Lin Qi frowned slightly and was about to answer.
But Li Guang did not give the other party a chance to think, and directly revealed the answer: "If the court wants to make money with interest, where is the Qingmiao Law?"
Lin Qi was speechless and did not know what to say for a moment, while the entire court, both civil and military officials, monks and laymen, noble and humble, were all a little confused, and then they all burst into laughter.
There is no other reason. The term Qingmiao Law touches upon the core political and economic contradictions of the Song Dynasty.
Anyone with a little common sense knows that one of the core laws of Wang Anshi's reform was the Qingmiao Law, which replaced the wealthy loan sharks with the government and lent money directly to the poor... This was an excellent theoretical framework, and was very effective when experimented with in small-scale regions, but in the end, although it was successful in making money, it was an economic law that failed miserably in terms of people's livelihood, economy, and political ethics.
Even the failure of Wang Anshi's entire reform could not escape the Qingmiao Law.
At the same time, everyone finally understood why the government gathered together such a messy group of people as monks, Taoists, nobles, and wealthy merchants, and then let these people enter the government cabinet as the first batch.
It should be noted that according to the theory that the economic base determines everything, by the Song Dynasty, Buddhism and Taoism were no longer pure religious groups. Although they still maintained basic religious instincts and occasionally engaged in some upper-level lines, as the expansion of religion in the local area reached its extreme, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism merged, religious theories were completely localized, and the economy of temples and monasteries gradually became more powerful and landlord-like, so they put more attention on land management and expansion.
From this perspective, monks and Taoists are basically more like big landlords...the so-called class attributes gradually replaced the religious attributes.
However, unlike ordinary landlords, their religious characteristics make them naturally more capable of gathering money... Come to think of it, who would really exchange all the money they collected for gold to make a golden statue?
It is very conscientious to fill it with copper inside and add a layer of gold powder outside.
There are also the printing of Buddhist scriptures and local commercial company activities, all of which openly collect money from believers. There is no need to mention the 30-70 split of the profits. The key point is when were the accounts made public?
As a result, the cellar was gradually filled with the believers' gold, silver, copper coins, silk and grain. With spare money in hand, greed took over, and they could not help thinking that money could make more money, so they naturally began to lend money at high interest rates.
Monks and Taoists were the most active lenders among the landlord class, and even most temples had professional lending functions, which meant they occupied a considerable proportion of the landlord class's lending business... It can only be said that throughout the ages, from north to south, from China to abroad, whether foreign monks or local Taoists, they were all of the same kind.
Look at the Knights Templar next door, aren’t they also doing well?
This is determined by religious characteristics.
At the same time, as the top landlords, the nobles amassed the most wealth and had the most money, so they would definitely lend money, even in both cities and rural areas.
Needless to say, the merchants are professional, but they often cannot compete with temples, monasteries and landlords in the countryside, so their influence is generally in the market.
In other words, these people who came here inexplicably today finally found a common label among themselves...the usurers of the feudal era!
To put it bluntly, the Qingmiao Law is the imperial court lending money at high interest rates to seize the usury market, except that the interest rate is nominally lower, which seems to be beneficial to people's livelihood!
"Officials!"
Amid the chaos, someone gritted his teeth and broke the silence. It was Chen Gongfu, the Minister of Personnel who had previously supported the killing of these people and had a fierce attitude. "The Qingmiao Law must not be implemented again!"
"Why not?" Chen Kangbo, the Imperial Academy's chief academic officer who had just been on the same side, immediately stepped out to protest. "The Guanzi says that if profits come from one source, the country will prosper. This is exactly the truth! The rich lend money to the poor and reap the profits easily. The government should reap these profits to plan for great things!"
Chen Gongfu shook his head repeatedly: "I agree with the view that the benefits come from one hole, but no matter how good the argument is, it will not prevent the new law from failing because of it."
"The failure of the Qingmiao Law is because while it benefits the people, it harms countless wealthy people like those in the hall today. The wealthy people entangled with the old party and deceived the Emperor." Chen Kangbo continued to argue without hesitation. "In addition, Wang Shu hastily appointed many shameless people to build up the momentum of the new party, and corrupted the new law during implementation, which led to the failure of the Qingmiao Law! Where is the old party now? And with the power of the government, will it be deceived by these villains in the hall? As long as we use the right people, we can succeed!"
"This matter is not that simple." Chen Gongfu still shook his head. "I am a few years older than you. I have personally seen the government forcibly levy levies and force households to borrow money... Doesn't Chen Jijiu believe in the practice of original learning?"
"you……"
"Fahe presides." Just when the argument was about to escalate, Zhao Jiu suddenly spoke up and pointed to someone. "You are the Luohan I appointed, why don't you speak?"
Fahe's face was greasy and sweaty. He stepped out of the line and clasped his hands together before bowing: "Your Majesty, I dare not speak on state affairs without authorization."
"I won't ask you about state affairs, just ask about common things." Zhao Jiu smiled. "Does Shaolin Temple lend money, Qingmiao loan?"
Not to mention that the government was clearly prepared, even if it was just a casual question, there was no way to hide it, so after hesitating for a while, Fahe gritted his teeth and answered honestly: "To let the government know that during the lean period, when seeds and farm tools were needed before spring plowing, Shaolin Temple did lend money to tenants and the people of Dengfeng, both money and grain."
Zhao Jiu nodded: "How much interest?"
"The loan for young crops is not based on months or years, but only on seasons." Fahe could only answer the question in private, but under the light, his bald head was wrinkled and soft. "40% interest."
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