Zhang Anshi smiled, then stretched out his slender fingers and said slowly: "There are three benefits."
There are three...
The faces of everyone in Zhou Ju were extremely ugly, and they all knelt on the ground in despair. At this time, they felt more and more like they were lambs being sold.
Even... At this moment, I couldn't help but have a thought, how could I be fooled like this and come to the capital?
Are they throwing themselves into a trap?
Zhu Di cheered up and seemed to be listening attentively.
But Zhang Anshi said slowly and authentically: "Well, the one with the biggest profit is Taiping Mansion, Your Majesty... After the Taiping Mansion purchased grain on a large scale, the shipping industry developed greatly, because grain purchase requires large-scale ships. Although the current
Sea ships are all in urgent need of transporting grain, but other spices, ivory, rubber, cotton and other products are also urgently needed by the Ming Dynasty."
"So...it is difficult to hire many sea-going ships to transport goods. Therefore, orders for shipbuilding docks everywhere are now scheduled for two years. In order to purchase ships, everyone goes to great lengths.
We have tried our best. Many shipyards have also expanded their production."
Zhang Anshi continued patiently: "Of course, the development of the shipping industry is not outstanding in front of other industries. This time, millions of sets of ready-made clothes were purchased for relief. Your Majesty... these millions of ready-made clothes were spent.
It’s the money these evil gentry use to buy grain at high prices.
But with such an order, a piece of clothing, from cotton, to dyes, to spinning and weaving, and even needlework, such a huge order, teaches these garment workshops, spinning workshops, and textile workshops, dyes
The workshops all make a fortune."
"This is true for ready-made clothes, steel utensils, carriages, and cloth shoes. These large sums of money obtained from the evil gentry in exchange for grain, and the orders placed by the Taiping Mansion are worth hundreds of millions of taels of silver. This teaches this
Up and down, hundreds of workshops earn profits. That’s not all, because these workshops
In order to earn more income, we have to expand production on a large scale and recruit more craftsmen. Large-scale orders require transportation, which also requires a lot of carriages, horses, cattle, horses and manpower costs. So many laborers and craftsmen have to eat, drink, and eat, Your Majesty...
…The industrial value brought about by this is at least tens of millions of taels of silver.”
As soon as these words came out, people couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.
After all, it turns out that Zhang Anshi used the evil gentry's money to relieve the disaster.
It looked like Zhang Anshi didn't get any profit from it, but in fact... relying on various orders, his Taiping Mansion made a profit from upstream to downstream.
It's really scary when you think about it carefully.
After Zhu Di listened, he nodded frequently, but he was still thinking about whether Qixia Trading Company was making profits from it.
Zhang Anshi finally did not disappoint him and said with a smile: "The prosperity of all industries also means that the tax revenue obtained by Taiping Mansion is at least 200 to 3 million taels. Your Majesty... This is the most direct benefit.
"
"…………"
Good guy...
How could it still be like this? The eyes of all the officials were straightened, and they were now convinced.
But if you think about it carefully, this account is really not wrong.
The Taiping Prefecture is indeed very fair. Even if they stockpile grain and sell it at high prices, every penny earned from it is distributed to the victims of the disaster in the four provinces.
Such a large amount of food, clothing, shoes, steel, carriages and horses, as well as all the necessities for food, clothing, housing and transportation, such a scale of relief has never been seen in ancient times or modern times.
But this guy... used this to openly... make a fortune.
After Zhu Di heard this, his mind couldn't help but turn around. Only then did he realize that he was only limited to whether Qixia Trading Company was making profits, which was really too low-level.
Zhang Anshi still thinks broadly!
So, I couldn't help but be overjoyed when I heard this.
Zhang Anshi did not intend to stop there, he continued: "As for the second one, it is loans. Your Majesty... To be honest, most of the loans of these evil gentry are joint banks, which have a brand in each province, but in fact
, but it is still a loan from United Bank. This loan... has interest, because it involves a commercial loan, and the interest is not low."
Having said this, Zhang Anshi glanced at Zhou Juren with a half-smile, a bit of ridicule in his eyes, and then continued: "It's just a pity that these evil gentry, although they know that the interest rates are not low, they only want to make a living by hoarding goods."
to make huge profits, to make oneself
I thought that as long as I earned enough, I ignored the interest, and I thought that I would make a sure profit. Your Majesty, the interest rate calculated by the bank is at least around two million taels of silver. Of course... this is not the most important thing.
of."
Zhu Di: "..."
I have to say, if you want to talk about the evil, it is Zhang Anshi who is evil! This is simply a one-stop service, from birth to cremation, everything is arranged for you.
But if you think about it carefully, you might say that he is bad, but it seems that he is not.
Because all of this ultimately stems from the greed of those evil gentry who hoard goods. At worst, Zhang Anshi is still a younger brother.
Zhang Anshi looked at Zhu Di with a smile and said: "The most important thing is... the property is mortgaged. Your Majesty knows the bank. I have always been conservative in the management of the bank, and what I worry about most is bad debts. Because of this, I am very careful about borrowing money.
, has always been cautious. Any loan must be secured, and the valuation of the mortgage has always been conservative."
Zhu Di also vaguely understood something at this time.
In fact, everyone in Zhou Ju understands this meaning better than anyone else, because they are the ones who feel the pain the most.
But all the officials were speechless. They were all smart people and could already feel the same.
Zhang Anshi continued his analysis generously: "The so-called mortgage only has physical objects. When evaluating its value, let me use an analogy."
Speaking of this, Zhang Anshi looked at the Zhou Juren again and said: "This Juren, if my guess is correct, your name should be Zhou Tao."
Zhou Juren's face turned pale, but he still nodded silently.
Zhang Anshi smiled and then said: "I have inquired about his account before coming here."
When Zhou Juren heard this, he understood more and more that he had been clearly arranged. It was even possible that when he was summoned to see him, Zhang Anshi had already said hello to the eunuchs and must bring him in.
Zhang Anshi ignored Zhou Juren's complicated eyes and said: "This Zhou Juren has a big business. His family has thousands of hectares of fertile land, a large number of cattle and horses, mansions, and oil-pressing workshops. There are also several oil-pressing workshops in the city.
There are quite a few shops. If I remember correctly, then the market price of the shops in Kaifeng should be 370 taels per bay, right? And the Zhou family
In Kaifeng, there are more than twenty bays of such shops. However, when he took out the loan, when the bank evaluated the mortgage, it would not calculate it based on three hundred and seventy taels per bay, but half, that is, one bay.
One hundred eighty-nine taels of silver are used to calculate its valuation. With three hundred and seventy taels of shop space as collateral, we can only borrow less than two hundred taels of silver..."
After a pause, Zhang Anshi continued: "Of course, as long as the Zhou family can repay the interest and principal, the shop will still belong to his family. But if it can't pay back...then the bank will have no choice but to give away his shop, land, cattle and horses,
All the mansions have been confiscated. This is the rule! After all, it is only natural to repay debts."
Zhang Anshi looked at Zhou Juren again with burning eyes and said: "Zhou Juren, if I remember correctly, your Zhou family has borrowed a total of 23,400 taels of silver from the bank. Let me ask you, this money, you
Will it be repaid, and will it be repaid? If it is not repaid, then not only your family property, but also the grain in your barn will be confiscated."
After Zhou Juren heard this, he flew into a rage and glared at Zhang Anshi: "You... are despicable and shameless, you... you deliberately framed us..."
With a slight smile on his lips, Zhang Anshi asked him mockingly: "What do you mean by deliberate frame-up? Is this loan forced by me? It's clearly you evil gentry who want to exploit the people and maintain food prices in the year of disaster.
Selling grain at high prices
, you buy people's property at a low price, and then you eagerly come to borrow money! Now the blame is on me. Since you claim to be a commoner, and you are just a commoner, you dare to bark in front of me. What are your intentions?
?”
After Zhou Juren heard this, he almost lost his temper with anger.
Many people who came with him began to cry secretly.
At this point, they feel that they are really stupid.
Zhang Anshi immediately ignored this Zhou Juren, but looked at Zhu Di and said: "Your Majesty, so... if these people fail to repay the loan, then if nothing else happens, the nearly ten million taels of silver loaned out by the bank will not be received.
The collateral must be worth more than 20 million taels of silver, or even...more!"
"The only trouble is how to dispose of these properties. Fortunately... many of the physical objects they mortgaged are in hard currency on the market. Even if they are temporarily backlogged and difficult to dispose of, it only takes a few years to digest them.
But I don’t worry about not being able to sell it.”
Zhu Di said: "Okay... okay..."
Zhu Di felt refreshed all over his body!
He said two good words in a row, and when he was about to say another good word, he realized that it seemed inappropriate to say these words at this time.
So he immediately put on a serious face, with an angry look on his face, and said sternly: "If you borrow money just to hoard goods, just to oppress the people, trap them in dire straits, and ignore them, then...these people are not only worthy of death.
, even more insane and unforgivable!"
When Zhou Juren heard this, he began to tremble.
Zhang Anshi said: "Your Majesty, calm down, this third benefit... is actually not small..."
Zhu Di was stunned and felt numb.
Each benefit, to put it clearly, the people who helped the people not only received relief, but also received excellent treatment. According to Zhang Anshi's method of relief, the court could be said to have gained a huge amount of people's hearts.
But not to mention everything was done properly, there were still so many benefits, whether it was taxes, bank interest, or even the confiscation of collateral. It can be said that Zhu Di and Zhang Anshi were the most direct beneficiaries.
Others spent money on charity, but Zhu Di gave money to the people, which made the people burst into tears of gratitude, and he was still able to earn money.
There are such strange things in the world.
However, while Zhu Di was overjoyed, he couldn't help but feel that Zhang Anshi had a big mouth.
You earn what you earn, you can say it in private, but now you say it in front of everyone, one, two, three, four, five, this... is a bit unstable.
But thinking about it like this, Zhu Di couldn't help but said: "What is the third one?"
Zhang Anshi said: "In addition to providing enough food, the Taiping Prefecture also distributed clothing, tools, etc. to teach the people to eat and drink enough, keep out the cold and stay warm. At the same time, they also took this opportunity to recruit people to work
, the saying goes that it is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish, that’s what it is.”
"Therefore, the officials in the four provinces and prefectures and counties ordered people to organize the people affected by the disaster and teach them to read and write for the weak children and teenagers. They also provided support for the elderly.
For women, they are responsible for cooking and sewing, while for strong men, they are taught to build bridges and pave roads.
Reservoirs, digging canals, and even... laying roadbeds. Your Majesty is rich all over the world. This is because... all the people in the world are His Majesty's subjects, and all the land in the world is His Majesty's territory. These gains are not real money and silver.
But Your Majesty...the development of these lands is the most precious wealth to Your Majesty."
After hearing this, Zhu Di couldn't help but feel excited. Finally, he didn't directly talk about vulgar things like gold and silver.
Zhu Di nodded with satisfaction and said, "That makes sense."
Zhang Anshi continued: "Not to mention other things, just talking about roadbeds, hundreds of miles long were built from Guanzhong to Henan. As for other projects, they are countless. And these roadbeds... were built by the Railway Department before this.
Planning and calculations have been carried out..."
Zhu Di suddenly felt that there was something in his words, and his expression became more serious.
Zhang Anshi continued: "As for the land used for the roadbed, most of it is either ownerless or has been mortgaged. There are still a few that I spent some money to purchase. If necessary, as long as His Majesty gives an order, it can be
Ties and rails can be laid at any time.”
"In this way, the railway will soon be connected. The land along the railway is mostly in the hands of the imperial court and the Taiping Prefecture, and can also be operated. Moreover, once the railway is built, it means that places such as Guanzhong and Henan will
A large amount of manpower needs to be requisitioned. In recent years, there have been severe disasters and many people have been hired.
Employing a large number of manpower and building railways will not only allow Guanzhong and Henan to communicate with each other, but also provide great convenience for merchants and people as well as the transportation of goods. It will also allow many strong men to support their families in Hukou by their own labor.
, it can be said that it achieves multiple things with one stone.”
Zhu Di: "..."
Zhang Anshi finally figured it out when it comes to settling accounts.
The railway is in Zhili, and the benefits are huge.
After all, the transportation capacity of this thing is too large, and the transportation losses in ancient times were too high. Transportation is already expensive. The emergence of railways not only greatly reduced losses, but also made reasonable freight costs for the railway company in Zhili.
Every bowl is full.
It's just that this railway department has always been limited to Zhili. It originally wanted to expand to the Jiangxi Chief Envoy Department, but it failed because of a huge conspiracy.
Only then did Zhu Di realize that what Zhili could accomplish did not mean that other provinces could accomplish it. On the one hand, the land was in the hands of the gentry all over the world, and expropriating a large amount of land would have required a huge price.
On the other hand, the construction of railways is inherently expensive. Such a huge price is no joke.
But now...the land is in hand.
The most amazing thing is that we even got the roadbed.
You know, building a railway is not just as simple as laying tracks. The biggest cost is the recruitment of a lot of labor, the construction of roadbeds, and the construction of bridges.
These are huge initial costs. In terms of current productivity, such a job, a thousand-mile railway, would require at least tens of millions of men and a lot of time to complete.
But now...the preliminary work...is miraculously completed.
It’s not a big deal if it’s done, and the evil gentry is still footing the bill.
Next, all the railway company needs to do is invest a large amount of money and start laying rails and sleepers.
Zhu Di suddenly became excited.
A good thing like the railway can make money, strengthen the rule of the imperial court, facilitate merchants, and even bring wealth to the people. Such a profitable business cannot expand beyond Zhili. This is Zhu Di's concern.
But now... everything is ready, all we need is the east wind.
Zhu Di couldn't help but feel a little trembling in his voice: "Everything... has been completed..."
Zhang Anshi confirmed: "The roadbed of the main line has been consolidated, and even the land leveling work at some stations along the railway has been completed. The main line has been elevated, and drainage channels have been built on both sides, as well as a large amount of gravel.
, are also paved, all that is missing is the laying of sleepers and rails.”
"Okay!" Zhu Di's face was overjoyed, and he suddenly became excited, with a big smile on his face, and said passionately: "It's great, this will be beneficial to the future. In this way, the country of Ming Dynasty... will be as solid as a rock.
."
In fact, Zhang Anshi still feels that it is a bit of a pity. On the one hand, it is a pity that the roadbed has not yet been completed in the Huguang area. After all, there are too many mountains and forests there, and the current construction period has only been barely completed for a period. Moreover, the water network there is dense, and the bridge repair work is
, is also a huge project.
On the other hand, rivers do hinder the railway to a certain extent.
After all, building railway bridges across the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, at least for now, is impossible.
Therefore, the method Zhang Anshi chose was to set up ferries at both ends of the blocked railway line. The railway would run to the ferry, and then the goods would be unloaded and loaded onto ships. Then they would be sent to the ferry on the other side and loaded again on the railway line on the other side.
Of course, even so, in this era, such a solution is already a huge improvement. It has at least increased the current transportation capacity by ten times and reduced the loss by an unknown number of times.
But after all, it is inevitable that we cannot directly connect the north and the south like later generations.
Zhu Di was overjoyed enough, and said with a smile on his face: "One relief effort has turned out to be a lasting contribution. Zhang Qing really has the talents of Guan Zhong and Le Yi."