Among several cabinet ministers, the first to stand up against paper money was actually a military attache turned civilian official.

The emotion of the seed master Dao was very excited, and he even stood up and slapped the table: "Whether it is Jiaozi or Qian Yin, all the paper money in the world is a disaster for the country and the people." Paper, non-gold and non-jade, bamboo and wood can be made, once flooded, the disaster is endless. Large households have been operating for several generations, and the savings of small people for a lifetime have been lost in this thing. The Western Army of the former Song Dynasty was buried in Jiaozi Qianyin! ”

The ministers looked at each other, and those who supported the banknote were not easy to answer, and those who opposed the banknote nodding again and again.

What the planter said is true, and there is a personal experience of pain.

At the beginning of Song Huizong's succession, Jiaozi had already been defeated.

But Zhao Ji and Cai Jing, the two monarchs and ministers, even Shaanxi and Huainan issued iron coins, and the Sichuan money prison was too busy to do business, and even asked the Zhejiang money prison to help make iron money. How could they not be eyeing paper money?

In the first year of Chongning, Cai Jing forcibly issued Jiaozi in Shaanxi through the Tea and Horse Division.

Due to Jiaozi's credit collapse in Sichuan, Cai Jing didn't dare to play too big at first. In the first year, only 3 million banknotes were issued, and 1 million copper coins were set aside as reserves.

After Shaanxi initially obtained credit, the next year it was issued in Hehuang, which had just been recovered.

The border army that was sent to defend the river was all turned into paper money. Because there were too many banknotes issued locally and the Hehuang materials were seriously insufficient, the soldiers had to go hungry with the banknotes, which led to the flight of most of the Hehuang border troops in the following year.

In the third year, Cai Jing issued Jiaozi in Henan.

In the fourth year, in addition to Liangzhejiang, Liangguang, Lianghu, and Fujian, even Jiangnan and Jiangxi also issued Jiaozi. And the reason why Fujian does not issue it is purely because it is Cai Jing's hometown.

In this regard, the credit of Jiaozi issued by Cai Jing completely collapsed.

But he still didn't stop, Cai Jing changed Jiaozi to Qian Yin. Change the name, change the issuing agency, and continue his crazy journey of printing money.

In the past few years, just to spend Shaanxi's military spending, Cai Jing issued 24.3 million banknotes.

In the area of Lanzhou and Hehuang, the border army received all waste paper, and the soldiers were conscripted and defended every year, and the soldiers fled every month.

It made the whole country angry and resentful, and Jiaozi and Qian Yin could not circulate, and Song Huizong and Cai Jingcai were finally forced to stop.

Zhai Ruwen continued to say at the beginning of the planter's words: "It has been less than 20 years since Cai Jing stopped issuing paper money. The military and civilians of the whole country have long been frightened, especially soldiers and businessmen, and when they hear the words Jiaozi and Qian Yin, the first thing they think of is to flee to avoid disaster. The Ming Dynasty is now not short of money and food, and the treasury is increasingly surplus, so why should it issue money to attract the world's doubts? ”

Even Chen Dong said: "Back then, Cai Jing also wanted to issue banknotes in Liangzhejiang, and the businessmen reacted violently and boycotted the market, and even Gangyun and Caoyun were also affected. For the sake of the safety of Cao Yun, Cai Jing released two Zhejiang and one horse. The dynasty is trustworthy to the people with benevolent government, and although the paper money is profitable, it is not advisable to lose a small amount of money! ”

Zhang Bo followed and said: "Even if you want to issue paper money, you can't give it to soldiers as military salary." If you don't pay attention, you may mutiny. ”

One minister after another spoke, and the opposition accounted for more than half.

Zhu Guoxiang and Zhu Ming's father and son looked at each other and smiled bitterly, it was all a good thing done by Zhao Ji and Cai Jing, and the indiscriminate issuance of paper money has made the country's officials, businessmen, military and civilians out of a psychological shadow.

Now it is useless to explain more, because the ministers know very well, they know the advantages and disadvantages of paper money, and they also know that as long as they do not issue them indiscriminately.

The question is, once the opening is opened, who can guarantee that it will not be indiscriminate in the future?

Moreover, the credit of paper money is bankrupt, less than 20 years ago, and the people have not yet come out of the shadows. Even if banknotes are forcibly issued, it is difficult to ensure their normal circulation.

The most important thing in the circulation of banknotes is credit!

When the Song Dynasty first issued Jiaozi, it was really popular with the people because it was difficult to imitate and easy to carry. A hundred yuan of banknotes can be exchanged for more than 100 yuan, and the actual use value even exceeds its denomination.

Qian Chen was actually against issuing banknotes, but Prince Zhu communicated with him in private, and he had to stand up and speak at this time.

He took out a sample banknote that had been made and began to introduce the Daming banknote:

"This money is not named after Jiaozi and Qian Yin, but is called Daming Bao Banknote."

"The anti-counterfeiting of treasure banknotes follows the Jiaozi and is printed on ten-color paper. On the back of the banknote, the sun and moon are printed with bright patterns. On the obverse of the treasure banknote, the denomination and the mountains and rivers are printed with clear patterns. ”

"As for the dark pattern, it is printed with the head of the Holy Son of Heaven of the Great Ming."

"Before the Song Dynasty Jiaozi, red and black overprints were mostly used. The official instructed the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry to create a four-color overprinting method, and the Daming treasure banknotes were changed to four-color overprinting. ”

"There are also anti-counterfeiting signs such as monograms."

"Each Daming treasure banknote must be stamped with the special banknote seal of the Cabinet, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Industry and the Inspectorate. Each additional issuance of treasure banknotes must be jointly discussed and approved by the emperor, the cabinet, the household department, the ministry of industry, and the inspectorate. ”

"Anyone who forges treasure money is privately printed with the head of the Holy Son of Heaven of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the official seals of the Cabinet, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Industry, and the Inspectorate are forged. Punished for treason! ”

"The imperial court plans to set up a Baoquan Bureau to print treasure money. The chief officer of the Baoquan Bureau shall be appointed by the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Industry, and the Inspectorate, and shall be discussed in the cabinet and submitted to His Majesty for approval. ”

"For every hundred taels of treasure notes, there shall be twenty-five pieces of gold, silver or bronze as a reserve."

"Treasure money can be used for tax purposes, and the government cannot refuse to accept it. Even if it is damaged, as long as the handwriting can be recognized, as long as there are more than 70% of the banknotes, the government cannot refuse to accept them. ”

"Damaged or depreciated treasure banknotes can be sent back to the Baoquan Bureau for new banknotes."

The sample note was handed out by Qian Chen and circulated among the ministers of the Cabinet and Yuan.

The ten-color paper used is derived from the water-patterned paper of Sichuan in the Tang Dynasty.

This thing can be used as a watermark pattern, and there are two kinds of watermarks: bright flowers and dark flowers.

Dark flowers must be exposed to light to be visible, while bright flowers have a raised grainy feel. Isn't it similar to the soft girl coin in your hand?

Don't underestimate the anti-counterfeiting technology of ancient banknotes!

There are also anti-counterfeiting marks such as monograms, which are used by Daming treasure banknotes, and they have also changed from two-color overprinting to four-color (blue, yellow, red and black).

This kind of treasure banknote, the cost is not small, the skill is quite high, and those who can imitate it are not ordinary people.

Zhu Ming added: "After the issuance of the Daming treasure banknote, the paper mills that can make ten-color paper in the country must go to the local government to report. How many sheets are made every month, who they sell to, and how to dispose of the cut scraps all need to be recorded in detail in the government! If you don't follow the rules, you will be fined for the worst and ...... Hum. ”

The ministers looked confused, weren't everyone opposing it just now?

Why did he suddenly throw out a sample banknote, and also talked about how to deal with counterfeit banknotes?

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The Daming treasure banknote is only issued in Sichuan and Hanzhong for the time being. Sichuan is prosperous in commerce, but the market is full of iron money, and large transactions are carried out with silk instead of money. What age is this? Now it is the new dynasty of the Ming Dynasty, and the merchants are still using silk as money, what is the difference between bartering and bartering? No matter how valuable the silk is, it is also a physical object, and the transportation cost is extremely high. Local transactions are acceptable, but if they are shipped to other places, it is very inconvenient for merchants. ”

Qian Chen took out another investigation report, which was sent by Zhu Guoxiang and Zhu Ming to investigate.

Qian Chen said: "Sichuan Province and Hanzhong Mansion, in fact, after the situation stabilized, the wealthy businessmen have re-used commercial tickets. It is often a long-term cooperative, trustworthy, and wealthy businessman who is divided between the two places, and they print their own commercial bills to trade privately. ”

"For example, I am a tycoon in Chengdu, and I have a trusted wealthy businessman in Hanzhong. The two of us issue commercial bills to each other, and then stamp them with private seals and signatures, and record them in the account books, so that they can be exchanged for physical goods in different places. What's the difference between this and treasure money? ”

"Your Majesty and the Crown Prince's intentions, this year the first three million yuan of treasure banknotes, in Chengdu, Hanzhong and Yuzhou, set up a branch of the Baoquan Bureau."

"Let the local wealthy merchants buy treasure money with iron money or physical goods. In the first few years of the issuance of treasure banknotes, ordinary people were not involved, and they were only used as commercial bills among merchants. ”

"Moreover, if the merchant wants to cash it, he can immediately go to the Baoquan Bureau and exchange the Daming treasure banknotes for iron money. For the time being, it can only be exchanged for iron money, but in the future, it can also be exchanged for silver dollars and copper coins. ”

"When the treasure banknotes gain credibility among the merchants, and then gradually issue smaller denominations, the common people can also use them for daily transactions."

After listening to this, the ministers pondered carefully and found that they could not find any mistakes.

As for the Baoquan Bureau, it is a bit nondescript.

At the same time, it is under the leadership of the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Industry, and the Inspectorate, and has the function of printing and issuing banknotes. It's a bit like a central bank.

The branch office of the Baoquan Bureau has the function of freely exchanging paper money and metal coins. It's a bit like a commercial bank.

However, it does not have storage and lending functions for the time being.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "If you have no objections, then it will be decided." ”

Many ministers wanted to speak and stopped, but after all, they did not oppose it again.

The emperor and the crown prince have made all the sample banknotes and formulated a series of rules, which is obviously something that has been planned for a long time.

Only the four-color overprinting technology is estimated to have been developed by the Ministry of Industry for several years.

Is it useful for the ministers to oppose it now?

Not only is it useless, but it will also make the monarch and the minister unhappy.

Zhu Ming said: "In the first year, three million banknotes were issued, and another five million were issued in the second year. If the merchant is willing to accept, he can also issue additional as appropriate. However, no matter how much is issued, the reserve must be sufficient, and when there is no reserve, it must not be issued indiscriminately. This matter must be cautious, and the collapse of the former Song Dynasty banknotes should be taken as a warning. ”

"Yes!"

The ministers promised to make a promise, but it was actually quite unpleasant.

The bottom line of the imperial court is always no bottom line.

The ratio of reserves to treasure money is now set at 1:4, and in the future, the financial crunch may become 1:5, or even 1:100 in shame.

Taizu and Taizong obeyed the rules, and the founding ministers also obeyed the rules.

But what about a hundred or two hundred years from now?

The more you go to the middle and late dynasties, the more there is no bottom line, who cares so much if there is a financial problem?

When ten coins, tin coins, and iron coins are rotten, they are also metal money, and they can barely be used. Only paper money is a thing, and if you print too much, it will really become waste paper.

Zhai Ruwen left the imperial city and sighed: "The paper money is here again, how to clean it up after a hundred years?" ”

But the planter said, "Where can I manage it after a hundred years? As long as it is not issued to the soldiers now. ”

Xiao Chu said: "A hundred years later, if the Ming Dynasty can't make ends meet, most of the imperial court will also issue paper money. Now that it doesn't happen, it doesn't really matter, and everything can't be wasted because of choking. ”

The ministers had different thoughts, but most of them were worried.

(End of chapter)