A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1083: April is full of beauty in the world

In April, the peach blossoms of the mountain temple begin to bloom.

Many people are opposed to the money-grabbing order, but there are too many vested interests involved, so it has been repeated over and over again in the past few years.

Of course, the most important thing is still unclear financial issues.

Although the lending of public money by Shi Zhuo to Zhu Qian was essentially loan sharking or even forced loan matching, and it also involved spending money to buy officials, it also solved some very troublesome financial problems.

Wu Huaiyu asked officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs to collect relevant information for him for many days. He also personally went to the Ministries of Civil Affairs and the East Palace to conduct in-depth investigations.

Finally, he wrote a detailed investigation report, and finally gave the emperor a "please abolish the money-grabbing form in the official affairs".

The memorial first went to the Political Affairs Hall, and after being read by the prime ministers, it was also presented directly to the emperor.

Li Shimin finished his morning session and frowned as he looked at Wu Huaiyu's memorial.

Compared with the memorials of Wei Zheng, Ma Zhou, Chu Suiliang and other ministers who opposed the government officials' efforts to seize money and order Shi to lend money, this memorial has more detailed data and deeper analysis.

Wu Huaiyu told the emperor that there were more than 600 money-catching orders in more than 70 divisions in Chang'an. In fact, it was only on the surface. In fact, there were not only nine money-catching orders in each department of various yamen, but more.

There are other places where there are officials in the yamen, and they also have a history of money-catching orders.

The emperor met him in Wude Hall,

But the issue of lending public money is not only a matter of usury, but also a problem of money-catching officials. In order to allow the public money to be loaned out and still receive interest, the court gave special treatment to these money-catching officials. After completing overseas Chinese affairs for one or two years, you can obtain official qualifications.

"Summon Wu Huaiyu."

Wu Huaiyu said that in the past three years, in the imperial examination every year, the number of Jinshis who were withdrawn from the first and second grades of Jinshi was no more than ten each year, with six as few as nine and as many as nine. After three years, only about twenty were admitted. .

Another danger is that these money-grabbing orders now lend money. Because the interest rates are relatively high, ordinary people and businessmen are not willing to lend their money, so they will forcibly lend it to the rich, and even give up their personal property in the process. Money is used as capital, and it is also used as public money for lending.
Therefore, some yamen apparently have four to five hundred guan of public money to lend, but in fact they have several times or even ten times the amount of money to lend, and they are also endorsed by the government's credit.

This amount is astonishing.

Moreover, the imperial court said that seven thousand wealthy households in the world were selected to collect a sum of money, but the problem was that this money was only given to the more than seventy government offices in the capital.
What about the other people who used to make money and release money from public servants? Of course they followed the same example and distributed the money to the wealthy households under their own jurisdiction.
As a result, wealthy households all over the world were soon forced to pay such a rich tax.

Li Shimin got straight to the point,
The lending of public money and the money-catching order have been canceled before, but what about the office expenses of the public house, the subsidies and benefits for officials, and even the free lunches for officials?
The method proposed by some officials was to select 7,000 wealthy households from all over the world and ask them to each contribute a sum of money. This money would replace the interest collected from the original public money lending and be distributed to various yamen for public money.

So in the end, Li Shimin personally stopped this method and asked the yamen to set up money-grabbing orders to lend money again. This was equivalent to letting each yamen solve its own office expenses and welfare subsidies for officials.

"Regarding the issue of public money lending and money-grabbing orders, the court has indeed gone back and forth over the years, and I have a headache. The problems you pointed out do exist, and many ministers have always pointed them out, but I What is needed is a solution, not just pointing out the problem.”

Because this method is too simple and crude, and it also seems very shameless. Isn't this just a direct and blatant robbery of the rich?

The emperor put down his remonstrance and summoned his chamberlain.

One of them wrote that Li Shimin was very shocked.

Wu Huaiyu told the emperor that although most of these money-catching officials were children of high-ranking officials and honorary officials, they were not from a decent background after all. If this continued for a long time, the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty would be completely occupied by them in the future.

And it is getting worse. No one can bear all kinds of additional taxes and assessments.

Now everyone is vying to be the master of catching money, seeing it as a shortcut to the south.

Wu Huaiyu received the order from the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the imperial city and immediately rushed to the palace city.

But this method only lasted three years and finally had to be discontinued.

As for the Qianzhuo Lingshi established by the imperial court, through Qianzhuqian, many Qianqian Lingshi were awarded officials within one or two years due to their good performance in lending and collecting interest. In the past three years alone, there were more than 70 bureaus in Chang'an, and about six people were appointed every year. Baiduo caught money and ordered Shi to be appointed because of losing money.
Over the past three years, more than a thousand Qianqian Lingshi have been qualified for selection. Even if half of them were finally selected and appointed officers, there would still be eight or nine hundred people.

As for whether you can find someone who needs a loan or whether you can get enough interest on time, it doesn't matter. At worst, paying the interest yourself or subsidizing it yourself is equivalent to spending money to buy an official position in disguise.

Therefore, the order to seize money was later cancelled, and the imperial court directly found the original wealthy households. Now it did not ask them to pay a sum of money directly, but directly gave them the capital, and then whether they loaned it out or used it themselves,
Just pay the interest on time.

In this way, the intermediary link of catching money orders was reduced, the problem of some private money being used as public money for lending was avoided, and the problem that the court had to confer officials to a large number of money orders every year was solved.

But this is not really perfect,

Because many rich people do not need this capital, but they still have to pay high interest, which still makes many people complain.

"Your Majesty, after this detailed investigation, I have come to a conclusion,"

"Oh."

"The imperial court does not need to set up money-catching orders, nor does it need to use public money to lend money, nor does it need to issue capital to the rich to collect interest.

Because now it is no better than the beginning of Wude and Zhenguan,

The tax revenue of the imperial court in recent years has been many times that of before. There is still a lot of money and silk piled in the treasury. Even under the new tax system of two taxes and three points, the local government's remaining finances are also very abundant.

The imperial treasury has money, the government offices in the capital also have money, and the local government offices in prefectures and counties also have money.

Regardless of how wealthy he is, it is enough to maintain the office expenses of the yamen and provide some food subsidies for officials. "

In the past, the imperial government used public money and public land as a temporary expedient. At that time, the country was in a fledgling state and there was a shortage of money everywhere. The national treasury could not provide it, so they thought of a way to let each government office generate income by themselves, and chose loan sharking. This is the simplest and most effective way to make money.

But now, there is actually no shortage of this money.

But from the capital to the local government, various yamen still refused to let go, and the interests of many people were involved.

"Your Majesty issued an edict to stop the lending of money to the public, to stop all money-grabbing orders, and to stop collecting this special money and food from wealthy households.

Then all problems are solved. "

Li Shimin was stunned for a moment.

"Is it that simple?" "It's that simple. All companies are not short of money, so why do they have to seize money and use public money to lend money? And rich merchants and common people are not willing to borrow such usury loans."

The current money-grabbing system is very disturbing and harmful to the people, so the court should abolish it directly. "

Li Shimin stood up and walked around the hall with his hands behind his back.

After thinking about it carefully, it seems that this is really the case. I had fallen into some misunderstandings before, but now Wu Huaiyu has enlightened me. Yes, since there is no shortage of money, why do we have to use public money to lend money?

In the final analysis, it is still due to the official mentality. No matter why the public money lending was set up in the first place, there has been such a loan interest income in recent years. Even if the finance is improving now, no one is willing to give up this income.

"Now the imperial court has new two tax laws, including the law of substituting money for service, the law of dividing the land into acres, the law of redistribution of fire expenses to the public, and the third tax law.

The local government is much richer than ever before. Even the government offices in the capital are now much richer than before.
Therefore, the imperial court has a bureau, so there is no need to set up a money-grabbing order to lend money at usury. This has a bad reputation for both the imperial court and your majesty. "

"It's time to start a new chapter."

Nowadays, various bureaucracies are reluctant to lend out the public money. After all, they still want to make more money, especially the money they get goes into the yamen's small treasury, which is convenient for use.

But this was a temporary expedient at the beginning. Now, twenty years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, everything is on track. How can it continue to be like this?

"As far as lending is concerned, the imperial court has been emphasizing the prohibition of loan sharking in recent years. It has also completely banned loan sharking in temples and shops in the past, and also severely cracked down on private loan sharking.

Now if the imperial court continues to lend its own money, the annual interest will be double the principal, which is a true usury, especially if it is forcibly lent to wealthy merchants who do not need it, this is completely harmful to the people. "

"The imperial court has also had many good laws and good governance in recent years, such as Changpingcang, Hubu Bank and Qingmiao Loan, etc., which provide loans and other support to people who really need it, and the interest rates are relatively low. This is good governance."

Some things are just a layer of window paper,

Once broken, it becomes completely clear.

Li Shimin also figured it out, it was indeed the case.

When the imperial court established the Hubu Bank, Chang Pingcang, and issued young crops loans, it was initiated by Wu Huaiyu when he was the prime minister. After many years, it has become relatively mature. Now there are more and more capital and more and more semicolons.

The profits are getting more and more every year.
Wu Huaiyu looked at the financial statements over the years and found that although the loan interest for these projects was much lower than that of public money, the amount was larger. When accumulated, the profits were actually quite a lot, even more than the public money loans.

Lending public money, to put it bluntly, means forcibly lending money to wealthy landlords, which is equivalent to cutting the middle-class leeks and collecting taxes from the rich.

Loans such as Qingmiao Loan are truly voluntary loans. They are loans that people really need and can afford. They can help everyone. The interest rates are much lower than private loans, let alone double. The profitable public money was lent.

The imperial court might as well invest the public funds originally lent by various yamen into the imperial government's Hubu Bank, Changpingcang and other projects to make capital, and then agree on the interest.

The interest rate is definitely not as high as that of a public loan, but if the money turns over quickly, the profit will be good.

Even if it's just interest on a large deposit, it's not bad.

Li Shimin listened to the class very carefully.

Finally, following the advice, it was decided to formally and completely abolish the money-grabbing order, abolish public money lending, etc.

"I am suddenly enlightened."

"Actually, all this is because His Majesty adopted the reform of the two tax laws. After many years of new tax systems, the imperial treasury has been enriched. This is the basis for abolishing the government and lending money. Otherwise, it will be difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice." Wu Huaiyu said with a smile. .

Li Shimin stroked his beard and said, "I have implemented these two new tax laws based on your advice."

The emperor's decree, which had been implemented for twenty years, led to the end of the policy of making money and lending money to the rich.

In this way, not only the seven hundred money-grabbing officials of more than seventy departments in Chang'an lost their jobs, but also thousands of money-grabbing officials in all states and counties in the world also lost their fat jobs, and each government office also lost a small treasury. input,

Wu Huaiyu knew that many people would scold him.

But there will definitely be countless wealthy merchants all over the world who will be grateful to him, and finally they will no longer have to be cut off one after another.

Wu Huaiyu took this opportunity to expand the scale of Hubu Bank again and increase the capital of Qingmiao Loan and so on.
He also wanted to request a decree to establish a new industrial and commercial bank to provide some loan and other support to the industrial and commercial groups of Datang to help industrial and commercial development.

It would still be of great benefit if some relevant formal laws and regulations could be issued to standardize the current financial houses in Datang, such as pawn shops, gold and silver shops, banks and other related industries such as lending, pawns and so on.

The Wu family has been involved in related industries for a long time, and they also hope to have more formal management, instead of growing wildly, which will only destroy the entire industry over time.

After the business talk was over, Li Shimin asked how Xiao Sizi was living in the Wu family.

"The princess and the minister's children get along very well and have fun every day."

Li Shimin nodded, "I will also go to your house to sit and see little Sizi later."

"By the way, the cold disaster has passed, but I found that although the price of food in Chang'an has dropped, it is still much higher than before. Now it costs twelve yuan for a bucket of rice in Chang'an."

During the great harvest in the third and fourth years of Zhenguan, the price of rice was 23 qian per dou. Now the 12 qian per dou of rice is equivalent to an increase several times. Of course, compared with the first or second year of Zhenguan, or the Wude period, today’s grain prices are actually higher. is still relatively low,
At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the world was uncertain and the price of food remained high. Even a piece of silk was worth a pound of rice.

"Your Majesty, after the summer harvest, food prices will definitely drop again."

After this severe cold disaster, it is normal for food prices in Chang'an to rise. This year's spring plowing has been affected, and the summer harvest will definitely be affected as well.

Although Guanzhong is prosperous, due to the large number of soldiers and civilians in Chang'an, Guanzhong cannot be completely self-sufficient in food. A large amount of food needs to be transported in from outside the country every year.
Production in Guanzhong will be reduced this year, so more food needs to be exported. It is foreseeable that food prices will rise, so it is normal for the food market to be bullish now.

But twelve qian for a bucket of rice is not bad, and the people can still afford it.

"A company is transporting grain from Guandong, Shannan and other places to Beijing. A large amount of grain will soon arrive in Beijing. As long as Changping warehouse is opened and grain is released at a fair price, grain prices will naturally return to normal,"

"You are solely responsible for this matter. Pay close attention to it and bring down the price of food as soon as possible." Li Shimin confessed again and again.

(End of this chapter)