After the world's taxes were transported to Beijing, the grain was transported to the shipping warehouse, and most of the silver such as salt tax and commercial tax was put into Taicang and placed at the disposal of the household department; A small part belongs to the Ministry of Industry, Guanglu Temple and other government treasury; Other silk cloths, gold and silver collected in lieu of grain were put into the treasury of the Imperial Palace. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

15% of the rice and wheat transported in the field is levied in silver, and 4 million stone of grain is converted into silver and five cents per stone, totaling 1 million taels, which are transported to the inner carrier warehouse in four times and are at the disposal of the emperor. In terms of expenditure, about 150,000 taels of military attachés were mainly distributed, and the rest was used by the emperor for rewards, harem expenses and other purposes.

Because silver is not a currency in circulation, gold and silver are levied on broken silver, which must be re-fried into ingots and then shipped. It is inevitable that there will be losses in the process of frying, so when it is collected, it is necessary to add three points of fire consumption, and in addition to this, it is necessary to add three points of water foot money for transporting the capital division, which is a total of three dollars per stone of grain.

Compared with the actual price of rice per stone, between five and seven yuan, the discount rate of gold and silver is very low, and there are also additional consumption of other tax items. This is mainly to ensure that the annual gold and silver can be collected in full, and also to reduce the burden of the common people. If the local government cannot collect the full amount of gold and silver for various reasons, no matter in the past few years, even if the emperor decrees the reduction and exemption of field taxes, the gold and silver still have to be supplemented.

For example, last year (Wanli 47 years), Lu Shanji, the head of the household department, embezzled 110,000 taels of gold and silver from Guangdong and other places in order to pay the Liaodong military salary with "instead of asking for money that has not been paid, how can he keep the gold that has not been entered", and Li Ruhua, the head of the household department, followed it. Wanli was furious when he learned about it, and asked him to make up for it, but the deer director thought that he was reasonable and did not obey, and the result was that he was not only robbed of his salary for one year and demoted by one level, but also transferred to the office; Li Ruhua was also taken away in February, and finally made up for it.

Ye Xiang in the Palace of Nourishing the Heart now has several pieces of gold and silver of different sizes and colors on the imperial case in front of him, in addition to the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes and more than ten kinds of Wanli treasures.

Ye Xiang pointed to the things on the imperial case and asked Wang Zuo, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, who was standing in front of the case with his hands down, "Why are these all different?" ”

Wang Zuo came for the envoy's winter clothes, and he promised to squeeze out about 80,000 taels of silver from the Ministry of Industry and send it into the inner treasury. He looked at the pieces of silver shaped like a girdle, and replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, this gold and silver is recast from various provinces, and it is not strange that the size and color are inconsistent; As for these treasures, most of the clear handwriting comes from the North and South Baoyuan Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, and some of the obscure ones are the local Baoquan Bureau and some are privately cast by the palace and the people. ”

"Where's the treasure money?"

"The treasure banknote is printed by the treasure banknote lifting division of the household department, in the early years of Longqing money is insufficient, so it is used as the Beijing official Lu, but the folk banknote has not been good for more than 100 years, resulting in a hundred officials complaining, Longqing four years later that the money was minted instead. After going to the temple, the treasure money is only used to reward the palace and the new science and technology scholars. ”

Ye Xiang heard it, Wang Zuo meant that the treasure banknote has been reduced to waste paper, picked up the thin treasure banknote, and saw that there are two red official seals on the front of it, the upper part is the 'seal of the Ming treasure banknote', and the lower part is the 'treasure banknote lifting division seal'; ”

Although counterfeiting can be eliminated with seals, and there is no large denomination, it is believed that the issuance of paper money violates the law of currency circulation like fiat currency in later generations.

The law of money circulation is that the amount of money needed in circulation is directly proportional to the total price of the commodity to be realized, and inversely proportional to the average circulation velocity of the same unit of money. As a currency symbol, banknotes have no value in themselves, and their circulation needs a stable environment as the premise, and they must follow the law, all of which are indispensable.

Since treasure money cannot be circulated by compulsory means, it is not feasible to implement it without paper money at present, and private circulation must continue to use valuable metal currency - gold, silver and copper. Gold, as a hard currency, has been a scarce resource by the time of the Celestial Empire, and gold reserves are one of the basic functions of every central bank, so only silver and copper can be used for circulation. Ye Xiang came from later generations, and also read "Currency War", and knew that the right to issue currency must be firmly controlled in his hands, and this chaotic era needs to reconstruct the financial order.

Ye Xiang looked at the copper coins on the table, thinking about the various commemorative coins and coins in the future, he really didn't dare to compliment the current coinage technology, he shook his head, and said to Wang Zuo, "Since all the people don't use treasure money, then inform the cabinet, and this promotion department will be abolished." In addition, in addition to the Jingshi Baoyuan Bureau, the Nanjing Baoyuan Bureau and the local Baoquan Bureau were also abolished, and skilled craftsmen could be seconded to the Jingshi, which was arranged by the Association. The private sector is not allowed to mint money privately, and there is a need to be vigilant at all times. Kindness...... Can Wanli Tongbao stock meet the needs? ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the temple has been in power for forty-eight years, and it has been minted every year, and the stock of money is huge, and there is no problem in dealing with all kinds of transactions." Wang Zuo suggested, "However, when the temple was touring from Fujian, Pang Shangpeng's "Fourteen Things of the Money Law" was changed, and the 'money and money making in the past dynasties were passed' to 'ancient money is allowed to be used by the people, and the money is used to atone for losses and losses'. ”

The money method is the currency law, Ye Xiang is very uninterested in today's casting money method, looking at all kinds of copper coins, he feels that before the new money making method is used, it is really unwise to issue this kind of shoddy copper coins, he shook his head, "Since Wanli Tongbao is enough to deal with the daily transactions of the people, why not mint new money for the time being...... Well, let's cast it, although the imperial examination is only in power for one month, he is also the king of the Ming Dynasty. It will be handed over to the Jingshi Baoyuan Bureau, and the Ministry of Industry will take a look at the Taichang money style. The number will be discussed by the cabinet. ”

"Obey."

※※※※

Hou Gongchen, who is already more than 60 years old, came to Wang Sheng's Mansion today, he is a little thin and wears a black silk round-neck plain suit, a black veil on his head, his sideburns have been gray, his slightly sunken eye sockets are dark brown eyes, and the beard on his emaciated chin is neatly groomed. At this moment, he is sitting in the second seat of the main hall, sipping fragrant tea with a focused expression, and the influence of many years of brocade clothes and jade food life makes his posture extremely elegant.

Wang Sheng is the elder brother of the East Palace Talent (that is, Zhu Youxiao's biological mother), his father's name is Yue, when Wang Cairen entered the palace in the early years, Zhu Changluo was not treated by Wanli, the source was cautious, and he also helped wash his sister's various clothes, which was more than 20 years passed in a blink of an eye, and he didn't expect to be killed.

On Halloween in the temple last October, a man named Chen Huai from Fangshan County went to the noon gate to complain that the talented person in the East Palace was the second daughter.

Wang Cairen entered the palace in August of the 27th year of Wanli, and died on March 23 last year. The temple was not confused, and was put into custody for interrogation, and finally found out that he was the internal official supervision office Yin Chen Yongshou, who bribed Li Yue's daughter to buy it, hoping to pretend to be the emperor.

Originally, it was a very simple case, and it had already been decided, but today Wang Sheng heard the news that Cao Yingkui, a close attendant, reported to Huang Kezhang of the Criminal Department that there were words such as 'Liu Xun and Guo Chun's daughters secretly entered the silver, and Taichang begged for the apocalypse to take care of it', which also involved the identity of the new monarch's mother, and Chen Huai's dispute for the emperor's family was involved, and it was also reported in the palace. In addition, his nephew ascended to the pole for several days, neither summoned nor willed, so he was not happy in the face of the courtiers who came to the door to say goodbye.

Wang Sheng has passed the age of no doubt, his eyebrows are thick and black are flickering crow's feet, and he wears plain clothes as usual on his broad shoulders. He is more than 20 years younger than Hou Gongchen, and he can't be compared with him in terms of age or status, so he doesn't dare to be rude, and sits under him carefully to tell some interesting stories in Beijing.

Hou Gongchen's deceased wife is Princess Shouyang, the sister of the temple's mother, and she can still be in charge of the Zongren Mansion for more than 20 years after Princess Shouyang's death, which shows how capable he is.

In the matter of fighting for the country, the courtiers planned to ask the eldest son to be the crown prince, but he did not dare to sign his name first, at this time Hou Gongchen stood up, he said, "According to the "Huidian", the Zongrenfu is the first civil service, and I will come first. He signed his name with a brush, so that he stood on Zhu Changluo's side, and this correct standing line made him a guest in the past month, although he was already rich and noble.

Hou Gongchen's political sense is extremely keen, and he often makes the right choice from clues, which is the purpose of his coming to Wang Sheng's mansion today.

Hou Gongchen looked at the absent-minded Wang Sheng, lowered his head to the teacup and said, "Today, Chong Ling Yuji, everything is complicated, and now the harem has no owner, so you have to slow down the sealing of Qi Wan, and you don't have to pay attention to the rumors outside." Although he is young today, the courtiers all say and look at the words and deeds of today, and they can't do it unless they are the masters, Chen Huai and others are just mercenary clowns. ”

Wang Sheng was debunked in his mind, and seeing that Hou Gongchen didn't look at him, he was not so embarrassed, and said, "Thank you for mentioning it." The grass people are worried that the emperor lives alone in the deep palace when he is young, and he is afraid that the concubines, the servants and others will do great rebellion. ”

What Wang Sheng refers to is Wang Cairen's unjust death last year, he often walks around the palace, and knows a lot about Wang Cairen's 'hatred and hard to declare' suicide note. When Wang Cairen was sick in bed after being beaten by Xi Li, he also entered the palace to see how the concubine and Xi Li used small tricks to prevent his sister from being alone with Zhu Changluo.

Hou Gongchen's Zongren Mansion is in charge of the royal family's affairs, and these big internal secrets are also well understood, smiled slightly, and looked at Wang Sheng, "This is not worrying Uncle Laoguo, this time is different from the past, the overall situation has been decided, the victory or defeat is early, and the inner assistant Wang An and others know that they are wholeheartedly protected." ”

Wang Sheng also knew that it was unnecessary for him to worry, and now that he had no soldiers or no duties, he couldn't do anything, so it was best to wait patiently, so he also nodded and picked up the teacup that had already cooled.