Jin Chuan Money House had only been established for a short time when Jin Feng and the Ninth Princess were lured away by a scheme from the powerful nobles. Qing Xinyao was also stripped of his position.
The merchants saw the situation turning bad. Not only did they dare not deposit more money, but they withdrew all the money they had previously deposited.
Even so, Jin Feng still wrote a letter instructing Zhu Linglong to open more branches. He also told Zhou Youda to organise the common people to make deposits.
At first, Zhou Youda really could not understand it. How much money could the common people possibly have?
Depositing it would not even cover the rent for the Jin Chuan Chamber of Commerce premises or the wages for the staff.
But since Jin Feng had given the order and Zhu Linglong kept urging him, Zhou Youda had no choice but to carry it out.
Now, the Jin Chuan Money House had seven branches in Xichuan City, big and small combined.
Zhou Youda did not understand Jin Feng’s intentions, but Zhu Linglong knew. Jin Feng had asked her to establish the money house precisely to train the staff’s business abilities.
So during the time Jin Feng was away, Zhu Linglong, just like Tang Xiaobei back then, bought large numbers of literate and clever slaves from the tooth row and brought them back for training.
The difference between Zhu Linglong and Tang Xiaobei was that back in Guangyuan, Tang Xiaobei had only bought female slaves.
At that time, Jin Feng had no money. Female slaves were cheap, and a small amount could buy a whole group.
By the time they were building the money house, Jin Feng was no longer short of money. So Zhu Linglong had much more choice.
Knowing that Jin Feng would soon need these talents, she bought anyone who could read and count, regardless of gender.
The common people Zhou Youda organised to deposit and withdraw money were simply tools for these future money house managers to practise on.
Now, the time had come to test the training results.
“The time was a bit short. The training results are not ideal. Only thirty-five people can barely go out and manage a branch on their own. The remaining two hundred plus still need more training.” Zhu Linglong replied.
“So many?” Jin Feng was somewhat surprised.
When the money house first opened, the business was very simple, basically just basic deposits and withdrawals.
So Jin Feng’s requirements for managers were not high. As long as they could read and do basic arithmetic, it was enough. But for Zhu Linglong to train so many people in such a short time still surprised Jin Feng greatly.
In Great Kang, scholars basically aimed at passing the imperial examinations to gain official positions. Even women studied to become literate. Very few people focused on mathematics.
“If we only bought literate ones, it would be quite difficult. So my mother helped think of another way.”
Zhu Linglong said. “Many children from small peddler and vendor families cannot read, but they can calculate and are clever. My mother told me to buy them too, then teach them to read.
This year is a disaster year. Many small vendors could not survive and sold their children. Buying them was not only cheap but also quick to teach.
Later, some small vendors heard about this and specially sent their children to me, only hoping the children could have a way to live.”
“Auntie really has many good ideas.”
Jin Feng said with emotion.
Actually, teaching people arithmetic was sometimes harder than teaching them to read.
Moreover, those who could afford to study books in the past mostly came from wealthy families. They were not as hardworking as children from vendor families, nor as sharp.
“What are your criteria for judging them?” Jin Feng continued to ask.
“The criteria are to let them manage a money house branch independently. If there are no mistakes in ten days, they are excellent. If no problems in seven days, they are qualified.”
“The standard is quite high.” Jin Feng nodded slightly and asked. “If we lower the standard a bit, for example, those with no problems in five days, how many are there?”
“One hundred and forty-two people have no problems in five days.”
Zhu Linglong answered without looking at any notes. “The rest can all manage three days without issues. Anyone who cannot even last three days gets eliminated directly.”
“What work do they usually handle?”
“Daily money exchange, money house management, and so on. Basically the normal work of a money house branch.”
“The tasks they will handle next are much simpler than managing a money house branch. If they can manage three days without problems, that is already sufficient.”
Jin Feng looked up at Zhu Linglong. His eyes were full of gratification and approval. “You have worked hard. You must have been extremely busy lately. Once this busy period is over, I will give you a long holiday to rest properly.”
Jin Feng had not noticed earlier. Now that he looked carefully, he saw that Zhu Linglong was even thinner than when he first met her.
Back then she had just been rescued from the tooth row. Now she was even thinner than at that time.
Jin Feng did not need to ask to know that in order to train these people, Zhu Linglong must have put in a tremendous amount of effort.
“It is not hard. It is all part of my duty.”
Zhu Linglong tucked her hair behind her ear and shook her head with a smile.
“Sir, please do not blame this old woman for speaking too much. May this old woman ask what exactly you plan to do?”
Zhu Chen saw that the conversation between Jin Feng and Zhu Linglong had paused, and she could not help asking again.
“My plan is very simple. I will issue a batch of people-benefiting loans!” Jin Feng replied.
“People-benefiting loans?” Zhu Chen was hearing this term for the first time. She hesitated and asked. “What are people-benefiting loans?”
“It means the money house first lends money and grain to the common people. After they get through this difficult year, they repay the principal plus interest to the money house.” Jin Feng explained.
“Then how much interest does sir plan to charge?”
“The interest varies depending on the loan duration.”
Jin Feng picked up a sheet of white paper from the table. “This is the interest rate schedule I drew up based on different durations. Take a look and see if it is appropriate.”
Zhu Chen and Ruan Tongjie quickly leaned over.
Zhu Linglong also glanced at it, then looked away.
This interest rate had been formulated by her and Jin Feng together. She knew it very well.
“Sir, this… this interest rate is too low, is it not?”
Zhu Chen could not help widening her eyes.
In the feudal era, when landlords lent grain to tenants, they not only used small measures to lend and large measures to collect, but the interest rates were also shockingly high.
In the lean season, borrowing a bit of grain from a landlord could mean repaying several times over when harvest came. That was already considered merciful by some landlords.
The ruthless ones calculated compound interest. Even giving the entire family’s grain ration for the season would not be enough to repay the landlord.
Compared to landlords, the interest rate Jin Feng had set was truly far too low.
“Since these are people-benefiting loans, the interest naturally cannot be too high. Otherwise, would it not become usury?” Jin Feng replied with a smile.
“But this is really too low. Can it even cover the money house’s expenses?” Zhu Chen asked. “In business, a venture with no profit cannot last long.”
“Mother, rest assured. This interest rate was calculated repeatedly by me and sir. It will not lose money.”
Zhu Linglong said. “Moreover, sir told me back then that the interest rate is not fixed. It can be adjusted depending on the location and the period.”
This entire system for the money house was something Jin Feng had directly copied from banks in his previous life. Moreover, the interest rates he set were much higher than those of banks in his previous life. He also did not need to pay interest on deposits. The chance of losing money was very small.
If it really could not even break even, he could simply reformulate the interest rate later.
