Chapter 27 Pharmaceutical Engineering of Nitroglycerin
Zhu Houzhao continued to talk about his ideas about opening a bank, especially the important role of the central bank in stabilizing the financial order of the empire. As an emperor, his purpose was naturally not as simple as just wanting to maximize his own interests.
Of course, since the commodity economy of the Ming Dynasty has not yet become active, and the monetary system is still in chaos, it would be difficult to directly establish a central bank from the beginning and issue currency, because the main currency of the Ming Dynasty is still grain, which accounts for the main income of the country. All the food stored above is grain.
Silver had to wait until after Jiajing to become the main currency. During the Age of Discovery, a large amount of silver flowed into the Ming Dynasty from the West through trade.
Therefore, the first bank cannot be the central bank, but in Zhu Houzhao's view, it must be a financial institution that stores most of the wealth of Ming Dynasty society.
Xu Jing came from a wealthy businessman family, and he was not stupid either. After Zhu Houzhao explained to him the concept and operation of banks, he almost understood it and said:
"What your Majesty said seems to be very similar to opening a bank, but what I want to say is that the Ming Dynasty's treasure banknotes are worthless, private money is rampant, and coins are already in chaos. Nowadays, most people in the world trade in gold, silver or physical objects. Your Majesty may open a bank to mint coins again. Making money laws even more chaotic.”
What Xu Jing said just now made Zhu Houzhao realize that the reform of money laws was also urgent in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty who did not understand finance, made the financial market of the Ming Dynasty very confusing, which seriously affected the development speed of the empire's commodity economy. .
"My so-called bank is not like a bank to mint and exchange coins for the time being. However, in the future, I will ask the Ministry of Accounts to reform the money law and ban private minting. But for now, it will only be used to store gold and silver and other items and lend money. Wang Yue and other rebels will confiscate the proceeds from their homes. In the future, the gold and silver earned by the Royal Taxation Bureau and even the National Treasury will be stored in the Royal Bank, and the Royal Bank will pay interest;
Of course, the Royal Bank's profit model is lending, and I will ban private lending and raising funds at that time. Under such conditions, I believe that you, Xu Jing, can use the money from the Royal Taxation Bureau's house raids and taxes to create more wealth. ”
When Zhu Houzhao said this, Xu Jing couldn't help but laugh immediately. He could understand that as long as the emperor prohibited private fund-raising and lending, the so-called royal bank would naturally make a huge profit. He said: "Then I will follow your majesty's will and prepare to organize the royal bank." Bank, please ask your majesty to make it easier for me to give official positions to the people recommended by me, so that I can recruit such talents. Otherwise, how can those money shop owners be willing to serve the court?"
"I will naturally give you convenience. I asked you to do it because I couldn't find such talents. If you can find someone here, I will naturally treat you as a national scholar." Zhu Houzhao nodded and asked Xu Jing to do it immediately. He knew that as a wealthy businessman, it would not be difficult for Xu Jing to find a few people who could be good at gold and silver trading.
After Liu Jin and other Eight Tigers listened to Zhu Houzhao's detailed explanation, they all understood what Zhu Houzhao meant. Although it was the first time for them to hear about a bank, they could also understand that once they follow His Majesty the Emperor to establish such a bank similar to a money store, That means there will be eternal wealth!
First of all, His Majesty the Emperor is undoubtedly the richest man in the world. Once he wants to open an imperial store, for Liu Jin and other Eight Tigers, the Royal Bank will be the imperial store, which means that no one dares to manage this store and it will not go bankrupt. Make money all the time.
Therefore, Liu Jin and others responded positively to Emperor Zhu Houzhao's request for them to take shares, and directly thanked the emperor for his favor.
Xu Jing has always been immersed in the joy of becoming an official. He has always wanted to enter an official career. Although he was a wealthy businessman, the examination fraud case in the twelfth year of Hongzhi made him lose the qualification to be an official.
Therefore, he was indeed very happy that Zhu Houzhao now gave him the opportunity to be an official. Now the emperor wants to bestow upon him wealth, make him a shareholder of the Royal Bank, and allow him to develop his talents and open the Royal Bank. He really doesn't know how to express his gratitude to His Majesty the Emperor.
Xu Jing found that the one hundred thousand taels of silver he spent at the Royal Exposition was not a loss at all. He couldn't help but think to himself that in the future, whenever His Majesty the Emperor wants to spend money, he must be willing to give it to His Majesty, because His Majesty the Emperor does not seem to treat him badly. Own.
Now that His Majesty the Emperor wants to open a bank, he is not stingy, saying that he will take out all the cash in his hand.
Liu Jin and the other Eight Tigers had already learned from the establishment of the Royal Industrial Company with Emperor Zhu Houzhao that there would be benefits to investing money in His Majesty the Emperor, and the benefits were not small. The Emperor himself was not a master who was willing to just take money from his slaves. .
However, Zhu Houzhao did not intend to only let Xu Jing, Liu Jin and other Eight Tigers invest. He had to let Xu Jing, Liu Jin and other Eight Tigers go to the high-ranking officials in the court to attract investment. He wanted to give these people a chance to show their loyalty. If these people If people are willing to invest money to help him as the emperor, he will naturally benefit from the benefits of these people. If these people are unwilling to help him, Zhu Houzhao can also use this to distinguish who is truly loyal to him.
After Zhu Houzhao ordered Xu Jing, Liu Jin and other eight tigers to attract investment, he stopped talking to Xu Jing and others. Instead, he took Qiu Ju to the Royal Industrial Experimental Base to continue working on the pharmaceutical project of nitroglycerin.
The scale of the current Royal Industrial Experimental Base has been expanded, and a lot of instruments have been added. Especially after the emergence of glass, the chemical experiments of the Royal Industrial Experimental Base have better experimental conditions. At the same time, Emperor Zhu Houzhao generously rewarded technological breakthroughs. Stimulated by the treatment, a group of young eunuchs who were the first to make soap with him have now almost become the backbone of technology.
The reason why Zhu Houzhao was obsessed with the pharmaceutical engineering of nitroglycerin was not only because he wanted to make a miracle drug to treat heart disease and make a fortune, but more importantly, he wanted to master the control method of trinitroglycerin so as to prepare for the production of trinitrotoluene.
After all, this can realize the military value of nitrated explosives.
When Zhu Houzhao came to the Royal Industrial Experimental Base to observe the pharmaceutical engineering of nitroglycerin, the actual operator was still Qiu Ju. Qiu Ju himself did not dare to let his prince come into contact with this thing. Even he himself found a small eunuch to help him. But in fact, there is no danger in the current glycerin trinitrate, because Zhu Houzhao only asked Qiu Ju to use a drop of nitroglycerin and diluted it several times with distilled water.
However, what is important in making nitroglyceride drugs is not the early reaction but the later crystallization technology and product purity. After all, this is something that needs to be eaten into the human stomach, and several phases of clinical trials are required.
Zhu Houzhao had asked Qiu Ju to find monkeys to make a pathological model of heart disease, but how to make monkeys suffer from angina pectoris was also a problem.
(End of chapter)