Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Fang Zheng was as efficient as ever.

He notified the reporters who were working overtime to continue their work through the night.

Finally, a new edition of the newspaper was rushed out by the morning of the next day.

The details of the exchange were finally revealed to all the people of the capital on this day.

Stories of getting rich quick through the stock market began to circulate among the people.

In fact, there wasn't a single bit of falsehood in them; since the establishment of the exchange, no one had lost money...

Therefore, the news of the exchange unsurprisingly became a hot topic after the morning court session ended that day.

Everyone was distracted from their work that day.

Many people were tacitly keeping the 'secrets' of the exchange to themselves, but now that it was publicly reported, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Originally, countless stock market strategies were brewing in their minds, and now they could finally freely discuss them with the people around them.

The various departments of the court and the Hanlin Academy spent the entire day discussing the stock market situation.

There were also some who were late to the game, asking around to find out what was going on. Upon learning that it was something that could make them rich, they immediately took leave and rushed to the exchange.

This situation continued for two days in a row, and many people were unwilling to work.

As for Emperor Jing, he also keenly noticed something was amiss.

Inside the Imperial Study, Emperor Jing paced back and forth in front of his desk, holding a newspaper, while Guo Tianyang followed closely behind him, holding a teacup.

Emperor Jing looked at the newspaper and murmured, "The exchange, another exchange. What exactly is this place? The newspaper doesn't explain it clearly... Guo, do you know anything about it?"

Guo Tianyang said, "This humble servant has heard a little about it from below. This exchange, so to speak, is not too complicated. Simply put, it is a kind of thing that the people have created... ultimately achieving mutual benefit through stock trading."

After hearing this, Emperor Jing suddenly understood, and then asked, "Could it be that no one has lost money? Why does the newspaper only mention profits and not losses?"

Guo Tianyang's eyes widened, and he said with a hint of joy in his voice, "Logically speaking, the stock price should fluctuate with the underlying business, but so far, I have never heard of any stock prices falling. This shows that our Great Jing is thriving! This humble servant congratulates Your Majesty!"

All you do all day is this kind of thing, don't you ever get tired of it!

Emperor Jing was speechless, walked back to his desk, dropped the newspaper, and silently began to read the memorials.

As soon as he picked up one, Emperor Jing immediately perked up.

The Ministry of Revenue's memorial was also about the exchange, and it seemed to be a bit interesting.

The memorial was naturally written by Xu Wenshu, and besides analyzing and introducing the exchange, most of the content was filled with praise.

However, there wasn't much practical content.

Emperor Jing rubbed his forehead after reading it.

Is this thing really that good?

After thinking carefully for a while, Emperor Jing raised his hand and said, "Summarize all the news about the exchange in the newspapers these days for me. Also, send someone to the market to see what the specific situation is at this exchange."

......

After five consecutive days, Emperor Jing had roughly learned the specific situation of the exchange through the East Depot.

In addition, Xu Wenshu had submitted two more memorials in succession.

He was already very familiar with how it operated, how to buy and sell, and how many people had made fortunes.

The exchange was indeed a good place.

The speed of money circulation and the strong growth of business for merchants were beyond the norm.

Moreover, it could also allow the people to share a portion of the profits.

Especially from the current situation, it seemed that the risk was not very high.

Many people in the court were buying stocks in the exchange.

If the imperial treasury were invested in it... how much profit could be made?

Emperor Jing began to fantasize, but at the same time, he felt a little depressed.

In fact, he had been eager to try for the past two days and wanted to buy some stocks to try, but he always felt that such actions would be detrimental to his image.

But it seemed that everyone was making money, and he was watching opportunities constantly slip away from him.

This feeling was like missing out on a billion...

While he was thinking, Guo Tianyang walked in from outside the Imperial Study.

He walked up to Emperor Jing and said softly, "Your Majesty, news has come back from the exchange again. Today, it is as crowded as before."

"Moreover, the people below also said that they saw Marquis Jianye again today, and he bought a lot of stocks."

Emperor Jing raised an eyebrow: "Zheng Yi went again? He doesn't stay in the Pacification Department and runs to the exchange every day. This is outrageous! Summon him!"

"Yes!"

Half an hour later, Fang Zheng appeared in the Imperial Study.

Seeing Emperor Jing's expressionless face, he said cautiously, "What does Your Majesty want from this humble servant?"

"I sent people to look for you these past two days and found that you were not on duty in the Pacification Department... Where did you go?" Emperor Jing said faintly.

Fang Zheng's mouth twitched.

Where did I go? Don't you know where I went? You're still asking me?

Those little scumbags from the East Depot were sneaking around in the exchange, trying to monitor me?

Fang Zheng honestly said, "This humble servant went to the exchange."

"Oh?" Emperor Jing raised his eyes slightly, not expecting him to not even try to hide it.

"You are also an important minister of the court. Frequently going to the exchange during your duty hours is dereliction of duty!" Emperor Jing's tone was somewhat stern.

Fang Zheng loudly protested, "This humble servant is truly wronged! The Embroidered Uniform Guard is responsible for monitoring the officials. I heard that many people in the court have recently taken leave to run to the exchange. The exchange is a private institution, and officials frequently going there makes this humble servant worried that there is something fishy going on, so I personally went to investigate!"

Emperor Jing originally wanted to complain, but he was speechless after hearing his explanation.

It seemed to make some sense, so he couldn't lose his temper.

Seeing this, Fang Zheng continued, "But the good news is that not only did this humble servant not find any illegal activities, but I also saw that this exchange has endless wonderful uses!"

"Countless people have meager assets and no money to do business, but they can share a piece of the pie from other people's businesses through the exchange. Many dead money has become active money, which is really a great thing."

"This humble servant has personally seen people make huge profits because of this, adding several acres of fertile land to their homes."

"Today, Your Majesty summoned this humble servant, and this humble servant was thinking, why doesn't Your Majesty take out the money from the imperial treasury and invest it in the exchange to increase its value, since the exchange is so popular now? You must know that our Great Jing's overseas fleets will continuously bring back gold and silver from overseas in the future, and this gold and silver will depreciate if there is too much of it."

"If the money is always kept in the inner treasury, then aren't you constantly losing money?"

That's right!

Emperor Jing's heart skipped a beat, and he tentatively asked, "Is this appropriate? The exchange seems to have a great impact at the moment..."

Fang Zheng said carelessly, "It couldn't be more appropriate. Isn't it up to you how you spend your money? Besides, Your Majesty is the parent of all the people in the world. You invest your own money to help the people become rich, and after the people become rich, they give back to their parents. This is the natural order of things!"

"These few days, the weather has been clear and the sky is bright, and there are no major events in the court... This humble servant sees that the exchange is extremely lively, why don't you go and take a look in person tomorrow? After all, you also feel that it has a great impact, so it's better to personally understand it in depth."

The natural order of things?

Emperor Jing was tempted. After thinking for a moment, he waved his hand and said, "There's nothing to do these days... It's okay for me to go out for a walk..."

......