Qing Yao

Chapter 348 Using their resources to strengthen my foundation

"One million taels?!"

Old Song was stunned. This was no small sum of money. Could a money exchange really lend it to someone like that?

According to his understanding, the annual tax revenue of Anhui Province, including land tax and grain tribute, totaled 260 million taels. The annual customs duty in Wuhu was 40 taels, and the annual salt tax, commercial tax, and miscellaneous taxes were about 50 taels. In total, the annual tax revenue of Anhui Province was about 350 million taels.

Of the 3.5 million taels of silver, only 20% was retained locally, while the remaining 80% was to be handed over to the imperial court. This means that, on the surface, the Anhui provincial treasury only had about 700,000 taels of silver available for local use each year.

This 70 taels of silver included not only officials' salaries and soldiers' pay, but also various construction projects and expenses of government offices of all sizes, leaving them with very little money.

As a result, Lord Zhao borrowed the equivalent of a year and a half of Anhui's local revenue from a money shop as soon as he opened his mouth. Tell me, which money shop has such strength, and which money shop can do such a big deal!
The most obvious point is that the income of Anhui officials is far less than that of Jiangsu officials.

It's no problem for the Jiangsu Provincial Governor to rake in hundreds of thousands a year, because Jiangsu is rich. He can easily make money in any industry. The regular tributes he receives are more than those in Anhui. But can the Anhui Provincial Governor really make that much money?

If it were really that easy to make money, then even banner officials wouldn't be unwilling to come to Anhui to serve as officials.

On a political level, the chances of a Jiangsu Provincial Administration Commissioner being promoted are several times higher than those of an Anhui Provincial Administration Commissioner, and they have much more say in the imperial court.

For over a hundred years since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, not only have any provincial officials from Anhui been able to enter Beijing and rise to the position of Grand Secretary in the Cabinet or the Grand Council, but none have even been appointed as Governor-General of Liangjiang!

A true low point in officialdom.

If there were a ranking system for chickens and pheasants, Anhui would rank at most seventh or eighth among the eighteen provinces of Han China, no higher.

Such a ranking inevitably limits the promotion opportunities for officials in Anhui.

After all, there are still more outstanding provinces ahead of us.

The performance of the local economy, regardless of the dynasty, directly affects the future prospects of officials.

Sending you to be the governor of a large or wealthy province is completely different from sending you to be the governor of Yunnan or Guizhou.

In short, Lao Song agreed to borrow money at high interest rates, as he had done so before, but he was hesitant about borrowing such a large amount.

After he, along with County Magistrate Ding and Teacher Lou, boarded Zhao An's "pirate ship," they borrowed less than 400,000 taels of usurious loans. Much of this was obtained through fraudulent means, and the greed of Manager Shi of the money shop also played a role. Otherwise, based on their official positions and incomes, they would have borrowed at most 30,000 to 50,000 taels.

Although Zhao An is now a second-rank official, the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Anhui, it would be no problem for him to borrow 200,000 taels of silver. He could simply repay it in installments.

However, in Lao Song's view, borrowing one million taels from a money shop at once was not very reliable, especially since it involved using the provincial treasury as collateral.

Although the provincial treasury was a local government fund without oversight, it was still the imperial court's money.

If you use the imperial court's money as collateral to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates, no matter what you use the money for, you will be impeached and executed if the censor finds out.

Zhao An had previously promoted the enrollment of students at the Yangzhou Prefectural School, which caused the school's income to skyrocket. He used this as collateral to guarantee that borrowing 100,000 taels from the Imperial Household Department's money shop was not "illegal," since the Prefectural School originally had a negative income and relied solely on government funding to survive.

Zhao An used his abilities to raise the income of the prefectural school to a new level, and He Shen happened to discover the business opportunity of borrowing students from it, which is why he approved a quota of 100,000 taels. However, this is not the same as using the provincial treasury as collateral to borrow money at high interest rates.

The nature is completely different.

Even Heshen didn't dare to lend it, so how could Fu Zhongtang possibly lend it?
Furthermore, if a loan of one million taels is calculated at an annual interest rate of one percent, the interest would amount to one hundred thousand taels in a year. Old Song had some knowledge of non-public loans. No matter how benevolent the money shop owned by Fu Zhongtang was, the annual interest rate could not be less than one and a half percent. In that case, the interest alone would amount to one hundred and fifty thousand taels a year.

If there are any further issues like fines or beheadings, then the one million taels borrowed will be a complete waste.

After a slight hesitation, Old Song still whispered a reminder: "Sir, we haven't paid back the money we borrowed from Hengli yet. Now, if we borrow such a large sum again, regardless of the interest discount, will Fu Zhongtang agree? If you really want to borrow, I think it's better to borrow less. Besides, Fu Zhongtang is a powerful figure in the court. If you borrow his money, will you be at his mercy in the future?"

Old Song's concerns were not unfounded.

There is a fundamental difference between borrowing money from the old master and borrowing money from Fu Zhongtang.

One is "public," and the other is private.

With Manager Shi around, no matter how things are done, as long as the interest is paid on time, there's no need to worry about anything going wrong.

However, the Tongzhou Money Shop in Jiangning was a privately run money shop owned by Fu Zhongtang. The people working there were not the staff of the Imperial Household Department, but people hired by Fu Zhongtang himself. This distinction between public and private meant that every loan issued by the Tongzhou Money Shop would be subject to multiple layers of review, leaving little room for private operations.

Old Song personally preferred to borrow from the "public sector".

"Public affairs" are easy to handle. Besides, how much longer can the old man live?
We can rely on the old man to exploit us. By consolidating and developing Anhui over the next few years, even if the old man hasn't passed away yet, things will be much easier.

Zhao An knew what Old Song was worried about, and chuckled, signaling the sedan bearers to start moving. He then had Old Song approach the sedan window and speak in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Do you know why I didn't borrow from the Imperial Household Department's bank this time, but instead went to Fu Zhongtang?"

Old Song looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“That’s right. Fu Chang’an is second only to Heshen in the court. He is extremely powerful. If he stomps his foot, not only the capital, but even our Qing Dynasty will shake. That’s why I need to borrow money from him.”

Zhao An chuckled, “There’s a rumor going around that Fu Chang’an is very likely the offspring of our Emperor Qianlong.”

"what?"

Old Song gasped, almost crying out in surprise. He quickly covered his mouth, his eyes wide with shock: This gossip is explosive!

"There's no smoke without fire, and rumors can spread without reason. Look at how much the Emperor favors and indulges the Fu family. Isn't that a bit too much? The elder brother, Fukang'an, is a Grand General, and the younger brother became a Grand Councilor before he was even thirty. Hmph, even a fool could tell that the Emperor's relationship with those two from the Fu family is unusual."

Whether it's true or false, even if it's only three points, it's worth considering. Old Song, think about it, if this is true, whose money did we borrow from?"

There was a hint of amusement in Zhao An's words.

"This"

Old Song's eyes lit up. "Does Your Excellency mean that we borrowed the Emperor's money?"

"Is that a fair way to understand it?"

Zhao An chuckled softly, "Why not take advantage of those two's money? As far as I know, Fu Chang'an is insatiably greedy, his appetite is almost as big as Heshen's. Over the years, he's probably embezzled over a hundred million taels. When I took office as the grain commissioner of Jiang'an, Fu Chang'an forced me to lend him 100,000 taels. Now that I'm the governor of Anhui, he's definitely aiming to extract even more benefits from me."

Zhao An's words were suddenly interrupted because he passed a group of people on the road. He subconsciously reached out to greet them, but the group of people were so frightened that they knelt down and didn't dare to breathe. This made Zhao An feel very bored, and he finally realized the wonderful use of the atmosphere group.

"Fu Chang'an has a huge amount of money and is worried about where to make it profitable. I will use the treasury of Anhui Province as collateral to give him a stable opportunity to earn high interest. Why wouldn't he be willing? Lending money to me is a hundred times better than letting it rust in the treasury, right? What we need is the principal to revitalize the local area and recruit soldiers. What he needs is a continuous stream of interest. We each get what we want. What's wrong with that?"

After a pause, Zhao An's tone became more confident, "As long as we can keep paying interest and let Fu Chang'an taste the benefits, he will become one of our most powerful allies in the capital. In order to keep this stable source of income, this kid will naturally have to speak on my behalf to the Emperor and help me consolidate my position."

Besides, this loan is, frankly speaking, also my way of showing respect to Fu Chang'an. The interest alone amounts to over ten thousand taels a year. How could Fu Chang'an not care about me?

After saying that, Zhao An added with a touch of emotion, "The greatest backers in the world are built with money, but we're not building them with our own money, we're building them with his own money. What do you call that? You call it leveraging someone else's influence!"

"Taking advantage of the situation?"

Old Song carefully savored the words, finding them as resounding as thunder in his ears.

"Ordinary people borrow the reputation and power of others, but these are ultimately illusory. What they owe is a debt of gratitude that is difficult to repay, and this power may not be able to be used indefinitely."

What are we borrowing?
What we borrowed was real gold and silver, but this gold and silver was actually bricks and stones from his family's treasury. Once we build a high platform and sit firmly on it, the person who borrowed the bricks and stones will not only not come to dismantle the platform, but will also send troops to help us protect it, fearing that it might collapse!

Zhao An stroked his non-existent beard with a smug look. "If my platform collapses, his own bricks and stones will crumble along with it. In this way, we don't owe him a favor; instead, he owes us a favor for helping him make money. What's that old saying again? Right, it's like using his shield to protect my spear; using his resources to build my foundation!"

"Your mind is truly brilliant, sir! How could I not have thought of its ingenious use!"

Old Song took a deep breath and prostrated himself in admiration: "Sir, your use of the phrase 'borrowing momentum' is excellent. It seems like you've placed a piece in a corner of Anhui, but in reality, you've already extended the chessboard deep into the capital's treasury. When chess reaches this level, Sir, you are no longer a chess player, but a mastermind."

"Trader? Hey, Lao Song, that's a new term for you."

Zhao An clapped his hands and chuckled, "I think your mouth is almost as sharp as a Shaoxing clerk's. Although the stock manipulator's claim is a bit exaggerated, the logic is indeed correct."

The reasoning is definitely correct!

No matter which app you use, as long as you're willing to lend, I'm willing to lend.

Pay back?

If you borrowed it through your own ability, why should you pay it back?
You're after my interest, and I'm after your principal—isn't that just common sense?

As he spoke, Zhao An's smile slowly faded, and he looked seriously at Old Song, who was panting heavily as he followed the sedan chair. "What we need to do now is to firmly grasp this borrowed power and make it truly our destiny, our destiny."
Old Song, stick with me, help me out. We have a long road ahead of us. If we really gain power in the future, will we really be able to do without a Duke like you who shares the fate of the nation?"

(End of this chapter)