Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 414 Currency Reform
Huang Zongxi said: "You just need to say where the money went?"

Ma Minglu said: "The money is all in the accounts of Industrial and Commercial Bank, Shipping and Shipbuilding Bank, Water Conservancy and Grain Bank, Royal Exchange, and various workshops. They owe more than 5000 million to the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

Huang Zongxi frowned and asked, "Why do they owe money and refuse to hand it over?"

"They don't have money either." Ma Mingpao smiled wryly, "If they wanted money, they would have already given it."

"Then the question is, where did the money go?" Huang Zongxi looked like a prisoner on trial, "More than 5000 million silver can't just disappear, right?"

Now Ma Mingpao is also a little angry.

You Yao Jiang Huang Xiaozi are endless, right?

"Huang Taichong!" Ma Mingpao said angrily, "Are you interrogating a prisoner?"

"Master Ma, please forgive me." Huang Zongxi hurriedly said, "I just want to clarify."

"Huang Zongxi, I'm afraid Ma Mingpai can't explain this matter clearly." Chongzhen interrupted the two, "However, I can tell you where Yinzi went."

Huang Zongxi said: "Please give me your advice, Your Majesty."

Ma Mingpao and other subjects also pricked up their ears.

Chongzhen smiled and said: "When I disembarked from the small pier outside Qingliangmen this morning, I found that the shops along the street near the pier were much more prosperous than at the beginning of the year, and the street vendors were many times more. After entering Qingliangmen, the shops on the street Even row upon row, pedestrians on the road are also rubbing their shoulders."

"It's not even the end of the year yet, and the people in central Beijing are already preparing new year's goods."

"And if I remember correctly, the streets near Qingliangmen used to be very deserted. There weren't so many shops and vendors at the beginning of the year. It shouldn't be wrong, right?"

Ma Mingpao smiled and said, "That's right, Nanjing has become much more prosperous this year."

During the medical department, Fu Shan also smiled and said: "My lord, not only is it inside Qingliangmen, but even the streets and alleys near Jinchuanmen, Shencemen and Dinghuaimen are much more lively."

"That area used to be a large wasteland."

"But now, a whole lot of houses have been built."

Ma Mingtao said: "Most of the people living in that area are scholars and family members of our Ministry of Internal Affairs."

While he was talking, Zheng Zunqian, the big shopkeeper of the Industrial and Commercial Bank, suddenly said: "My lord, I have figured it out!"

"Zheng Zunqian, what do you want to understand?" Chongzhen asked with a smile, and other things were also looked at.

"My lord, I want to know where the money has gone." Zheng Zunqian said with joy, "The money has flowed into thousands of households in central Beijing, oh no, it has flowed into the hands of 3000 million people in eight prefectures and one state in the south of the Yangtze River."

"So that's how it is!" Zheng Zunqian said, and Qian Xi, the treasurer of the shipping and shipbuilding bank, also reacted instantly.

After all, they are professionals who deal with silver, Chongzhen only clicked a little, and they reacted.

To put it bluntly, this is the lack of liquidity in the market, which leads to the break of the capital chain, so there is a shortage of money everywhere.

However, Ma Minghao, Fu Shan and others were still confused, and still couldn't figure out the key point. The principles of economics were still a bit difficult for laymen to understand.

"What do you mean?" Xia Yunyi frowned and asked, "I don't understand."

Zheng Zunqian then explained: "Yizhong, let me ask you, are the people in Beijing rich?"

"That's true." Xia Yunyi said, "Ever since Industrial and Commercial Bank invested in and supported workshops from all walks of life, almost every household in Beijing has entered the workshops to work and earned a lot of money, but this has nothing to do with what we are discussing What does silver matter? How many taels of silver can people have in their hands?"

"Of course it's related." Zheng Zunqian said loudly.

"Thirty million people, each with ten taels of silver, that's three hundred million taels!"

"I seem to understand." Xia Yunyi nodded, and then said again, "But it seems that I don't understand it completely, but I understand one thing, that is, there is indeed no money in the accounts of the various banks and the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

Ma Mingpao also said: "It turns out that the money has flowed into the pockets of the common people, so it's no wonder."

Chongzhen asked again: "Are the prices of goods on the market getting lower and lower?"

"It's really like this." Speaking of prices, Zhu Shunshui, the director of the transportation department, immediately became energetic, "My lord, the prices in the Jiangnan market have been reduced by half in the past year, and the price of rice has dropped to five yuan a stone! Many Grain merchants are in a hurry, hoarding grain and not selling it, and artificially driving up grain prices to create a grain shortage, which is how the grain shortage in Songjiang came about.”

Chongzhen said with a smile: "The supply of money in the market is insufficient, and money is more valuable, which will inevitably lead to a decline in the prices of daily necessities such as grain, rice, flour, oil, etc. This is well understood."

However, only a few people including Zheng Zunqian and Qian Xi could barely understand.

Among them is the prince Zhu Cihong, who has made great progress in business because he has been in contact with the princess for a long time.

Zhu Cihong frowned and said, "Father, if this situation is allowed to continue, I'm afraid it will be extremely unfavorable to the development of my industry and commerce. Shouldn't I think of a way?"

Chongzhen asked with a smile: "Prince, what can you do?"

"We can increase the mining of silver mines." Zhu Cihong thought for a while, and then continued, "We can also increase the sea trade with Xiyi, and exchange silk, tea, porcelain and other items for more silver."

"Prince, I'm afraid these are not enough." Xia Yunyi shook his head and said, "Our Shibo Branch has done calculations, and the total annual sea trade between Daming and Xiyi is only more than 300 million taels. This amount of money is probably a drop in the bucket."

"Your Majesty, you can issue precious banknotes." Zheng Zunqian said suddenly, "Only precious banknotes can solve this problem."

"Precious banknotes? I'm afraid it's inappropriate." Zhu Cihong said worriedly, "My Ming Dynasty's precious banknotes have almost been reduced to waste paper, and officials, gentry and common people may find it difficult to accept another kind of precious banknotes."

Chongzhen said: "Precious banknotes are of course not acceptable, but silver notes are acceptable."

"A bank note?" Zhu Cihong asked blankly, "What does the emperor mean?"

Chongzhen said: "A bank note means a note that can be directly exchanged for silver. The bank note is exclusively issued by the Royal Bank. Every time the Royal Bank issues a silver note worth one yuan, it must reserve one or two silver coins in the treasury. People who have taken the bank notes can cash in the corresponding amount of Zuse silver at the Royal Bank at any time."

"Wonderful!" Zheng Zunqian praised after hearing the words, "In this way, merchants, officials, gentry and common people will no longer have to worry about it, and they can use bank notes boldly, and once the credit of bank notes is established, they only need to reserve [-]% or even [-]% The full amount of silver is enough to meet the cashing needs of officials, gentry and common people. In this way, the demand for silver will be greatly reduced, and there will be no shortage of silver in the market, and there will be no more banks. Even the Ministry of Internal Affairs is short of money."

Chongzhen said in his heart that you are still too conservative, how can you spend [-] to [-]% of the reserve fund?

Once the credit of the bank note is established, the reserve of [-]% is enough to deal with it. It is impossible for a run to happen. Even if there is a run, there is nothing to worry about. It is impossible for officials, gentry and common people who are used to silver bills to go back and use silver again.

Because bank notes are much more convenient than silver.

It's just that there's no need to say these words.

Smiling, Chongzhen said again: "In addition to issuing bank notes, the quality of silver circulating on the market is too messy, and the use of silver needs to be weighed, which is really inconvenient. I think it is necessary to issue uniform specifications and uniform quality." The amount of silver coins can be divided into three types, one yuan, five cents and one cent."

"The one-dollar silver coin is worth one or two feet of colored silver."

"Five jiao is equivalent to five qian zuse silver, and one dime is equivalent to one qian."

"In addition, copper coins need to be minted again, and the currency values ​​are divided into five cents and one cent."

"The previous copper coins can still be used, and the ten copper coins are equivalent to one cent of copper coins."

After a pause, Chongzhen said again: "From now on, unminted silver will not be allowed to be used as coins in Daming. If foreign merchants want to trade with Daming, they can only exchange gold or silver to the Royal Bank for the same amount. banknotes or silver dollars before they can participate in the trade of goods.”

Chongzhen's move is as big as it looks.

He went to collect seigniorage.

Moreover, what Chongzhen wanted to collect was not only the seigniorage of the pseudo-shun, slavery, and surrounding countries, but also the seigniorage of the entire world.

Of course, this is a long time later.

Right now, it is better to make silver tickets, silver coins and copper coins first.

After talking about this, Chongzhen said to Zhu Shunshui in the Ministry of Supply and Heavy Industry: "Zhu Shunshui, tomorrow morning, the owner of the workshop where you print the bonds, I remember the surname is Xu, right?"

"Yes, the surname is Xu." Zhu Shunshui said hurriedly, "Xu Guo, a bookseller in She County."

"Yes, that's him." Chongzhen nodded and said, "You call him over, and then ask him to call the best ink makers and miniature sculptors in the printing workshop, and let's discuss the anti-counterfeiting methods of the bank notes."

"Yes." Zhu Shunshui respectfully replied, "I will be here on time tomorrow morning."

"Okay, let's get down to business now." Chongzhen turned his head and said to Ma Mingpao, "The Ministry of Internal Affairs' family property is about 5000 million now, and the book profit this year is [-] million taels, right?"

"Yes." Ma Minglu said, "The goods that the Holy Majesty got from Yunnan are not counted."

"The goods obtained from Yunnan cannot be realized yet." Chongzhen said, "Those treasures are still on the way. When they are transported back to Nanjing, they will have to be after the first month of next year, and they will not be realized until March or April."

The Wang and Hu families don't have the financial resources to directly buy treasures worth 5000 million taels.

Therefore, we must wait until the Wang and Hu families have disposed of most of the treasures before cashing in the silver.

Ma Minghao said again: "Then, are the mansions and farmland under the name of Huguang's vassals, King Jingjiang, and Duke Qian included in the list? If they are included in the list, what is the price?"

If these mansions and Zhuangtian are included in the register, they are also counted as profits of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"Don't worry about these mansions and Zhuangtian." Chongzhen waved his hand, "All of them are handed over to the vassal yamen in Guangxi, Yunnan, and Huguang for the expenses of reforming the land and relocating the soldiers."

"Okay." Ma Mingpao nodded in disappointment.

"Ma Qing, don't be disappointed." Chongzhen said with a smile, "Even if there were no vassal mansions and farms in Guangxi, Yunnan, and Huguang, the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Yunnan would have made a profit. I have already calculated it. The Ministry of Internal Affairs spent less than 500 million taels in total in this battle, but among the goods obtained from Yunnan, there were 800 million taels of cash alone, and there were also various rare treasures worth 5000 million taels, so It is said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is making money no matter what.”

At this point, Chongzhen finally understood why Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong were able to grow.

Because after letting go of your hands and feet, you can really make money in war, and you can make a lot of money.

Qian Guogong is already so fat, Chongzhen really can't imagine how much money and rare treasures Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong robbed from the vassal kings of Henan, Huguang, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Shanxi?
The value of these rare treasures is really unimaginable.

Of course, it may be difficult for Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong to cash in.

"My lord, it's because I'm greedy." Ma Mingpao said with a smile.

After waving his hand, Chongzhen asked again: "How is the preparation of the ordnance?"

Ma Minglu hurriedly said: "Returning to the Holy Lord, 4 200-inch guns have been built, 20 of which have been taken to Yunnan by the Holy Lord, and the other 180 have been sent to Huguang. A total of about 2 flintlock guns have been built. Among them, 15000 have been sent to the Huguang Jiaotong and Xinjun, and the remaining 5000 are still in the warehouse of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.”

"200 4-inch guns and 2 flintlock guns are still a little small." Chongzhen sighed, "This reserve is not enough to launch a large-scale Northern Expedition, but only a small-scale harassment war."

Ma Mingpao quickly said: "My lord, the production capacity of each arsenal will be doubled this year, that is to say, by the end of next year, the new army will have 5 flintlock guns and 1000 4-inch red cannons. At that time, we can have a decisive battle with Jiannu in an upright manner."

"If you want to fight Jiannu decisively, you need not only weapons, but also food."

Chongzhen said again: "Ma Qing, how much food has been saved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"

Ma Mingpa's face became a little embarrassed: "My lord, there are only 40 shi left in food, a decrease of 10 shi."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang hurriedly said: "Father, this matter is all due to my son. It is my son who urgently transferred 10 shi of grain from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Songjiang Mansion to stabilize the price of food, but in the end..."

Chongzhen said: "In the end, all these grains were bought by grain merchants?"

"I really can't hide anything from my father." Zhu Cihong said bitterly, "My father, those grain merchants are really treacherous. They specially hired people to line up in front of the rice shop designated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and finally they really want to buy rice. The rice people couldn't buy rice at all, and all the rice fell into the hands of the grain merchants."

A similar scene 300 years later appeared in Chongzhen's mind, speculative.

In this way, the nature of these merchants has never changed. These people really dare to make money. It is no wonder that some Shanxi merchants secretly resold food and information to Jiannu.

Zhu Cijiong said again: "Father, why don't you directly issue a decree to Governor Yingtian Jin Xuan, ordering him to dispatch Caojiang Town's pacesetters to arrest these hoarding profiteers."

[Kneeling for a monthly pass]

(End of this chapter)