A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1090 The Conscience of the Wu Family

night.

In the courtyard of the main house, Wu Huaiyu had a rare opportunity to summon the wives and sisters in charge of the family's finances after dinner.

The head of the Wu family's finances is Fan Xuanfu, the wife, Chen Runiang and Duan Wan are in charge of accounting, Fan Wuniang and Lu Sanwuniang are in charge of cashiers, and Li Qing and Yang Muyun are responsible for supervising the audit.

The division of labor is still very clear.

Everyone also has some stewards, and the family's financial accounts are still managed very clearly.

"How is our family doing in the loan and pawn business now?"

Wu Huaiyu sat down on the bed and asked with a smile.

"I have an account there," Xuan Fu said.

"No need for detailed accounts, just a general idea,"

At the beginning, the imperial court lent money to the public, and the monthly profit of 50,000 yuan was 4,000 yuan, and the monthly profit was eight cents. At the time when temples were operating a treasury to borrow money and food, the interest rates were higher than public money, and were generally higher than the red line of multiple profits.

In such an environment, interest rates on loans are generally high.

Even if the interest rate of Wu Changshengtang is lower than the market from the beginning, the profit is still astonishing.

Chen Runniang very considerately made tea for Huaiyu and also distributed tea to the other sisters.
"Don't Alang never care about these things? Why do you suddenly mention this now?"

Although everyone does this,
But Wu Huaiyu felt that doing so was still a bit surprising.

The temple not only used the money in the temple to lend money and grain to earn interest, but many nobles, bureaucrats, landlords and merchants also gave money to the temple for lending, and the temple collected management fees from it.

Fan Xuanfu asked Shuying to get the account book, and Wu Huaiyu flipped through it casually.
frown.

The Wu family's loan interest rates are much lower, but they have made huge profits over the years and are really a cash cow.

The most profitable thing about the pawnshop business is that most of them are short-term loans. In addition, the collaterals are often severely underpriced, and most of them end up being pawned, so the profit margin is even greater.

For example, the pawn cycle is short, the valuation of the items when mortgaged is low, and many of the pawned items are directly pawned, or cannot be redeemed as pawns in the end. If the pawn shop sells them, they can still make another profit.

Before Zhenguan rectified the temples and strictly prohibited them from lending pawns, the major temples in Chang'an were representatives of the financial industry and leaders in the pawn industry.
More than one-third of the annual income of many temples does not come from their large temple fields, nor from donations from believers, nor from their business operations such as mills, oil and RV shops.
It's earned through pawn lending.

Wu Huaiyu knew that the more money the pawnshops and money houses made, the more interest the borrowers had to pay and the more they were exploited.

It’s not that making too little means bad business, but making too much.

Some temples even generate more than half of their income from pawn lending.

From the time when the first quality shop Changshengtang was opened, to now, many stores have been opened, both inside and outside the customs. The profits of this industry are indeed high.

In the past few years, it has been expanding like a snowball. This is also due to the fact that the Wu family has a large number of industries and a huge cash flow. The finance that the Wu family is currently engaged in can actually be subdivided into several different businesses.

Basically more than twice the profit.

For example, the Changshengtang specializes in pawns. Pawn mortgages are used to lend longevity money. This was also the most important business of temples in the past. The profits from pawns are higher than the general loan profits. It seems to be higher than the interest rate of direct borrowing. Low, but there's a lot of action in there.

The profits are so high that people are amazed and even frowned upon.

Wu Huaiyu said bluntly, "I have always only focused on the general direction, and today I am going to make some adjustments in the general direction." He knew that in the past few years, the Wu family has been running banks, pawn shops, gold and silver shops, etc., and engaging in financial-related industries has actually been smooth sailing and very profitable. of.

In the past, temples basically charged interest at times of interest, public money was about the same, and private loans mostly exceeded times of interest.

This time he advocated that the imperial court should set up government-run banks, and even regulate private banks, standardize private lending, etc. In fact, he had already discovered the serious problems in this.

If a large number of people and businessmen are suffering from it, the court is derelict in its duty. Supervision in this area should be strengthened and corresponding laws and regulations should be introduced.

You can’t just look at the current high profits, but also look at the potential for backlash.

In the early days of Zhenguan, why was it so successful for the imperial court to eliminate Buddhism, Taoism, and clean up temples and temples illegally? It also has a lot to do with the excessive prosperity of Buddhist temples since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, especially when they annexed fields, loaned money and food, used slaves and exploited people,

Everyone had been dissatisfied for a long time and had endured it for a long time. When the court wanted to deal with them, everyone secretly applauded and few people stood up to defend them.

Nowadays, every time there is a lean period, grain loans are very popular. Nowadays, many lenders mainly calculate interest on a monthly basis, some also calculate the interest on a total basis, and some even calculate it on a daily basis.

Interest is calculated based on the total amount, mainly half interest and double interest. With monthly interest, there is one dou profit per stone per month, 10%, and two liters profit per dou month, 20% monthly interest, etc.

Some even borrow one dou in spring and return three dou in autumn.

There are also borrowings of coarse and fine ones, borrowing a bushel of sorghum in spring and returning a bushel of wheat in summer.

All kinds of loans cannot hide the fact that the interest rates are extremely high. The suffering of loan sharking and exploitation can be said to be a mountain that has always oppressed the people. Every year, countless people go bankrupt because they cannot repay their loans, and eventually become tenants or even slaves.

When powerful families annexed land, they mostly relied on lending.

Because they could not repay the loans, they were forced to sell their land, houses, and even their children and daughters. There were countless people who had their wives in pawning and fled.

Now is the Zhenguan period, the beginning of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, but this phenomenon is still serious.

"The quality shops, banks, gold and silver shops, etc. are making too much money," Wu Huaiyu said bluntly to his wives and concubines,

After hearing this, everyone looked at each other in shock. Do you think you have made too much?
"It is not a good thing to make too much money, it is harmful to one's morality." Wu Huaiyu said, "Now the imperial court wants to set up government-run banks, and even His Majesty and the Crown Prince will use the money from the inner palace and the East Palace to run the banks.
In the future, the operation of banks and pawnshops will be more standardized, and the court will restrict and crack down on loan sharking.
The monthly profit cannot exceed six points, and the capital cannot be returned to make profits. The profit cannot exceed the capital. This is the red line.

Chen Runniang said, "Whether our Wu family is a pawnshop or a bank, or our village lends grain, the profits are far lower than other families.
When we borrow money, the monthly interest rate never exceeds six cents.

Yes, when we borrow food, we basically borrow food and pay back food, and we don't borrow coarse and fine. Whether our family borrows money or grain, the monthly interest is calculated at three cents.

The monthly interest rate is three cents, and the annual interest rate is only thirty-six cents.

Compared with the general interest rate, the Wu family’s loans are indeed smaller.

Fan Xuanfu also said that the Wu family is very conscientious when it comes to pawn loans. For example, when it comes to pawning, other families have to lower the price of the pawned item first, and then they can only borrow 20 to 30% of the money. The loan period is short and the interest is high, often one or two. Months is a double profit. If it cannot be redeemed when it expires, it will be a dead end.

There are all kinds of tricks in borrowing grain, such as borrowing small buckets and taking back big buckets, borrowing coarse grains and borrowing fine grains.

As for the Wu family, they would not be too harsh when it came to the pawn valuation and could often borrow half of the valuation with a long term and low interest.

Another example is when borrowing grain during the lean period, the interest rate is usually three cents per month. If you borrow a dou, you will pay back one dou or three liters after one year. If you repay it in half a year, then you will only borrow one dou and the interest will be one and a half liters.

Even for people who borrow grain from many people near the manor, they can be allowed to borrow grain and then use labor to pay off the debt without having to repay it.

In addition, the Wu family has a clan voluntary warehouse in the family and a township voluntary warehouse in the countryside. The grains in these warehouses are also lent, but the interest is lower. They even provide some special interest-free loans to the disadvantaged such as disabled orphans and widows. .

Monthly profit is three points.

The Wu family was far ahead of the imperial court.
The imperial court now draws a red line, saying that the monthly profit cannot exceed six points, and the Wu family has already been three points.

And even if you don't get it for a while, you won't be able to make a profit, and you won't make a profit no matter what.

Wu Huaiyu could not have imagined that the Wu family was already so kind and could still make so much money and expand so quickly.

Runniang told him that just because the Wu family has been pawning or borrowing money and grain in recent years, the interest rate is relatively low, and they don't have so many means, so everyone trusts them more and comes to the Wu family first to borrow money when they have difficulties.

Many landowners and businessmen among the people who have a little money have nowhere to go, so they can safely deposit their money in the Wu family, because the Wu family has already had interest-bearing storage, which is better than burying their copper coins in their own houses. It's safer underground and can earn interest.

In the past, many landlords and businessmen who had spare money would send it to temples, and they would help lend money. The temples would have to deduct a very high fee, but there was still a risk of not being able to recover it. But the Wu family did not lend money, but helped them lend money. It is a direct interest-bearing storage.

The interest rate is not high, it is easy to access, has good credit and is safe.

The Wu family's huge cash flow, coupled with the increasing number of small retail deposits in recent years, has made the Wu family's financial business boom.

Wu Huaiyu really didn't pay much attention to these things before.
"The monthly profit will be three cents. This remains unchanged." He took a sip of tea. "But I suggest that a sum of money should be used as a special fund for assistance."

For example, a certain amount of loans are provided every year, specifically to lend to those who are in serious need, such as serious illness, funeral and other urgent needs. After the borrower applies and the conditions are verified, a loan can be issued.

"The interest rate should be lower. Let's tentatively decide on a monthly interest rate of one cent."

In addition, for example, if people want to buy seeds, cattle, farm tools, merchants, etc., they need to borrow money. They also set up a special fund, and after approval, the monthly interest is only two cents.

The Wu family has dedicated these two sums of money, and there must be a quantitative limit, but if these two projects are publicized, it can also improve the image of the Wu family.

Although the Wu family also does pawn loans, they still have a conscience.

What's more important is that in the future, the Wu family's bank will become bigger and stronger, and credit will be the most important aspect.

"I think we can use another amount of money to provide assistance in some major disasters and issue interest-free money and grain loans,"

These low-interest and interest-free loans must have limited funds, and the conditions will be strictly reviewed. Wu Huaiyu proposed to invest 10% to 20% of the net profit every year into these three special funds to help Help more people.

"Alang's idea is a good one and I support it." Fan Xuanfu supported it without hesitation, not caring how much money this would cost the Wu family every year.

Runniang and the others naturally support it. It's a good deal to earn less money and more reputation.

"Then it's settled. From now on, the basic interest rate for our loans will be three cents per month, which is half of the red line set by the court."

(End of this chapter)