The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 535: Zhili also needs silver dollars

When they heard Teng Yuzhao mention the Beiyang Railway Supervisory Office, the Beiyang Shipping Company, the Beiyang Navy Yamen, the Beiyang Foreign Affairs General Office, the Tianjin Commerce and Taxation Administration, etc., which were names of yamen that had not yet appeared in the Beiyang system, the eyes of Yang Shixiang, Xu Shichang, and Zhou Xuexi all brightened.

Xi Ligong, Huang Chujiu and Ning Xingpu all couldn't help but show a trace of worry in their eyes.

Xi Ligong was a little surprised and said, "Marshal, this idea and concept are very good. The new city built according to your idea will definitely become the most beautiful city in China, and even in the whole of East Asia. The only thing is that we should implement it in steps, otherwise the initial investment will still be too large."

"It will probably take too long to recover the investment, which may affect our plans of promoting Westernization and building railways, and will also put great pressure on the bank."

Teng Yuzhao seemed to suddenly think of something and said apologetically.

"I was negligent. Regarding the funding, maybe it doesn't need to be that big."

Then Teng Yuzao explained, "I am not just talking about the initial investment. The funds for the entire new city construction period may not require Aurora Bank to invest too much money."

"Does the Marshal have other sources of funding?" Xi Ligong asked doubtfully.

Seeing that Xi Ligong was somewhat confused and even thought that he had other sources of funds, Teng Yuzhao quickly waved his hands and said.

"Apart from the Aurora Bank, I don't have any other sources of funds. Even the donations from the vanguard troops in various places go through you."

"Okay, I'll tell you about the funding now."

"Teng Yuzao picked up his teacup on the table and took a sip, which made his dry throat feel much better. Then he started talking.

"For Cuojiu, there must be some initial investment, such as what Aurora Bank brought to Zhili Construction Company, but it doesn't need to be too much."

Teng Yuzao looked at Huang Chujiu and said, "After the new city plan is released, if we all agree that there is no objection, you should quickly find a painter who is good at Western painting to fully depict the new city built according to the plan. This painting must be very beautiful. Then, the overall design of the new city and the design of individual buildings should generally be designed according to this oil painting. Designers can be invited to bid worldwide."

“Some architectural details that need to be shown separately can also have small paintings with descriptions of urban functions.”

"Then we should promote it widely in major cities across the country, especially in provinces like Zhili, Shandong, Anhui and Henan."

"At the same time, we will put most of the land plots up for bidding. Anyone with money can buy land and build houses in Tianjin. However, the undeveloped land in the new city needs developers to participate in the auction. The highest bidder wins. Of course, there must be a bottom line. If the price is below a certain level, we would rather leave it idle than sell it."

Worried that Huang Chujiu didn't understand the meaning of bidding, Teng Yuzao added, "Bidding is somewhat similar to auction, but it also takes into account the effect of the design and the designer's previous designs. In a word, the design style of the new city should be both beautiful and practical."

"For some villas and ordinary houses that we want to build, we can also sell them in advance. If we pay a certain amount of advance payment in advance, we can guarantee that we can get the house at the current price in the future. Otherwise, as several main roads in the new city are built, the housing prices will inevitably rise sharply. If we want to buy the same house at that time, I am afraid we will have to pay more."

"In addition, we can also build some shops on the first floor of the apartment buildings facing the street for rent. All the street-facing buildings we built ourselves will only be rented and not sold. The government offices, schools, hospitals, and parks we built will be purchased by the Zhili government."

Teng Yuzao looked at Xi Ligong who was already in high spirits and said, "Through the methods mentioned above, I believe we can raise a lot of funds in advance, and the funds we will need to use from the bank in the end probably won't be much. Of course, the construction loan needed by Cuojiu's construction company still has to come from you." Seeing that everyone was staring at him in surprise with wide eyes, Teng Yuzao couldn't help but smile bitterly and spread his hands.

"These are the ways I can think of to raise money for now. If anyone has any good ideas, please share them."

As soon as Teng Yuzao finished speaking, Xi Ligong, Huang Chujiu and Ning Xingpu, who were extremely excited, all applauded.

Xi Ligong said excitedly, "After listening to the great speech of the Marshal today, I can say that listening to your words is worth ten years of reading!"

"In the past, I thought that I had few rivals in terms of raising money and making money. I even never really admired anyone. I thought that if I considered myself second, no one would dare to claim to be first. But now I know that I am really a fool who only sees the world from a well!"

"In terms of the ability to raise money or even make money, the Marshal is the real one. If Chojiu can operate well, not to mention that the initial investment won't cost me much, after the new city is built, it will make a lot of money. Those street shops that are rented out will not only become more and more valuable as the land price rises in the future, but we can also make long-term profits by collecting rent. Such ability is rare in the world, and there is absolutely no one in the country who can compare with the Marshal."

Huang Chujiu also said excitedly, "If the Marshal had not joined the army or entered the government, he would have become a leading tycoon long ago. His skills and means of making money are endless, which makes people suddenly enlightened!"

Before Ning Xingpu, who was also very excited, could speak, Xi Ligong had already grabbed Teng Yuzao's hand and said, "Marshal, don't forget about the Aurora Bank. What should I do here?"

Although Teng Yuzao was pretty good at real estate development, he was far less knowledgeable about banking matters.

I had no choice but to smile bitterly and say, "Yucheng, I can only briefly talk about my ideas about the bank. I will be embarrassed in front of you, a financial expert. You can just refer to it appropriately."

Teng Yuzao said carefully, "Aurora Bank is going to be changed to an investment bank. The advantage of this is that in addition to making profits from lending and collecting interest, it can also make profits through investments, which will provide the bank with another way to make money."

"Of course, the risk will also increase. If you make a wrong choice and the target company or factory you invest in goes bankrupt, you will lose a large amount of investment funds. You must be cautious about this."

"In addition to these two ways of making profits, there is also the issuance of banknotes. Although the people in the country prefer to use silver dollars rather than paper money, we cannot issue paper money for the time being, but it is no problem to make silver dollars. The Zhili Governor-General's Office will open a mint and entrust the Aurora Development Investment Bank to be responsible for the specific management. Each year, part of the fire consumption will be handed over to the Zhili Governor-General's Office."

"This mint must be built large enough and produce sufficient quantities. In order to eventually realize the situation where silver dollars can be circulated throughout the country, our silver dollars must reach a ratio of 1% silver to % copper. Specifically, the copper content accounts for % and the tin content is %. This composition ratio will make the silver dollar have a very good color."

"The weight of the silver dollar should be controlled to about 7 cents and 2 cents."

Regarding the composition of silver dollars, Teng Yuzao directly took out the composition of silver dollars from the Yuan Shikai period that has been proven by history.

The silver dollar made with Yuan Shikai's portrait as the template is called Yuan Datou.

Teng Yuzhao's words made Xi Ligong's eyes light up.

(End of this chapter)