Chapter 586 Financial Weapons
"One hundred thousand taels?"

"Can Yan Shaoting be so kind as to give out 100,000 taels without asking for anything in return?"

"Do you think his Yan family runs a charity?"

Beijing city.

Li House.

Li Chunfang looked at the staff member who came forward to report the news with a face full of sarcasm.

The staff also looked incredulous and shook his head, saying, "But this is what is happening now. I have also gathered information from various sources and sent several groups of people to Changping, but all I got was the same information. Yan Shaoting and the Yan family have really spent 100,000 taels to create this... Changping Scholarship."

The staff was also troubled by this new and extremely difficult to pronounce term and couldn't figure it out.

Li Chunfang's expression changed, and he asked uncertainly, "Did you really take out the real money?"

The staff nodded and said, "One hundred thousand taels, many people saw it with their own eyes, it was taken from the Yan family and given to the academy, and the academy took it to the gold shop in the city and stored it."

This is an ironclad fact.

Li Chunfang became more and more confused.

The aide thought for a moment and added, "But there is more to this story than just one."

"Oh?" Li Chunfang's eyes lit up: "Tell me quickly, I know that the Yan family can't have good intentions."

Hearing his own prime minister say this, the aide's lips moved.

He really wanted to remind Lord Li not to be so sure.

But it was because Prime Minister Li spoke too quickly.

The aide hesitated for a moment and lowered his head slightly: "It's the 100,000 taels of silver. Although it's all Changping scholarships, it's divided into two parts. One is called Changping Inspirational Scholarship, and the other is Changping Science and Technology Innovation Award."

After saying this, the aide took a step back silently.

Bang!
really.

Li Chunfang's face flushed and he slammed his hand on the table.

This is annoying.

Li Chunfang blushed for a while before letting out a long sigh: "What on earth do they want to do!"

The staff shook his head and said quickly, "I heard that Yan Shaoting left a few questions in the academy, saying that anyone who can answer them will get a reward of ten thousand taels. If someone can come up with something new and interesting elsewhere, they can also get a reward."

One hundred thousand taels!

That’s one hundred thousand taels of real silver!

Li Chunfang was filled with resentment.

Only the Yan family, which has now become a noble family, can so openly take out one hundred thousand taels of silver as a reward. Anyone who takes out so much silver will not have to wait until tomorrow, because the Jinyiwei will come to their door tonight to ask where the silver comes from.

It took Li Chunfang a while to calm down.

He whispered, "After your discussion, what do you think the Yan family wants to do?"

For Li Chunfang, he absolutely did not believe that the Yan family had good intentions and would not give away the 100,000 taels of silver for nothing.

There must be a conspiracy.

The staff pondered for a moment and said, "We think... the Yan family's intention is to win over the hearts of the scholars. After all, this money can only be obtained if someone solves the problem or comes up with something new. How can an ordinary person get this money? They are still scholars in the world."

Listening to the explanation of his staff, Li Chunfang gradually nodded.

He narrowed his eyes and said with a tone full of jealousy: "It is really a good plan to buy the hearts and minds of scholars all over the world with vulgar things!"

It seems like the grapes are sour because you can't eat them.

After Li Chunfang finished being jealous, he looked up and asked, "What method have you come up with to stop the Yan family from doing this?"

The aide swallowed his saliva and said, "We can also set up a scholarship, or... spread a rumor that the Yan family is trying to buy people's hearts and minds to do something bad, which may prevent them from doing this."

Da da.

Da da.

The sound of Li Chunfang's fingers tapping on the table could be heard in the room.

After a while, Li Chunfang spoke up, "Let's do what you said later. As for getting a scholarship like the Yan family did... first send a letter to Jiangsu and Zhejiang to see how much money each family can come up with. We'll talk about it after we get a reply from them."

It is easy to spread rumors and secretly target the Yan family.

But if I had to pay real money like the Yan family, I wouldn't be so stupid as to do it alone.

Since the purpose is to stop the Yan family, naturally everyone will contribute money and effort.

When the staff saw that Li Chunfang had no follow-up instructions, they paused for a moment before bowing and responding.

same moment.

In the Imperial Palace, in the Silijian Supervisory Office on the northeast side of Wansui Mountain.

Yan Shaoting entered the city from Bei'an Gate early and waited here.

Not to mention that he is now the Prince's Guardian and the Minister of Rites.

Just based on his relationship with the palace, basically no one in the imperial city dared to treat him badly.

Several eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department respectfully served Yan Shaoting and asked him to sit in the main hall of the Imperial Household Department. They also presented him with tea that was a tribute from the local area this year.

Sitting in the Silijian Yamen, Yan Shaoting looked around casually.

Among the twenty-four offices in the inner court, the Imperial Household Department was the most powerful.

However, the Silijian Yamen looked particularly plain and simple. If it were not for the sign outside, visitors would have thought it was a place where the palace stored sundries.

He drank his tea, not in a hurry.

Not long after, a young eunuch walked in quickly from outside.

"In reply to Shao Bao, Eunuch Lu and Eunuch Huang are on duty in the front. They know that you are coming. Eunuch Lu said that he will rush over after he serves His Majesty and waits for His Majesty to take a nap in the Qianqing Palace."

As he spoke, the young eunuch glanced at the sky outside, and then a smile appeared on his face.

"Looking at the time, Eunuch Lu should be back soon."

Yan Shaoting nodded: "Thank you for your help."

After saying this, he savored the tea from the Imperial Household Department carefully.

It is much better than the tea I got from the old man.

I don’t know how much time passed.

There were footsteps outside the house again.

Before seeing the person, Yan Shaoting had already heard his voice.

"It is really rare for the young master to come in person. I got the news and saw that the emperor had just fallen asleep, so I hurried back. I hope the young master will forgive me."

At this time, Yan Shaoting had already stood up and saw Lu Fang walking in with a smile on his face.

Yan Shaoting immediately bowed and smiled, "The Imperial Household Department has such excellent tea to drink, and I don't think it's a big deal at all. But since you, Eunuch Lu, have returned so soon, I can't drink a few more cups of tea from the Imperial Household Department."

Seeing Yan Shaoting's polite tone, Lu Fang raised an eyebrow.

"This tea was a tribute from Jiangsu and Zhejiang at the beginning of the year. His Majesty rewarded us with a few taels of it. How can people like us enjoy such a precious thing? We have kept it here without touching it. The young guard is an honored guest. If you like it, you can take it all back when you return."

As he spoke, Lu Fang had already sat down opposite Yan Shaoting. He did not sit in the main seat above the main hall of the Silijian.

Yan Shaoting smiled knowingly and clasped his hands together: "Then I will take away the beauty of others."

Lu Fang smiled and waved her hand: "It's okay."

After saying this, he looked at Yan Shaoting with a smile in his eyes.

If it was for personal matters, he would never believe that Yan Shaoting would come to the Silijian Yamen in person. But Yan Shaoting's introduction of himself as an official was enough to show that he was here to discuss official matters.

But is there any official business that requires him, the newly appointed Prince's Guardian and Minister of Rites, to go to the Imperial Household Department in person to discuss it?
This made Lu Fang a little confused.

Yan Shaoting did not keep the secret. Seeing that Lu Fang had already sat down, he said, "To be honest, I have recently obtained a scholarship at Changping Academy. I wonder if Eunuch Lu has known about it?"

Lu Fang nodded, but he was more puzzled in his heart: "This kind of thing that inspires thousands of scholars, of course my family knew about it a long time ago. Shao Bao is now in charge of the Ministry of Rites and is in charge of the education of the world. He has done such a great thing, which is really admirable."

If the Yan family did not have a title, he would definitely change his words and warn the Yan family that this was a bit ostentatious. But now the Yan family is the hereditary Marquis of Changping, and no one can say anything if they take out 100,000 taels of silver.

Yan Shaoting hummed and continued, "It's just that throwing in 100,000 taels of silver is still a bit stingy, but the Yan family is not a wealthy family after all. But helping students is beneficial to the country and the people. Although the Yan family has some selfish motives and wants to have a good reputation as a kind and helpful family, this is also a matter of learning for the whole world. So..."

Lu Fang raised his eyebrows and said immediately: "For such a small matter, the young guard only needs to send someone to pass on a message. Whatever you say, our family has saved a little in the palace over the years, and everyone in the palace is willing to do such a good deed. If we go around everywhere, we can always get tens of thousands of taels of silver."

"No no no."

Yan Shaoting hurriedly shook his head and explained, "The money you saved must be saved for your future retirement. I dare not even think about it."

Isn't it about this?

Lu Fang frowned.

He originally thought that Yan Shaoting wanted to get some money from him first and put it into the Changping Scholarship, and then have an excuse to get some money from the nobles in Beijing.

In this way, the Changping Scholarship could be worth about 200,000 or 300,000 taels of silver.

Yan Shaoting smiled and said, "I was thinking that the gold shop is now managed by the palace, and it should have made a lot of money and a good profit. If we can donate some money to the Changping Scholarship in the name of the gold shop, it will sound good when we spread it out."

Although he could petition the court to establish a national scholarship for the Ming Dynasty, this had never happened.

It will inevitably be opposed by officials in the court.

People might think that he wanted to take money from the court and put it into his own pocket under a different pretext.

It’s different if you get silver from a gold merchant.

The Qiansi was a state institution, while the Jinhang was an imperial merchant.

According to later generations.

It's still possible to get some sponsorship.

You can ask for sponsorship from banks, but you cannot ask for money directly from the Financial Committee.

Lu Fang also understood the logic of this matter instantly, but still asked in confusion: "The gold bank does have a lot of income now, and this matter still depends on the young guard's original request to the late emperor. However, the Ministry of Revenue..."

After the establishment of the Jinhang, it was not only supervised by the inner court, but the Ministry of Revenue also assumed some supervisory power.

Yan Shaoting immediately said: "Before coming here, I have already discussed this matter with Gao Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue."

After he finished speaking, he paused.

Lü Fang took a look and couldn't help laughing: "Did Minister Gao tell Shao Bao that as long as we agree, there will be no problem on his side?"

They are all sophisticated people.

Yan Shaoting sighed in his heart, smiled and nodded: "That's exactly what Minister Gao said."

Lu Fang burst into laughter immediately.

After a while.

Lv Fangcai straightened up and said, "How much does Shao Bao want? After all, it is a good thing to help scholars all over the world. There may not be much, but the gold bank can indeed take out a sum of money to help students."

Yan Shaoting took a step back at this time: "Of course, you have the final say on this."

Lu Fang's eyes turned and said, "How about 100,000 taels? Although we don't know how the scholarship will be used, with Shao Bao in charge, the money will certainly not be used unclearly. With 200,000 taels of silver, I think we can accomplish a lot."

Originally, Yan Shaoting only wanted to get thirty to fifty thousand taels of silver from the gold shop.

And the amount of money doesn't matter.

What’s important is that the nature of the Gold Element will be further transformed through this incident.

Upon hearing this, Lu Fang actually waved his hand and offered 100,000 taels of silver.

He was really surprised and delighted, and quickly stood up and bowed: "In this case, I really want to thank Eunuch Lu for his kindness on behalf of the students who will receive the scholarship in the future!"

Lv Fang had also stood up and walked forward, grabbing Yan Shaoting's hand, then leaning forward and whispering, "But you have to explain to our family clearly why you are getting this scholarship, and why you want to drag Jin Xing into this?"

He believed that Yan Shaoting initially paid 100,000 taels of silver out of his own pocket in order to help him with his studies.

But now that I have found myself, it will definitely not be just for the purpose of helping with my studies.

Yan Shaoting looked left and right.

Lu Fang understood and immediately coughed: "I am discussing important matters with Shao Bao."

Just one sentence.

The eunuchs serving around disappeared in an instant.

"Now, Runwu can talk to our family with peace of mind, understand?"

Yan Shaoting nodded repeatedly: "You know, I asked the late emperor to change our currency system in order to strictly control gold, silver and copper coins, and also to make things more convenient for people all over the world."

Lu Fang nodded repeatedly.

When he thought of the things that happened during the time of the previous emperor, he couldn't help but reveal a look of nostalgia.

Yan Shaoting continued, "Now that the Ministry of Finance has been re-established and the Gold Bank has been founded, gold, silver and copper coins are gradually being circulated throughout the country, but is this all the Gold Bank can do?"

Hearing this, Lu Fang's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked, "Does Runwu have any brilliant ideas about the gold industry?"

Only those who have experienced it and those who believe in it will know how amazing Yan Shaoting is.

Coincidentally, Lu Fang is such a person.

Yan Shaoting nodded: "Although I haven't asked about the gold shop in the past two years, I think the gold shop's profits now all come from lending money to those powerful merchants and collecting interest. This is naturally a good thing. After all, the gold shop is owned by the court, so it must be profitable. But what else?"

Lu Fang frowned and fell into deep thought.

Yan Shaoting said calmly, "It is owned by the imperial court, and the gold bank must ensure that it is profitable and cannot waste the national treasury. But the gold bank is responsible for the circulation of money in the world, and I think it should also serve the people. I think that now, the gold bank does not lend money to ordinary people. Of course, I also understand the reason for not doing this, because the risk is too great. But if we change the method, if we take out a portion of the gold bank's annual income to help students and farmers, wouldn't it be great?"

Lu Fang nodded slowly: "Assisting students and farmers is a good deed."

After saying that.

However, Lu Fang had already stepped back, sat back in his original position, and looked at Yan Shaoting with a deep gaze.

"But Runwu told me all this today, I'm afraid it's not just for these things."

Yan Shaoting nodded calmly and said with a smile: "Golden business... or the term finance, which is now commonly used in the academy, can also become a weapon at the right time, like a sword or a gun."

Lu Fang raised his eyebrows instantly and became very interested.

"Who does Runwu want to use Jinxing's sword and spear against?"

…………

Monthly PassMonthly Pass
(End of this chapter)