Emperor Ming Dynasty

"Boom—"

There was a loud noise, and the protruding rocks on the river suddenly fell into pieces.

People on both sides of the river bank immediately cheered.

Ning Yu, the magistrate of Wushan, wearing a cotton robe, stood on the shore, blowing the cold wind and looking around.

There was a cheering sound in his ears, which was extremely harsh and startled all the birds in the forest. The huge bombing sound caused the animals within dozens of miles to flee.

It is winter and the river is in the dry season, which is a rare good time.

As the magistrate, building bridges and paving roads were all political achievements, and dredging waterways was exactly what he wanted to do.

Dismounting from the horse to cross here, the water is shallow and the ground is flat, so once it encounters a big ship, it will be difficult to cross. The only option is to dismount and transport it by land, or hire a large number of trackers to pull it.

Serving as an official will benefit one party.

Ning Yu didn't want to waste time, so he summoned nearly a thousand people on both sides of the river and even borrowed gunpowder from the army to blow up the stubborn rocks in the river.

Only in this way can we dig as quickly as possible.

In order to save manpower and material resources, the big rocks were poured with hot and cold water and then exploded with gunpowder.

Needless to say, in just three days, a hundred steps have been excavated.

The river has been widened by one foot and dug nearly ten feet deep. Although it is not worth mentioning for the Qutang Gorge, which is more than ten miles away, it is an important achievement for Xia Ma Ferry.

Once the dismounted crossing is deepened, it will save a lot of energy for the ship.

After all, no matter how fast the Three Gorges is, there is water at least. However, during the dry season, there is no way to ferry the Xiama Ferry.

"Your Majesty, if Ma Du is really solved now, I'm afraid it won't be of much benefit to the imperial court..."

Seeing the corner of the magistrate's mouth rising crazily, the county magistrate couldn't help but say that he was about to get up, ready to extinguish his fiery heart.

"Oh? What do you say?"

Although she already felt disgusted with these assistant officials, Ning Yu continued to ask.

Decentness is easy to break but difficult to rebuild.

"Dismounting from the horse to cross the Qutang Gorge is also a difficult task. It is only level one, but for Guanyin Yanshui Village, it is the most important pass."

The county examiner said in a low voice: "Although it has benefited the people, it is a danger to the navy."

"Moreover, the surrounding villages all rely on trackers. Once they disappear, it will easily cause chaos..."

It was the same old question about livelihood. Ning Yu had already made up his mind about this. He shook his head and said, "In addition to being a tracker, you can also farm. No matter how hard it is, you can still work."

"The imperial court has to transport money and food from Sichuan and Chongqing, and Huguang and other supplies also have to come from east to west. What a big deal this is? Compared with the people's livelihood, it is nothing."

As he said that, Ning Yu suddenly turned around and said: "If there are people in Wushan County who are really in trouble, I will have to report it. It just so happens that Anxi and Northeast are short of people, and those overseas vassal countries are also short of people..."

"Your Majesty!" The county magistrate immediately lowered his head: "Obviously the imperial court's plans are important. Those mud-legged people have little knowledge. How can they know the county imperial court..."

Seeing his submission, Ning Yu's eyes flashed with a smile.

As a chief officer, living in a mountainous area like Wushan is extremely pitiful, but at the same time very happy.

The pity is that the place is poor and it is difficult to advance in culture and education, so it is difficult to pass the assessment.

And happiness is due to this terrain. The transition of businessmen and a little leakage of oil and water will make the people of Wushan full of food.

As a chief official, his daily filial piety is naturally generous.

Ning Yu sees this further.

Nowadays, with the implementation of mercantilist policies, the proportion of commercial taxes is getting higher and higher.

Money, food, population, prison, education, etc. can be collectively referred to as merit.

Once Xiama Ferry is expanded, more ships will pass by, and more fish will leak out.

No matter what happened, this river expansion operation made him look bad in front of Shangguan, which was a positive and powerful evaluation.

Looking at the hard-working civilians, Ning Yu felt full of accomplishment.

Here, the county magistrate could only turn around and leave after seeing that his persuasion was fruitless.

Arriving at the county seat, he went to the restaurant to attend to his own business.

When I opened the door, I was greeted by the smell of rouge and gouache. Several women were naked and showed no fear of the cold.

Several large fire pots were burning brightly, and the bamboo charcoal placed there crackled occasionally, exuding a fragrance that seemed to have a bit of bamboo flavor, driving away the disgusting dampness and coldness of the south.

Also accompanying the woman were a few gentlemen who looked gentle but were actually debauched.

The leader was playing with the two women, and when he saw them approaching, he raised his round face:
"What? Is there any result?"

"No!" The county magistrate was not interested. He found a chair and sat down, close to the brazier, trying to get rid of the chill in his body.

"go out--"

The round-faced man's face changed slightly and he said to several women.

Not daring to delay, the girls straightened their clothes and left in a hurry.

The people in the room were not dissatisfied, and the expressions on their faces were quite solemn:
"Is Ning Zixia so willing to work for Chu Shang?"

The county magistrate said casually: "It should be."

"After all, his father-in-law is from Chu!"

Several people looked ugly.

The round-faced man said in a deep voice: "Mother, I have to think of a way to find the prefect."

"If Ma Ferry is expanded now, the Chu merchants' ships will be able to sail more smoothly, which will be a big disadvantage for us."

The so-called Chu merchants are just geographically loose chambers of commerce that have developed in the past decade or so. Like Hui merchants and Shanxi merchants, they adhere to the principle of mutual help.

Because when facing competition from other chambers of commerce, if you don’t unite, you will have no choice but to be bullied, which will force local unity.

In this way, Chu merchants were formed in Huguang, Hunan, and Shu merchants were formed in Sichuan and Chongqing.

The reason why it is said to be loose is because both Shu merchants and Chu merchants have many groups of former Shaanxi merchants.

In the past, in order to avoid Li Zicheng's robbery, most Shaanxi merchants collectively went south and took refuge with the emperor, who was still a separatist force at that time.

As a result, in order to restore their vitality, they expanded aggressively in Huguang and Sichuan.

For example, Zigong well salt in Sichuan was occupied by Shaanxi merchants, and iron mines such as Huangmeiye in Hubei were also occupied.

As time went by, the top Shaanxi merchants moved with the emperor and arrived in Beijing from Nanjing, while the middle and lower merchants were unwilling to give up their profits and settled down.

Now a generation or two later, because of their interests, they combined with local merchants to form Shu merchants and Chu merchants.

In fact, Shaanxi merchants and some Shanxi merchants and Hui merchants gradually evolved into Beijing merchants because they had settled in Beijing for a long time.

Because of the Three Gorges, Shu merchants were naturally very defensive against the outside world and were quite wary of Chu merchants, fearing that they would steal business westward.

Sichuan's tung oil, tea, grain, brocade, salt, Tea Horse Road, etc. can all bring a lot of profits.

"It is convenient for Chu merchants, but this Ningzhi County is doing it for political achievements, even at the expense of the interests of our Shu merchants."

At this time, another person angrily said: "Why don't you show him some color?"

"Are you crazy?" The round-faced man suppressed his anger: "Even if I don't have a teacher, I still have the same year and fellow countrymen, and even if it's not good, I still have the support of Chu Shang."

"If you want to die, don't involve us!"

"We can only do it overtly or covertly." The round-faced man said solemnly: "Chu people, you really went too far -"

In order to win people's hearts, Ning Yu not only asked people to add less miscellaneous grains to the lunch meal, but also asked people to buy hundreds of kilograms of salted fish, which was included in almost every bowl of the peasants.

For a moment, everyone was shocked, and then they were overjoyed.

Fish is not delicious, because if you want to cook it well, you have to spend oil and seasonings. How can ordinary people be willing to do so?
But salted fish is different, because salted fish is pickled in salt, which is extremely precious to ordinary people.

The importance of salt is self-evident, especially for working people. A piece of salted fish can be worth three bowls of rice.

Ning Yu was very satisfied with everyone's excitement. It was worth spending the court's money to win prestige and political achievements for herself.

Back at the county government office, Master Qian Gu came in a hurry: "Dong Weng, we don't have enough money and food." "The county warehouse is short of food?"

Ning Yu frowned: "I remember that there was a lot of money and food."

"Did Ambassador Cang resell the grain?"

The imperial court levied taxes uniformly, but the allocated shares were kept by the county government.

For example, county magistrates of the eighth rank and above, such as county magistrates and general magistrates, are basically transferred from the Ministry of Household Affairs to the local vassal treasury for allocation.

Because the imperial court issued money and grain at the same time, and issued silver yuan and grain at the same time, the silver yuan could be distributed by banks all over the world.

As for grain, the imperial court set aside part of the money from the two taxes to allow the chief envoy to purchase grain and distribute it to local officials on his behalf.

As for some subordinate staff, three elders and other officials, they eat the money and food from the county government. The rich counties naturally pay the money on time, while the poor counties can only default on it.

"This is not clear!" Master Qian Gu sighed: "It just means that there is not enough food and I can only take care of the civilians for half a month."

"Asshole, this guy did it on purpose."

Ning Yu stroked his short beard: "Go and check the accounts. I don't believe there is a cat that doesn't steal fish. Let him spit it out when the time comes."

"Yes!"

At this time, the hurried Shu Qi and Xing Mingshi also came one after another: "Dong Weng, the master of the palace has sent an invitation."

"What's the matter?"

"It's said that Mi Fu's name has been added to the family..."

"There's no such thing as a good feast." Ning Yu rubbed her temples and her heart sank.

If there was no connection between this series of events, he would never believe it.

Those Shu merchants?
Why don't you believe it? I just really want political achievements.

Why is it so difficult to do things in this officialdom?

……

Vincent went south with the 10 silver dollars given by the emperor.

The first stop is Songjiang Mansion.

Among the ten major customs houses, Songjiang Prefecture has the most benefit from the Yangtze River, so there are very many European merchants settling and doing business here, more than a thousand people.

Therefore, the street where he settled was called Xiyi Street by the Ming Dynasty. The yamen required him to elect three elders and obey the leadership and arrangements.

In order not to attract the attention of banks, Vincent is currently targeting European businessmen.

Although many people came to the East to make a fortune, there were too many disasters along the way. Shipwrecks, pirates, diseases, and even a little infection were enough to bankrupt these ambitious businessmen.

Such a large number of down-and-out talents had to stay in Songjiang Mansion, hungry and full.

When Vincent came to Songjiang, he immediately recruited several talents who knew mathematics and geometry.

As a result, the first Pacific Bank was established in Songjiang Prefecture.

The down-and-out people want to survive, those who want to go home need tickets, and businessmen who are short of cash come here one after another.

10 yuan in silver dollars seemed like a lot, but half of it was gone in the blink of an eye.

Even though Vincent asked for a mortgage on valuable items such as boats and houses, he was still shocked.

"A bank, a bank, how can you only get out but not get in?"

Vincent murmured and made the decision to absorb the savings with interest.

The interest rate is 5.00% per year.

The interest rate on the loan is 20.00%.

In Europe, the interest rate is around [-]%, but here in Ming Dynasty, the financial industry is not that developed.

Both deposits and borrowings are made by Europeans, but the amount of deposits is significantly less than the amount of borrowings.

To this end, Vincent had to take the first step:
Absorb savings from Ming people.

Saving money and paying back interest is a scam, right?
For a time, there was endless debate among the people about this, and there were not many people who made deposits.

Vincent was at a loss for what to do. As a European, Akito was naturally suspicious.

On this occasion, he had to consult a highly paid interpreter and staff member.

"Sir, if you can think of a way, I will give you ten silver coins immediately."

Vincent gritted his teeth and said.

"Since Dong Weng has been rewarded by His Majesty and has obtained an official status, why not put on his official uniform and show off in the market!"

"Hahahaha!"

The next day, Vincent wore official uniform and rode a horse towards the county government office. He swaggered through the city and attracted the attention of countless people along the way.

We have seen many officials, but this is the first time we have seen a Xiyi official.

"I heard that this Xiyi man is from the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

"Imperial Merchant?"

"Then the bank also belongs to the emperor?"

"The emperor opened a bank?"

Vincent knew that ordinary people were not very sensitive to interest, so he spread the word:
"If you save a dollar, you can get an extra chicken today next year!"

"Save ten dollars and you'll get a piglet next year!"

For a time, the entire Songjiang City moved.

It is strange and unbelievable that money can be given out even if it is stored in the bank.

In just three days, the number of people who saved money exceeded 5000, and the amount reached [-] yuan.

"There are still many rich people in Songjiang."

Just when he was proud, Xin'an Bank, Yangzhou Bank, etc. came to his door one after another.

Vincent frowned. Xin'an Bank was owned by Huizhou merchants, and Yangzhou Bank was owned by salt merchants. These were powerful forces.

"I know you are from the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

The head shopkeeper spoke in a slightly awkward mandarin, but his face was unquestionable.

"What is the identity of Guiqianzhuang to say this?"

Vincent didn't tolerate him and said bluntly: "Not even the world's money banks are qualified to say this."

"I have an official status."

"Hmph!" The man said coldly: "I have seen countless imperial merchants from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the noble one is the most proud of him."

"It should be noted that shopping malls are not officialdom."

After saying that, he left directly.

Several other people saw this and left.

Within a few days, the number of depositors in Pacific Bank continued to decrease, and the excitement brought by the official body quickly left.

However, the initial loan business towards Ming Shang suddenly encountered an iron wall.

And those European businessmen did not even borrow money from him, but had already gone to Xin'an Bank to borrow money.

At this time, Vincent understood that his bank was being squeezed out.

Moreover, it is a severe exclusion that threatens survival.

(End of this chapter)