Qing Yao

Chapter 106 Borrowing money? It's not a big deal.

It is well known that Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty was an expert in usury. He owned one-third of the pawnshops and money shops in the capital. If a princess was to marry into Mongolia, she would be given a pawnshop as part of her dowry.

The customer base consists of officials who are subjects of the emperor and wealthy people with money in their pockets.

The old man wouldn't even look at an ordinary person.

In Yangzhou, Hengli Money Shop's clients were of two types: salt merchants and officials.

If Hengli Money Shop in Beijing is the head office, then this one in Yangzhou is a branch. In addition to Yangzhou, it also has branches in other wealthy areas such as Jiangning and Hangzhou.

The legal representative is uniformly called Aisin-Gioro Hongli.

The Yangzhou branch was opened in the thirty-eighth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign. However, the "registered" capital was not allocated by the head office in the capital, but was directly used as the branch's start-up capital from the customs revenue that should have been the national treasury's regular tax.

The Qing Dynasty established forty customs posts across the country, with annual customs revenue exceeding seven million taels of silver. This enormous sum was equivalent to the total annual revenue of the Ming Dynasty's national treasury.

Initially, the revenue from customs duties was allocated to the Ministry of Revenue, and the surplus was allocated to the Imperial Treasury, or "transferred to the Ministry of Revenue for transfer to the Imperial Treasury." However, nowadays, all revenue is allocated to the Imperial Treasury for high-interest lending.

How did the old man come up with the idea of ​​lending money at exorbitant interest rates?

The exact time is unknown, but it's possible that the old master initially felt that too much silver was being directly transferred to the Imperial Treasury, and that it was a waste to just leave it there. In addition, his expenses were quite high, so he ordered the Imperial Household Department to lend the surplus at high interest rates to see if they could make money from money.

This policy of allowing salt to be released proved very effective, so an imperial edict was issued ordering that the surplus silver from the annual salt tax payable by the salt administration of Lianghuai and Changlu should not be deposited into the imperial treasury, but instead be directly lent to local salt merchants at an interest rate of 1.5%.

Salt merchants were incredibly wealthy; why would they need to borrow money?
Don't want to borrow?
The old man was displeased and directly named several merchants, saying, "Reward them for lending."

We have to lend it, whether we want to or not!
Although the regulation stipulated that interest should start at 1.5%, the actual interest payable by salt merchants was as high as 7%, because the officials in the Imperial Household Department who handled the matter would take a cut.

In addition, the old master would often travel to the south of the Yangtze River and fight wars at the drop of a hat. Whenever there was a war, the salt merchants would be required to donate money for the Empress Dowager's birthday or the Emperor's birthday. As a result, many salt merchants who were originally richer than the country were eventually ruined by the usurious loans of the Imperial Household Department.

Jiang Chun, the former head merchant of Yangzhou, was said to have had a fortune of no less than 30 million taels of silver. Even if he did nothing, his descendants could squander it for more than ten generations. However, he was forced to collapse by a usurious loan of more than 2 million taels of silver, which cut off his cash flow. This shows how destructive the royal anti-aircraft guns were.

Of course, the old master may have been a bit too harsh on the salt merchants, but he was quite considerate of the officials who lent him money.

If you can be lenient, be lenient. If you can't pay it off in one lump sum, you can pay it off in installments. If you can't pay it off in installments, the old man will think about a question: Is it that the ministers don't know how to make money, or that the speed of making money can't keep up with the pace of repayment, or that the position the ministers should be in doesn't offer any benefits, which is why they can't pay it off?
Ultimately, it was assumed that the problem lay with the positions of the officials. Thus, fearing that his subjects might not be able to repay their debts, the old patriarch would habitually promote the officials who had lent him money, thereby ensuring that the loans would not become bad debts or dead debts for the royal family.

It's quite humane.

Similar to his grandfather Emperor Kangxi in his later years, the matter of clarifying the debts was ultimately left unresolved out of consideration for the fact that they were all veteran officials.

Caught in the middle, Emperor Yongzheng became ruthless: debtors must pay back their debts, or their homes will be confiscated.

In his previous life, Zhao An had treated the old man's messy affairs as a joke, but now they had undoubtedly become another good way for him to speculate and scheme.

Because he knows this joke, but others don't, or rather, the vast majority of people don't know it.

The main focus is on information gap.

Since the old master is so considerate of the officials who lend him money, then so be it.

He borrowed a lot, so much that the old man would give him, his big customer, a calendar or a lamp as a gift during holidays.

It would be best to also reward the number one debtor of the Imperial Household Department with a yellow vest to wear.

Just like how Wang Danwang, the governor of Zhejiang back then, borrowed money in Zhejiang and everyone praised him for it.

However, while the idea was appealing, the reality was that Zhao An's rank was not high enough to warrant the old master sending a New Year's greeting, and he wasn't even interested in glancing at you.

It must be at least grade three or above.

Moreover, even a seventh-rank official like him could only borrow 10,000 taels thanks to the county magistrate who had real power and an official seal as a guarantor, let alone 100,000 taels.
Are you, the professor, crazy, or is the bank crazy?
Anyway, Magistrate Ding went crazy and almost got up to slap Zhao An twice: "What you're borrowing isn't silver, it's clearly borrowing my life!"

One hundred thousand taels?
Even a county magistrate wouldn't make this much in a single term. You little bastard, how are you going to repay this? Do you really think that I and Old Song are just two salted fish that you can manipulate at will?

"Lord Zhao is joking. It's not that our estate is unwilling to lend you 100,000 taels, but rather that your salary simply doesn't allow you to repay it. In that case, I think it would be better if you lent us 10,000 taels, to avoid any problems later,"

At this point, Manager Shi coughed lightly, and everyone understood what he meant.

It was quite embarrassing to go door-to-door to collect debts, especially since he was a professor at the prefectural school.

Manager Shi must have a powerful background to be able to serve as the head of a money exchange run by the Imperial Household Department. There's no way he would be afraid of a mere seventh-rank official.

It should be noted that for every loan issued by a money lender, the lender's ability to repay is calculated.

There's an internal formula; you can figure it out with a simple calculation. A professor at a prefectural school can only earn a few thousand taels a year at most, maybe ten thousand. With that kind of income, lending ten thousand taels is fine, but lending one hundred thousand taels?

Do you have enough to cover the interest?

He shook his head inwardly, thinking that the young professor in front of him was either insane or deliberately trying to amuse him.

Zhao An knew he couldn't borrow 100,000 taels of silver with just a credit loan, but he didn't care what the county magistrate next to him, who was practically stabbing him with a knife, thought to himself. He asked the shopkeeper very seriously, "If I have collateral, can your shop lend me 100,000 taels of silver?"

"Collateral?"

Shopkeeper Shi adjusted his glasses perched on his nose. "What kind of collateral is Lord Zhao referring to?"

Money shops, like pawnshops, also engage in pawnbroking, but the value of the collateral must be higher than the amount lent. Therefore, Manager Shi did not believe that a professor from the prefectural school could produce collateral worth tens of thousands of taels of silver.

If something is really that valuable, why not just sell it? Why bother borrowing money from a money exchange and paying interest?

Zhao An actually had collateral, and without even blushing, he said, "I will use the tuition revenue of Yangzhou Prefectural School for the next five years as collateral to borrow 100,000 taels from your estate."

This collateral not only left Manager Shi speechless, but also left County Magistrate Ding dumbfounded.

"tuition fee?"

Shopkeeper Shi almost laughed. He wasn't someone who had never seen the world. How much tuition could the students pay? Your Yangzhou Prefectural School only has three or four hundred students at most. After deducting those who receive subsidies from the imperial court, how much could the remaining students pay in a year?
Two thousand taels, three thousand taels, five thousand taels?

Even if you earn 5,000 taels a year, it would only amount to 25,000 taels in five years. How can you, a professor at the prefectural school, have the nerve to borrow 100,000 taels?

He increasingly felt that the young professor in front of him was just fooling around, and he didn't know why Magistrate Ding had brought him here.

"Manager Shi may not know that the prefectural school will be enrolling 400 students next month, which will bring in at least 15,000 taels of tuition fees. Next year, the number of students will double, which means there will be a fixed income of about 30,000 taels every year. This does not even include the extra fees paid by the students for accommodation, living expenses, textbooks, uniforms, nutrition, outings, and private tutoring."

Zhao An counted the numbers one by one, and finally came up with a number.

"In other words, starting next year, the fees paid by students at Yangzhou Prefectural School will be at least 50,000 taels per year. Therefore, I would like to borrow 100,000 taels from your esteemed estate by using five years' worth of income as collateral. Do you, the manager, think I have the ability to repay this debt?"

"."

Manager Shi stared at Zhao An for a dozen breaths, because what Zhao An said was beyond his understanding of the academy. With his professional knowledge, it was difficult for him to judge whether the commercial prospects implied in this were credible.

He was even more unsure whether the business prospects could be used as collateral.

After all, what was being mortgaged wasn't anything of real value, but rather a plan that still existed on paper, or rather, just a hypothetical plan by the young professor for the future of the university.

Using something that doesn't even exist as collateral to borrow 100,000 taels of silver is something only a madman would do; otherwise, no ordinary person could do it.

Manager Shi was clearly not crazy. As the head of the branch, his income was directly linked to his performance. If something happened to the 100,000 taels, he would be in big trouble and might even lose his head.

That money lent out was the Emperor's own silver!
For safety's sake, I should just refute it directly, but I also have a nagging feeling that if the academy were really as the other party imagines, it would indeed be rolling in money until its hands are sore.

Are wealthy people really so concerned about a few hundred taels of tuition fees so their children can get into a top school?
Caught in a dilemma and unable to give an immediate answer, he pondered for a long time before saying, "I have never heard of what Lord Zhao has said before, nor do I know if it is feasible. However, I can report this matter to the head office. If the head office believes that what you have said is worth lending 100,000 taels, then I will certainly process the loan for you. If the head office does not agree, then I am sorry that I cannot help you."

"it is good!"

Without further ado, Zhao An stood up and nodded, saying, "How long will it take for your headquarters to give me a definite answer?"

"Half a month."

The time given by Manager Shi was in line with the speed of information transmission in those days. Although he said he was asking the main office, he should actually be asking the person in charge of the Guangchu Division of the Imperial Household Department, or even reporting it directly to Heshen.

Zhao An's strongest impression of Heshen was not his greed, but his shrewdness.

He was a business genius; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to help Emperor Qianlong maintain power for so long. It is said that Heshen was planning to lift the maritime ban and trade with the West before his death.

If true, then their vision was absolutely top-notch in this dynasty.

The enormous financial potential of commercializing education is something that Zhongtang could easily see at a glance, and he might even be able to expand nationwide and make a fortune.

As soon as they left the money exchange, Magistrate Ding launched into a tirade: "You bastard, are you crazy? 100,000 taels? How dare you ask for that! Even if you have a way to make money, the interest on 100,000 taels will crush you. What will you do if you can't pay it back?"
You're playing with fire! If you want to die, jump into the Grand Canal yourself, don't drag this county down with you!

"No, Lao Ding, why are you in such a hurry? If you can't pay it back, just borrow another one. It's not a big deal."

Zhao An kindly stepped forward to pat the county magistrate on the back, lest he choke to death.

(End of this chapter)