Today, the Mingli Daily published such a strange story about a wealthy businessman blackmailing a high-ranking official. Those who knew the inside story could only treat it as gossip and watch the excitement.
Many people have once again realized the function of newspapers. No wonder Li You worked so hard to run a newspaper and even invested heavily in suppressing all competitors. As expected, the profits were extremely high.
Lei Yuanwai, one of the two protagonists of the wealthy businessman's threat to high-ranking officials, was taken to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, where Dong Yushi, the head of Jiangxi Province, interrogated him personally. However, Lei Yuanwai was a sensible man and refused to admit the facts. He only claimed that what the newspaper said was true.
Rumors cannot be believed.
Dong Yushi asked for a long time, but when he couldn't get any results, he was not in a hurry, and let the Lei officer go back with a smile. After that, the letter of love from Mr. Feng, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, arrived again, and he also insisted that the words in the report were
rumor.
Both protagonists denied Mingli Pao's claims, but what is significant to the smart people is that neither of them intends to pursue Mingli Pao for spreading rumors.
Although people who are keen on gossip talk a lot, they can only talk. For those who are interested, they only need to talk. Most of the time, the truth and transactions behind the gossip are unknown.
Princess Guide has also read today's Pravda. She can naturally guess Li You's thoughts, and vaguely saw the possibility of alerting others and killing people with a borrowed knife. But that inexplicable sense of crisis came to her heart again - now Li You is doing everything.
Have you gotten rid of your dependence on him?
Since Li You took control of the newspaper, he seemed to be like a fish in water, or he had the most convenient tool, and he took great pleasure in manipulating public instruments. In comparison, there were much fewer requests from her. This made Chitose Guide feel that she had been tortured
Ignorance and a sense of crisis arise spontaneously.
Thinking of this, the eldest princess immediately ordered down and sent someone to invite Li You. The Tenth Prince's Palace and the Wenxuan Yuan are both in the east of the imperial city. They are not far apart. After a while, the envoy arrived at the Wenxuan Yuan.
At this time, Li You was conspiring with Jin Wanwan and Shopkeeper Dai to get to the key point. So he couldn't get away for a while. He casually said to the emissary's internal supervisor: "I have no time to separate myself at this time. Please allow me to come after noon."
Visit.”
The messenger was a little surprised when he heard this answer, but he was only responsible for delivering the message, so he reported Li You's answer to the eldest princess intact.
This was the first time he refused to be summoned? Princess Guide was immediately filled with sullenness and shouted loudly: "You useless slave, go and invite me again! Master Li must come. Otherwise, you will never be my teacher again in the future!"
"
Li You, Jin Wanwan and Shopkeeper Dai didn't say a few words, but suddenly they heard the messenger coming again, and they were puzzled. There should be nothing big going on with Princess Guide now, so why is it necessary for him to go see her immediately? Really?
Inexplicable willfulness, the princess' illness is cured!
But Mr. Li thought about it again. This was a real "princess" disease, and he really couldn't cure it. So he had to interrupt his conspiracy with Jin Wanwan and Dai Yuanwai, get up and go to the Tenth Prince's Mansion in the north.
In the side hall of the eldest princess's residence, Guide Chitose waited for her lover to come in. He wanted to curse a few words, but held it back. He asked, "What are you doing behind my back these days? But I can't understand."
"
She was really strange today... Li You asked doubtfully: "How could I ever go behind your back? You know very well about the Huichang bank account and the foreign currency exchange, so how can I say that I went behind your back?"
"Then why are you provoking so many Western merchants in the money industry? Do they still dare to squeeze out the Huichang Bank? You are right to do your own thing with peace of mind, but why are you causing trouble in the city?"
Li You said calmly: "Relying only on the Huichang Bank is too slow. If we develop bit by bit, it will take twenty or thirty years to lay out the world. By then, you and I will all be old."
Moreover, things are unpredictable, and there may be changes in the next twenty or thirty years. The one who laughs last may not necessarily be the pioneer. On the contrary, the pioneer often does not end well. So I want to try. Can I use Jingzhong Yin Coin? If Western businessmen control the industry and work together, the more people there are, the stronger the power will be, and the faster the progress will be."
Having said this, Li You slapped his forehead and said, "I almost forgot, there is something I need to ask of you."
Hearing the word "beg", Princess Guide suddenly felt much better and happily responded: "Tell me and listen."
"In business, everything cannot be forced by relying on power. After all, Huichang Bank has a poor reputation and lacks prestige in this industry, so in order to quickly raise the reputation of Huichang Bank, it will be easier to conquer. The hearts of our colleagues need your efforts."
"The first thing is, please go to the Emperor and ask His Majesty to exchange the money from the inner treasury for the bank notes of Huichang Bank. It can be one or two hundred thousand or two or three hundred thousand. In the future, you can use these to reward your ministers or when you have expenditures." For payment by banknote, the Huichang bank number can also claim to be the designated bank number of Royal banknote in the future."
Princess Guide nodded in agreement. This idea of not spending a penny is indeed a good idea. The most important thing in the money industry is confidence. If even the emperor uses Huichang Bank's banknotes, then what do the people have to worry about? ?
Besides, with the sign of a royal designated cooperative bank, the status must be extraordinary, and it has become a special role in the industry. If you want to leverage the barriers of bureaucratic interests, you need to take your time in cooperating with the government, but royal affairs It's not just a matter of a word from the emperor, the effectiveness of advertising is not inferior to that of the government.
"There is a second thing at the moment. Huichang Bank will cooperate with Chongwenmen Customs. Ambassador Lu has no problems, but he is worried about the Ministry of Accounts causing trouble, so I have to ask you to persuade the Ministry of Accounts."
His Highness Chitose's eyes lit up again, and this idea also hit the key point. The main customers of the foreign exchange business are foreign merchants, and Chongwenmen Customs is a choke point for foreign merchants. If we can cooperate, the prospects are Very vast.
Could it be that the lover's desperate efforts last year to ensure that Lu Yuanguang was re-elected as the ambassador of the Chongwenmen Tax Division was also planning for today's layout? This is really a chain of links, what will happen next?
Thinking about this, I couldn't help but ask: "Even if you raise the Huichang Bank, what is your ultimate goal?"
"A single tree does not make a forest. For an industry like currency exchange in various places, the more people join in, the better. Just relying on the steady flow of Huichang silver accounts will not make it a big success. If we can bring wealthy Western businessmen together, this new industry can develop rapidly. Swell and succeed.”
The eldest princess asked again: "Wouldn't that mean just sharing the profits with others? Your idea is not that simple."
"Of course it's not that simple. Currently, only Huichang Yinhao has opened up the most important north-south channel. Western merchants do not have this ability for the time being. If they want to join and get a share of the pie, they must obtain Huichang Yinhao's credit authorization and guarantee , two conditions must be met in order to achieve the requirements.
First, each shop must deposit a deposit with Huichang Bank as a mortgage to prevent exchange risks. Shops that have deposited a deposit of 10,000 taels can use the channel between Huichang Bank and the South to conduct total business
For exchange business that does not exceed 100,000 taels, the deposit is 100,000 taels, and the upper limit of the business limit is one million taels.
Second, the direct handlers of the exchange business of each bank must be designated and dispatched by Huichang Bank. In particular, the persons who write and authenticate the bills must be designated and replaced by Huichang Bank to ensure that the banknotes are written on the banknotes.
The secret code and flower characters will not be leaked, and the bill of exchange will be unified.
All in all, in the future, Huichang Bank may gradually reduce its specific business and focus on taking over the overall situation and regulating the entire industry."
Li You's idea of turning Huichang Bank into the Ming Dynasty version of Zhongyang Bank was too advanced for people of this era. Princess Guide frowned. Even with her intelligence, it was very difficult to understand.
It's hard work, and there's no way to tell whether it will be successful or not. I really don't know where my lover got the idea.
While she was thinking hard about the key, she subconsciously asked: "Then what?"
But as soon as the words came out of her mouth, the eldest princess felt that she was asking too much. Being able to manipulate the world's money is already the pinnacle of your career. What else can there be? The most is how to pass on the family business. So she asked,
It seems so incompetent and guilty.
However, Li You's reaction was beyond her expectation. Her lover suddenly slapped the case, "Your Highness, that's a good question! If you can control the flow of money, there are too many things to do! It seems that you have some understanding,
I feel so relieved!
Silver is money only when it is spent, and living silver is money! If it cannot be stored, it is a dead thing, no different from bricks and tiles, and it is of no use to the country! How much silver did the people have during the Chongzhen Dynasty? It is completely useless
, the same situation almost led to the destruction of the country and the extinction of the species!
Nowadays, the wealthy locals have no way to spend money. They just ask for land and houses, but land and population are always limited. Moreover, if they are concentrated in wealthy families, it will be easy to have accidents! Why are antiques, calligraphy and paintings so popular in this world? Why?
When it comes to collecting antiques during the prosperous times, that’s where rich people look for to spend their money!
Therefore, we should create a place for the world to spend money. It is not terrible for the world to pursue profit. Otherwise, the world's wealth can only be cast into ingots and buried, becoming useless dead things! This is what we need to do next, and this is enough to truly change the world.
It seems that you are gradually realizing this as a matter of general trend. But the road is long and long, and I will continue to search for it!"
If there were one word to describe the mood of the Ming Dynasty's eldest princess Chitose at this time, it would be "even though she is unclear, she is aware of it". She could not understand the profound meaning of her lover's words at all. Maybe it was because she was shallow and had never heard of it.
Live this truth.
Li You also felt that he had talked a bit too much today, and he was afraid that His Majesty Chitose would not be able to accept it. However, the words came out of his mouth and he could not take them back. He could only sigh and said: "Believe me, this is the only way to protect the longevity of the Ming Dynasty, otherwise you will never be able to escape."
There are two or three hundred years of old ways of fighting chaos, dividing and reuniting. You must be familiar with the Twenty-Three Histories, aren't you tired of reading them?"
Princess Guide was stuffed with a lot of things that she couldn't understand in her mind. However, she was a very strong person. So she tried her best to think about the truth. The more she thought about it, the more she became dizzy, and the more she thought about it, the more heartbroken she became. When she couldn't bear it anymore.
, she lowered her head and opened her mouth to retch.
Wang Yannv, the housekeeper who was waiting on the side, had some medical skills and quickly stepped forward to take her pulse. "It seems that I am happy to have a thousand years old."
Li You cried without tears when he heard this. His family business needs sons to inherit, at least three or four, but they cannot be illegitimate. There are many wives and concubines in the house, why is Gui De Qiantai from outside the most fertile?
Besides, the illegitimate son born by the princess brought too much pressure. A little Liu'er had lost half of the fruits of his efforts. If another illegitimate son came along, the whole family would be ruined.
"This must be a daughter." Li Qingfu silently prayed to various gods and Buddhas.
