Song Cheng, who was wearing a three-grade official uniform, came in from outside and saluted Zhu Youzhu in a proper manner.

It is said that Song Cheng, as a local official of Sanpin, is completely unqualified to appear at this supreme meeting, but this time he was specially summoned by the emperor, so naturally it is a different matter.

In the attic, the fragrance of tea rises as hot water is poured into the tea leaves.

The beauty is like jade, and a pair of slender jade hands sent a cup of fragrant hot tea.

Zhu Youzhu likes to sit in the pavilion and sip tea, and said lightly: "Song Aiqing, you should first tell you about the financial industry in the capital!" ”

Li Yu and other officials silently exchanged glances, and then turned their heads to look at Song Cheng.

Among the younger generations, in addition to Liu Zhong, the governor of Huguang who went to Huguang Qingzhangmu, and Chen Shen, the governor of Xuanda who presided over border trade in Datong, the most brilliant rising star in the capital today is the Shuntianfu Yin who is in charge of Shuntian Mansion.

Although this black-faced young man is incompatible with officialdom, but in terms of honesty and justice, I am afraid that the entire Ming Dynasty will not be able to find a second place.

What's more, now Song Cheng has the title of Song Qingtian and is deeply loved by the people in the capital.

Song Cheng stood with his waist straight, his facial features were clearly contoured, and his whole black face looked sad and joyless, but his eyes looked bright. first responded solemnly, then stood on the left side, turned to the Shangguan present, and gave a salute.

Although he faced a lot of contemptuous eyes, he was not affected in the slightest, and naturally he would not have stage fright on such occasions.

Song Cheng took out a notebook from his cuffs, and then solemnly spoke: "According to the investigation of the Shuntian Mansion, there are a total of 367 shops engaged in lending and pawning in the capital. Among them, the monthly interest rate of the loan is about five cents, and the monthly interest rate of the pawn has also reached four cents, both of which exceed the monthly interest rate of three cents set by the Ming law, and each family does not follow the principle of 'although there are many years, one book and one profit'. When the expiration date is returned to the store, it is sold at a high price, and the profit is several times; Lenders, those who do not return when due, evil servants come to the door to ask for land deeds and land deeds, forcing good families to sell their children as slaves and maids, and the unpaid money forces the bitter master to set up a new foundation, and the people have been suffering from financial loans for a long time. ”

The so-called "although there are many years, one book and one profit" is actually Zhu Yuanzhang's desire to use the "Da Ming Law" to protect ordinary people, requiring that no matter how long the borrower has borrowed, the total interest cannot exceed the principal.

I have to admit that Zhu Yuanzhang is indeed a wise man who cares about the people, and always wants to protect the interests of ordinary people to the greatest extent and give them a chance to turn over.

It's just that "there are policies and countermeasures", and the regulations of the "Da Ming Law" cannot stop the determination of these powerful people to squeeze the people's interests.

The principal amount they initially lent out in the contract was only ten taels, but if the borrower did not repay it when it was due, they asked the borrower to make a new IOU or put it in another pawnshop to borrow.

In this way, they have found a way to solve it. As long as the local yamen cooperates, then it is natural to avoid the constraint of "although there are many years, one book and one profit", and you can exchange ten taels of principal for one hundred taels or even more income.

However, this kind of thing is not an isolated case, but a common occurrence in the capital.

The lending industry began in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and in the Yuan Dynasty, an official lending institution, the Quarantinary Library, appeared, making lending an important source of income for the imperial court and nobles.

At that time, a new profession emerged in Zhongdu, and the "brokers" who were mainly engaged in the lending industry were mainly engaged in the color eye.

The Mongol aristocracy relied on the Han family to lend money for themselves, and the annual interest rate of "lamb money" was as high as 100%, which led to the bankruptcy of a large number of people, and finally became the last straw that crushed the Yuan Dynasty.

It has been more than 100 years since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, and the magnates have already completed the primitive accumulation, so it is logical to intervene in the lending industry. After all, in this world, I am afraid there is no better deal than lending.

Although the Yuan Dynasty's "eviction of households" disappeared, a profession called "pulling capital debts" appeared in the capital.

"Pulling Beijing debts" is not a decent profession, and it mainly relies on one's own network resources to lure some officials to borrow Beijing debts, so as to obtain commissions for themselves.

"Ming Yingzong Records" recorded: "There are dozens of scoundrels in Beijing, often in front of the officials, often led to the rich family to borrow money and bribe for it, in fact, it is either to or not, even if the United States is in addition to cover up for their own merits have their own gold." ”

Earlier, Zhu Youzhu mobilized the nobles to plant cotton together, and the reason why many martial artists did not care about Zhu Youzhu was that they were unwilling to cooperate with Zhu Youji's measures, and on the other hand, there was no shortage of these melons and dates.

After their ancestors had completed their primitive accumulation, they began to engage in the business of money lending in the capital, especially for the debts of officials with outstanding ability to repay, so that they found the most stable and rich source of wealth like the Mongol aristocracy.

The golden sunlight scattered in the courtyard at the back, and the expressions of the officials in the imperial study were different.

In the spring and March of the second year of Hongzhi, the layer of window paper of loan sharks was still pierced by the upright Shuntianfu Yin, and the spearhead was pointed at the high ownership of the capital.

Han Youying's body is more feminine, especially her skin has become fairer, her legs are straight and slender, and she is handing Zhu Youzhu a cup of new tea.

She actually understands business, but she knows that usury is indeed a good business, but the consequence is that countless family wives are separated, and many families can only live in rich families as slaves for generations.

It's just that now, when she saw the emperor in front of her pointing to the most profitable business in the world, she couldn't help but feel her heart beat faster for this man's courage.

Perhaps in the near future, I can really see a real prosperous society, where every ordinary person can live well.

Zhu Youzhu watched Song Cheng tell him about the financial situation in Beijing, so he picked up the teacup and tasted the tea slowly, not in a hurry to make a statement.

Regarding Daming's financial problems, he already knew about it, but he decided to do it now.

Zhu Youzhu took a sip of tea, as if he were just a bystander, condescendingly ready to listen to the important ministers below express their opinions, or sit back and watch them argue.

Even ordinary things can be quarreled, and when it comes to financial decisions, it must be full of gunpowder today.

"This private lending thing has always been a willingness to fight and a willingness to suffer. Although the interest rate of private loans is higher, it can help people solve their urgent needs, and now the monthly interest rate of four or five cents is much lower than in the past. Wu Yu, the right attendant of the household department, saw that the old fox in front of him was silent, and even took the lead in expressing his opinion.

Here it comes!

When Wu Yu expressed his opinion, Wan An and Liu Ji opened their eyes one after another, as if they had a clear heart.

Song Cheng turned his head to look at Wu Yu, and said seriously: "Lord Wu, you are wrong!" Not to mention that these pawnshops and money banks actually make profits several times or even dozens of times, even if the monthly interest rate is four or five cents, they have already violated the law set by the great ancestor. If the law of the Ming Dynasty is violated, how can the court sit idly by? As for the future of the moon, this matter is not worth discussing. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it has ruled the world with benevolence and filial piety, and has been benevolent since then! ”

Benevolent?

Wan An turned his head and glanced deeply at Song Cheng, who was talking eloquently, although he felt that this black-faced young man seemed very innocent, but he did still maintain his innocence.

"Song Mansion Yin, the dynasty naturally wants to rule the world with benevolence and filial piety, but it must not stick to the rules! Private lending has been for 2,000 years, and our dynasty must be kind to the people, but we must also understand that the grain is cheap and hurt the peasants, and we must be well versed in the way of governing the country with the three policies of Fan Wenzheng's barren government! He Qiaoxin, the new secretary of the Criminal Department, is Song Cheng's boss, and he seems to be serious and preachy.

The so-called three policies of waste government are the three measures taken by Fan Zhongyan in the face of local disasters.

Fan Zhongyan failed to preside over the new policy again, was exiled by the imperial court, and later reappointed as the governor of Hangzhou. After taking up his post in Hangzhou, there was a great famine on the two Zhejiang roads this year, and there was hunger in the road, and the hungry people moved all over the road.

In the face of this disaster, the local government was busy cracking down on price hikes, but Fan Zhongyan unbelievably launched three "three policies for waste administration" that were not understood by ordinary people.

One of the most puzzling is that Fan Zhongyan raised the price of rice, when the price of a bucket of rice in Hangzhou was 120 yuan, he directly raised the price of rice to 180 yuan, and posted a list along the river to publicize the sharp rise in the price of rice in Hangzhou.

However, this criticized measure has achieved miraculous results.

The Ming court transported 4 million Shicao grain from the southeast to the capital, and the freight cost was nearly 2 million taels, and the grain merchants naturally spent a lot of money to transport the rice to Hangzhou.

Because of believing Fan Zhongyan's false propaganda, many grain merchants in the southeast flocked to the country because they thought it was profitable.

It's just that when these rice grains were transported to Hangzhou City one after another, due to the limited demand of the people in Hangzhou City, there was a market in excess of supply, and the price of rice in Hangzhou City eventually fell rapidly.

Now He Qiao's new example of Fan Zhongyan's three policies of desolation can be said to be very clever, Fan Zhongyan is the Song official most admired by Wenchen after all, and raising the price of rice has indeed achieved miraculous results.

Through this example, it seems that the "reasonableness" of the high interest rate of private lending can be corroborated.

Jia Jun, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and others originally opposed the high-interest behavior of private financial institutions, but after seeing He Qiaoxin's analysis, they found that a monthly interest rate of four or five cents may be a reasonable interest.

Zhu Youzhu put down the teacup in his hand, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

He Qiaoxin is actually stealing the concept, Fan Zhongyan's increase in rice prices is to achieve "low rice prices", and the high interest rate of private loans is to maintain the high profits of the elite.

Even later generations of people who know a little about economics will be able to understand that high interest rates will only cause a large amount of capital to pour into the financial industry, and low interest rates are the best way to stimulate the economy.

The fundamental problem with why the elites are still reluctant to build weaving factories to participate in maritime trade is that the returns from lending are too high, so they are unwilling to step out of their comfort zone.

It's not that high interest rates are completely unbeneficial, and a sound lending system can indeed solve some people's urgent needs, but it often causes borrowers to quench their thirst.

"He Shangshu, the lower officials don't understand what high interest rates have to do with the three strategies of wasteland! It's just that now private lending is clearly violating the laws of the Ming Dynasty, and a hundred profits are the original intention of breaching Taizu, so such evil winds cannot rise again! Now I welcome Mingjun, how can I be incurable? Song Cheng had his own position and responded seriously.

Hey?

Wan An and Liu Ji couldn't help but look at Song Cheng, daring to love this black-faced young man who still knows how to pat on the back.

But this is indeed the case, if it weren't for Zhu Youzhu in power, other emperors wouldn't have found this stubborn disease if they didn't say whether they had the courage or not.

Zhu Youzhu glanced at Song Cheng deeply, but still didn't say anything.

Although he wants to rectify it, the involvement of lending is too great, and it can be said that the magnates of the entire capital are involved. The best thing to do now is to have someone like Song Cheng take the lead, and he will sit firmly in the rear.

As a qualified emperor, he can't easily express his position. If there is a true patriotic courtier, then it is up to him to rush forward for him, so that he can better win with one blow.

He Qiaoxin suspected that Song Cheng didn't even know what was going on, so he looked at Song Cheng with disdain: "Song Mansion Yin, the old man's words can actually be very simple!" What you think is bad government is not necessarily bad government, what you think is good government is not necessarily good government, and whether a policy is good or bad is not up to you alone, but should be evaluated by the people! ”

As soon as these words came out, Liu Ji and other officials couldn't help nodding secretly, and at the same time seriously looked at the new secretary of the Criminal Department, which was indeed a bit of real material.

Zhu Youzhu also looked at He Qiaoxin, but his eyes didn't appreciate it.

Although He Qiaoxin is already the secretary of the criminal department, in fact, his father He Wenyuan was even more powerful back then, and once the official worshiped the secretary of the ministry and was crowned the prince Taibao.

However, the final fate of his father He Wenyuan was more tragic. After the change of seizing the door, because in the edict of Emperor Jingtai Yichu, He Wenyuan wrote a sentence on the song, "The father has the son of the world".

If Emperor Jingtai inherited the throne, then he would naturally be a great hero from the dragon.

It's just that the heavens did not fulfill people's wishes, and when Yingzong was reinstated and learned of this, he immediately ordered the arrest of He Wenyuan, but He Wenyuan chose to hang himself to protect his family.

He Qiaoxin kept filial piety for several years, and then returned to officialdom, and his career was not affected by his father, but was strongly recommended by Huaien and others.

Zhu Youzhi originally arranged He Qiaoxin to retire in Nanjing, but Du Ming was forced to resign due to the influence of his son, and his favorite Liu Zhong and Chen Kun were not enough to experience in the local area, and He Cong, the governor of Shandong, and Liu Xuan, the governor of Liaodong, could not move now.

He actually has nothing to do with He Qiaoxin, because He Qiaoxin's father was indirectly harmed by Yingzong, so he doesn't really want to reuse this person.

It's just that the Son of Heaven still has to talk about some rules after all, and the most suitable candidate now is indeed He Qiaoxin, plus he is ready to kick out Liu Jian, and he really has to add a clear stream to balance the forces of the court.

Wu Yu, the right attendant of the household, seemed to be He Qiaoxin's little fan brother, and his eyes lit up slightly and echoed: "What He Shangshu said is extremely true! At that time, everyone thought that Fan Wenzheng was raising the price of rice to put the people in danger, but as everyone knows, the price of rice in Hangzhou will soon fall, and the people can survive! Now you think that the interest rate is too high, but now the people do not complain, so it proves that this matter should not be taken lightly! ”

"The people have no complaints? Wu Shilang, you are too far away from the people! Your Majesty, the minister begs to summon Yu Ming, a villager of Hebei Village, to listen to the voices of the people below! Song Cheng glanced at Wu Yu with disdain, and then solemnly asked.

August is here, good luck to all!

(End of chapter)