Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 204 Beizheng Bonds

Although Sheng Lei became the guard of the East Palace first and Sheng Hongyu married into the East Palace later, there are still many uninformed people who think that Sheng Lei became the guard of the East Palace because Sheng Hongyu married the prince Zhu Gaoxu.

After Sheng Lei joined Dong Palace, even if his daily duty work was unremarkable, he did not complain and fulfilled his duties.

Seeing that other East Palace guards were given the opportunity to join the army and perform meritorious service, Prince Zhu Gaoxu retained him and asked him to specifically look for soldiers who had made meritorious service in the Southern Expedition and sell them the "Northern Expedition Victory Bonds" issued by the Royal Bank.

Although Zhu Gaoxu didn't say it explicitly, Sheng Lei knew in his heart that he could only succeed in selling Victory Bonds this time, but he couldn't fail.

But he had never been exposed to bonds and knew nothing about business activities such as selling goods.

However, such a challenging task just inspired Sheng Lei's fighting spirit.

The day after receiving Zhu Gaoxu's order, Sheng Lei called Xinglong, the general of the Five Cities Military and Horse Division in charge of Baixiangfang, and went to Wukangbo's Mansion in the square together with the purpose of persuading Wu Kangbo and Xu Li to buy Victory Bonds.

This is because among the meritorious soldiers in the Southern Expedition that Sheng Lei knew, Wu Kangbo and Xu Li were the least likely to buy bonds from him, so he visited Xu Li first, adopting the strategy of first making things difficult and then making things easier.

During the Hongwu period, Xu Li served as the commander of the Yongqing Central Guards and changed his position to the state guard.

After Zhu Di succeeded to the throne, Nian Xuli performed well in the Yingzhou Guard, so when he sent troops to Annan, he was appointed as the Hussars General of the Southern Expedition and followed the army southward.

During Xu Li's expedition to Annan, he and Chen Xu, the right-hand general of the Southern Expedition, were ordered to build a pontoon bridge to capture the Hu family and his son's rebels. After returning to Beijing, he was named Wukang Tingbo.

When the Southern Expeditionary Army captured Shenglong City, Sheng Lei initially served as a small bannerman and happened to serve under Xu Li.

The Ming army attacked Thang Long City and lost many soldiers. After the city was defeated, many officers and soldiers wanted to vent their anger and killed the surrendered troops in the city and plundered the gold and silver property in the city.

At that time, Sheng Lei was the son of General Sheng Yong who conquered the barbarians. How could he watch his fellow soldiers around him commit unforgivable crimes? Naturally, he tried his best to dissuade him.

However, others kept their words low-key, and no one knew that he was Sheng Yong's son at that time.

Xu Li thought that Sheng Lei was just a small flag and had too much control, so a conflict arose between the two.

Later, the officers and soldiers made too much noise and public resentment boiled. Sheng Yong had to rectify military discipline. Xu Li was fined sixty military sticks for lax governance, and Sheng Lei's identity as Sheng Yong's son was subsequently known to everyone.

Xu Yuan was injured in the hip due to the Sixty Army Club, which made it difficult for him to move as freely as usual during the next attack on Qinghua City, and he was unable to win the first victory in climbing the city.

He blamed all this on Sheng Lei, thinking that Sheng Lei used Sheng Yong's hand to avenge his private revenge, and the two sides formed a feud.

"General Sheng, with all due respect, if we go to Xu's house now, we might get beaten up."

Gao Xinglong said with an embarrassed look on his face.

Sheng Lei said as he walked: "Brother Gao, you also crawled out from the pile of dead people. In the eyes of brothers, your martial arts skills are no worse than that of Xu Li. If your left arm was not seriously injured and unable to go to the battlefield, this imperial expedition to the west and the north would have been difficult." No matter what happens, you will go out with the army as the general banner or as a hundred households. Now facing Xu Li, who has a title, you seem to be afraid of him? "

"I'm not afraid of him!" Gao Xinglong said.

Sheng Lei asked, "Then why did you say what you just said?"

"The general doesn't know something, that's what happened."

Gao Xinglong immediately explained.

He was seriously injured in his left arm during the Southern Expedition and had to be amputated to save his life. After returning to Beijing, he was made a viscount for his meritorious service. However, because he lost his left arm, he could no longer serve in the army and had to leave the army. .

As early as the last years of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang, at the suggestion of Zhu Gaoxu, issued an order to the military department to properly arrange veterans.

Zhu Di succeeded to the throne and continued this order, so Gao Xinglong was assigned to the Wucheng Military and Horse Division as the commander-in-chief, specifically responsible for the affairs in the Baixiangfang area.

Today, the inner and outer cities of the capital are under the jurisdiction of the East, West, South, North and Central Military and Horse Departments.

Each city's military division has a positive and negative command, responsible for public security and catching thieves.

Each square is divided into several pavilions, and there are several shops under each pavilion. The general armor is laid and manages several alleys. That is, "each square in the city is divided into several shops according to the number of residents... and they are unified by the general armor." ".

Each military and horse department is an independent organization, each with one commander and four deputy commanders.

The chief and deputy commanders of the five cities' troops and horses "each have one city, one city, and one workshop", and the general, as the leader of the grassroots organization of the army and horses department, also "belongs to the troops and horses and is not subject to the constraints of the county magistrate."

But the job of General A is not easy to do.

Once, Gao Xinglong led his archers to patrol the city and discovered that Xu Li's servants were dumping sewage and urine into the alley from the back door.

Emperor Taizu Gao had issued a strict order forbidding anyone from dumping urine or sewage on the streets or roads. Of course, Xinglong had to stop Xu Li's servants.

But Xu Li is a newly promoted noble, and his servants also have their nostrils pointing to the sky, and they are arrogant.

Both sides were bloody men, and they got into a fight because they were greeting each other's parents and ancestors.

The Xu family's servants lacked training, but after all, there was strength in numbers. Although the archers of the Bingma Division were brave, they were few in number. The two sides fought for half an hour without deciding the outcome.

At the critical moment, Gao Xinglong fired a short-barreled fire cannon into the sky, and the servants of Xu Li's family were shocked.

In the end, the censor of the city fined Xu Li 300 taels, and the servants who dumped sewage and urine were each punished with a cane of [-] taels.

Gao Xinglong knew that Sheng Lei had had issues with Xu Li before, and he had also offended Xu Li because of the previous sewage incident.

Especially him, he arrogantly raised a firecracker against the servants of the Xu Li family.

Now the two of them are visiting Xu Li together, hoping that the other party can buy bonds, but it is obviously too difficult to accomplish this.

"General, how about we borrow some money from an acquaintance and buy the bonds assigned by the superiors? After the imperial court wipes out Mobei, we will repay the principal with interest. In total, we will not lose money."

Gao Xinglong thought.

"Brother Gao, you don't understand."

Sheng Lei said as he walked: "As the saying goes, 'If you want to take something, you must give it first.' You don't know something. The court is not short of money now."

Gao Xinglong asked doubtfully: "Not short of money?"

Sheng Lei said in a deep voice: "Brother Gao, don't think too much. Xu Li has to buy this Northern Expedition Victory Bond for me even if he doesn't want to buy it, and it requires at least 3000 taels of bonds to start!"

He knew that during the Southern Expedition, Xu Li and his soldiers seized a lot of property but did not turn it over. Now his family has 3 taels if not 1 taels.

After saying this, Sheng Lei walked towards Wu Kangbo's mansion with firm strides.

Gao Xinglong sighed, and he and the few archers behind him could only follow.

After a while.

In the living room of Wu Kangbo Mansion.

When Xu Li heard that Sheng Lei and Gao Xinglong were coming, his face immediately turned blue and white.

"Uncle, is this person seen or not?"

Butler Xu bowed his body and asked cautiously.

Seeing Xu Li's hesitation, he added: "Sheng Lei is the guard general of the East Palace. What if he comes to visit this time on the orders of His Highness the Crown Prince?"

Xu Li replied angrily: "Go, just say I'm not in the house."

"Uncle, it has been less than a year since we settled in the capital. Where else can we go if you are not at home?"

Butler Xu asked in a low voice, considering that Sheng Lei would not believe it easily.

"Just say I went to visit a friend!"

Xu Li was so angry that he raised his leg, kicked Butler Xu, and cursed: "Idiot, you can't use your brain?"

Although he is greedy for money, he is also a person who bullies the weak and fears the strong. He knows that there are some people he cannot afford to offend in his life.

Now that he heard that Sheng Lei was coming, Xu Li suddenly became scared.

outside the gate.

After hearing what Butler Xu said, Sheng Lei frowned and said, "Did you just say that Wu Kangbo went out to visit friends?"

"Yes." Butler Xu bowed.

Sheng Lei scolded: "Lies! What friends does Uncle Xu have in the capital?"

After he said this, he ignored Butler Xu and rushed straight into the house. "Wu Kangbo, I'm here to see you!"

When Xu Li saw Sheng Lei entering the house, he tried to run away, but was discovered by the sharp-eyed Sheng Lei.

Sheng Lei shouted from a distance: "Wu Kangbo, your butler said you were not at home. I didn't believe it. When I came in and took a look, it turned out... your butler lied!"

Xu Li smiled awkwardly and said, "General Sheng, long time no see!"

After saying this, he immediately looked at the butler and shouted: "We have a distinguished guest here. What are you doing standing around here? Why don't you go get some tea?"

Xu Li welcomed Sheng Lei into the living room and asked him and Gao Xinglong to sit down respectively.

Then, he asked rather nervously: "I wonder why General Sheng is here?"

Sheng Lei said calmly: "In order to raise food and wages for the Northern Expedition army, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince requested Your Majesty to issue Northern Expedition Victory Bonds in the name of the Royal Bank. If Xu Bo bought the bonds, he would be the court's creditor. "

"Court creditor?"

Xu Li said in shock.

Sheng Lei said: "If Uncle Xu wants to know the reason, I am willing to talk about it."

Xu Li hurriedly answered: "Since General Sheng is willing to talk, I, Mr. Xu, am naturally willing to hear the details."

Sheng Lei said slowly: "Uncle Xu should know that a few years ago, when the imperial court implemented the new policy of apportioning people into acres, a new yamen was set up under the Ministry of Household Affairs, called the Finance and Taxation Department. This department was mainly responsible for approving the Ming Dynasty's subjects, including civil and military officials. The property of those who are included in it, and the imposition of taxes.”

All taxes in the world were previously coordinated and collected by the Ministry of Household Affairs.

But some people resisted the tax, and those who resisted the tax were generally not ordinary people, but gentry.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been a rule that gentry could not pay taxes.

Therefore, after Emperor Yongle implemented the new policy of dividing households into acres, even local powerful people had to pay taxes.

Therefore, tax guards were set up under the Finance and Taxation Bureau, and tax guards would be sent to deal with anyone who dared not pay taxes.

If any local wealthy family dared to resist the tax, hundreds of armed tax soldiers would rush into the house, drag them out and beat them.

As far as Xu Li knew, most of those tax pawns were knights and knights, and their attacks were neither light nor heavy. Many of the legs of those who resisted the tax were broken.

Fortunately, he had never heard of anyone being beaten to death for resisting taxes, but even if he was beaten to death, the tax resister would still be responsible, because resisting taxes was a violation of the Ming Dynasty's laws.

Those who resist the tax must not only pay the tax amount in full, but also pay the fine for resisting the tax!

When Xu Li heard "Finance and Taxation Department", he trembled. He thought that the hidden trophies had been revealed.

Sheng Lei saw it in his eyes and did not care about it, but continued: "According to the calculations of the Finance and Taxation Department, if all the taxes of the imperial court last year were converted into silver coins, it would be about more than 2000 million taels."

"So many?" Xu Li was surprised.

"Not bad." Sheng Lei replied affirmatively.

He paused and suddenly asked: "Uncle Xu, does he know that in the 25th year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu Gao established the Royal Trading Company?"

"Naturally know."

Xu Li nodded without hesitation and said: "This trading house was originally responsible for the tea and horse trade. After Jinshang succeeded to the throne, he implemented the policy of opening up the sea. The imperial court gradually opened trade with the countries in Thailand and Western countries, and among the Yun brocade that the Westerners liked most, only the royal family Subordinate branches of the trading firm can operate, but no one else can."

In other words, the imperial court currently has a monopoly on the production and trade of Yun brocade.

"Yunjin brocade came out of the palace two years ago, and it is naturally specialized in the Royal Commercial Bank. In the future, when the production of Yunjin brocade reaches a large scale, the court will definitely make a lot of money."

Sheng Lei answered.

Xu Li wondered: "I wonder what the tax revenue of the royal business and the imperial court mentioned by General Sheng has to do with the Northern Expedition Victory Bonds?"

Sheng Lei said: "It has a lot to do with it! The income of the Royal Commercial Bank and the tax revenue of the imperial court are all mortgages for the Northern Expedition Victory Bonds. The Royal Bank sold us the bonds, we paid for them, and the imperial court used the money to fight the war. Wait for the Northern Expedition Victory Bonds After the soldiers return in triumph, the bank will not only return the principal, but also grant a certain amount of interest."

Xu Li asked: "How much?"

Sheng Lei stretched out a finger and said slowly: "This interest is ten times the one-year time deposit of Royal Bank!"

Xu Li's heartbeat accelerated instantly, and he couldn't help but said: "How long do you need to borrow it?"

"One year." Sheng Lei replied.

Xu Li shouted: "Although I, Mr. Xu, don't understand magic, I only give [-]% a year, which is too little."

The interest rate on Royal Bank's one-year time deposit is [-]%. Ten times is [-]%, or one-tenth, which is what Xu Li calls "[-]%."

Sheng Lei said calmly: "It doesn't matter if you think it's too little. If you buy more, you will naturally earn more. You have to trust His Majesty and His Royal Highness."

"I can certainly trust His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Xu Li said something first, then faced Sheng Lei, smiled awkwardly and said, "It's just that General Sheng, you came to introduce bonds to me, which makes me feel very unsure."

"Why don't you know the bottom line?" Sheng Lei asked.

Xu Li replied: "Now that you are selling the bonds, if I buy them, it will be a huge loss for me if they are taken away by someone under false pretense when the Northern Expeditionary Army returns victorious."

Sheng Lei took out a bond from his sleeve pocket, put it on the desk, and said to Xu Li: "Uncle Xu, this is a Beizheng Victory Bond with a face value of 200 taels of silver yuan. Take a look."

The size of the bond was about the size of a primary school student's homework book in later generations, with words such as "Beizheng Victory Bond 200 taels" and "One-year interest at [-]%" printed on it.

"Is this a bond?"

Xu Li looked at the bonds on the case curiously.

"Did you see it?"

Sheng Lei took the bond and held it up in the air, letting Xu Li take a closer look at the light.

Xu Li saw a shadow inside the bond, which was vaguely a bust of a person.

"This is a watermark."

Sheng Lei introduced: "On the left is Jin Shang's portrait. Look at the two square red seals on the right. One is the seal of the Royal Bank, and the other is the seal of the Finance and Taxation Department."

Xu Li took the bond and placed it in his palm, looking at it carefully.

He was very surprised that the bonds could be made so beautifully. Their workmanship was no worse than gold banknotes, and they even had a watermark that gold banknotes did not have.

"Did you see that the name of the person is not written on the bond, so it is anonymous. The Royal Bank only recognizes the bond, not the person, and will redeem it immediately upon seeing the bond. Uncle Xu, you can take this bond to any Royal Bank to redeem it."

Sheng Lei introduced from the side.

After listening to Sheng Lei's words, Xu Li looked at the bonds in his hands and smiled unconsciously: "The interest of [-]% a year is actually quite a lot."

Sheng Lei took advantage of the situation and said, "How much does Uncle Xu plan to buy?"

Xu Li asked: "But this is the only denomination of 200 taels?"

Sheng Lei nodded and said, "Not bad."

Xu Li thought: "In that case, I will buy five."

"Snapped!"

Sheng Lei suddenly stood up and shouted, "What?"

His actions frightened everyone present, and even Gao Xinglong was so frightened that his heart beat wildly.

Xu Li pretended to be calm and said: "What's wrong with General Sheng?"

"Wu Kangbo, do you think that my face, Sheng Lei, is only worth 1000 taels of silver?"

Sheng Lei snatched the bonds from Xu Li's hand with a wave of his hand, turned around to greet Gao Xinglong and his archers, and was about to leave.

PS: Thank you for being the struggling grasshopper, the sad man, the silent lamb, the wind dancing, the wind dancing in the deep sea, the dim light, the cat walking alone in the white night, the flesh of the dragon, the immortal emperor, brother Zichuan, seeing you, Lu Bu among men Specially for the recommendation votes and monthly votes cast by my adoptive father and other veterans!grateful!

(End of this chapter)