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Usury, this ancient financial monster, has long been rooted in human history, and its influence has spread to this day, and it has always been a major problem in the financial industry. However, if we go back to ancient times, we will find the origin of usury, even in those days it already existed in a peculiar way.
With a history of more than 3,000 years, the usury dispute has a long history, and its origins can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty, when it was already a major aberration in the financial industry. In that ancient era, examples of usury were common, and what was even more distressing was that some of the figures who owed debts included the Son of Heaven, the Emperor. Among them, there was a Dongzhou dynasty son named King Zhou Zhao, who reigned for 59 years and lived to be more than 100 years old, but because he could not repay the money lent to him by the princes, he simply hid on the high platform and refused to come out.
Ancient history is full of similar stories, and usury always seems to be associated with big people. Take Zuo Zongtang at the end of the Qing Dynasty, for example, in order to recover Xinjiang, he also borrowed usury as military expenses. Taking stock of historical usury, we will find that borrowers are almost all powerful people, and many of them do not pay their debts, and there is even a kind of usury that does not need to repay the principal, which makes people think deeply.
The history of usury dates back to the Zhou Dynasty, during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, when royal power gradually weakened, and in 618 BC, King Xiang of Zhou died, and his successor, King Zhou Yuan, did not have enough money to hold a decent funeral for his father, and it is surprising that this son of Zhou Tianzi could not bury his father because of lack of money.
King Zhou Zhao was even more tragic, and he was hailed as one of the "three greats" in history, that is, the poorest, the longest, and the worst. He was the longest-reigning and longest-lived son of the Zhou Dynasty, but also the poorest of the poorest. During his reign, the Seven Heroes fought for hegemony, especially the Qin state, which was eager to attack the Zhou royal family, and although the king of Zhou Zhao wanted to attack the Qin state, he did not have enough financial resources and troops to support this plan.
Therefore, King Zhou Zhao borrowed money from the princely states, promising that if he succeeded in repelling the Qin state, he would return the spoils and the loans. However, he has a key precondition that he will only pay back if he wins, that is, if he fails, he does not intend to pay it back. This strategy is also implemented in practice.
In 256 BC, King Zhou Zhao's army launched a campaign against the Qin state in the name of the Central Army, however, this motley army of various princely states suffered heavy losses in the battle, and did not even receive the spoils, let alone pay back.
The anger and dissatisfaction of the princely states welled up in their hearts, and they went to the King of Zhou Zhao to get back the money they had lent out, but King Zhou Zhao was penniless, how could he afford this debt? Facing the princes chasing debts, King Zhou Zhao had a ingenious idea and hid on the high platform in the backyard of the palace, letting people pull off the ladder and fall into the situation of "high debts".
Later, the Qin state attacked and destroyed the Zhou dynasty, and soon after, the king of Zhou Zhao also fell ill and died, and all the money lent to him by the vassal states became bad debts that could not be recovered. This son of Zhou Tianzi actually ended his reign by borrowing usury and not paying it back, which really made the ancestors of the Zhou Dynasty lose face.
However, the ending of this story has some unexpected twists. King Zhou Zhao borrowed money and did not pay it back, but Emperor Jing of Han later repaid the money with ten times the interest, which can be said to be the ancient version of the "donkey rolling" usury. At the same time, there is also a kind of usury in history, which not only does not need to repay the principal, but also allows people to become rich, that is, "Beijing debt".
The so-called Beijing debt refers to the expenses raised by officials when they took office in ancient times, as well as the entanglement required for the imperial examination and the loan used for bribery. Beijing officials believe that once they become officials, the money will sooner or later flow back into their hands, so they do not care about the interest rate of the loan, as long as they borrow money. These officials take office with their families, which are numerous and expense
But they believe that once they enter officialdom, these fees will sooner or later be recouped, so they do not care much about the high interest rate on borrowing. Sometimes, the distance is long and the expense is even greater, but the creditors are not worried because they believe that once the officials are in office, they will be able to easily earn back the money.
However, there are two fatal problems with the high-risk lending practices of Beijing officials.
First of all, once the Beijing officials change their fortunes and do not pay back after taking office, they have official power and power, and ordinary creditors cannot recover them, but can only admit that they are unlucky. This situation is quite similar to King Zhou Zhao's behavior of relying on accounts.
Second, the Beijing official died suddenly shortly after taking office, and the creditors were also unable to recover the arrears. Because there was no such thing as a health examination report in that era, creditors could not predict the life expectancy of the Beijing officials. This has led to a high bad debt rate, and according to historical records, the bad debt rate of Beijing debts is as high as more than half, that is, more than half of Beijing officials choose not to pay their debts.
In this case, the problem of official corruption and embezzlement became more serious, especially in the later dynasty, when the focus of the imperial court was no longer on the happiness and well-being of the common people. All this made ancient usury a great cancer in society.
However, there will always be some exceptions, and some people have accumulated wealth by virtue of Beijing debt. Ximen Qing is a typical example, in "Water Margin", he used official debts to coax local officials, and established an extensive network of relationships that linked politics and business. His mastery won the admiration and protection of officials, and he eventually became a powerful and wealthy man.
In ancient times, usury was not only a financial issue, but also involved a complex interweaving of politics, officialdom, power and money. It can both enrich people and lead to social corruption. These ancient stories tell us that financial problems are not just a problem of modern society, they have existed throughout history and have had a profound impact on human society. To solve these problems, financial behavior needs to be treated more cautiously to ensure the stability and fairness of the financial system. Only in this way can we avoid the repeated twists and turns of history, and make society more prosperous and stable.
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