"Also, in the future, the imperial court will transition from the silver standard to the gold standard! It's not easy! But this direction cannot be changed! "Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen further gave his own ideas for economic construction, this is not the future, the Ming Empire, as the most powerful economy on the planet, has the ability to determine its own economic system!

In the history of money, silver served as the standard currency earlier than gold. But when it comes to acting as a monetary commodity, gold is far superior to silver. With the economic development of Western countries, the silver standard first transitioned to the gold and silver double standard, and was replaced by the gold standard after the 20s of the 19th century. By the end of the 19th century, with the improvement of labor productivity in the silver mining and casting industry, the value of silver continued to decrease, and the price of gold and silver fluctuated greatly, which affected the development of the economy. With the exception of China, countries have abandoned the silver standard.

The silver two-standard is based on the weight of silver "tael" as the price standard, and the silver bar is circulated.

The silver coin standard is a silver coin that the state stipulates that silver is a monetary metal and requires it to be minted into a certain shape, weight and fineness; Silver coins can be freely minted and freely melted; Bank notes can be freely exchanged for huàn silver coins or silver; Silver coins and silver can be freely exported or imported to ensure the stability of the foreign exchange market.

In the history of China's currency, silver has gradually become a monetary metal since the Han Dynasty, and silver has been monetized in the Ming Dynasty, and China has truly become a country with silver. However, the implementation of the silver system, which is valued by the weight of the metal, belongs to the weighing currency system, and has not stepped into the stage of the monetary system. In the second year of Xuantong (1910 AD), the "Currency Regulations" were promulgated, and the silver standard was officially adopted, with "yuan" as the monetary unit. The weight is seven dollars and two cents for Kuping. The fineness is 90%. It is called the Great Qing Silver Coin. However, silver dollars and silver are still used in the market. After the Xinhai Revolution, the "National Currency Regulations" were promulgated in 1913, officially stipulating that the silver dollar, which weighs seven cents and two cents and has a fineness of 89%, is the currency unit of China. This is how the "Yuan Datou" silver dollar was minted. But silver dollars and silver are still used together. On March 8, 1933, the Nationalist Government promulgated the "Regulations on the Minting of Silver Standard Coins", stipulating that the silver standard coin was named "Yuan", with a total weight of 26.6971 grams, 88 grams of silver and 12 copper, that is, 23.493448 grams of pure silver. Silver standard currency weight and fineness per dollar. The tolerance shall not exceed 0.3% compared with the legal weight and fineness, and it is stipulated that a silver standard currency shall be granted and received in public and private transactions, and there is no limit to the number of times it can be used each time. In April of the same year, the Nationalist Government implemented the "abolition of the two yuan and the change of yuan" and issued a unified national silver coin - the "Sun Yat-sen Portrait" silver dollar. In 1935, the Nationalist Government implemented the so-called currency reform and announced the abolition of the silver standard.

In the late 19th century, the world's silver production soared, and the market price of silver fluctuated violently, showing a long-term downward trend. The volatility of the price of silver, combined with the low weight price, does not lend itself to huge payouts. As a result, different countries have abandoned the silver standard.

Since the twelfth year of the Ming Dynasty (1517), King Manuel I of Portugal sent an envoy to Tomei. After Tome Pires arrived in Guangzhou, European merchants set sail one after another. Direct trade between Europe and the Americas and China grew from scratch to a considerable scale. China's foreign trade has expanded dramatically as a result of the acquisition of vast new markets, and its content has also undergone a qualitative change in considerable length. In this process, huge amounts of overseas silver flowed into China, which accelerated the pace of China's natural economy to a monetary economy, and had a far-reaching impact on the establishment of China's silver standard and monetary and fiscal system.

During the Ming Dynasty, the trade routes between China and the Americas began at Yuegang (now Longhai Haicheng), Xiamen and Guangzhou in Fujian, with Manila as a transit port and ending in Acapulco, Mexico. Macau plays the role of a trade hub between China and Europe.

In 1565, the Spanish admiral Miguel. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi led a fleet from Mexico to the Philippines; the establishment of a colonial capital in Manila in 1571; In 1585, it was established as a protectorate and placed under the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalty of New Spain (present-day Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean). At that time, the level of social and economic development of the Philippine Islands was low, and the local products could not even sustain the expenses of the colonial authorities, and Riyaśpe's report to the Governor of New Spain stated that the colonial authorities could only get "cinnamon" from the local area. The handicrafts produced in China are cheap and high-quality, and have a good reputation in Europe, the United States and South Asian countries. In order to benefit from the primitive accumulation of capital, the Philippine colonial authorities had to engage in entrepot trade with China, and even consumer goods had to rely on China's supply. Once established in the Philippines, the Spaniards sent two missionaries and two military officers from Manila to Zhangzhou in 1575 in the hope of concluding a treaty with China. In order to attract Chinese to resettle and do business in the Philippines, the colonial authorities also adopted some protection, reward, and preferential treatment measures for Chinese business travelers and Chinese goods.

Around this time, the Ming army also entered the final stage of the war. In the forty-fifth year of Jiajing (1566), since the second year of Jiajing (1523), the "Battle for Tribute" (Note: In June of the second year of Jiajing (1523), the Japanese Zuo Jingzhao Dafu Nei Yixing sent Beizong to Ningbo; Not long after, the right Jingzhao doctor Gao Gong sent the monk Rui Zuo and Song Suqing, a native of Ningbo, to also arrive. Because Song Suqing bribed the Ningbo eunuch Lai En, he was able to sit on the throne of Zongshi during the banquet, and although his cargo ship arrived later, it was inspected before Zongshi's cargo ship. Zong set up a rage to kill Ruizo, burn his ships, chase Song Suqing to Shaoxing City, loot along the way, Ming Bei Wadu commanded Liu Jin, thousands of households Zhang Bo died in battle, Zhejiang was shocked, known as "the battle for tribute". Afterwards, Xia Yan's misfortune in the matter originated in the city, which was the division of Fujian and Zhejiang, and only one in Guangdong. In the first year of Longqing (1567), Tu Zemin, the governor of Fujian, opened the sea ban, allowed the sale of the east and west, and the Ming court reopened overseas trade that had been interrupted for more than 40 years.

The San Pablo returned from the Philippines to the Americas, opening a round-trip route between Mexico and the Philippines. In 1574 (the second year of Wanli), two Manila sails loaded with Chinese silk, cotton, porcelain and other goods sailed to Acapulco, Mexico, marking the official operation of the famous Manila merchant sail trade. The Manila-Acapulco trade route was active for 240 years, from 1574 to 1815. Attracted by the lucrative trade of Manila, merchants from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian Province came one after another. At the beginning of the establishment of the colonial capital of Manila in the fifth year of Longqing (1571), there were only about 150 Chinese. In the 10th year of Wanli (1582), Governor Long Qixi opened a special Chinese community, the Parian, on the banks of the Bashi River in the northeast of Manila. On August 9, 1589, Philip II instructed the Governor General of the Philippines to grant duty-free treatment to grain, military supplies, and raw materials for the manufacture of military supplies imported by merchants from China, Portugal, and Japan, which further stimulated the development of Sino-Philippine trade. By the 90s of the 16th century, the number of Chinese in Manila had reached more than 20,000, while the number of Spaniards, including the army, was only 2,000. Regarding the importance of trade with China, Antonio Anderson, who served as President and Acting Governor of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 1595 to 1603, was the Acting Governor of the Philippines. Morality. Antonio de Morga lamented: "Without Sino-Philippine trade, the Philippine archipelago would not be able to sustain itself. "Manila has become one of Asia's largest trading hubs thanks to entrepot trade with China.

These things of the last century, Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen can use more accurate economic language to analyze with Hou Yu, and at the same time, Fan Jingwen, Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren, Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun, who are in attendance, have benefited a lot!

On the one hand, everyone knew that the emperor had begun to focus on the state affairs of the Ming Dynasty again, and on the other hand, they had to sigh at the emperor's erudition! Especially Wang Chengen, the more Wang Chengen is with the emperor all day long, the more he can't understand, how did the emperor get so much foresight? (To be continued......)