“Old Cao, we might as well speak plainly. Everything about Jinfeng Trading is normal—you just lack ready cash. As long as you have cash, you’ll immediately have a thriving, prosperous business. Two thousand strings is only enough for you to purchase hemp materials. What about your other expenses? How about I lend you three thousand strings all at once? The interest is fifteen percent—what do you think? For three thousand strings, you won’t even need to use your residence as collateral—the shop will be sufficient.” Huang Zhi’en spoke to Manager Cao while looking at the data sent by the bookkeeper.
“Really, Brother Huang, thank you! Monthly interest of fifteen percent—that’s very reasonable interest. This younger brother is grateful.” Manager Cao’s eyes welled with tears upon hearing Huang Zhi’en’s words. Previously, the best interest from the monasteries’ hot spring loans had been fifteen percent per month. He hadn’t expected the money house to refrain from taking advantage of his desperate situation and instead offer the best terms.
“Old Cao, you didn’t hear clearly. It’s fifteen percent *annual* interest, not those bone-crushing usurious loans. You need to pay fifteen percent interest per year. If you can’t repay the principal when it comes due, after paying the interest, you can apply for an extension. You have two opportunities for extension. Did you hear clearly this time?”
Manager Cao’s throat made continuous gulping sounds. He felt as if heaven and earth had changed colors. Only the words “annual interest” circled in his mind. Had heaven opened its eyes? I can’t faint—I must hold on until the contract is signed before fainting. What if Old Huang’s brain is muddled? I need to calm down, calm down.
The habit of composure cultivated over years in business allowed Old Cao to take the contract and read it word by word. That’s right—using Jinfeng Trading as collateral, lending three thousand strings of copper cash, annual interest of fifteen percent, with two opportunities to apply for extensions. This wasn’t doing business—this was a bodhisattva descending to earth.
Seal, fingerprints, signature—Old Cao pressed four or five fingerprints in succession. He wished he could smear himself with red ink and prostrate himself on it. Good, it’s signed. Now just short of getting the money, just short of getting the money. Ancestors and spirits protect me, let me obtain the money.
“Old Cao, why are you pressing all those fingerprints? The contract is complete. Over there is a government scribe—let’s register a copy with the authorities so we’ll have proof in the future.” Huang Zhi’en looked at the messy two copies of the contract, feeling that Old Cao was about to lose his mind.
Old Cao recognized the scribe—it was an old scribe from Chang’an County, an acquaintance. After reading the contract, the old scribe asked: “Both parties agree?” Huang Zhi’en nodded. Old Cao bobbed his head like a pecking chicken.
With the government having a backup copy, Old Cao felt much more at ease. Before he could ask about the money, Huang Zhi’en asked him: “Old Cao, you’re going to the countryside to purchase hemp cloth, so naturally copper cash would be better. How about this—I’ll give you one thousand strings in gold, one thousand strings in silver ingots, and one thousand strings in copper cash. What do you think?”
“Brother Huang thinks so thoroughly. What more can this younger brother say? This is best. Copper cash for transactions with country folk, silver for transactions with officials, gold for transactions with other merchants. The money house thinks so comprehensively—this younger brother admires it extremely.”
To expand their influence, Huang Zhi’en deliberately brought Old Cao to the silver vault. As soon as the iron door opened, Old Cao felt like he couldn’t hold his bladder. Chests full of gold ingots, shelves full of silver cakes, and copper cash piled as high as mountains made him almost unable to breathe.
The gold was weighed, each silver cake was bitten to test it, and the quality of the copper cash was verified one by one. An iron cart loaded with the money was about to be sent to Old Cao. With money in hand, the business habits Old Cao had cultivated over many years emerged.
“Brother Huang, this is a large sum of wealth! If this younger brother takes this money with him, it might bring disaster to my family. I wonder if you could continue to safeguard this money here? This younger brother will pay a storage fee—what do you think?”
“Old Cao, you’re the first customer. I was only thinking about getting you the money and forgot there’s another method called depositing money. That is to say, you definitely can’t use all three thousand strings at once. Why not continue keeping it in the money house? You don’t need to pay a storage fee—each month the money house will even give you interest. The annual interest is one percent. I’ll give you a certificate, and you can withdraw as needed. This way you won’t worry about bringing disaster.”
Manager Cao felt that his thoughts weren’t sufficient today. The money house’s shocks came wave after wave. Such tremendous good fortune falling on his own head—now letting others safeguard his money, not only not charging fees but even giving money—what kind of logic was this?
He pulled Huang Zhi’en aside, first bowing before speaking: “Brother Huang, this isn’t the way to do business! Now that this younger brother has borrowed money, please give me the inside story. Whose business is this? The Yun family? The Cheng family? The Niu family? Or did the three families pool their shares together? Without knowing the details, this younger brother’s heart isn’t at ease!”
“What are you thinking? Would the Yun, Cheng, and Niu families dare to do this kind of business that wins people’s hearts? Don’t you see what kind of people are guarding the vault? Still don’t understand? All your years of business acumen have gone into a dog’s belly.”
Old Cao’s eyes widened to perfect circles. He no longer dared to think. Looking back at the guards dressed in armor with drawn swords and loaded crossbows—if a Chang’an person couldn’t recognize the Imperial Guard, did he have the face to call himself a Chang’an person?
Old Cao pointed shakily toward the sky, only to be slapped down by Huang Zhi’en: “Don’t speak nonsense. This money came from Her Majesty and the Crown Prince. During this recent period, merchants’ circumstances have been poor, with countless bankruptcies and ruined families. Her Majesty couldn’t bear to watch, so she gathered funds to help these merchants. Her Majesty even took out her cosmetics money—her skirts are now so short they don’t even cover her ankles. The Crown Prince couldn’t bear to see Her Majesty suffer, so he took out all the money he had prepared for his marriage. Following Marquis Yun’s suggestion, they established this money house—not to make money, but because they don’t want you all to end up ruined and destroyed.”
If Old Cao still had thoughts of taking advantage just moments ago, now aside from gratitude, he had no other thoughts. He straightened his clothing and prostrated himself on the ground, bowing properly toward the direction of the imperial palace.
Old Cao walked out of the money house with a solemn expression and said to the merchants who surrounded him: “How fortunate we are to live in this peaceful and prosperous age! Gentlemen, those who need money, go on in. Those who don’t need money, don’t make a fuss. I, Old Cao, guarantee with my life and property that those who need money will get the funds they require. Those who don’t need money should also be grateful. If anyone speaks another word against the imperial family, I, Old Cao, will fight them to the death.”
Having said this, he returned to his shop with the cart loaded with copper cash, prepared to demonstrate his abilities to the fullest. He had never been as full of confidence as now, so full of hope for the future. The Dai family’s withdrawal of their shares now gave Old Cao a feeling of having unloaded a great mountain.
With a giant standing behind him, as long as he managed properly and paid taxes according to law, there would be no obstacle he couldn’t overcome. My capital stock includes imperial money, the Empress’s cosmetics money—whoever wants to interfere and take a bite, I’ll fight them desperately.
The sound of crying filled the money house. Lying on a bamboo chair in the back courtyard, Yun Ye felt a wave of sadness. This was actually all evil he had created, making these merchants’ hearts float between hell and the clouds. Driving the great families’ influence out from among the merchants would inevitably cause birth pangs. It was just that some could endure while others couldn’t. No fewer than a hundred people had hanged themselves or drowned. There was even one family where old and young all took poison and committed suicide together. When had he begun to disregard human life?
Making money had turned him into a bodhisattva. Annual interest of fifteen percent really couldn’t be considered a low rate, but in this era where ordinary loans carried thirty percent interest, he truly had the qualifications to be called a bodhisattva. Yet no one calculated that as deposits increased, the imperial capital would gradually withdraw, and it would finally become a giant beast using their money to make money. Right now it was only being implemented in Chang’an. Once they had capital, without even thinking about it, the Empress and Crown Prince would also open money houses throughout the Great Tang. By then it would become not much different from the future era.
For the sake of the money house, Huang Zhi’en had prepared for a full three years. Under Yun Ye’s fragmentary reminders, he had actually groped his way to a set of methods that seemed childish yet were effective, and had persuaded the Emperor to allow him to experiment in Chang’an.
Early this morning, he had dragged Yun Ye from Yushan to Chang’an, saying that without Yun Ye presiding over things, his heart wasn’t at ease. The Empress and Crown Prince’s hundred thousand strings of cash wasn’t a very large number. He hoped they could get through this. As long as those merchants didn’t move all the money away in one go, there wouldn’t be any problems.
Since sending Old Cao away early in the morning, the money house had been continuously busy. Merchants who heard the news swarmed in. The queue of those preparing to take loans stretched from inside the shop all the way to Vermilion Bird Avenue.
“Marquis Yun, the manager asked me to tell you that we’ve already loaned out thirty-four thousand three hundred fifty strings, with twelve thousand three hundred seventy strings withdrawn. At this rate, our funds won’t be sufficient. The manager asks whether it would be better to limit loans.”
“It’s fine. Tell the manager that no matter who it is, as long as the collateral is appropriate, lend to them—no matter how much. Right now is the peak period when merchants need money. We must give them the feeling that the funds here are inexhaustible.”
How many merchant households in Chang’an needed loans? Yun Ye had calculated—no more than a thousand families. Even if they all took loans, it would only be five hundred thousand strings. Moreover, under the guarantee of imperial credibility, no one would withdraw all their money in one go. Keeping it in the imperial vault was no different from the national treasury. If anyone else did this business, the merchants wouldn’t be so assured—they would only withdraw all the money. Only the Empress and Crown Prince had such persuasive power.
Zhangsun’s reputation was worth too much money. With her reputation, they could save half the money. If the Empress later learned that he was using her reputation for profit, would she punish him?
When the curfew drum sounded, the staff prepared to close. At the pleading of the merchants in queue, the money house distributed number tokens to them. Tomorrow they would still conduct transactions according to the number tokens, putting their minds at ease. If it weren’t for the curfew, many people would sleep on Vermilion Bird Avenue.
The Crown Prince didn’t have Yun Ye’s relaxed mentality. From morning until now, he had been sitting in the second-floor guest room watching the transactions. From Old Cao’s grateful voice, he had discerned that doing this business would bring the Li family a hundred benefits without a single harm. Although all that money had been lent out, it didn’t matter. In a year, Yun Ye said the money would return. In three years, it would become one million strings. In ten years, the money house would have more money than the Ministry of Revenue.
He didn’t dare imagine what kind of scene it would be to one day have more money in his hands than in the national treasury. He didn’t dare imagine. Yun Ye’s warning also echoed in his mind: This money isn’t yours—it all belongs to the common people. If your Li family no longer wants the realm, then embezzle money from the money house. You can guide where this money goes, but you absolutely cannot take a single coin that shouldn’t be taken. Once something happens, I tell you, it will be far more terrifying than military disaster. Li Chengqian deeply agreed and decided that once the money house stabilized, he would use legal form to define the distinction between the money house and the state, establishing a strict prohibition for future descendants.