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Chapter 447 Changes with each passing day 7

There are no newspapers sold in the book market, but there is a new industry, newspaper readers. In the beginning, it was a part-time business for people who used to write letters for others. On weekdays, I would carry a shoulder bag with a few newspapers and go to various markets to open a business.

Later, as there were more and more people working in the industry, the competition became more and more intense and became more professional. The person who reads the newspaper must not only know the characters, but also speak clearly. If you can speak in Mandarin, hey, that would be great. You will be invited to teahouses and restaurants, and you no longer have to stand on the street.

The person Mr. Chang found was a nianbao man, about fifty years old. Although his clothes looked shabby, he was neatly dressed. With his three-stroke long white beard, he really looked like a fairy.

And his voice is even more outstanding, rich but not deep, loud but not sharp, and full of energy, which can be heard clearly by the guests at the four or five tables in the tea stall without much effort.

"Venture investment is indeed worthy of its name. It does have great risks, but it is not inevitable. As long as you are thoughtful and discerning, every additional workshop and factory will bring you more income. It may seem like a timely help, but in fact it is not profitable. .

But I really can't see the benefits of this installment loan. The interest rate is so low, and the property and houses are not pledged as collateral, I am afraid that I will end up in a situation where I will lose both my personal and financial resources. So what if the person doesn't run away? There's nothing the government can do with just a contract and nothing. Come on, come on, read it carefully again! "

The advertisement published by Sun and Moon Bank is quite special and takes up a lot of space. It mainly introduces the two novel businesses it operates, venture capital and installment loans. After reading it once, some of the people present did not understand it at all, some were not interested at all, and some fell into deep thought, such as the old Tang official of Hube.

His job can be said to be the closest to the forefront of the economy in this era. He does calculations all day long, is very sensitive to the value and ratio of various materials, and is also familiar with various private loans and usury.

But after listening to it, I have a general understanding of the profit points of venture capital, but I have never figured out how to make profits from installment loans. Out of respect for his profession, he must not give up easily, so he took out two copper coins and asked the old man to read it again.

"Brother Guo, if what is said in the newspaper is true, why don't we try it?" Listening to the yin and yang recitation of the old man who read the newspaper, the two scholars from the south also had an idea.

"Is the Yuhan referring to the Beijing debt?"

"Yes, I am very fond of installment loans. Not to mention Beijing debt, even the bank at home has never offered such a low interest rate. If you can get a loan and transfer it to Tongjin with interest, you can not only earn The difference can also help them avoid the pain of Beijing debt, isn't it the best of both worlds!"

As expected of a child who was educated by a banker family, he is really sensitive to money. After just listening to a few newspapers at a tea stall, he immediately came up with the idea of ​​making money, earning fame, and accumulating virtue.

The Beijing debt he mentioned is somewhat similar to the student loans of later generations, specifically for candidates who came to Beijing to participate in the examination. If a student from the south wants to go to Beijing to take the exam, and relies on family and government subsidies to make ends meet, and becomes a Jinshi in high school, he may face a big problem at this time, and he may not have enough money in his pocket to spend.

If you pass the Jinshi exam, will you not have enough money to spend? Of course they will. In addition to the top three in the first class and the first in the second class who will immediately get official positions, the remaining Jinshi will also have to pass the entrance examination. Those who pass the exam will be assigned to positions in Hanlin, Liubu, Liuke and various places.

But this is only a theoretical procedure. In fact, since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the number of Jinshi in each term has been more than the number of official vacancies. This means that even if some people pass the Jinshi exam, they cannot be granted official positions immediately and have to wait in line. .

In principle, you can go home while waiting for the staff to arrange work, but if you wait hundreds or even thousands of miles away, you will definitely not stay in the capital to pay homage to your teachers, make friends with some officials, and get a good job. The opportunities are great, so most fresh graduates still have to stay in the capital and submit resumes everywhere to gain connections.

At this time, an economic issue is involved. Who will provide the money for food, drink, housing, and transportation including gifts while staying in the capital? Those from a well-to-do family can take care of their parents, but what about those from a less wealthy family?

Where there is demand, there will be supply, so an industry that specifically finances and lends money to the candidates who went to Beijing for scientific examinations and the Jinshi who won the gold medal came into being. It is called Beijing Debt. As the name suggests, it is the debt incurred while staying in the capital! There are prerequisites for the interest rate of this type of loan. If you are named on the gold list, then fine, the interest rate will be high, and you will start to repay it when you are appointed to an official position. If you fail the exam, you will be repaid with low interest rates.

When it comes to this, some people will definitely have their own thoughts, wondering who would dare to collect debts after taking office. It would be a big mistake to think so. Not to mention that the reputation of ancient officials was very important. The backstage bosses of creditors were not something ordinary officials could fight against.

Any bank or individual that can do this kind of business is 100% backed by important officials from the imperial court, and more than half of the profits will go into the hands of senior officials in various forms. For example, Zhao Shiqing, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, although he does not participate in party struggles and works conscientiously, he has nothing to do with integrity.

According to Dongchang's secret report, Zhao Shiqing embezzled millions of silver coins from the Ministry of Household Affairs every year, which were basically used to issue Beijing bonds. Among the Shandong-born Juzi and Jinshi, they accounted for the majority of the loan share.

But you can call him greedy. He has been the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue for so many years. He has been diligent in his work and his books are clean. He has never owed the court a copper coin, and he has never accepted bribes.

So let’s put it this way, the quality of an official cannot be measured from just one aspect. No matter how complicated a person is, an official should be added in another word. Because being an official means managing people, you must move to a higher level.

Although the interest on Beijing debt is quite high and it is not easy for newly appointed officials to repay it, it is nothing compared to their future. Basically no one will take risks for this money.

In addition, after Jinshis take office, they will soon find that it is not difficult to get money. Officials at all levels basically have their own ways to make money. As long as they can put aside their ideals and keep their conscience aside, they dare not say that they are rich. You won't be stuck in debt anyway.

Of course, 99.9% of the ways officials make money are closely related to harvesting the interests of the people. For every extra tael of silver they took, the people would lose at least one tael of silver.

Sometimes, in order to deceive others, a few more circles are made to make the process more complicated, and the ratio is even higher. This formed a strange phenomenon. In order to launder the money they got, officials would rather spend several times the manpower, material and financial resources than let the people get an extra copper plate.

This is not because officials naturally hate the people, but because the system has assigned them their own duties. Anyone who does not do this will not be accepted by the system and will be easily crushed into powder.

Corruption in official circles was serious in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. It cannot be said that it was all caused by Beijing's debt, but it was also one of the main factors. It is precisely because of the existence and prevalence of Beijing debt that many young officials with ideals and ambitions, under the pressure of heavy financial burdens, have to bow to reality and embark on the path of complicity.

"Wonderful, so wonderful! After Yuhan mentioned it like this, brother Wei also had some ideas. If he still can't get on the list this time, brother Wei doesn't want to take the imperial examination anymore.

I plan to go home and open a soap factory. It's very easy. All you need to do is buy a set of equipment produced by Tianjin Wei. If you run it for a few years, you can earn more than being an official. But in this case, my father must be unwilling, and the money to open the factory would have to fall on this bank! "

To say that growing up in an environment with a business tradition since childhood must have a profound impact on people's thinking patterns. Although the middle-aged Juzi did not immediately realize that he could make profits from installment loans, he was not without gains. He had already begun to wonder whether he could gain from venture capital, and he did not regard making money from business as something to be ashamed of.

(End of this chapter)