Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Yujiazhuang is a village not far from the capital.

Some people burn charcoal and sell it in the capital, some people live an honest life farming the land, and some people make a living by fishing in primitive ways. What the villagers pursue is nothing more than survival.

It's just that this seemingly simple pursuit may not be possible.

The beams of the first house at the east end of the village are much higher than those of other houses in the village. Although the house has become dilapidated, it proves that this was a well-to-do family many years ago.

squeak……

The two sections of the front yard door's rotating shaft are already uneven, and when the door is pushed out, a very harsh noise will be made.

A stooped little old man walked out of it, with a weathered face that was thin and haggard, and his left eye appeared swollen, which seemed to affect his normal vision.

It's just that simplicity has nothing to do with appearance, a kind of kindness seems to have been integrated into his blood.

"Your family is not rich, why did you give me these beans?"

"Okay, don't worry, go and see your daughter, I will help you take care of this chicken!"

"If you gave me the hoe, what would you use to farm for that Zhao Papi?"

…

Yu Ming had decided to leave here. Because he felt guilty about his neighbors, he gave away all his valuable or practical items to his neighbors.

After doing all this, he first closed the courtyard door, then silently left the village with his baggage, and then headed towards the capital.

Some elderly villagers saw Yu Ming disappearing in the spring light from a distance, and couldn't help but sigh silently, as if they had seen Yu Ming's destination.

If there is no social phenomenon of disappearing into dust in later generations, then it is the norm in this era. If nothing unexpected happens, an unknown corpse will appear in a certain mountain stream.

Even in a prosperous age, it was always a prosperous age for scholar-bureaucrats.

Yu Ming came to the old Qian Mansion in the northern suburbs to pay homage to his eldest daughter, but happened to meet a black-faced young man, and the black-faced young man became a patient listener: "I never steal or rob, I always do my duty. I have never been lazy in my life! I don’t know why my life is like this. The twenty acres of land passed down by my ancestors were sold, and the eldest daughter who was sold to the Qian Mansion met with something unexpected. What do you think I did wrong? "

In this bright spring of March, a question about life and right and wrong finally caused this dark-faced young man to think deeply.

Yu Ming's kindness came from his bones. He looked at the sky and murmured: "I'm not telling you this to ask for your sympathy. I just hope that the world can become a better place and don't let people like me be forced into desperation." !”

"You are not wrong, it is the world that is wrong. Let me take you to a place!" The black-faced young man felt the kindness of the old man and made a decision.

Yu Ming could see that the black-faced young man was a good person, so he nodded gently.

But what he never expected was that the black-faced young man in front of him turned out to be the famous Song Qingtian. As for the place he was taking him to, it was more like a dream.

When Yu Ming took the first step into Xiyuan, his legs were already trembling, and he staggered as if he had been drunk, following the small yellow door to the imperial study room.

Not to mention the Hongzhi Dynasty, even if it goes back to the Taizong period, I am afraid that this is the first peasant to be called into the imperial palace.

When Yu Ming entered the royal study, he only saw an empty dragon chair in front of him, but he still knelt on the ground respectfully: "Yu Ming, common man, I would like to bow to your majesty, long live my emperor!"

He Shengxin, the Minister of Punishment, originally objected to summoning an ordinary citizen, but now he saw a skinny old man who was obviously undernourished, and he snorted contemptuously.

It was the first time that Zhu Youtang saw the ordinary people under his rule, so he asked calmly: "Is your Geng your age this year?"

"Reporting to your majesty, there are exactly 2 out of 40 civilians this year!" Yu Ming answered in awe when he heard the emperor's voice coming from above.

ah?

When the officials present heard this age, they couldn't help but look at each other, and then looked suspiciously at the skinny and embarrassed little old man in front of them.

Even if he said that he was sixty, no one present would doubt it.

Wan An also thought that a little old man who was not much different from his own age came in, but when he heard that he was only forty, he couldn't help but take a closer look.

Since he has been in power for many years and entered officialdom early, even though he is over seventy years old and occasionally has minor problems, his appearance remains very good.

Huh?

Song Cheng always thought that Yu Ming was an old man, but when he heard that the other party was only forty-two years old, a look of surprise appeared on his ancient and unwavering face.

Zhu Youtang was not surprised by this age difference, and asked calmly: "Just now, the Governor of the Song Dynasty said that you are a person who cannot survive. What on earth is going on?"

When Song Cheng heard the emperor's question, he gave Yu Ming an encouraging look.

The reason why he wanted to overcome resistance and bring Yu Ming to the imperial court was not only to allow Yu Ming to let these wealthy officials see the true situation of the people at the bottom, but also to save himself.

Neither He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Punishment, nor Wu Yu, the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue, had any idea about the living conditions of the people at the bottom.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it's a long story! When the Tatars invaded the imperial capital, Cao Min's parents died at the hands of the Tatars, so Cao Min was raised by his grandmother alone. Because Cao Min's family had twenty acres of land, and his grandma was very She was hardworking and lived a pretty good life. But her grandmother had been busy for Cao Min all year round. When Cao Min gave birth to her first daughter, she passed away due to overwork. Since the family had no savings at that time, Cao Min left the household through the village agency. Yu Buren borrowed two taels of silver from Changsheng Bank to buy a thin coffin to bury his grandma, and the monthly interest was four cents. Unfortunately, there was a drought that year, and the next year his second daughter was born, so the people always owed this money! Over time, interest has to be compounded, and the grassroots people gritted their teeth and sold their fields to pay off their debts. At that time, it was already four taels! The grassroots people entrusted the wrong people. The silver taels Yu Buren got was a write-off, but Yu Buren got a fake IOU from the grassroots people. They deceived the ordinary people. When the creditor came to the door, the amount of silver they owed was already as high as eighty taels. That year, the court had just levied additional Xinhe silver, so the work that year could only fill their stomachs, and the family had no savings. The ordinary people were forced to sign a new contract. Only after selling off all the remaining properties can we repay the debt." Yu Ming told his experience, but his eyes gradually became wet.

If time could go over again, he would borrow money again to bury his grandmother, but he was eventually crushed by the loan shark. Even though he did good things throughout his life, his own life became a mess.

Liu Jian, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, agreed with Yu Ming's filial piety and nodded gently: "Now that it has been paid off, even though I have no land, I can still make a living by working as a tenant farmer honestly!"

Song Cheng glanced at the left minister of the Ministry of Rites lightly, but did not speak.

Chen Zheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, shook his head gently. He knew that Liu Jian was too far away from the common people. He typically stood and talked without pain in his back.

Farmers who own land live like this, and their lives as tenants must be even worse.

He Qiaoxin, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, did not say anything, but he did not expect that Song Cheng would find an ordinary citizen who was being persecuted for borrowing money, and he could not help but frown.

"After the grassroots people lost their land, they worked as tenant farmers for Zhao Guan from the neighboring village. At first, they could barely make ends meet, but my wife suddenly died of illness, so the grassroots people had no choice but to borrow two taels of silver from the bank. However, there was a disaster the following year. Initially, the tenants did not receive much share, but in the end they could barely make ends meet and were unable to repay their due debts. The three families forced the tenants to borrow new debts to repay old debts. In order to survive, the tenants agreed to their request. But they had already been targeted. My two daughters were kidnapped and sold as maidservants to pay off debts. The common people never did anything against their will, and they would just let it go if they didn't live well. However, the two daughters were affected, and now they still owe a debt to the whole family. The common people are unwilling to Just keep living!" Yu Ming's eyes lost light, and he seemed to be very sincere about his situation.

He Qiaoxin, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, came from a well-to-do family, and he immediately said: "Don't risk death at every turn! How many taels of silver do you owe? I will pay it back for you!"

Wan An and other officials couldn't help but glare at He Qiaoxin. Now it was Yu Ming's business alone. It was clearly these loan shark banks that forced an honest man to lose his family.

Although I had known before that people were forced to sell their children and daughters because of debts, I saw with my own eyes that this middle-aged man was tortured by life and was transformed into a human being. Hearing Yu Ming's experience with my own ears, I was also shaken in my heart.

They may have some selfish desires in their hearts, but after all, they are important ministers of the Ming Dynasty and can stand firmly on the side of justice in the face of great right and wrong.

"Although Cao Min only owes money to Changsheng Bank, he now owes a total of one hundred taels!" Yu Ming answered bitterly without any joy.

He Qiaoxin, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, looked at him for a moment and looked in disbelief: "How much did you say?"

"He Shangshu, he just said one hundred taels!" Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, disliked He Qiaoxin, so he said jokingly.

He Qiaoxin, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, did not expect so much at all, and couldn't help but said suspiciously: "If you really only borrowed two taels of silver! Even if it doubles a year, it can't be so much!"

"Master He, you'd better go back and read more of the "Elementary Geometry" newly compiled by our Ming Dynasty. If calculated according to compound interest, the second year is four taels, the third year is eight taels, and the fourth year is sixteen taels. In the fifth year, it was thirty-two taels, and in the sixth year, it was already sixty-four taels... Not to mention that he is a commoner, and even Okura's treasury is not enough to repay it!" Li Si, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, has strong mathematics. The basics should be explained immediately.

By this time, he also knew why the emperor suddenly wanted to target private loans.

If we follow Taizu's "one profit for one dollar", ordinary people may still have a way to survive, but if they encounter this kind of loan sharking with no upper limit, ordinary people will simply die.

It just so happens that when the country buries people, ordinary people have to borrow money for funerals. Once you borrow money from a bank out of filial piety, you will easily end up like Yu Ming.

"He Shangshu, when did you give these one hundred taels?" Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, had already set his sights on He Qiaoxin, and said to him as if he was deliberately disgusting.

He Qiaoxin couldn't help but snorted coldly, but said calmly: "One hundred taels is too much. I am an honest official, so I can't afford this money!"

Of course it's not that he can't come up with the money, it's that he can't come up with it at all.

If the emperor knew that he was rich, and even suspected that he was Li Min's second best, then it would be useless no matter how well he hid the stolen money, and he might end up being accused of having his property confiscated.

Liu Ji and other officials did not focus on the one hundred taels, but began to seriously reflect on the dangers of private lending.

Zhu Youtang knew it was time to come forward, so he stood in front of the guardrail and talked eloquently: "Private lending has been going on for two thousand years. What He Shangshu just said is right. It can indeed solve some people's urgent needs! In fact, I have never looked down upon the wealth of the ministers below. The emperor has no intention to crack down on businessmen running banks, but the sage has said: A gentleman loves money and gets it in a proper way. If we follow the laws of our ancestors, the monthly interest will not be more than three points, and we will make a profit for each profit. I think it is a good businessman. But now The banker is forcing my people to die. Two taels of silver can bankrupt a wealthy family, and the profit is a hundred times more. I have summoned all the ministers here today to discuss how to solve this stubborn problem. I am going to court Banks will never be allowed to exploit people like this!"

"Such an act makes people and gods angry!"

“It’s time to rectify private lending!”

"We, the monarchs and ministers, are of one mind and we must not let these profiteers poison the people!"

…

Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and others have deeply realized the seriousness of the problem. Although people like Yu Ming may only account for a small proportion, they also know that it is time to treat the problem, so they all agree with it.

this……

Liu Jian, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, and other officials swallowed silently, but did not dare to respond. After all, if this stick is swung down, profiteers will not be hurt. In fact, the powerful including them are the real moneylenders.

Zhu Youtang was condescending and continued calmly: "I know that this matter is actually quite difficult, and I have offended too many people! To be honest with you, my aunts, the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother's maternal family. They all open banks or pawnshops. If I really close their shops, I'm afraid they will come to me soon. As for you, you didn't see Beijing debt in the past, so Beijing debt is prevalent in this Dynasty. Really ordinary businessmen dare to ask for several times the amount. Is it beneficial? It’s just that I have made up my mind. The reason why I ordered the closure of the 100 largest shops in the capital today, no matter who is involved, they must be vigorously rectified! "

"Your Majesty, I wonder if you have any good ideas. I will definitely cooperate with you!" Wan An was moved by Zhu Youtang's true feelings and immediately expressed his stance.

Officials such as Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, had also given up all distracting thoughts and immediately expressed their support.

Zhu Youtang was very satisfied with the reaction of Wan An and other officials, and said politely: "I haven't thought about food and tea for many days, but I thought of something..."

"Your Majesty, you must take care of your dragon body!" Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, knelt down to express his loyalty after hearing the first half of the sentence.

Zhu Youtang glared at this flatterer, and then continued calmly: "Although these one hundred financial shops have been sealed, I will not touch the money in the shops, but will conduct an audit. Next, the Account Department will take the lead, and six One hundred and one new scholars have temporarily joined the Ministry of Household Affairs to observe the government, requiring all stores to change the interest rate to less than three interest rates. If the repayment amount exceeds one interest rate per book, it must be written off! Select the three companies with the worst circumstances, and I will use the Mingzhengdian method. , tell the world!" After a pause, he continued to add: "As for the future, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will review the shops and personnel, and only those with financial licenses can operate, and all shops must be supervised by the Ministry of Accounts. Once the monthly interest rate Anyone who exceeds three points and does not follow the principle of one profit will have their license revoked and will no longer be able to engage in lending or mortgage business!"

this……

After hearing Zhu Youtang's plan, Li Si, the Minister of Revenue, and other officials opened their mouths slightly and looked at the emperor talking in disbelief.

But no matter how difficult the problem is, it will inevitably be solved once it comes to the emperor.

If the financial license is implemented, it will not only ensure the vigorous development of the private lending industry, but also control the private lending interest within a reasonable range. It is simply a genius idea.