Chapter 9 fourth quarter

Near the Chenzhou Gate in the southeast of Bianjing, in the Yuxian Temple, although it is snowing lightly, there is still an endless stream of tourists who come to watch the three "Wannian Songhua Stones" and two sections of "Dragon Yashi" in the temple.What is different from usual is that although there are many carved BMW cars on the outside, the so-called "shoulder vehicles" and sedan chairs are almost invisible. Shi hated the behavior of sitting in a sedan chair, so the Zhengshitang issued a strict decree that all clansmen, officials, and Gongsheng who were under 70 years old and without serious illness who took a sedan chair would be impeached by the imperial censor at any time, and the clan would be demoted to a first class. , fined ten catties of copper, officials were demoted to one level, fined three catties of copper, they were not allowed to serve as officials close to the people within ten years, and Gongsheng students were not allowed to take the exam within ten years.If there is an order, there will be evil at the top, and it will be serious at the bottom. In the city of Bianjing, let alone the clan, officials, scholars, and even merchants are not happy to ride in sedan chairs. Stallion carts, ox carts, and mule carts became more and more prosperous.Of course, not everyone would support this edict, and the good scholars in Bianjing made up slogans such as "Don't care about the children, but manage the sedan chair" to express their dissatisfaction.Although officials and scholars in Bianjing were not popular with sitting in sedan chairs, this slogan quickly became popular-people may not care about the problem of sedan chairs, but they are willing to use this slogan to express their respect for the three officials in power. The disappointment and dissatisfaction of being unable to solve the banknote delivery crisis.

However, Cao Youwen did not take this slogan seriously.He hated sitting in a sedan chair as much as the ruling three princes, and he didn't have any real pain in handing over banknotes—it is obviously impossible to expect the barbarians in the South China Sea to easily accept the handover of banknotes. Don't say that even merchants in the South China Sea would not accept handovers. Banknotes, but because of this, the banknotes accounted for only a small part of the Cao family's property. Therefore, from the perspective of the Cao family's interests, it really doesn't matter whether the banknotes are abolished or not.In the short term, the abolition of the Cao family may even benefit more.

But Cao Youwen has never been a person who only looks at the eyes. And he didn't gamble on Zhou Yingfang's ambition and ability—even though Zhou Yingfang was a little arrogant in his bones.But who is a truly capable person without arrogance in his bones? Cao Youwen and Zhou Yingfang are indeed natural allies. Zhou Yingfang wanted to replace the Tang family and become the number one banker in the Song Dynasty; Cao Youwen was also ambitious-this time he returned to Beijing, originally to lobby the court and establish the Cao family's position in the South China Sea merchants, but he didn't expect that Inadvertently, Cao Youwen discovered an opportunity that would allow the Cao family to fight against the Tang family one day.

The idea was purely a flash of inspiration. Originally, Cao Youwen just wanted to find a proper way to help the court alleviate the crisis of handing in banknotes, so as to win Shi Yue's trust and favor—but Cao Youwen's first thought was to mobilize the big merchants in the South China Sea to buy a large amount of banknotes. In the South China Sea region, even in Lingyamen and Guiyi City, the money houses are far less developed than those in the local area—otherwise, Xue Yi would not need to personally fund the money houses;This is also understandable. Although in Song territories such as Lingyamen and Guiyi City, banknotes are also legal tender, overseas trade is either bartered, or settled with gold, silver or copper coins, and there is a lack of well-developed banks. system, it is naturally not easy to circulate banknotes.

Therefore, ideally speaking, it is indeed possible for the South China Sea region to absorb a large amount of banknotes.Even if these banknotes cannot be circulated in the South China Sea in the end, at least the court can get a large amount of gold, silver and copper coins as a result.It is impossible to expect the South China Sea merchants to solve all the problems for the court, but at least it can be a big help. But this idea was immediately rejected by Cao Youwen. Because it is operationally infeasible. The imperial court insisted on the one-to-one price comparison between banknotes and money, and its determination was extremely firm.This is the reliable news that Cao Youwen got from Chen Liang.But under the current circumstances, no merchant in the Song Dynasty could unconditionally accept this price comparison.They are willing to exchange gold, silver and copper coins for banknotes, which is already a huge investment.

If you want to negotiate with the imperial court on this, Cao Youwen dare not even think about it. However, just when Cao Youwen vetoed his idea, Cao Youwen, whose mind was filled with images of gold, silver and copper coins being exchanged for banknotes, suddenly realized that there was a huge opportunity in front of him—if he could win the support of Zhou Yingfang and the court. Because there are huge risks in sea navigation, so far, no bank has promised to make a universal exchange between the South China Sea region and the mainland.In other words, if someone holds a deposit note from the Tang family bank in Nanhai, they cannot get money from the local Tang family bank, and vice versa.Even a big bank like the Tang family is only willing to provide currency exchange for banknotes.

Therefore, maritime merchants must take a large amount of gold, silver and copper coins to go to sea and return home.Once you encounter storms and pirates, you may lose everything. All the banks knew that there was a huge opportunity in it. In the past ten years or so, several banks had tried it, but the owners of these banks have all committed suicide by jumping into the sea now. However, Cao Youwen suddenly discovered that he had found a new way. The idea popped up almost out of the blue. If we can join hands with Zhou Yingfang and the Banknote Bureau, the Cao family will open banks in Lingyamen and other places, please ask the Banknote Bureau to set up yamen in Lingyamen, and the Zhou family will set up banks in the southeast coastal states of the mainland——Caojia uses gold, silver and copper coins Buy the corresponding bills from Ling Yamen's Banknote Delivery Bureau. After the sea merchants deposit the gold, silver and copper coins in the Cao family's bank, they can take these bills and go directly to the local Zhou family's bank to withdraw money. The Zhou family will use these The bills can be exchanged for banknotes at the Bianjing Banknote Delivery Bureau.This settlement is done every six months, and the transportation risks of gold, silver and copper coins are all transferred to the banknote delivery bureau—and the imperial court can not only mobilize Xue Yi’s sea ships and navy to transport them, but also have the huge financial resources of these three families as their backing, so they are completely free to Choose a better season and weather for delivery, and the risk will be much lower than that of private banks.

In this system, the three companies can charge a high fee to make a profit—even if 10% of the fee is charged, the sea merchants will flock to it—of course, this is far from the point of Cao Youwen, as long as the money delivery bureau is willing to promise Cao The banks of the Cao family and the Zhou family are designated banks, and 90% of the handling fee can be handed over to the banknote delivery bureau. The Cao family and the Zhou family each need half of it to be enough.What Cao Youwen valued was the benefits brought by this monopoly position - on this basis, with the help of the Cao family's overseas influence, it is entirely possible for the Cao family to rapidly develop into the largest overseas bank; and the benefits that the Zhou family can obtain may be It is far above the Cao family——if Zhou Yingfang pursues a monopoly position, the rich and noble banks are likely to take advantage of this to form a rivalry with the Tang family in the southeast; The situation may change drastically!

The profits and far-reaching impact behind this are by no means comparable to hundreds of thousands of copper coins. Of course, this has almost nothing to do with solving the banknote delivery crisis, but what does it matter?Cao Youwen is not the prime minister, so that is not his responsibility. What he was really worried about was the Tang family. The Tang family is the only one that has money houses both at home and abroad, and the Tang family is fully capable of serving the whole bowl.Although Cao Youwen came up with this idea first, he was very worried that it was just making wedding clothes for the Tang family.This is also an important reason why Cao Youwen didn't go to the Tang family - the Tang family would definitely kick him out of the chess game.Moreover, if the Money Delivery Bureau did not give them a monopoly position, even if they teamed up with Zhou Yingfang, they would not be able to beat the Tang family.

How to bypass the Tang family is the biggest problem. It seemed that there was no way to kick the Tang family out. Fortunately, Cao Youwen did not find the wrong partner. Zhou Yingfang was indeed smart enough. As soon as Cao Youwen put forward his idea, he not only immediately realized the great opportunity in front of him, but also immediately realized the threat of the Tang family.Most importantly, Zhou Yingfang quickly found a way.A method Cao Youwen admired so much. Li Wan and Lu Zhang clearly pointed out that under Cao Youwen's plan, it is impossible for the Money Delivery Bureau to give them a monopoly position.However, Zhou Yingfang noticed the embarrassment of the banknote delivery bureau when exchanging banknotes - the banknote delivery bureau was short of manpower.

He proposed a new modification. The bank that the Cao family will set up overseas will not be a bank in the general sense, but a bank that focuses on settlement business; The same four banks of the same nature were established in Guangzhou, Quanzhou and Hangzhou.Moreover, the Cao family and the Zhou family also invested in each other. Then, they will lobby the Banknote Delivery Bureau to issue large-denomination bills of 10,000 guan and 100,000 guan.The five banks, the Cao family and the Zhou family, will use the banknotes or gold, silver and copper coins to purchase these bills from the banknote delivery bureau.Then, the five banks will jointly issue a variety of small-value bills as low as 100 guan overseas for the circulation and settlement of overseas banks. Overseas banks can exchange gold, silver, copper coins and bills through the Cao Family Bank.Maritime merchants can turn gold, silver and copper coins into bills in any overseas bank.If you want to return to your country, you can go to the bank to register and issue a money order. After returning to your country, you can cash it at the four local settlement banks and all designated banks with the help of bank drafts and money orders. At the same time, the overseas bank sent the corresponding bill of exchange to Cao's bank, and the Cao's bank calculated the total amount of bills returned to China on time, and sent the corresponding large-value bills issued by the banknote delivery bureau back to China at regular intervals, and cooperated with the four domestic banks. Reconciliation.The four domestic banks then took the large bills from the banknote delivery bureau to the banknote delivery bureau to cash them. Zhou Yingfang's plan was obviously more perfect than Cao Youwen's.Not only did he reduce the work of the Banknote Delivery Bureau, but under such a plan, it is not necessary to exclude the Tang family so obviously, but it actually kicked the Tang family to the edge. As long as the money delivery bureau is not stupid to a certain extent, there is absolutely no reason to set up two settlement centers in the same city.This is a natural monopoly.In this case, even if the Tang family knew about the news and broke Zhou Yingfang's idea of ​​setting up four settlement centers in China, even if the Tang family got the settlement rights of more cities in the country... as long as the Cao and Zhou families can keep Ling For the settlement rights of Yamen, one or two major seaport cities in the country should also strive for the settlement rights. In this game of chess, the Tang family still depends on the faces of Cao and Zhou. The key is the geographical location of Ling Yamen.There are countless cities in Song Dynasty that can be scrambled for, but overseas, Lingyamen is irreplaceable.The combination of Cao and Zhou will undoubtedly have a great advantage in the battle for Ling Yamen's settlement rights. The most depressing thing is that the Tang family still dare not give up.He had to come and see the faces of Cao and Zhou.In Qianzhuang's chess game, it is indeed unimaginable to completely kick the Tang family out of the game.However, not the Tang family can always play the leading role. There is no mistake in saying "lines are separated like mountains". Cao Youwen couldn't come up with such a coup no matter what.Moreover, even though Cao Youwen was not familiar with the Qianzhuang business, he could see Zhou Yingfang's ambitions—the Qianzhuang itself would jointly issue small-amount bills, how similar it was to Jiaozi back then! However, this matter was still only in the dreams of Cao Youwen and Zhou Yingfang. The Bureau of Banknote Delivery can indeed extract a huge amount of handling fees from it - and it is all gold, silver and copper coins; by purchasing bills from the Bureau of Banknote Delivery, the Bureau of Banknote Delivery can also obtain a large amount of gold, silver and copper reserves; if this idea comes true, it can indeed Promote the development of overseas trade; the business in the South China Sea will be more prosperous, and the connection with the country will be closer, and perhaps more gold, silver and copper coins will flow into the mainland... The benefits that can be seen and the benefits that cannot be seen are countless.But that still doesn't mean it's guaranteed to be a success.Because this is not something that the Banknote Delivery Bureau can decide, at least the Banknote Delivery Bureau will definitely not be able to mobilize Xue Yi's navy. Moreover, even though Zhou Yingfang's plan was ingenious enough, even though it was impossible for the Tang family to know what the relationship between Cao and Zhou's family had become, even though Li Wan and Lu Zhang promised to try their best to speak well in front of Sima Guang...but for Tang Home, still must guard against. The most important thing right now is to hope that Zhou Yingfang can persuade Li Dunmin. This Overseas Affairs Minister plays an important role in this matter.His attitude is likely to affect Shi Yue and even Sima Guang's judgment. Cao Youwen's return to Beijing this time was not particularly smooth. He has many old friends in Bianjing, Chen Liang, Fan Xiang, Sima Mengqiu, and Cai Jing—before he returned to Beijing, he had confidently believed that with these four people, he wanted to do something in Bianjing, It won't be hard to get anywhere.However, after returning to Beijing, he realized that things were far more complicated than he thought.These four old friends of his are all Shi Yue's confidantes, but he has never entered the gate of Shi's mansion, and he has not even seen Sima Mengqiu's face.Fan Xiang suggested that he go to lobby Sang Chongguo and Baishuitan. At that time, he thought that the door of Sangchong Kingdom would not be so difficult to enter, but at this time, he realized that he was wrong—ordinary people want to meet with Sang Chongguo If you don't send Zhazi to make an appointment two months in advance, the servants of the Sang Mansion will not even have to report. There are tens of thousands of students in Baishuitan, and everyone wants to meet and talk with him. How can Sang Chongguo come?But in Baishuitan, his former classmates had already gone their separate ways. In such a big Baishuitan, he felt familiar and unfamiliar everywhere, and he couldn't even find anyone he knew. Until now, others don't feel it, but Cao Youwen himself only feels that he is hitting a wall everywhere, and he has no idea at all about the big thing he wants to do.He is by no means a person who gives up lightly when he encounters setbacks, but he can't help but lose his ambition.This time, I was lucky enough to find such a good opportunity. Cao Youwen, who has always been calm and calm, and never believed in fate, couldn't help but come to worship God when he heard Cao Wulang and others talking about the efficacies of the Jade Immortal Temple. However, if a person has too many thoughts in his heart, no matter how pious he is in front of the gods and Buddhas, it will be difficult to truly calm down in his heart. After incense, Cao Youwen didn't want to join in the fun to see the "Wannian Songhua Stone" and "Dragon Yashi". When he came, he saw a plum forest behind the temple, so he went on foot to enjoy the plum blossoms on foot.The Jade Immortal Temple used to be full of incense, and this season is when the country is troubled, and the people praying to God and worshiping Buddha are more prosperous. Quite a few, Cao Youwen only wanted to go to a secluded place, at this time, he just looked for a place with few people, and turned around in the plum forest. Unexpectedly, the Jade Immortal Temple was not very big, and he arrived at the Yuxian Temple after a short walk. back wall.He was about to find a way to leave, but he heard someone on the other side of the wall saying: "Auntie, are we really going there?" The voice was clear and crisp, but it was a young man's voice. Then, I heard a woman reprimanded impatiently: "You three want to learn some punches and embroidered legs, or do you want to learn swordsmanship that can kill the enemy on the battlefield?" After a while, I heard the woman say again: "Sixth Brother, Seventh Brother Brother, don’t be so ambitious, what are you afraid of being beaten only once? He was beaten ten times or eight times, and it didn’t really matter. Go back and know, you must be beaten to death. You two want to learn from Brother Huan, every time you are beaten, you will learn to be good, and you will come back sooner or later. Brother Huan's trick last time was very good..." I heard the boy from before explain: "I'm afraid that my sister will find out." "What's there to be afraid of? If Xiaohuan doesn't learn well, she'll be just like Eleven Niang." The woman's voice was very angry.Cao Youwen knew that "Xiaohuan" was a term used by people in Bianjing for unmarried women. He didn't want to hear people's privacy, but he could listen to the tone and voice of the woman on the other side of the wall, and deduce from the meaning of these words that he had already I know this woman is very aggressive.When he heard this woman say that people who don't like her means "not learning well", he didn't feel secretly funny. The boys outside the wall were obviously in awe of this woman, and after a while, another boy murmured: "Auntie, I heard from General Yang that the number one swordsman in this dynasty is Duke Zhang Zhongding. ?" "I've never heard of Mr. Zhang Zhongding and Mr. Zhang Assuming." The woman became more and more impatient. "Mr. Zhang Zhongding is Zhang Guaiya, I heard..." a young man said in a young voice. But the woman said angrily: "If you think he is capable, you can learn from him. What kind of shit is the number one swordsman, who made it?" Their voices were getting farther and farther away. Cao Youwen overheard this clever answer, and couldn't bear it here, almost fell down laughing.This piece of chanting Zhang guaiya is the first strange person in the Song Dynasty, a famous official of the Taizong Dynasty, famous for his flying sword and swordsmanship when he was young, he was a famous knight, and later became an official in the court, Yizhou was in chaos during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong , Zhang Yong entered Shu to govern him, and was compared to Zhuge Liang by Su Shi.He is proficient in governance and strategy, and he has won the hearts and minds of the army and the people. The judgments left behind are still a model for local officials in the Song Dynasty; what is rare is that he is still very talented. It can also be ranked first. Such a person, don't say that there was only one in the entire Song Dynasty, even going back to the Han and Tang Dynasties, it is extremely rare.It can be said that if the scholars of the Song Dynasty had never even heard of Zhang guaiya and Zhang Zhongdinggong, they would be really ignorant to a certain extent.Cao You heard that the woman outside didn't even know about Zhang guaiya, he thought it was funny, listening to her answer made his stomach hurt from laughing. At this time, he could not even hear the sound of horseshoes outside the wall, and he knew that the people outside the wall had gone away. While speculating in his heart about the appearance of the woman and the boy who spoke outside the wall, he wandered around the Jade Immortal Temple absent-mindedly. In the end, I felt that it was not very interesting, so I resigned from the Taoist priest in the temple and came out. It was almost noon at this time, after Cao You heard the Yuxian temple, he looked up at the sky and saw that the snow did not stop at all, thinking that he would go to Baishuitan, he hurriedly asked his followers to lead the horse and put on the umbrella hat, Drive the horse towards Nanxun Gate. Before I ran far, I saw that the snow was getting bigger and bigger, and the wind was blowing.The wind rolled the snow, and the snow was caught in the wind, hitting the body and face, making people unable to open their eyes.Cao Youwen has been in Borneo for many years, and he is not used to the wind and snow. Within a quarter of an hour, he reined in his horse and walked forward with only the horse. After walking for a while, even walking was difficult, and he regretted not Get out of the carriage, and go to the side of the road—because it is the southeast corner of Bianjing City, there are imperial warehouses everywhere, and there are a few shops occasionally. Because of the recent banknote payment crisis and heavy snow, they are all gates It was so tightly closed that I couldn't even find a place to shelter from the snow.After walking for a while, he finally saw a small gate of a house on the side of the road opened. Cao Youwen hurriedly called his followers to ask.But the Shen family didn't seem very wealthy, they didn't even have a serious housekeeper, just an old servant looking over the yard.The old servant was very kind, invited Cao Youwen and his followers to come in, tied the horse in the corridor of the courtyard, and the three of them gathered around the gatehouse to enjoy the fire and gossip. That old servant was very lonely, although he was a bit deaf, he was very talkative.It didn't take long for Cao You to hear that the owner of this house was called Shen Guitian, and he had worked as a petty official in the Sansijia Case, the Military Weapons Supervision, and the Weapons Research Institute. According to the old servant, this Master Shen is a good person and treats his servants very well. Easy-going, but just a stinky mouth, he offends wherever he goes, although he is supported by noble people, but he has been an official for decades, with ups and downs, and will always be a eight-rank.This old servant obviously didn't lie, the business of the Cao family was originally inextricably linked with the Military Supervision, and Cao Youwen knew everything about the personnel affairs of the Military Supervision, but Cao Youwen never Having heard of Shen Guitian's name, it was obvious that Shen Guitian was really not doing well. The three of them sat there for about two quarters of an hour, when they suddenly heard a man outside laughing, "Old Shen, what did Li Dunmin ask you for?" Cao Youwen suddenly heard Li Dunmin's name, and subconsciously pricked up his ears, but heard a man reply: "What else can I do? Xue Yi recommended several sea merchants to make paper armor in Borneo, so that it will be convenient for sea ships and navy to purchase in the future." , The two governments have already approved it, but the joints of the Military Weapons Supervision have not been opened, and there have been layers of delays. It has been more than a year, and the approval document from above is still under the pressure of the Military Weapons Supervision..." He also heard the man from before laughing and saying: "If I remember correctly, you are not the head of the military department now, are you?" The old Shen smiled and said, "I said the same thing." The man before said with a smile: "It seems that the rumors are correct. Li Dunmin and Shi Xiang are common friends, and you are going to be promoted again." Speaking of the last sentence, even Cao Youwen could hear the joke. "That's so rare." But the old Shen laughed and said, "I've been an eighth-rank official in the armor case, military weapon supervision, and military research institute for 20 or 30 years. Popi didn't have a good time. But..." Cao Youwen heard the old Shen laugh a few times, and heard the man from before ask: "But what?" "I'm surprised, you Duan Zijie should have made great contributions, why not only did you not get promoted, but was transferred from the Beijing Fangfang to the Coastal Production Department?" "It's simpler over there, it suits me." Duan Zijie replied half-jokingly, "I went there, and Xue Yi's life will be much better." The voices of the two were getting closer and closer. When they reached the house, they didn't knock on the door, so they pushed the door in. The old servant heard the sound, stopped chattering, got up and said with a smile: "Both, it's my lord who has returned. .” Cao Youwen hurriedly stood up to meet his master and servant. After Shen Guitian and Duan Zi stepped in, they couldn't help being surprised that there were outsiders there.Shen Guitian looked at Cao Youwen, and asked the old servant, "These two are..." "This officer Cao is here to avoid the snow." The old servant replied with a smile, taking the bamboo hats and raincoats from Shen Guitian and Duan Zijie, and walked to the back room on his own. Cao Youwen looked at the expressions of Shen Guitian and Duan Zijie, but he didn't seem to be surprised. He seemed to be used to it, and he was secretly surprised. Although he didn't know Shen Guitian's name, he had heard of Duan Zijie. , because of the shelter from the wind and snow, I disturbed the virtuous master." "Cao Youwen?" Shen Guitian and Duan Zijie couldn't help but look at each other. "But Yuanwai Cao from Xiguangzhai?" "Don't dare, it's just a mere area." Shen Guitian and Duan Zijie looked at each other again, and couldn't help laughing in unison. Cao Youwen was inexplicably laughed at by them, and looked at the two awkwardly, but saw Shen Guitian pointing at Duan Zijie and said with a smile: "He is looking for you." "Ah?" Cao Youwen opened his mouth wide in surprise, looking at Duan Zijie. But Duan Zijie said with a smile: "Cao Yuanwai and Fan Zhonglin are old acquaintances?" "We are friends of commoners." "That's right." Duan Zijie said with a smile, "I heard from Fan Zhonglin that Cao Yuanwai wants to make a big deal..." Cao Youwen's eyes lit up immediately.