Meton said righteously, "The core idea of the School of Mo is to love with impartiality. How can we allow some people to save money but not others?"
Yu Zhining was so angry that his nose was crooked. Meton could even raise the idea of collecting money to the School of Thought.
"So, according to the School of Mo's idea of love with impartiality, how can we only allow the people of Chang 'an to save money? The people of Luoyang, Zhengzhou and Chencang can also deposit money in the Village of Mo's Village." Yu Zhining gnashed his teeth and said.
"Of course. In the future, as long as anyone comes to the Village of Mo's Village to deposit money, the Village of Mo's Village will not refuse." Meton nodded without hesitation. Not only these places, but wherever the Village of Mo's Village Bank expanded, the deposit business of the Village of Mo's Village would also expand there.
At this moment, all the officials were numb. They did not know whether Mo Jiazi was a genius or a lunatic. He had already come up with such a grand plan. If Mo Jiazi really succeeded, the wealth of the School of Mo would be astronomical.
"We must stop Mo Jiazi!" Many officials looked at each other at the same time and then nodded with tacit understanding.
"Mo Jiazi is too greedy. You have taken in deposits without restraint. In order to pay the interest of the people, you have started to get involved in the business of collecting money." The assistant minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs rebuked angrily.
Modun nodded without hesitation and admitted, "Of course. The annual interest of 30,000 strings of cash is not a small amount. Otherwise, the Village Mo's entire year's work would be in vain. All of it would be paid with interest."
"Your Majesty, the reputation of collecting money is bad and harmful. Mo Jiazi is an official of the imperial court, but he is involved in collecting money. We are ashamed to be associated with such a person." The assistant minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs rebuked righteously.
Meton asked curiously, "The annual interest of 6% is also counted as collecting money? In the past, I wanted to borrow money with an annual interest of 6%, but I couldn't! "
Many of the courtiers sighed in their hearts. Although they knew that Mo Jiazi's annual interest rate of six percent was already considered good news, the notoriety of the printing industry had always made everyone instinctively reject this industry, not to mention the fact that Mo Jiazi shouldered the reputation of the Mo family, the imperial family, and an official.
"Even if it's just a tiny bit of interest, it's still money. Do you know how many people have fallen into the trap of money? Their families have been ruined, and their wives and children have been separated." Yu Zhining chimed in righteously.
"Since that's the case, why hasn't the Imperial Court ordered the seizure of all banks and banned the practice of printing money?" Meton asked.
"Ugh!" Yu Zhining was suddenly at a loss for words. Everyone knew about the dangers of printing money, but the banks of the Tang dynasty were everywhere. Even the temples used to participate in this profiteering industry.
"Those banks were only opened by some lowly businessmen, and Merton is a relative of the imperial family. How can they be compared?" The assistant minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs voiced his support.
Meton retorted sarcastically, "If that's the case, when the Imperial Court was building the brick road, they issued bonds worth 400,000 strings of cash and promised to give an annual interest rate of 5.5%. Isn't that also a form of printing money? It's even higher than the printing money charged by the banks!"
"Ugh!" The assistant minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs was suddenly at a loss for words. When the Imperial Court was building the brick road, they only promised to issue bonds with an annual interest rate of 5.5%, and it had already caused a rush to buy bonds. Just the Mo family village alone had bought tens of thousands of strings of cash. Now it seemed that this was no different from the Mo family village's practice of collecting printing money.
"That's because the Imperial Court collected printing money, but they didn't do such a dirty thing as releasing printing money." The assistant minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs argued.
Meton smiled and said, "Of course I know that the Imperial Court didn't release printing money, but used this to show that even the Imperial Court would have times when they were short of money, let alone the common people. The weather is unpredictable, and people's fortunes are uncertain. No one can guarantee that they will have a smooth sailing life. If they are in trouble and have no way to ask for help, I'm afraid that they can only borrow money."
The officials couldn't help but nod. Everyone had bad luck sometimes, and it was inevitable that they would encounter difficulties.
"But the people of the world love to add flowers to brocade, and no one will help them in their hour of need. The more difficult it is, the more difficult it will be to borrow money. As the saying goes, a penny can drive a hero down. At that time, I'm afraid that they can only go on the road of no return." Merton said.
"Everyone loves to add flowers to brocade, and no one will help them in their hour of need."
"A penny can drive a hero down."
Many officials couldn't help but look away. Most of them were representatives of the rich families in Chang 'an. This time, the rich families tacitly blocked the Mo family's cash flow because of the crisis in the Mo family's village. But they also loved to add flowers to brocade, and no one would help them in their hour of need.
"The world hates printing money, but they can't do without printing money. This is what the Ziqian family relies on for thousands of years. Today, the Mo family has taken down the interest of printing money, so that the common people can use their idle money to gain benefits, and the merchants who are short of money can reverse the crisis. It's a win-win situation, but you obstruct it. Are you on the Ziqian family's side?" Meton scolded.
"Mo Jiazi, don't slander us!" Yu Zhining hurriedly scolded. The other officials couldn't help but feel nervous. Although they had an inseparable relationship with the Ziqian family, no one dared to admit that they had connections with the notorious Ziqian family.
"Then I'd like to ask, which is better between banks and money houses? Is the bank's move good for the world?" Meton said firmly.
All the officials were silent. No matter from which aspect, banks were thousands of times better than money houses.
"I support the bank. I have already deposited all the wealth of the Qin's Mansion in the bank. The annual interest is 30 strings of coins, which is enough for an ordinary family to spend for a year." Qin Qiong sighed.
Many officials nodded. The price of goods in the Tang dynasty was not high, and many families could not earn 30 strings of coins a year, which was enough for a family to live a rich life in Chang 'an.
Yu Zhining took a deep breath and said, "The printing money is printing money. No matter how much the annual interest is, it can't change its nature. Once the common people can't pay it back, will you, Meton, be generous enough to waive it?"
Hearing Yu Zhining's words, all the officials nodded. The reason why the world criticized the printing money was not only because the interest was too high, but also because the ending was too miserable if the people couldn't pay it back. It was common for families to be broken up.
Many upright officials followed the trend to impeach Mo Jiazi because of this. Suddenly, everyone's eyes were focused on Mo Jiazi. Even Li Shimin couldn't help thinking and wanted to see Mo Jiazi's answer.
Meton shook his head without hesitation and said, "Of course not. It is right and proper to pay back debts. The money in the bank doesn't belong to me, but to the common people. If I waive the loan, it will be the common people's money that will make the Mo family more famous. And I'm afraid that this will encourage the people to default on their debts."
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