According to later statistics, the profits of the financial industry accounted for half of the total profits of all listed companies.

Throughout the 2,000-year feudal history of China, the financial industry has always firmly occupied a place, and the most important form of expression is lending.

As early as the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, there was the first incident of "default by the Son of Heaven" in China, which gave rise to the idiom that has been used to this day - high debts.

It is said that in 256 BC, the Qin State seized Yangcheng and Negative Millet in Korea and approached the Zhou Wangcheng. Therefore, King Zhou Xun drafted an edict, distributed it to the six countries, and agreed to concentrate his forces to attack Qin. Because Zhou Tianzi's treasury was empty at that time, he had to borrow from the wealthy merchant Dajia to raise military expenses, promising to repay it with the spoils of war after the destruction of Qin, and pay interest.

Later, the state of Qin sent a large army into the city of the king of Zhou, and the king of Zhou surrendered to Qin and was driven to the new city south of Yique.

The creditors rushed to the new city to collect debts from the king, and Zhou Tianzi, who was already at the end of his rope, had no choice but to flee into a post house built on a high platform to avoid debts, and this high platform was called "debt escape" and "debt avoidance".

It can be seen that lending has existed since the emergence of feudal society, and has even become a means for many people in power to accumulate money.

For example, Meng Weijun Tian Wenfeng of Qi raised more than 3,000 diners, and his economic source was mainly to earn interest from money lending, and He Kun's wealth was inseparable from the income of the financial industry.

According to the "Later Han Shu Pang Shen Biography", in the first four years of the Han Emperor's reign Liu Huyong, the Eastern Han Empire fought against the Qiang people, and the military expenditure increased significantly. In the sixth year of Emperor Liu Baoyonghe of Han Shun, the emperor issued an edict to borrow money from the wealthy people, and the edict pretended that the people had a thousand yuan per household.

As emperors, they all became borrowers, which shows that lending has long been integrated into the historical torrent of China.

In the Yuan Dynasty, lending became a malignant tumor of the state, and the Yuan court also introduced a measure for this purpose.

In the thirteenth year of Dading, because the interest rate of the folk code was too high, Jin Shizong Wanyan Yong ordered to set up a library of quality codes in Zhongdu, Dongping, Zhending and other places, called "Liuquan", and the mortgage was valued according to seventy percent of the collateral, with a monthly interest of one cent, and if it was not redeemed after 25 months, the pledged items were sold off the shelves.

However, this kind of measure is destined to fail to stop the development of the private lending industry, and it is the well-known Shanxi ticket number that pushes the financial business to the top.

According to some data, the ticket number of Qiao's family alone has a working capital of 8 million taels to 10 million taels of silver a year. Qiao Zhiyong owns more than 200 ticket numbers, shops, etc., and his total assets are more than tens of millions of taels of silver.

When Zhu Yuanzhang seized the world, he was also aware of the harm of financial lending business, so the "Da Ming Law" clearly stipulated: All private lending of money and debts and pawn property shall not exceed three cents per month.

It's just that this law can't stop the development of the financial industry, and the name of the pawnshop in the Ming Dynasty alone has more than a dozen kinds of pawnshops, such as the solution of the library, the solution of the shop, the pawnshop, the pawnshop, the quality store, the quality shop, the seal shop, etc., and there are 230 pawnshops in Henan Province alone.

In fact, the most important source of income for pawnshops is not interest, but if the pawnbroker does not return the money when due, the pawnshop can get several times or even ten times the profit.

As for the cash money lending of Dangfu and Qianshi, this is after all the era of governing the people but not governing power, otherwise silver would not have become the most important currency in circulation, so it is not limited by the "Da Ming Law" at all.

It is recorded in "Dream of the Golden House": The new official takes the Beijing account, and it is six folds, six taels is counted as ten taels, and fifteen profits per month. In less than a year, it was only sixty taels, and even the original should have been three hundred taels.

Today, Beijing bonds and pawnshops have become the most important source of income for the elite, and Zhu Ji, the princess of Chongqing, and the marquis of Huichang are among the beneficiaries.

It's just that no one could have imagined that Hongzhi, who had just ascended the throne for a year and a half, would swing a stick at the largest interest group in the capital under everyone's defenselessness.

East of the city, Horse House.

"Sealed? This princess will enter the palace to face the saint! ”

East of the city, Xiangcheng Houfu

"Why didn't there be any wind beforehand? Quickly invite several other Hou Ye over to discuss countermeasures! ”

West of the city, Rui Anber House

"Quick...... Prepare the sedan chair quickly, Ben Bo will enter the palace immediately, and the Queen Mother must be the master! ”

North of the city, Yin Mansion.

"The old man has been retired for three years, is this going over old accounts?"

North of the city, a certain house.

"Sealed? Could it be that the small treasury of the miscellaneous family is known to His Majesty? ”

……

His financial store was suddenly seized by the imperial court, which immediately shocked the entire elite circle in the capital, and also made these people take action immediately.

It was only a few secret operations of the yamen, and the commander of the 12th battalion personally led people to assist in the sealing, resulting in the 100 largest financial stores in the capital not being spared.

For a time, the entire capital seemed to be full of mourning, and some people even chose to flee the capital immediately.

In the hall of nourishing the heart, a stream of sandalwood rose from the copper furnace.

Zhu Youji, who was wearing a dragon robe, sat in the hall, although he knew that the magnates outside were panicking, but he didn't care about the disturbances in the outside world at all, and was seriously dealing with the affairs at hand.

Originally, he was in a good mood, but compared with the troubles of those powerful people, after seeing some of the expenses that the imperial court was about to disburse, he also felt a lot of headaches.

Many people think that as long as the tax revenue of the imperial court is well managed, then the Ming Dynasty can create a new prosperous era and become a generation of Ming monarchs.

It's just that in an agrarian society, in fact, there are always two very practical problems to face: one is that the income from grain tax and salt tax cannot even solve the normal court expenses; The other is how to improve the people's spending power.

In the prosperous and prosperous times, it is never just a matter of literati writing a few poems, but it is necessary to build a healthy finance, and at the same time to cut into the consumption power of the people.

Like now, even if he has brought the shuttle weaving technology to this era, he has to face a heart-wrenching problem, and many people at the bottom still can't wear the cotton cloth woven by the shuttle machine.

As for the Ming Dynasty's finances, Zhu Youzhu thought that he had done well enough last year, but he only had three million taels of silver to spend freely. It's just that after most of the silver was allocated to the Tianjin Royal Shipyard for the production of sea ships, there were not many silver taels left.

Although the imperial court had an annual income of 30 million stone taxes and grain, although the imperial court was burdened with military salaries, official salaries, rice from the clans, and rice from nobles, it also had to be responsible for water conservancy projects and transportation.

Since the ice river has been unblocked, last year's autumn grain is being transported north through more than 100,000 Cao soldiers.

Just in order to transport four million stone grains to the Tongzhou granary every year, the cost of one year alone is close to two million taels, reaching eighty percent of the loss.

As far as Zhu Youzhi knows, corruption in the transportation system is very serious. For example, the shipyard that produces cao boats always cut corners, resulting in the mortality rate of cao soldiers increasing year by year, and even cao boats have to become fast-moving consumer goods.

In addition, more than 100,000 Cao soldiers were exploited layer by layer, not only could they not get the money they deserved from the Cao Yun Yamen, but they even had to spend money to cross the sluice. Although they brought local products to the capital to earn some extra money, some Cao soldiers had to sell the planks of the Cao boats in order to make a living.

Zhu Youzhi saw that the Caobing Governor Yamen had requested an allocation of 300,000 taels for the production of Cao boats and 200,000 taels for the maintenance of the river embankment, and in the blink of an eye, he would allocate a full 500,000 taels from Taicang to the Cao Yun Governor's Palace.

After Zhou Nai, the governor of Caoyun, who was also the governor of the river, requested 500,000 taels for Caoyun, the Yellow River side also asked for an appropriation of 500,000 taels like a lion, and a total of 1 million taels needed to be distributed.

Zhu Youzhu has never been a stingy person, but when he sees that the input is like milking a cow and the expenditure is like turning on the faucet, he can't help but secretly feel pain.

It's just that the transportation of four million stone cao grain has to spend money to repair, after all, the grain in the north is still not self-sufficient, but it needs the southeast cao grain to supply the Beijing division to ensure the living needs of millions of soldiers and civilians.

As for the Yellow River, there is no room for failure, which is related to the livelihoods of people in Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong.

Although Zhu Youzhu felt very painful, these two things were related to the food security and water conservancy projects of the military and civilians in the capital and the nine borders, but he had to allocate 1 million taels.

"Your Majesty, all the ministers are here!" Liu Jin came in from the outside and looked respectful.

In the imperial study, all the ministers gathered together, but the atmosphere seemed a little dignified.

No one expected that the emperor would seize all 100 properties in the capital, which is probably the biggest crackdown on merchants by the imperial court since the Ming Dynasty.

Wan An and Liu Ji looked honest and serious, sitting in the front row with their eyes closed.

Although Li Yu, the secretary of the ministry, and Jia Jun, the secretary of the ministry, were anxious, they were more speculating about the emperor's intentions, after all, this time they were simply going to be enemies of the entire elite circle in the capital.

However, judging from the latest news, the emperor only asked the various yamen to seal the shops, but did not make a move to confiscate the money, so he did not know the emperor's true intentions.

Although Li Si, the head of the household department, and Wang Yue, the imperial historian of the left capital of the Imperial Palace, knew some inside information, as the emperor's trusted courtiers, they naturally would not speak easily.

Chen Zheng and other officials of the Ministry of Industry frequently looked at the door, and because they were approached by people one after another, they just wanted to find out what the emperor really thought now.

If the emperor really wants to focus on the wealth of these pawnshops, money shops, and money banks, with the emperor now firmly in control of the twelve capital camps, there is really no one who can disobey the emperor's will.

After all, the emperor, who had been on the throne for a year and a half, had completely mastered the court, but he could do anything according to his intentions.

Today was a sunny and good day, and a dark shadow suddenly appeared at the door, and all the ministers stood up and saluted Zhu Youzhu who came in.

When Zhu Youzhu just entered the door, he had already seen the eager expressions of some courtiers in his eyes, but he knew that the 100 industries that had been seized were probably related to these people.

After all, he came from the era of the information explosion, but he knew that the officials present did not really have a clean Qing official at all, and even a flexible minister like He Kun had already been involved in the money lending business.

Zhu Youzhu asked everyone to return to their seats, and walked directly to the stairs over there: "Wang Aiqing!" ”

"The minister is here!" Wang Yue came out of the ranks, looking respectful and authentic.

Li Yu and the others looked at Wang Yue one after another, and then turned their heads to look at Zhu Youji, who was going up the stairs, in confusion, not understanding why the emperor suddenly let the Imperial Procuratorate participate in politics.

Zhu Youzhu glanced down lightly, and said solemnly: "The Metropolitan Procuratorate is not among the six departments, so it is said that it cannot attend this meeting!" It's just that Wang Aiqing wants to know the latest policy trends of the Ming Dynasty, so that it is convenient for him to supervise hundreds of officials, so I specially allow him to come and listen! ”

Audit?

Li Yu and the others looked at Wang Yue, who was sitting on the side, and then suddenly opened their mouths.

But I have to admire the wisdom of this emperor, and while giving the Metropolitan Procuratorate great power, he also imposed some restrictions on the power of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Now the six of them are at the helm of the direction of the empire, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate under the charge of Wang Yue is keeping an eye on the six of them, so as to ensure the smooth navigation of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Youzhu looked back at Wang Yue, and also warned seriously: "Wang Aiqing, although you are in this meeting, you must not participate in the discussion in the future!" ”

"The minister only has ears and no mouth!" Wang Yue knew that it was already a great favor for him to be able to come in, so he seriously assured him.

Zhu Youzhu knew that Wang Yue was a person who understood the rules, and looked at the officials present: "I am here to announce something!" Du Ming has returned to his hometown, and the impeachment of Du Ming's project for embezzlement can be stopped. If there is no real impeachment seal, it is impossible for me to investigate my important ministers, let alone confiscate my family wealth for no reason! After a pause, he earnestly assured: "I know what some of you are worried about, and I am always afraid that I will listen to the impeachment seal that catches the wind and shadows, so I will prove whether I am greedy for ink by confiscating my family property." I won't do this now, and I won't do it in the future, so you can all rest assured! ”

Du Ming, the secretary of the Criminal Department, left, like a tree falling and scattering, and many officials of the Department of Science and Technology were impeached one after another. In fact, this kind of impeachment undoubtedly carries a kind of temptation, I am afraid to see how it will react.

Zhu Youzhu was reluctant to speculate on these ministers with "human nature and evil", but Wang Zhi, who was in charge of the West Factory back then, said to Xianzong: "Yang Jizong is the only official in the world who is not greedy."

An official who is not greedy is already the first Qing official in the Ming Dynasty, how low has this threshold been lowered?

Zhu Youzhu believed that Du Ming probably took some money from the project when he was in charge of the Ministry of Works, but just because of this speculation, he raided the courtier's home.

Don't say you can't do this kind of thing, and you can't do it.

The most important thing now is to build Daming into the world's textile center, only in this way can we continue to obtain information from other countries, so as to bring benefits to the Chinese people.

If you have been focusing on confiscating the officials' family wealth, not to mention that Jiaqing, which has copied 10 million taels of Hekun, will not bring prosperity to the country, and it is easy to cause the officials below to deviate from morality and fail to do anything.

Zhu Youzhi knew that now was not the time to vigorously control corruption, and the productivity of this agricultural society alone could not support the prosperity he wanted, so the most important thing now was to gather the strength of these courtiers to promote the Ming Dynasty forward.

This......

Chen Zheng, the left waiter of the Ministry of Works, and Liu Zhang, the right waiter of the Ministry of Works, silently exchanged glances, and suddenly felt relieved.

They knew that the emperor in front of them had always been a man of his word and deeds, and now that the emperor did not go to investigate Du Ming because of the impeachment seal, then he would not raid their family wealth without evidence in the future.

Like Zhu Ji, the former commander of the Jinyi Guard, everyone knows that Zhu Ji has fallen out of favor, and Zhu Ji obviously has economic style problems, but the emperor did not torture Zhu Ji without evidence before getting the evidence of the crime.

An emperor who speaks the rules undoubtedly reassures them a lot.

Liu Jian, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, didn't care about this kind of thing, after all, he had been staying in the Qingshui Yamen, but he looked at Zhu Youji, who had seized his wife's and brother's pawnshop, with a little resentment.

"I called you over today, in essence, to discuss with you Aiqing how to rectify the financial industry in the capital!" Zhu Youzhu said his intentions, and then said to Liu Jin below: "Bring Song Cheng in!" ”

(End of chapter)