Chapter 139 Banks and Industrial Parks
Of course, Li Yi wanted to mint coins not just for the profit.
He has more, other considerations.
For example, the meaning represented by the right to mint coins.
You should know that all over the world, only countries or political entities have the right to mint coins.
Li Yi now wants to mint his own coins, and his ambition is clearly revealed.
In addition, there is the benefit of a unified currency.
Currently, the main currencies in China are silver and copper coins. Copper coins are easy to use, but silver is extremely inconvenient to use.
It's bad enough that the purity is different, but if you want change you need to weigh it with a small scale and cut it into pieces with scissors.
Undoubtedly, this is not conducive to the conduct of business activities and has seriously hindered China's economic and financial development.
To put it bluntly, the reason why ancient China did not develop a discipline similar to Western finance is definitely related to the fact that ancient China did not have a currency with a fixed value.
Therefore, Li Yi had the idea of minting coins.
In addition, Li Yi also wanted to take advantage of the momentum of coinage to try to abolish the collection of fire consumption silver.
This will reduce the burden on the people!
The reforms that Emperor Yongzheng carried out back then were not actually to abolish the huohao tax, but to make it public.
In fact, it turned the fire consumption from a tax that was commonly accepted but would not appear in any official document into a formal tax of the imperial court.
To put it simply, from now on, officials cannot collect this money, only the imperial court can collect it.
To a certain extent, it does reduce the possibility of official corruption.
But for the common people, there is actually no difference, and they have to pay the required amount of money.
Therefore, even though Yongzheng carried out the reform of returning the fire consumption tax to the public, the fire consumption tax was still a huge mountain weighing on the people's heads.
What Li Yi wants to do now is to move this mountain completely away.
What does fire consumption mean?
As the name suggests, when loose silver is melted into official silver, there will be expenses such as fuel, labor, and consumption.
Neither the officials nor the court could bear this loss.
Therefore, we have to let the people suffer a little.
Then, there was the fire consumption.
However, what if the imperial court collects taxes in silver dollars instead of silver taels?
Silver dollars are directly minted and are a currency with a fixed value. How could there be any waste of money?
In this situation, if anyone dares to cause trouble again, don't blame Li Yi's men for being merciless.
Putting down the silver dollar in his hand, Li Yi continued to ask.
"How are the preparations for opening a bank going?"
After hearing this, Wu Xingbang thought for a while and then spoke.
"In reply to the Grand Commander, the bank's site selection and staff recruitment have almost been completed, and the reserve of 5 million taels of silver has also been in place."
"We will be able to officially open for deposit collection soon!"
Li Yi heard this and nodded slightly.
"In banking operations, always remember to put reputation first."
"If a bank loses its credibility, it will be useless no matter how well other places do."
Wu Xingbang looked a little hesitant when he heard this.
Li Yi asked.
"Does Xingbang have anything else to ask?"
Wu Xingbang gritted his teeth and spoke.
"Grand Commander, when I was the shopkeeper for the Wu family, they also had a bank. However, when the bank accepted deposits, not only did it not pay interest, but it also charged a management fee."
"Now my Restoration Army is following the example of the West and opening a bank. Not only will we not charge management fees, but we will also pay interest. People will surely be surprised."
"It is foreseeable that a large amount of money will flow into banks in a short period of time."
"If there is too much deposit and loans cannot be made for a while, the bank will suffer losses."
Wu Xingbang had also been abroad, so he naturally had some understanding of foreign banks, knew their operating models, and knew that banks made profits by lending money.
That's why he is so worried.
Li Yi just smiled and said when he heard this.
"Don't worry about this issue."
"Next, the Grand Military Governor's Office will plan and build an industrial park of 100,000 mu in the Foshan area, and introduce policies to attract foreign merchants and businessmen from all over the country to invest and promote industrial development."
“By then, banks will not be short of loans.”
Li Yi wanted to develop industry, and his first step was to build an industrial park.
First, after the industrial park is established, a large number of factories will move in, forming a closed industrial chain and economies of scale, which can be used to push the industrial development of the Restoration Army onto the fast track.
The second is to concentrate the factories, which will make it easier for the Restoration Army's Grand Marshal's Office to provide policy support.
Third, it makes it more convenient for the Restoration Army to collect taxes and manage.
As for whether this is useful?
Li Yi thought it should be useful. Since they were setting up an industrial park, his trick was still copied from others.
The effect should be pretty good!
In fact, Li Yi originally planned to build the industrial park in Xin'an, which is near Shenzhen.
The reason is that Xin'an is close to the sea, which facilitates the transportation of raw materials and industrial products, as well as attracting foreign investment.
But the problem lies in the fact that Xin'an is close to the sea.
With the Restoration Army recovering Hong Kong and Li Yi executing the British envoy as a sacrifice when destroying opium in Humen, there is now no room for maneuver between the Restoration Army and Britain.
It is estimated that in one or two years at the least, or three to five years at the most, the British will send troops to retaliate.
At that time, the Restoration Army will have to fight the British again.
However, the current naval strength of the Restoration Army is simply not enough to engage in a long-distance naval battle with the British Army and keep the enemy out of the country.
By then, the Guangdong coast will undoubtedly be the main battlefield.
No matter how bold Li Yi was, he would not do such a stupid thing as putting his own industrial park under the guns of the British.
In addition, Foshan is now the handicraft center of southern China, with a large number of highly skilled workers of all kinds, as well as location advantages such as handicraft workshops.
Therefore, Li Yi decided to locate the industrial park in Foshan. Wu Xingbang heard this and immediately spoke.
"The Grand Commander is wise!"
Wu Xingbang took his leave and Li Yi continued to handle government affairs.
But at this moment, there was a noise outside the Grand Marshal's Mansion.
Li Yi's chief attendant Du Shun knocked on the door and reported.
"Your Excellency, there is a group of soldiers outside the palace who want to see you."
Du Shun is the son of Du Er, the steward of the Li family. He is the same age as Li Yi and is considered Li Yi's childhood playmate.
It's almost the same relationship as that between Xun'er and Runtu.
In addition, Du Shun was smart and intelligent, and was very good at guessing Li Yi's thoughts. Li Yi was very comfortable using him, so he promoted him to be his chief attendant, responsible for his daily travel and daily life.
Well, that’s roughly what the Imperial Chamberlain meant.
Although Du Shun's official position was not high, his status was very high.
The generals of the Restoration Army were very polite to him!
Li Yi was secretly delighted when he heard this, knowing that the second attempt to persuade him to come in was coming, so he nodded and said.
"Let's go and meet him!"
……
Just when the Restoration Army was having a lot of fun, making excuses for their mistakes.
Upon receiving the good news from Henan, the Qing court was filled with ecstasy from top to bottom.
On the streets of the capital, you could see groups of Eight Banners disciples gathering together everywhere, in tea stalls, wine shops, and brothels, discussing excitedly the invincibility of the Qing cavalry and the bravery of the monk king...
In their words, the iron cavalry of our Qing Dynasty is capable of defeating ten thousand enemies per person, and Senggelinqin, who led the troops, can be described as a heavenly soldier or general who has descended to earth.
It seemed that as long as the monk king was there, the long-haired people in the south would not be a threat at all.
In the Forbidden City, in the imperial study, Emperor Xianfeng was holding the victory news in his hands, and was also overjoyed.
He clapped his hands and laughed, then spoke in high spirits.
"Hahahaha, the long-haired fake Western King is dead in Luoyang, and the crisis in Henan is resolved immediately!"
"Senggelinqin did a great job!"
“May our ancestors bless us, it’s really our ancestors bless us!”
"Ha ha!"
Xianfeng is really happy now.
Ever since Taiping rebelled at the end of last year, almost a whole year has passed, and urgent military reports have been sent to the capital one after another over the distance of 800 miles.
Of the fast horses that were responsible for delivering the urgent military news over 800 miles, at least 800 died in the race.
During this period, apart from a piece of good news about the killing of the Taipa pseudo-Southern King outside Yong'an City, the rest were almost all bad news about the Qing Dynasty losing cities and territories and suffering heavy casualties.
During this period of time, the entire Qing Dynasty was in a very depressed mood.
Now there is finally some good news of sufficient importance to boost the Qing Dynasty's depressed morale.
Upon hearing this, Sushun stood up and flattered him.
"The monk king is brave and the emperor knows how to appoint the right people. This is a blessing for the Qing Dynasty and the country."
Qi Junzao, He Rulin and others also spoke up.
"Your Majesty knows how to appoint the right people to the right posts, and Henan is a success, which is a blessing for the Qing Dynasty."
Xianfeng had an unconcealable smile on his face.
Looking around, Xianfeng continued.
"Well, my lords, since the war in Henan is over, there is no need to mention it again."
"Next, the Qing Dynasty should focus its main efforts on the main force of the long-haired bandits in Jiangnan, in order to recapture Jiangning as soon as possible, put down the rebellion, and restore peace to the world."
"What do you think of the war in Jiangnan? Feel free to speak your mind."
In Xianfeng's view, although Senggelinqin failed to achieve full success in the Battle of Luoyang, he completely wiped out the Taiping Army led by Xiao Chaogui and Shi Dakai who invaded Luoyang, allowing Shi Dakai to break out by chance.
But it dealt a heavy blow to the Taiping Army.
Although the pseudo-Wing King Shi Dakai managed to escape from the battlefield, he was no longer a threat.
Next, the Qing Dynasty needs to focus its main attention on the Jiangnan area.
Strive to recapture Jiangning as soon as possible and put down the Taiping Rebellion.
Upon hearing this, Qi Junzao immediately spoke.
"Your Majesty, the Taiping rebels currently occupy the three important towns of Jiangning, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou in Jiangnan."
"And our Qing Dynasty has also set up camps in the south and north of the Yangtze River to confront them!"
"My old minister's idea is that the Qing Dynasty will temporarily let Xiang Rong, who is in charge of the Jiangnan camp, and Qishan, who is in charge of the Jiangbei camp, adopt a tactic of surrounding but not attacking the main force of the Taiping rebels."
"We can wait until we meet up with the reinforcements led by Senggelinqin and Shengbao before we march to suppress Jiangning."
Historically, this is the tactic used by the Qing government to encircle and suppress the Taiping Army.
They attempted to use the two large camps in the south and north of the Yangtze River to trap the main force of the Taiping Army in the city of Nanjing, and then concentrate their main forces to annihilate them.
The Taiping Army's response was not to forcefully attack the camps in the south and north of the Yangtze River, but to send troops to the north and west to attract the Qing army's attention and share the pressure on Tianjing.
Therefore, the reason why Yang Xiuqing sent troops to the Northern Expedition was not only because of his strategic misjudgment and stupid move.
He also has his own considerations.
Xianfeng heard this and nodded.
"That's fine!"
"Order someone to pass on the order to Xiang Rong, Qishan, Senggelinqin, Shengbao and others, and tell them to trap the Taiping rebels to death in Jiangning."
"We must not let the long-haired people run around anymore..."
Upon hearing this, all the military ministers bowed and responded.
(End of this chapter)