This statement made Yan Song understand the gist of it –
Either Zhu Mo, or rather Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng behind him, intended to squeeze the wealthy households of Jiangnan. On one hand, it would help the disaster victims, and on the other, it would provide military funds for Qi Jiguang. As for whether it could be repaid, that was a matter for later… Even if it couldn't be repaid, the people in charge of Jiangnan were not their allies, so ultimately the imperial court would pressure the officials in Jiangnan to fulfill their obligations. In any case, there was no loss in this business…
Hmph…
Old Yan Song couldn't help but sneer.
Yan Shifan was even more direct and crude –
Isn't this just embezzlement?
Get the wealthy households to make donations, raise five to six million, give a hundred to Qi Jiguang, two to three hundred for disaster relief, and keep one to two hundred for themselves… Who could they fool with this?
Thinking of this, he also snorted.
As for Xu Jie,
Because this Zhu Mo was an unexpected interloper whose background was completely unknown… this person had written a random Qing Ci and became famous overnight. His character was also beyond reproach, so if the upright officials didn't recommend him, it would be difficult to justify. Although they had recommended him, the primary intention was to use him to stir up trouble in Jiangnan, and they couldn't let the Yan father and son monopolize all the credit and influence.
However, at this moment, he hadn't expected such a turn of events? Zhu Mo suddenly brought up the idea of public bonds, and he couldn't fathom his intentions?
Xu Jie, who had always been the most cautious, habitually feigned ignorance at this moment, displaying an expression of bewilderment.
Zhang Juzheng, however, immediately reacted upon hearing the words "public bonds" –
That's right!
Gao Hanwen's strategy was to make the disaster victims suffer. Zhu Mo's public bond strategy, which involved getting the wealthy to make donations and using the rich to aid the disaster, was perfect! By doing this, he was directly countering their plan!
Thinking of this, he laughed heartily and clapped his hands, saying, "Good, good! Zhu Mo's proposal is quite inspired! Senior Grand Secretaries Yan and Xu, Junior Grand Secretary, should the Grand Secretariat deliberate on this?"
Yan Song had no choice but to nod, as it was inconvenient to refuse.
Zhang Juzheng then said softly, "Zi Xuan, it's rare for the esteemed officials to be so invested. You must explain it clearly…"
Mm-hmm,
Zhu Mo was about to speak.
Yan Shifan, however, burst into laughter, stood up, and strode over, glaring at Zhu Mo. He said word by word:
"Zhu Mo, Grand Scholar Zhu, I'm telling you, throughout history, how did the rich get rich? It was through exploitation, bit by bit… What kind of public bonds do you intend to issue? Who will subscribe to them? The poor have no food to eat, how can they make donations? The rich, the rich are miserly, all waiting to buy disaster land and make a fortune. Who would subscribe to your donation? I've been in the Grand Secretariat for ten years, and today I'm telling you, your strategy is utter nonsense!"
"Yan Shifan! Let people speak!"
Yan Song, seeing his son cursing, immediately stepped in to stop him.
Hmph!
Yan Shifan returned to his grand tutor's chair, still glaring angrily.
…
Zhu Mo had long known that Yan Shifan was such a character. It would have been surprising if he hadn't cursed.
At this moment, he couldn't help but think –
He had to remain calm first. When speaking to these people, he had to proceed step by step. The key was to get them to agree, and then they could go to Jiangnan… This step, he had to get them to bite the bait first…
He then continued:
"Everyone might think I'm trying to impose levies on the people of Jiangnan…? I can state clearly here that absolutely not!
My bonds are not the same as the donations you speak of! A donation means it's gone once given, with no repayment required; what I'm talking about are bonds, which after subscription, I will repay, not only the principal but also the interest… Do you understand? To put it metaphorically, these bonds are like promissory notes, stating the interest rate and how it's calculated… Still don't understand?"
Oh…
So that's how it is…
Why didn't you say so earlier?
In that case, it would truly be the imperial court borrowing money from the wealthy households…
Is there any precedent for this?
…
Yan Song couldn't help but murmur –
There's still such a method?
Borrow?
The imperial court borrows from the wealthy households? And pays interest…
He couldn't estimate the consequences of this matter for the moment and remained silent.
Yan Shifan, however, had a fiery temper. He suddenly stood up and said loudly:
"Look, look, it's revealed now, isn't it? It's still for the poor! I'll tell you, of the wealthy households in Jiangnan, who isn't a moneylender? Do you know how many money shops there are in Jiangnan? Do you know what the interest rates for lending in Jiangnan are? What interest rate can you offer? You want these wealthy households to subscribe to your donation? Cause trouble, cause trouble! If you want to cause trouble, then cause trouble! If you mess up the good situation in Jiangnan, it will be your fault!"
Zhu Mo was naturally well aware of this, but at this moment, he just wanted to hook the father and son. He wanted them to believe that he was trying to force donations. He then continued:
"Therefore, I'm talking about public bonds, public bonds for resisting the Japanese pirates… The Japanese pirates are invading, and who is the most affected? It's the wealthy households, isn't it? It's justifiable for them to lend some money to the imperial court, isn't it? Aren't the Ming dynasty soldiers protecting them? When the imperial court trains its troops and pacifies the Japanese pirates, they will also receive interest. This is already the imperial court lowering itself. What else can the wealthy households do? Do they not understand the righteousness of the cause? Moreover, my strategy, the issuance of public bonds is only the first step; after raising money, I have a second step, which is to establish the 'Great Ming Jiangnan Money Shop', using—"
Whoa,
What?
As expected, before he finished speaking, as soon as he mentioned money shops, there was an immediate uproar –
"Money shops?"
"Did I hear that right?"
"He wants to start money shops?"
"This is unacceptable!"
"Starting money shops under the guise of the imperial court is absolutely not allowed…"
As Zhu Mo had predicted, before the Yan faction could even speak, the upright officials began to object. These people had only read the Four Books and Five Classics and had never seen a hundred industries and a hundred trades. As soon as they heard of money shops, they immediately objected brainlessly…
Yan Shifan, however, didn't care about these matters. He just smiled and thought: He's still young and clever, he thought of starting a money shop to return the principal? The words are quite straightforward… However, if he embezzled the money, he could just start a money shop himself. Discussing it in the imperial court would lead to severe criticism, wouldn't it? But it's good, since you want to make a fool of yourself, then do so.
Yan Song also secretly rejoiced, but put on a serious expression and said, "Silence! This is an imperial court discussion! Let people speak…"
At this point, even Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but clear his throat, as if to remind Zhu Mo.
…
How could Zhu Mo pay attention to these matters? He said loudly, "Who says money shops must be private?!"
"Who says the government can't run them? Salt and iron have been government-run for two thousand years! Is there anything wrong with that? Without government-run salt and iron, how could the imperial courts throughout history survive?"
"Cough, cough…"
"What I mean is, are there no learned scholars present who haven't heard of it? Not to mention distant times, even in the previous Yuan dynasty, wasn't there the Bureau of Exchange Notes? There were also the Imperial Treasury and the Pingzhun Bureau. In essence, these were all government-run money shops… Only by making profits from government-run money shops can the borrowed silver from the wealthy households be repaid! Otherwise, the imperial court would directly force donations, and would I need to offer a plan?"
"Everyone, let's think calmly, isn't that the reason?"
With this statement, many people began to understand –
Although the previous Yuan dynasty caused suffering to the people, many of its practices were still orderly…
A few pretentious individuals immediately began to quote classics –
"Yes, there is such a thing, it's in the Yuan Dian Zhang…"
"For the previous Yuan dynasty's paper currency, merchants naturally liked it, it was convenient. Who would carry a cart full of silver to do business?"
"Zhu Mo's words are not without reason…"
"…"
Seeing that the atmosphere had softened, Zhu Mo immediately seized the opportunity and concluded, "In simple terms, my strategy is: issue public bonds, raise silver, help disaster victims, open money shops…"
…
Yan Shifan saw that Zhu Mo was very proud of his strategy and was overjoyed, thinking: I don't fear what you do, as long as you do something? Since you're doing it, I have a way to deal with you! Well, this is great, since you want to try new things, that's even better!
However, he was exceptionally cunning, so he pretended to object at this moment, and even had to attach a few labels to make it clear to everyone: it was Zhu Mo who insisted on his own way, and everyone else had doubts and reservations!
So he deliberately said loudly:
"Zhu Mo! I'll tell you, I said earlier, you want the rich to make donations, and then you take the donated silver to open money shops yourself… Who would do this? Are you treating the officials, gentry, and wealthy merchants of Jiangnan as fools? If you really do this, you don't need to talk about strategies, just lead your troops to rob them!"
The Yan faction immediately started to clamor –
"That's right!"
"This is too overbearing!"
"This is not outright robbery!"
"Alas, they call themselves upright officials, why are they so blatant when they do things?"
"I thought Zhu Mo had some extraordinary talent, but he's just like this…"
"A joke! This is the joke!"
"…"
Zhu Mo was also annoyed when he heard this, and shouted loudly, "It's not me opening money shops, it's the imperial court!"
"Isn't that the same?!"
"You guys are just messing around…"
"Who knows if you're using the imperial court's name to do your own business…?"
"…"
The scene immediately became chaotic.
…
Yan Song observed for a while and thought –
You've proposed such a thing, it's nothing more than to cause chaos… However, government-run money shops are indeed a viable method, and they must be utilized well in the future… As for the public donations for resisting the Japanese, no matter how hard they try, they won't be able to get the donations. It's just using my people to do it. As long as Shifan and the others exert pressure, they can be collected.
Heh, if you want to act, isn't it easy?
The key is how to repay the money? This must be clarified…