Chapter 151: The Development Plan of the Great Tang Imperial Bank!

Bidding farewell to the young women, Li Yi galloped all the way to the imperial palace, calculating that Li Er had probably just finished the morning court session.

Presenting his token, Li Yi navigated the familiar path to the Wanchun Hall and was admitted after his arrival was announced.

Upon entering the hall, he saw Li Er sitting upright in the main seat, Fang Xuanling seated lower down with lowered brows, and a court historian nearby preparing to take notes. This was the exact posture of a formal court audience and policy debate.

Seeing Li Yi enter, Li Er's lips moved slightly as he uttered a single word: "Sit!" Then he remained silent.

At this attitude from Li Er, a chill ran through Li Yi's heart. He knew that Li Er was beginning to treat him like a proper senior statesman! In other words, if Li Yi could not give Li Er a different signal today, he would be completely dragged into the whirlpool of political struggle. There was no helping it; Li Yi had stood out far too much during the recent military exercises. The civil officials' faction had lost the charity foundation, and the military officials' faction had lost face. Both groups now wanted to use Li Yi as a target, yet Li Yi only held a nominal honorary title. Although technically an official, he had always hovered at the fringes of politics. Therefore, the first thing those ministers needed to do was kick Li Yi directly into the political circle so they could easily strike at him.

Without even needing to think, Li Yi knew that someone in the court today must have used the excuse of the exercises to petition for merits on his behalf. This might look like a reward, but in reality, it was a trap to pull him into the circle. Moreover, looking at the situation, Li Er seemed somewhat tempted. Li Yi felt a secret pang of distress. Had he known beforehand, he would have met with the old man first; that way, he could have known both himself and the enemy and devised a countermeasure.

Seeing Li Yi standing there in a daze, Li Er frowned, his inclination to establish strict rules for Li Yi growing even stronger.

After a moment of distraction, Li Yi snapped back to reality and hurriedly sat in the seat below Fang Xuanling, his posture rigid and proper, not daring to be the slightest bit careless.

Only when Li Yi was properly seated did Li Er speak: "Wenyong, tell me about the matter of promissory notes."

Hearing Li Er address him by his courtesy name Wenyong rather than "brats," Li Yi became even more certain of his suspicions.

Suppressing his doubts and collecting his thoughts, Li Yi began: "Your Majesty! The so-called promissory notes are essentially paper currency, meaning paper used to replace coinage! The development of these notes can be divided into several stages. The first stage is the era of deposit shops, where coins were mostly used as mortgage vouchers! Merchants who wanted to transport money to distant places—for example, wishing to move funds from Chang'an to Hangzhou—only needed to deposit their money into a deposit shop in Chang'an, which would issue a receipt. The merchant could then present the receipt at a financial shop in Hangzhou to withdraw the corresponding funds, paying only a modest service fee. The receipts from this era should be called vouchers!"

Li Yi paused here to allow Li Er and Fang Xuanling time to think, as well as to give the historian time to record. Although this was a minor gesture, it made Li Er, Fang Xuanling, and the historian deeply appreciate Li Yi's mindfulness.

After a moment, Li Yi continued: "The second stage is the era of private banks. As the scale of these banks grew larger and their coverage wider, merely holding coins on deposit could no longer sustain their massive expenditures. Thus, they needed to expand their business by actively accepting deposits from the common people. The people would deposit money into the bank, and the bank would pay a certain interest. The bank could then use these funds for investments to generate profits. Of course, given the current scale of the Tang Dynasty's commerce, this path is clearly unsuitable, so other methods must be found. At this stage, a growing number of people held receipts, involving wider circles of society. These could be called exchange certificates."

"The third stage: as the reputation of the banks grew, more and more people deposited their money. When this reached a certain level, a situation would arise where everyone held exchange certificates in their hands. At this point, the next step could be taken: directly using exchange certificates for transactions. However, the denominations on the certificates varied, matching the exact amount deposited, which was highly unfavorable for trade. At this juncture, the banks could issue standardized currency notes. The so-called currency notes are exchange certificates of uniform denominations, such as three-wen, five-wen, ten-wen, or even one-guan notes! By then, the common people could exchange their individual certificates for standardized currency notes and use them directly for transactions. When that time comes, the currency used by merchants will transform from heavy copper coins into lightweight paper money, directly altering the commercial trading model. Your subject believes that commerce at that time will develop at a flying speed, and thriving commerce will directly impact the development of the nation. When that day arrives, a true golden age will descend!"

As Li Yi finished speaking, everyone in the room was so shocked that they were left speechless! Every dynasty shared a common ideal among monarchs and ministers: to forge a golden age—an eternal, unchanging theme throughout history. Yet from ancient times to the present, all rulers and ministers governed by feeling their way across the river stone by stone, or by summarizing historical experiences to break through step by step. However, Li Yi's words were equivalent to directly handing them a paved road leading straight to a golden age. It meant that as long as they followed this path, they would undoubtedly create a golden age. How could they not be moved?

Li Er sprang to his feet, pacing back and forth in agitation. He could no longer sit still; only by standing could he aid his thought process. Fang Xuanling's face was likewise trembling with excitement, and he muttered under his breath, presumably calculating the probability of success for the method Li Yi described. The recording historian's face was also flushed red with excitement, for he might be witnessing the birth of a historic policy. To a historian, this was undoubtedly a supreme glory. His brush flew across the paper, terrified of missing a single detail, while he secretly resolved that henceforth, whenever Li Yi participated in a policy debate, he must strive to secure the recording duty.

Observing the transformations of those around him, Li Yi felt no surprise. The reason Li Er and the ministers had failed to think of this sooner was, firstly, the limitations of their era, and secondly, the perspective from which they viewed problems. Every issue they considered started from a political angle. Immersed in a dynasty that undervalued commerce, how could they ever conceive of using commerce as a breakthrough point? In truth, Li Yi had considered this path for a long time and knew it was entirely feasible. A ready-made historical example was the Song Dynasty. In history, although the Song Dynasty was the weakest militarily, it was the wealthiest economically. The Song era was the period of greatest economic, cultural, and educational prosperity in Chinese history, reaching the pinnacle of feudal society. Someone once praised: "The culture of the Hua-Xia nation, through millennia of evolution, reached its zenith in the Zhao-Song era." The fundamental reason for the Song Dynasty's immense prosperity was economic development, and the most crucial link in this was currency reform! Paper currency also originated in the early Song period and reached its peak in the late Northern Song.

It took a full incense stick's worth of time for Li Er to calm his thoughts! Reseating himself, he spoke: "Kid, is this path really viable?"

Hearing Li Er address him as "kid" again, Li Yi finally relaxed inwardly. "Uncle Li, actually, it doesn't matter whether this path is viable or not. The primary characteristic of a so-called golden age is that the common people live and work in peace and contentment, leading affluent lives! The prerequisite for all this is thriving commerce, which ultimately boils down to a single word: money. Commerce is the lifeblood of a nation. If commerce is underdeveloped, the people can never become prosperous. To put it another way, if commerce thrives, it means the people have idle wealth, which signifies that their lives are prosperous!"

When Li Yi finished, Fang Xuanling excitedly chimed in: "Correct! Your Majesty, nation-building ultimately boils down to the word money; therefore, commercial development is the key. Although we understood this in the past, all our efforts went into formulating policies to improve commerce. Yet kid Yi approaches it from within the commercial sphere itself to stimulate commercial development—this method is indeed brilliant!"

Li Yi smiled and said, "It's not that profound; it's simply a matter of looking at it from a different perspective."

After pondering for a moment, Li Er said, "Mm, taking commerce as a breakthrough to propel the entire Tang Dynasty forward is a fine idea, but there must be no shortage of hidden problems within it, right?"

Fang Xuanling: "Indeed, many problems certainly exist here. First, promoting commerce is tantamount to indirectly elevating the status of merchants, something the great aristocratic clans will never tolerate! Second, once commerce develops too rapidly, it is likely to foster a phenomenon where commerce is prized above all else. If everyone abandons farming to become merchants, who will till the fields? Without anyone farming, a severe food famine will ensue! Third, the utmost priority in governing a state is balance. Once commerce develops too quickly, it risks shattering this equilibrium, which could trigger massive chaos!"

Fang Xuanling truly deserved his reputation as an eternal famous statesman; whenever he considered an issue, he always struck at the core, identifying the primary problems brought about by commercial development!

Li Er nodded and looked back at Li Yi.

Having prepared for this matter for a long time, Li Yi naturally had already thought of corresponding solutions!

"Your Majesty, the points Uncle Fang raised are all considered from a macro perspective, and they are very real. Moreover, that is not even the entirety of it. For private banks to truly flourish, numerous problems must also be resolved. For instance: First, when the people deposit money into a bank, how does the bank utilize these funds to generate profit? Second, commercial growth is likely to create a massive wealth gap—making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Thus, the second challenge is how to ensure commercial development drives prosperity for the general populace. Third, with the circulation of paper currency and commercial advancement, trade will increasingly lean toward corporatization, meaning more commodities will be needed to satisfy market demands, which in turn requires more workers, potentially impacting agricultural development. Maintaining balance amidst rapid commercial growth is also a major problem. Of course, there is also a crucial minor issue: current paper is far more expensive than coinage and cannot be mass-produced. Furthermore, the keys to paper currency are paper quality and printing. Unless these two points are resolved, nothing can be accomplished!"

As Li Yi finished speaking, the hearts of Li Er and Fang Xuanling instantly turned half-cold. With so many problems lying ahead, could this path truly be traversed?