Chapter 439 vs. Chapter : A New Emperor, a New Minister (National Day Extra Update)

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

In order to take care of the business of Chongshan Money House, Luo Shang has already given orders that from today onwards, all of the Luo family's large-scale business within Chongshan Pass will only accept the silver notes of Chongshan Money House. Even gold and silver are not accepted, only the silver notes of Chongshan Money House will be accepted.

If a middle-aged man wanted to buy glass products from the Luo family, he could only do so with silver bills. However, the shopkeeper and the clerks at the Luo family shop would not accept the silver.

The middle-aged man complained to the shopkeeper about this. The shopkeeper pointed to the long queue at the counter not far away 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 wealthy merchants in Chongshan Pass have chosen our silver bills!"

"Especially the glass business, all of which requires 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 belonged to the General's Mansion. The General's Mansion said that the silver bills of Chongshan Money House would be used to settle the payment for the goods. Then all the merchants who came to Chongshan Pass to buy glass products must use the silver bills of Chongshan Money House.

"I still have some banknotes from Datong Bank here. Can I exchange them all for banknotes from your bank?"

After figuring out the details, the middle-aged man directly exchanged all the Datong Bank bills on him for Chongshan Bank bills.

He was not the only one who did this. Many merchants who came to Chongshan Pass to do business exchanged some silver bills from Chongshan Money House.

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

Nowadays, Chongshan Money House and Datong Money House are conducting mutual exchange of money. In addition, the General's Office requires that the glass business can only use the silver bills of Chongshan Money House for settlement. As a result, Chongshan Money House was packed with merchants on the first day of its opening.

It was not until the evening that the merchants gathered at Chongshan Money House dispersed, and Yang Zhengshan waited at the general's mansion for Li Hai to deliver the money house's account books for the day.

"My Lord, this is the bank's account book for 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, we received a total of 680,000 taels of silver in cash, of which 600,000 taels were silver notes exchanged by the six major agents at the money houses. Just as we had agreed upon, they all exchanged 100,000 taels of silver notes!" said Li Hai.

Yang Zhengshan smiled and said, "It's not something they agreed on. It's something I asked them to do."

Li Hai showed a look of realization, "I see."

Yang Zhengshan opened the account book and looked at it carefully.

Apart from the 600,000 taels of silver from the six major agents, Chongshan Money House received only over 80,000 taels of silver in cash today, of which only 30,000 taels were deposits, and the rest were all exchanged for silver bills.

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

That is to say, Chongshan Money House received 840,000 taels of silver today!
It seems like a lot, but in fact most of them are due to Yang Zhengshan’s behind-the-scenes manipulation.

The normal business of the money shop was actually only about 50,000 taels, including 30,000 taels of deposits and about 20,000 taels of silver bills exchanged.

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

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

On the contrary, the money houses' deposit business and miscellaneous silver bill business may continue to increase.

Just as Yang Zhengshan expected, in the following days, the daily silver bill exchange business of the money house continued to decline. On the second day, the silver bill exchange was less than 200,000 taels, including the exchange of silver bills of Datong Money House for silver bills of Chongshan Money House.

On the third day, there were only 180,000, on the fourth day, there were only 150,000, and in the end it stabilized at around 100,000.

At the same time, the money shop's deposit business was constantly increasing. 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. Ten days later, 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 days the soldiers in the city deposited money in the banks.

Chongshan Town has a special military economy. Most of its commercial activities revolve around the army, and even money houses are no exception.

To put it simply, the soldiers of the five battalions of Zhenbiao are the middle class of Chongshan Pass. Their salaries are far more than those of ordinary farmers and military households, and the money they possess 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.

Apart from the soldiers, the other customers of the money houses were mainly merchants. As for ordinary military households and farmers, they rarely had any spare money to deposit in the money houses.

In just one month, Chongshan Money House absorbed more than three million silver coins. Although Yang Zhengshan could not requisition all of this money, he had no problem borrowing half of it.

He had already made regulations for the General's Mansion to borrow money from Chongshan Money House. First, the amount of money borrowed could not exceed 60% of the silver in the money house's treasury. Second, the General's Mansion had to pay interest on the money borrowed from the money house, at an annual interest rate of 5%, which was 2 percentage points higher than the interest rate on deposits in the money house.

Finally, except for the General's Office, no other government office was allowed to borrow money from Chongshan Money House.

After all, Yang Zhengshan regarded the money shop as a place to borrow money. Whether it was accepting deposits or exchanging silver bills, everything the money shop did was to serve the General's Office.

The reason why the General's Mansion has to pay interest to the money house is to prevent the money house from running out of money. After all, Chongshan Money House currently has no way to make a profit, and instead has to pay interest to depositors.

In addition to the money houses within Chongshan Pass, over the past month, branches of Chongshan Money House have been opened in various state and county towns in Chongshan Town.

However, compared with the money houses in Chongshan Pass, the amount of money received by these branches is much less.

The branches in several state capitals were better off. In the early days of opening, they could still bring in tens of thousands of taels of silver every day, and eventually it stabilized at around four to five thousand taels of silver per day.

The daily turnover of the branch in the county town is less than one thousand taels.

This is also normal. There are still many officials and merchants in the state capital to support the business of the money houses, but in the county town there are only some small merchants and landlords left. It is normal that the amount of silver and money received is small.

With Chongshan Money House back on track, the General's Mansion had more cash in hand. Although it was still far from the tens of millions of taels of silver that Yang Zhengshan needed, at least the General's Mansion would not be short of money 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 being transported in, the general's office had to urgently build dozens of large granaries.

It is the end of March, the weather has started to warm up, spring ploughing is about to begin, and the entire Chongshan Town has kicked off a major construction project.

Yang Zhengshan started to be busy again.

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

The glass workshop is still recruiting apprentices, the Fifth Battalion of the Town Flag is still recruiting and training soldiers, and reinforcement battalions from various places are also recruiting and training soldiers.

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

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

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

Busy figures can be seen everywhere in Chongshan Town, as if a switch was pressed, starting up Chongshan Town, which had been stagnant due to the cold.

While Chongshan Town was undergoing massive construction, the situation in the court of Kyoto entered a stage that was difficult to understand.

The eighth day of April.

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

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

The letter mentioned that on the second day of April, the chief minister of the cabinet, Li Siyuan, submitted a petition to the emperor to ask for permission to retire, but the emperor of Yanping did not approve it. On the fourth day of April, Li Siyuan submitted another petition to ask for permission to retire, but the emperor of Yanping again rejected it.

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

Li Siyuan wants to resign!
This is definitely a big event for the court.

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

During the reign of Emperor Chengping, Li Siyuan was trusted by the emperor and almost entrusted the affairs of state to Li Siyuan, and Li Siyuan did not disappoint the emperor. Li Siyuan's students and friends were all over the officialdom, but he never formed a party or engaged in private interests. Although he had countless students, he had no power in the court and no great reputation among the people.

In terms of reputation for honesty, he is not as good as Liu Yuanfu, and in terms of reputation for literature, he is not even outstanding.

It was such an old minister who made the Darong court peaceful for more than ten years. Apart from the disputes among the princes, there was no major turmoil.

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

And now, Emperor Yanping has been on the throne for just over half a year, and Li Siyuan is actually going to resign!
Is there something wrong with Li Siyuan's health, or is it that Emperor Yanping can't tolerate Li Siyuan?

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

There should be nothing wrong with Li Siyuan's health, because he petitioned for his retirement at the morning court session.

In other words, Emperor Yanping could not tolerate Li Siyuan.

Yes!

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

Emperor Chengping could suppress Li Siyuan, but Emperor Yanping could not. If Emperor Yanping wanted to consolidate power, Li Siyuan would undoubtedly become his stumbling block.

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

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

But the question is, if Li Siyuan resigns, who will be in charge of the court affairs?

If a drought breaks out in Liaoyuan and Pingyuan provinces, will Emperor Yanping and the new prime minister be able to stabilize the situation and provide timely disaster relief?

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

And once Li Siyuan leaves the court, who knows what the court will become next.

Unfortunately, he couldn't interfere in such matters. He couldn't report to Emperor Yanping and say that the court couldn't do without Li Siyuan.

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

As for reporting the drought, Zhang Mingzhong had already reminded him that such things should not be mentioned carelessly. Doing so would only bring trouble to himself and would be of no help at all.

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

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

The Second Assistant Zhou Ruoyun is older than Li Siyuan and is now eighty years old. He is obviously not suitable to be the First Assistant.

As for Song Yuange, Zhang Shaoqing and Guo Xiaochun!

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

It’s not that they are incompetent, but that they are unable to convince their ministers.

However, Emperor Yanping might just want to find someone who cannot convince the ministers to serve as the Prime Minister, which would be 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 already begun.

It has not rained in Chongshan Pass since the end of spring ploughing, but according to Yang Zhengshan's perception, there will be a heavy rain in Chongshan Pass in half a month.

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

It is precisely because of this rain that the drought in the eastern part of Chongshan Town will not be as severe as 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 were just as Yang Zhengshan had expected.

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 far exceeded Yang Zhengshan's expectations.

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

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

The Ministry of Personnel is the head of the Six Ministries, and the Minister of Personnel is even known as the Heavenly Official. Zhou Yunsong is both an assistant minister of the Cabinet and in charge of the Ministry of Personnel. His power is no less than that of the chief minister of Song Yuan Pavilion.

Song Yuan Pavilion, which was already 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 was nothing more than to strike a balance.

However, this is just the beginning.

As the saying goes, a new emperor has his own ministers.

April eighteen.

Zhu Qinwen, the right vice minister of the Ministry of War, was demoted out of the capital, and Lu Ming, the former left chief secretary of Prince Cheng's palace, was promoted four levels in a row and became the right vice minister of the Ministry of War.

April 20th.

Minister of Rites Wu Liangzai was dismissed for his poor funeral arrangements for Emperor Rong Chongzong, and the Left Vice Minister of Rites Zheng Shizeng was promoted to Minister of Rites.

April 23rd.

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

Immediately afterwards, Liang Chu, Marquis of Changping, was relieved of his post as commander-in-chief of the imperial guards and appointed as the left commander-in-chief of the Central Army Commandery.

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

Zhou Mao's return home to retire marked the end of the once prosperous Ningguo Mansion. From then on, there was only Zhou Lan in the army from the Ningguo Mansion, and the crown prince Zhou Xu did not even have a sinecure.

Marquis of Changping Liang Chu was promoted to the position of Left Commander-in-Chief of the Central Military Governor's Office. Although it could not be considered a promotion in name only and a demotion in reality, it was obvious that Emperor Yanping had newly appointed Marquis of Nanyang Lu Baishu.

In April, there were constant disturbances in the court. While Yang Zhengshan was busy, he was also keeping a close eye on the changes in the court.

Yang Zhengshan didn't think much about such changes.

Neither the decline of the Ningguo Mansion nor the apparent promotion and secret demotion of the Marquis of Changping had much impact on him.

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

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

Moreover, such an outcome is not a bad thing for the Ningguo Mansion.

Zhou Mao is no longer an official and can live out his retirement in peace in the mansion. Although the Ningguo Mansion has lost its power, it is still rich and prosperous.

Being able to escape from the power center of the court safely is actually a blessing for the Ningguo Mansion.

(End of this chapter)