Traveling through the Ming Dynasty, as soon as you open your eyes, you will die

Chapter 48 The Birth of Mortgage Loans
  At the Dongchang Mint, the bustling scene where thousands of people were busy had disappeared and looked deserted.

Countless coin molds were left idle in the warehouse, gathering a thin layer of dust.

The furnace that was burning brightly day and night has become a cold stove. It’s been a long time since I fired.

Walking into the large factory building, the sound of footsteps echoed, and every word became buzzing.

"Why is it like this? Why is the work stopped?" Lu Mou asked with a frown, because in the military, he was used to shouting at the top of his voice. Such a loud voice echoed in the empty factory, which actually shocked Lu Mou.

Sun Bin quickly reported: "The debts owed by the officials have been almost collected, the palace's operation of selling confiscated goods has ended, and the prince's seizures are gone. Therefore, there is insufficient silver, and the mint has temporarily stopped working."

Then he pointed to the warehouses of several Dongchang strong men standing one by one: "But after deducting all your previous large expenses, we now have about five million silver dollars in stock."

Five million is enough for the time being, enough for this year's expenses.

But for future expenses, we must open up connections with Jiangnan and obtain Jiangnan’s money and food within this year.

The rogue bandits occupy Henan and Shandong. In fact, not only are their foundations unstable, but their troops are also small. As long as Li Zicheng's million-strong army in front of Zijin Pass is defeated, Liu Fangliang will abandon Shandong and Henan and chase Li Zicheng back to the northwest, just like in history.

The great plague recorded in history must break out quickly.

But it is unreliable to rely on a plague to turn the situation around. What to do if it doesn’t break out? You still need money to do it.

Money, where are you? It's so hard for me to find you. I never had such a hard time finding a wife in my previous life.

Sun Bin didn't know what Prince Ding was thinking, so he reminded him carefully: "Your Majesty, I have something to say. I don't know whether to say it or not."

He put back the random thoughts in his heart, smiled and said to Sun Bin: "Speak directly if you have anything to say."

Sun Bin said: "Your Majesty, most of the officials have paid off their debts by force, but the remaining officials have really paid off their debts. If we continue to force the debts like this, then the officials who have just been conquered by the emperor will be in trouble." Heart, the emperor's newly transformed image will be branded as violent, greedy, and mean and ungrateful. This is not worth the gain. In addition, the officials who were originally imprisoned in the palace are always under house arrest, and it is not There is a way. My lord, let’s forget the rest.”

Lu Mou shook his head firmly as always: "If we forget about them, then the mentality that I was willing to pay will change. The situation I just cleared up will collapse in an instant. This is absolutely not okay."

"Then there has to be a way. It won't work if this stalemate continues."

Lu Mou frowned and thought for a while: "How many debts do you think are still outstanding?"

"The old slave has counted it, and there are less than a million left."

"There are still millions. Those guys really treated our household department as a cash machine."

Sun Bin smiled bitterly.

"Let's see, we can't stop forcibly collecting debts. But you take out one million silver dollars, open a bank in the name of the British public in a conspicuous place on Gulou Street, and lend money to foreigners."

Sun Bin felt confused: "What are you doing? Can this help those officials?" Lu Mou smiled: "The interest of this bank is only one cent per year. And there is a rule, that is, civil servants, oh no , that is, when an official borrows money, he can use his salary as collateral and repay part of it every month. The length of time is specified according to the monthly repayment ability." This is a mortgage loan. A real routine loan.

"That's okay too?"

"Of course."

"What should we do if we see such a low interest rate and other businessmen flock to us to borrow money? If we don't lend it, then the secret will be exposed."

"Didn't I say that we only have such preferential treatment for officials, but for other businessmen, they must have physical mortgages. At the same time, the loan threshold and loan interest will be raised to curb other people's speculation and distract our little money. Funds. Wouldn't everyone be happy with this?" The interest rate on private loans is more than five times higher than this. It is absolutely possible for profiteers to take advantage of the opportunity to make money from the interest difference. Must be just in case.

But it is not impossible to take the opportunity to lend some high-interest loans and earn some interest. Just master one degree.

As a result, in order to solve the conflicting problem of officials' debts, Lu Mou created this kind of mortgage loan for later generations, lending it to officials to pay off their own debts, but unknowingly, it laid the rudimentary foundation of the Ming Dynasty Bank.

After the officials paid off the debts, Sun Bin, who was already in charge of the specific business of Dongchang, saw the huge profits here, so he directly took over the bank and continued to expand the business. Finally, under Lu Mou's attention and guidance, the real Ming Bank was formed. It played a solid role in promoting the future industrial and commercial development of Ming Dynasty.

A Dongchang fan, today he no longer violently collects debts from the official in front of him, but shows his kindness.

"I'm telling Mr. Zhao, let's not talk about the feelings of family and country. The bullshit cliche of repaying the country's loyal king when the national crisis is the first. It is natural to pay back debts. Don't deny this."

Mr. Zhao said with a sad face: "It is natural to pay back debts. This is an eternal law. I do not deny it. But as you have seen, my father-in-law, I have taken out everything I can, and you can do it too." I’ve checked my house and found that I’m completely destitute and really have no money.”

The Dongchang fan nodded: "We understand this, and we deeply sympathize with your situation. But today we will give you a clear path. When the time comes, you will pay back the money, and I will have completed the task. We are no longer related."

Mr. Zhao has really had enough of this torturous method of forcing people. When I heard that there was a way to pay off the debt, I felt like I had grasped a life-saving straw. I bowed to the eunuch repeatedly: "If father-in-law can give me a way to pay off the debt, then I will thank you for eight generations of my ancestors."

The eunuch laughed and said, "Master Zhao, this is not very kind. I will give you a good idea. Why are you still scolding me?"

Mr. Zhao quickly waved his hands: "No, no, it's just that I was in a hurry and chose the wrong words. Please don't blame me, father-in-law."

"No blame, no blame. Our family understands how you feel. Then I will tell you this wonderful way."

"Please give me some advice, father-in-law."

"That's right. British men are kind and righteous."

"This is known to all the world. But what does this matter have to do with the British public?"

"He saw that you officials were in debt to the treasury for one reason or another. However, during this extraordinary period, the British prince could not plead with the emperor on your behalf, nor could he dismantle King Ding, but he still wanted to help. You guys. So he opened a bank on Wangfujing Street the day before yesterday. He started lending money to external parties. Then you can borrow money from him and repay your debt to the treasury, right?"

(End of this chapter)