Fang Zhengyi laughed secretly in his heart.
Haha, it turns out that no man can resist such temptation!
"I gave this watch a brand name." Fang Zhengyi did not answer directly.
"What's the name?" Emperor Jing asked curiously.
"Labor, Labor Watch."
"Labor force...what a strange name?" Emperor Jing murmured, seeming a little puzzled.
Fang Zheng pointed at his watch and said happily, "The people and officials in Dajing are all hardworking. They go to work on time, leave the field on time, and work overtime on time. One day in the future, they will all be able to wear this watch, and they will be even more punctual!"
"As long as we stay on time, the lives of the people of Dajing will get better and better, so we named it the Labor Watch."
"Well said, but I think a Rolex is more elegant." Emperor Jing agreed: "But pocket watches are expensive to begin with, and wristwatches are even more expensive now, right?"
Rolex? Is that what you mean?
Fang Zhengyi almost laughed out loud. He really couldn't understand his father-in-law's train of thought.
After quickly compiling his thoughts, Fang Zheng said, "Indeed, the gold watch on your Majesty's hand is priceless. Every part of the watch took countless hours of polishing and design by the best craftsmen."
“But even though watches are exquisite, it is not impossible to put aside manual labor and mass-produce watches.”
"Look at the watch face. The dial, the hands on it, and the internal parts can all be produced quickly."
"How can such delicate things be produced quickly?" asked Emperor Jing.
"In fact, leaving aside the luxurious decorations, just looking at the function of telling time, the biggest cost of a watch now is actually labor. Most parts can be pressed out on an iron plate using a mold and then assembled together. We have a steam engine, which can be modified to mass-produce parts and quickly manufacture watches, thus drastically reducing costs," Fang Zhengyi said.
"Just now I said that all future factories will use steam engines to improve production methods. Now, only a small number of iron smelting and mining factories are using steam engines. Most of them still use outdated production methods, and these very small number of factories are all industries under the control of the big families in the court."
"If it were ordinary wealthy businessmen, such as those who built the factory, I have investigated them. Building the factory has already caused them a lot of trouble. If they want to purchase steam engine equipment later, they will probably go bankrupt before they can start production. You have to know that the cost of each steam engine is already sky-high, not counting the cost of renovation and maintenance."
"This will have two bad consequences. First, the strong will become stronger. They will have the strongest production capacity, which may cause hidden dangers in the future. Second, even the strongest cannot produce all the goods needed by the people. Civilian merchants cannot afford to use steam engine equipment, and the production capacity that Dajing should have cannot be fully utilized."
Emperor Jing frowned deeply: "That's true, but after going through so much trouble, what exactly do you want to say?"
Fang Zhengyi said solemnly, "What I want to say is that the court is in urgent need of helping the wealthy merchants who have established factories, attracting more common people to join the game, and competing with the big families in the market."
"People have infinite wisdom, and there must be many outstanding talents who are trapped in the current situation and unable to develop due to conditions. If we can help them solve the problem of lack of money, it will definitely be of great benefit to the country."
"To this end, I have come up with a solution. That is to open a money house, a new type of money house, perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it a bank."
"Bank? What's the difference between it and a money house?" Emperor Jing was puzzled. "What you are talking about is nothing more than a loan. Money houses can also lend money. Those merchants who are short of money can go to money houses to borrow money. The court can also borrow money. It is unnecessary to set up a bank now."
"No." Fang Zheng said, "Your Majesty, the current money houses are all established by individuals or large families. Each one has different rules. Not only are the interest rates high, but borrowing money is also extremely difficult. Most people cannot borrow money unless they are acquainted with them."
"Not to mention the imperial court, the process is complicated and involves personal relationships and bribery, which makes it difficult to supervise. Some old habits have a bad influence."
"The strength of the money houses themselves is far from enough. The bank we want to establish will use gold and silver as collateral. We will print as many silver bills as we have gold and silver, widely attracting people to save silver, and then lend the silver and money to borrowers on a large scale."
"In addition, in my opinion, this bank should also provide some unique services, such as cooperating with merchants and using their business as a financial product, and the people will pay for it and return a fixed interest to them regularly. For example, it can also provide some insurance services..."
"I heard that some people in the south went to sea to do business and formed a force called the Maritime Merchants Association. Going to sea carries huge risks and costs. The original intention of the Maritime Merchants Association was to raise funds to spread the risks. However, this model does not seem to have appeared near the capital at present. We can fill this gap."
It’s a loan, a financial product, and insurance...
Emperor Jing was a little worried: "This...will this work? If we make a mistake at any step, it will affect the people, and there will be a big chaos in the future, right?"
Fang Zhengyi smiled slightly: "In fact, I already have some experience in doing this. I have already conducted a small-scale experiment in Taoyuan County. The current situation is the right time for a bank to come into being."
"However, large-scale implementation may still cause problems. Therefore, I am not here to advise the court to set up a bank today. Instead, I want Your Majesty to invest in it. Now that the private sector has set up a bank, if the trial is successful, the court will take over."
"I wonder if Your Majesty is willing to take out 10 million taels from the treasury to take up half of the shares? I guarantee that even if we lose, we won't lose too much. If we make a profit, it will be a huge profit! We can make money without doing anything!" Fang Zhengyi said confidently.
Dajing has no formal banking business, and capital is now beginning to develop.
The stock market booster has been successful.
If banks can give it another push, it will undoubtedly accelerate the growth of the private economy again.
Moreover, overseas trade has been proceeding smoothly, and gold and silver transactions will not last long. The demand for foreign exchange will arise sooner or later, which is a capability that money houses do not have.
The development of money houses can no longer meet the needs of the current era. Now is a good time to seize the opportunity.
If it were left to the court to discuss, it would take who knows how many years to accomplish. The fastest way is to get the emperor involved first!
After hearing this, Emperor Jing fell silent.
Ten million taels... It makes my heart ache just thinking about it. Isn't this going to cost me my life?
He had just made some money from the stock market, and he started asking for a huge sum of money. If it was several million taels, he would not hesitate.
"How sure are you?"
......
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