The last capitalist
Four years ago, Wang Junshan was still a nobody. Although his ancestors had once been a wealthy merchant, by the time he fell into the hands of Wang Junshan's parents, the family had fallen on hard times. As a young man, Wang Junshan apprenticed at a bank. Thanks to his family's training, he could read and count, quickly developing the skills to manage his own business. However, due to his youth, Wang Junshan's abilities were not appreciated.
One day, Wang Junshan heard about the Tang Family School in Changzhou. It taught knowledge beyond the Four Books and Classics, and offered free tuition. So Wang Junshan traveled to Changzhou and enrolled at the school. A little over a year later, he was recruited by the Tang Family Caravan, which was in desperate need of staff, and became a manager there.
The term "manager" was uncommon among the wealthy at the time. However, Wang Junshan, a student of the Tang family, was well aware of it. Seeing that he was given a high position upon entering the family, Wang Junshan secretly vowed to achieve great things. A year later, Junshan, with his diligent and down-to-earth work ethic and shrewd financial management skills, became a prominent figure in the Tang family caravan. When the Tang family bank was established, Wang Junshan was immediately promoted to general manager.
Wang Junshan thus became a prominent figure. He was the one who came up with an idea for Emperor Chongzhen. This idea was to issue Great Imperial Silver Notes, replacing the silver in circulation among the people.
This was a method designed to disrupt the financial markets of the Great Tang Empire. Since the Great Tang treasury was completely depleted of silver reserves, the silver notes issued were effectively worthless pieces of paper. However, the immediate benefits were obvious, and Chongzhen, desperate for money, ultimately adopted this plan.
Ever since Wang Junshan became the general manager of the Tang Family Bank, with the Tang Family Bank as his backing, Wang Jun's position has become quite extraordinary. He frequents the homes of high-ranking officials and nobles, especially those royal relatives who have business dealings and joint ventures with the Tang family. Their capital flows are largely dependent on the Tang Family Bank.
After a while, Wang Junshan became very familiar with the people. He knew all the little things going on in the court. Naturally, Wang Junshan had no loyalty to the Great Tang Dynasty. When the upper echelons of the Tang family attempted to overturn the economic order of the Great Tang, Wang Junshan, who had received the order, acted quickly. Through the mouths of the imperial family, he conveyed the intention of issuing silver notes to Chongzhen.
The issuance of these silver notes naturally caused some damage to the Tang family caravan. However, the real harm came to the small merchants and the wealthy. The self-sufficient people didn't suffer much. After all, their main assets were their farmland and grain. At most, they could sell the grain and store it at home.
For the army, the danger of silver wasn't significant. With their usual tyrannical style, the silver notes issued as military pay could be used to force purchases from ordinary people. The only ones who suffered were the elderly and small merchants. Furthermore, the government was even more ruthless. They used silver notes for distribution but collected taxes in real money. This way, while corrupt officials became even more greedy, the amount of silver in the treasury seemed to be increasing. Miraculously, the stockpile reached tens of thousands of taels. Even Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but feel delighted.
Originally, the treasury had a certain amount of silver. If the notes issued were slightly higher than this amount, there would be no problem. However, the court of Dali issued silver without limit. While this initially solved the urgent problem of the treasury being empty, its harmful effects soon became apparent. Many wealthy people and small merchants were forced to go bankrupt. This led to more rebellions within Dali and significantly increased the number of immigrants needed by Tang Tong.
Tang Tong, impressed by Wang Junshan's abilities, also considered him a talent. He therefore entrusted Wang Junshan with the task of establishing the Great Bank of the Empire. He began experimenting with issuing silver coins in Southeast Asia, promoting a silver-based financial system. These exquisite silver coins quickly gained widespread acceptance. Not only in Southeast Asia, but also in Greater China, Japan, Korea, and even parts of India, these silver coins quickly became accepted. This pushed Tang Tong's financial strength to new heights.
The establishment of the bank, along with the interest earned on deposits, also attracted many with spare cash to deposit their money in the Great Bank of the Empire. This was particularly true of the early immigrants from Southeast Asia, who now owned large and small estates. Even a small estate held far more land than even a small estate within Great Britain.
Out of trust in the Tang caravan, any spare cash they had was naturally deposited in this bank. In places like Japan and Korea, the Imperial Bank of Japan also had numerous branches. The money earned by Japanese conscripts and Korean laborers in Southeast Asia could be deposited in the bank and withdrawn from the bank upon returning home. Furthermore, they no longer had to worry about theft or robbery. Naturally, most Japanese people deposited their money in this bank, as it was both convenient and secure.
Within Datong, due to the influence of the Tang caravan, a commercial behemoth, many merchants deposited their silver in the Datong Imperial Bank. This provided them with both financial security and convenience when conducting business. Zhejiang merchants traveling to Shanxi could deposit their silver in the bank after selling their goods and withdraw it in other provinces. Merchants traveling to Southeast Asia and India could also deposit their silver in the bank after selling their goods and then withdraw it from their bank accounts in Datong upon returning to Datong. This was far more convenient than carrying a large amount of silver around.
The Imperial Bank of Datong's currency included copper coins of 10 cents and 0 cents, as well as silver coins of 1 yuan, 1 yuan, 0 yuan, and 10 yuan. The purchasing power of a 10-cent copper coin was equivalent to the value of a Datong copper coin. The bank also held valuable cultural relics and jewelry for safekeeping. This was Tang Tong's suggestion, but the business didn't go well. Those with cultural relics and jewelry simply wouldn't deposit them with the bank. The cultural relics and jewelry at the headquarters in Nanyang were looted by Tang Tong's troops. In total, most of these items belonged to Tang Tong, and the quantity was substantial. There was even a box of diamonds alone. In later times, that would have been an astonishing fortune, but at that time, they were not very valuable.
Wang Junshan was the head of a bank. He rose to prominence in the Tang family caravan, and the Wang family became a top family in Southeast Asia. His achievements were legendary among the people of Dali. Many Dali merchants also invested in the financial industry, and various small banks in Nanyang were established.
Banks like the United States, Korea, and others sprang up like mushrooms after a rain. Each bank minted silver dollars. Because the Tang Dynasty hadn't established itself as a nation and still operated under the banner of the Great East, there were no laws regulating these small banks. This allowed these individuals to exploit loopholes, disrupting the financial order in these three regions to a certain extent.
Tang Tong had little experience in governing a country. He hadn't considered these matters when establishing the bank. It wasn't until Wang Junshan reported these issues to him that Tang Tong realized the problem. Finance is a crucial tool for governing a country and a nation. He understood that such matters couldn't be ignored; he could only ban other banks from opening in Southeast Asia. As for places like Japan and Korea, Tang Tong wouldn't intervene.
No one dared to open a bank in Da'an. Ever since Emperor Chongzhen had found success issuing silver notes, he had strictly controlled such matters, imposing severe penalties. The Da'an Imperial Bank, established by the Tang family in Da'an, operated in secret, still operating under the banner of the Tang Family Banking Company. It primarily conducted business with individuals with business ties to the Tang family, though a significant amount of silver dollars circulated among ordinary citizens. These were ostensibly unrelated to the Tang Family Banking Company. The Imperial Guards had also investigated the origins of these silver dollars, and all they found were overseas sources.
Now that Tang Tong's family were all in Dayuan, Tang Tong no longer maintained strict control over maritime commerce. He even encouraged merchants to do business overseas. However, the tax was paid so that the Yiwei could use some merchant ships to travel to Southeast Asia. They had a general understanding of the Tang family's influence there, but they were powerless to deal with Tang Tong.
As for the Tang family's assets in Da'an, many are no longer under the Tang family's name. Some are registered under the names of royal relatives. Some are registered under the names of gangs. Tang Tong's current power does not worry about them embezzling his property. Anyone who dares to have bad intentions will end up with the family destroyed.
Even the imperial family members were well aware of the power Tang Tong held. Although they were royal relatives, they would have to think carefully before attempting to take over Tang's assets. Officials still in Tang Tong's name also didn't dare to make any moves, as many officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang actually had unclear ties to the Tang family.
Over the past few years, the talents educated at this school have gradually become more numerous. While there aren't many great talents, they are still numerous. Despite the rapid development under Tang Tong, there is no shortage of talent in various fields. In particular, they have trained a large number of scientific and technological talents. The research institute run by Tang Tong has grown into a large-scale research institute, with thousands of researchers. Although, in Tang Tong's eyes, the level of knowledge these people possess is basically the level of a high school student in the future, at that time, it was the most advanced and profound knowledge, far ahead of Westerners.
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