Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 258 New situation

Five miles southwest of Xiangyang City, there is Hutou Mountain.The mountain is not very high, and the slope is gentle and unobtrusive.There is a brush pool on the top of the mountain. It is said that Emperor Zhaolie of the Han Dynasty once washed his brushes here.A few years ago, the Jin army came and killed and looted here, and the people fled.After Wang Xiaolie occupied Xiangyang, he set aside a five-mile radius as a manor controlled by the government.

One day in mid-May, Wang Xiaolie summoned his officials and came to the foot of Hutou Mountain.Entered the garden and came to the middle of the mountain.A small waterfall came down from the mountain and fell into the pool below, splashing water.There is a row of houses beside the pool, hidden among the flowers and trees.The peach blossoms around have already withered, and the peaches are still green.A few pomegranates next to it are in full bloom.

Arriving in front of the house, Wang Xiao said: "Xiangyang is located between the north and the south, neither hot nor cold. No matter if it is a tree in the south or a tree in the north, it grows well here. The year before last, this place was set aside to plant trees and flowers from all over the place. .Now that there are some achievements and the scenery here is beautiful, everyone will come here to live for a few days. Take a look at the scenery and discuss the next political affairs."

While speaking, he entered the hall.Everyone sat down one after another, and the soldiers served tea.

Tea is invited.Wang Xiaolie said: "Xiangyang is connected to the north and the south, and the transportation is convenient. Many officials and people from the north and the south live here. When I went to Lumen Mountain last month, I happened to meet two original calligraphy and painting institutes waiting for an edict. They were busy for half a day. After many months, I worked with the engraver to make a copper plate. I think it is very fine, and it is almost ready for engraving."

After finishing speaking, the guards took a few stacks of printed meetings and distributed them to everyone.

Wang Xiaolie said: "Let's take a look, how is the new seal? Are there any things that need to be changed?"

All the officials took the club in their hands and watched it carefully.I saw cloud patterns all over the hall, with Lumen Mountain on one side and Zhaoming Terrace on the other.The four seal characters of "Xiangyang Huizi" are written in the middle of the head, and different amounts of money are drawn below.Below the meeting, there are ten, twenty and fifty words.

Zeng Dun said: "Several kinds of Jiaozi, Huizi, and Qianyin have been printed in the world. Although the shapes are different, there is no such kind. The general Huizi is printed vertically, but this one is horizontal. But this meeting Beautifully printed, nothing else can compare."

Wang Xiaolie said: "It is convenient for common people to print horizontally. It is also convenient for typesetting and printing."

Cai Anqiang, a judiciary from Xiangyang who joined the army, said: "The printing of Huizi is not cheap, and the amount is not too small. This Huizi has a maximum of [-] Wen, and the denomination is a bit small. If it is popular, the people may not want to use copper coins."

Wang Xiaolie said: "Copper coins are too heavy to use. People can use Huizi to store copper coins in the bank, which is a good thing for the court and the people. Only when the bank has enough copper coins can it be exchanged at any time."

All of a sudden, there was a lot of discussion.Most people's opinion is that this meeting is not pleasing to the eye, picking all kinds of problems.Wang Xiaolie answered them patiently, not impatiently.

After slowly calming down, Wang Xiaolie said: "To invite you here today, there are two major events. One is the issuance of the meeting, and many other things. The other is that with the meeting, the people will not be too short of money, and there are many things to do Yes. Issuing clubs is not a simple matter. If you issue too much, the value will depreciate rapidly, which is equivalent to officials robbing people’s wealth, and the people will suffer. If you issue less, the people will be short of money, which is still inconvenient. I decided that future meetings will The printing is in the charge of a special official of the yamen, tentatively decided by Yang Shen to be in charge of this matter. The number printed by the meeting is determined by the department of production and establishment, and Yang Shen organizes people to print. After printing, it will be deposited as a deposit in the yamen Banks. When the yamen need money, they withdraw money according to the amount set by the department. If there is no deposit, they can only borrow from the bank. Deposits have interest, and loans have to pay interest to the bank, everyone remember."

Chen Qiudao couldn't help frowning when he heard this: "It's too complicated to do so. All the money is taken from the bank. Is the bank considered a yamen?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "The bank is not considered a yamen, but it is set up by the department of production and management and operated by itself. The source of their money is not only the printed meeting, but also the money deposited by the yamen and the people, and the interest collected from the loan. Money. Of course, the bank is run by the Department of Construction, which is half a government office."

Chen Qiudao shook his head, feeling that it was too troublesome.Now is the time for war, how much money will the government spend?If this is the case, it will be too troublesome to withdraw money from the bank.And once you have no money, you need to take out a loan, and the repayment of interest is a great pressure on the Yamen.

The following officials discussed it and felt the same way.Everyone is an official and is used to giving orders. Where does the money come from?If there is one in the treasury, it will be withdrawn directly from the treasury.If Curry doesn't have it, he will increase taxes and apportionment to the people.Some minor matters are paid by the officials themselves.Now when withdrawing money from the bank, one has to always think about how much money one has in deposit, and there are so many procedures.

Wang Xiaolie said: "There is no room for negotiation on this matter. When an official is an official, that is, he is running a place. Of course, he must know how much money he has, how much he has to do, and how much money it will take to complete it. Future officials must have this ability."

This is the basis of fiscal standardization, and Wang Xiaolie certainly cannot compromise.After this step is completed, the budget and final accounts can be made later, and officials can be rewarded and punished according to the financial situation.Unlike before, the assessments were all generalized.

Wait for everyone to discuss for a while.Wang Xiaolie said: "I've thought and thought, the number of banks should not be too small. My initial thought is that there should be at least three. One is mainly for business, one is mainly for agriculture, and the other is for postal transportation. Think about it Think enough."

Suddenly, who can think of these?Hearing Wang Xiaolie's words, they looked at each other in blank dismay.

Wang Xiaolie waved his hand: "Forget it, we will live here for a few days, you can discuss this matter later. All in all, in the future, the meeting will be distributed by the bank to the people, and then collected by the bank. As for the interest on deposits and loans The interest will be discussed in detail later. From now on, the money on Jingxixi Road will be distributed around the bank, which is different from before. Both the government and the people must abide by this point."

Why do you want to do this?To be honest, Wang Xiaolie couldn't tell for a while.He just made such a decision based on the memory of his previous life and his own understanding.How can it be possible to explain the truth in it all at once?There is no rush for this matter, as long as it runs smoothly and is done successfully, there will naturally be smart people in the world who will come up with this ideal and make sense.Over time, a complete set of theories will be formed.

The core of it is that banks cannot print money by themselves, but are subject to official control.The yamen cannot control the bank, and cannot withdraw as much money from the bank as they want, but have to make their own budgets.The connecting point of the two is their own system and envoy.Through this system, the economic power under the rule is firmly controlled.Controlling financial power means controlling most of the power.

This is a practice that the officials have never heard of. They said everything, and there was a lot of noise in the hall for a while.For many people, they don't know what to do in the future.

Wait for everyone to discuss for a while.Wang Xiaolie said: "Another thing, when the folks have money, the government has to think about how to develop—"

Chen Qiudao said: "The money is in the bank. Whether it is the government or the people, how can there be money?"

Wang Xiaolie said: "Banks are different from wealthy households. It is useless for them to save money, but to find ways to lend it out. As long as they can earn more money, they can borrow money from the bank. Of course, people can borrow money. Having money. Speaking of it, everyone understands this truth. Just like wealthy households, when they have more money in their hands, they will try their best to open quality banks and borrow money from the private sector. The principle is the same, but who will borrow money? The interest rate is different. Banks not only want to make money, but also support local development.”

Chen Qiudao looked at the other officials and shook his head helplessly: "Observation, to be honest, I don't understand this."

Wang Xiaolie said: "It's actually not complicated. Just like Xiangyang and Dengzhou, the climate is suitable for rice cultivation, and the harvest of rice cultivation can be more than that of wheat cultivation. If you want to grow rice, you need water. Where does the water come from? We need to build ponds , Digging canals. This kind of thing used to be organized by the government, and the private sector paid for it. It doesn’t have to be like this in the future. You can borrow money from the bank to build it, as long as you pay back the principal with interest in the future.”

Chen Qiudao thought for a while, then nodded silently.When Zongze guarded the Kaifeng mansion, Chen Qiudao was the envoy of the capital, and he was very effective in governing the Bianhe River.I can't figure out other things, but water control is easy to figure out.As long as there is money in hand, there is no shortage of workers, and many water conservancy projects can be started.The government guarantees that the money for water treatment will be recovered quickly.When the money is recovered, it can be returned to the bank with interest, and then other projects can be built.

Wang Xiaolie said: "It's not just about building water conservancy, but many things in the private sector can be done like this. With a bank, many things can be done."

(End of this chapter)