Iron Dynasty

PS: There is one more chapter.

Loud and enthusiastic voices continued to come from among the merchants.

Looking at these merchants, Xiao Ming couldn't help shaking his head. The merchants promised that ghosts would believe it, but now that the sea trade routes are open, Xiao Ming also wants to profit from the sea trade as soon as possible.

For him, the most direct way of profiting is business tax. After all, he cannot undertake all maritime trade by himself. The most important thing is that he does not have many manpower.

Therefore, he wanted to establish a maritime trading company with the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce as the core and other merchants as vassals, which was similar to the contemporary Dutch East India Company.

Being surrounded by businessmen, Xiao Ming naturally couldn't continue to worry about the white sugar. Now that the businessman has learned about the maritime trade route, he must carefully study how to maximize the benefits.

Let the businessmen go back first, he and Li Kaiyuan returned to the chamber of commerce.

For the past two years, Xiao Ming has been teaching Li Kaiyuan the business knowledge beyond this era. He tentatively asked Li Kaiyuan about this question: How do you think we should deal with the maritime trade route?

After pondering for a while, Li Kaiyuan said: His Royal Highness, the lower official thought that the right to open maritime trade to merchants should be opened, but any merchant who wants to conduct maritime trade must obtain a license from the Chamber of Commerce, otherwise it will easily cause chaos in maritime trade, and These permits are also proof of tax payment by businessmen.”

Well, what else?

While opening up maritime trade rights to merchants, the Chamber of Commerce should play a leading role in maritime trade. We eat meat and let the merchants eat the meat residue, so that we can maximize profits. Li Kaiyuan said.

Xiao Ming glanced at Li Kaiyuan in amazement. This kid has made great progress. He is right. Maritime trade is a big dish, and the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce can't eat all the dishes. At this time, the merchants need to eat some side dishes. Corner dishes while they eat the most hearty of them all.

In terms of trade, the Chamber of Commerce won the most lucrative business, and the other less frequent business was handed over to the merchant, and he could also draw taxes from the merchant.

You have made great progress in the past two years. It seems that this king was right in choosing you to be the vice president of this chamber of commerce. Xiao Ming smiled.

Li Kaiyuan said with a smile: It's still His Highness's eyes that are like torches, and he can turn this messy fish into a koi.

Don't be humble. Since it's about business, do you have any other ideas?

Yes. Li Kaiyuan said sternly, he said: His Royal Highness, the merchants of the Chamber of Commerce are from other places, and the local merchants have basically not grown. The lower officials thought that they should help the local people to become merchants. Miscellaneous, the background is not simple.”

You are right, this is also what this king is thinking about. Xiao Ming's expression became solemn, You continue to speak.

Li Kaiyuan cleared his throat and said: His Royal Highness, there are some production techniques that should be opened to the common people, just like the road construction last time, the government can lend money to the common people, and let the common people pay royalties to open private industries. In this way, our slaves can be freed from some low-profit trades to do more important things.

Well, you're right, this time this king is going to promote the development of private capital and make domestic capital come alive. Xiao Ming knocked on the table and said, And this king also has some craftsmanship that he is ready to release. , but as for this loan thing, I think the banks in the states should also be open.

Yes, we have been preparing for this bank for a long time. During this time, the Cao family bank took advantage of the loopholes, and now we want to snatch it back. Li Kaiyuan laughed evilly.

When it came to the matter of the bank, the two went to Pang Yukun together. He has always handled the matter of the six-state bank, and now he is the one who understands the situation best.

When he arrived at the government office, Xiao Ming and Pang Yukun talked about the bank. He immediately took Xiao Ming and Li Kaiyuan to Dongshi. In a row of shops along the street in Dongshi, he saw the official bank with the Qingzhou Bank plaque.

His Royal Highness, that's it. The bank was already open to the common people a month ago, but only a few people came to the bank. It's not as lively as the Cao family bank. Pang Yukun sighed.

Li Kaiyuan hurriedly explained: However, Your Highness, this Cao's bank is bustling with merchants, and people rarely go to the Cao's bank.

Whether it is a bank or a bank, this is an unfamiliar business to the people of Fengguo, who would rather hide their money at home than deposit it in a bank.

Even though Xiao Ming is very popular, the people have their own calculus in their hearts.

The facade of Qingzhou Bank is almost the same as that of Cao's bank, it is like a prison, the account room is locked inside, and the people go to the outside for deposit and withdrawal.

Glancing at the plaque, Xiao Ming and Pang Yukun walked in.

This piece of land was bought by the government office from a businessman, and the most important thing is the flow of people in the East City, but now it seems to be the most deserted place in this area.

When the three young accountants in Qingzhou Bank saw Pang Yukun and Xiao Ming come in, they immediately recovered their spirits from their languid state and sat upright.

His Royal Highness, this Qingzhou Bank is like this now. It's not dead or alive, and there is no way for a subordinate. After all, Pang Yukun is not proficient in finance, so he can't do anything about it.

Banks are an important next step for Xiao Ming to stimulate the development of private capital. He asked one of the accountants: How do you specifically handle the deposit and withdrawal business of the common people?

Like the Cao Family Bank, it collects some of the money to help the people deposit the money in the bank, and at the same time issues a bank note for them, said the accountant.

Hearing this, Xiao Ming's face suddenly turned green. This did not explain how Pang Yukun ran the bank, and the problem really appeared.

He sighed and said to Pang Yukun: From now on, people will not be allowed to collect money for deposits and withdrawals, and tell them that their money can still increase in the bank.

Increasing money! Your Highness, aren't we losing money in vain? Pang Yukun asked in confusion.

Xiao Ming said: How can we lose money? The bank collects the money, and then lends the money to the common people to set up workshops. The loaned money can charge a part of the interest. We are empty wolves.

Pang Yukun didn't react for a while, and after pondering for a while, he suddenly realized, His Royal Highness, Gao, it's really high, this means that we use other people's money to make money, and take a part of the money from this to distribute to the people.

Yes, for example, people can get three thousandths of interest every month for depositing silver, and we can charge five thousandths when we lend out silver. No matter what, the government will not suffer any losses. This is banking finance, Pang Shoufu, this I want you to learn from Li Kaiyuan. Xiao Ming smiled.