Chapter 327: A New Beginning Cleanses the Realm and Opens a Fortunate Era; Abundant Paths Enrich the People and Celebrate Great Achie

A quarter-hour passed in the blink of an eye, and Zhu Youjian returned to the front of the hall.

Wu Cheng'en, though drenched in sweat, had nevertheless managed to piece together his policy essay in that brief span of time.

"Speak."

From the seat of honor above, Zhu Youjian's calm voice came down.

"Let me see the measure of your talent."

Wu Cheng'en clutched his cuffs tightly, drew a deep breath, and slowly expelled the stale air from his chest.

Not daring to remain seated, he knelt on the ground according to the protocol for an imperial audience and began to open his argument.

"This commoner believes that the realm's remittance silver can be broadly divided into two categories."

"The first is the annual remittance, and the second is the merchant remittance."

"The so-called annual remittance refers to the silver that the three great banks and merchants large and small, after settling their accounts with one another at year's end, must send south to be cleared. This sum is extremely vast and usually departs at the beginning of the eleventh month each year."

"Taking last year as an example, it departed on the ninth day of the eleventh month, with a total amount of four million four hundred thousand taels. Several hundred escort guards were recruited along the route, a grand and spectacular procession." Zhu Youjian nodded, unsurprised.

Everything has a cause.

Had the Eastern Depot not mentioned this matter during its morning news broadcast in the eleventh month,

Zhu Youjian, an outsider, would never have known of this thing called "remittance silver."

But it was precisely because he took note of this matter that Zhu Youjian was able to fit the final piece into the puzzle of his entire fiscal and tax reform.

Wu Cheng'en continued:

"As for the merchant remittance, also called the ordinary remittance, it refers to the silver that merchants send south in scattered amounts during ordinary times, or the goods they ship to the capital. Unlike the annual remittance, the merchant remittance is not shipped in a concentrated manner. Though the total annual value of goods and silver reaches the tens of millions, it is dispersed across the four seasons and thus not particularly conspicuous."

"Calculating the annual and merchant remittances together, the escort fees incurred each year amount to five or six hundred thousand taels, which is not excessive; even a figure of a million taels is possible."

Zhu Youjian's expression remained unchanged.

Logistics costs—or rather, the physical transportation costs of silver and goods combined—accounting for three to five percent of the total value was, in this era, indeed quite normal.

At this point, Wu Cheng'en paused briefly, gathered his courage, and finally put forward his first argument.

"However, this matter of escorting remittance silver…"

"It can be done by civilian escort guards, but the court, at present, absolutely must not do it!"

Receiving no reaction from the Emperor and unable to see the Emperor's expression, the hairs on Wu Cheng'en's back stood on end.

But he could only steel himself and continue.

"If the court steps in and uses official escorts and official transport, it will inevitably breed a host of abuses!"

"At this initial stage of the New Policies, the realm's chronic ills are not yet healed, and corruption still runs rampant."

"If we forcibly take over such a lucrative assignment, the official escorts will be arrogant and will inevitably harass the localities along the route. Moreover, with so many transport laborers along the way, they will be even harder to control. At the very start, the court might earn some official transport fees and remittance premiums."

"But as time goes on, when the merchants see layer upon layer of official extortion, they will surely grow resentful."

"When that time comes, the merchants would rather break up their shipments and scatter them in all directions than ever again go through official channels."

At this, Wu Cheng'en knocked his head heavily on the ground.

"Therefore, if we consider solely the utility of escorting remittance silver, the government's involvement would instead suffer the drawbacks of official corruption and the extortion of traveling merchants."

"Thus, this matter can be done by the people, but the court cannot do it for now!"

On the dragon throne, Zhu Youjian leaned forward slightly and straightened his posture.

Inwardly, he could not help but think more highly of this Wu Cheng'en.

This insight was already far better than that of the officials in the Ministry of Revenue.

In the eleventh month, when he first threw out the topic of "remittance silver,"

the first reaction of those in the Ministry of Revenue was to seize this lucrative escort assignment for themselves.

The Ministry of Revenue's calculations were very shrewd.

The Great Ming already had the Relay Transport Offices established for transporting tribute grain, silver, and various in-kind taxes.

Post stations, waterways, transport laborers, and tribute grain laborers were all readily available, and the personnel could be fully reused—wasn't this a ready-made business?

But this was entirely typical officialdom-centered thinking.

They never considered the problem from the perspective of the actual market landscape.

What was the state of tribute grain transport like? Riddled with abuses and with staggering losses.

For every dan of white grain shipped from Jiangnan to the capital, the actual cost, after being whittled away layer by layer and subjected to extortion at every step along the route, was two or even three times the original amount. Even if the wastage rate for transporting silver was lower than for grain, how could the government's transport costs possibly compare to those of civilian escort guards who risked their lives for money and calculated every penny?

Merchants are extremely shrewd; who would be willing to bear such heavy losses from the government? And who would dare trust these officials, who are now as greedy as ravenous wolves? So at this early stage of the New Policies,

the transport industry absolutely cannot be run by the government; it must first proceed as a private enterprise.

For this reason, the Ministry of Revenue's proposal for "official escort services" was mercilessly rejected by Zhu Youjian the very first time it was submitted.

Below, Wu Cheng'en's voice rang out again.

"Your Majesty, although this commoner says that escorting remittance silver cannot be done, there is another matter that, by leveraging this, can most certainly be done!"

"That is the matter of remittance notes!"

"This method of remittance notes, in this commoner's humble opinion, can be divided into loan notes and exchange notes."

"The so-called loan note is a certificate of borrowing. For example, if one borrows twenty taels of silver, one need only specify on the face of the note the agreed-upon weight standard, the fineness, and the deadline for repayment…"

"Wait."

Zhu Youjian suddenly interrupted him, raising an eyebrow slightly. "What is a weight standard?"

Wu Cheng'en was taken aback and hurriedly explained with deference.

"In reply to Your Majesty, the weight standard refers to the different balance weights used by merchants in various regions."

"The scales under Heaven are not all of the same weight."

"For instance, the capital has the 'Capital Market Standard,' Hankou has the 'Hankou Valuation Standard,' and so on."

"Merchant houses in different places also have their own customary weight standards."

Zhu Youjian nodded in sudden understanding, thinking to himself — yet another piece of new knowledge acquired.

He was, after all, a modern transmigrator, and his predecessor had been confined deep within the palace walls his whole life. He genuinely had blind spots when it came to such deeply grassroots, plebeian commercial minutiae. The tax silver collected by government offices was all official silver, already stripped of meltage fees and refined to full weight and purity. In the routine flow of official correspondence, who would ever mention parity standards or fineness? So this kind of "parity" jargon, steeped in the thick atmosphere of private finance, had basically never appeared before him.

"Continue," Zhu Youjian said, raising a hand.

Wu Cheng'en had finally gotten a response. Though it was only a question about terminology, his spirits lifted at once.

He went on:

"The matter of loan notes needs no further elaboration. What this commoner wishes to propose, however, is the draft note!"

"At present, when people transport goods and funds to the capital — because the roads are difficult and carrying ready silver is dangerous — they deposit their silver for safekeeping with wealthy merchant houses in the capital, and have a remittance note drawn up back in their home locality."

"On it are clearly written the parity standard and the fineness, and a discount fee is also agreed upon."

At this point Wu Cheng'en hurriedly added:

"This so-called discount fee is simply the charge for cashing the draft note. By general convention, for every thousand taels of silver, the discount fee is thirty taels."

"Then, upon reaching the capital, one simply presents the note to collect the sum. This method is, in truth, a surviving vestige of the 'flying money' of the former Tang dynasty."

As he spoke, Wu Cheng'en's voice gradually rose in fervor.

"This commoner believes that, compared to the actual physical escort of standard silver shipments, this is far easier for the court to obtain!"

"Take, for example, the annual standard shipment that sets out in the eleventh month — it routinely involves three to four million taels of silver being transported from north to south."

"Yet if one waits just two more months, the autumn tax, salt revenues, horse-fodder levies, and all the other silver items from the south are, as it happens, also due to be transported from south to north into the capital! These various tax monies moving from south to north amount to at least two million taels!"

At this, Wu Cheng'en finally unveiled his ultimate proposal.

"If the court were to establish government-run silver bureaus in both capitals, permitting reciprocal remittance between north and south —"

"— then the silver in the north would no longer need to be transported southward with great fanfare and mobilization, and the tax silver in the south would no longer need to be shipped northward at the cost of toiling the people and draining the treasury! Offset against each other across the distance, cleared and disbursed!"

"Merchants in the south, by opening a remittance note, could directly draw their silver in the south."

"Government offices in the north, by using remittance notes for disbursement, could obtain all their due tax revenues right here in the capital."

"In this way, the enormous escort costs and discount-fee differentials thus saved could naturally be channeled in full into the state treasury!"

Growing more and more excited, speaking as thoughts came to him, he added:

"If the method of the telegraph could be released for civilian use… then clearing and settling silver between north and south could be done in a single day, making it even more efficient."

"The government could also levy an additional fee on top of this telegraph service — yet another supplement to the state."

As he spoke, he suddenly felt he was straying off topic.

This telegraph business was a wild fancy that had occurred to him as a merchant observing these matters, and it was somewhat irrelevant to the theme of "standard silver." So Wu Cheng'en abruptly shifted tack and hastily steered himself back:

"In this way, the government, without actually performing the armed escort, would reap the profits of the armed escort for nothing!"

"Compared to the government personally entering the arena to transport silver, this measure does not disturb the people and does not compete with them for profit."

"The court need only establish two core silver bureaus, with a staff of no more than a few dozen."

"Compared to supervising and managing thousands upon thousands of transport laborers, the difference in difficulty is manifestly obvious."

"Thus the government gains its profit, the people gain their convenience, and the state treasury gains a new tax — truly a fine policy that achieves three objectives in a single stroke!"

As he spoke these final words, Wu Cheng'en prostrated himself on the ground, awaiting judgment from the supreme wielder of power.

To have come up with this entry point in a mere fifteen minutes was truly the crowning achievement of his lifetime of commercial experience.

He was confident that this policy discourse, if carefully designed in detail, polished in its prose, and supplemented with concrete figures, would not be unworthy of even a five-circle official document rating!

On the throne, Zhu Youjian narrowed his eyes and looked at the man before him.

Rather interesting.

As expected of the number-one white glove who had once served under Wei Zhongxian — he did indeed possess some genuine ability.

The question of standard silver was, at its core, about discerning the interest-rate spread within the circulation of silver.

One who could only see the armed escort of standard silver and go after that low-value, hard-labor profit was a dull-witted fool.

One who could see cross-regional remittance, using government-civilian offsetting to run this exclusive "draft note" business — that was already a quite outstanding proposal. Moreover, this scheme of hedging the tax silver and merchant silver between north and south was not even something Zhu Youjian had initially envisioned.

He, too, was merely an ordinary man who had never yet set foot outside the palace.

A scheme so unconventional was probably not something that could be thought up on the spot, unless one were a merchant who, over years of accumulated experience, had been deeply burdened by the transport of standard silver. It was just that Zhu Youjian's own vision, though it did not include this method of government-civilian offsetting, was far grander and more systematic.

Zhu Youjian pondered for a moment, then reached his decision.

"This proposal of yours is truly quite good — leveraging the world from a point of fine detail, disturbing no one, and with very small implementation costs. It is genuinely an excellent method." Zhu Youjian leaned back against his chair, his voice carrying a distinct note of amusement.

"You have passed this trial of mine." Hearing these words, Wu Cheng'en, sprawled on the floor, let out a great sigh of relief.

Passed? Then, according to what His Majesty had said earlier, he was to be made an official?

What official post? The Ministry of Revenue? The Secretariat?

Before Wu Cheng'en could let his imagination run wild about the future, Zhu Youjian turned his head toward Gao Shiming, who stood in attendance at the side.

"Give him a brief account of the silver-law plan that the new policies are to roll out in the third month."

Gao Shiming nodded, took two steps forward, and looked at Wu Cheng'en on the ground, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.

"Wu Cheng'en, listen carefully."

"In the third month of this year, the court will hold an auction for 'government-chartered bank licenses.'"

"The reserve price for such a license is set at five hundred thousand taels of silver."

"The first license will be auctioned in the third month. Thereafter, they will be auctioned gradually, one per month, until the end of this year — fourteen licenses in total."

Wu Cheng'en was momentarily taken aback. He raised his head, somewhat puzzled. "Eunuch Gao, may I ask… a bank? And not a silver bureau?"

"Correct. A bank."

Gao Shiming nodded. "What is called a bank — you may regard it as a fusion of the local silver counters and the draft-note merchant associations."

"What are called silver counters are establishments that handle the exchange of copper cash and silver according to fineness."

"What are called draft notes are the internal remittance instruments circulated among the various merchant associations."

"But silver counters are established only locally."

"And the bills of exchange that do exist can only be redeemed within a closed circle."

"Take the bills used by you Huizhou merchants, for instance — they are guaranteed among relatives, friends, and in-laws, and can only be redeemed at a limited number of places: the capital, Linqing, the Southern Metropolitan Region, and a few others."

"If someone brought a bill from the Shanxi firm 'Herisheng' to the Southern Metropolitan Region for redemption, you Huizhou men would absolutely refuse to honor it."

"A bank, however, is different."

"The bills of exchange issued by these fourteen banks, all of which hold an official charter from the court, will be mutually honored for redemption among one another."

"Moreover, branches will be opened simultaneously in every major city — Linqing, Datong, Zhangjiakou, Ningyuan, Shanhai Pass, Luoyang, Quanzhou, and so on." "In the future, the bills of the government-chartered banks will circulate freely from north to south — redeemable on sight!"

Just a few short sentences, yet they struck Wu Cheng'en dumb where he stood.

Mutual redemption!!!

It was actually mutual redemption!!

Wu Cheng'en, who had rolled through the sea of commerce for over a decade, understood all too well what those two simple words truly meant.

If bills of exchange could be redeemed everywhere, it meant the circulation range of this instrument would expand explosively.

It would transform from a "loan voucher" confined to one family, one clan, one native-place circle, into a far broader "credit instrument"! The scale and market contained within this would be tenfold, a hundredfold greater than the private bills now limited to kinsmen and old acquaintances! Before he could recover from this enormous shock, he heard Gao Shiming continue:

"That is not all."

"His Majesty has already decreed that all tax silver collected this year in the Northern Metropolitan Region shall be retained locally and used for production and development under the new policies." "Whether for initiating farmland and water conservancy projects, purchasing looms, or buying up hides and furs."

"In all the silver transactions, material procurements, and project auctions involved, the court will give priority to merchants who use 'government-chartered bank drafts.'"

"And the same rule will apply to the cross-border trade at the various frontier garrisons in Liaodong and the capital region, only it will begin somewhat later — perhaps not until the seventh month." Wu Cheng'en was utterly stunned into silence.

He knelt there in a daze, his mind buzzing.

In the circulation of money and goods between north and south, one crucial terminal was the enormous consumption of the capital in the Northern Metropolitan Region; the other terminal was the vast cross-border trade along the Nine Frontiers.

The court was, in effect, directly deploying the highest-level state policy, using the most direct administrative intervention, to support the launch of these fourteen government-chartered banks.

Once this policy landed, the encroachment and suppression of the unchartered private merchant associations and underground money shops by the licensed banks was destined to be devastating and immediate — like splitting dry bamboo!

But Gao Shiming had not finished; he went on:

"The Ministry of Justice is also already deliberating new statutes."

"In the future, the matter of bills of exchange will be governed by a separate law of the Great Ming, granted absolute protection under the legal code."

"Anyone who dares to counterfeit a bill of a government-chartered bank shall be treated as guilty of counterfeiting Great Ming treasure notes — punished by extermination of their three clans!"

"The various detailed regulations concerning bills of exchange will also be coordinated across the Six Ministries, the Chief Surveillance Bureau, and all other government offices, and enforced uniformly."

"But bills of exchange that are not from government-chartered banks… will fall outside the protection of Great Ming law."

Gao Shiming paused, then delivered the final blow.

"By the seventh month, if the mutual redemption of bills has been advanced with some success…"

"It will also be permissible for merchants to pay the local tax silver of the Northern Metropolitan Region directly with bills of exchange."

"As for tax payments in other regions, that will have to wait until the second phase of the new policies is rolled out."

Bombarded by one staggering piece of news after another, Wu Cheng'en felt his scalp prickle and was left utterly speechless.

Legal protection, policy preference, chartered licenses, retention of Northern Metropolitan tax silver, absolute priority in cross-border procurement…

All of these, taken together, encompassed virtually every aspect of the circulation of money and goods between north and south.

Such methods, capable of overturning clouds and summoning rain — such a vision, encompassing the entire realm — compared to the "Silver Bureaus in the Two Capitals" he had racked his brains to propose just moments ago, the difference was not merely a thousand miles!

But amidst this succession of shocks, Wu Cheng'en's acute instincts as a top-tier merchant suddenly flashed a supremely dangerous insight through his mind.

Before he had fully thought through its implications, muscle instinct made him blurt out a highly impertinent question. "Then… what of next year? Could it be that notes are to be issued?"

The moment the question left his mouth, cold sweat instantly broke out all over his body, and he wished he could slap himself. These fourteen banks were absorbing the wealth of the entire realm — if the court ultimately repeated the drama of the old Great Ming treasure notes, madly printing worthless paper to forcibly exchange for real gold and silver…

Then these fourteen banks, which now seemed so splendid, would in the blink of an eye become poison drunk to quench thirst, dragging the merchants of the entire realm down to be buried with them! Yet Zhu Youjian on the dragon throne did not grow angry.

Instead, he looked at Wu Cheng'en with a beaming smile.

"Rest assured. We know what you fear."

"The lesson of the Great Ming treasure notes stands right before Us — We are not so muddled as to repeat it."

Zhu Youjian leaned forward slightly, his tone turning a degree more solemn.

"If We are to issue notes, they will be genuine notes — not the sort of counterfeit paper that is only fit for wiping one's backside, as it is now."

"If a note system is to circulate throughout the realm, its fundamental principle must be a single word: 'trust'!"

"It must be that with a hundred-tael paper note, one can go to any of these fourteen banks and exchange it, full weight in gold and silver, for a hundred taels of ready silver!" He paused, then shook his head with a rueful laugh.

"The common people may be simple, but who would truly be so foolish as to trade real gold and silver for a piece of waste paper in the court's hands?"

Wu Cheng'en let out a long breath of relief, his taut nerves finally relaxing.

If any other emperor had said this, he would have dismissed it as mere farting.

But this particular emperor, for the time being, still possessed a measure of credibility.

That credibility lay not only in the matter of "the court's trustworthiness," but even more in the impression that "this emperor truly does not seem like a fool." That the emperor possessed such clear understanding was naturally a tremendous blessing.

Otherwise, these fourteen government-chartered banks, for all their appearance of flowers pinned on brocade and oil poured on a roaring fire, would in truth be nothing but castles in the air, collapsing at the first gust of wind. "Well then, Wu Cheng'en."

Zhu Youjian patted the desk and drew the conversation back.

"We have seen your talent, and We have seen the sincerity of your six hundred seventy thousand taels."

"Now, We give you one last chance to choose."

As he spoke, Zhu Youjian picked up an elegant slip of paper from the broad imperial desk and gestured for Gao Shiming to deliver it.

Wu Cheng'en received it with trembling hands.

On that stiff paper slip, a single upright character was written in cinnabar: "Cheng."

Gao Shiming smiled and explained from the side:

"This is the rule His Majesty established, modeled on the precedent of the hereditary salt merchants under the Lianghuai salt laws."

"Following the line 'Qi xin cheng bang kai tai yun, yu dao fu min qing feng gong,' fourteen shop-characters have been set in total."

"Each charter character represents a licensed quota for one official bank."

"At present, the Duke of Ying's household has already taken the 'Qi' charter, and the Duke of Ding's household has taken the 'Xin' charter."

"That 'Cheng' charter you hold in your hand was originally meant to be auctioned in the third month — the third charter."

Wu Cheng'en suddenly felt the light little slip in his hand weigh a thousand jun.

This thing... once one understood the full scheme, it was probably a priceless treasure that millions of taels of silver could not buy!

And if one waited until next year, or even the year after, as the remittance network spread, this license would likely inflate to three million, even five million taels!

Zhu Youjian looked at him and smiled faintly.

"This is your first choice."

"Take this 'Cheng' charter, go run an official bank, and henceforth be the richest man in the land, prospering alongside the dynasty."

"If you choose this, We will first repay the seven hundred eighty thousand taels We owe you, then add another three hundred thousand taels as equity, and establish with you a bank of one million taels, in which We shall hold a thirty-percent share."

Zhu Youjian's voice was unhurried and even.

"As for the second choice..."

"It is to return this bank charter and join Our New Governance policy group, assisting the court in comprehensively planning all matters pertaining to connecting the realm through remittance. Of course, those seven hundred eighty thousand taels — We will still repay you. That has nothing to do with which choice you make."

Having finished speaking, Zhu Youjian said no more, merely gazing quietly at Wu Cheng'en on the floor, awaiting his choice.

This was not a test, but simply a purely mutual choice.

The Yongchang Emperor respected every person's thoughts, and respected every person's desires.

But by the same token, He would also decide, based on each person's desires and choices, who was qualified to ride with Him on this New Governance war chariot that was about to crush the old era.

The great hall sank once more into deathly silence.

Wu Cheng'en stared at the 'Cheng' charter in his hand, his eyes struggling fiercely.

But he hesitated only a brief instant before making his decision.

He placed that slip of paper — worth millions, even tens of millions of taels of silver — gently onto the floor tiles.

Then he lowered his body and pressed his head deeply down.

"This commoner has spent half a life in trade, chasing profit, and thought the stench of copper had seeped into his very marrow."

Wu Cheng'en's voice trembled slightly — the lingering ache of having just cut away his own flesh.

"Yet today, having heard Your sacred words, I finally understand the vastness of heaven and earth, and the true meaning of ordering the world and relieving the people."

He knocked his head heavily against the floor, producing a dull thud, utterly declaring his parting from mountains of gold and seas of silver.

"Your subject does not wish to be a wealth-guarding hound."

"Your subject wishes to enter the policy group, to hold the bridle and stirrups for Your Majesty."

"Even if my bones are ground to dust, I wish to aid Your Majesty, aid the Great Ming... in laying down this great policy of connecting the realm through remittance!"