Ming Taizi's Total War

Chapter 173 Issuing Bonds
Thanks to the bank's ability to absorb deposits, since the establishment of the Royal Bank, Zhu Cihong has actually been holding a huge amount of silver in his hands.

However, since the currency and silver at this time depended on weight and silver content to calculate their value, which was different from modern currencies, Zhu Cihong had never dared to use this money.

Because he was afraid that people would worry that their money would be used indiscriminately by the royal family, which would cause a run on the bank. In that case, Zhu Cihong's bank, and even China's banking industry, would be cut in half.

Now that Zhu Cihong is short of money, he feels that he can take the money, but instead of taking it directly, he takes it in a very tactful way.

Not in any other way, it is the bonds that modern people are familiar with, to be precise, government bonds.

Zhu Cihong planned to imitate the modern state system and issue bonds in the name of the imperial court, so that he could justifiably collect money from the people and use it for military supplies.

As for the interest after the bond expires, after the war is won, is that money still considered money? With a strong army, Zhu Cihong can go grab the neon, gory sticks, and whoever he wants of.

Even Zhu Cihong said that all bonds are void, what can the people of the world do?At most, it's just a few complaints, no one will dare to stand up and resist.

When Zhu Cihong returned to his palace, he saw the head of the Royal Bank, who had been waiting here for a long time.

"The humble minister Jiang Yingyuan kowtowed to my emperor." As soon as he saw Zhu Cihong, Jiang Yingyuan hurriedly kowtowed.

"Okay, okay, come here, give me a seat." Seeing his appearance, Zhu Cihong hurriedly waved his hand to stop him.

After the eunuch brought the stool, although Jiang Yingyuan sat on it, he only dared to sit on half of his buttocks. Zhu Cihong felt a little funny when he saw it, but the ministers thought it should be like this, so he didn't stop him.

"How is the bank's business lately?" Zhang Peilun did not come up to talk about bonds, but asked about the bank's business.

"Now it has absorbed more than 1000 million taels of silver deposits."

"So much." After hearing this figure, even Zhu Cihong was shocked. The annual tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty was only more than 1000 million taels of silver.

That is obtained by exploiting hundreds of millions of peasants in the whole country. Nowadays, it only takes a few months to open a bank to get so much.

If there was a bank in Chongzhen that could absorb so many silver deposits, how could the peasant army break through the capital and hang himself on a crooked neck tree?

"Yeah, Wei Chen was also surprised at first." Jiang Yingyuan told the truth, as a scholar-bureaucrat who had never been in contact with the banking industry before, Jiang Yingyuan didn't know that a bank could absorb so much silver deposits. His performance was even better than Zhu Cihong's at the beginning. Surprised, he even broke an antique vase beside him.

"It seems that my military expenditure has been settled." Zhu Cihong said to himself, 1000 million taels of silver, if there are not too many corrupt officials, if it is saved, it is enough for a year's military expenditure.

"What did you say?" Jiang Yingyuan asked.

"Oh, it's nothing." Zhu Cixiang quickly defended when he realized that he had accidentally spoken out what was in his heart.

"Your Majesty, the money belongs to the bank, not from the imperial court or from your own money, so don't spend it carelessly." Jiang Yingyuan thought that Zhu Cihong wanted to spend the money saved by depositors in the bank directly.

Although he was a scholar-bureaucrat who had just come into contact with banking and did not understand the so-called contract spirit and industry standards in the West, Jiang Yingyuan understood one truth, that is, they could not take other people's money, let alone spend it casually.

"Of course I know, I'm not that kind of person."

"However, the business of the bank is too narrow, and there is a mountain of silver in the bank. If you don't take it out and spend it, it would be a pity to put it there and get moldy."

"So I thought of a way, which can not only block the mouths of people in the world, but also make use of the tens of millions of taels of silver stored in the bank."

"Oh, what method?" Hearing what Zhu Cihong said, Jiang Yingyuan became interested in this method.

"Bonds." Zhu Cihong said.

"What are bonds?" Jiang Yingyuan knew these two words separately, and they could be put together, so he couldn't figure out what they meant.

"Let's use an analogy. The imperial court asks you, or a bank, or just finds someone to borrow money from them. For every tael of silver they borrow, they will give them a note to prove that the imperial court borrowed money from him. On the note, it will say Know how much interest, how much you have borrowed, when it is due, and on the day when it is due, the person who holds this note can find the court to ask for the principal to be paid back with interest.”

Zhu Cilang made a very vivid analogy. If we use modern academic definitions to explain, even if Jiang Yingyuan has a high IQ, it is difficult for him who has not received modern education to understand. Using an example as an analogy, this will make everyone People understand.

Lending has a long history in China. It appeared as early as the pre-Qin period, and it is closely related to the lives of most people, so it is the easiest to understand.

"This thing is bonds, and the new business I want you to do now is it." Zhu Cihong said.

"But what if the court doesn't pay back the money?" Before he knew it, Jiang Yingyuan put himself on the person who lent the money to the court.

"No, the imperial court has credibility. Besides, the imperial court manages the land of the world for me and the billions of people on the land. How can it not be able to pay back the money?" Zhu Cihong's explanation dispelled Jiang Yingyuan's doubts.

"I have to lead the army to Huaiqing Mansion, so I won't talk to you anymore. I'll make a long story short. I will ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to issue government bonds worth 500 million taels of silver on behalf of the court, and another 500 million taels of war bonds. Among them, the royal family The bank must subscribe for at least 600% of the bonds, which is [-] million taels of silver."

"The Royal Bank can also issue bonds with a total amount of no more than 50 taels of silver for its own construction. Remember, the territory of the imperial court is extremely vast, and you can't just focus on the Jianghuai area."

"Shandong, Henan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang, you must send people to build new banks as soon as possible. In addition, no matter how remote places are, at the provincial level, you must build banks this year."

Banks play a vital role in a country's economy, so Zhu Cihong couldn't help but care about it.

"Yes, Wei Chen knows, but Your Majesty, how much is the interest on these bonds?" Jiang Yingyuan asked, this is related to whether anyone will buy these bonds.

"Just [-]%. You can adjust the interest rate of bank bonds appropriately, but it can't be too high or too low."

(End of this chapter)