Daming Military Empire

Chapter 53
Shanxi merchants usually refer to Shanxi merchants during the 500 years of Ming and Qing Dynasties.By the Qing Dynasty, the top sixteen consortiums in the country were all located in Shanxi. According to historical records, the sum of the properties of wealthy merchants in several counties in Shanxi exceeded [-] million taels of silver. This kind of saying, that is: Shanxi merchants are as rich as an enemy country!

The rise of Shanxi merchants was mainly due to the Ming Dynasty's "opening the middle system". The so-called "opening the middle system" was the Ming Dynasty government's use of the salt monopoly right in its hands to regularly or irregularly list merchants and sell salt. The license "Yanyin" is exchanged for merchants to transport various military supplies to border defense stations in various places, thereby saving transportation costs.

Shanxi was originally rich in mineral resources, and the handicraft industry and processing and manufacturing industry were relatively developed. In addition, it was located in the center of the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Shanxi merchants benefited the most from the "open middle system" and gradually developed into the largest business group in the country. .

The nature of businessmen is to pursue profit, and Shanxi merchants are no exception. They were particularly prominent in the late Ming Dynasty. It can even be said that the pursuit of profit by the Shanxi merchants in the late Ming Dynasty has surpassed the bottom line of morality.Driven by their interests, they went so far as to do business with Houjin, continuously transporting grain, iron ore and other strategic resources to Liaodong, and also betrayed the information of the Ming Dynasty's frontier army, so that Houjin gradually developed and grew, and finally replaced the Ming Dynasty and seized the Ming Dynasty. win the world.

Therefore, in the early Qing Dynasty, in order to reward the eight major Shanxi merchants, Emperor Shunzhi specially summoned them in person, gave them court clothes, and included them in the ranks of "Imperial Imperial Merchants"!It can be seen from this that their great contribution to the Qing Dynasty also shows how thoroughly they betrayed the country in the Ming Dynasty!
As a modern person who traveled through time, Zhu Cijiong has naturally heard about the history of Shanxi merchants. Naturally, such a large business group cannot be used by the enemy country, so Zhu Cijiong was the first to think of it when he encountered a financial crisis. It is Shanxi merchants.Of course, he didn't want to copy the homes of Shanxi merchants, that was fishing out the water, and short-term interests could not save the precarious Daming. Only by using them to continuously create wealth can bring Daming back to life.

How does the state machine make money? In the Ming Dynasty, no one could answer this question correctly, but modern people are different. Almost no one can answer it incorrectly. It’s simple, print money, everyone on this earth knows it!According to historical records, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were no less than one billion taels of silver in circulation across the country, but our little emperor Zhu Cijiong only had a pitiful 2000 million taels in his treasury.

If banknotes can be printed, the wealth can be increased as much as it is printed. This increase does not mean that the overall wealth of the country has increased, but the proportion of wealth held by the royal family has increased.In fact, the overall wealth has not increased, but there is an extra currency in circulation in the market.

What will happen if the overall wealth does not increase, but there is an additional currency in circulation?The answer is inflation, and prices will rise. If the total wealth of Ming Dynasty is one billion taels of silver, then the price of 1000 million taels of silver will increase by [-]%, and the price of [-] million taels of silver will increase by [-]%. Ten, printing one billion taels of silver bills will double the price.

Of course, all of this has a premise, that is, the bank notes you print must be recognized by others, and they must be used as money. If others do not recognize them, but use them as toilet paper, then, sorry, you will not be able to print as much as you want. Baiyin won't get a penny of benefits.

Therefore, Zhu Cijiong first thought of Shanxi Merchants, because Shanxi Merchants were the originator of bank notes. At the end of Ming Dynasty, many merchants began to print bank notes, but they could only be exchanged in the capital and near Shanxi; in the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi Merchants established There are many famous bank notes, and the bank notes they print can be deposited and withdrawn throughout the country, and they are bills recognized by everyone in the country!
The ticket number is actually the prototype of the bank. In ancient times, it was very troublesome to transport the huge amount of silver. Tens of thousands of taels of silver are equivalent to a ton today. It doesn't work, you will definitely be robbed, you must hire a professional bodyguard to escort, and there is no guarantee of absolute safety.Especially in the war-torn era like the end of Ming Dynasty, if you don’t organize thousands of people to be escorted by armed forces, then just wait to be robbed!
It was against this background that banknotes were born. Many Shanxi merchants made money in Shandong, Hebei and other places, and a lot of money could not be transported back to Shanxi. What should we do?At this time, some big firms saw the business opportunities and opened the withdrawal service in other places. That is to say, the money you earn in Shandong and Hebei will be deposited in our Jingshi firm first, and we will issue a receipt, and you will take the receipt to Shanxi to withdraw the silver. That's it.This bill is the most primitive silver bill. With the wealth of Shanxi merchants, at the beginning, they could only exchange it between the capital and Shanxi. If you don't hire tens of thousands of people, you will definitely be robbed if you don't reach the ground. The cost of hiring people is much higher than the handling fee charged. Who would do such a thankless thing!

Shanxi merchants could not guarantee universal deposits and withdrawals throughout the country during the war-torn era, but Zhu Cijiong could. Therefore, it is better for the state to run banks, not to mention the high handling fees earned in the process. In the eyes of ordinary businessmen In his eyes, a money-making project with a high profit is simply not worth it.What is it to earn that little handling fee? What he wants is to print banknotes. There is nothing more profitable than printing money!Of course, he wouldn't go crazy and print dozens or even tens of billions of taels of banknotes at a time, causing prices to soar and people living in dire straits. Doing so would definitely hasten the demise of the Ming Dynasty.Billions, tens of billions, etc. are unrealistic. He set a small goal for himself, first print [-] million taels!

How to achieve this small goal?
First of all, of course, bring up the gang of Shanxi merchants who eat inside and outside to intimidate them, and then discuss the ticket number with them when they are honest.

There is no one more suitable for the job of carrying people than Luo Yangxing, so Zhu Cijiong summoned him to the palace to explain, and this guy ran to "invite" people in a hurry.

Chang Wei is the contemporary owner of the Chang family in Yuci. When he was young, he ventured into Zhangjiakou alone and created a huge family business, turning the Chang family from a scholarly family into a well-known wealthy businessman in Jinzhong, with properties spread across Zhangjiakou, Xinghua, and Datong. As well as the Mongolian grassland, it can be said that it was very prosperous for a while, and the spring breeze was proud.

However, he couldn't feel complacent that day, Jin Yiwei's Tiqi directly broke into his head office in Zhangjiakou, and without any explanation, escorted him away.Although there is no big deal, no one knows the prestige of Jin Yiwei, let alone a commoner like him, even if the princes and nobles are caught by them, they will have to peel off their skin if they don't die.

All of a sudden, he felt all hope was lost. All wealth, family business, fine wine, and beauties had all become a thing of the past. He knew what he had done. Doing business with Hou Jin was an enemy.
However, Jin Yiwei's attitude made him very strange. He didn't have the imaginary torture, he didn't drag him out and chop him up, and he didn't even have the legendary evil spirits. He just escorted him into the carriage and drove him all the way, waiting Only then did he realize that he had been escorted to the capital!
The behavior of the Jinyiwei in the capital was even more strange. Not only did he not lock him in a cell, but he also opened a good guest room with delicious food and drinks. Even the commander of the Jinyiwei, Luo Yangxing, came to visit him in person, with a pleasant face , very kind.

Chang Wei understood a little bit, the only thing he can be remembered by others is that little money, if you say that Jin Yiwei wants money, just say it, who would dare not give it, his Chang family can still get a few 10 taels, In one sentence, if you engage in such a big battle, you are not afraid to scare people to death!

But he guessed wrong again, and Jin Yiwei led him directly into the palace the next morning. When he saw the Shanxi merchants arriving one after another in a side hall, his heart sank to the bottom. Fan Yongdou, Wang Dengku, Qi Liangyu, Wang Dayu, Liang Jiabin, Tian Shenglan, Cui Tang, Huang Yunfa!These people can be said to be his peers, but they are very different from him. He is only doing business with Hou Jin. These people not only do business with Hou Jin, but also sell Daming's information!

What they committed was a serious crime that implicated the entire family. This Jin Yiwei must have made a mistake, why did he also arrest him!

(End of this chapter)