A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 1093 There is something in the emperor’s words
"Your Highness, these are the regulations of the Municipal Exchange Law drafted by the minister. Please take a look at them."

East Palace.

Cheng Qian took the materials handed over by Wu Huaiyu and read them carefully. While reading, he asked questions about some doubts, and Wu Huaiyu also answered all questions.

“What is the original intention of the Market Change Law?”

“The original intention is to maintain the level of entry and exit, keep the power of opening, closing, collecting and dispersing to the wealthy households, and to obtain the remaining interest to give to the public. In other words, it is to level the price of goods, suppress mergers, and also make profits and increase the national fiscal revenue. "

The market trading method is somewhat similar to the Changping position, but it is different.

There are similarities with the previous efforts of the transshipment departments of various branches.

But the way it works is different,

In the plan drawn up by Wu Huaiyu, the functions of the Municipal Yisi mainly focus on two directions. One is for the government to borrow goods from merchants, and the other is for the government to purchase unsalable goods from merchants. In addition, it also stipulates the responsibilities of the Municipal Yisi pedestrians or dentists. , stipulates that if the materials needed by the government are cheaper to purchase from outside, the Municipal Yi Department can purchase them together in Beijing.
However, any loan or acquisition must be fair and voluntary, and must not be forced.

"Your Highness, in recent years, all walks of life have been monopolized by many big businessmen. They have even hoarded goods, manipulated prices, bullied and squeezed foreign businessmen, and exploited and extorted local hawkers.
This unhealthy trend needs to be changed.

The imperial court definitely has many advantages in this regard. It can break through the monopoly of those merchants, and can better regulate the circulation and sales of goods, etc.
After Cheng Qian listened to Wu Huaiyu’s explanation,

He also raised some questions of his own. For example, if the Market and Trade Department purchased unsalable goods from merchants, since these goods were unsalable, would the Board of Trade and Industry lose money after purchasing them, and would they not be able to sell them?
Another example is that the City Yisi lent money to those businessmen, and the annual interest rate was only two to four cents, while the private interest rate was generally higher, even exceeding the interest rate. Could it be that someone colluded with the government and businessmen and used this money to lend money to unscrupulous people? , use the low-interest loans from Yishi to make money from loan sharking arbitrage?

As long as the company can operate normally, it will definitely make money, and it will even help industry and commerce and benefit the people.

In short, the original intention of the Market Change Division and Market Change Law is to break monopolies, regulate the market, and play a role in supporting industry and commerce. In addition, business profits can be transferred to the public.

Nowadays, many powerful people or big businessmen monopolize the market, manipulate prices, and make a lot of money, while the farmers, craftsmen, and ultimately the common people are all victims.

For another example, if the goods in the hands of certain places or merchants are unsalable, the Trade Department can purchase them, or borrow them, to help them sell them.
Or some businessmen are short of money when running their business. At this time, they can also borrow money from the Yi Department to operate, and paying an interest of two to four cents per year can tide them over for a while.

Macroeconomic regulation of the market,

Another example is that some big businessmen monopolize goods and hoard them to manipulate prices. At this time, the market can mobilize the goods and sell them at a lower price.

But it is difficult to make real changes with just a piece of official document.

The biggest feature of the Yisi is to coordinate the national market, conduct macro-control, promote the circulation of goods, adjust the prices of goods, and interrupt the monopoly operations of some big businessmen.

Furthermore, if the government runs the market, a large number of officials will be needed to build warehouses and shops in various places, which will also be very costly.

The imperial court successively established municipal offices in Chang'an, Luoyang and other places, and even established warehouses at important land and water docks across the country.

For example, for some goods, some big businessmen have monopolized the operation of a place and deliberately purchased them at a low price, even if the people did not sell them. At this time, the Imperial City Yisi can intervene, increase the price to purchase, and break the monopoly.

Purchase unsaleable goods,

Even in the future, the imperial court can establish corresponding wholesale markets in various places to wholesale or even retail the collected goods.

If there is a problem, solve it,”

Will you lose money?
"What His Highness said may happen, but the establishment of the Municipal Yi Law and the Municipal Yi Department has good original intentions, just like Chang Pingcang, government-run banks, inspection warehouses, etc.

We cannot stop moving forward just because of possible shortcomings.

As for some problems that may arise, it is always difficult to have the best of both worlds when doing anything, which requires management and operation.

So it's still worth doing.

Therefore, I proposed to establish the Department of Market Change and implement the Market Change Law to inhibit mergers, stabilize prices, and strengthen the circulation of commodities to benefit the people and the country.

Since the imperial court can set up Changpingcang, and in good years the grain merchants lower the price to collect grain, and raise the price to purchase grain, and in disaster years when the grain merchants increase the price greatly, the grain can be sold at the same price, then the imperial court can also set up a market trade department to participate in other commodities. , regulating the market.

The market needs such disruptors.

In fact, in the past, the imperial court would also engage in aggressive buying of some commodities. It not only directly purchased the commodities needed by the palace or government from the market for its own use, but also bought low and sold high to earn the price difference.

The current City Council is just more standardized.

To put it bluntly, Shi Yisi itself is equivalent to the largest businessman, but its main purpose is not to make money, which is different from the businessmen who use all possible means to make money.

In Wu Huaiyu’s view,
This kind of government-run trading company integrates procurement, transportation, warehousing, sales and even lending, etc. The operation and management costs are not low.

But it's still not difficult to make a profit.

As for the problem of corruption, it exists everywhere. You can't stop eating because of choking, otherwise you won't have to worry about the various official warehouses of the imperial court and even the yamen treasury.

The key point is not to buy or sell by force.
As long as the principle of fair, just and voluntary buying and selling is always implemented, coupled with the original intention of regulating the market, then this is a law that benefits the people and the country.

After explaining everything clearly to Prince Chengqian in the East Palace,

The two fathers entered the palace to meet the emperor.

This time it was the prince's turn to answer the emperor,

Li Shimin saw things further than the prince, but he still asked those questions. He wanted to know how Wu Huaiyu and the prince viewed these issues and how they planned to deal with them.

"Your Majesty, please clarify your doubts."

Cheng Qian answered the emperor one by one, and Li Shimin was very satisfied.

"In my opinion, your Shipping Department is actually somewhat similar to the Shipping Department. In addition to collecting shipping duties, the Shipping Department is also responsible for purchasing goods."

Many things are essentially the same. The Shipping Department has collected many taxes for the imperial court in recent years, and also purchased many imported products for the palace and officials.
Now this market trade department is just specialized in buying and selling goods.

"What else is needed for the establishment of the City Council?"

The emperor asked, his attitude already supporting the City Yisi and the City Yifa.

Wu Huaiyu then said that the construction of the City Yi Division first requires a capital to purchase goods, lend money to merchants, and establish its own transportation, warehousing, and distribution system.

These all require money.

"How much do you want?"

"Fifteen million dollars as capital,"

Li Shimin frowned, "Too much."

"It's OK to have less, but if you start on a smaller scale, the adjustment to the entire market will be relatively limited. You can slowly accumulate business,"

"If you say so, I won't give you less,"

Li Shimin thought for a while, "You are the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. How much surplus money can the court spend now?"

"Fifteen million guan is actually okay. Of course, it would be fine if we allocate less. Let's say 10 million."

"Then ten million." The emperor was more cheerful this time.

Because Wu Huaiyu told the emperor that although the operating costs of Yisi are also high, it is definitely a profitable business. It can not only suppress mergers and stabilize prices, but also help industry and commerce benefit the people. Of course, the most important thing is to make money.

It is no problem to invest 10 million and make a guaranteed profit of 2 million a year.

The two million is a net profit that can be turned over to the imperial treasury.
To say that 20% profit is really not much,

But if we can also suppress the monopoly of wealthy businessmen, regulate prices, and even support industry and commerce, then we can make another two million in profits, which will definitely be a lot.

Even in Li Shimin's view, the two million yuan was just a supplement. What really made him willing to implement this method was that it could help the court and the world.

This matter was agreed upon,

Li Shimin personally poured a cup of tea for Wu Huaiyu and the prince.

The emperor looked at Wu Huaiyu and originally asked him to stay in Lingnan, dispense with the imperial envoy, and be appointed governor of Guangzhou. However, the cold spring in February and the complaints from the people made Li Shimin leave Wu Huaiyu in the end.

Wu Huaiyu paid homage to the prime minister for the fourth time and served as minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Originally, I just wanted him to stay temporarily to help tide over the disaster, but unexpectedly, he still performed so well.

Whether it is the withdrawal of the order to seize money, the suspension of public money for lending, the establishment of three major government-run banks, the inspection of the school treasury, or today's market affairs department,
One move after another, Wu Huaiyu accomplished a lot of practical things, solved a lot of troubles, and added a lot of revenue to the court.

After all, these tricks can increase the court's income by seven to eight million dollars a year.

This is no small sum of money.

"Huaiyu, I asked Zong Zhengqing Dou's consort to help me set up a resistance station and operate it with the funds from the internal treasury."

The bank is actually the Royal Bank.

The emperor chose his brother-in-law Dou Dan to manage it. Dou Dan was the brother of Dou Shilun, the Minister of Civil Affairs. Before Li Yuan died, he specially left his underage children to take care of him.

Now Li Shimin asked this brother-in-law to help him run the pawn shop.

The business operations of a pawnshop include custody, pawn mortgages, and deposits and loans.

The emperor paid for it out of his own pocket;
"Your Wu family has rich experience in running bank pawnshops and has an excellent reputation. I, the pawn shop, would like to borrow some shop assistants from your Wu family. Are you willing?"

Wu Huaiyu didn't expect that Li Shimin would actually poach his family.

The Wu family's financial industry is well-known and well-known, and the shopkeepers are naturally treated well. After all, the Wu family has a stock dividend system from the beginning. After working in the Wu family for a certain number of years, you will be able to obtain post shares, which can be divided into dividends, and the income is Very good.

It is precisely because of this that the Wu family can continue to expand like a snowball. If everyone works together, they will naturally do well.

It’s not like there aren’t other families who want to poach the Wu family’s shopkeepers, craftsmen, and clerks, but very few succeed. The Wu family’s stock dividend system can be said to be quite capable of retaining people.

There are also some aristocratic families in Chang'an who also offer this kind of stock dividends, but only to some of the old shopkeepers. Like the Wu family, even the clerks receive dividends after working for several years.

But now the emperor wants to recruit people, can Wu Huaiyu refuse?

"If Your Majesty wants to employ people, just let Consort Dou choose them. He can take whomever he likes. Being able to serve His Majesty is a blessing they have earned over many lives."

Li Shimin was very satisfied with this answer.

"Even if I'm temporarily borrowing from the Wu family, I've also heard that your bank and pawnshop are very successful. Over the years, external loans have been paid with an annual interest rate of three cents. It's the lowest loan interest rate in Chang'an, but your business is special. Well, you can earn more than those who make multiple profits.

I'm a little curious. I can borrow some people from your family and learn from them.
From now on, the interest rate on loans at my bank will also be three cents. "

Wu Huaiyu's heart moved. There seemed to be something in the emperor's words.

These days, you can't make loan sharks at high interest rates. Your interest rates are low, which attracts people's attention.

(End of this chapter)