When Liao Huanzhi was envious of Wang Fan, there was a very tall building on the banks of the Huangpu River far away in Shanghai, where the Shanghai Branch of the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty was located.

Speaking of the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty, this is a bank established by the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty and the first bank in the true sense in the Ming Dynasty.

In the Ming Dynasty, money shops and ticket shops have existed for a long time. However, although they have certain banking functions, they are still very far from real banks.

Zhu Yicheng began to establish the Royal Bank during his time in Ningbo, and after he arrived in Nanjing, the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty was officially established. This bank not only undertakes the business of deposit-absorbing and lending, but also is responsible for the issuance of the Ming Dynasty currency and economic control. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty is the central bank of the Ming Dynasty.

Over the years, with the development of the Ming Dynasty, the emerging industry of banks has gradually been known to many people. In addition, the exchanges between the East and the West have been deep, banks in Western countries have also begun to carry out some business in the Ming Dynasty. Because of these influences, traditional money shops and piao shops have gradually embarked on the path of changing to banks. In just four or five years, many banks have newly registered or reorganized by traditional money shops and piao shops have emerged. These banks are reviewed by the Ministry of Revenue. Later, some of them left the Ministry of Commerce and the review of bank establishment has become more stringent. But even so, there are seventeen banks in Shanghai alone. Of course, the largest and most powerful among these banks is the Royal Bank of the Ming Dynasty.

The headquarters of the Royal Bank of the Ming Dynasty was originally in Nanjing, but later it was transferred from Nanjing to Beijing because of the reason of restoration. But even so, due to the prosperity of the south, the Nanjing Branch was still able to compete with the Beijing Headquarters. When the Shanghai Branch was established, due to the special reasons of Shanghai, the Shanghai Branch became one of the three giants alongside the Beijing Headquarters and Nanjing Branch in less than three years.

In addition to the regional speciality of the Shanghai branch, another reason why it can become one of the three giants in the industry is that the president of the branch is not an ordinary person.

The president of the Shanghai branch is Wang Kun, the former vice president of the headquarters. Wang Kun is not an ordinary person. He is the eldest son of the former Minister of Military Affairs, Minister of Revenue, Duke Xu, and Young Master Wang Fan. This shows the particularity of the Shanghai branch.

Wang Kun is less than forty years old this year, which is the most energetic age for a man. As the eldest son of his family, Wang Kun has been doing business with his father since he was a child. Later, the Wang family was the first to defect to Zhu Yicheng in Ningbo. Zhu Yicheng repaid his favor and gave the Wang family extremely generous rewards. Wang Fan, as the head of the family, not only transformed from a businessman to an executor who controlled the royal business, but later served as the Minister of Revenue.

Afterwards, Wang Fan not only controlled the finances of the Ming Dynasty, but also managed the business for the royal family, and finally won the title of Duke of State Xu. With such honor as a merchant, I am afraid that only Lu Buwei, who was a rare commodity back then, could compare with this history.

Wang Kun also worked in the Ministry of Revenue before, but he was just a small official. Later, after the establishment of the Royal Bank, Wang Fan asked Wang Kun to go to the Royal Bank. Over the years, Wang Kun used his own efforts to prove his financial ability and gradually reached a high position.

When Wang Fan retreated to the second line, Wang Kun was already the deputy president of the Royal Bank's headquarters. Although he could not be said to be the actual second-in-command, he was a big shot in the Royal Bank system.

After Wang Fan retired and returned home, he asked Wang Kun to have a detailed discussion. After that, Wang Kun took the initiative to ask the head office to be transferred to the Shanghai branch. This incident also alarmed Zhu Yicheng. For this reason, Zhu Yicheng specially summoned Wang Kun to comfort him and avoid Wang Kun's thoughts because of Wang Fan's departure.

However, Wang Kun told Zhu Yicheng frankly that the reason he wanted to go to Shanghai was not because Wang Fan retired. In his opinion, Shanghai, as an emerging economic city, connects north and south, has great potential. In recent years, the Shanghai branch's performance has not been good, and it does not reflect the importance of Shanghai at all. Wang Kun, as the deputy president of the head office, feels that Shanghai must have a powerful figure who can explore to further develop its business in order to further develop the business of Royal Bank, and only Wang Kun is the most suitable candidate.

After hearing Wang Kun's self-recommendation, Zhu Yicheng admired his courage and straightforwardness. Moreover, although the Wang family was a subject, in fact, from the moment Wang Fan led the Wang family to directly surrender to Zhu Yicheng, the Wang family was equivalent to Zhu Yicheng's slave.

The family slave doesn't sound very good, but in this era it's the meaning of his own family. This is also the reason why Zhu Yicheng deliberately left Liao Huanzhi in the capital and agreed to Wang Fan for retirement. No matter how close the subject is, he is a subject, but the family slave is equivalent to his own people, which is completely different.

So after Zhu Yicheng was satisfied with Wang Kun's answer, he was also willing to give him such a chance. If Wang Kun could stand alone in Shanghai and even make achievements, then the Wang family would be able to produce another financial management minister worthy of Zhu Yicheng's trust in the future. This is a good thing for both the royal family and the Ming Dynasty.

In this way, Wang Kun was transferred to the Shanghai branch as the deputy president of the Royal Bank's head office, and also retained the position of deputy president of the head office. Since he arrived in Shanghai, he spent a month to understand the situation and understand all aspects of the bank and the Shanghai business community. Then Wang Kun made drastic rectification and reform of the Shanghai branch.

Although Wang Kun is inconspicuous, he is not tall and slightly fat, and his round face makes people feel funny when he smiles. But when he reforms the Shanghai branch, the people below find that Wang Kun, who speaks kindly and has no airs on weekdays, is actually a smiling tiger who can eat people. His unique vision and decisive methods make those who underestimate him regret it.

It took Wang Kun a new branch in three months, and more than a dozen of them were fired and even sent to the cell. In addition, many people complained about the prosecution of some daily business issues.

After that, things became simple. After Wang Kun rectified the internal affairs, he next started to expand his business. In less than half a year, the business of the Shanghai branch increased step by step. By the beginning of this year, the Shanghai branch stood out among all Shanghai banks and became a veritable giant within the Ming Bank and Royal Bank.

The building of the Royal Bank Shanghai Branch has eight floors. The number eight was extremely auspicious in the Ming Dynasty. This building was built in those days and used this number as the floor.

The building's architectural style has the characteristics of combining East and West, and the main body is made of stone, which is considered that stone buildings are stronger than brick and wood structures and are also easier to build.
Chapter completed!