AWB Chapter 344: One day of torture for Emperor Xia!
Chapter 344: One day of torture for Emperor Xia!
Emperor Xia remained silent. In such a situation, he didn't know what to say!
Originally, he was unwilling to outsource the institution responsible for managing the money, but what Gu Jingzhi said was indeed a problem.
He wanted to express his own opinion, but he didn't know what to say. After a long while, he asked, "Gu Qing, is there really no other way?"
"His Majesty!"
Gu Jingzhi said sincerely: "This is the best solution right now!"
"The imperial court controls the Tianxia Bank in the name of the Great Xia Royal Bank. In reality, it's not out of the court's control; it's just giving up some of its profits!"
"But this way, the imperial court will have countless natural allies! The gold and silver stored in those banks can also be smoothly collected into the national treasury!"
"In addition, with their support, our Great Xia's new currency will be able to be promoted locally at a much faster rate. By then, even the aristocratic families will be unable to stop this trend!"
"..."
Emperor Xia was silent for a moment, then said, "As you said, our Great Xia new currency is essentially just a copper coin. The value of all currencies depends on the credibility of the court. So, are they willing to exchange real gold and silver for copper coins that have no actual value?"
"Your Majesty, they will!"
Gu Jingzhi laughed and said, "How much gold and silver can a person use in his lifetime? All they want is a lifetime of glory and family prosperity!"
"Now that the imperial court has given them an opportunity, if they don't lean on the higher authorities now, when will they?"
"Although local banks don't have official rank, they are, after all, state-controlled institutions of power. The court should naturally provide certain treatment to these subjects who hold Daxia in their hearts!"
In fact, Gu Jingzhi already had a plan in mind. Once the influence of the aristocratic families was weakened, he could propose some policies that could change the status of businessmen.
In fact, the origin of merchants is not that bad.
At least in his own life, the origin of a businessman made his character more valuable to a certain extent.
The name Shang people came into being after the Shang Dynasty. After the Shang Dynasty was destroyed by the Zhou Dynasty, the remaining Shang people were unwilling to submit to the Zhou Dynasty and were unwilling to eat a single grain of their food. Therefore, they traveled around the world and bartered for the sake of survival!
Over time, it promoted the development of commerce, and people engaged in buying and selling transactions were also called businessmen.
Merchants are profit-oriented, but that is just a disparagement from the world. All the civil officials in the court are scholars, but what they fight for day after day in the court is not profit?
As a modern man, Gu Jingzhi would not discriminate against businessmen.
However, he had already said enough to Emperor Xia today. If he brought this up again, Emperor Xia would definitely not agree.
Therefore, he can only wait for the opportunity!
Anyway, he positions himself as a powerful official, so there will be plenty of opportunities to do this in the future!
Emperor Xia himself is dying, and even though Crown Prince is fine now, after the knife attack in Ningzhou... his life span will not be long either. For Great Xia, it is definitely not a good thing if the emperor changes frequently!
But for Gu Jingzhi, he was able to take advantage of the frequent changes of power to gain greater power.
In the future, as long as he can gain more power, whether Daxia will be in chaos or not, and whether it can be in chaos, will all depend on whether Gu Jingzhi agrees or not!
However, in front of Emperor Xia, he had to keep a low profile and never reveal any of his thoughts!
The reason why Emperor Xia did not suppress him at the moment was, firstly, that Gu Jingzhi was useful, and secondly, he left Gu Jingzhi to the prince. He did not know the prince's physical condition, but the prince's ability and the foundation he left for the prince meant that Gu Jingzhi was destined not to threaten the prince.
However, he never expected that the prince's life span was actually a problem.
The only people who knew all this, besides a few people from the Qiao family, were the Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess has now become like Gu Jingzhi, and the Qiao family's relationship with the Crown Prince has also changed from in-laws to a cooperative relationship.
In this situation, they naturally don't care about the prince's health. What they care about is... whether the one who will succeed the prince as the leader of Daxia is Qiao Shuwan's son!
It can be said that Ningzhou...has changed the entire Daxia too much.
In the end, Emperor Xia had no choice but to agree with Gu Jingzhi's idea. However, Gu Jingzhi and Emperor Xia had differences over the management of the Royal Bank.
The first president of the Royal Bank was naturally none other than Gu Jingzhi.
But Gu Jingzhi has too much to do.
Gu Jingzhi had to take the lead in the Mint, which was responsible for minting coins. Gu Jingzhi was also the only one who understood the currency promotion, but he was also responsible for the taxes of the whole country. There were too many government affairs on his shoulders.
The key point is that the issuance of currency is imminent. Fortunately, the taxation issue has come to an end, but even so, Gu Jingzhi still can't handle it.
He proposed a plan to Emperor Xia that he would concurrently serve as the president of the Royal Bank, but he wanted Gu Yunzhi to be in charge of the specific management.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Xia was immediately displeased and even scolded him, "Since ancient times, it has been unjust for women to hold official positions. How can you allow a woman to be the head of the Great Xia Royal Bank?"
"Your Majesty, I am still a minister in name only!"
Gu Jingzhi said in distress, "I have too many important tasks to attend to. I simply cannot oversee so many government affairs. Although my cousin is a woman, she is extremely talented in this field. Your Majesty knows everything she has done in Ningzhou!"
"Besides, I've been in Ningzhou for two years, and I've taught my cousin almost all of my knowledge in this area. Now if you ask me to find someone else, I won't be able to find one!"
"Don't worry, the affairs of the Ming Royal Bank will never be made public unless they go through my hands! Moreover, I guarantee that as long as Your Majesty agrees to this matter, the Gu and Lin families will unreservedly support the issuance of currency, and the Ningzhou Chamber of Commerce will do the same!"
"..."
The corner of Emperor Xia's mouth twitched slightly. He had to admit that he was impressed by Gu Jingzhi's conditions.
Especially the Gu and Lin families, when they joined forces, no one in Ningzhou could shake their position. If they were just ordinary local tyrants, it would be fine, but Ningzhou was a transit point that radiated throughout the northwest and even beyond.
This kind of local tyrant is very unusual!
With the support of the Lin and Gu families, not only will the national treasury have more gold and silver reserves to issue new currency, but if they do not resist in transactions and take the lead in using the new currency, then this new currency will soon radiate throughout the Yangtze River Basin!
After all, Ningjiang is connected to the Yangtze River. In Ningzhou, apart from the Gu family and the Lin family, there are the most merchants from Jiangnan, and without exception... behind every merchant is a powerful and wealthy man from Jiangnan.
This is the fundamental reason why Emperor Xia was moved.
but……
He looked at Gu Jingzhi and sneered, "I'm sure you've been brewing this in your mind for a long time, right?"
"Your Majesty, you know me well. I always think three steps ahead before doing anything. Since I have decided to dedicate my talents to Daxia, I will naturally devote all my energy to it!"
"..."
The corner of Emperor Xia's mouth twitched, and he said unhappily, "I agree to this matter, but there is one thing: if the officials impeach you, you will be responsible for explaining it yourself!"
"Also, your cousin is only allowed to serve for one term. That's all. Accept the order and express your gratitude!"
I don’t know if it’s because he received too much knowledge today that was difficult for him to digest, or if he was really tired, but after agreeing to this matter, Emperor Xia slipped away directly, leaving Gu Jingzhi standing there in a daze!