Chapter 43 Economy I

The copper money is too heavy, and the feeling of pushing a cart of copper money to buy goods will definitely not be too good, and with the spread of the original hydrodynamic industry, the Huaiyang economy will definitely become more and more active. Therefore, it is imperative to issue a currency with a large denomination and easy to carry. The credit of paper money has been completely stinked by Meng Yuanjunchen, so the choice left to Huaiyang is only a precious metal currency.

This idea was easily accepted by everyone. Because the big food merchants who came and went, they often brought some gold and silver currency into the country. The silver and gold dollars they carried, because of their exquisite minting and uniform weight, could often be exchanged for goods with a higher value than the metal they contained, and were widely sought after by the wealthy people.

"Wechen is courageous, please make gold dollars on top of silver dollars. "Zhang Song's greatest ability is to draw inferences from one another, and then he put forward his own proposal. "In the past, maritime merchants who came to Yangzhou often carried large sums of silver. The price of silver is very unstable. Wechen remembers that one year the price of silver plummeted, and one or two times of silver could not be exchanged for a thousand dollars. And a few months later, it rose to more than 2,000..."

"I remember, it was 10 years ago. There was a fleet of big cannibals, and they brought a whole shipload of silver from the Wa Kingdom..."Mr. Su's memories were immediately evoked, and he gritted his teeth and added. "That year, many small families in Xuzhou City were tossed very miserably. However, those big families, who usually have golden beans in their homes, have basically not been affected. ”

"You say it's the Great Cannibals, who trafficked silver from Japan to China? Why didn't they ship anymore? Zhu Chongjiu's brows jumped, and he quickly found the question.

If Zhang Song and Mr. Su did not mention it, it might be difficult for him to remember that in another time and space, from the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there would be a large inflow of silver. The price of silver fluctuated dramatically during the Ming Dynasty, which directly threatened the country's finances. And the main source of this silver is Japan. The smugglers of the Ming Dynasty only need to pull the whole shipload of copper coins over and exchange them for silver, and they will make a lot of money. (Note 1)

Obviously, it was not the local merchants of the Ming Dynasty who first discovered this big business. Rather, it was the most active and open Arab merchant in the world. However, it is not known why Arab merchants later abandoned the two-way smuggling of silver and copper coins, and then withdrew from the waters around China.

"The storm is said to have caused too much iniquity, which has provoked the dragon lord to anger. Most of the ships full of silver were swept away, and the rest were all frightened, and they didn't dare to toss anymore..."Mr. Su's voice came from his ears, faintly carrying a bit of pleasure in revenge.

"Those big cannibals are very bold, and it is estimated that they lost all their money before they stopped doing silver business. Otherwise, they won't be afraid of any dragon lord..."Zhang Song's words hit the nail on the head, explaining the real reason why the Great Cannibal gave up the silver and copper coin trade routes.

"That's the way it should be... The big cannibals are all people who forget their righteousness for profit, and they will never stop if they don't lose all their capital..."Lu Lu once disliked the big cannibals even more than Zhang Song. Knocked the ground with a cane and added with a sneer.

In this case, what Director Zhang said just now is not groundless. We have to mint some more gold coins in case we need them..."Zhu Chongjiu took Lu Luzeng's words and concluded with a smile.

Whatever the specific reason for the withdrawal of the Great Cannibals, it is clear that Japan's silver mines were gradually discovered, mined, and gradually began to be exported to China in large quantities during this era. In this way, if the Huai'an army uses silver as the main currency, it will face a great risk of financial fluctuations. Therefore, taking the lead and using gold to stabilize the entire monetary system is a good way to take precautions. At the very least, it will make the credibility of the new coins appear more secure, and it will not be like a certain emperor of the ages, the coins are getting smaller and smaller, and the quality is getting worse and worse. (Note 2)

There is no disagreement with this conclusion. After all, even big families know how to hide some gold in case of emergency, not to mention such a big foundation as Huaiyang. And judging from the current development momentum, everyone is full of confidence in the future. If you prepare early, you will have more confidence when you send troops to fight for hegemony in the future.

"Then it will be decided, Zhang Song, the director of the Internal Affairs Department, will be in charge, Huang Zheng, the director of the Industrial Bureau, and Jiao Yu, the director of the Dajiang Academy, will start to supervise the production of gold, silver, copper and steel coins from now on." Seeing that everyone's opinions were basically unified, Zhu Chongjiu considered it a little and began to implement the task to the people. "Gold and silver dollars can be a little later, copper and steel coins, within half a month, they must be taken out for me."

"It's... Weichen will definitely live up to the trust of the lord. Zhang Song, the director of the Internal Affairs Department, was so excited that his bones were a few taels lighter, bowed down, and agreed loudly.

"Be sure to prepare a few more copies, and at that time, in the council hall, everyone will screen together..."Looking at Lu Luzeng, whose face was still a little unhappy, Zhu Chongjiu added with a smile. During this period, no matter which one Director Zhang finds, everyone must do their best to support him..."

"The ministers obey the order..."Lu Lu had no choice but to take the lead in agreeing.

Many people present looked down on Zhang Song's character very much, just like him, so they were a little dissatisfied with Zhu Chongjiu's decision. But at present, the entire Huaiyang system is in a period of rapid rise, and everyone is so busy that their feet do not touch the ground. So everyone didn't have time to hold Zhang Song back. When the latter came to the door, he frowned and helped if he could. I really can't help, and I will try my best to show the latter a clear way, so as not to delay the affairs of my own father-in-law.

As a result, the work of creating copper and steel money patterns is also going on rapidly. In just five days, Zhang Song, Huang Laowei and Jiao Yu came up with three plans. According to his previous promise, Zhu Chongjiu took all three money samples to the council hall and displayed them in public. Then let everyone express their opinions. It took just half an hour to decide on the final design plan and hand it over to the hundred workshops to open the furnace for trial production.

"Wei, Weichen, Weichen has a reluctant request..."Although it was the first batch of Xuzhou team, Huang Laowei still felt his scalp tight when it came to the formal discussion. Holding the mother money finally selected by everyone in both hands, he stammered and saluted Zhu Chongjiu.

"If Huang has something to say..."Zhu Chongjiu knew his roots, raised his hand, and encouraged him as kindly as possible. It's like we're both in the Hundred Workshops, you can say whatever you want. It doesn't matter if it's wrong or right..."

"Then, that Weichen was bold, and he dared to ask the chief manager and moved to Qianfang. Hands, hands to the forging machine, light. No, turn on, turn on..."The beads of sweat on Huang Lao's crooked forehead became denser and denser, and his mouth became more and more unfavorable.

"Hehe" around him, there was a low laugh. All the civil and military forces tried to tighten their mouths, lowered their heads, and did not let their eyes make contact with Zhu Chongjiu. The latter hates others to treat him as a Buddha, and has publicly emphasized countless times that he himself is not the reincarnation of Maitreya, and has nothing to do with this sect or that sect. But many people, especially the craftsmen of the Hundred Workshops and the Great Craftsmen's Academy, still stubbornly believe that their own chief manager wants to cover up. still stubbornly believes that as long as Zhu Fozi is present, everyone will be fine. Including the yield of boring barrels, it will be greatly improved.

"You want me to mint this first copper coin, right?" the muscles on Zhu Chongjiu's face twitched repeatedly in a low laugh. In the end, he resisted the desire to kick Huang Lao's crooked mud that couldn't support the wall to the ground, but responded more kindly: "Okay, it just so happens that Mr. Ben doesn't have much to do today, so I'll just go with you." ”

Turning his head quickly, his gaze swept over everyone's faces one by one, "A few of you, as well as Lu Changshi, Su Changshi, and the directors and deputy directors of various bureaus, come with me to Qianfang in Jiangwan today." Let's see how our Huaiyang's money is made, so that when we talk about it in the future, I won't have any impression in my heart..."

"Yes, the ministers obey the order..."The people who were ordered secretly glanced at Huang Lao a few times, and then agreed helplessly.

Xu Hongsan went out to prepare a four-wheeled carriage, and everyone galloped south along the official road paved with original cement. After a while, they drove into the heavily guarded Jiangwan New Town. Then it passed through four or five bright posts and secret posts, and finally, the carriage stopped at a hidden place in the south of the city.

"From east to west, there are gun-making workshops, gun-making workshops, and mirror-making workshops, and the money workshop is located in the big house near the water. At present, there is only one forging press, and if the trial production is qualified, the master craftsman will send new forging presses one after another..."As soon as he entered the territory he was familiar with, the cringe on Huang Lao's body completely disappeared. Pointing to the tall brick houses in the fully enclosed courtyard, he proudly introduced them to his colleagues.

The core figures of the Huaiyang system all know that this top secret is hidden in the depths of Jiangwan New Town. However, those who often have the opportunity to come over and open their eyes are limited to Lu Luzeng, Mr. Su, Chen Ji, Robben and a few dozen people within the Industrial Bureau. The others had either only been here once when the Gun Workshop had just been relocated, or they had only seen it a few times from a distance, and they could only leave a rough impression in their minds. Today, when I was able to get closer, I was immediately stunned by the huge waterwheels that probed into the depths of the river.

Note 1: There is an obvious error in Zhu Chongjiu's memory here. In fact, the influx of silver did not deal a fatal blow to the Ming economy. However, the inflow of silver was cut off by the Spanish massacre of the Chinese in Manila and the war in Europe, but it dealt a fatal blow to the Ming economy. See "Hong Ye ......... History of the Founding of the Qing Dynasty

Note 2: In ancient China, most dynasties minted relatively sophisticated coins during their prosperous periods. The copper content accounts for 60%, or even more than 70%. The treasury will also have relatively sufficient gold and silver reserves. Anyone who minted inferior copper coins was seen as an open plunder of the people's property. The emperor in power also paid attention to his face and tried not to mint "bad money" and "white money" to prevent it from being stinking for thousands of years. Only the so-called Yongzheng Emperor ordered to cast the inferior money of copper four lead six. It is also called in the name of "In order to put an end to civil fraud".

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