Xiao Chu walked around the cabinet, and then went to the East Palace to ask for a meeting.

Zhu Ming received him warmly and personally made tea for the old man.

After chatting nonsense, Xiao Chu asked: "The benefits of handing over money are nothing more than two. First, it is easy to carry and can be traded. Second, you can get baht by replacing gold with paper. What is the fundamental intention of the prince to issue treasure banknotes in Sichuan? ”

Zhu Ming said: "There are all of them. ”

Xiao Chu asked again: "After a year of resting soldiers, the treasury has a surplus, and now gold and silver mines have been discovered in the Wa Kingdom. Is the Ming court really short of money? ”

"Not lacking for the time being." Zhu Ming said.

Xiao Chu said: "The imperial court is not short of money, so the issuance of treasure money in Sichuan is for currency trade. ”

Zhu Ming nodded: "Yes." Sichuan businessmen stored a large amount of silk and hoarded silk as money. There are only a few transactions with commercial bills, and large-scale transactions in Sichuan are still subject to silk. The rich land in Sichuan, because of the constraints of money, its commerce has always been hindered by other provinces. I've heard people say that there are even businessmen who use high-grade black tea as money. ”

Xiao Chu was afraid of arousing the prince's rebellious mentality, so he carefully followed his hair: "If it is for currency, it is true that treasure banknotes should be issued in Sichuan." ”

Zhu Ming said with a smile: "Mr. Xiao directly said the second half, and the compliments in front can be waived." ”

Xiao Chu began to get to the point: "The benefits of treasure money are one in currency, and the other in accumulating wealth. The disadvantage of treasure money is that it is being issued indiscriminately. Is there a way to reap the benefits and eliminate the disadvantages? Once it is done, not only Sichuan can issue treasure money, but also all provinces in the country can issue treasure money! ”

"Please." Zhu Ming said.

Xiao Chu straightened his waist and said, "Only 100 and 50 large treasure notes will be issued, which are specially used for merchant transactions. As for small transactions and daily transactions, they are still denominated in silver dollars and copper coins. In this way, the imperial court has the benefit of issuing money, and the merchants also have the convenience of currency, and it has no impact on the small people of Shengdou. ”

Zhu Ming said: "I have also thought about this approach, and repeatedly discussed it with my father, it is indeed the safest way." ”

"If there is a safe way, why take risks? His Royal Highness also said that the imperial court is not short of money, and it is not possible to lose big because of small things," Xiao Chu advised, "A hundred years later, there may be monarchs and ministers who issue treasure money indiscriminately, but this matter should not start with the founding saint." Taizu Taizong, the ancestor of a dynasty. The ancestors go first, and those who come later will follow suit, and they can be vibrated without concealment! ”

Zhu Ming smiled and nodded: "What Mr. said is extremely true, I should think twice." ”

Xiao Chu said for a while, then got up and retired.

In fact, this is what the father and son intend to do, and the complete monetary system of the Ming Dynasty in the future is as follows-

Daming treasure banknote: Dedicated to large-value transactions. There are denominations of 200, 100 and 50.

Gold Dollars: Mostly used for rewards and collections, but can also be used for trading. The denominations are one tael, five coins, two coins, and one coin.

Silver Dollar: Used for daily transactions. The denomination is the same as the gold dollar.

Copper coins: Used for everyday transactions. There are five denominations, two denominations, and one denomination.

Gold and silver coins, like one and two coins, have a lot of impurities added to ensure the volume and appearance of the currency.

The reason why gold and silver coins are in units of "taels" and "money" is because the price of gold and silver has been fluctuating.

For example, when the Northern Song Dynasty was founded, every two taels of gold were worth 20 yuan.

With the peace of the world, the price of gold quickly fell to 10, 8, and 5.

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the price of gold soared to 32 times!

If you want to know which period of stability and prosperity in ancient times, you can actually look directly at the price of gold.

The more expensive the gold, the more chaotic the world becomes.

The gold of troubled times is not a lie.

Therefore, the monetary system of the new Ming Dynasty was anchored by the officially issued copper coins.

Ming standard copper coins, denominations of one, two, five.

The copper coins of the past can still be used, but their use value must be judged according to their quality and quality.

Daming treasure banknotes, directly anchored to standard copper coins.

The gold and silver dollars of the Ming Dynasty were only set at two or two coins, and the specific purchasing power fluctuated with the price of gold and silver.

The latest official pricing is: 1 tael of gold is equal to 10 silver, which is equal to 16 copper coins.

In the next few years, as Japanese silver imports continue to be imported, the price of silver is bound to slowly decline. Copper coins will flood into Sichuan, Goryeo and Japan, and the purchasing power of copper coins will rise all the way.

At that time, the value of one tael of silver may shrink to several hundred copper coins (this situation belongs to the standard configuration of the ancient prosperous era. If there is no foreign silver import, it will generally appear at the height of the dynasty).

Hehe, there are also risks for rich people to collect silver dollars!

Once the price of silver continues to fall, in order to preserve the value of their property, the wealthy will inevitably take out the silver dollars from the cellar and circulate them in exchange for the Ming standard copper coins for storage.

After the price of silver and copper stabilizes, wealthy people will be more inclined to collect silver dollars.

Before, I talked so much at the Imperial Council, it was purely a habit to lift the roof, and then achieve the small goal of opening the window.

It's a pity that after the meeting, only Xiao Chu came to advise.

The rest of the ministers seem to have been PUA by the father and son. As long as it is not a particularly outrageous thing, once the emperor and the crown prince make a decision, there will be no more ministers to oppose it in the last year or two.

Of course, the main reason is that the father and son are very self-disciplined, and most of the decisions they make are in line with "benevolent governance".

Otherwise, even the founding monarch will have a minister with a head iron to speak out.

Today's Manchu officials, the psychological activity is actually very simple: the emperor is very benevolent, the prince is also heroic, and he has not done anything bullshit. As long as it doesn't seriously affect the overall situation in front of you, let's follow the father and son, and just treat it as a good life for the two living ancestors.

Look at how simple this emperor is, a queen, an imperial concubine, a concubine, and there are only three women in the harem.

Even Shuyi, Zhaorong, Xiurong and other concubines and nobles are too lazy to seal, if it is replaced by another emperor, even if it is not a woman, it will definitely seal a lot to show majesty.

Well...... No, there seems to be some rumors recently, saying that the emperor intends to take Yi'an as a concubine.

……

Hanzhong.

Li Rui, the chief officer of the Hanzhong Branch of the Baoquan Bureau, took out a few treasure bills and handed them over: "Please take a look." ”

The prefect of Hanzhong is called Huang Shuao, who is quite high, and is the cousin of Huang Tingjian.

When he got the Daming treasure banknote, Huang Shuao's first reaction was disgust.

Not to mention ordinary people, officials feel disgusted when they see this thing.

Li Rui explained: "This year, only 3 million yuan will be printed, and the denominations are all 100 yuan, a total of 30,000 treasure banknotes. Look at the top of the obverse, that's the number of this batch of treasure notes. ”

Huang Shuao put on reading glasses, took a closer look, and saw the following words printed in red ink: 庚戌020001.

"The number is different for each sheet?" Huang Shuao felt a little surprised.

Li Rui said: "Each one is different. The seal is in the form of a wheel, with one chapter on the sexagenary branch and another chapter on the number. The two chapters are in the hands of the two adjutants of the Baoquan Bureau, and the cadres and numbers can be stamped together. In addition, other banknote stamps were also in the hands of several officials. It can not only prevent counterfeiting, but also avoid the officials of the Baoquan Bureau from secretly printing more. ”

Huang Shuao nodded and said, "That's very good." ”

Li Rui said again: "Please watch the dark flower." ”

Huang Shuao walked to the door, looked at the watermark at the sky, took off his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes: "The emperor's crown head? ”

Li Rui explained: "That is the current Son of Heaven. Whoever dares to forge this banknote is guilty of conspiracy! ”

Huang Shuao hurriedly put a stack of treasure money on the table, and then bowed down. Then he took a closer look: "The four-color printing is more fancy and beautiful than the Jiaozi of the former Song Dynasty." A few more seals have also been added, which is enough to bluff people. Alas, I'm afraid that the court will be indiscriminate. ”

Li Rui explained again: "The denominations of the Daming treasure banknotes are 200 guan, 100 guan, and 50 guan, which are only used for transactions between Sichuan and Hanzhong merchants. ”

"It's good if you don't involve the small people." Huang Shuao nodded and said.

Li Rui said: "The contemptible people have just arrived, and they are not very familiar with Hanzhong. He also asked the old gentleman to come forward and recruit rich businessmen from various counties in Hanzhong to meet him. ”

There are really a lot of wealthy businessmen in Hanzhong, after all, this belongs to the land of Longxing.

Many gentry and merchants, through the emerging bureaucrats who went out of Hanzhong, participated in the post-disaster reconstruction work in some areas.

At the earliest, it was Zhu Ming who developed Xiangyang and Nanyang, and a large number of soldiers and civilians migrated here, and many southbound refugees were settled. At that time, there was a shortage of materials, and many of them had to be transported from Hanzhong, and Hanzhong merchants took the opportunity to make a lot of money.

Then came the reconstruction of the Gyeonggi region, and the merchants of Hanzhong also made a lot of money.

A month later, hundreds of wealthy businessmen from various counties in Hanzhong were summoned by the prefect Huang Shuao.

There are a few well-informed people who have actually guessed what is going on.

"Meet Taishou!"

Huang Shuao appeared in the second hall of the mansion, and the businessmen stood up together.

"You don't have to be formal," Huang Shuao smiled with a smile on his face, "Let me introduce you to you, these are the chief officials of the Baoquan Bureau in Hanzhong......"

The merchants hurriedly bowed again.

After some polite greetings, Li Rui began to preach the policy, and asked the businessmen to circulate the treasure banknotes, and finally said: "This year, three million treasure banknotes were printed and issued in Hanzhong, Chengdu, and Yuzhou. The quota in Hanzhong is 1 million, the quota in Chengdu is 1.3 million, and the quota in Chongqing is 700,000. ”

"The Daming treasure banknote is different from the Jiaozi and Qian Yin of the previous dynasty. The minimum is fifty denominations, and the small people will not use it, just to facilitate the trade between the merchants of the Bashu Han Dynasty. ”

"There was no war last year, and there will be no war this year, the treasury is already full of money and grain, and it will not issue paper money indiscriminately to extract people's power. Not now, not in the future. Even if it is defaced and damaged, as long as the keyword sample can still be recognized, as long as there are still seven or eight percent of the banknote, it can be cashed out at any time by the Baoquan Bureau. ”

"Of course, in addition to trade, you can also pay taxes with treasure money. If any yamen dares to refuse to accept it, he will come to me to complain and promise to let him be dismissed immediately! ”

"I don't force it today, you can subscribe on the spot, or you can think about it again."

A wealthy businessman asked, "I am shipping goods to Shaanxi, can I use treasure money to pay taxes in Shaanxi?" ”

Li Rui said: "Yes, it can be used throughout the country. No matter where the yamen is, they are not allowed to refuse to accept treasure money. Although other provinces do not use treasure money transactions, the government of the whole country can pay the treasure money as a tax to the imperial court. ”

Seeing that many wealthy businessmen still had doubts, Li Rui said: "You know, the imperial court collects taxes in Sichuan and Hanzhong, and every year it has to melt down some iron money taxes. Planning to spend decades slowly exchanging iron money for copper money? ”

"I've heard of it." The merchants nodded.

Li Rui said with a smile: "Sichuan and Hanzhong, how much iron money there is, I guess you can't count it." The imperial court's determination to change iron money is tantamount to losing hundreds of millions of dollars in vain. With so much money, the court can discard it like dung, how can you use the Ming treasure banknotes to rip the money of you businessmen at the cost of damaging the reputation of the court? ”

This statement is reasonable and very convincing.

Sichuan is the land of Longxing, and Hanzhong is the core, and the businessmen still trust the Ming court.

The first batch of war bonds issued by Zhu Guoxiang was fully cashed out last year, and there was no default on the debt.

Some gentry, who had surplus money and food, were not well versed in business, so they took the initiative to inquire when new bonds would be issued. They actually wanted to lend money to the imperial court and earn a small interest.

"My Lu family subscribed for 50,000 yuan in treasure money!"

An old man in his sixties stood up, it was Lu Yuanwai, the richest man in Xixiang County, and he laughed and said: "The official family and the prince, before I was an official in the former Song Dynasty, I had business dealings with Daming Village. I can trust the two saints. In the past few years, thanks to the two saints, the Lu family's business has gone from Xixiang to Hanzhong, and from Hanzhong to Jinghu and Huainan. Now, it's time to repay the two saints! ”

Lu Heng, the twelfth lang of the Lu family, had already quietly run to follow Zhu Guoxiang before he conquered Hanzhong, and he properly belonged to the heroes of Conglong.

"The Min family subscribed for 10,000 yuan!"

The Yundang Paper Mill founded by Zhu Guoxiang was sold to the Min family and used as military expenses to resist the encirclement and suppression of officers and soldiers.

Over the years, the Min family has also made a lot of money by selling paper, and now they are also very good at book printing.

"My grandson's family subscribed for 20,000 yuan!"

At this moment, an old man stood up: "I am a relative of the emperor, and the Zheng family subscribed for 100,000 yuan!" ”

Li Rui looked at the group of businessmen in front of him stupidly, he thought that it would be difficult to sell the Daming treasure banknotes, but the situation seemed to be a little unexpected.

One million treasure banknotes are obviously not enough for businessmen!

The credibility of the state and the individual comes into play at this time.

When Zhu Guoxiang had not yet rebelled, he had an excellent reputation in Hanzhong. After the army, various policies were never reversed, and the issuance and cashing of bonds made the people believe in the imperial court.

In less than 20 minutes, Hanzhong's treasure banknote quota was subscribed.

It's really just that the rich businessmen in Hanzhong who don't have enough points want this thing, mainly to pay taxes when doing business abroad. Whether it is to pay taxes with silk or directly extract goods for tax deductions, it will increase the cost of transportation for them.

If the Daming treasure banknotes can pay taxes in the whole country, the rich businessmen are profitable!

"Can Li Juzheng apply to the imperial court to print another 200,000 treasure banknotes to Hanzhong? We still have more than a dozen people who haven't bought them. Suddenly, a businessman asked.

"Huh?"

Li Rui was dumbfounded.

Even Huang Shuao was dumbfounded, when he was a magistrate in the Song Dynasty, he had witnessed the merchants and merchants colluding and using a collective strike to oppose Cai Jing's issuance of money.

The same thing, why did it become popular in the new Ming Dynasty?

Very simply, the banknotes issued by Cai Jing are not recognized by the government itself, and they cannot be used to pay taxes at all.

Seeing the businessmen leaving, Huang Shuao sighed with emotion: "The new dynasty has a new atmosphere, if you are a businessman, you trust the court so much. The people's will is like this, how can there be a reason not to prosper the world? ”

(End of chapter)