Chapter 756: Finance

"Hmm, that is indeed a good idea." Wolf looked toward the northeast of the Great Song and nodded slowly.

As a naval Lieutenant, he had no authority to decide Britain's diplomacy.

But in his heart, he believed they should make contact with the Ross people to jointly deal with the threat from the Great Song.

Because the rise of this Yan Wang would not only jeopardize their interests in Dongtu.

There was also a very important point: this was a non-Xitu Guo.

A country of yellow monkeys that they despised.

How could they tolerate such a country being placed above them?

It was as unbearable as having colonial natives sit with them to drink coffee.

Therefore, before the decision of the British Parliament arrived.

He supported Dongying doing so first, so as not to miss the opportunity.

"Good, it is settled." Wolf's support made Watanabe feel encouraged.

Thinking that Yan Wang had won the war against Gaoli and might next take action against Dongying, he thought of a way to divert the disaster and said to Wolf: "Yan Wang has won a great victory this time and will inevitably be full of pride; I fear it will be disadvantageous to our Dongying, which will then affect the cooperation between Dongying and you."

Wolf nodded; it was precisely because of this worry that he decided to have the fleet stationed in Edo.

Watanabe continued: "Therefore, I believe we should continue to incite war between the Great Song power clans and Yan Wang."

"Liang Kai is also an extremely shrewd person; I fear he will not agree, especially since we failed in Gaoli and he lost so many warships." Wolf frowned.

Between Wu and Dongying, he relied more on Dongying.

As island nations, Dongying and Britain had many similarities.

Compared to the Great Song power clans, Dongying was even less willing to see Yan Wang rise, and therefore more trustworthy.

It was not impossible to sacrifice the interests of Wu to protect Dongying.

After all, even with full cooperation with Dongying, it would take a year or a year and a half to transport Steam Engines and personnel to Dongying.

During this time, anything could happen, so it was still necessary to let the Great Song power clans make some noise to attract Yan Wang's attention.

"Liang Kai is merely a petty man who forgets righteousness at the sight of profit; as long as the benefits given to him are great enough, he will dare to do anything." Wolf did not object, and Watanabe continued to stir the fire: "In these years, we in Dongying have had many dealings with the Liang Family, and I know him very well."

Pacing back and forth, Wolf pondered for a while and nodded: "In that case, let us tempt him with the same conditions as those given to you in Dongying."

"Right, we really thought of the same thing." Watanabe laughed.

In this Gaoli war, they in Dongying sacrificed the most and deservedly should receive support from the British and the Sam Country.

In normal warfare, Wu was practically dispensable, and it was unfair for them to also receive support from Britain and the Sam Country.

They must be made to pay some more price to be satisfactory.

"I will send someone to Wu to discuss this matter." Wolf clenched his fist: "It is just that relying solely on these Great Song power clans, I fear it will be difficult to deal with the Yan King Army.

We should also suggest they cough up some Silver to hire some Mercenaries."

Dongtu was currently the last region being opened up by the countries of the Xitu Dalu.

Therefore, a large number of Mercenaries were active in the colonies of the East Land Southern Region.

They were all desperadoes or veterans retired from the military.

After arriving in Dongtu, they recruited natives to join their ranks.

As long as they were paid, they were willing to do anything.

Having settled this matter, the next day, a British Steamship headed from Edo toward Lincheng.

This Steamship did not tow any Sailing Warship.

In this way, it could maintain maximum speed, and even if discovered by Yan Wang's Warship, it could leave them far behind.

Therefore, Wolf was not at all worried about the safety of the Steamship.

At the same time, another Steamship carrying Dongying envoys headed toward the North Territory.

Yancheng.

While Dongying and Britain were making frequent small moves, here was a scene of bustle.

The Four Great Banks opened on the same day.

In front of the doors, large red firecrackers popped and crackled, and the cyan smoke and thick smell of Gunpowder made people unable to open their eyes and cough incessantly.

Even so, the commoners and merchants who came to deposit Silver and wanted to borrow Silver did not retreat an inch.

There were even bold children who rushed over as soon as the firecrackers finished exploding to pick up the duds, their faces full of joy.

"It is truly lively; Your Highness, I fear half of Yancheng has come." Liu Fu held a tray, standing to the right of Zhao Xu, inside were broken Silver, peanuts, and red dates.

"Indeed, who doesn't want to get a bit of luck today." Yang He stood to the right of Zhao Xu.

During this time, his firm had officially been upgraded to the Commerce Department, responsible for the industrial and commercial development of the entire Great Song, so naturally, it could not do without the support of the Four Great Banks.

Therefore, when the Four Great Banks opened, he also came tagging along.

"Hahaha... These Four Great Banks are the beginning of my Great Song's finance; the more people who come to get a bit of luck, the more prosperous it will be." Zhao Xu said auspicious words while laughing.

After speaking, he grabbed a handful from the tray in his hand and scattered it toward the crowd.

"Oh..." Seeing Zhao Xu scatter the lucky items, the commoners became excited and laughed as they scrambled for them.

They were not lacking these things; after several years of development, the lives of the people of Yanzhou were becoming more and more prosperous.

Coming today was just to join in the fun.

Seeing this, Liu Fu and Yang He also scattered the lucky items in their hands, and the area in front of the Four Great Banks became even more boisterous.

After scattering the items and waiting for the commoners to finish picking them up, Zhao Xu said loudly to the gathered commoners: "Everyone, feel free to deposit your Silver into the Four Great Banks with peace of mind; this King guarantees to you that your Silver will absolutely not be a penny less, only more."

After a pause, he added: "As for those who want to build a Workshop or run a business but have no Silver, you can also boldly borrow Silver; the Four Great Banks will never demand high interest from you, but once you make a fortune, you must not fail to pay it back..."

After he finished speaking, the crowd laughed.

Having Yan Wang's personal guarantee, they felt as if they had taken a reassurance pill.

Zhao Xu then stepped aside and made a gesture of invitation.

The commoners immediately surged into the Four Great Banks, packing the main hall so tightly that not even water could pass through.

Many people held up Silver in their hands, demanding to deposit it into the bank.

"This bank collects the wealth of the world and then uses it in critical places; it truly benefits the country and the people," Yang He remarked with emotion as he saw the lively scene inside the bank's main hall.

Zhao Xu nodded.

In this era, commoners liked to hide their surplus Silver at home, keeping their wealth out of sight.

But because of this, the Silver circulating in the market became less and less, turning into dead money.

Letting the commoners deposit Silver into the bank was equivalent to the Imperial Court borrowing from the commoners, taking the Silver to invest in industry, commerce, and infrastructure, and then returning the principal and interest to the commoners using the profits earned.

At the same time, with the support of a large amount of Silver, industry and commerce would become more active.

Moreover, although the Prince's Mansion had saved up some Silver through trade and taxes over these past few years.

These amounts of Silver were ultimately a drop in the bucket when invested in infrastructure and the construction of the Workshop, and in any case, it was not as good as gathering the wealth of the world in the bank.