Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

Chapter 648: Money makes money, money rolls in
Time flies, and soon it is the end of June. The weather is getting hotter, but the city of Xiangyang is still crowded and bustling.

The palace examination was held in Xiangyang on July 5th. In addition to those successful candidates, candidates from other states who failed the exam also came to Xiangyang, hoping to show off their talents and pass the exam the following year.

In addition to the candidates who failed the exam, there were also businessmen from Jiangnan, Jiangdong, Yanzhou and other places.

The Fuze Restaurant in the city was always packed in the past. It had never been closed for a single day since it opened, but today it was closed to the public.

Because today, the Fuze Restaurant in Xiangyang City welcomed a group of special guests. They were all businessmen from all over the place. Some time ago, they all received invitations from Chen Mo.

Today's Chen Mo can be regarded as the regent of the Song Dynasty. The previous powerful ministers Xu Guozhong and Lu Sheng were not as good as him, so when Chen Mo invited them, how dare they not come.

On the first floor of Fuze Restaurant, these businessmen sat upright. They looked at their colleagues around them and felt a little puzzled. They were all businessmen and had more or less contact with each other. Now that they were all gathered together, it was inevitable that they would have wild thoughts. They thought to themselves that the King of Wei might want to slaughter them like fat sheep.

After all, everyone present here is wealthy, especially when they hear that the court is short of money recently, it is inevitable that they will have wild thoughts.

That is why, when the servants brought them tea, they were polite and used honorifics when speaking.

After a while, footsteps were heard outside the restaurant, and the restaurant owner, who was welcoming guests outside, shouted, "The Xiao family, Qin family, and Liu family from Jiangnan have arrived."

Hearing this, all the merchants on the first floor stood up, looked towards the door, and looked at the person who came in in surprise.

"Master Xiao, Master Qin, Master Liu?"

There was a loud commotion on the first floor. They never expected that not only would the major families from Jiangnan come, but also the heads of the families would come in person.

Xiao Quan, who had become the successor to the head of the Xiao family, smiled and nodded to the businessmen in the hall, then found a seat and sat down with a few people around him.

Xiao Quan and his companions acted arrogantly and refused to talk to others, but the other businessmen did not dare to do so. However, they were not angry at all and took the initiative to approach them, trying to get close to Xiao Quan and his companions.

After all, these big families in Jiangnan are not only engaged in business, but the water transport in Jiangnan is also controlled by these big families, so they can't avoid dealing with each other.

The beautiful words just kept coming out without stopping.

Someone said to Qin Hao, the head of the Qin family: "Congratulations to your son for passing the imperial examination. He will surely pass the palace examination this time. I would like to congratulate the head of the Qin family in advance."

Qin Shi, who ranked 37th in the imperial examination, was Qin Hao's youngest son. Anyone who paid attention to the imperial examination list could know the truth by just asking quietly.

In addition, the last time the Qin family hosted a banquet for almost everyone in Xiangyang to celebrate Qin Shi’s high school admission, they were truly wealthy.

These days, the happiest thing for Qin Hao was undoubtedly that his youngest son had passed high school. He boasted about it a lot. Even a powerful family like the Xiao family had disciples whose ranking in the imperial examination list was much lower than his youngest son. This made him very proud.

You know, the last time Chen Mo went to the south of the Yangtze River, he went to the Xiao family to propose marriage for Qin Hao, but was rejected by the Xiao family.

After Qin Hao passed the imperial examination this time, he brought up the matter to the Xiao family again. Surprisingly, the Xiao family relented. As long as Qin Hao could pass the palace examination this time, the Xiao family would agree to the marriage.

Although Qin Hao also wanted to steel himself and say that he didn't care, there was nothing he could do. The Xiao family had relied on King Wei, and the Qin family was not as good as the Xiao family. Even though they had been despised by the Xiao family before, they still had to rely on them.

Therefore, this person flattered Qin Hao and made him smile, but he said, "It's not even a shadow of a thing yet."

Just as the man was about to continue his flattering words, the shopkeeper outside who was welcoming guests shouted again: "The Yi family and the Wang family from Pingting County have arrived."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the businessmen who had originally sat down stood up again, even Xiao Quan and Qin Hao were no exception.

The Yi family in Pingting County, you can tell who they are just by thinking about it.

That was the family home of the King of Wei’s first concubine.

Even though the Yi family had moved to Xiangyang, they still called themselves the Yi family of Pingting County to the outside world.

Although Yi Qianchi, the head of the Yi family, is only a small seventh-rank warrior, no one dares to look down on him. After all, he is the father-in-law of King Wei.

The Wang family of Pingting County has no marriage relationship with Chen Mo, but they should not be underestimated. They are the first group to bet on King Wei and have made great contributions.

It is said that King Wei's miraculous archery skills originated from the Wang family.

Yi Qianchi, the head of the Yi family, and Wang Xiu, the head of the Wang family, who came into the restaurant, looked at the respect on everyone's faces and their smiles became more intense. Especially among these people, some were heads of aristocratic families who he would never be able to hit a club with in his entire lifetime. The vanity in their hearts was greatly satisfied.

It seems that everything I paid in the past was just for today.

After learning from the servants who was the head of the Xiao family, Yi Qianchi and Wang Xiu both bowed to Xiao Quan.

Since the other party gave them face, they naturally had to return the favor with courtesy.

"The King of Wei and the Wu family of Jiangdong are here." At this time, a voice broke the silence, and everyone raised their eyebrows and showed respect.

The King of Wei is a household name. It doesn't take much to tell you about the Wu family in Jiangdong. That's the maiden family of the King of Wei's wife. Now, they are already the leader of the seven famous families and have long surpassed the Xiao family.

Everyone looked towards the door.

After a while, a tall and graceful woman led the way, followed by several armored soldiers, surrounding a young man and an old man.

Everyone who has dealt with this woman knows that she is the official manager of the Fuze Restaurant, her name is Qingwu.

And the young man was none other than the powerful King Wei.

The old man was the elder sent by the Wu family.

Chen Mo was wearing a python robe. As soon as he came in, everyone looked at him nervously with awe on their faces.

Although they are wealthy, have officials as their backers, and even have warriors on their payroll, they cannot compare with a prince like Chen Mo who holds military power, not to mention that he himself is a top-third-rank warrior.

Chen Mo smiled and pressed his hand, saying, "Everyone, please take a seat."

After Chen Mo sat down, these people slowly sat down. This was a restaurant, so there was naturally no shortage of tables and chairs.

"You guys go down first." Chen Mo said to the soldier, then looked at Qing Wu: "Notify the kitchen, the dishes can be served."

"promise."

The departure of the soldiers also reduced a lot of pressure on everyone.

Chen Mo did not rush to speak. After the wine and food were served, he said, "You all accepted the invitation and came here to show me your respect. Here, I would like to offer you a toast."

Chen Mo stood up and raised his glass.

Everyone was panicked. Although it was Chen Mo who toasted them, none of them dared to sit down. They all stood up and toasted Chen Mo first. At the same time, they had a bad premonition in their hearts. As the saying goes, those who show kindness without any reason are either treacherous or thieves.

The King of Wei started by toasting right away, and it seemed that what he was going to say next was not a trivial matter.

After toasting, Chen Mo smiled and pressed his hands, motioning for everyone to sit down, and then said with a smile: "I invited you all here today because I have something important to discuss with you."

"Sure enough." Everyone was prepared for heavy bleeding.

"You are all reputable merchants in our Song Dynasty. You know more about business than I do. Since the founding of the previous dynasty, several wealthy merchants in Jiangnan jointly established money houses because the coins were too heavy to carry. They issued a kind of paper currency to replace copper coins and silver.

But everyone knows that the imperial court of the previous dynasty intervened, and the situation was bad, the state was in financial difficulties, and the paper money was printed at will, disrupting normal trade, causing the value of the paper money to shrink and depreciate continuously, gradually becoming a piece of waste paper. "Chen Mo said slowly.

Hearing this, the merchants were no fools and understood that the King of Wei wanted to build a money house and asked them to invest money.

Fortunately, at this moment they were already prepared for a heavy loss, and they just had to wait for Chen Mo to finish speaking and then express their opinions.

After all, in this situation, let’s not talk about whether you would feel embarrassed not to pay, the key is whether you dare to offend the King of Wei.

Chen Mo continued, looking at Qing Wu: "How many people are invited today?"

"Twenty-seven families, not one less." Qing Wu said.

Chen Mo nodded: "Twenty-seven, plus me, that's twenty-eight. Our strength is several times higher than that of the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan. So I won't waste my words. We can jointly build money houses in various states and issue a kind of paper money, called silver bills, to replace coins. This will make it much more convenient and safe for you to do business. What do you think?"

"Sure enough." After hearing what Chen Mo said, everyone thought to themselves, but at the same time they also breathed a sigh of relief. At least they knew the purpose and it would be easier to deal with it.

Just pay the money. They don’t care whether the bank can be successfully established in the end. They are already prepared to be cheated by Chen Mo.

Of course, they did not speak first, but turned their eyes to the Wu, Xiao, Yi, and Wang families. After all, these four families have close ties with Chen Mo, so these four families should take the lead.

At the same time, they can also judge how much they should contribute based on the money contributed by these four parties.

However, it was the Li, Xiao and Gan families who spoke first.

They are the maiden families of Madam Hui, Madam Xiao and Madam Gan respectively.

They all expressed their willingness to invest 200,000 taels.

When everyone heard this, they were immediately surprised. They didn't expect that these three families were faster than the Wu and Xiao families.

At the same time, they also thought of the rumors, and suddenly a strange look appeared on their faces.

The Wu, Xiao, Yi, and Wang families were also stunned. The Li family was still okay, after all, Chu Juan was also a legitimate wife. But the Xiao and Gan families, who were mistresses, were willing to spend so much money.
After a brief moment of surprise, the elder of the Wu family spoke up, but he did not offer money. Instead, he asked first, "Building a bank and issuing silver bills is convenient and safe, but the biggest problem is that the issuer can print them at will. As long as the issuer is short of money, he can print them out to use. In the long run, the value is bound to depreciate. How will the prince change this by issuing silver bills?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone nodded, but soon their expressions changed slightly. Something was not right. As the Princess of Wei's family, shouldn't the Wu family be the loyal lackeys of the King of Wei? Why are they raising doubts now? Are they opposing it?

But then they understood.

Paper money is not something that only existed in the previous dynasty, it has existed in the last two dynasties, and has always been a weapon used by the imperial court to defraud merchants. Countless wealthy merchants have lost their fortunes and countless common people have been defrauded because of a single silver note, and all their money was taken away by the imperial court.

Those who were not deeply involved with Chen Mo could just get cheated this time and withdraw midway without using the banknotes built by Chen Mo. But the Wu family was deeply involved with Chen Mo and could not withdraw midway. As long as the bank was there, the Wu family could not withdraw. It was only a matter of time before all the family property became a bubble.

Even brothers have to settle accounts clearly, so this matter naturally needs to be considered carefully.

At the same time, they held their breath and lowered their heads, fearing that Chen Mo would get angry.

However, what they didn't know was that Chen Mo had discussed with the Wu family and deliberately let the elder of the Wu family say this.

Chen Mo really wanted to run a good money shop. If he just wanted to borrow money to cheat them, he might as well rob them openly. It was a one-time deal anyway.

What he wants is a steady and continuous flow of income.

Chen Mo smiled and said, "I don't need to interfere in this matter. You can do it. I will just be the leader."

This was what Ning Wan reminded him of.

At first, Chen Mo wanted to use the power of the imperial court to do it alone.

But Ning Wan told him that running a money bank could not be done by one person. Even though he had a court background, without the support of wealthy businessmen, the money bank could not be expanded and could not attract money.

She told Chen Mo that the imperial court could only be a pool, and the merchants were the water in the pool.

She also told Chen Mo what to do.

Everyone looked puzzled.

Chen Mo smiled and said, "It's very simple. Set up a chamber of commerce. I will pay for it and you will print it. I will give you the right to print and distribute it. I will only be responsible for supervision."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's eyes lit up.

You know, the imperial court used to print paper money at will, which defrauded the people and merchants, but the imperial court would not suffer any losses. Instead, it took away all the money, and no one could punish the imperial court, so it could act with impunity.

But if the right to publish and print is given to them, they dare not print at will, because Chen Mo, who exercises supervision, can easily punish them.

However, Chen Mo had not finished speaking yet. After he finished speaking, everyone became completely excited.

"I plan to give three million taels to the Chamber of Commerce, and the Chamber of Commerce will print three million taels of silver notes. You can exchange them for silver notes from the Chamber of Commerce's bank. In this way, if I intervene, you will lose your own money, and you can withdraw."

The national treasury had no money, but Chen Mo's private residence had money, and he planned to use the dowries of his wives and concubines.

Chen Mo did this to make it easier to check the accounts. After all, he only paid out three million taels. If four million taels were printed, then someone must have printed too much. In this way, he could trace the other party.

At this moment, everyone was whispering to each other, feeling that this matter had great potential.

"Well, Your Majesty, I wonder how the chamber of commerce you mentioned was established?" Qin Hao couldn't help but ask.

"You will set up the Chamber of Commerce, and you will elect the head of the Chamber of Commerce on your own initiative. You will be responsible for the operation of the Chamber of Commerce, and I will not interfere. Anyone who joins the Chamber of Commerce can invest in the Sea Trade. You can set a specific share size by yourself. All the income from the Sea Trade will be distributed as dividends at the end of the year, divided according to the number of shares, and I will only take 30% of it."

Chen Mo just wanted to use their help to run the money house and make it bigger.

As for allowing them to invest in maritime trade, it was because the imperial court could not come up with the money for the initial voyage.

(End of this chapter)