Silver coins replace silver taels, which is the inevitability of social development!

Zhu Mingzhong's understanding of modern history makes Zhu Mingzhong very clear about this, and the confusion of the color of silver and the weight of several kinds of two systems brought about by the two as the unit of measurement has been eliminated from the "one whip method" to the silver tax until the thirties of the 20th century, until the "abolition of the two and the change of yuan".

For the common people, "fire consumption of silver" is the real evil government, which is not only in Jiangbei, but also the method used by the government to make profits.

“…… In the process of melting silver, there will inevitably be losses. Originally, the cost of fire was mainly the cost of smelting silver, but its loss was far from the level of 10%, at most only 3%-5% is remarkable. But as far as the local officials are concerned, they found that this is a good way to make money, so they made up their minds on it, so the fire consumption is increasing, and most of it goes into the private pockets of the magistrates. It's all up to the conscience of the official, and the extra is his own! Even if they are incorruptible officials, they will not be less than five out of one. ”

Yao Xiang, who is the head of the house, mentioned "fire consumption", sighed and raised his voice slightly, and then said with a fist.

"Since the Jingluo entered Jiangbei, I feel that the Qing captives have squeezed the people very much, so we categorically put the "fire consumption to the public" to set the cost of one percent, and the people of Jiangbei are all good at the time, and we can talk about the current fire consumption, and there is not much burden on the people of Jiangbei! ”

As soon as Yao Xiang's words fell, Fu Shan, who was the general office of the Military Payroll Bureau, said directly.

"It's not much of a burden, it's still a burden after all!"

Fu Shan, as the general office of the Military Payroll Bureau, knew very well that Smith's suggestion to issue "silver coins" would fundamentally deal a devastating blow to the money bank industry engaged in the silver money exchange business, and the attack on the money bank industry was also his goal, after all, it was only the money bank that could compete with each other.

"The provinces of Jiangbei take no less than one million fields every year, and the fire consumption is nearly 100,000, so how can it not be a burden on the people, if it is added to the salt tax, commercial miscellaneous, etc., the annual collection is not less than 3 million, and the fire consumption is not less than 300,000, and the people are tired, is it not the purpose of Yao's main business!"

Fu Shan's counterattack was extremely powerful, and in the face of his counterattack, Yao Xiang did not show the slightest annoyance, but only asked rhetorically.

"It's good to replace silver with silver coins, but don't forget that the land and miscellaneous donations paid by the people are often only a few silver coins or hundreds of dollars, so the government needs to levy fire consumption in order to cast broken silver ingots. If it is built according to the construction of General Fu's office, one or two will be paid to make money, then the taxes collected by the local land endowment and miscellaneous donations will all be made money, so the yamen will not have no money available? When the time comes, will the government office have two taels of silver to make up the salary? ”

After that, Yao Xiang saluted at Jing Liu.

"Taixi has the law of Taixi, and I have the way of China in China, the line of two silver to the fire consumption, although the fire consumption hurts the people, but the implementation of the "fire consumption to the public" law, has made the people of Jiangbei all clap their hands and say that it is good, he will stay until the Qing Dynasty is driven out of the customs, and the law of "fire consumption to the public" can be implemented in the world, so that the people of the world no longer need to suffer from the "fire consumption". ”

As the head of the household, Yao Xiang, the reason why he opposes the implementation of silver coins, naturally also has his considerations, and one of the most fundamental reasons is not only for the public, but also for private purposes, and now he has felt the pressure of the Military Salary Bureau - the current Military Salary Bureau not only has the power to issue officials and soldiers' salaries, but also has the power to settle and other things that originally belonged to the household, and even the thick silver of the household's treasury, seeing that the other party is now advocating the implementation of silver coins, lest he take away the household treasury under the pretext of taking away the household's treasury, how can he not speak out against it.

"Furthermore, the people of the country have become accustomed to silver taels, if the line is made of silver coins, then if the people are as they are now, cut the edges of silver coins, what should they do? If it is not exchanged for money according to the full value, but according to the weight, what is the difference between it and silver? ”

When the successive reasons came out of Yao Xiang's mouth, Fu Shan only frowned from time to time, and occasionally he would turn his attention to Jing Liu, and now the most important thing was Jing Liu's attitude. Seeing that Jing Xiao did not speak, as for Smith, because he was not fluent in Chinese, so in this case, only Fu Shan could only rely on himself.

"When silver coins are cut, they can only be converted by weight, just like if the money is broken, can it only be sold as miscellaneous copper? This is still the case for money, so why can't silver coins? ”

"At least no one deliberately cuts and sharpens money, but silver coins are different, and traitors can get money by cutting and grinding silver coins! How to stop the people from cutting and grinding when the time comes? ”

"Cutting and grinding silver coins have to be weighed as miscellaneous silver and exchanged for silver or military pay, and the shops can directly refuse to accept them, and the tax collectors can also refuse to accept them! If shops can refuse to be crushed to make money, why can't they refuse to accept cut silver coins? ”

It is a matter of interests, a householder, a general office of the Military Salary Bureau, the two of them for the interests of their respective departments, you say a word to me, and there is no intention of backing down. And Zhu Mingzhong, as the final decision-maker, just looked at the two of them, with the insight of more than three and a half centuries ahead, he was very aware of the inherent disadvantages of the silver tael, and of course he also knew the inadequacy of the silver coin system proposed by the Military Payroll Bureau, however, he was not ready to make a decision immediately, he needed to let them solve the problem through debate. Only in this way can they be able to stand alone in the true sense of the word, instead of throwing problems at him every time they encounter them.

Although, to some extent, Zhu Mingzhong, as a decision-maker, sometimes prefers to spend hours in a workshop in the backyard than listen to them arguing about questions that he already knows the answers and knows the pros and cons, but ...... The truth becomes clearer the more it is argued.

“…… How can ordinary people tell that this silver coin is only cut and polished? If each silver coin is only ground off a little, gathering sand into a tower, you can make a huge profit! ”

Yao Xiang unceremoniously pointed out some deficiencies of silver coins, since learning about the silver coin plan of the Military Salary Bureau, he has been studying how to stop the silver coins and prevent the Military Salary Bureau's erosion of the power of households. Of course, in addition to this, the natural insufficiency of silver coins was also the fundamental reason for his opposition.

“…… In addition, this silver coin also has anti-shear grinding means, just like the teeth on both sides of this silver coin are to avoid shearing, if you find that the teeth on the edge are damaged, you can naturally reject them directly, so that even ordinary people can identify them......"

Fu Shan's response made Yao Xiang, who had been prepared, take out two silver coins, handed them to Fu Shan, and said.

"General Manager Fu, since you said that ordinary people can distinguish the silver coin from its edge, then which of the two silver coins is cut and polished?"