Chapter 439 vs. Chapter 440: A new emperor and his ministers (National Day extra update)

It turned out that this middle-aged man was from Jizhou. His purpose of coming to Chongshan Pass was to do glass business. The merchant he cooperated with was none other than the Luo family.

In order to take care of the business of Chongshan Bank, Luo Shang had already ordered that from today onwards, all the large-amount business of the Luo family in Chongshan Pass would only accept the silver bills of Chongshan Bank, not even gold or silver. Only the silver bills of Chongshan Bank would be accepted.

If the middle-aged man wanted to buy glass products from the Luo family, he could only buy them with silver bills. If he took silver, the shopkeeper and the clerk of the Luo family shop would not accept it.

In this regard, the middle-aged man complained to the shopkeeper of the bank. The shopkeeper pointed to the counter not far away where a long line had formed and said, "Look over there, sir. Those are all here to exchange for silver bills. Haha, not only the Luo family, but also the famous and wealthy merchants in Chongshan Pass have chosen our silver bills!"

"Especially the glass business, all of them need silver bills to settle, because the glass business originally belongs to the General's Mansion!"

The middle-aged man showed a look of sudden realization. Yes, the glass business originally belongs to the General's Mansion. The General's Mansion said that the silver bills of Chongshan Bank should be used to settle the payment. Then all the merchants who come to Chongshan Pass to buy glass products must use the silver bills of Chongshan Bank.

"I still have some silver bills of Datong Bank here. Can I exchange them all for the silver bills of your bank!"

Thinking through the links, the middle-aged man directly exchanged all the silver bills of Datong Bank on his body for the silver bills of Chongshan Bank.

He was not the only one who did this. Many merchants who came to Chongshan Pass to do business almost exchanged some silver bills of Chongshan Bank.

In fact, the silver notes of Datong Bank are also circulated in Chongshan Pass, but there is no branch of Datong Bank in Chongshan Pass. If you want to exchange them for silver, you can only go to Jing'an Prefecture or Qinghua Prefecture.

Now Chongshan Bank and Datong Bank are mutually reciprocated, and the General's Mansion requires that the glass business can only use the silver notes of Chongshan Bank for settlement, which caused Chongshan Bank to be crowded with merchants on the first day of its opening.

It was not until the evening that the merchants gathered in Chongshan Bank dispersed, and Yang Zhengshan waited in the General's Mansion until Li Hai delivered the bank's account book for today.

"My Lord, this is the account book of the bank today!"

In the study, Li Hai placed a thick account book in front of Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Zhengshan took the account book and asked, "How much cash did you receive today?"

"Today, a total of 680,000 taels of silver were received, of which 600,000 taels were silver notes exchanged by the six major agents at the bank. They all exchanged 100,000 taels of silver notes as agreed!" Li Hai said.

Yang Zhengshan smiled, "It's not what they agreed on, it's what I asked them to do."

Li Hai showed a look of realization, "So that's it."

Yang Zhengshan opened the account book and checked it carefully.

Except for the 600,000 taels of silver from the six major agents, the cash received by Chongshan Money House today was only more than 80,000 taels, of which only 30,000 taels were deposits, and the rest were all exchanged for silver bills.

In addition to the cash, Chongshan Money House also received nearly 160,000 taels of silver bills from Datong Money House today.

That is to say, Chongshan Money House received 840,000 taels today!

It looks like a lot, but in fact most of it is due to Yang Zhengshan's secret operation.

The normal business of the money house is actually only about 50,000 taels, including 30,000 taels of deposits and about 20,000 taels of silver bills exchange.

As for the rest, they are all brought by the glass business.

In the future, the glass business will still be the most powerful support for the silver bill business of the money house, but it will definitely not be as popular as it is today.

On the contrary, the deposit business and fragmentary silver bill business of the money house may continue to increase.

As Yang Zhengshan expected, in the following days, the daily silver bill exchange business of the bank continued to decline. On the second day, the silver bill exchange was less than 200,000 taels, including the exchange of silver bills from Datong Bank for silver bills from Chongshan Bank.

On the third day, it was only 180,000, and on the fourth day, it was only 150,000, and finally stabilized at around 100,000.

At the same time, the bank's deposit business continued to increase. It fell to 20,000 taels on the second day, but reached 30,000 taels on the third day. After that, it continued to increase by nearly 5,000 taels every day until ten days later, when the daily deposit amount reached its peak, with 80,000 taels of deposits a day.

Then the daily deposit amount began to decline, and finally stabilized at around 10,000 taels of silver per day after a month.

The reason for this change is that in the early stage, the soldiers in the city deposited money in the bank.

Chongshan Town belongs to a special military economy. Most of the commercial activities are carried out around the army, and even the bank is no exception.

Simply put, the soldiers of the five battalions of Zhenbiao are the middle class of Chongshan Pass. Their salaries far exceed those of ordinary farmers and military households, and the money they have is also incomparable to that of ordinary farmers and military households.

Therefore, the soldiers of the five battalions of Zhenbiao became one of the main customers of the money house.

In addition to the soldiers, the other customers of the money house are mainly merchants. As for ordinary military households and farmers, there are few surplus money to deposit in the money house.

In just one month, Chongshan Money House absorbed more than three million silver and money. Although Yang Zhengshan could not requisition all of this silver and money, it was no problem for him to borrow half of it.

He has made regulations for the General's Mansion to borrow silver and money from Chongshan Money House. First, the amount of silver and money borrowed cannot exceed 60% of the silver in the silver vault of the money house. Secondly, the General's Mansion needs to pay interest for borrowing silver and money from the money house, which is 5% per year, two points higher than the interest rate of deposits in the money house.

Finally, except for the General's Mansion, no government office is allowed to borrow silver and money from Chongshan Money House.

In the final analysis, Yang Zhengshan regarded the bank as a place to borrow money. Whether it was to absorb deposits or exchange silver bills, everything the bank did was to serve the General's Office.

The reason why the General's Office had to pay interest to the bank was to prevent the bank from running out of money. After all, Chongshan Bank had no place to make a profit, but had to pay interest to depositors.

In addition to the bank in Chongshan Pass, branches of Chongshan Bank were opened in various states and counties in Chongshan Town over the past month.

However, compared with the bank in Chongshan Pass, the silver money received by these branches was much less.

The branches in several states were better. At the beginning of their opening, they could still receive tens of thousands of taels of silver per day, and eventually stabilized at around four or five thousand taels per day.

The daily turnover of branches in county towns was even less than one thousand taels.

This was also normal. There were still many officials and merchants in the state capital to support the business of the bank, but there were only some small merchants and landlords left in the county town, so it was normal to have less silver money received.

With Chongshan Bank on the right track, the cash in the General's Mansion has become abundant. Although it is still far from the 10 million taels of silver that Yang Zhengshan needs, at least the General's Mansion will not lack silver in the short term.

Large sums of silver and money were transported from all over Chongshan Town to Chongshan Pass, and a large amount of grain was also transported from all over the place to the granary of the General's Mansion.

Seeing that more and more grain was transported, the General's Mansion had to urgently build dozens of large granaries.

It was the end of March, the weather had begun to warm up, and spring plowing was about to begin. The whole Chongshan Town kicked off a major construction.

Yang Zhengshan began to be busy again.

Preparations for the upcoming drought cannot be delayed, but the development of Chongshan Town cannot be delayed either.

The glass workshop is still recruiting apprentices, the town's fifth battalion is still recruiting and training soldiers, and the reinforcement battalions in various places are also recruiting and training soldiers.

At the same time, the construction of Heiyun City and the repair of official roads were also put on the agenda, and the various generals' shogunate were recruiting young and strong men.

As the weather warmed up, merchant ships finally appeared on Yinghe River.

A large number of cargo ships loaded with grain were docked at the dock north of Chongshan Pass, a large number of young and strong civilians were loading and unloading goods at the dock, and a large number of carriages and horses were traveling back and forth between Chongshan Pass and the dock.

Busy figures can be seen everywhere in Chongshan Town, as if a switch was pressed, which started Chongshan Town, which was originally stagnant due to the cold.

While Chongshan Town was vigorously developing, the situation in the court of Kyoto entered a stage that was difficult to understand.

April 8th.

The Yang family was preparing for Yang Chengye's marriage, but Yang Zhengshan received a letter from his own Kyoto.

The letter was sent by Wu Zheng and was about the changes in the court.

The letter mentioned that on April 2nd, Li Siyuan, the chief minister of the cabinet, petitioned for his remains, but Emperor Yanping did not allow it. On April 4th, Li Siyuan petitioned for his remains again, but Emperor Yanping rejected it again.

In the main courtyard of the Marquis's Mansion, Yang Zhengshan looked at the contents of the letter with a solemn expression.

Li Siyuan is going to resign!

This is definitely a big deal for the court.

Li Siyuan has been an official for more than 40 years, has been in the cabinet for more than 20 years, and has served as the chief minister for 13 years.

During the reign of Emperor Chengping, Li Siyuan was trusted by Emperor Chengping, who almost entrusted state affairs to Li Siyuan, and Li Siyuan did not disappoint Emperor Chengping.

Li Siyuan's students and old friends are all over the officialdom, but he has never formed a party, never engaged in private interests, and has countless students, but he has no power in the court, nor is he famous among the people.

In terms of integrity, he is not as good as Liu Yuanfu, and in terms of literary reputation, he is not outstanding.

It is such an old minister who has made the court of Darong peaceful for more than ten years. Except for the dispute between the princes, there has been no major turmoil.

In Yang Zhengshan's view, Li Siyuan is definitely a capable minister who knows the general situation, takes the overall situation into consideration, mediates between the emperor and the civil officials, and coordinates state affairs. Although he has no outstanding achievements, he has the ability to support the country.

And now that Emperor Yanping has just ascended the throne for more than half a year, Li Siyuan is actually going to resign!

Is there something wrong with Li Siyuan's health, or is Emperor Yanping unable to tolerate Li Siyuan?

Yang Zhengshan put down the letter in his hand and lowered his eyes slightly.

There should be no problem with Li Siyuan's health, because Li Siyuan petitioned for his death in the morning court.

In other words, Emperor Yanping cannot tolerate Li Siyuan.

Yes!

Although Li Siyuan is not a powerful minister, he has been in charge of the cabinet for more than ten years and can be said to be the best minister in the court today.

Emperor Chengping can suppress Li Siyuan, but Emperor Yanping cannot. If Emperor Yanping wants to consolidate power, then Li Siyuan will undoubtedly become his stumbling block.

If Emperor Yanping wants to control the power of the court, he must remove the mountain of Li Siyuan.

Perhaps Li Siyuan also saw through the court situation and took the initiative to resign.

But the question is, if Li Siyuan resigns, who will preside over the state affairs of the court?

Once a drought breaks out in Liaoyuan and Pingyuan provinces, can Emperor Yanping and the new Prime Minister stabilize the situation and provide timely disaster relief?

Yang Zhengshan still hopes that Li Siyuan can preside over the government. With Li Siyuan, at least the court can come up with a response plan in time when a drought breaks out.

Once Li Siyuan leaves the court, who knows what the court will look like next.

It's a pity that he can't intervene in such matters. He can't tell Emperor Yanping that the court can't do without Li Siyuan.

If he really said that, Emperor Yanping would probably be more eager to drive Li Siyuan out of the court, and he would also dismiss Yang Zhengshan.

As for the drought report, Zhang Mingzhong has reminded him that this kind of thing can't be said casually. Saying it will only cause trouble for yourself and will not help at all.

Yang Zhengshan sighed, "I hope the new Prime Minister can stabilize the court!"

In addition to Li Siyuan, there are four cabinet ministers in the current cabinet, the second assistant Zhou Ruoyun, the assistant ministers Song Yuange, Zhang Shaoqing and Guo Xiaochun.

The second assistant Zhou Ruoyun is older than Li Siyuan. He is now eighty years old. He is obviously not suitable to be the Prime Minister.

As for Song Yuange, Zhang Shaoqing and Guo Xiaochun!

Yang Zhengshan thought about it and felt that these three were almost in trouble.

It's not that they are not capable, but that they can't convince the ministers.

But Emperor Yanping may want to find someone who can't convince the ministers to be the Prime Minister, which is more conducive to his control of the court.

Yang Zhengshan walked out of the study and looked at the clear sky, his eyes full of sorrow.

In fact, the drought in Liaodong has begun now.

Since the end of spring plowing, Chongshan Pass has not rained, and according to Yang Zhengshan's perception, Chongshan Pass will have a lot of rain in half a month.

And this rain is the most important rain in Chongshan Pass.

It is because of this rain that the drought in the eastern part of Chongshan Town will not be as severe as that in Liaodong.

As for Liaoyuan and Pingyuan provinces, it will not rain until August, and the farmers in the fields may not last until August.

…

The changes in the court are the same as Yang Zhengshan thought.

On the eighth day of April, Li Siyuan again petitioned to retire, and Emperor Yanping agreed. Li Siyuan retired and returned home.

However, the changes in the court also far exceeded Yang Zhengshan's expectations.

The day after Li Siyuan retired, Song Yuange was appointed as the chief assistant and concurrently the Grand Secretary of Zhongji Palace. Later, Zhou Yunsong, the Minister of Personnel, entered the cabinet and concurrently the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace.

Song Yuange was the chief assistant, but Zhou Yunsong entered the cabinet as the Minister of Personnel and concurrently the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace.

The Ministry of Personnel is the head of the six ministries, and the Minister of Personnel is even called the Heavenly Official. Zhou Yunsong is not only the cabinet minister, but also in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. His power is not weaker than that of the chief minister, Song Yuange.

Song Yuange, who was unable to convince the ministers, had to face Zhou Yunsong, a covetous opponent. Its situation in the court can be imagined.

The purpose of Emperor Yanping doing so is nothing more than the way of balance.

However, this is just the beginning.

As the saying goes, a new emperor has a new minister.

April 18.

Zhu Qinwen, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, was demoted out of the capital, and Lu Ming, the former left chief historian of Prince Cheng's Palace, was promoted four levels and served as the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War.

April 20.

Wu Liangzai, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, was dismissed for his poor funeral for Rong Chongzong, and Zheng Shizeng, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, was promoted to the minister of the Ministry of Rites.

April 23.

Zhou Mao, the Duke of Ningguo, resigned on the grounds of old age, and Emperor Yanping allowed him to return to his mansion to retire.

Immediately afterwards, Liang Chu, the Marquis of Changping, was relieved of his post as the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army and appointed as the left commander-in-chief of the Central Army Commander's Office.

Lu Baishu, the Marquis of Nanyang, was promoted to the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Army and concurrently served as the admiral of the Xianwu Camp.

Zhou Mao's return to the mansion to retire represented the end of the once prosperous Ningguo Mansion. Since then, there has only been Zhou Lan in the army of the Ningguo Mansion, and the crown prince Zhou Xu has not even had an idle position.

Liang Chu, the Marquis of Changping, was promoted to the left commander-in-chief of the Central Army Commander's Office. Although it was not a promotion in name only, it was obvious that Emperor Yanping had newly appointed Lu Baishu, the Marquis of Nanyang.

In April, the court was in constant turmoil. While Yang Zhengshan was busy, he was also paying attention to the changes in the court.

Yang Zhengshan did not have much thought about such changes.

Whether it was the decline of the Ningguo Mansion or the promotion and demotion of the Marquis of Changping, it had no great impact on him.

Now he is no longer the military general who needs to rely on the Ningguo Mansion, but a unique Marquis of Jing'an.

As for whether he would feel sorry for the Ningguo Mansion, there was no need to do so. The decline of the Ningguo Mansion was an expected result. Since Emperor Chengping transferred Zhou Lan to the Imperial Guard, the fate of the Ningguo Mansion today was doomed.

And such an ending is not a bad thing for the Ningguo Mansion.

Zhou Mao is free from official duties and can live in peace in the mansion. Although the Ningguo Mansion has lost its power, it still has wealth and splendor.

Being able to leave the power center of the court intact is actually a blessing for the Ningguo Mansion.