Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 136

The cabinet is facing the room.

The four elders gathered in the lobby again.

On the surface, it seemed that the four elders were discussing the Enke exam questions, but in fact they were all a little absent-minded, and there was even a situation where chickens were talking with ducks.

Needless to say, the four elders are all waiting for news of the Ministry of Internal Affairs issuing bonds.

The result of this bond issuance will never be bad, and a consensus has long been formed on this point.

After all, the more than [-] carriages blocked on Gongyuan Street cannot be faked.

But Shi Kefa and the four of them couldn't imagine how good this bond issue was.

In the end, Jiang Riguang couldn't hold back, and asked first, "How many bonds can the Ministry of Internal Affairs sell?"

Gao Hongtu said: "Jin Chuo merchants Jia Shao said that they came to Nanjing from eight prefectures and one prefecture to buy bonds. There are thousands of people. Based on a family of [-] taels of silver, at least [-] million taels!"

"Fifty million?" Everyone in Jiang Yueguang was stunned, "So much?"

Xie Xuelong was a little guilty, shook his head and said, "There shouldn't be as many as [-] taels per family."

The other family didn't know how much, but their Xie family raised one hundred thousand taels of silver to buy bonds.

"Xie Ge is too conservative." Gao Hongtu snorted, "I have already asked someone to inquire privately. Most of the people who came to Nanjing to buy bonds this time were prominent gentry or wealthy businessmen. Those with net worth of only tens of thousands There are not many small gentry or small merchants with two or even several thousand taels of silver."

"It's not surprising." Xie Xuelong said, "Those little gentry, small businessmen are not well-informed, or they are greedy for money and dare not take the slightest risk, so it is understandable to be indifferent to this. After all, things like bonds are made by The Holy One created it first, and no one can say for sure what the future holds.”

Opportunities are always reserved for those who have been half a step ahead.

This logic has always been there.

Jiang Yueguang suddenly asked again: "If the gentry and merchants really prepared [-] million taels of silver, how many bonds do you think the Holy Majesty will sell? Will it still be the [-] million taels mentioned earlier?"

"How is this possible?" Gao Hongtu said, "Who would think too much money?"

"I don't think so." Xie Xuelong said, "Your Majesty will definitely increase the bonds temporarily."

Only Shi Kefa didn't speak from the beginning to the end, frowning, he didn't know what he was thinking?
While the three of Gao Hongtu were talking, Zhang Youyu, the left servant of the household department, suddenly ran in out of breath.

"Four elders, it's sold out!" Zhang Youyu panted, "The bonds of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are sold out."

"Huh? They sold out so soon?" Gao Hongtu asked anxiously, "How many bonds were sold in total?"

"Twenty million taels." Zhang Youyu said, "I just sold the [-] million bonds agreed before, and there is no more than one tael."

"Ah?" Jiang Riguang and the others were surprised, "The Holy One really only sold it for [-] million taels?"

"Your Majesty is confused." Gao Hongtu stomped his feet and said, "So many gentry and merchants are rushing to send money, why can't the Ministry of Internal Affairs sell more bonds? There is also a shortage of silver!"

This time Jiang Yueguang and Xie Xuelong did not go along with it, and gave the money to the Ministry of Households?What are you thinking about?

It would be nice if the Holy Majesty didn't come to pay the money from the Ministry of Households.

……

At this time in Nangong.

The bonds worth [-] million taels have all been sold out, and the gentry and merchants who bought the bonds were all overjoyed. Although the amount they bought was only half of the expected amount, it was already good.

The next step is to deliver the silver and check the quality of the silver at the same time.

This is the inconvenient part of using silver as currency. Silver has fineness.

The fineness of silver from different origins and from different silver mines is different.

Therefore, in the process of circulation, it is necessary to verify the fineness of silver to determine its value.

For example, the fineness of silver is called full color silver. If the fineness is not enough, it will be discounted. This requires experienced professionals to evaluate the silver and judge its color, [-]%, [-]%, or even [-]%.

Therefore, the link of delivery and verification of silver needs to be very careful and time-consuming.

The gentry and merchants drove their own carriages to deliver and verify the silver one by one according to the order.

"Sun Weng, this is a bond, you can take it well." Ma Mingtao handed two bonds with denominations of [-] taels and [-] taels to the merchant in front of him, and then urged, "Also remember, the bonds are not It can be transferred or resold, and can only be paid by the person or his immediate family members, and once the bond is given or resold to others, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will not recognize it."

"Okay." The merchant hurriedly said, "Xiao Lao will never transfer or resell the bonds."

Ma Mingpao also recorded the merchant's personal information in detail: Sun Tinglan, a local fabric merchant in Nanjing, lived in Cangcao Lane for a long time, five feet five inches tall, round face, short beard, triangular eyes, and a large mole on the right cheek. The debt is [-] taels, and the repurchase of the [-]-year-old debt is [-] taels, and the silver is settled.

After transcribing in duplicate, a scholar next to him took a large seal and stamped it twice.

"Sun Weng, this document is well received. It must be presented together with the bond when cashing, and one is indispensable." Ma Minglu gave one of the documents to Sun Tinglan, and the other to the scholar for storage.

Sun Tinglan took the receipt, dried the ink and carefully put it away.

After receiving two more gentry, Ma Minglu beckoned Gu Gao to come forward: "Gu Zifang, this side is in charge."

Gu Gao answered yes, sat down on Ma Mingpao's seat, picked up a brush and started to record, not to mention, Mr. Gu's calligraphy is really good.

Ma Mingpao went straight to the other courtyard on the right side of Nangong.

Nangong is a typical garden in the south of the Yangtze River. There are two smaller courtyards on the right side of Nangong. The courtyard in the back is where Yongwang Zhu Cizhen lived, and the courtyard in front is now where the prince lives.

After the prince got married, he no longer lived in Guozijian with Chongzhen.

Instead, they temporarily moved to Nangong and lived in the other courtyard in front of the right side.

However, Ma Mingpao came to find Chongzhen, who was in the prince's other courtyard at this time.

Ma Mingpao came to find important people from Chongzhen, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs had been established for more than ten days, but apart from him as the deputy chief, only the Propaganda Department gave Ruan Dacheng the official official.

Ruan Dacheng didn't care about anything other than writing the song book and recruiting people to rehearse the play.

Therefore, all the big and small matters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have to be supervised by Ma Mingpao himself.

There is no problem doing this in a short period of time, but if you do it for a long time, you will be exhausted.

Therefore, when Ma Mingpao came to find important people in Chongzhen, he had to assign a group of subordinate officials to the inner government affairs anyway, and the candidates could be selected directly from the students of the Imperial College and the sons of Prince Qin.

Ma Mingjue thinks Wu Yingji and Gu Gao are good.

Seeing Chongzhen's big ceremony, Ma Minghao said, "Your Majesty, this can't work, I can't do it alone."

Chongzhen took a sip of tea and said, "Didn't I let all the students of Guozijian and all the scholars of King Qin be sent by you? Isn't more than [-] students and scholars not enough for you?"

The number of scholars gathered in Nanjing has exceeded [-].

And there are still scholars who are gathering in Nanjing.

Ma Minglu said: "The students of Guozijian and the scholars of King Qin have no official status. They can only assist in many things. I don't feel relieved to let them be responsible."

Chongzhen asked: "Do you want to assign an officer to the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"

"Yes." Ma Mingpao nodded, "At least fifty."

Chongzhen nodded: "Then do you have a suitable candidate?"

"Yes." Ma Minglu replied, "Gu Gao and Wu Yingji are competent enough."

"This won't work!" Chongzhen flatly refused, "Guozi Jiansheng and Prince Qin's scholars can't do it! At least not now!"

Chongzhen's reaction was somewhat beyond Ma Mingpao's expectations, and he straightened his neck and questioned: "Why can't Guozijiansheng and Qinwang Shizi not do it? Whether it was the arrest of soil sticks, the return of tax money, or the sale of bonds this time, these bachelors Zizi’s expression is very good, and now the people in Nanjing are praising them for their integrity.”

Chongzhen asked back: "Then how long do you think their clean air can last?"

"This..." Ma Mingpao was at a loss for words, and he wasn't sure how long it would last.

Ma Mingpao was promoted all the way from county magistrate, prefecture to magistrate, and has a rich experience of local people-friendly officials, so he is well aware of some official abuses.

It is said that the officials of the Ming Dynasty were greedy and despicable.

It is said that the subordinate officials of the Ming Dynasty were naughty and cunning.

But in fact, the officials of the Ming Dynasty were very enthusiastic when they first stepped into the officialdom. At least most of the officials who were born as Jinshi wanted to do something for the court and the people of the world.

And those subordinate officials were not so slippery and cunning as soon as they entered the Yamen.

When many subordinate officials first entered the yamen as errands, they actually wanted to do something, and they also thought about protecting the neighbors with their own ability and status.

But in the end, all the officials and subordinates were lost.

After drifting with the tide in the officialdom for a long time, they all forgot their original intentions.

After thinking about it, Ma Mingpao said seriously: "The minister will supervise them well!"

"Just you?" Chongzhen smiled, "You are so busy, you still have the energy to supervise them?"

Ma Mingpao was speechless again, yes, he was so busy, how could he have the energy to supervise his subordinates?The subordinate staff at the bottom have even less energy to supervise them.

But Ming Pao will not be easily persuaded.

"A whole set of strict regulations could be enacted," he added.

Chongzhen said: "Yes, this view is a step higher than just now. It has risen from the rule of man to the rule of law, but laws and regulations also need to be implemented by people. Do you think Guozi Jiansheng and Prince Qin are competent now?"

Ma Mingpao was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "The vast majority of students and scholars are not competent."

"So, don't even think about selecting officials of the House of Internal Affairs from among the Imperial College students and Qin Wang's scholars. In the future, the achievements of these scholars and students will be limitless, but they haven't been polished yet, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to provoke the leader. " Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "Fortunately, after the debt issuance is completed, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will not be so busy."

"So, I understand." Ma Mingpao cupped his hands, turned around and was about to leave, but was stopped by Chongzhen again.

"Wait a minute." Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "Since you are here, Ma Qing, don't rush to leave, I just want to talk to you about the errands of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the next few months."

(End of this chapter)