Chapter 755: Many Autumn Waters in the Rivers and Lakes (I)
It is no exaggeration to say that the long-term financial difficulties of the Ming Dynasty have a very close causal relationship with the flood and depreciation of treasure money. The reason is very simple, the government government recognized the treasure money, and in order to maintain the life of the treasure money, they banned the circulation of silver and copper coins, and also stipulated that the government government must pay taxes with treasure money. But the people do not recognize the treasure banknote...... In addition to the fact that treasure money cannot be exchanged for gold and silver, has poor anti-counterfeiting, and is not easy to keep for a long time, they have not woken up from the nightmare of vicious inflation caused by the indiscriminate issuance of treasure money by the government in the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, so they simply ignored the ban of the imperial court and preferred to barter rather than use treasure money. As for those merchants who had to pay taxes, they would rather buy treasure money with silver money to pay the government, rather than keep a pile of treasure money that continued to depreciate at home.
In the Xuande period, Emperor Xuanzong, who was sympathetic to the people, abolished the 'ban on copper' that had already been in name only, which led to the depreciation of treasure banknotes, and the imperial court could only issue more treasure money, so it fell into this vicious circle, making the situation worse.
Later generations of monarchs and ministers have tried to regain the value of the treasure banknote, but either because the conservative forces are too strong, or because the method itself is wrong, the result is that today, the paper money has been completely stagnant, but the court has no intention of abolishing it, after all, it can also rely on power, and use it to complete the payment of government embarrassment such as the hair, and once it is abolished, who dares to say that the situation will not be worse?
But this mess that constantly encroaches on the country's norms, in the eyes of the ministers, is indeed not even a chicken rib, if anyone is willing to take it, thank God for beating gongs and drums to send them over.
Because of this, Shen Mo will not believe that those Jin merchants who have fallen into the eyes of money can share the worries of the court and contribute to the revival of the treasure banknotes as they themselves said. It's just that although he knows that something is abnormal, there must be something sneaky, but he can't tell for a while, what the problem is? He could only ask Zhang Juzheng tentatively: "What is the uncle and brother worried about?" β
"I can't say ...... either," Zhang Juzheng said slowly: "It's said that this is a good thing, but I always feel that coins are stored in the right to profit."
Money is profitable, cheap can make expensive, poor can make rich, so again, the world is bustling for profit, the world is bustling, all for profit, who wants to be poor, but not want to get rich? β
Shen Mo nodded and motioned for him to continue, Zhang Juzheng continued: "There is a way that people die for money, birds die for food, and the disputes in the world are all for a good word. After a pause, he said: "I think that the power to manipulate money is at the top, and there is no way to get it from the bottom, so I am willing to keep it." Releasing his power so that his subordinates can manipulate it is not the end of robbery, but also the abyss of chaos. As he spoke, his tone became more and more confident, and he said: "Zhou Tianzi divides the world, but he does not divide the benefits of mountains and seas, and does not seek selfish benefits, so as to avoid trouble." The right to issue coins, just like the benefits of mountains and seas, if the court gives up, it will cause chaos in all aspects of society...... Although the depreciation of treasure banknotes is serious, it is money after all, and its issuance right is also a right of interest, so how can it be granted to merchants? β
Shen Mo couldn't help but secretly applaud Zhang Juzheng, worthy of being a reformer written into the textbook, sure enough, sharper than most people, when others were still ignorant, he could see that the right to issue currency should be controlled by the state.
But for Shen Mo, this is not good news, because what Huilian is doing is actually issuing its own currency in the southeast, and if Zhang Juzheng always has this attitude, sooner or later he will do it with Huilian.
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"Then have you talked to those people specifically?" Shen Mo poured wine for Zhang Juzheng and asked again.
"I haven't talked about it yet." Zhang Juzheng said: "At that time, I had just arrived at the household department, and I didn't know much about the matter of the treasure banknote lifting department, how dare I talk to them rashly?" As he spoke, he took out a booklet from his sleeve and said, "But I asked them to write a note, I just got it a few days ago, and I have been taking it with me to read it." Then he handed it to Shen Mo and said: "Humble words, you can help me take a look, it's still the same sentence, Tiao Chen looks really good, but I always feel panicked." β
Shen Mo took it and said with a wry smile: "With such a thick booklet, what can I see for a while?" β
"Take it back and see it." Zhang Juzheng said: "This is a copy, and there is still a copy in the yamen." β
Shen Mo nodded, put the booklet away, and said: "Uncle brother, I have a general opinion with you, this matter must be cautious and cautious, and when I understand it, I will share my experience with you", said and lowered his voice: "But I feel that although this matter is important, it is not urgent, so it is better not to move it first." β
"Well, I'm measured." Zhang Juzheng is no one, how can he not hear the meaning of silence, now the struggle between Xu Jie and Gao Guo is intensifying, and no matter how good the plan is put forward at this time, it will inevitably fall victim to the political struggle; "But if you really feel this business, I hope to start as soon as the environment is suitable. This requires early preparation. β
Shen Mo nodded and said: "I understand what you mean, I will take this matter to heart, anyway, I don't have anything to do for a while, so I'll help you get this done well." β
"So, thank you for your kindness." Zhang Juzheng saluted him and said: "I really want to do a good job of treasure money, but it is difficult to be an official and even more difficult to do things, without your help, I can't do it." β
"You seem to be quite emotional." Shen Mo smiled faintly.
"Yes......" Zhang Juzheng frowned slightly: "Originally, the state affairs were sluggish, and I thought it was a traitorous party in the court, but then the Yan Party fell, and I thought I could finally cheer up, right?" Who knows it's still the same. Only then did I know that not only is good and evil not mutually beneficial, but also political views cannot be mutually coordinated, but what is the benefit of national affairs if you fight to the death like this? Since they all see that Li Min is waiting to be fed, and the country is in danger, they all want to prosper the Ming Dynasty, why can't they seek common ground while reserving differences and jointly raise great things? Could it be that the Ming Dynasty Hall is so small that it can only accommodate a single god? β
Shen nodded silently, and sighed secretly in his heart, I really hope that after you reach the top, you can still hold the same view. But he knew very well in his heart that no matter how majestic the mountain was, the higher it went, the smaller the space, and at the top, it could only allow one person to stand on. Recording layers of disguises and all kinds of excuses, this is the truth hidden behind the appearance of the so-called, "battle between good and evil", different political opinions, and so on - one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers, this is the inferior root of the human soul, but it is precisely because it is the inferior root, so there is no way to take it.
Zhang Juzheng still has this fantasy because he hasn't reached that role yet, and when the day comes, maybe he will be more ruthless than anyone else. If he gets to that point, there is still this kind of thought, and all that awaits him is ruthless elimination.
In fact, it's not just Zhang Juzheng, isn't it the same for Shen Mo himself? The same is still idealistic, and even there is a piece of softness in the bottom of his heart, I don't know if his inappropriate kindness will disappear with time, so as to completely evolve into a political animal, or will eventually be burdened by it and suffer the fate of failure.
Who knows? Only time will tell, but when it comes time to make a decision.
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After separating from Zhang Juzheng, Shen Mo began to study Rishenglong's Tiaochen, in fact, before he read it, he thought that it was still an imitation of Huilian, who knew that the more he looked at it, the more shocking it became, these old Xi'er deserved to be the most outstanding business elites, and the plan he came up with made him, a prophet with more than five hundred years of knowledge, ashamed of himself......
To put it simply, in view of the imperial court's financial difficulties and the urgent need for additional income, Rishenglong was willing to provide the imperial court with a loan of a certain amount of silver every year, and this loan did not need to be repaid, only to allow it to issue Jiajing treasure banknotes with an equal total value.
Of course, this treasure banknote is not the Ming treasure banknote circulating in the world, but a new version of the treasure banknote exclusively issued by Sunrise, and as a corresponding condition, Sunrise Long requires the household department to fix the price of silver, banknotes and copper according to the actual situation in the market. It also stipulates that silver is used for large-scale transactions, and transactions below ten taels are forbidden to use silver, and only money and ...... Of course, all these banknotes are for the new banknotes, and as for the old banknotes, they need to be exchanged for Jiajing treasure banknotes according to the average comparison of Jiajing's forty-four years, as well as the comparison between silver and new banknotes; If it is old currency, residual currency, or dirty currency, it must be discounted significantly......
Although Shen Mo had conducted research and analysis on the small amount of silver bills on the Huilian, his goal at that time was only to have more powerful control over the economic development of the southeast, and he did not have the ambition to become a country's central bank like Sunrise.
So I spent a long time in silence, thinking about whether Sunrise Long's statement was right or wrong, especially in the long run, what the impact was:
First of all, I have to admit that the monetary system plan proposed by Sunrise is based on the current situation of the Ming Dynasty. Although it served as the issuer of treasure banknotes, it did not regard treasure banknotes as the main currency, but emphasized that silver was the center and the basis for a pair of treasure banknotes and copper coins, both of which were denominated in silver, and a certain amount of paper money and copper coins would represent a certain silver price fixedly. According to the money and banking science learned in the previous life, silver has become the only main currency with the function of value scale, or standard currency, and paper money and copper coins have become the value symbol of silver, which is the legendary silver standard!
The great thing about Sunrise is that they chose a hard currency as the standard currency, and if the issuance of money and banknotes was strictly limited, then this silver standard would naturally be feasible. If the imperial court can really give them the right to issue treasure money. And everyone will believe that as Rishenglong, who exchanges real money and silver for treasure money, in order to ensure that the treasure money does not depreciate, it naturally does not dare to issue it indiscriminately. That's why people are so confident in their plans.
In this transaction, the court received a huge amount of silver that did not have to be repaid, and all it paid was the right to issue rotten treasure money; Rishenglong obtained the only right to issue banknotes in the Ming Dynasty, and because of his cooperation with the imperial court, the village was established as a high authority...... It is almost certain that this relationship, once established, will kill its competitors in an instant. At that time, Huilian will take advantage of the right time and place, and it will not be able to prevent customers from moving collectively.
If they can really do things in such a down-to-earth manner, they will have nothing to say even if they lose the Huilian number, I am afraid that this is just a means for them to pay only one or two million taels of silver to the imperial court every year, and correspondingly, only a small amount of so-called, Jiajing treasure banknotes will be issued. It is equivalent to buying a unique and transcendent position with a sum of silver, and making the circulation of the Huilian silver ticket illegal, which is very likely to lead to a large-scale run on the Huilian and even direct bankruptcy.
Thinking about it this way, Shen Mo couldn't help but be frightened, and eight big words kept flashing in his mind: 'Xiang Zhuang dances the sword, meaning Pei Gong' - I'm afraid that Rishenglong will actively take over the important task of treasure money reform, not because of what to worry about the country, but because of the killing move under the Huilian!
The collusion between officials and businessmen is the only way for Jin merchants to develop, and it is not surprising that they want to rely on the government to defeat their competitors. Now Shen Mo can't stand idly by, he must fight for the fate of the Huilian, with this group of powerful enemies, it is best to snatch the distribution rights, at least not let them monopolize it!
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Someone said that life is like a journey, but once you enter the political arena, the place of travel becomes the sea, maybe one moment it is calm, the next moment it becomes frightening.
He hadn't come up with a Ding Mao yet, but the people who visited there came along the way. On this day at the end of October, while he was talking to Wang Yin, he heard a report from the guards that seven or eight young officials, claiming to be his students, had asked to see him.
"Students?" Shen Mo frowned slightly, picked up a copy from the stack of worship posts, opened it and saw that it was Wang Xijue, look at it again, and Yu Youding, Chen Younian, and Wang Zhang, all of whom were proud sons of the Nonxu Branch, and couldn't help but whisper: "Didn't you already inform them, don't you need to come to see them again?" β
"I think it's okay to go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing." Shen Mingchen said with a smile: "I heard that for the sake of the affairs of children and men, the officials in the capital have blown up, especially some young officials, shouting that they want to fight to the death to write a book, and advise the emperor not to let the Taoist priests harm the people again." β
Silently heard the words silently, in fact, no one in the capital knew about this, and it had already made people panic, chickens and dogs jumped It turned out that at the end of October, the palace issued an edict, saying that it was to select one hundred and twenty pairs of twelve-year-old boys and girls to serve in the palace.
I always heard that the number of people in the palace is exceeded, and the palace people have nothing to do, why is there a shortage of people? After being bored, the people inquired around, and finally got the exact news from the fourth cousin of the third nephew of his eldest aunt's second uncleβit turned out that these two hundred and forty boys and girls were going to be used to dispense medicine for the emperor.
The fourth cousin is doing things in the palace, and the news is naturally not wrong, and it immediately caused panic among the school-age women, and then there is more real news, the name of the medicine is Yin and Yang Harmony San, and the main ingredients used are the urine of the boy and the blood of the girl's menarche. The boy's urine is a lemon, but the 12-year-old girl's menstruation is not something she wants. Another well-informed person decrypted that the demon Dao named Tao Shien would use a spell to bewitch the girl, and menarche came within a day. It was spread so miraculously that the family who raised the daughter was terrified when they heard it.
Although the boy seems to be relaxed, their family is just as worried, because the people of the capital are often at the feet of the Son of Heaven, and they have heard more or less about the affairs in the palace, and they know that the men who serve in the palace will be castrated. If you run out of the child's urine, you can put it back, but if you cut a small **, what should you do if you stay in the palace?
In the face of the imperial power like the sky, the only way that the common people can think of is to practice themselves, so there was a wave of marriage in Beijing, who has a twelve-year-old boy, looking for someone to say that he has a daughter-in-law overnight, who has a twelve-year-old girl, and the streets are full of uncles, regardless of age, what conditions, as long as it is a person, he will quickly get a family to marry.
There are also such examples around him, Qiao'er of his neighbor Han family, a good young lady, just because he was exactly twelve years old, he asked Zhang Mazi to buy tofu for the front door, Qiao'er's mother went to see her uncle, only to find out that it was an old bachelor who was almost forty, and came back crying. When he was at a loss, he thought of having a relationship with Mrs. Shen and came over to ask for help.
When Ruohan heard this, he became chivalrous, and went directly to Shen Mo and asked him to take care of the matter. Shen Mo sighed and said: "There are so many adults in the capital, they don't care, why do you want me to take care of it?" β
"Does that sound like you said?" Ruohan was angry and said, "What do you care about what others do, do you want to be the same as others when they are all pretending to be deaf and dumb?" β
"Ma'am." Shen Mo smiled bitterly: "A few days ago, you taught me to be with the light, don't be strong, why have you changed your mind now?" Saying that, he sighed again and said: "Because of the matter of Yuzhi Altar, I have already offended those Taoist priests, if I intervene again, they will hate me to death!" β
Ruohan had nothing to say now, and he snorted angrily for a long time before he held back a sentence: "I'm really weird, how can the red-robed officials in the capital be ruled by a group of Taoist priests?" β
The words were silently blushed, and he said in a low voice: "I can't tell you clearly, let the Han family send the girl over, I will take care of everything." β
"What about the children of other families?" Ruohan is a kind woman after all, and she knows that she shouldn't let her husband meddle in her affairs, but she can't help but contradict herself...... Maybe in her heart, nothing can stump the all-powerful husband.
Looking at his disappointed wife, he sighed secretly in his heart and said, Madam, even if I have the ability to penetrate the heavens and the earth, what can I do with the emperor?