when they saw Dong Ce and others coming over, they had a smile on their faces. It's just that the stiff smile squeezed out of the fierce face is really awkward.

A man in Tsing Yi greeted him and said with a smile: "Distinguished guest, do you want to deposit or withdraw money, or exchange?" ”

He looked vicious, but his speech was somewhat coherent.

Dong Ce smiled: "Deposit." ”

The big man said, "Please speak inside." ”

After entering, it was a small space, and directly opposite the door was a high counter, and there was an iron fence above the counter. This can't help but remind Dong Ce of the banks of later generations, and sure enough, financial institutions always have the same.

The shopkeeper was crackling behind the counter and didn't know what to calculate, and when he looked up and saw Dong Ce, he was dressed luxuriously and had an extraordinary temperament, and he didn't dare to slack off, so he hurriedly greeted: "Do you want to make a deposit?" ”

Dong Ce asked, "I deposit money here, how is the process?" What is the process if I withdraw money in a different place? ”

The shopkeeper said with a smile: "If you deposit less than 5,000 taels, you will be charged a certain amount of interest on this number, which is 1,000 and a half per year." Less than one year is counted as one year, and one day is counted as one year. That is to say, if the son deposits 1,000 taels for a year and a day, then when the time comes to take it out, 10 taels of silver need to be deducted. If you deposit more than 5,000 taels and less than 10,000 taels, no interest will be charged. If you deposit more than 10,000 taels, this number will give you interest every year, which is also 1,000 and a half per year. After depositing, this number will issue you a membership ticket, the number of membership tickets, the denomination, which you specify. At the same time, you will be given a secret deposit. At that time, all you need to do is hand over the ticket in this number and say the secret deposit. As for withdrawals......"

He paused, smiled slightly, and showed a reserved look on his face: "My Maode Qianzhuang tree has deep roots, in Shanxi, Datong, Xuanfu, and even Beijing, Tianjin and other places, there are semicolons, a total of thirteen, the most convenient, if there is no local area, then it is okay to go to the nearby big city." ”

Before the introduction of banking services, money banks had almost no interest and had to charge fees. Even after the entry of modern banks into China, large deposits before and after World War I had interest on large deposits, but small deposits were not, and because banks were not as formalized as they are now, many banks did not accept small deposits at all.

From the Tang Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, basically depositors had to pay interest to the bank, unless it was a large amount of deposits.

This is also the reason why the money bank makes huge profits, depositors have to pay interest, and the money bank has so much money in its hands, it is natural to lend a large number of money, many of which are the most hated donkeys rolling and making profits. The income from lending is extremely high. Combined, the profits are amazing.

Dong Ce nodded after listening, the money bank in this era cannot be compared with the banks with outlets all over the world in later generations, and it is already very strong to have thirteen branches.

"I'll save five thousand taels."

Dong Ce said a word, turned around and motioned to Wang Tong and the others to bring the silver.

At this time, the man in green clothes opened another door, the light in this room was dim, and the color of the door was the same as the wall, so Dong Ce's eyes couldn't tell it.

The door opened on the outside of the counter, and once you entered, it was a large room. The green bricks are scattered all over the floor, and there are tables and chairs made of precious wood such as small leaves and red sandalwood, which look like a resting place. The big man in Tsing Yi asked Dong Ce to sit down, and a small servant came in to serve tea. Then Wang Tong and the others took out the silver, and two middle-aged people came in to check the fineness of the silver.

After about a cup of tea, the man in Tsing Yi came in and said, "Distinguished guest, it's done." ”

Then he handed Dong Ce a bill of exchange and a piece of paper with the secret detention written on it. After Dong Ce knocked on the secret charge, he put the paper on the candle flame and burned it, and said with a faint smile: "There is labor." ”

Dahan hurriedly said: "Don't dare to be, don't dare to be." ”

According to Dong Ce's meaning, only one ticket was opened, but the secret was random.

He had a meeting ticket, not a silver ticket.

These two are two existences that are slightly similar, but mostly different.

In the later period, the silver ticket has gradually changed into a form of currency, with a denomination on it, which can be spent and changed. The biggest difference between it and the membership ticket is that it can be used directly in some permanent offices.

The meeting ticket is just a kind of exchange certificate.

In addition, when many localities encountered a "money shortage" -- that is, a shortage of silver and copper -- local officials ordered the establishment of customs and cards to prohibit metal coins from leaving the country, in an attempt to implement local protectionism. Therefore, a method called "co-bonds" was born in Datang, which is the so-called "flying money".

The emergence of flying money greatly facilitated the merchants and promoted the prosperity of commerce and all walks of life in the Tang Dynasty. The meaning of the coupon is a coupon, divided into two halves, the payee issues a coupon and delivers it to the remitter's place of origin, and when the businessman returns to the local area with the other half of the coupon, the two coupons are checked and correct, and the cash can be redeemed at the designated place. In the Song Dynasty, the flying money invented in the Tang Dynasty was developed into "convenient exchange". In the Ming Dynasty, it became a meeting ticket, which was more widely applicable than the "flying money" and "exchange" in the Tang and Song dynasties. The nature of "flying money" and "instant exchange" is to remit cash in cash, that is, to deposit cash silver and copper banknotes in place A and redeem them with coupons in place B, but the remitter has to pay a certain percentage of the "handling fee".

One

%77%77%77%2e%64%75%30%30%2e%63%63/