Subsequently, the new gadget camera became popular in the city.
A camera is not cheap, costing over a thousand taels of silver. But even so, buyers are still in short supply, and they have to queue up to get a number and make a deposit in advance to buy one.
The reason why they are so enthusiastic about it is that, first of all, this is a new thing. Only the royal palaces and princes and nobles have it. For them, it is a top-notch luxury product.
Beijing is now the hub of several railways. The Eurasian Railway, Southeast Railway, Northeast Railway, Beijing-Tianjin Railway... all start here.
Therefore, there are hundreds of thousands of merchants here if not one million. And most of what they do is big business. Not to mention that a camera costs only a thousand taels of silver, even if it costs tens of thousands, they will still buy it.
No matter what it is, even if it is just a piece of garbage, it is limited edition garbage and not everyone can own it. Therefore, in order to show off, they are naturally willing to buy.
Secondly, this is a legendary thing that can summon souls. The souls will be printed on the paper just by looking at them. Who doesn’t want to see what’s going on?
Xiang Nan naturally took the opportunity to make a lot of money, and will continue to make money in the future. After all, only he has the film and darkroom. At that time, it will cost money to buy film, and it will also cost money to develop negatives... This is called a long-term business.
…
In the 39th year of Qianlong's reign, the first automobile factory in the Qing Dynasty was officially completed, and then cars began to run in the capital.
This kind of small car is not only comfortable to ride and does not bump or shake, but it is also much faster than a horse-drawn carriage. Once it is driven on the street, it attracts everyone's attention.
So soon, cars also became popular in Beijing.
However, compared to cameras, the price of a car is much higher. One car costs 100,000 taels of silver, and it is not in stock yet. You have to wait at least half a year to get it, so there is no guarantee.
Even so, there was still a long queue of people who wanted to buy it. Xiang Nan couldn't help but murmur to himself that there were still so many people buying a car worth 100,000. These businessmen were obviously richer than he thought.
It seems like I should raise some taxes, or let those businessmen spend money.
Otherwise, if they are too rich, something will happen. The European bourgeois revolution began because after the rise of the bourgeoisie, it began to compete with the imperial power for power.
However, how to collect taxes is a matter of knowledge. It is not something that can be successfully collected just by issuing a decree. If it were that simple, the Ming Dynasty would not have to rely on eunuchs to collect taxes.
After Xiang Nan's consideration, he raised taxes on some goods, raised railway and ship freight rates, and also added several taxes. Such as inheritance tax, property tax, stamp duty, etc.
The most brilliant method he used was to set up banks across the country, issue banknotes, and gradually ban the circulation of gold and silver currencies...
The so-called gold and silver are naturally not money, but money is naturally gold and silver. Gold and silver are freely circulating currencies all over the world, whether in Asia, Europe, South America, North America, Africa, Australia... The value of gold and silver is recognized by everyone.
For this reason, the imperial court was unable to control the value of gold and silver. After all, the imperial court could not conjure gold and silver out of thin air. This deprived the imperial court of its best means of regulating the economy.
In comparison, if gold and silver cannot be circulated and paper money is used instead, there will be many more economic control methods. When the economy is depressed, the money supply can be increased to boost the economy; when the economy is inflated, the money supply can also be tightened to inhibit investment and consumption...
That is, if the court is too greedy and issues banknotes indiscriminately, it will lead to a loss of public confidence, economic collapse, social unrest, and civil unrest. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, the excessive issuance of treasure banknotes led to the bankruptcy of the court's credit, causing complaints from the people, and domestic inflation remained high.
In the early years of Hongwu, the market value of Ming Dynasty treasure notes was the same as that of copper coins. By the 27th year of Hongwu, the market value of Ming Dynasty treasure notes was less than 20% of copper coins.
By the Hongzhi period, the purchasing power of three thousand guan of treasure banknotes was only equivalent to four cents, and wealth had been reduced by 750 times in disguise. It's no wonder that the wealthy people in the Ming Dynasty hated the court so much that they didn't want to pay taxes.
Xiang Nan also knows that once a bank is opened, it can be a double-edged sword.
If done well, it will benefit the country and the people, but if not done well, it will harm the country and the people, and it may be the reason why the country will be destroyed in the end.
Just like the United States, although it relies on the financial industry to cut leeks around the world, it is also kidnapped by the financial industry.
The transformation from the real economy to virtual finance has severely hollowed out industrialization, which has led to the widening gap between the rich and the poor in the country, a surge in unemployment, and high debts... Sooner or later, the United States will be dragged down by its own debt.
Therefore, he specifically told his sons not to be greedy. Otherwise, it will definitely backfire on itself.
…
Xiang Nan subsequently promoted the construction of the bank. Trial banks were opened in Beijing, Jinmen, Jinling, Hujiang, Chang'an, Guangdong and other places, and banknotes printed by the imperial court were issued.
There are sixteen denominations of banknotes, namely one cent, two cents, five cents, one cent, two cents, five cents, one cent, two cents, five cents, one tael, two taels, five taels, twelve taels, twenty taels. Fifty taels, one hundred taels.
The engraving plate of each banknote is engraved by the most skilled engraver, and Xiang Nan's head is printed on it. Every banknote is made of plastic.
Plastics are only available in the imperial court in the world, and outsiders don’t know its craftsmanship. Naturally, they cannot forge them if they want to.
Unlike the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, when they were printed, the printing was too rough, making counterfeit money popular. This is also one of the important reasons for the depreciation of Ming Dynasty banknotes.
Furthermore, printing money in plastic can also prevent people from accidentally laundering the money. After all, plastic is not afraid of washing. Even if it is soaked in water for several months, it will be fine.
In addition, the ink for printing banknotes can only be produced by the imperial court. Modern inks refined from petroleum and coal tar cannot be printed by outsiders, so the anti-counterfeiting performance of this type of banknotes is very good.
With the issuance of banknotes, many people are willing to accept these colorful banknotes with beautiful patterns printed on them.
First of all, it is easy to carry and not as heavy as copper coins, silver, and gold; secondly, the court only needs banknotes to collect taxes, so they have to convert the money into banknotes.
In addition, banks also provide deposit services. As long as you bring the deposit slip and seal, you can collect it even though you are thousands of miles away, which greatly facilitates merchants.
After all, carrying large sums of cash on the road is really dangerous. Not to mention that it was still ancient times, and there were bound to be some petty thieves and bandits who robbed homes and homes.
Even in today's legal society, it is difficult to guarantee that someone will take a desperate risk when carrying a huge sum of money on the road.
So instead of taking cash with you, it is better to take a deposit slip with you, which can reduce a lot of trouble. So paper money quickly became popular.