The next item to be auctioned was not the mirror, but another thing that had never been born in this world, that is, the interest on deposits.
Zhou Huairen spent a long time trying to make everyone present understand that the next five places would be auctioned. Each place could deposit one million strings of cash in Zhidaobao. By this time next year, you could take away one million strings of cash in Zhidaobao.
"Hey kid, are you crazy? People deposited their money with you, shouldn't you charge them a safekeeping fee? How can you even pay them back now? By this time next year, won't you have lost 50,000 strings of cash?"
Li Shimin said with some confusion. He originally thought that his grandson was very smart, but after this incident, he felt that his grandson had a problem with his brain. Of course, this could not be blamed on Li Shimin. Now the money house has not appeared. Even if the money house appears, you have to pay a storage fee if you deposit money with it. He has never heard that you can get money from here.
"Of course not. The purpose of opening a business is to make money. Who would want to lose money? You only see that I have to pay him 50,000 strings of cash in interest next year. But within this year, I can use his 1 million strings of cash and make small profits from it. By then, as long as the profit exceeds 50,000 strings of cash, then I will have made a fortune, right?"
Li Xiang was drawing on the table while talking. Although Li Shimin understood what Li Xiang said, he still felt it was a little unbelievable. After all, 50,000 strings of cash was not a small amount. What's more, there might be deviations in your management. Once you lose money, you won't even be able to compensate other people's principal.
When Li Shimin said this, Li Xiang also knew how to respond.
"Grandpa is right. I might lose money, but it's impossible for me to lose money on everything I do. I will only lose a portion of it. The majority of it will still be manageable. As long as the bad debt rate remains stable below a certain benchmark, I can still make a lot of money every year."
No matter how Li Xiang explained this issue, people of that era would not understand it. Li Shimin was also confused, let alone the people below him.
"Can someone come deposit some money?"
Li Shimin said with some doubt.
"Of course there are. For example, Grandfather, the national treasury has an annual revenue of 12 million strings of cash, which is transported to the capital twice a year. When the court is rich, would you rather let it grow in the national treasury? Or would you rather keep it with me?"
Li Xiang started to deceive people. If the Ministry of Revenue deposited money with him, it would encourage many people to deposit money.
Li Shimin calculated in his mind that there would always be 2 million strings of cash kept in the national treasury as a reserve. If all of it were given to Li Xiang, it would become 2.1 million strings of cash by this time next year.
However, Li Shimin was still a little worried. Even if he wanted to save money, he could only save one million strings of cash. The remaining one million strings of cash had to be kept in the national treasury to deal with emergencies.
"Then, to support your pursuit of the treasure, Grandfather will have the Ministry of Revenue deposit one million strings of cash. However, when the money matures next year, you must return it to me, both principal and interest. If you deposit two million strings of cash, you won't have any money left when you need it."
Li Shimin also spent a lot of money from Li Xiang, so he had to help when it was necessary. What's more, this money could not make any small profits in the national treasury, so it would be better to deposit it with Li Xiang, who could then make small profits for me.
"It doesn't matter if you don't have money. You can always borrow money from Zhidaobao when the time comes! For example, if the court needs money and the Ministry of Revenue doesn't have enough money, the court can borrow money from me. I only charge a small fee."
After Li Xiang's explanation, Li Shimin became interested. The imperial court was always short of money, and whenever it was short of money, it would even want to sell the imperial palace.
"How much is your fee?"
Li Shimin knew that his grandson would not do anything without benefits, so he had to clarify some things.
"Not much, not much. If I borrow one million strings of cash, just give me one million and one hundred and fifty thousand strings of cash next year."
When Li Xiang said this, Li Shimin immediately slammed the table and said, "You are simply trying to kill me. People deposited money with you, and you only gave them a commission of 50,000 strings of cash. Now you lend them money and triple the amount!"
"Why don't you go and grab it?"
Li Shimin said unhappily.
"Grandpa, don't say that. If someone is willing to lend you money when you need it urgently, you only need to pay a small commission and you can get the job done. But if no one lends you money, then even if you want to pay the commission, the job will be delayed. Compared with what you want to do, the commission is nothing."
Li Xiang happily began to brainwash people. It would be very difficult for people of this generation to accept such new things, but Li Xiang was not in a hurry. Currently, he was only serving big clients. Li Xiang was not willing to serve small clients, and ordinary people did not have that much money.
"Five thousand strings of cash."
Just as the father and son were arguing, the auction had already begun. The bidder was still Cui Yuncheng, and he was ready to buy the first spot.
The Cui family has plenty of money, and now they can earn interest by depositing it with Li Xiang. Why not? In their eyes, Li Xiang is a fool, and they are not afraid that Li Xiang will not pay back the money. After all, Li Xiang is the eldest grandson of the emperor, and the East Palace is still there. Are they still afraid that Li Xiang will run away?
"Seven thousand strings of cash."
As soon as Cui Yuncheng finished speaking, Young Master Wang of the Taiyuan Wang family also stood up.
Although the strength of the major families varies, when it comes to deposits, there is not much difference. If your Cui family can come up with one million strings of cash, our Wang family can also do so.
Moreover, during the years of accumulation, this money was kept at home without moving. According to what they just thought, it was impossible to generate new money at home. Next year, they can receive the interest of 50,000 strings of cash, which is not a small amount. 50,000 strings of cash can do a lot of things.
"Eight thousand strings of cash."
The bids were higher and higher, and the Longxi Li family also joined in.
Although Li Shimin claimed to be from the Longxi Li family, the Li family members did not recognize this fact. So when he saw these people stand up, Li Shimin was also a little disgusted. I, the emperor, said that I am from your family, and you still have people outside trying to sabotage me...
However, Li Shimin didn't have time to deal with this right now. He was considering whether someone from the Ministry of Revenue could come forward to bid for a spot. After all, what the Five Surnames and Seven Families had done over the years was correct...