Although a large amount of silver flowed into China after Longqing, resulting in silver becoming a circulating currency as a substitute for copper coins, its own transactions became more cumbersome and even had many drawbacks.

Before this, people's daily life transactions were used copper coins, although there are various problems in the minting, but copper coins are a standardized currency after all, and the unit is small enough, it is relatively convenient to circulate when using.

On the contrary, the later silver transaction itself is divided into official silver and private silver, of which the standard unit of official silver is one or two silver, but its purchasing power is quite large, so it will be very troublesome to make change copper coins when buying a small amount of things, so there is the so-called broken silver, that is, after buying something, you need to cut the silver horns with scissors, and then weigh them.

This transaction method itself is quite cumbersome, and private silver is more troublesome, because in order to make profits, private silver will often cast lead of similar color to increase weight, which will also make many people cut and check before using silver, and also cause the weight of silver to become smaller and smaller, and the whole process needs to be weighed again, and the cumbersome degree has increased a lot.

As a person who used the currency of later generations, Ning Yu naturally scoffed at this mode of trading, so he had the idea of changing it early on—but he couldn't act rashly until Ernst came.

"Ernst, what are you going to do if I ask you to take charge of financial reform?"

Ernst had a little excitement on his face, and in his opinion, this belonged to the emperor's great trust in him, so he bent down and saluted: "Thank you Your Majesty for your trust in the minister, in fact, the minister needs to tell His Majesty one thing before making a decision, that is, the current British Empire has completely given up silver coins, which is a very important signal, and the minister thinks that if the empire insists on choosing to use the silver standard, it will suffer a big loss in the future overseas trade!" ”

Before Ning Yu could react from this news, Ernst took out a golden gold coin and a bright silver coin from his pocket and presented them to Ning Yu.

After Ning Yu took the gold and silver coins, he found that the two coins were very well made, neat and beautiful in appearance, although slightly worn, they were still shiny and shiny, and the overall craftsmanship looked very good.

According to Ernst, this gold coin is a gold coin minted in 1703, with the left side of Queen Anne on the obverse and the cross and year of the British nation on the reverse, weighing 8.35 grams and containing 0.917 gold. The silver coin is a silver krona struck in 1696, with a laurel portrait of William III on the right on the obverse and a cross and year on the reverse.

Ning Yu looked at the gold and silver coins while thinking about what Ernst meant, he knew that although the gold and silver standard was abolished in later generations, gold and silver were still a natural currency in this era - but the history of this, Ning Yu did not know.

As for Ning Zhongjing and Dong Lin on the side, they were even more confused.

"Ernst, for what reason do you say that the British abandoned the silver standard?" Ning Yu gently played with the delicate silver coin, with a thick doubt on his face.

Ernst did not answer directly, but took out another gold coin from his pocket, presented it, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, all the secrets are in this gold coin. ”

Ning Yu took the gold coin and found that it was no different from the Ginny gold coin in front of him, and the doubts in his heart deepened a little, "Ernst, just say it directly, what is the mystery in this." ”

Ernst respectfully said: "The reason why Britain abandoned the silver standard is related to a great scientist, and that is Sir Isaac Newton, who proposed the gold standard when he was the director of the British Mint. ”

Ning Yu naturally didn't feel unfamiliar with a bull like Newton, but his past cognition of Newton was all reflected in physics, but he didn't know that this bull man had such an experience.

"In fact, in the last century, the currency in circulation in Britain was mainly silver coins, and gold coins were rarely used, at that time a gold coin was equal to a pound of silver, but later in the Augsburg League War, the British in order to pay for the huge military expenses, the fineness of silver was reduced, and then new coins were reissued."

Hearing this, even Ning Zhongjing and Dong Lin understood, they were no strangers to the operation of mixing other things in silver, in fact, even the government had done this, and they could be called proficient in business.

Ernst continued: "The British minted these low-quality silver coins and used them to pay their military debts, which was essentially a plundering of the wealth of the people, and of course this practice did not hide from the people, and everyone was reluctant to use this silver coin, but exchanged it for gold coins, which made the value of the silver crown at that time plummet. ”

"Because of this operation, the market price of gold rose sharply relative to silver coins in the short term, and the amount of silver in circulation was further reduced, so that the British government had to mint and issue new silver coins again in order to stabilize people's hearts and minds, so as to ensure the value of silver coins."

When Ning Yu heard this, he probably had some understanding in his heart, and asked in a low voice: "When a large number of gold and silver coins appear in the British market at the same time, will there be a big change in the price comparison?" ”

"Your Majesty is really a genius!"

With a look of appreciation, Ernst pinched the gold coin and said softly: "Sir Newton made a great mistake at that time, when he set the price of gold and silver, he set the price of gold too high, and the price of silver too low, so that there was a very serious phenomenon. ”

"A lot of silver coins have been cashed out?" This time it was Dong Lin, the secretary of the Ministry of Finance, who had fully understood what Ernst meant, and his face was a little solemn.

"Master Dong, you are really extremely smart!"

After touting it again, Ernst explained in a somewhat emotional tone: "At that time, the gold-silver exchange ratio in Britain was not in line with the rest of Europe, which led to many people exchanging gold coins from other European countries and then going to England to exchange silver coins for the difference in between...... Coupled with the fact that a large amount of silver was lost to China at that time, Britain fell into a situation where there was no silver to mint, and Sir Newton's plan to remint silver coins was declared bankrupt. ”

When Ning Yu heard this, he had already completely understood, and sighed leisurely: "So, in this case, Britain completely gave up the silver coin, but went all out to protect the gold coin, right?" ”

"That's right, after this was over, Sir Newton proposed to Parliament to abandon the gold and silver double standard altogether, and adopt the gold standard in full, setting the price of gold at £3 per ounce and 17 shillings and 10 pence. ”

"However, today's Great Chu adopts the silver standard system, but does not control a large number of silver mines, and if it carries out large-scale maritime trade with the West, it is a very dangerous thing in itself! Not only will Da Chu not be able to control the currency, but it may be controlled by European countries in the economic lifeline, and it will lose a lot of seigniorage! ”

Ning Yu had thoroughly understood what Ernst meant, that is, when China had a large amount of silver and implemented the silver standard, but did not have sufficient silver mining rights, it forced people to exchange a large amount of physical wealth for silver, which would make a large amount of physical wealth created by the Chinese people gradually flow into Europe.

What is even more dangerous is that in this case, the European countries that control a large amount of silver and the silver mines of the Americas that they control essentially become China's central banks, which not only deprives China of its control over the currency, but also loses the huge seigniorage, that is, the difference between the face value and the cost of the coinage.

On the surface, China has gained a huge surplus in trade with the West, but what it actually gets is only the so-called silver, which seems to be a scarce silver mine that is not so precious in the world, and almost all of them are transported to China by Westerners to earn physical benefits, that is, a large number of porcelain, silk, tea and other physical goods.

Especially in later generations, with the determination of the European gold standard, China suffered a great loss because of the silver standard. Due to the silver standard in China, the demand for silver was almost endless, while Europe adopted the gold standard, resulting in a large difference in the gold-silver ratio between the two sides.

With the rapid increase in the production of silver controlled by Europe, it also led to the rapid depreciation of silver, which also made gold more and more expensive, so Europeans shipped a large amount of silver to China in exchange for gold, so that China's gold continued to flow to Europe, causing serious inflation in China.

Ning Yu, who had figured out everything, could only sigh softly at this time and said in a low voice: "Ernst, I understand what you mean, but now Da Chu doesn't have too many choices. ”

Although Ning Yu also knew that most countries in later generations adopted the gold standard, the current Ning Chu did not have sufficient gold reserves to complete this plan, so the silver standard was actually difficult to shake, at least in East Asia. Financial reform can only be based on the silver standard.

Ernst had a smile on his face, "Your Majesty, there is a saying in China, you can't get fat if you eat in one breath, and the financial restructuring can't be put in place all at once, in fact, now Dachu can completely implement the gold and silver double standard, mint standard gold and silver coins, to anchor today's currency, and can also earn a certain amount of seigniorage." ”

"It's possible to mint ......."

Ning Yu looked at the gold and silver coins in his hand, and had some thoughts in his heart, in fact, after the establishment of the new dynasty, the issuance of new coins was originally a matter of course, but there were still many problems that needed to be solved, so he looked at Ernst.

"Ernst, if I appointed you as the head of the Great Chu Minting Committee, and fully presided over the minting of coins, would you be willing?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty for your trust! The minister will definitely live up to His Majesty's expectations! ”

Ernst was a little delighted, though he was nominally a scholar and an earl, but these were more of an honor, and he was only an adviser to the emperor, and had no actual errands, so that the coinage committee was a real ministry, like Sir Newton, with great power.

Hearing Ning Yu's words, although there was a little difference in the expressions of Ning Zhongjing and Dong Lin, they were not too strange, after all, they could talk about this set of things in the first place, I am afraid that only this Westerner is the only one.

Besides, the head of a minting committee is not too conspicuous.

Although Ernst did not expect Ning Yu to let him take charge of this matter, the relevant preparation materials had already been prepared, and he said softly: "Your Majesty, as for the matter of coinage, among the Westerners who came to Dachu this time, there are several people who are experts in this field, so I also ask Your Majesty to allow me to include these people in the minting committee." ”

"Yes, all those who are included in the Mint Committee should be in the position of a fifth-rank official." Ning Yu naturally won't do anything in this regard, as long as he can do things, he will give it to the official.

Ernst said softly, "Your Majesty, to issue new coins, you need a mint, you need supporting machinery, you need a lot of manpower—but most importantly, you need a bank that issues money. ”

"Banks?"

Ning Yu's brows stretched a little, he had actually started to operate this set before, "The bank is not a problem, the Dachu Central Bank is already in the preparatory stage, but it needs Ernst to assist in the overall planning, so that it can be established in the shortest possible time, of course, it will also become a central bank with the right to mint money under the supervision of the Dachu Banking Regulatory Commission." ”

"Your Majesty, this Great Chu Central Bank ......"

Ning Zhongjing frowned slightly, this was another situation that he didn't know very well, and he didn't know when this so-called bank and what committee were established...... It is clear that the emperor again bypassed the cabinet and did these things alone.

Ning Yu smiled a little embarrassedly, and then opened the topic, "Shoufu is diligent in political affairs every day, so I didn't say anything about these little things........ Ernst, in my plan, in addition to the central bank of Dachu, there will be some other types of banks, such as commercial banks and investment banks, to jointly complete the financial restructuring, and they will also be under the supervision of the CBRC. ”

"Your Majesty's move is very appropriate, and in the follow-up related plans, the minister will come up with a more detailed plan." Ernst had a smile on his face.

"Not bad......"

Ning Yu nodded slightly, then looked at the krona silver coin in his hand, and said with a smile: "It's not enough to just mint gold and silver coins, at least for the people, it is destined to be difficult to use in daily life, so it is also necessary to mint copper coins in addition to gold and silver coins to completely replace copper coins." ”

In essence, minting copper coins is similar to copper coins, but Ningyu is for a unified currency system, so the messy copper coins on the market can naturally not meet the demand, and more unified and exquisite copper coins are needed to replace the role of copper coins in the market.

"Your Majesty, the relevant pattern coins will be minted as soon as possible, and presented to Your Majesty when the time comes." Ernst spoke humbly and respectfully.

"But keep in mind that the minting needs to control the cost of making it and keep it looking good enough to be marketable – it's a difficult step, and I'm looking forward to your results."

Ning Yu clasped the gold and silver coins in his hand, with a bit of expectation on his face, he was quite aware of the role of financial hegemony, if he could circulate these coins to the entire country and even the whole of Asia through coinage, the benefits it could bring were quite exciting.