Chapter 497

“Your Highness is making fun of me. As Your Highness said, indeed, learning has no end.”

In the bank, Pang Yukun repeatedly waved his hand, looking ashamed.

“Chief Minister Pang, there’s no need to blame yourself. Ultimately, this was also my mistake. I should have told you these things in advance. How about this, when I return, I will compile the key points of bank operations into a book,” Xiao Ming said.

Not to mention in the Great Yu Empire, even in Europe, the banking industry was just starting. However, for me, I could quickly catch up because I possessed comprehensive knowledge of the financial industry.

Li Kaiyuan added, “Your Highness, besides the specific banking services, the government office should also promote this matter to the common people. After all, most of the common people do not know about this. At the same time, in order to compete with the Cao family’s money house for merchants, I believe that the location for merchants to pay taxes can be set in the banks of various prefectures. In this way, carrying the permit issued by the Chamber of Commerce to the bank to pay silver, the merchants will take the banks of various prefectures seriously.”

This was exactly what Xiao Ming was planning next. He gave Li Kaiyuan a thumbs up. This guy was very flexible.

He said, “The matter of merchants will be left to you. The matter of promotion will be left to me and Chief Minister Pang. I will be responsible for the newspaper’s promotion of Qingzhou Bank, and Chief Minister Pang will arrange for officials from various prefectures to be responsible for promoting the bank in various counties. This matter cannot be delayed, because I am still counting on the bank to stimulate the common people to open workshops.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Pang Yukun said.

Having settled this matter, the three returned to handle their respective duties. Xiao Ming went directly to the newspaper office, instructing Fan Zeng to publish articles explaining what a bank is, its function, and how to conduct deposits and withdrawals at the bank. He also asked Fan Zeng to have reporters emphasize this matter.

After settling the draft with Fan Zeng at the newspaper office, Fan Zeng printed the newspaper overnight, and the next day, the newspaper began to circulate throughout the enfeoffed state.

“Bank? Isn’t that the Qingzhou Bank in the East Market?” Three merchants gathered around, looking at the newspaper, and one of them said.

“No, I remember every prefecture has one,” another merchant said.

“Where the bank is isn’t the point. The key is that depositing silver in this bank can earn interest,” said the merchant holding the newspaper. “And you can also borrow silver from the bank, which is much more affordable than the Cao family’s money house.”

“It’s affordable, but what if the government office defaults on the debt? We can’t do anything to the government office. If the Cao family owes money, we can at least make a fuss.”

“That’s not right. This is a draft personally written by His Highness. Should we not trust His Highness, but trust the Cao family instead?”

“True, but the Cao family will probably have a hard time. With this bank, what do we need their money house for?”

“…”

At Cao family’s money house, Cao Zhengyang’s face was extremely ugly. Ever since he lived in Qingzhou, reading the Qingzhou newspaper every day had been his habit, but the news published in the newspaper today was undoubtedly a rude awakening for him.

Xiao Ming had discussed the matter of Qingzhou Bank with him before, and at that time, Xiao Ming clearly stated that the two would not interfere with each other, which was an agreement reached through an exchange of interests.

Despite this, he had always been very fearful of the official opening of Qingzhou Bank, because it meant that Cao family’s money house would no longer be the only place merchants could go in Qingzhou.

Once this happened, the Cao family’s standing in the merchants’ minds would decrease, and the Cao family’s status in Qingzhou would also decrease.

Over the years, the Cao family had deep contacts with the Dutch. He knew that the Dutch banking industry was controlled by big merchants, and precisely because of this, these merchant families were highly respected in the Netherlands, because the money of the state and the common people were all in the banks.

Inspired by this, the Cao family diligently built the Cao family’s money house, and over the years, they had indeed benefited greatly from it. Many people thought that the Cao family only earned a lot of silver from the sea, but they did not know that they also accumulated a large amount of wealth through the money house.

The Cao family’s emblem was a ship with the pattern of the Cao family’s money house.

“Second Young Master, should we send this news back?” The manager of the money house also read the newspaper, and was equally worried at this time.

Cao Zhengyang sighed, “Of course we have to send it back. We underestimated Prince Qi. Maritime trade, banking, the two carriages that the Cao family started with are firmly in his hands. He is different from any other powerful noble in the Great Yu Empire. It seems we need to be more low-key.”

“Are we just going to watch Qingzhou Bank crush the Cao family’s money house?” The manager was a little unwilling.

In other parts of the Great Yu Empire, any official would have to give the Cao family’s money house some face, but here, he felt uneasy.

“Of course not. Since His Highness said fair competition, we don’t have to worry. You send someone back immediately to ask for instructions. I think these services of Qingzhou Bank are also suitable for our money house. Why not implement them in the future as well?”

“Yes, Second Young Master.” The manager nodded and turned to leave.

Watching the manager leave, Cao Zhengyang frowned. The title “Second Young Master” made him a bit annoyed. No matter what, he was still a concubine’s son of the Cao family.

Even if he worried himself sick, this Cao family’s money house would still belong to his elder brother in the future, and had nothing to do with him.

‘From beginning to end, I am just a servant,’ Cao Zhengyang thought somewhat painfully. Last time his elder brother arrived in Qingzhou, he immediately became an dispensable figure, which made him very frustrated during that period.

‘Why can’t I start anew? If I just pledge allegiance to His Highness, perhaps I can gain an advantage by being close.’ While he was troubled, a terrible thought sounded in his mind. He was so frightened that he immediately shook the thought out of his head.

However, this thought stuck in his mind like glue, lingering persistently.

While Cao Zhengyang was struggling, the newspaper, following the footsteps of the reporters, also reached the villages outside Qingzhou City.

Under the thorough explanation of the reporters, the common people gradually understood what a bank was.

“Zhu Wuliu, was that how you borrowed money from the government office last time?”

In Zhu family village, after the reporter’s explanation, the common people immediately looked at Zhu Wuliu, who was cracking melon seeds.

Zhu Wuliu was quite impressive in the village now. The matter of contracting the Qingzhou city roads last time had increased his prestige in the village by a lot. He spit out a melon seed and said, “Is that even a question? When has His Highness ever cheated us? I didn’t know the bank was open, otherwise I would have deposited three hundred taels of silver long ago.”

“Three hundred taels!” The surrounding villagers gasped. They all knew that Zhu Wuliu had earned a lot of silver last time, but they didn’t expect it to be that much.

The young people who followed Zhu Wuliu to work in Qingzhou city said, “Wuliu, if you go, we’ll go too. If there’s work next time, His Highness will think of us, won’t he?”

“Hehe, you guys are getting smarter. Tomorrow, let’s go support His Highness,” Zhu Sansi laughed loudly.