Chapter 75: A Capable Minister Who Governs the Country
In the blink of an eye, a month passed and the bank run was over.
Ever since the government took over the money houses' business, it has directly used official means to extort loans, causing countless families to be ruined.
As the saying goes, "to remove the mistakes of a bandit is like combing the wound, to remove the mistakes of a soldier is like combing the wound, and to remove the mistakes of an official is like shaving the wound."
The methods used by officials are much more powerful than those of ordinary debt collectors.
For a time, the people of Nanyang County were filled with resentment and complaints.
However, Lord Gai Sheng's reputation became better and better. Many people sang his praises, wrote books and praised him in countless words.
Gai Sheng's reputation for virtue soon spread to neighboring counties, and even in the imperial capital of Luoyang, one could hear voices praising the wise county magistrate Gai Sheng.
After Emperor Liu Hong heard the news, he praised Gai Sheng highly and called him a capable minister who can govern the country well!
When Gai Sheng heard the news, he was so grateful that he burst into tears. He wanted to go to the imperial capital immediately to have a candlelight talk with Liu Hong at night to express his loyalty.
The reason for this situation is very simple, because those who borrow money from money houses are all poor people. If they are not desperate, who would be willing to borrow at high interest rates?
Those who could deposit money in a money shop were basically wealthy people, either gentry and landlords, big businessmen, or aristocratic families. They had so much money that they had no place to put it, or they deposited it in a money shop for the convenience of doing business.
This group of people holds the local discourse power. Gai Sheng is willing to take over the major banks and use government means to collect loans and repay their savings. Isn't this a manifestation of wisdom?
So they sing its praises, no problem at all!
It's ironic, but also true.
Su Che also understood that he had to bear some responsibility for the situation. He indirectly caused such a consequence. As the saying goes, "I didn't kill Bo Ren, but Bo Ren died because of me."
This is a true portrayal of the moment.
Su Che is not one of those people who likes to be pretentious. All he can do is just do better.
After the old money house died, Chengjin Money House, as a new money house, no longer engaged in usury business, but low-interest lending business.
The interest rate of loans from Chengjin Money House is very low. Only 15% of the principal needs to be paid as interest in a year, which is an annual interest rate of 15%. At the same time, the amount of money loaned out is also very limited - the goal is very clear, this is a loan for ordinary people.
Therefore, even if someone with ulterior motives wants to lend the money out, it is basically impossible.
Such loan interest rates would not be considered usury even in modern times.
The loan amount for some software is even higher than this.
The market definition of usury is that it is more than 36%.
A loan interest rate of 15% was simply unimaginable in ancient times.
If nine out of 13 people had not left, there wouldn't be so many broken families and so much land annexation.
If it had happened a few days ago, if Su Che had dared to lend money at such a low interest rate, those landlords, wealthy people, and powerful families would have ganged up on him and would have done everything they could to ruin his business.
How can we lend money when your loan rate is so low? Isn't this disrupting the market?
This is malicious low loan!
But after Su Che destroyed dozens of banks, it became a deterrent, and for a while, no one dared to take action against his banks.
They could only try their best to prohibit their hired farmers from leaving the village and borrowing money from other places.
In addition, Su Che also gave the bank's employees very good treatment, and the salary level was far above the average. This would also be attacked by everyone - you give such good treatment, isn't this a malicious salary increase? It is also disrupting the market and making it impossible for everyone to do business properly!
It is worth mentioning that in order to cope with the increasingly enthusiastic market demand, when Su Che's Chengjin Money House opened more than a dozen branch money houses in Nanyang County, it was inevitable that it recruited employees including clerks and shopkeepers from the old money houses.
When they saw the actions of Chengjin Money House, they couldn't understand it. They all suggested that Su Che raise the interest rate of loans. An interest rate of 15% per year was really too low!
With such a low interest rate, how can a money house make a profit?
After hearing these people's suggestions, Su Che was a little amused and helpless for a moment. These employees themselves were all from poor families. Even if the interest rates of the money house were very high, they would not get any share of the profits. However, they could completely think from the perspective of the money house owner and try their best to exploit those who were also from poor backgrounds.
Su Che did not say anything , but just rejected their request and told them that Chengjin Money House does not rely on these loans to make a profit, but mainly relies on business to make money, so they do not need to worry about the profitability of Chengjin Money House, just do their own thing.
After Chengjin Money House had been open for a month, the first batch of people who had deposited money for only a month came to Chengjin Money House with great anticipation, wanting to withdraw their deposited money along with the principal and interest.
If the money is just kept for a month, the interest is not considered high, but in their view, this interest is free money. There is no need to go through the trouble of borrowing and then recovering it. They can just do nothing and get the interest. There is nothing more comfortable than this.
Soon, when they successfully withdrew their principal and interest, the moment they saw the interest money, this group of people were so excited.
“There’s really interest!”
"This Chengjin Bank really pays interest!"
"Haha, there is really interest!"
Although they knew that depositing money in Chengjin Money House would earn interest a month ago , the group of people couldn't help but get excited when they saw the interest money with their own eyes.
Some people happily took the money home with interest, spread the news everywhere, and showed it off to everyone they met.
Some people wanted to deposit more money and continue to earn interest, but unfortunately they were told by Chengjin Money House that their deposit had been used up and Chengjin Money House would not accept deposits for the time being, so they had to wait for the next batch of deposits.
Such an answer made them regret it very much. If they had known that there would be real interest, they would have saved their money for a longer time last time, so they would have earned more interest. At the same time, they were also thinking that when the next batch of deposits from Chengjin Money House came out, they must save more and for a longer time!
The news of paying interest from Chengjin Money House spread quickly, from one person to ten, from ten to a hundred, and gradually spread throughout the entire Nanyang County, making the name of Chengjin Money House, which had gradually disappeared from people's sight, active again, and there were more voices of discussion.
Many people who had deposited money and then withdrawn it the next day regretted it so much that they wanted to slap themselves in the face. When they saw their wives coming over, they scolded them, "Why did I listen to you, a spendthrift woman, saying that Chengjin Bank was a scam? Now they have withdrawn the money with interest. How much money have I lost?"
Those who did not withdraw their money were so proud that they started to publicize the fact that they had deposited money in Chengjin Money House. They thought that they could just do nothing and earn interest, which was so comfortable.
At the end of the incident, even Zhang Zonghan, who had just returned, came to Su Che in person to ask, "What's going on with your bank? Why are so many people asking me if you have any deposits left, and if they can find a way to deposit their money into your bank?"
