Silver Monorail!

Kidnappe all countries and become the settlement currency of the world trading system!

The concept of never hearing made Zhu Di and Xia Yuanji look at each other.

Zhu Di was stunned for a few breaths, and then asked: "Xia Qing, silver single-track system, settlement currency, what does this mean?" ”

Xia Yuanji replied: "Back to Your Majesty, what does the silver single-track system mean, the minister is not very clear. But the settlement currency, the minister can understand a rough idea from this name, this is not complicated, the minister will explain to you that our Ming Dynasty and the surrounding countries will go to the West to do business in the future, right? ”

Zhu Di nodded.

Xia Yuanji continued: "The settlement currency, that is, our Daming takes the Daming treasure money to buy things, and people must not recognize it, right?" ”

"That's nature." Zhu Di said with a smile.

Xia Yuanji continued: "But if you exchange the Daming treasure banknote for silver, people will definitely recognize it!" After all, silver is still very valuable. And the currency used here to pay and collect accounts at the time of transaction is, if the minister expected, the so-called settlement currency. ”

Zhu Di thought for a while and asked: "Then how to make the banknotes printed by the Ming Dynasty become the 'settlement currency' of Western countries?" I'm afraid it's impossible to rely on force. ”

"I don't know." Xia Yuanji coughed embarrassedly, "Maybe the so-called 'silver single-track system' is its precursor step, although the minister doesn't understand the specific meaning, but looking at the literal meaning, the 'rail' here should be similar to the 'rail' in the 'car with the same track, the book with the same text'." ”

Zhu Di nodded in understanding.

In his design, for the first time in the future, Daming planned to sell silk, porcelain and other materials overseas. For example, silk worth thousands of yuan needs to be sold at least ten times or even dozens of times the price overseas, so that it is not in vain for the Ming Dynasty to make a huge trip to the West.

But in this, there is an extreme lack of information.

The first question is: will overseas countries buy it?

Secondly, who are the overseas countries now? The Kanyu maps and sea charts inherited from the Yuan Dynasty and even the Song Dynasty are probably outdated after so many years.

Therefore, Zhu Di decided to go to the West for the first time to explore the way, send his cronies to those distant places to see the specific situation, and then plan whether to go to the ocean or within the traditional tributary system.

Not to mention that Zhu Di and Xia Yuanji in the secret room were scheming, inside the wall, Jiang Xinghuo also began to talk about the construction of the 'Silver Treasure Bank' system.

“…… The core of the silver monorail system is to scrap gold, copper, and leave silver, to put it bluntly, it is silver monopoly! ”

Li Jinglong looked at the wall and asked consciously.

"Jiang Lang, if silver is the core, then gold and silver cannot coexist, I know this. But why can't it coexist with copper? Can't copper be left as a coin? ”

Jiang Xinghuo, who was interrupted, was not displeased, and he explained extremely patiently.

"No, you can't. The reason is also very simple, I will give you a specific example, and you will be clear. ”

"Let's take the Yuan Dynasty as an example."

Well, it's not that Jiang Xinghuo prefers the Yuan Dynasty so much, but the Yuan Dynasty is indeed the dynasty with the most experience in monetary reform (tossing) and the most failed cases in ancient Chinese history.

"According to what I said before, you should know that the Yuan Dynasty has undergone four changes in banknotes before and after."

Li Jinglong's eyes flickered, and he 'experienced' the process of Zhongtong banknotes to Zhiyuan banknotes, to Yuan banknotes and then to large silver banknotes.

As for the last Zhida silver banknote [banknote] to be the most orthogonal banknote, although Li Jinglong did not 'personally' experience it, but according to the account of his father, the first Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong, when he was a child, he also knew what the orthogonal banknote was.

To the orthogonal banknote, in short, it is not as good as wiping the butt paper, and it is too hard to wipe the buttocks.

Jiang Xinghuo continued: "After the issuance of the orthogonal banknote, the monetary credit of the Yuan Dynasty completely collapsed, and the common people who were deceived three times in a row in a hundred years completely lost trust in the currency issued by the Yuan Dynasty government, so the fourth change of banknote was actually not successful. ”

"The banknote change was unsuccessful, and the Yuan Dynasty government had no choice but to issue copper coins as auxiliary coins. Looks normal, right? No one recognizes the banknotes, so they can only issue auxiliary coins. ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "That's true, otherwise there is no other way, I think." ”

Li Jinglong answered: "Yes, this seems to be quite reasonable, after all, if the Yuan Dynasty government wants to stabilize the people's hearts, it also needs something." Copper coins have been used for thousands of years, so they should be the most suitable choice. ”

"So what is the result of this seemingly reasonable choice?"

Listening to Jiang Xinghuo's words, Li Jinglong's face turned dark.

Not long ago, based on his own rational judgment, he also made a very 'reasonable' decision not to repair the Yellow River.

The final result, ahem, will not be said.

"The consequence is that the paper money system that the Yuan Dynasty painstakingly operated at the beginning of its founding collapsed directly, and copper coins once again became the dominant currency."

"Immediately after that, there was a situation among the people, 'there was a bumper harvest in the coming year, but the price was very cheap, and it was difficult to get money', and 'the grain for the whole year was not paid a price, and the interest was lost and the loan was borrowed, and the wife was pawned in a hurry'."

"A year later, the Red Turban Rebellion broke out, and Emperor Taizu Gao rose in troubled times."

Jiang Xinghuo finished talking about the result and asked rhetorically: "Then smart guys, use your brains to think about it, why didn't the copper coin work?" ”

"Why is it that when the harvest is cheap, it is so difficult to get paper money? It stands to reason that paper money should not be everywhere, and it would be easy to get copper coins, which have newly become the main currency? ”

Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu, who asked this question, were stunned.

That's right?

Why?

Why did paper money, which was not trusted by the people, become extremely rare, and copper coins could not be seen?

"Maybe because this is the fourth change in the history of the Yuan Dynasty, there are not many banknotes issued, and the world is in chaos, and the traffic and order in various places are even more chaotic, and the printed banknotes cannot be shipped, so there are very few in circulation in various places?"

Zhu Gaoxu, who was next to him, suddenly spoke up and gave his answer.

"Even if that's the case, how can there be no copper coins?" Li Jinglong frowned and said: "Besides, this possibility is very low, since the Yuan Dynasty is ready to change money, it must have printed enough new banknotes in advance." This is by no means an accident, there must be some reason why there is a problem with the paper money of the Yuan Dynasty, and there is also a problem with the copper coin. ”

Li Jinglong paused and said, "The most strange thing is the question of 'where did the copper coin disappear'. ”

"Xia Shangshu, where did all the copper coins at the end of the Yuan Dynasty go?"

In the secret room, Zhu Di also asked the same question.

"The minister really knows a thing or two about this." Xia Yuan Jiyan, who was sitting behind him, said, "As far as the minister knows, since the last Jiazi time, copper coins have not disappeared, and they are still circulating throughout the country. It's just that somehow, a large part of it suddenly disappeared at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and then resurfaced a few years later with the formation of the situation of the division of the heroes at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. ”

Xia Yuanji paused for a moment and continued: "This phenomenon formed a serious money shortage at that time, and the number of copper coins in the Yuan Dynasty continued to decrease sharply, as if. The copper coins were inexplicably lost overnight. ”

"The specific reason is unknown, but the number of copper coins that disappeared at that time is huge, and I am afraid that there are hundreds of millions of yuan."

"So much!" Zhu Di was startled for a moment, and then showed a thoughtful expression.

Zhu Di was silent for a moment, and then asked again: "So, these copper coins came back by themselves in a few years?" ”

Xia Yuanji hesitated: "This ...... This is a bit strange to say, but according to the relevant notes of the late Yuan Dynasty, it is true. ”

"Is it the nobles of the Yuan Dynasty or the Han people who are hiding strongly? Or did the people hide on their own? ”

Xia Yuanji was slightly stunned, and then smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, the minister is stupid, I'm afraid that only the Jiang Shi next door can answer this question." ”

"Jiang Xinghuo." Zhu Di frowned and muttered, "Could this be the so-called Destiny of Heaven?" I want to be the king of Zhou Wen? Then my son, who will be King Wu of Zhou? ”

Xia Yuanji couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this, and asked curiously: "Why does the emperor think so?" ”

Zhu Di shook his head and said lightly: "I'm just talking casually, and continue to listen." ”

When it came to the matter of competing for the crown, Xia Yuanji didn't dare to say much when he saw this, and continued to listen patiently with Zhu Di.

Old crooked neck under the tree.

Li Jinglong, the erudite and talented soldier on paper, rolled his eyes, as if he remembered something again.

Li Jinglong twisted his delicate beard and proposed another possibility.

"Since the Yuan Dynasty forbade the possession of iron weapons by the people, and destroyed all the traditional famous cities in the north on a large scale in the war of extermination, is it because Kublai Khan did the same thing as Qin Shi Huang that caused a shortage of copper coins?"

Li Jinglong used his magnetic baritone to chant in a subdued voice.

"Famous city, kill heroes, collect the world's soldiers, gather Xianyang, sell Fengdi, cast as the golden man, and weaken the people of the world."

Zhu Gaoxu interrupted him impatiently: "Didn't you just want to say, didn't the Mongols collect all the copper coins?" ”

"Ahem." Li Jinglong nodded in agreement.

"It's not." Jiang Xinghuo replied unusually crisply.

"The Mongols did not confiscate the copper coins of the Jin Dynasty and the Song Dynasty, but also allowed them to circulate, although they did not recognize the copper coins in name, but in the nearly 100 years that the Mongols ruled China, the copper coins have been the de facto currency for small transactions among the people, and even, the Mongols also exported a large number of seized copper coins to Japan."

"What?"

Zhu Gaoxu was stunned, there is still this kind of operation? I really haven't seen it.

Didn't the Mongols fight out the brains of the Japanese dogs?

Probably seeing Zhu Gaoxu's doubts, Jiang Xinghuo added: "Don't be surprised, stand and earn money, don't stumble." ”

"Why the hell?"

Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu couldn't figure it out at all.

"This is actually a very classic economic concept - bad money drives out good money."

"This is also the main reason why the silver monorail system should be introduced."

"Bad money drives out good money?"

Zhu Di unconsciously twisted the jade chisel in his hand.

"Xia Qing, Jiang Xinghuo said that this is a very classic economic concept, do you understand what it means?"

Xia Yuanji's face was blue and red, as if he was changing his face in a performance.

How to answer the emperor?

Could it be that the Ming Dynasty's Hubu Shangshu has never heard of this so-called 'economic concept'? Would that make the emperor think I was stupid?

But Xia Yuanji's rapidly turning head was in the melon, no matter how much he rummaged through his memory, he didn't find the thing in Jiang Xinghuo's mouth, "bad money drives out good money".

"Back to Your Majesty's words."

Xia Yuanji took a deep breath and tried to calm his voice, but he could still feel a slight tremor in his tone, obviously very flustered in his heart: "The minister is ignorant, and he has not heard such a statement. ”

Zhu Di nodded, not seeming surprised by this answer.

"Xia Qing hasn't heard anything before, so how can I tell if what Jiang Xinghuo said is true?"

Xia Yuanji hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, although the minister has never heard of it, but after many years of serving the country and the people, as long as the minister can understand it, whether it is true or not, the minister can still judge it." ”

Zhu Di's smile was still the same: "Well, I naturally believe that Xia Qing is truly knowledgeable, if Xia Qing thinks that there is something wrong with what Jiang Xinghuo said, then Xia Qing will talk to me in time." ”

Xia Yuanji nodded reluctantly, but his heart became a little complicated.

This trip to the prison completely shattered his financial cognition.

Originally, he thought that Jiang Xinghuo was just a daring fanatic.

Later, he felt that what the other party said made some sense.

And then on, well, this guy does have something, but not much.

And then later, shocked! There is a new solution to this problem!

And then on, what are you talking about? Why don't I understand?

All in all, Xia Yuanji slowly transformed from the initial contempt and ridicule to the current admiration and worship, and then was filled with shock, and his whole heart became numb.

The only thing Xia Yuanji wants to do now is to leave the edict as soon as possible after listening to the class, and then write what he saw and heard today into a 10,000-character essay.

Otherwise, he was afraid that he would forget the things he had learned in the lectures and in combination with his experience in presiding over the household department.

These things belong to a flash of inspiration, and they are not the ones recorded by the pen and paper of the little official at all.

And these things will make him the most successful minister in reforming the banknote law since the Southern Song Dynasty, and leave his name in the economic road!

Thinking of this, Xia Yuanji's breathing became rapid, and his heartbeat gradually accelerated.

"Xia Qing, what's wrong with you? What is wrong with your body? ”

Zhu Di's concerned gaze fell on his face.

Xia Yuanji shook his head, forcibly held back the roar that was about to burst through his throat, and showed a gentle smile, his voice was low and deep: "Your Majesty, Xia is fine." ”

"If I tell you directly, I don't think you will be able to understand it."

Jiang Xinghuo smiled: "Okay, let's talk about it differently, and talk about the kind that you will definitely understand." ”

"Since you all said it, the Yuan Dynasty lost the hearts of the people because of several currency exchanges, so it picked up the copper coins again. Well, then let me ask you, if today's Son of Heaven sees the depreciation of the Ming treasure banknote. You say that it is possible that he will be forced to cancel the banknotes without any compensation. And then the copper coin, which is now running in parallel with the banknotes, will be restored as the main currency? ”

Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu shook their heads when they heard this.

This is obviously impossible, how could Emperor Yongle make such a low-level mistake?

Directly cancel the Daming treasure banknote, and without any measures, the people's hearts will be unstable.

Li Jinglong said: "Although I don't know why Jiang Lang put forward this hypothesis, it is impossible. ”

"I don't think it's possible, it's a little ridiculous." Zhu Gaoxu also denied it, "Officials are not stupid. ”

"Huh." Jiang Xinghuo smiled and said, "This is not speculation, just hypothesis." ”

"So since Yuan Mo did this, let's say, suppose it is done now, what kind of changes do you think will happen to the price of copper coins?"

"Of course it's worth more." Li Jinglong said as a matter of course.

Jiang Xinghuo struck the knot.

"Coincidentally, the vast number of Han people and scholars at the end of the Yuan Dynasty also think so!"

Li Jinglong was stunned.

"So what will everyone do? Since the law stipulates that the orthogonal banknotes have been exchanged, is it not reasonable to hide the copper coins that have become valuable and will continue to appreciate in the future that is visible to the naked eye, and trade only the orthogonal banknotes? ”

"That's how bad money drives out good money, understand?"

The two fell silent together, an assumption that doesn't make sense in itself, but if it is considered valid, the result of the performance feels very plausible.

So, what's going on here?

Zhu Gaoxu scratched his beard, he was already a little dizzy.

After a while, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but ask Li Jinglong: "If you were a Han man in the Yuan Dynasty, would you do this?" ”

Li Jinglong smiled: "What do you think? ”

Hearing the conversation between the two, Jiang Xinghuo sighed: "If I am, I will do the same, because there is another logic here - that is, when everyone does this, it may not necessarily make money by doing this, but whoever does not do it will definitely suffer." ”

"Jiang Lang, I'm still a little puzzled." Li Jinglongfu asked again: "Since everyone has hidden all the copper coins and traded with the orthogonal banknotes in their hands, the orthogonal banknotes themselves are worthless and no one believes them, why did even the orthogonal banknotes become extremely scarce in the end?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu was stunned when he heard this, yes, why didn't he think of this question?

The scalp is so itchy that I want to grow my brain.

In the secret room, Zhu Di once again looked at his household book.

Xia Yuanji's heart sank, he didn't want the emperor to feel that he didn't know anything.

That would be too incompetent.

Xia Yuanji hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this matter is something that the minister knows. ”

"Tell me about it."

"It's easy to say, paper money is a little different from copper money, gold and silver, that is, copper money, gold and silver can be buried for later use, but paper money, not circulating is a piece of waste paper."

Xia Yuanji breathed a sigh of relief, he must have answered this question correctly.

Zhu Di wanted to continue asking, but Jiang Xinghuo next door had already given a more detailed explanation.

Jiang Xinghuo said: "Actually, we have talked about this problem before. ”

Spoken?

Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu looked at each other, why didn't they have any impression at all.

"The reason is simple, the social order has collapsed, and money has lost its basis for exchange."

Jiang Xinghuo explained: "As we said before, general equivalents are based on the great division of labor and exchange in society, and are produced in order to facilitate the exchange process. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, when the war was raging, the Han people were strong and strong, and the folk villages and communities built more dock forts to defend themselves, and almost all the division of labor was completed in the internal cycle of the dock forts, so how could there be any foreign exchange at all? ”

Li Jinglong asked puzzledly: "Since there is no foreign exchange, the orthogonal banknotes should become worthless!" Why is it scarce? ”

"I'm not done yet."

Jiang Xinghuo continued.

"But the world is so big, there are always people who live in the cities ruled by the Yuan Dynasty, and live in the countryside without dock forts. When the division of labor in society as a whole declined, and the demand for exchange was drying up, the circulation of orthogonal banknotes also came to a standstill. ”

"The result of the stagnation of money in circulation is that it is left in the hands of the last person, and cannot be passed on to the next person, even if the next person is in the ruling area of the Yuan Dynasty at this time, and is urgently in need of selling grain to get the Zhengjiao banknotes to pay taxes."

Hearing this, not only Li Jinglong was a little stunned, but Zhu Gaoxu also understood what was going on.

Jiang Xinghuo has already described the whole process of "bad money driving out good money" to them in detail with extremely vivid examples.

"So." Li Jinglong hurriedly replied: "Only when the most orthogonal banknotes are extremely worthless, there is a shortage of money!" ”

Jiang Xinghuo nodded in affirmation.

"You're smart, and you deserve to be my student."

Jiang Xinghuo continued: "The essence is that money is an item that is used to exchange for something of value, when there is neither an exchange nor a thing of value. Money, too, loses its proper meaning. ”

"And this is also the reason for establishing a single-track system for silver and abandoning gold and copper - that is, in the system, completely cut off the possibility of bad money driving out good money."

At this point, the reason and necessity of the silver single-track system are completely explained.

Not only did Li Jinglong and Zhu Gaoxu understand it, but even Zhu Di and Xia Yuanji next door, and even the two little officials, completely understood.

There is no way, Jiang Xinghuo has already broken this economic knowledge and fed it to their mouths.

If you don't understand this, then even the martial artist Zhu Gaoxu, who doesn't like to use his brains, is not as good.

"So the establishment of the silver monorail system, the next step can make the 'silver treasure banknote' the only settlement currency of the entire world trade system?"

Li Jinglong said with some eagerness, because he knew very well that Zhu Di next door should also prick up his ears at this time, waiting for the answer to this question.

As Zhu Di's "mouth" that doesn't move so casually, Li Jinglong must ask as many topics as he thinks Zhu Di will be interested in.

In Li Jinglong's expectant gaze, Jiang Xinghuo shook his head.

"How can it be possible to directly achieve the ultimate goal with such a complex system construction as Silver Treasure Banknote?"

"There are three more things to take apart and do in the third step."

"First, restore part of the value of the Daming treasure banknote to a relatively acceptable level of exchange."

"Second, after the Daming treasure banknote was exchanged for silver treasure banknotes, strict currency control was implemented, and physical silver was used as the 'offshore silver treasure banknote', and the silver treasure banknote and the 'offshore silver treasure banknote' did not interfere with each other and circulated in parallel."

"Third, after the Ming Dynasty holds the pricing power of the physical silver and becomes the settlement currency of the international trade system, an agreement will be signed to officially replace the physical silver as an 'offshore silver treasure banknote' with silver treasure banknotes to open up the domestic and foreign monetary systems."

"In this way, as long as the warships of the Ming Dynasty are rampant all over the seas and the anchorages are full of mountains and rivers, the silver treasure will become the real world currency."

"You must know that money conquers people's hearts and minds far better than swords and guns."

(End of chapter)