Begging in late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 302
Institutions similar to banks actually existed in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The money houses run by Hu merchants, on the one hand, absorbed deposits from Xishi, and on the other hand gave out loans on a part-time basis. Tang Xizong, who returned to Chang’an after the Huangchao Rebellion, was said to have also repaired the city wall. He once borrowed money from a bank.

Later, Jiaozi in Sichuan in the Song Dynasty, and now there are money houses in various places in the Ming Dynasty. It seems that this kind of business is not uncommon. However, the day the Jiaduobao bank in Luoyang opened, it still caused quite a stir. Half of the merchants in Luoyang City They are all crowded.

On the one hand, the signboard of the ticket number written by Tangtang Fuwang himself, on the other hand, the opening time of the Jiaduobao ticket number was too coincidental, and the peasant army from Shaanxi once again poured into Henan in groups. Heluo is not far away. The last time the peasant army passed by, I don’t know how many businesses were robbed and bankrupted by them. A few days ago, Luoyang City was patronized by thieves, and even the dignified King Fu was looted. The strong city wall has become It can't be the barrier in people's hearts.

Among all the banks in Luoyang, only Jiaduobao has a cross-province bank account. If you deposit money here, you can take it out at any branch in Dai County, Taiyuan, Xinyang, Qi County, etc., and only Jiaduobao The ticket number is for silver interest, and other ticket numbers have to pay storage fees for depositing money. Although the silver interest is small enough, it is better than nothing.

Although there are still some worries about the safety of funds, the imminent threat still makes merchants and wealthy households in the city take out a large amount of funds and deposit them in the ticket number. The son is penniless.

As if they were born to be related to Shanxi merchants, Song Qingshu's proposed bank account business has aroused strong repercussions among Shanxi merchants. In such a short one-year preparation time, the major shareholders have even trained their employees. Even though there was a long queue outside, In the counter similar to the bank of the later generations, more than [-] accountants and assistants are still busy and uncluttered, methodically weigh the silver, check the quality, open an account, make an appointment with each merchant to withdraw the silver, and finally seal it up, showing meticulousness.

The counter was completely sealed with iron fences and thick wooden boards, and the silver that came to be stored was transported backward box by box. After ten days, it was built with western cement and had no windows. It was almost full, and when I took a light with a candle, my eyes were full of the glittering precious metal winks, which dazzled people's eyes.

"Hey, the imperial court's treasury is nothing more than this, right?"

Following Song Qingshu to the north to act as a bodyguard, seeing the bright scene in front of him, Li Tiezhu's eyes were straightened, and he couldn't help but said in amazement, the shopkeeper next to him, a member of Shi Tianfu's clan, was also chubby Shi Tianli, but he gave it a disdainful look. Crooked head.

"The imperial court has been using troops for years, and it has long been poor. Now we have received no less than 160 million taels of silver deposits, which is richer than the Ministry of Household Affairs!"

"What about the loan situation?"

Hearing Song Qingshu's question, Shi Tianli's face became embarrassed, and he lowered his head helplessly: "Boss, these days are not peaceful, and thieves beat Wuguan every day to get out of the pass, go to Guanzhong, and the Bashu trade route is cut off. , everyone is in a panic, and there is no business to do, and the loan is less than 20 taels!"

Regardless of the bank of this era or the banks of later generations, to make a profit, they still have to count on borrowing money from outsiders. Nowadays, more and more money is being collected, but they cannot be borrowed out. Song Qingshu returns the silver interest, which is tantamount to losing money. The money in the warehouse is not only not wealth, but has become a burden for the firm.

Fortunately, he had already prepared for this, the candle flickered around, Song Qingshu inspected his eyes nonchalantly, and ordered: "This time, the commander also brought five hundred cavalry, you should prepare in the next two days, and transport the money out of the city , The business in Dai County is very hot this year, and there are many people who need to borrow money. There, you can get back any money with interest."

Listening to Song Qingshu's instructions, Shi Tianli's round face like a persimmon couldn't help showing hesitation. After hesitating for a moment, he dared to hug Song Qingshu again.

"Boss, in fact, these days there are not too few people who come to borrow money, but many of them are foreign businessmen from Bashu. Their names are absolutely reliable, but they have no property in Luoyang. The rule passed down by the general number is that there is no mortgage, and they will not borrow. This part of the business has been pushed out, these businesses are at least 40 taels! Not to mention that we lost the business, but also made many people gossip and ruined our reputation. Look, can we give it some grace?"

Mortgage loans in later generations are a matter of course. To buy a house, you must first press the house photo to the bank. When you pay off the mortgage, the house photo will be yours. However, the first rule does not hold true. The rules among peers among bank accounts, if the reputation in the local area is loud enough, and the credibility is high enough in the words of later generations, you can borrow ten thousand taels of silver with just one mouth.

The contract spirit of Chinese businessmen is no less than that of those Jewish businessmen and Western businessmen.

This can be regarded as the universal rule of the bank industry, but Song Qingshu, who listened to it, shook his head like a rattle.

"No, you must have a mortgage before you can lend!"

Song Qingshu has watched the documentary "Shanxi Merchants" of the later generations no less than three times. The collapse of the once brilliant Jinshang bank is of course due to factors in the historical environment, but it can be broken down. This kind of rule that does not require collateral may have caused One of the important reasons for the collapse of the bank account industry is that at one end, the released silver taels cannot be recovered, and at the other end, the depositors’ silver taels cannot be lost. Under the long-term deficit, the sun is rising, and Weifengtai and other century-old banks have crashed one after another. collapse.

Although it is not the period of western aggression frenzy in modern times, the peasant uprising has already spread to the five northern provinces. Song Qingshu also knows that Huguang and Nanzhili, which are still relatively peaceful now, will be messed up in a mess. A series of consecutive defeats outside the pass, the risk is no less than that of the late Qing Dynasty, a friend of a gentleman with a reputation?He is not such a gentleman!
Jiaduobao Bank has three shops in Luoyang. After visiting the other two shops, Song Qingshu's heart began to feel heavy.

To be honest, he is not very interested in the lending business in the north. After all, the business style in the north is not as strong as that in the south, and Song Qingshu knows that Luoyang, Taiyuan, Kaifeng, Xi'an, these places will fall sooner or later. Maybe that day the bamboo basket will be empty all at once, only Nanjing, Suzhou and Huizhou are relatively safe.

However, he was still making slow progress in the fringe area of ​​the Dabie Mountains, and he didn't know how long it would take to reach Huizhou. Thinking of this, Song Qingshu couldn't help feeling extremely anxious.

The ticket number is considered to be a key project of the beggar army in the future. He ventured to Luoyang from Xinxian County and stayed in the ticket office for three full days. He was almost prepared for the communication and connection issues between various places. Song Qingshu finally went to the palace city to secretly pay a visit to King Fu Father and son, patted their chests and promised that if something happened in Luoyang, they would definitely come to support Yunyun, so Song Qingshu slipped out of Luoyang.

On the fifth day of November, he brought more than 500 cavalry to escort the first batch of 20 taels of silver and began to go north to Shanxi. With the remaining dozens of guards, Song Qingshu went east.

Advancing into Henan is definitely the most successful strategic breakthrough of the Peasant Army. The 36th Battalion in the fifth year of Chongzhen has now gone through Huguang and Shaanxi, and the 72nd Battalion has not stopped. They have left Wuguan one after another, passed through Luoyang and killed The peasant army in the heart of Henan has expanded several times, at least 50 million, and it is still expanding every day.

Many people blamed it, including Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, for dragging down the Ming Dynasty, so that the Qing army entered the customs. At the beginning, Song Qingshu also hated the thieves in his senses, but it was only in this era that he realized that he could not eat enough. , oppressed by the government, exploited by landlords to the point of cannibalism, to this extent, survival is the only goal of human beings, so that people who are already starving and fainting can work harder for the righteousness of the country, and starve to death alive?
If you don't stand up and resist, you will starve to death. Everyone is out of helplessness.

However, even if it develops and grows like this, the huge peasant army is still not easy, and the unprecedented enemy of the rebel army is also sharpening their knives. Under pressure, Emperor Chongzhen finally handed over the encyclopedia of the governors of the five provinces to Hong Chengchou, and the peasant army came from Shaanxi. It was because of Hong Chengchou's military pressure that he completely pacified Ke Tianfei and Hao Lin'an in Gansu. Hong Chengchou, who had drawn his hand, was able to march into the Central Plains this time without any scruples. The Shaanxi frontier army has always been the nightmare of various peasant armies.

Although the supply pressure was surprisingly high, the main force of the peasant army headed by Wang Gao Yingxiang, who was able to break through, moved closer to each other. More than 40 peasant troops retreated after a little trial in Luoyang, and gradually gathered in Xingyang in central Henan.

From this area, the climax of the peasant uprising, the Central Plains War is about to kick off.

On November [-]th, Song Qingshu also arrived in Xingyang.

"Tsk tsk, it's really spectacular! One by one, they are so rich!"

Looking down the mountain with a pair of binoculars, you can see gray fortifications like ant nests everywhere, and countless peasant troops like ants. Zhu Yuanzhang relied on the peasant uprising to overthrow the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. The Peasant Rebel Army, which is almost the same as the Red Turban Army, has vigorously unleashed the banner of overthrowing his dynasty. I don’t know how Mr. Zhu will do it if he knows it underground?

There is a severe shortage of people, Song Qingshu couldn't help shaking his head enviously looking at the crowd who were about to catch up with the Spring Festival travel rush from afar...

(End of this chapter)