Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 205 Benefits of War Bonds

A few years ago, after Zhu Gaoxu proposed the idea of ​​national bonds, Zhu Di agreed to let the Bank of China issue bonds in the name of the imperial court.

Since then, the heads of towns and villages in Zhili have been ordered to sell bonds, targeting gentry everywhere, especially large and medium-sized landowners.

With the 100 million taels of silver donated by the vassal kings for this imperial expedition to the north, it would be enough for an army of [-], let alone [-] troops for the northern expedition.

But he still petitioned Zhu Di to issue the Northern Expedition Victory Bonds in the name of the Royal Bank. Zhu Di agreed because he was moved by the five benefits proposed by Zhu Gaoxu.

First, the Northern Expedition Victory Bond can exert pressure on the soldiers of the Northern Expedition to "only succeed, not fail."

Because after the Victory Bonds are issued, once Beizheng fails, all those who bought Beizheng Bonds will be unlucky.

The principal of those who purchased the bonds will be deferred, and the interest payments that can only be obtained after victory will be gone.

In this way, the failure of the Northern Expedition soldiers will offend a lot of people.

On the other hand, the victory of the Northern Expedition will allow more people to enjoy the dividends of the war.

Second, after the bonds are cashed in the future, the credibility of the court can be further enhanced.

The gold banknotes issued by the Ming Dynasty were essentially banknotes based on the court's reputation and gold and silver as reserves.

As long as the court has a good reputation, its banknotes will have value in the hearts of the people, otherwise it will be waste paper.

Third, in the future, the imperial court can also rely on the issuance of bonds to promote the sending of people to patrol the sea.

By then, mainland people will be able to enjoy the dividends of the voyages to the West just by buying bonds without going to sea.

As a result, more and more people will support the voyage to the West.

Fourth, as long as the citizens of the world can enjoy the dividends of waging just wars and sailing to the West through bonds, this model will gradually become a routine. In the future, anyone who wants to monopolize the dividends of wars or voyages to the West, or hinder the imperial court's foreign affairs Wage a just war or sail to the west, then whoever will become the enemy of the bond buyer.

Whether now or in the future, the vast majority of people who can really afford bonds, or can buy bonds, are powerful, wealthy businessmen and large and medium-sized landowners.

And these people are the ones who truly have the right to speak.

Therefore, given time, most people with the right to speak in the Ming Dynasty will, driven by interests, support all the new policies of the court that are linked to bonds.

Zhu Di was previously worried that the policy of going to the West would face the situation of "people perish and government interest" after many years. Zhu Gaoxu used bonds to provide him with another possibility - more and more people would force the court to continue to implement the policy of going to the West for the sake of profit. national policy.

Fifth, investment bonds can be issued in the future to specifically invest in overseas vassal countries with economic development potential. As long as the fiscal revenue of this vassal country increases, people who buy bonds will also get rich along with it.

Overseas vassals can also borrow money from the Royal Bank to develop their own internal affairs, increase fiscal revenue, and improve the lives of the people under their rule.

In this way, the overseas vassals and the imperial court will be firmly tied together through their interests.

The possibility of overseas vassal states becoming self-reliant will also be further reduced.

Zhu Gaoxu's idea of ​​issuing war bonds this time actually originated from England from the [-]th to [-]th centuries.

After history entered the late seventeenth century, the Ottoman power gradually began to decline, and its oppression of Greece became more cruel, and the conflicts between the two sides gradually intensified.

At that time, England strongly supported Greek independence in order to fight against the Ottomans.

But the British were reluctant to pay out of their own pockets, so they came up with an idea to turn the Greek War of Independence into a financial product.

English first assessed Greece's taxes, then set bond quotas based on the tax amount and sold bonds to raise funds.

After raising funds, the money will be loaned to Greece.

When Greece has money, it can buy weapons and food so that it can fight the Ottomans. After it gains independence, it can repay the money with taxes or other income and pay interest.

Inspired by this, Zhu Gaoxu planned to turn the Northern Expedition into Mobei into a "financial product" before Zhu Di decided to send troops to Mobei. He issued Northern Expedition Victory Bonds and promised to convert them into trophies such as cattle, horses, sheep, ordnance after pacifying Mobei. Pay back the money in cash.

If any force wants to win the war, it must persist until the last moment of the battle.

But without the guarantee of armor, pay, knives, guns, firearms and other military supplies, how could they persist until the last moment of the battle?
All this requires financial support!

Once a country's finances collapse, its war will inevitably lose momentum.

Unless someone from heaven appears and turns the tide, this country will go downhill from now on until it is defeated.

The essence of the Northern Expedition Victory Bond was Zhu Gaoxu's attempt to find a solution because the imperial court would have to fight foreign wars in the future, but it happened to be that the national treasury was empty.

The "balanced budget" advocated by later generations of economists, that is, revenue equal to expenditure, is only a theoretical perfection.

In fact, for a big country, less foreign debt is not always better, and fiscal deficit is not entirely a bad thing for a country.

Historically, England was able to dominate the world precisely because it was good at borrowing money.

At that time, as guns and artillery were put into the battlefield, the military expenditures of European countries increased rapidly.

In order to maintain huge military expenditures, countries had to borrow heavily, and many countries collapsed as a result.

Spain's failure was its inability to repay its debt on time, and the same was true for France.

Because once credibility is lost, no one will be willing to pay if the interest rate is not increased, so the interest rate on the next loan will be forced to increase.

England, on the other hand, issued public bonds to raise war expenses and then returned them over a long period of time. It has always been able to repay the debt and has a very good reputation.

It is this good reputation that allows Angeli to continue to raise large amounts of funds at low interest rates.

Therefore, historically England became the most powerful country in Europe at that time.

Zhu Gaoxu knew the importance of the court's credibility.

He believed that as long as the reputation of the Ming court was good enough, in addition to being able to sell bonds in the Ming Dynasty, even in the grasslands, Nurgan, Western Regions, Annan and other places, those powerful and wealthy businessmen who wanted to make a fortune would also be willing to buy bonds. .

During the Second Anglo-Dutch War, many wealthy businessmen and dignitaries in the Netherlands felt that they might not be able to defeat the British, so they bought war bonds issued by the British.

Zhu Gaoxu believed that as long as the Northern Expedition was successful, the Ming Dynasty would fully sell war bonds in the future, and the powerful people of the grassland tribes would probably also find ways to buy bonds.

After all, after five years of promotion, the Ming Dynasty Silver Dollar has captured the love of a large number of grassland tribe nobles with its exquisite appearance. It can be said that the Ming Dynasty Silver Dollar is also a hard currency in the Northern Yuan Dynasty!

Baixiangfang.

Wukangbo Mansion.

in the living room.

"General Sheng stayed back because I didn't think well! Forgive me, forgive me!"

After all, Xu Li had a military background and his reaction speed was not slow. He quickly got up and stopped Sheng Lei, and quickly confessed.

Sheng Lei borrowed the donkey from the slope and sat back down again.

Xu Li said with a smile: "General Sheng, it's not that I'm stingy, it's just that I've been a little tight lately."

Sheng Lei said solemnly: "I heard that you have a silver cellar in your home, which is specially used to store silver winter melons made of silver. The silver winter melons are heavy and slippery, and even if they are stolen, it will be difficult for thieves to move them away."

"These are all rumors. There is indeed a cellar at home, but it is used to store fine wine. The general also knows that smelting silver coins privately is a serious crime comparable to beheading. How dare I!" Xu Li was shocked, but forced Zuo said calmly, "To be fair to the general, I, Xu Li, certainly have ten thousand taels of silver dollars, but recently I invested the money in Ouyang's consort's name for maritime trade, and my money is indeed a bit tight. It will take some time to get the money back.”

After Sheng Lei heard this, he was silent for a moment and then said slowly: "If money is really tight, it doesn't matter. Selling bonds is not an urgent matter right now."

"General, as far as I know, the Royal Bank has a loan business, and the interest rate is very low, only [-]%. What if I take a loan to buy bonds?"

Next to him, Gao Xinglong's face immediately darkened after hearing Xu Li's opportunistic remarks, and he cursed in his heart: "Shameless! He actually used the Royal Bank's money to buy Victory Bonds issued by the Royal Bank. He is simply a big worm!"

"How much do you want to borrow?" Sheng Lei asked calmly.

Xu Li replied: "I still have 3000 taels in cash at home. I will borrow another 5000 taels to make up 8000 taels."

"Since you want to collect, why bother to collect 1 taels, just collect 1 taels. After one year, you can get 1000 taels of interest on a bond of [-] taels. After deducting the loan interest paid to the bank, there is still a lot left over. .”

Sheng Lei analyzed.

Gao Xinglong listened to the conversation between the two and suddenly realized that his thoughts just now were still too shallow.

Judging from Sheng Lei's answer, he had already guessed that Xu Li would propose the idea of ​​borrowing money from the Royal Bank to purchase bonds, but Sheng Lei was not surprised. It seemed that letting Xu Li borrow money was also part of his plan.

Xu Lili thought for a while and said resolutely: "General, I have decided. I want to subscribe for 3 taels. In half a month, Ouyang Prince Consort's ship will return, and I will have money by then. In addition, I will borrow another 5 taels. Ten thousand, come up with an integer of 5000 taels. After one year, you can get [-] taels of interest!"

Gao Xinglong was stunned when he heard Xu Li said that he would subscribe for 5 yuan and borrow another [-] yuan to collect [-] taels.

In his half-life, he had never seen how much 1 taels of silver dollars were, and it was even more difficult to imagine what a scene would look like if 5 taels were piled together.

Now is the early Yongle period. Although the purchasing power of silver has dropped a lot compared with the Hongwu period with the prosperity of maritime trade, the purchasing power of one tael of silver yuan at this time is still greater than the five hundred yuan in later generations.

In other words, 5 taels of silver, converted into a hundred-dollar bill in later generations, would start at least 500 million yuan!

Not to mention Gao Xinglong's eyes widened when he heard this, even the well-informed Sheng Lei was shocked by Xu Li's "heroic" aura.

Sheng Lei said with a smile: "Uncle Xu, the loan must be secured by assets. Although you have thousands of hectares of fertile land, it is all used as collateral, so I'm afraid it is not suitable. How about a loan of [-] and a subscription of [-]?"

Xu Li patted his thigh and said cheerfully: "Forty thousand is forty thousand, I, Mr. Xu, bought it."

"Uncle Xu is really quick to talk."

Sheng Lei stood up and cupped his hands and said, "Now that the bond subscription has been finalized, I'll take my leave now."

"I, Xu Li, never break my promise. As soon as the ship comes back half a month later, I will personally carry the money to the Royal Bank to buy the Northern Expedition Victory Bonds."

Xu Li immediately stood up and returned the courtesy with his hands in hand.

Sheng Lei bowed and said, "Farewell."

"Butler, send General Sheng off for me."

Xu Li shouted to the door.

at the same time.

Zhou Wangfu.

The main hall of the living room.

Prince Zhu Gaoxu and King Zhou Zhu were sitting on the left and right sides of the table in the main hall.

The prince of Zhou, Zhu Youdun, stood beside Zhu Zhu respectfully.

On the table is a square mahogany gilt box measuring two inches in length, width and height. Inside the wooden box are 52 neatly stacked bundles of Northern Expedition Victory Bonds.

Each bundle contains one hundred bonds, each with a face value of 200 taels.

In other words, there were 4 taels of bonds placed in the wooden box, which happened to be the silver taels donated to the court by Zhou Wang Zhu Ju and other vassal kings not long ago.

"Uncle Wu, this is the Northern Expedition Victory Bond issued by the Royal Bank. When the Northern Expedition army returns triumphantly in the future, you can use this bond to exchange for the full principal amount and [-]% interest at the bank."

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes fell on the wooden box and he briefly introduced Zhu Xi.

"Previously, your seventeenth uncle wanted to lead an army to attack the barbarians on the grassland, but His Majesty did not agree due to the public opinion of the civil and military forces in the Manchu Dynasty. After all, as princes of the clan, it is difficult for me to have the power to lead the army again."

Zhu Rui explained: "Although we cannot go to the battlefield, we can donate money and food to help the court conquer the Tatars. This is the wish of all the princes and us. Not to mention more than 100 million taels, if it is not enough, we will sell the iron to sell it." Help Your Majesty raise his troops to pacify Mobei in one fell swoop."

"Fifth Uncle, Your Majesty the Emperor understands your uncles' pure heart of serving the imperial court and serving the country. But with the monsoon coming, the scheduled date of departure cannot be delayed."

Zhu Gaoxu said with relief: "It's not that we have to wait another year, but if a sea ship travels in non-monsoon conditions, the time it takes to reach Java will be at least twice as long. In addition, the maritime climate is changeable. To prevent unexpected events , it’s best to go to sea as scheduled.”

"It's good to be able to go to sea as scheduled. After all, we are taking mature routes and it is safer."

Zhu Zhu first nodded in agreement, and then said with concern: "But the food problem is not easy to solve."

More than 3 people, including the whole family of the King of Zhou, the tenants of the palace, the three guards and their families, will accompany the King of Zhou to the sea to establish the country.

Zhu Rui will take more than 1 people with him when he goes to sea for the first time.

These people had prepared to go to sea half a month ago and are currently arriving at Liujiagang, Taicang.

In other words, for every day of delay, more than 1 people will be stranded in Liujiagang for one day, and all their food and drink expenses will be spent.

However, as soon as the food is in place and the court gives an order, these more than 1 people will go to sea by boat with Zhou Wang Zhu Ju.

"Fifth uncle, my father has found a way. Jiaozhi Dusi will prepare thirty thousand shi of grain in advance. Before the ship enters Nanyang, Wucheng Hou Wang Cong will lead a fleet to deliver these grains to you and Sixth Uncle."

Zhu Gaoxu said bluntly: "Furthermore, after the victory of the Northern Expedition, my nephew will send someone to deliver the principal and interest of the bonds belonging to you and Uncle Six in person."

"In that case, I will accept these bonds."

Zhu Xi no longer refused and said politely to Zhu Gaoxu.

"It should be." Zhu Gaoxu smiled.

At this time, Zhu Xi saw that the tea on the table was no longer steaming, so he turned slightly and looked at Zhu Youdou, the crown prince of Zhou beside him, and reprimanded: "You have such a lack of eyesight. I didn't see that the tea on the table was cold." Yet?"

Zhu Youdou hurriedly bowed and said, "Father, please forgive me. I will ask someone to bring you a pot of hot tea."

"This child is not good at words. Your Highness, please be more considerate."

After Zhu Youdou left, Zhu Xi smiled apologetically to Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "It doesn't matter if you are not good at speaking. As long as you are good at governing the people, you can become a wise king."

"If in the future, as His Highness said today, he becomes a wise king, then what he said today will become a good talk."

Zhu Ru stroked his beard and smiled.

(End of this chapter)