Compete for the Song Dynasty

Song Yingzong Zhao Shu may have known long ago that his body would not be able to last long, especially this time with a serious illness, which gave him a premonition that his idea of ​​political leadership might not be able to be implemented.The king next to him was the one who made Zhao Shu worry about him all the time.Rescuing Di Qing and burning the gift boat, Wang Pang repeatedly rejected Zhao Shu's kindness.And when Zhao Shu faced a difficult problem in governing the country, it was this kid who made Zhao Shu feel that he didn't know how to advance or retreat, and said some sympathetic words to him.

Seeing Zhao Shu sitting in a wheelchair, Wang Pang had a thin face, but there was a glint of light in his eyes in the always melancholy expression. At this moment, Wang Pang couldn't help sighing secretly when he thought of this emperor who had only one year to live.Sometimes, knowing too much may not be a good thing, he calmed down his mood and said to Zhao Shu: "Your Majesty, you send me to Yongzhou to try my own self-sufficiency, but how can a state's funds operate? Is it possible for the financial resources of a Zhennan palace next to my king to support it?"

The corner of Zhao Shu's mouth twitched slightly, and Wang Pang could see that there was some disdain trying to hide in his expression.Wang Pang understood that the emperor must have thought that he wanted money again.As he himself said, he only loves money and not power.Sure enough, Zhao Shu said in a low voice: "I think you and I can have today, talk openly and honestly, and you have the heart to strengthen me, Da Song. Tell me, how much silver do you want?" Zhao Shu said, but he was thinking , Obviously I asked you how to solve the emptiness of the national treasury, but you came to ask me for money.

"My lord, I'm not asking for money, I'm borrowing money! And the money is not borrowed by me personally, but by the state capital of Yongzhou and the court."

Seeing Wang Pang's plausible reason for asking for money, Yingzong smiled gratefully: "If you want to govern Yongzhou, the imperial court should allocate funds, so what if you don't have the money when you borrow it?" [

Wang Pang's expression was very calm, and he said calmly: "Yongzhou, can you rest assured that I will not pay the silver taels? Besides, the imperial court can send a censor to supervise the silver taels lent to Yongzhou, and review the silver taels. Use. In this way, it is clear at a glance whether the silver I borrowed from the court is used for supporting soldiers, or for construction and governance?"

Song Yingzong Zhao Shu tapped the armrest of the wheelchair with his fingers, thinking quickly, what kind of tricks is this kid going to do?But then I thought about what I said today, so instead of guessing what he is going to do, it is better to ask him directly: "Wang Pang, how much silver do you need to govern Yongzhou well?"

"Your Majesty, if Yongzhou is well governed, it is not enough to have a number?"

After hearing this, Zhao Shu said slightly angrily: "You boy, I told you to give me advice to solve the emptiness of the treasury, but you came to me to borrow money instead. What's the reason? Haven't counted? Can't the domestic lion speak up?" He said so much in one breath, and after he finished speaking, he coughed a few times out of breath.

This is the emperor, if he is really angry and unable to pay, he will not be able to borrow any money.Wang Pang hurriedly patted him on the back, and brought water again.After the emperor drank a couple of sips, he finished the water cup and said: "My lord, this is the same thing. Listen to me, I said I asked you to borrow money, but I paid interest. This is called a loan from the court, and it can be paid back to the court in installments. If If I don't go up, the imperial court can take back the governance rights of Yongzhou. If I pay it off, then the local finances of Yongzhou will definitely improve. Also, if you allocate funds to Yongzhou, it is a financial appropriation No one in Yongzhou will pay back the imperial government's financial appropriation even with the principal and interest, don't you think?"

What Wang Pang said seems to make sense. The imperial court allocates a lot of funds to each state every year. Among them, the military salary of each state, the construction of water conservancy projects in each state, and the disaster relief in each state are not small figures.But there is no penny of these that the imperial court can recover with interest.Although the states have tax contributions, if those are enough to spend, how can the treasury be empty?Not to mention which state catches up with the drought and flood disaster, the tax will not come up, and the relief will be paid.What's more, there are some stories about deception, the appropriation of the imperial court is not real, and the people's taxes are extorted, but very few are handed over to the imperial court.

In short, these are not things that can be explained clearly in one or two sentences. There are too many factors here. Now Yingzong doesn’t care about thinking so much. It’s good to listen to Wang Pang’s suggestion. Since Wang Pang is willing to try, why not How about taking Yongzhou as an example first? "My lord, are you going to ask the government to lend you... no, how much silver did you lend me? How will you pay it back?"

Wang Pang did not directly answer Yingzong's question, he smiled slightly: "My lord, if the imperial court lends me silver taels, I will repay the interest every month at the rate of 10% per year, and the principal will be repaid at the end of the year." Jin, then I will repay 100 taels of silver every month at 30 taels, and the court lends me [-] million taels of silver, then I will pay back [-] taels of silver every month. This is not a decimal number! But, How much are you going to lend me, Your Majesty?"

"This..." What Wang Pang said was too tempting. If every state did what Wang Pang did, why would the emperor worry about having no money?However, this question really stumped Zhao Shu, where could he get 100 million taels of silver from the current treasury? One million taels of silver is not a small number. The yearly coins that Song Dynasty gave to the Liao Kingdom are only 100 taels, not to mention 20 million taels is equivalent to 100 million yuan now.It sounds like a lot of numbers, but if you think about the local state capital of a state, don't you have hundreds of millions of construction funds at hand?

Song Yingzong groaned for a long time, and finally said: "The officials believe in you. There is nothing you can't do without paying the money. It's just that your method of filling the treasury is not good. You are emptying it out first, and then Giving full hope, I don't think...it's not good!" He gritted his teeth and said no, who would think it's not good to get money for nothing?It's just that now he has no money to lend to Wang Pang, so he can only endure the temptation of not wanting the interest.

How could Wang Pang not understand Song Yingzong's thoughts: "My lord, if the interest of the imperial court is not as high as that, only 100% per year, but it can make the treasury have a lot of silver taels, so much that I can lend me [-] million, what do you think? Can this be done?"

Song Yingzong Zhao Shu looked at Wang in surprise, this kid is talking in his sleep, right?It's better to listen to him, maybe he really has a solution to the emptiness of the treasury. "Look at you, it's been around for a long time..."

Wang Pang thought to himself, if I don't play tricks, can you calm down and listen to my borrowing money?Can you follow my idea?

"My lord, when the first emperor was in power, he used to issue bills and set up official shops in various places. Now this measure has passed for six or seven years. Although there is income, the income is very small. My minister has a The method is to use all the wealth hidden in the people for the use of our court."

At that time, Wang Pang suggested that Song Renzong print paper currency hinges to solve the shortage of copper coins and the problem of other currencies being mixed;This method has been implemented for five or six years. Now that the operation of official stores in various places is becoming more and more mature, Wang Pang also feels that it is time to introduce the concept of modern banking.

Zhao Shu frowned slightly and looked at Wang Pang. Wang Pang said, "Your Majesty, there are two ways. One way is to target the common people. If the common people have affluent money, they can deposit it in official stores. In the past, we charged fees, but now we change it to Fixed deposits, such as paying [-]% interest to the people for one year..."

"What? Doesn't that mean that the court borrowed money from the people?" This kind of practice is really beyond the scope of Song Yingzong's imagination.

"Yes! You can understand it that way if you want to. The borrowed money can also be loaned to the local "government", just like me who wants to govern a party but needs money. As long as the money can be turned around, money makes money... "

Yingzong still hesitated: "But... But not every official can manage money like you, Wang Pang?!" [

Wang Pang knew what Yingzong really meant, and he was afraid that the future officials who lent to the local "government" would not be able to cheat. He said with a smile: "My lord, the black hat on my head is my credit, and my Zhennan Palace is a real thing." , These are all collateral. If there are local officials who you think can be borrowed by the imperial court with credit and real objects, why not do something that benefits everyone?"

The more Yingzong thought about what Wang Pang said, the more reasonable he said: "I said, Wang Pang, what you said is a good idea, but what should the people do if they don't have so much silver in their hands? Besides, even if it's too late to publish the list now? "

"Your Majesty, I just said two ways, but I said a slower one. There is also a faster one. It only needs to be carried out in the capital. The court can trigger some bonds, which are specially used for Yongzhou For the development and construction, the minimum face value can be 1000 taels. There are many wealthy households in the capital, and the salaries of imperial officials are so generous. The interest on this money is [-]%, and the time is set for three years. Within two months It will definitely be fully subscribed.”

Yingzong frowned, what's Wang Pang's idea? It's not worth asking the common people to borrow money, and officials and wealthy families also have a share? "No, no, if this is made public, it will not be said that the court is poor and crazy."

Wang Pang sighed: "My lord, if you don't want to use this method, I can use it?! Since you can't afford the silver and don't want to run an official shop, then I can open a bank? Then I will be self-sufficient and turn around on my own. .”

"Bank? What new tricks are you doing?"

Wang Pang originally wanted to suggest Song Yingzong, but the emperor cared too much, and was afraid that people would say that the court asked the people to borrow money, so he blurted out that he wanted to run a bank by himself.Song Yingzong couldn't figure out what a bank meant at all. Wang Pang explained: "A bank is a commercial bank that trades silver. It is a bank, a private store, but if I want to open it, I have to open a different one from others!"

Zhao Shu curled his lips: "It's not the same? If it's not the same, you can solve your money in Yongzhou?"

This is really rushing to talk and forced Wang Pang here. He thought for a while and puffed up his chest and said: "My lord, if you allow me to open a bank, I will pay for it myself. But since I am borrowing money for the court Borrowing money from others, the imperial court guarantees me, and I use my title as a mortgage to the imperial court, so that you don't need to come forward, and you don't need to pay money, and you can still collect interest, which can be described as the best of all worlds!"

"Is this okay?..." Yingzong thought hard, is there such a good thing in the world?