Chapter 349: National Debt Is Unknown, Song Cheng Is Worried
Subscribing to national debt is linked to one's official position, which forced many officials to reassess the situation.
Although everyone wants to claim to be an honest official, claiming to be an honest official is never the ultimate goal. Getting promoted and making money is what they pursue throughout their lives.
If one loses his official hat, even if he has a good reputation, it will be useless. It is better to be a prime minister like Wan'an who has a bad reputation but is able to ennoble his wife and children.
Now the court is making redundant staff in the name of financial distress. Judging from the latest feedback on redundant staff, all officials who are not actively participating in the subscription of national debt have been reduced.
Although no one can prove that there is an inevitable connection between the two things, no one is willing to take this risk. Losing the official hat for the so-called clean reputation is not worth the loss.
Moreover, national debt is a good solution to the current court and is also the most important thing for the emperor at present. Anyone who dares to block it like He Qiaoxin will only end up dead.
That's why officials in the capital have secretly made up their minds - in the next national debt subscription, although they can't steal the show, they must not fall behind.
Ministry of Rites, subscription site.
"I subscribe to ten!"
"I subscribe to ten!"
"I subscribe to thirty!"
"No, I want to add thirty!"
...
Ministry of Rites is the first yamen to start the national debt subscription in this round. Facing the new round of national debt subscription, the Ministry of Rites has changed its previous casual attitude and subscribed very enthusiastically, and even a trend of comparison has emerged.
The reason for the secret competition is not because they have old grudges between them, but because they are afraid of falling behind and becoming the next round of redundant candidates.
Although everyone claims to be an honest official, this is just a self-deceiving image. The ice warning, charcoal warning and other warnings from the local areas are enough to make any official in the capital full.
Minister of Rites Xu Qiong himself could not be as annoying as Minister of Punishment He Qiaoxin. Not to mention that he could not bear the emperor's wrath, this subscription was the last test before he entered the cabinet.
Finally, with the full cooperation of Minister of Rites Xu Qiong, the subscription of the Ministry of Rites was completed.
Officials of the entire yamen subscribed to 2,000 national debts, and the lowest subscription amount reached 60, and the highest was 300 subscribed by Minister of Rites Xu Qiong.
This time, it was no longer Minister of Punishment He Qiaoxin who led the entire Ministry of Punishment to subscribe to 100 national debts. With the good demonstration of the Ministry of Rites, other yamen followed suit.
The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War subscribed to 2,300 and 2,400 bonds, the Ministry of Personnel subscribed to 3,000 bonds, and the Ministry of Revenue subscribed to a full 8,000 bonds.
The reason why the Ministry of Revenue subscribed to so many national debts was mainly because there were many officials in the Thirteen Departments of the Ministry of Revenue, so their total subscription number far exceeded that of other yamen.
That's right. Before the Lantern Festival holiday, the six ministries successfully completed the subscription of national debt.
Except for the Ministry of Justice, which only subscribed to 100 bonds, the following five yamen subscribed at high amounts, and the total number of national debts subscribed by the six ministries reached 12,800.
Although the total number of national debts issued by the Ministry of Revenue this time was 300,000, it is undoubtedly a major achievement to achieve this result for the issuance of the six ministries.
"The officials of the six ministries really subscribed!"
"My goodness, the Ministry of Revenue subscribed to 8,000 bonds!"
"Since these adults have subscribed, the court will not default, right?"
...
In fact, the most important role of the six ministries is not how many national debts they subscribe to, but that they have endorsed the national debt with real money, which will surely induce more people to subscribe.
Facts have proved that this method is very effective.
The dignitaries who were originally on the sidelines entered the market one after another. Although they did not dare to subscribe in large amounts, many people were willing to take out hundreds of taels to try.
In fact, they may not have no demand in this regard!
They put the silver in the kiln for a year. Although the silver would not decrease, it would not increase either. If they used it to buy government bonds, they would have a great chance to get 10% interest.
Especially when the financial system was rectified by the court, buying government bonds became a good investment direction.
Seventeen thousand!
Eighteen thousand!
Nineteen thousand!
…
The Ministry of Revenue issued government bonds to the public through the Royal Bank, but it was different from the registered government bonds issued to the officials of the six ministries. Now the Royal Bank issued two types of government bonds, registered and bearer.
Registered government bonds are actually a kind of voucher. Similar to the situation of deposit tickets, it not only states the amount of the government bonds, but also the information of the holder.
As for bearer bonds, this kind of government bonds has a fixed style and anti-counterfeiting mark, and each one has a fixed face value of ten taels or two rice tickets and three cloth tickets.
It is worth mentioning that under Zhu Youtang's silent efforts, the dominance of silver has been broken.
Although cloth coupons and rice coupons have not yet replaced the status of silver, they have become the second or third largest currency, and rice coupons have become the first circulating currency in Jianzhou.
Even though it is the Lantern Festival holiday, the issuance of national debt is still progressing steadily, and in the blink of an eye it has already reached the 30,000 mark.
Red-dressed spring riders. Stepping on the moon shadow, poles and flags pass through the city. There is no end to the sight of singing and dancing on the towers, and the fragrance of lotus steps. The sound of the flute stops, and the colorful phoenixes are invited to go back, not afraid of being drunk by the Jinwu. The chariot road, the noise is stopped. I hear the song of Nian Nu.
…
The Lantern Festival arrived as scheduled, and the whole capital seemed very lively.
The Ming Dynasty ushered in a truly wise monarch, and now Shuntian Prefecture Yin is a rare upright and honest official, which has brought long-lost prosperity to the capital.
Especially the Gulou area, which has become truly the number one commercial street in the world, is packed with people.
Jintaifang, Shuntianfu Yamen.
Although it is during the Lantern Festival holiday, there are still many busy people in this yamen, and the signing room opened the door early.
Song Cheng, who was wearing a crimson official uniform, still had a dark face, but his eyes were bright and lively. He was sitting upright in front of his desk, handling official duties in an orderly manner.
Ever since he became the governor of Shuntian, he has been working hard on his official duties and would not give himself a holiday even during the Spring Festival.
Because he is extremely good at investigating cases, the number of rape cases in the capital has significantly decreased in recent years, and he has even earned the reputation of "Little Bao Gong".
"Is this deserted house haunted?"
Song Cheng had never believed in ghosts and gods, but when he was looking through a civil case that was actually insignificant, he vaguely realized that there was something strange about it.
This is actually a case of rental dispute! A man named Niu Budao rented a remote house outside Xi'an. However, he was so frightened that he asked to cancel the rent because the abandoned house next door was haunted.
However, Yazi refused to refund the rent on the grounds that he had already informed Niu DaDa and that the rental price was so low precisely because the house was so unlucky.
"This should be Song's house, right?"
Song Cheng's focus was not on this, but on the fire the year before last, which claimed dozens of lives.
Fortunately, the Imperial Guards at Xi'an Gate discovered the fire and quickly sent people to put out the fire. After breaking down the door, someone in the Song House escaped death.
As far as he knew, the adopted son of the family named Song did not die in the fire, but there was still no news about him.
The fire started strangely that night, and there was no reason for the Song Dynasty to purchase so much lamp oil at once, so he always suspected that there was another hidden reason for the fire.
"Although both parties have written documents, the tenant can no longer move in safely, so he no longer abides by the contract! Today, the government decrees that all the rent will be returned to the tenant. The tenant must compensate the landlord with a hundred cents, and he must be equal!"
Song Cheng gave instructions on this civil dispute, but he couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart.
Although many people admire him for being a divine judge, this fire case has become a knot in his mind. He has never been able to find out the real culprit of the arson, and he can't even figure out the other party's motive for arson.
Fortune has its way with people, and now this Song residence is actually haunted.
"Master, Madam has already prepared the meal!" Xiao Tao, the maid, walked in from outside, looking cheerful.
Song Cheng was about to call the head catcher Zhao Dayan, but then he realized that the sun was setting.
Although he didn't mind being busy all the time, thinking about how much suffering his wife and he had suffered, he always felt that he owed Yun Niang, so he would accompany Yun Niang to enjoy every meal.
Yun Niang is now several months pregnant, but she still insists on spinning cloth in the back house every day, and she also cooks by herself.
Today's meal is sumptuous, including pork belly, which is rarely seen on weekdays.
Song Cheng sat down at the fixed north seat, took a sip of the fish bone soup next to him and said: "This sea fish bone is really a taste every day, it is enough to satisfy my husband's craving. You are pregnant now, so I leave this plate of pork belly to you. eat!"
"Song idiot, how can I eat so much?" Although Yun Nianggan felt Song Cheng's concern, she glanced at him with resentment.
Song Cheng knew that Yun Niang had suffered a lot during the years of repaying debts. Although he didn't know how to coax women, he still sincerely picked up a piece of fat and thin pork belly and put it into Yun Niang's bowl and said, "Then you eat it slowly. If there’s anything left, I’ll keep it for you as a midnight snack!”
Although he actually coveted this five-starred board with all its color, fragrance and flavor, he always thought that even if he was wronged, he could not let Yun Niang suffer.
When Xiao Tao saw this loving couple, although Song Cheng still spoke like a fool, she still couldn't stand it and walked away.
"Recently, more and more people in the capital are subscribing to national bonds. Do you think the emperor will default?" Yun Niang asked curiously as she liked to pester Song Cheng to talk about things while eating.
She is now Mrs. Gaoming and has her own small circle.
Since her husband was recognized by everyone as one of the famous people around the emperor, Mrs. Gaoming kept coming over these days to inquire about whether the national debt was reliable.
Although it is a man's world now, women's accumulation should not be underestimated, so the minds of some of the wives became active.
Song Cheng thought of the several times he met the emperor and said without hesitation: "No!"
"Why are you so sure?" Yun Niang asked with interest, holding her chopsticks.
Song Cheng's eyes looked very clear, and he said seriously: "This is obviously a win-win matter, why did the emperor break the contract?"
"It will be a full 3.3 million taels when it expires next year. What a huge amount of money!" Yun Niang knew that wealth was so attractive that she told this astonishing figure.
Song Cheng shook his head gently and turned to look in the direction of the Forbidden City: "The emperor has always been seeking benefits for the people of the world. If he really wants money this time, the court only needs to increase taxes! It's just that the emperor has never raised taxes since he ascended the throne. Instead of following the people's will, he always seeks for the benefit of the people, and even spends more than three million taels to resettle millions of refugees in Henan? How can such a king break the trust of the people of the world for a mere three million taels? "
Although he did not have much contact with the emperor, judging from the emperor's administrative methods, he was an emperor who was determined to create a prosperous age.
He had reason to believe that the current emperor would not ruin a good situation for a mere bit of money, nor was he a short-sighted emperor.
The most important thing is that the funds raised this time are not for squandering, but for mining the gold mines in Luzon, and then there will be a steady stream of gold to feed back to the Ming Dynasty's finances.
"I trust you once, I will go to the Royal Bank with Madam Liu!" Yun Niang took a mouthful of food and said vaguely.
Song Cheng took the particularly delicious sea fish bone soup today and asked in confusion: "What are you and Madam Liu doing at the Royal Bank?"
"I want to subscribe to 300 national bonds!" Yun Niang's eyes flashed with cunning, showing her little tiger teeth.
Puff!
Song Cheng sprayed out the soup that had just been put into his mouth, and then looked at his wife with disbelief. Didn't his family just pay off the debt?
Because his family was ordinary, although he successfully passed the imperial examination, his family owed a large debt for medical treatment and studying, so he has been paying off debts since he entered the officialdom.
Fortunately, he was promoted to the third rank of Shuntian Prefecture, and his salary increased a lot. In addition, Yunniang, as a lady of imperial decree, also had income from weaving. She was rewarded by the emperor for solving several cases, so she was able to pay off her debts.
In the past, she didn't touch the fish at all. Thanks to the court's opening of the sea, she could often buy cheap fish bones shipped from Tianjin Port.
But things came so unexpectedly that his wife actually subscribed to 500 national bonds, which was a full 5,000 taels.
If the censors were here, they would definitely label Song Cheng as a corrupt official, and step on the world-renowned Song Qingtian to get to the top.
"Master, someone came to Madam's house last year and sent Madam a large sum of money! In fact, our Song family's debts have been paid off long ago, and Madam even let Madam build a new house at home!" Xiao Tao received Yunniang's eyes and told the secret that had been kept all along.
Song Cheng would not suspect that Yunniang had accepted bribes behind his back. If this woman was greedy for money, she would not have married a poor scholar like him. He seemed relieved and said, "So that's the case, but... why did you hide it from me?"
"I didn't hide it, but you never asked, and you are stupid!" Yunniang handed over the handkerchief and blamed him.
Song Cheng took the handkerchief and wiped the fish soup from his mouth, and asked in confusion, "Why am I stupid?"
"Don't you think about it? You are already the governor of Shuntian Prefecture. My father can disown me as a daughter, but can he really disown you as a son-in-law?" Yunniang found that her husband was sometimes cute and stupid, so she went straight to the point.
She did not hesitate to regret her marriage in her early years and was determined to follow the poor scholar Song Cheng, which caused a direct quarrel with her family, and her father was so angry that he threatened to sever the father-daughter relationship.
Song Cheng not only passed the imperial examination and became the governor of Shuntian Prefecture at a young age, but also won the favor of the emperor. He could be said to be the rising star of the Ming officialdom.
She believed that her father would not change his position because of family affection, but thanks to her good husband and the emperor's favor, her fate also changed quietly.
Song Cheng found that it was really the case, and was happy for his wife and said: "That's good, when I have the opportunity to return to my hometown in the future, I will accompany you to meet Master Taishan!"
"Okay, I'll do my business first!" Yun Niang saw that the matter had been explained clearly, and she left with a smile.
Song Cheng looked at Yun Niang's figure leaving, and then realized that his wife had become a little rich woman. He just put the fish bone soup into his mouth and tasted it carefully, and found that it actually had a sweet and fishy taste. No wonder... I have been so fierce recently. (End of this chapter)