Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 191 Lending
A few days later, Fang Li met Cheng Lin who came to Chang'an Town under the recommendation of Huang Bin.

After discussing with Cheng Lin, Gong Fanwu finalized some of the rules and regulations required for lending, and then he returned to the capital.Before leaving, he told Cheng Lin to do it freely, as there are Jinyiwei Hangzhou Qianhu, all troubles will not be a problem.The important thing is to take the opportunity to spread the word after the first loan is released, so that more people will know the existence of the Four Seas Bank, and know that the loan interest of the bank is much lower than others.

Gong Fanwu talked with Cheng Lin that the interest on the loan is secondary. The important thing is to make many merchants' workshops that lack funds turn into a business and produce more items. That is the ultimate goal.

Of course, the items produced by these borrowers will be purchased first by the Universal Commercial Bank, and this must be written in the loan documents.

There is no place to entertain guests in the workshop, so the few people talked at Huang Bin's home not far from the workshop.

Huang Bin was holding a teapot to refill Cheng Lin and Fang Li's tea. After sitting down, he said with a smile: "My master will come to the workshop for a few days, so I can rest assured that I will send all the accounts for the past few days for my master to check. The silver taels left by the master before he left last time have not been used up, and hundreds of pieces of silk and satin have been woven; the little one wants to ask the master, should they be transported together this time or save some more?"

Cheng Lin waved his hands and said with a smile: "Ah Bin, you are an expert. If an amateur like this old man intervenes, it will inevitably be inappropriate. As long as you do it with your heart, it will be fine. Since there are hundreds of finished products, the old man will take them with you when he returns. It’s fine to go back to the warehouse in Hangzhou. There’s no rush, you can find the space and hire a carriage, the old man will stay in town for a few more days!”

Huang Bin nodded in response, and Fang Li who was sitting beside him looked at the two talking enviously, and said inwardly: Ah Bin is really lucky to have such a kind owner at the stall, but I don't know if what I want can be negotiated today.

Cheng Lin looked sideways at Fang Li, smiled and said, "Brother Fang is about the same age as A Bin, right? A Bin has briefly talked about your situation with the old man. How long has Brother Fang been in business? How is the workshop at home? No precedent for borrowing?
Fang Li hastily bowed his hands and saluted: "As far as the return journey is concerned, the younger one is two years older than A Bin, and has been weaving silk for five years; there are six looms at home, and ten workers are employed. The younger one is with his wife. I also weave silk on weekdays. I have never borrowed money before, but this time I heard that your company has money and wants to borrow money, and the interest is extremely low, so I asked Ah Bin to be a middleman to ask!"

Huang Bin nodded and said: "Boss, A Li is similar to my family in the past. We were playmates since we were young. A Li's character is undeniable. He is kind and hardworking. He has accumulated some family property in the past few years. A few days ago when I was chatting with my uncle, I found out about Ali’s intention to expand, and today happened to be the owner’s visit, so I have the courage to recommend it for him!”

Cheng Lin said with a smile: "Since I am acquainted with Ah Bin, then the old man can speak frankly!"

Fang Li nodded quickly and then sat back and listened quietly.

Cheng Lin opened the mouth and said: "I know that brother Fang wants to borrow money to expand the workshop, but I don't know how much money I want to borrow? What is there as collateral? Are you sure to control the workshop?"

Fang Lisi replied after a while: "I would like to ask Mr. Cheng, what is the interest rate of your company's loan? If it is as high as the Hangzhou government, the small one can't bear it. I hope Mr. Cheng will tell you the specific amount!"

Cheng Lin leaned back in his chair with a smile and said, "Although this old man is the shopkeeper of the Hangzhou Mansion of Sihai Commercial Bank, in terms of vision and insight, he is far behind Dong Weng in the headquarter of the capital! At the beginning, I heard the amount of interest set by Dong Weng. , the old man was also taken aback! Guess, how much is the interest?"

After finishing speaking, Cheng Lin looked at Huang Bin and Fang Li playfully.

Huang Bin cupped his hands and said frankly: "I have never been involved in the loan issue. I really don't know how much the loan interest is in the market, but I know that many people's families have been ruined because of the loan!"

Fang Li cupped his hands and replied: "The young one has the desire to borrow money, so I have inquired about such information from many sources. The most expensive one has an annual interest rate of [-]%, and the lowest price is [-]%! Could it be that your company only puts [-]% of the money?"

That is to say, if someone borrows 100 taels of silver from a lender, he will have to repay 120 taels to 140 taels after one year expires, which is indeed much higher than the annual interest rate of later generations.

Cheng Lin smiled and shook his head again and again: "Twenty percent is already considered a high interest rate, and I have never been so dark-hearted! Don't guess, the old man tells you, the interest rate of this company's loan is [-]%, and if you borrow more, it will be even lower! "

Fang Li and Huang Bin had expressions of disbelief on their faces.

"Isn't Cheng Yuanwai lying to the younger one? Is your firm's interest rate really so low? The younger one has something unpleasant to say, and I ask Cheng Yuanwai to forgive me!" Fang Li's face was mixed with joy and worry.

Cheng Lin looked at Fang Li with a smile, and said, "Could it be that Brother Fang is worried that the Four Seas Bank dares to lower the interest rate so low that it will cause unnecessary trouble and be implicated?"

Fang Li nodded again and again: "Yes, I am worried about this! As far as I know, the moneylenders in the Hangzhou government and even in the Jiangnan area are not the kind that ordinary people can offend. Your name is tantamount to stealing money." The food in their mouths is probably..."

Cheng Lin laughed loudly: "Haha! Brother Fang thinks so meticulously, I think I'm more optimistic about you! As for your worries, I can tell you the truth. In the territory of Daming, there is no A person who covets a humble name! Regardless of whether he is the prefect of Hangzhou or the governor of Zhejiang, he will never dare to interfere with the affairs of the Four Seas Trading Company!"

Fang Li still had a skeptical expression when he heard the words.He is just an ordinary person. Although he wants to expand his family business, he dare not get involved in any right and wrong, for fear that he will suffer disaster because of the loan.

Seeing his expression, Cheng Lin expressed his understanding, but he was still a little dissatisfied.If it wasn't for this is the first business of the bank, he would have left long ago.

Huang Bin observed Cheng Lin's dissatisfaction, so he hurriedly said: "A Li, my boss is not a big talker. When my boss talked to me about building a workshop, I was also full of doubts. , Now you can see it too, isn’t this just built? A Li, you’re thinking too much, where can you find such a low interest rate? Don’t miss this opportunity!”

Fang Lisi stood up and clasped his hands to Cheng Lin, "I'm sure! I borrowed 1000 taels of silver from your firm to buy fifty looms to build a workshop, and the rest of the money will be used for business purposes!" My family has ten acres of mulberry fields as collateral!"

Seeing that the first deal was about to be completed, Cheng Lin was very happy.He got up and smiled and said: "Okay! Although ten acres of mulberry gardens are not worth a lot of silver taels, from the old man's point of view, Fang Xiaoge is a person who can accomplish things! This matter is settled like this, let's make a written proof and proceed immediately." Can!"

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youjian was discussing matters with several cabinet ministers, the left and right censors of the Inspectorate, ministers of various ministries, and others. The topic was related to the general examination in early February.

The New Year's Eve has passed, all the yamen have returned to normal order, and the upcoming general examination has been put on the agenda.

The examination is presided over by the Ministry of Rites, so it is also called Liwei. The place of the examination is the Gongyuan of the Ministry of Rites in the capital.Since the examination is in the next year of the rural examination, it is also called "Spring Examination", "Chunwei", "Spring Bang", "Xing Bang" and so on.The exams will be held on the ninth, twelfth, and fifteenth day of February, and each exam will take three days.

Wen Tiren went out to salute and said: "My lord, the candidates from all provinces have arrived in Beijing one after another, and the exam is only less than [-] days away. Please also confirm the list of examiners for this exam as soon as possible, so that there will be no delay. Start this matter!"

Zhu Youjian picked up the roster presented by the Ministry of Rites and looked through it. The name of Zhang Guowei, the official minister of the Ministry of Rites, was listed first.Then came the list of 14 examiners, eight co-examiners, two examiners, eleven transfer officers, thirteen paper sealers, two test paper collectors and other major officials, as well as Mi Feng and the other officials. A huge team composed of relevant personnel such as reading, patrolling, and supplying.

Zhu Youjian put down the roster and said, "Since this roster is a prudent decision of all ministers, I will approve it. In this extraordinary period, the talent ceremony is especially important. As I said last time, this time the materials should be selected for economic use. Lord, I don’t know what the sons who arrived in Beijing in the past few months have gained here? I don’t want to see papers full of empty and boring words. Have you heard about the matter of raising sons?”

Li Banghua went out and said: "Since the last time the emperor stated the main points of this meeting, I have specially gone out to investigate in my spare time. After chatting with several candidates, I learned that most of them have learned practical knowledge. With a preliminary understanding, it is no longer the same as before, where the words must be called saints, and the words are allused; Analysis. In my opinion, the selection of scholars this time will be very different from the past. This is really due to the foresight of the Holy One, and I admire the Holy One's move from the bottom of my heart!"

Shi Bangyao, the censor of the right capital, said: "I have traveled several times like Li Xiantai, and what I see is roughly similar to Xiantai. The restaurants and teahouses where the children gather every day are also rare. Discuss the language used in people's birthdays; there is an old saying: what is good at the top, it must be very bad at the bottom. Ordinarily this sentence should be derogatory, but now the goodness of the sage is actually what the world needs. If things go on like this, it will definitely lead the world from being pragmatic Turn it into a pragmatic one! The minister is also amazed by it!"

Wang Yingxiong smiled and said: "What the two Xiantais said is indeed true, and the pragmatic actions of the Holy One are indeed Taizu's style. If the prefectures and counties selected for this meeting will be selected, the people under their rule will be deeply affected by them. Li, the great event of our Ming Dynasty will surely come!"

Wen Tiren said: "Although the Holy Majesty's move is very clever, it is difficult to show its effect in such a short period of time. I am afraid that all the candidates have a temporary intention to deal with it. Therefore, this minister I think that the imperial court should take long-term measures and implement the pragmatic style for a long time, so as not to be suspected of being anticlimactic, and it will damage the prestige of the Holy Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)