Zhao Tuo was very happy to see Li Dan, but as a monarch, he didn't perform too much in front of everyone. At the beginning of the meeting, Shoufu Han first mentioned that the situation in Shaanxi banknotes was chaotic and had reached the point of no return.

Shaanxi belonged to four dynasties, and there were Western Xia and Tubo in the middle, and the result of more than 200 years of regime change was that there were constantly new systems, new decrees and new currencies.

For a while, the people simply returned to the era of bartering, and the regional industry and commerce were greatly affected, and the early years of this dynasty can be described as withering.

In the past 20 years, the wars were basically fought in Shanxi, Hebei and Liaodong, and Shaanxi gained a little peace.

In addition, in the last years of Renzong, the Qinghai Qiang people had to be attached under the blow of Tubo, and the imperial court established the Haixi Protectorate in Xining, and with this barrier, the Guanzhong region finally stabilized.

Recently, the two departments of Ula and Huifa have been attached, the Hanhai Protectorate has been established, and Ye Erqiang has also become honest, so the merchants in the Jingzhao region have begun to move.

But they soon found that they were facing a serious problem: Shaanxi and Gansu now have seventeen kinds of banknotes, mixing copper coins from seven dynasties, which is simply the culmination of the banknote problem!

The original business was silent and the contradiction was not prominent, but now if it is not solved, the goods inside cannot go out, and the outside cannot come in!

For example, a trader from Shangjing would never accept any Xixia banknotes, and he couldn't recognize the words on it, and it was useless to accept them except as antiques!

Another serious phenomenon is that the stock of paper money in Shaanxi seriously exceeds the amount of precious metals held by residents, even if a Huizi issued during the Zhenzong period of the Northern Song Dynasty, the consistent money can only be exchanged for 730 yuan!

This price is not the lowest in the country, and I am afraid it is the only one.

Hearing these conditions, Zhao Tuo's brows furrowed, but when he looked at Li Dan, he saw a confident smile in the other party's gaze. "Is there any way Li Saburo can solve the problem?

Yes, he must want to take the opportunity to try out the new banknote method and the silver school over there, but if I show my support for him too soon, I'm afraid it will backfire! Thinking of this, Zhao Tuo first signaled Xia Shu to refill himself with tea, and then asked Han Wei:

"Aiqing thinks that the situation in Shaanxi and Gansu is very serious? However, I am very concerned about the southeast, isn't the problem of banknotes the earliest and loudest in Jiangnan? ”

As soon as the emperor said this, Xie Minhong immediately nodded.

But he didn't squeak, the Jiangnan department has been in a slump since Er Yang stepped down, and several major cases are related to Jiangnan, so he remains reserved, trying not to be outstanding, not to show the dew, so as not to be hit by the emperor.

However, now His Majesty suddenly mentioned Jiangnan, which made him a little happy in surprise. Could it be that the wind is changing?

"Your Majesty, the contradiction between banknotes and coins is indeed mentioned by Jiangnan first." Han Wei seemed to have expected the emperor to be like this, and replied with a smile:

However, the ministers thought that the Kergol Khan would also be crowned, and the four tribes of Monan were submitted, and the two territories of Ula and Huifa had established seven counties, and Yanlie Khan actively pursued a pro-Han policy after taking power.

These changes made Ye Erqiang nervous, and he could be sent to recruit him. If Ye Erqiang surrenders, the road to Yili Bury can be opened, and the day when His Majesty will restore the capital of the Tang Western Regions will not be far off. This is a once-in-a-century opportunity! ”

"Oh!" Zhao Tuo nodded: "Qing is thinking, the starting point to the Western Regions is Shaanxi, Gansu, Jingzhao, and Xi'an, right?" Therefore, for the sake of the Western Regions, should the policy of first the west and then the east be implemented? ”

"My Emperor Shengming!"

"Well, in the future, you have to go straight to the point, don't go around in such a big circle!"

"The minister is afraid, and he must pay attention in the future."

Zhao Tuo sighed slightly: "First the west and then the east, is this the strategy locked by the cabinet, or is it the secretary's own opinion?" ”

"Well, there have been exchanges between the ministers and the cabinet and the six ministers, and most of them agree with this proposal."

"Then there is still a different opinion?" The Emperor smiled and motioned for him to sit down first, and then glanced at the audience: "I want to hear it, who has a different opinion?" ”

"The minister has a different opinion!" Xie Minhong couldn't help but raise his hand, got up after getting permission, saluted first, and then: "Your Majesty, the minister was born in Jiangnan, and he has a first-hand experience of the voice of the people in the south, so he hopes to speak on their behalf in front of His Majesty." ”

"Okay, I just want to hear the opinions from the south, so I can speak up boldly!" Zhao Tuo actually encouraged, and a look of surprise flashed on the faces of several officials from Jinghu, Sichuan and Shu, and Shaanxi and Gansu present.

Xie Minhong was encouraged, thought for a while, and said: "The south has been suffering from banknote chaos for a long time!" There has been no governance since the end of the Southern Song Dynasty. The situation of Shaanxi and Gansu should be indulged, but it is correct to first go southeast and then northwest.

There are three reasons: first of all, the southeast is the basic and prosperous place of national taxation, but the banknotes are chaotic, and the people are popular banknotes and the people are hiding precious metals such as gold, silver, copper, etc., resulting in a shortage of coins and metals.

If the money chaos is brought under control and the private gold collection is released, then the shortage of precious metals will be alleviated and the circulation will be improved, which will be of great benefit to the country.

Secondly, the release of precious metals to the market can accelerate production and trade, make the prosperity of Jiangnan to a higher level, and at the same time, the surplus population that can be bred has more opportunities to work and work, reduce the number of displaced people, and prevent unrest.

Thirdly, the maritime trade in the south of the Yangtze River is developed, and now the maritime trade relies on precious metals, and the lack of banknotes and currencies hinders the development of maritime trade.

The number of new seagoing ships built in the shipbuilding industry has only increased by 10% this year, and there is certainly a reason why the last typhoon destroyed the ships and dampened the enthusiasm of the maritime traders, and at the same time, there are too few metal currencies to trade smoothly.

Half of the sea now relies on barter, but the losses are so great that it is acceptable for businessmen to do it once in a while, but it is difficult to persist for a long time.

The minister speculated, the tax revenue received by the Ministry of Household last year is likely to decline, I don't know if it's right or not? ”

"Hubu, you come down," the emperor called the name, and Zheng Shou hurriedly stood up: "Does the city department have any figures for last year's sea trade banknotes?" In addition, from the perspective of the household, how much metal currency are you lacking now? ”

"The minister has the number, Your Majesty waits." Zheng Shou hurriedly took out a booklet from his pocket, opened the page with a pencil and looked at it, and replied loudly:

"Your Majesty, the tax on maritime trade reported by the banknote customs is about three percent lower than last year. As for the metal currency, the household shortage is 100101017000 catties of copper! There was a commotion below.

However, several officials of the Ministry of Industry did not participate or say anything. Last year, the country produced 1.7 million catties of copper, and sixty percent of them used to cast new artillery and firearms, so where is there so much copper used to cast money?

Zhao Tuo himself also understood the main reason for the lack of copper, and the reorganization of the new army he was implementing required a large amount of copper, such as vehicle components, artillery and firearms.

Each new army division has a hundred four-horse jack cannons, that is, the improved general's gun, if Li Dan didn't let him bulge his waist, he really couldn't afford to equip it. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of this.

"Qing is really an old household, and the numbers are very clear." He praised Zheng Shou, and then asked: "So does Qing have a solution to the money shortage?" ”

"This ......," Zheng Shou stuck: "The minister is good at financial management, and I am afraid that I have to ask the Ministry of Industry for industrial and mining matters." "He kicked the ball out. However, the three major members of the Ministry of Industry: Liu Fangpin and Yang Zhi Su Tan did not dare to take it, and kicked it to the cabinet again.

The emperor finally got annoyed: "In this way, I will ask another question: which Aiqing can solve the reason and solution of the shortage of money in Jiangnan?" ”

"Your Majesty, Li Zedong's implementation of the new banknote law and the banking law in Liaoning has been quite effective. Why don't you ask him to talk? When Han Wei saw Zheng Shouxi's lips moving, he suddenly realized that he immediately suggested to the emperor. Zhao Tuo happily played.

Li Dan got up and first introduced the implementation of new banknotes and the establishment of banks in Liaoning, as well as the current circulation and use of new banknotes. Then he bowed his hand to the emperor and said:

"Although there are achievements in Liaoning, the minister thinks that this law cannot be promoted to the southeast at present. At least the degree of economic and trade development and population density in the southeast are not comparable to Liaoning. ”

"Oh?" The emperor looked at the embarrassed officials: "Qing thinks that what can be successful in Liaoning, can't he do it again in the southeast?" ”

"Your Majesty, Liaoning implemented the new banknote and banking law, the background is that Liaoning is vast and sparsely populated, with only hundreds of thousands of people, no large amount of overseas trade, and very little internal money.

Originally, the economy and finances were all military towns, and military priorities were given. As long as national defense can be consolidated, the needs of the population and economic and trade activities can be kept to a minimum. So think of it as a blank sheet of paper, which can be easily traced in any way.

However, this is definitely not the case in the southeast, and the diversity of its size, population, and industry is far from being comparable to Liaoning, and it is relatively much more complicated. Therefore, Liaoning's experience cannot be applied to the southeast, but can only serve as a reference. ”

Li Danwan looked at the people in the venue: "Actually, just now, Master Xie only talked about the appearance of heavy money and light money in the southeast, but did not talk about the root cause of this contradiction. ”

"What do you think is the reason?" The Emperor immediately asked.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, there was also a problem of heavy money and light banknotes in the southeast, which was boycotted because of the poor management of the government, which reduced the credit of paper money.

The situation in this dynasty was slightly different, the Zhao Emperor Taizu, who was born in a merchant, attached much more importance to paper money than Ming Taizu, who was born as a peasant, and did not excessively suppress and belittle the Jianghuai merchant group as he did.

The two dynasties of Taizu and Taizong adopted relatively mild strict commercial tax and banknote customs systems, cracked down on smuggling by the Inspection Division, and strictly legalized deed and ticket taxes to encourage legal business operations and severely crack down on illegal businessmen.

But there is one thing in common, that is, due to historical limitations, they have not recognized the role and essence of money.

"Money can be used to exchange goods because it has value in itself and is therefore used for equivalent exchange. Whether the currency is gold, silver, copper, or shells, ivory, or paper, it must be scarce and everyone wants to have cherry."

Li Dan told everyone: "If the original value of the material as currency is not enough to represent a certain scarcity, then the government and the royal government need to use their own credibility as a guarantee." ”

He held up a Liao coin: "The face value of this Liao coin is a dime, and the value of the mainland banknote is fifty wen." But why is this piece of paper worth so much?

Not only because of its watermarks, prints and special papers, but also because of government guarantees. You see, there are the words "The First Bank of Liaoning" and "The First Bank of Liaoning" and "The Political Envoy of Liaoning."

Therefore, the Liaoning political envoy should do his best to maintain his credibility, so that the users of this banknote will continue to think that it has a value of fifty wen.

In the market, a sheep is worth fifty yuan, and the buyer can use this bill to give it to the owner of the sheep and take the sheep from him. ”

Li Danwan held up a fifty wen bill issued by the Jiangnan Taxation Bureau: "This is also fifty wen, but according to Jiangnan, it can't buy a sheep, and if it is in Huzhou, it can only buy a leg of mutton." The crowd chuckled.

Why is this so? Because the seller only thinks that it has a value of thirty wen! Li Dan put down the banknote: "The reason for this is mainly mismanagement.

Like Shaanxi and Gansu, there are also many old banknotes and rotten banknotes used in the Jiangnan market, although they may be slightly better than those in the west, but they do exist.

The existing management system does not stipulate which agency is responsible for pouring money, so the people do not like to collect, and they are afraid of losses if they collect it. The people don't dare to use it, let alone sea trade?

In addition, all provinces have treasure money printing divisions, printed out of a variety of texture, color, ink color is not uniform, which is true, which fake people can not distinguish, so that its credit is damaged, but also one of the reasons why everyone does not like to use money.

Finally, the banknote denomination is not set reasonably. Everyone only prints large denominations, such as ten, fifty, and hundred are commonly used by the people, but it is not easy to find such denomination banknotes, and the above are always common.

The large denomination is conducive to commercial activities, and the denomination is conducive to the common use of the people's life. The banknote denomination should be designed with both in mind, otherwise it will lose the support of some users.

By the way, the various units on the face of the ticket are also a problem, such as coherence, two, coins, documents, money, etc., which is very inconvenient to use.

The above are all factors that affect the use of paper money, not that there is a problem with the banknote itself, but that the person who designed it has made a mistake, not that everyone does not want to use money, but that the system and measures related to banknotes are not perfect, and the officials' understanding is biased or even superficial has led to these problems.

These problems are not difficult to solve, but they are not solved overnight. ”

Li Dan spent more than half an hour to let everyone have a new understanding of the currency in their minds, and then told everyone: "In view of the extensive contradictions between banknotes and coins, I support the improvement of the current currency.

However, they oppose copying and copying, and they do not want the whole country to follow a decree. Behind any successful reform is a great deal of investigation and preparation.

At the same time, one or two provinces should be used as special zones to carry out pilot experiments, gain experience, and summarize them in a timely manner before expanding them to the whole country.

At the same time, this preparation and experimental time is also the preparation period for the national promotion of the new currency system, which can be used to study better paper, printing, and anti-counterfeiting technology, and lay the foundation for national promotion. After a little muttering, he proposed:

"Xiaguan suggested that the north and south should choose a province to try out the school, and the lower officials thought that the north could choose Shaanxi, and the south might as well choose the first stop of maritime trade - Guangdong!"

"So, what does Li Qing think of Han Qing's proposal to open up the Western Regions?" Zhao Tuo asked.

"The minister agrees with Lord Han that the opening of the Western Regions can enable us to export our goods to the west, and we will continue to obtain commodities and minerals from the west. But there are two things in Han Darao's plan that I would like to draw your attention to:

The Tibetans will not sit idly by and watch the influence and spread of imperial power in the west, and they will definitely do something. Therefore, military preparations are still necessary, and the cabinet must take them into account!

Furthermore, if Elibury agrees, if they do not agree to trade, or obstruct it, what should we do? I would also like to ask the Cabinet leaders to make full plans. ”

Li Danwan bowed his hand to the emperor: "The minister thinks that diplomacy is the means, the economy is the goal, and the military is the backing, and the three depend on each other and coexist.

Therefore, the minister dared to propose that the imperial court set up two new ministries of foreign affairs and commerce in addition to the six ministries. The structure of the current six parts comes from the Sui and Tang dynasties, but hundreds of years have passed, and it is time for some changes and adjustments.

Your Majesty is a wise and heroic lord, please decide to add two more ministries to adapt to the development of the times and the grand strategy and pattern of our dynasty to connect the four seas and colonize all countries, then all the people will be very fortunate! ”