Wanli Xinming

Chapter 259 Stamps
Chapter 250 Stamps

In the early spring and February of the 11th year of Wanli, the Tongzhou River had not yet fully melted, but business travelers from all over the country had already started traveling on horses and mules.

On the official road this year, there will be a "green-skinned" - Daming's postman every three or five years.They send letters and goods all over the world according to different levels of remuneration paid by customers, either on horseback or by car.

Of course, this remuneration was not paid to them personally, but paid to the post offices around the country through the purchase of "stamps" by the senders, who then distributed them according to the regulations set by the post office.

In the capital, there is a beautifully printed orchid stamp with ink on a white background, with a minimum value of [-] wen, which shows that sending letters is still the enjoyment of the rich.Of course, according to the distance of the journey, the denominations of various stamps issued by the Ministry of Post Office are also high and low, which is convenient for people to pay.The one sent to Bago, Burma, is amazing. The big ticket of the four-clawed Manglong with gold bottom is worth [-] taels of silver.

As soon as a small-value stamp is issued, some people use it on the market as a general equivalent—the face value of this thing is innocent, because you can buy this stamp at the postal office in various places, and it is also [-] yuan.

At the beginning, the Ministry of Post Office did not find that the small-value stamps were circulated as copper coins. It was only when Jin Yiwei reported the situation to the emperor that the emperor asked about it.After some research, the Ministry of Post Office reported to the Political Office that it didn't matter, the dosage was very small.

Comrade Wang Guoguang, the second assistant, read the inscription of the Ministry of Post Office and said: The merchant collects a lot of stamps, he must find a way to exchange stamps for money, and it is impossible to pay the stamps according to the face value of the stamps, usually 110 Siwen Buy four tickets, 28 and a half tickets.After the stamp collectors bought the stamps, they were sold to those who came to buy stamps and send letters at the post office at a price of 29 cents-one stamp earned half a cent of their hard-earned money, and those who bought scalpers saved one penny.

Therefore, the entire stamp trading market is very small, after all, there are only so many people who buy stamps to send letters.Moreover, there are very few people who use stamps as money. Merchants treat 28-cent stamps as [-]-and-a-half cents, and no one suffers for no reason.It should be that the money is not enough, so the postage stamps are used, so - please rest assured, the emperor.

The emperor can rest assured!You ha batch!Wang Guoguang detained the memorial and called Wang Zhigao, the minister of the post office, to the political affairs hall, making a joke.

"Brother, this memorial from your post administration department is a typical example of ignorance: the government charges one cent and three cents for the exchange of silver, and six cents for the fire consumption of silver shops and gold shops. This year, one or two official silvers in the capital exchange 750 coins. Go to your post office with broken silver and copper coins to exchange stamps, first save 45 cash. Then use 25 stamps to spend, and pay 37 and a half cash - a net profit of seven and a half cash for one tael of silver! Your memorial says a deal The quantity is small, because not many people know about the news!"

Wang Zhigao listened to Wang Guoguang's account, and his eyes were full of circles.He cupped his hands and smiled bitterly: "Eunuch Shu'an laughed, but we still sell stamps for [-] cents a piece. Whose money did he make for these seven and a half cents?"

Wang Guoguang stared at Wang Zhigao with wide eyes, thinking that if you were not the family of the Prime Minister, I would have to laugh out loud.After drinking tea for a long time, Fang replied: "Brother Gao Ruo, you have been fighting wars in various places for half your life, and it is normal if you don't understand the economic accounts: that seven pennies and half of the money was spent on the imperial court, and your post office will take it. The broken silver will not be melted into official silver in the future?"

Wang Zhigao's nerves suddenly hit the line and said: "Then the court is still making a lot of money. Although I don't know the printing cost of these stamps, it is definitely cheaper than copper coins. If they are willing to exchange money for stamps, then change them."

Hearing this, Wang Guoguang was dumbfounded, pointed at Wang Zhigao and said, "Oh, I don't understand." Seeing the eager expression on Wang Zhigao's face, he could only continue to explain: "If you sell stamps, the person who writes the letter will With so many, who do the ticket dealers go to to exchange money for? If he also uses stamps as money, wouldn’t the stamps be the same as the treasured banknotes? Haha, huh? Huh?”

At the end of the explanation, Wang Guoguang was also confused.These stamps are not treasures. There are really equivalent silver and copper coins in the Post Office. They were all used by ordinary people who wanted to save money and save money when they bought stamps—if the Post Office agreed with the ticket dealers to put the stamps Then change it into silver and copper coins, I will wipe, what is this?New treasure?
As soon as he thought of this festival, Wang Guoguang felt as if he had been smeared with divine oil.He said to Wang Zhi: "Brother Gao Ruo, take this memorial back first. This is too big of a deal. I have to talk to the Prime Minister immediately. I guess I will have another meeting in front of the imperial court."

Wang Zhigao saw that Wang Guoguang was also half a bottle of vinegar, and pouted his lips in his heart, and asked, "Master Shu'an, how can I correct this question book? I can't help answering the emperor."

Wang Guoguang's mind was full of various conversions at this time, and he heard the words: "No hurry, no hurry. I am in charge of your department, the emperor will definitely ask me first - this is a great, great." As he said, As he stood up, he went to find Zhang Juzheng.

Wang Zhigao agreed, and left the political office on his own to return to the post office.Wang Guoguang trotted and went to Zhang Juzheng's office to look for him, and saw Wei Chao as soon as he entered the door.When Wei Chao saw Wang Guoguang arriving, he hurriedly bowed and saluted: "Please assist the minister later, and the servant will report to you."

The emperor had no reason to see Wang Guoguang. Before the Wei Dynasty came out, Wang Guoguang heard the emperor calling him in the house.

Wang Guoguang hurriedly went in to pay homage, and after standing up, he immediately said, "I didn't expect the emperor to be here too. But it just so happened that I thought of a good solution to the money shortage!"

When the emperor returned to the inner palace from the political affairs hall, the Kunning Palace was brightly lit again.Because Zhu Yijun was ruthless one day ago, Empress Zhuang became pregnant again.In order to put her in a good mood, Zhu Yijun also intends to accompany her more recently.

Empress Zhuang continued to be in a good mood because of this.As soon as Zhu Yijun came back, she handed over a letter: "This is a letter from a country lord of Europa to you, sent by the Christ Mission. Princess Leping will bring it to you by the way after visiting her mother today."

Zhu Yijun opened it and asked, "Has this letter been translated?"

Empress Zhuang nodded and said, "Xu Guangqi asked someone to translate it. It is said that it is not Latin."

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "Jia'er, the decoration of Tangshan's palace is finished - in two days shall we go to the hot spring?"

Zhuang Jingjia was overjoyed.Although they have been married for more than five years, they still kissed Zhu Yijun shyly on the cheek.After the kiss was over, he had nothing to say and asked, "Who is this letter from?"

Zhu Yijun looked at the inscription first and was surprised.Then she said to Queen Zhuang, "It's a letter from the King of England."

"The grace of God, the Queen of England, France and Ireland, the keeper of the Faith, Elizabeth, the great and mighty and invincible Emperor of the Ming Dynasty: This letter is presented by John Newbery, a faithful subject of our country, with my permission. And travel around your country.

He was able to do such a difficult thing because he fully believed in His Majesty's magnanimity and kindness, and believed that after experiencing some dangers, he would be able to obtain His Majesty's lenient reception, not to mention that this trip would do no harm to your country and benefit your people.Since he had no doubts about this, he was more than happy to prepare for this trip which would be beneficial to us.

It is my opinion that the benefits that the kings of our Western countries have gained from mutual trade are available to His Majesty and all His Majesty's subjects.This interest consists in exporting what we have rich and importing what we need.I think that we are born to be in need of each other, and we must help each other, and I hope that Your Majesty will agree to this, and that my subjects cannot but try to do this.

If Your Majesty can make this happen, and grant safe passage and other privileges which are so desperately needed in the trade of your subjects, Your Majesty will perform the functions of the most noble and merciful King, and we shall never forget His Majesty's deeds. .I very much wish that my request would be permitted by the grace of Your Majesty, and that when Your Majesty's kindness extends to me and to my neighbors, I will try to repay Your Majesty.May God bless your majesty.

Written at Greenwich Palace in 1582, after the birth of Jesus, in my 24th year. "

(End of this chapter)