Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 510 Release of Apocalypse Tongbao
The 12th year of Apocalypse soon came to winter. Compared with the frequent mobilization in the first half of the year, there were basically no major moves in the Ming Dynasty in the second half of the year.

It's not that Zhu Youjian doesn't want to take any action, but that Daming's Tianqi Tongbao is about to be officially released to the public.

When the time entered the beginning of winter in October, after three months of bank opening, more than 600 billion pieces of Tianqi Tongbao were officially issued.

Li, the beginning of the establishment; winter, the end, the collection of all things.

The beginning of winter means that the vitality begins to be closed, and everything enters a state of recuperation and storage. The climate also changes from autumn with little rain and dryness to rainy and cold winter.

Traditionally, "Lidong" is the beginning of winter, and "spring is born, summer is long, autumn is harvested, and winter is stored".

Winter is the season to enjoy a good harvest and recuperate. Lidong is one of the "four o'clock and eight festivals" in ancient folk.

On the day of Lidong, people hold sacrifices, banquets and other activities one after another as an important festival to celebrate.

Daming chose this day to issue new coins to the people because of its convenient record.

The preheating of the new currency began in June. On June 24th, a total of more than [-] banks in the [-] provinces of the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty opened. However, due to the inclusion of Luchuan and Wusizang, the banks in June are mainly for the household department of the Ming Dynasty. , Hundreds of officials, soldiers, and workers under the Huangdian banner.

Although there are more than 5000 million people in this group alone, it is still a little less than the total population of more than [-] million after the census.

But even so, the new coins became popular, and many people have improved the style, and the full-weight new coins are very fond of them, and there is no boycott event that Zhu Youjian expected.

Therefore, when the bank was about to open on the day of Lidong, a lot of people crowded around more than a dozen banks in the capital.

At the beginning of winter, the busy Zhu Youjian seldom had a day off. He sat on the second floor of a small tea house not far from Dongcheng Bank.

From this angle, he can perfectly overlook the bank at Chang'an Square in the East City.

For Zhu Youjian's safety, the entire teahouse and nearby buildings were temporarily requisitioned by Jin Yiwei's people, and of course, a sum of money would be given to the shopkeepers as usual.

The person in charge of protecting Zhu Youjian was Shen Lian who had just returned to the capital from the south.

After leading the team to patrol for four weeks, he changed into his normal clothes and walked up the wooden stairs to the second floor.

Zhu Youjian had been looking at the bank in the distance, and the table he was sitting on was filled with more than a dozen dishes. He guessed that he couldn't finish it all by himself, so he asked Shen Lian to sit down together.

"How are the preparations by the officials?" Zhu Youjian took a bite of the food, staring at the bank in the distance and asking.

There is a reason why he asked. After all, the implementation of the new currency requires the support of many people, and the leadership of officials is the best example for the people.

Therefore, he had already informed the officials a few days ago, asking them to take the lead in exchanging new currency from the bank on this day.

The officials were naturally unwilling, but they dared not listen to Zhu Youjian's words.

Faced with Zhu Youjian's questioning, Shen Lian also nodded: "According to His Royal Highness's arrangement, the first batch of people to exchange silver coins at the bank are the civil and military officials from the Sixth Ministry, the Cabinet, and the Fifth Army Commander's Office."

creak...

As soon as Shen Lian's words fell, the sound of a large number of carriages rolling on the bluestone road was heard not far away.

Horse-drawn carriages came from a distance, and some onlookers gave way after seeing them.

Under the onlookers of the common people, some officials they were familiar with began to appear. The salaries of the officials of the Ming Dynasty were very high, and the common people knew about this.

Ministers of civil and military affairs who are similar to Yipin even have an annual salary of 3000 taels, which can be described as unimaginably rich for the common people.

Among the officials who got off the bus, Zhu Youjian also saw Li Zicheng and Li Guo.

"Why are these people here?"

Zhu Youjian still remembered Li Zicheng and the others, so he was naturally familiar with their small group. Shen Lian followed his gaze, and after seeing Li Zicheng and others, he asked the left and right Jin Yiwei, and then bowed back:

"Li Zicheng and others took a one-year vacation after the war in the feudal lords. They should have come to the capital to report on their duties."

"Hmm..." Zhu Youjian responded, and then asked after being silent: "According to the rules, which Dudu's mansion are they going to go to this year?"

"It should be the Northern Army." Shen Lian responded, and Zhu Youjian didn't ask again, but just looked at the group of guys carefully.

These guys are busy with the military, eating and drinking in the barracks, so there is nothing to spend money on.

After their carriage stopped, the car behind was basically pulling one or two large boxes, which should be full of silver.

Compared with them, the civil servants are much poorer, especially Gu Bingqian, the chief assistant of the cabinet.

Except for Yuan Keli and Bi Ziyan who also had a big box behind them, the gold and silver brought by the other officials were nothing more than a small box in the hands of the servants next to them.

In this way, it made them look very shabby, and it was very embarrassing to stand next to the generals of the "hugely rich" Fifth Army Commander's Mansion.

"Your Highness, these civil servants are too stingy..." Seeing that Gu Bingqian was carrying a box that could only hold a few hundred taels, Shen Lian couldn't help but speak.

But after Zhu Youjian heard his words, his face was very calm: "You still expect them to take out all the gold and silver in the house?"

After eating a chopstick-worth of food, Zhu Youjian looked at the hundreds of officials and the less than [-] taels of silver around them, and shook his head and said:
"Unless the new currency is very successful, they will not bet all their net worth on the new currency."

When Zhu Youjian said this, hundreds of civil servants including the six cabinet departments and the Metropolitan Procuratorate in the cold wind looked at Li Zicheng and others with frowns.

After the war among the feudal lords, Li Zicheng became the commander-in-chief of a province, but after the reorganization of the five-army governor's office, the commander-in-chief was only a fourth-rank official. Official high.

Although the official positions are not high, the money in their hands is eye-catching.

Although most civil servants knew that after the war, the gold and silver seized by the five-army governor's mansion would be distributed to the generals, court, and soldiers in proportion, but they were still unavoidably jealous.

creak...

When Gu Bingqian and the others looked at the boxes of silver behind the generals with sore eyes, the door of Dongcheng Bank finally opened.

Because it is a place for storing gold and silver, the banks are guarded by armored soldiers and soldiers, and each bank has a team of at least 12 people regardless of size.

Under the maintenance of the soldiers, the common people began to line up holding their own money.

First of all, civil and military officials are naturally the first batch of people to line up because they have a lot of money, which can be regarded as setting a good example for the common people.

Secondly, in fact, many people came to watch. They have been deceived by the precious banknotes or low-quality copper coins of the past dynasties, so they naturally have a mind.

Although Da Ming has treated the common people very well in the past ten years, the common people are still a little wary.

Seeing that all the officials entered the bank first, and boxes of silver were also moved into the bank, Zhu Youjian turned his head and asked Shen Lian:

"How many total silver coins have the banks in Dongcheng stored today?"

"His Highness, the total number of silver coins and copper coins stored in Dongcheng today is 500 million taels." Shen Lian responded.

After Zhu Youjian finished listening, he also nodded: "Let a Tiqi go to the bank and send back the bank's exchange amount at any time."

"Yes!" Hearing what Zhu Youjian said, Shen Lian immediately asked someone to arrange it.

After the arrangements were made, Shen Lian sat down and ate with Zhu Youjian.

Suncheon's mint minted more than 500 billion coins in three years, and the total denomination of coins reached more than 2000 million taels.

As far as the total amount of currency in this era is concerned, the whole world is only a few billion taels of silver. Although there is a lot of silver in Ming Dynasty, it is not a lot per capita.

However, in addition to silver, the currency of Ming Dynasty also has a rare amount of gold and a larger amount of copper coins.

No one can know how much these gold, silver and copper coins are worth in total. After all, the Han people like to hoard silver and copper coins too much...

"This silver coin is quite beautiful."

"With denomination, it won't be cut off."

"Yeah, it's much more convenient than before."

As time passed, merchants who exchanged Tianqi Tongbao continued to enter the gates of banks in various cities in the capital, and at the same time, people continued to walk out after exchanging, holding copper and silver coins in their hands to observe.

As far as craftsmanship is concerned, Daming's Tianqi Tongbao is definitely the most exquisite coin in the past dynasties, especially the denomination on the coin, which eliminates the cumbersome need to use silver in the past.

Some merchants exchanged silver coins with a denomination of one hundred Wen for Xiaoping coins, and of course some people exchanged one or two silver coins for Daping coins.

Although compared with silver, the weight of silver coins has not been reduced, but having a denomination will make it much easier for them to do business.

Soon, the officials exchanged the new coins and left, followed by the merchants, and then the common people who joined in the fun.

Seeing that all the officials and merchants had exchanged, they also took part of the silver to participate in the exchange.

Soon, there was a long queue at the gate of Dongcheng Bank, and at the same time, the exchange amount of the bank was also sent to the teahouse every half an hour.

In the first report, Dongcheng Bank exchanged more than 37 taels of silver coins, and banks in Beijing exchanged more than 190 million taels of silver coins. These were mainly exchanged by officials and merchants, and the scale was relatively large.

It's just that compared to their family property, this is nothing. Whether the bank can stand up depends mainly on the exchange volume of the people.

The second batch of exchanges was made by the common people. When half an hour passed, the entire capital was worth more than [-] taels.

Compared with the previous time, the number was almost only one-tenth of the first batch, but Zhu Youjian didn't panic and just continued to sit.

While he waited, the third, fourth, fifth, sixth...

Batches of exchange amounts were placed in front of him until the end of the day (13:[-]), when Bi Ziyan, Minister of the Household Department, Li Changgeng, Director of Finance, and Dong Yingju, Director of Salt Division, changed into ordinary clothes and came to the teahouse. Yu Jiancai ordered Jin Yiwei not to send the exchange amount.

As three hours passed, nearly 350 million taels of silver were exchanged in the entire capital, and the exchange ratio between officials and common people was more than 190 million to more than 150 million taels.

Holding this amount, Zhu Youjian calmly put it down, and said to Bi Ziyan and others sitting in front of him:
"According to this situation, the new currency exchange in the capital today may exceed 500 million taels."

"In your opinion, how much can Guochao's new currency exchange be achieved today?"

Zhu Youjian has high expectations for the people in the capital. In the final analysis, it is because the population of the capital is too large, and the economy is much better than most cities.

The exchange amount of 500 million taels, when averaged out, means that each commoner can exchange more than four taels of silver. If officials and merchants are included, each commoner even only needs to exchange two taels of silver.

This is not much for the capital city where the daily wage is as low as [-] renminbi.

However, Zhu Youjian is more concerned about the world. After all, only when the people are willing to use the new currency can the people set up accounts to issue passbooks.

"It should be no less than 3000 million taels..."

Dong Yingju is the oldest, 75 years old. He is in charge of the Third Department of the Salt and Tea Mine. He is the most familiar with the economy of the Ming Dynasty, and he also knows that the new coins are different from the previous coins.

It is impossible for the gentry and merchants in the south of the Yangtze River to boycott the new currency because they boycotted the New Deal.

As long as the gentry and merchants in the south of the Yangtze River are willing to exchange new coins, it is not difficult to exchange 3000 million coins of two denominations on the first day that the new coins are introduced to the public.

Everything Dong Yingju said was approved by Bi Ziyan and Li Changgeng, and they both nodded in agreement, but Zhu Youjian frowned and said:

"According to what you said, I am afraid that the deposit of the Finance Department will be cashed out in just a few days."

"Returning to Your Highness, it should be so." Li Changgeng, who is in charge of the Finance Department, nodded in agreement, and at the same time comforted:
"However, please rest assured, Your Highness. The mint now mints 5000 million coins a day. If the new coins are effective, silver coins can be introduced first."

Li Changgeng suggested the introduction of silver coins because there were a lot of copper coins circulating among the people, but very little silver.

Use silver coins to recover the potential silver, and then you can make a profit of one penny, that is, exchange 1000 million taels of silver, and the court can earn 10 taels.

Compared with copper coins, silver coins are the key to the finance department's recovery.

Moreover, even if the silver coin Xiaoping coins of one hundred Wen were minted, the mint could mint silver coins with a denomination of 500 million taels every day.

Although there is a great demand for new currency in the world, the exchange scale of 5000 million taels per month is still unattainable.

It's just that in this way, the recovery and casting of copper coins will be delayed.

"No, the matter of Tianqi Tongbao can be done slowly. I let you do it. In addition to talking about this matter, there is also the matter about Qimin's household registration and passbook."

Zhu Youjian did not agree with Li Changgeng's words. After all, it would be very difficult to imitate the coins produced by the fourth-edition steam engine. If there are people who can imitate, Zhu Youjian is afraid that he will pull the other party to manage the mint.

What he cared more about was the registration of households and passbooks by local Qimin.

"How many passbooks are there currently issued by the bank, and how many people have deposited money in the passbook?"

Zhu Youjian asked Li Changgeng, and Bi Ziyan and Dong Yingju also looked at him. Li Changgeng responded calmly:
"About 12 copies, with about 690 million taels of silver in deposits, which are basically the deposits of officials, generals and soldiers of the five armies, and not one of the common people."

Although the money bank appeared very early, the people's ability to accept Daming's bank is not so strong.

Moreover, the bank's passbook is relatively cumbersome, which is also the reason why the promotion speed cannot be accelerated.

However, presumably after today, more and more people will deposit silver in the bank.

"Should the bank expand or expand? There are more than 3 counties in the country and more than [-] market towns. At least you must ensure that you can see the bank in the market towns."

Zhu Youjian made a request to Li Changgeng, and he readily accepted it.

Seeing this, he continued: "It has been nine months since the implementation of the new policy for the registration of Qimin households, and nearly 300 million people have been detected. This speed is still too slow."

"There are nearly 40 Enke applicants this month, and the quota given by the Ministry of Officials is 4."

"The Ministry of Households lists the officials who have failed to implement the new policy, and asks the Ministry of Officials to notify the local officials. If there is no progress in the follow-up, those who should be demoted after the Lantern Festival will be demoted, and those who should be promoted will be promoted."

"The number of officials in Guochao should be maintained at 80."

Zhu Youjian has high demands on local officials. If the New Deal cannot be implemented, then leave early.

He didn't have that much time to wait for these guys who colluded with the gentry to turn around, even if he was willing to wait, God would not.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian put down his chopsticks. Although there was no expression on his face, the three of them knew that he was going to say something important.

"For this year's autumn harvest, how much grain does the household department store in the local area? Where are the drought-stricken places and how many people are there? How many people have migrated?"

Zhu Youjian kept asking, and every question made Bi Ziyan feel heavy.

He sorted out his mood, and then he raised his hand in a heavy bow: "This year's autumn harvest, the household department's grain storage in the local Changping warehouse plus last year's old grain, totaled more than [-] million shi."

"The drought-affected provinces are Shanxi, Shaanxi, Huguang, Nanzhili, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi provinces. About 2000 million people are affected. However, the people in the south have some food in their hands. With this year's exemption, it will last until next year. Autumn harvest is not a problem."

"As for the people who migrated, there are more than 59 people in Nanzhili, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi who moved to Jiaozhi and Jiugang."

"There are more than 32 people from Huguang who moved to Luchuan."

"There are more than 60 people from Shanxi who moved outside the pass."

When the Ming Dynasty stopped stabilizing food prices, the number of people spontaneously migrating continued to increase. After all, the food price of six or seven hundred yuan per stone did make many people unable to eat enough.

In order to survive, they can only sell the land to the government, and then move with food stamps.

In nine months, nearly 150 million people migrated after receiving food stamps, but it is estimated that it will be four or five months before they arrive at the place where they migrated.

There are many familiar places in Luchuan, Jiugang and Jiaozhi, but so many people can't help but move.

According to the number of people, Daming had to provide at least 2000 million mu of cultivated land to accommodate them. Therefore, whether the cultivated land was sufficient was a matter of concern for Zhu Youjian.

For this reason, he looked at Bi Ziyan: "Is there enough familiar land in each province?"

"The three provinces of Jiugang, Jiaozhi, and Luchuan have reclaimed more than [-] million mu of cultivated land this year by using reformed laborers, plus the more than [-] million mu of cultivated land reclaimed last year, and the tens of millions of mu of cultivated land in Luchuan that are in the hands of the government. It shouldn’t be a problem, and they can be distributed.”

"As for the more than [-] Shanxi people who will be relocated to the three provinces outside the customs, the place where the imperial court's promise took place and the cattle and machinery."

"Officials can produce 20 cattle and 40 draft horses this year, and it's not a problem outside the customs."

"It's just that the food is a bit difficult. The outside of the pass is not as good as the south. There are more cultivated land in the south, but less cultivated land outside the pass. Therefore, after adding more than [-] people, we have to distribute food to them from other places."

"The lower officials have calculated that by transferring 500 million stone grains from Yingzhou for four consecutive years, they should be able to exchange enough food stamps in the hands of these people."

Bi Ziyan mentioned the follow-up problems of immigration, but this is not a problem in Zhu Youjian's view.

It is much better to transport Yingzhou grain to the northeast by sea than to Shanxi by land. The loss on the road alone can reduce a lot.

"How many people are there in Shanxi?" Zhu Youjian asked Bi Ziyan, and Bi Ziyan bowed in response: "About 700 million."

"700 million..." Zhu Youjian frowned again and again hearing that there were still 700 million people in Shanxi, but soon he also relaxed his brows.

Judging from this year's measures, as long as the imperial government does not stabilize food prices, the local people will naturally not be able to bear the high food prices and migrate.

There are still 11 years of drought in Shanxi, not to mention 11 years, even if it comes another three years, most of the people in Shanxi will be unable to bear the pressure and will migrate.

Zhu Youjian asked the Ministry of Industry to calculate that there are less than 500 million mu of irrigated fields in Shanxi, and the remaining 700 million mu is dry land.

This year, because there is no drought in the south of Shanxi, the common people think that life will get better, but in fact, starting from next year, the drought in Shanxi will get better every year.

The 500 million mu of irrigated land can feed at most four million people under the influence of reduced grain production due to the cold of the Little Ice River.

That is to say, when most of the dry land cannot be cultivated, even if the people in Shanxi can cultivate a small part of the dry land, the population still cannot exceed 500 million.

"There are at least 200 million people who will be relocated outside the customs..."

Zhu Youjian silently calculated an account, and then he looked at Bi Ziyan: "If Henan, Shandong, and North Zhili suffer from a severe drought, can the local people support the local people?"

"This..." Bi Ziyan was stunned for a moment, a little speechless, after all, he couldn't figure it out even if he didn't know the drought situation.

"Your Highness, without knowing the scale of the drought, it is difficult to calculate."

"However, most of the fields in Shandong are paddy fields. Even if the province suffers severe drought, relying on mountain springs and rivers, most of the fields can be cultivated. It should not be a problem to feed more than seven million people."

"As for Henan and North Zhili, it shouldn't be a problem. There won't be too many people affected by the disaster. The province of Yingzhou alone should be able to supply the food shortage."

Bi Ziyan's answer made Zhu Youjian nodded in satisfaction. After all, Zhu Youjian had prepared too much for this severe drought, especially in terms of population migration.

In the first year of the Apocalypse, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hexi, Shandong, and North Zhili—the five Beijing provinces—have more than 2000 million mu of arable land, and the actual population should be close to 5000 million.

After several rounds of relocation, although the cultivated land in the five Beijing provinces has not changed much, the population has dropped to more than [-] million.

Although there will be severe droughts in the north almost every year, relying on the Weihe River, Jinghe River, Yellow River, and some rivers with large runoffs, even if these [-] million people cannot feed all of them, as long as they are relocated properly, they should still be able to survive. No problem.

The food problem in the north can be made up for by Yingzhou and the four northeastern provinces. The current problem is mainly in the south.

If the food problem in the south is to be solved, the only way to speed up the research and development of steam engine ships is to put them into use in large quantities, shortening the voyage period from the old port to the south of the Yangtze River from three months to one month.

As long as this can be achieved, the grain from Jiugang and Jiaozhi can be continuously sent to the south of the Yangtze River.

But even so, if the people in Jiangnan want to have enough to eat, it still depends on how Daming regulates it.

Migration is a must. Zhu Youjian must seize this opportunity to move a large number of people out of the densely populated Jiangnan in one go.

Qi State, Jiugang, Jiaozhi, Zhufan, Luchuan, Nanzhou...

Even if only one-tenth of the population in Jiangnan flocked to these places, Daming would have a firm foothold in these places.

It is not realistic to split Jiangnan. No matter how it is split, where the population is placed, the population of one Nanzhili is equivalent to three or four provinces. Unless Nanzhili is split into three or four, it will be useless.

On the contrary, the migratory population seems to be once and for all. Whether it is ancient or later, as long as the population of a place decreases, the economic and political discourse power will decrease.

Since Jiangnan has a large population, let them contribute to the territory of Ming Dynasty...

　Second update at 05:30 pm

　　
　
(End of this chapter)