Hongwu Survival Guide

Chapter 201 Iron Coin Porcelain

After discussing some details, Zhang Wen, who had just taken the position of Si Shaoqing as the fourth-rank general and the manager of Taiping Iron Mine Company, set off immediately and rushed to Taiping Mansion.

Most of the more than [-] craftsmen brought back by Lao Zhu last month directly allocated half of them to Taiping.

Not just mining and iron smelting, but also various other things.

According to a certain young man Pingzhang, it is planned to build a comprehensive industrial city based on local iron mines in Caishi Town in the north of Dangtu County, Taiping Prefecture.

industrial city!

Another novelty.

There is only one thing Zhang Wen has to do in the short term, which is resettlement.

Lao Zhu also asked Zhu Yuan about this matter, and Zhu Yuan gave Du Fu those few lines of poems: And there are tens of thousands of mansions, a big shelter for the poor and happy people in the world, and it is as safe as a mountain without wind and rain!
Lao Zhu asked Zhang again.

As a child of Confucianism, Zhang Wen saw the first two sentences.

Anmin made meritorious service.

As an emperor, what Lao Zhu saw was the last sentence.

For thousands of years.

The attitude is thus consistent.

I plan to follow Mingzhou's model and build a house first... Anyway, most of the work is still done by the craftsmen themselves, which happens to be their job.What the court gave was nothing more than some rations and land.

In terms of rations, Lao Zhu just expanded the capital warehouse this year, and the capacity has increased from 300 million shi to 600 million shi. It is currently full and sufficient for supply.

Not only that, but according to Zhu Yuan's proposal, the imperial court will soon mint coins, which can also be paid to craftsmen as salary.

Lao Zhu has already understood the truth.

The imperial court minted coins at a relatively low cost and distributed them to artisans. The artisans used the money to buy grain. In addition to the government, most of the folk grain came from local rich merchants and wealthy households. They minted money at low cost to buy high-cost grain. It is tantamount to a kind of 'allocation' in which the loss is more than enough and the deficiency is made up for.

After all, the cost of copper coins is definitely not as high as a stone of grain.

Moreover, the 23rd grandson of his own treasure also made it clear that in a short period of time, with the imperial court's casting ability, things like excess currency do not need to be considered.One thing to consider is how to get the coins back to form a virtuous circle.

This has also been discussed a lot.

Let's talk about the resettlement of craftsmen, in addition to rations, there is also land.

It's also easy.

There are many mountains in Taiping Prefecture, not to mention that the iron mine is also in the mountains in the east of Caishi Town. It still refers to Mingzhou, and the residential area is built on the mountain, using local materials.

Regarding this matter, Zhang Wen also expressed his concern about the ownership of the mountain land, but Lao Zhu was very tough. If any big family dared to say that those mountains belonged to him, Lao Zhu would not mind letting them know how he started his business.

When Zhang Wen resigned, Yang Siyi, Minister of the Household Department, who had been waiting for a while, entered the door, and Shan Anren, who would be Secretary of State, did not leave.

What is to be discussed happens to be coinage.

Zhu Yuan threw out a plan of 'Daming Central Bank' and started lying down, things still had to be done.

Lao Zhu grabbed it himself.

The Central Bank of Ming Dynasty, which plans to be the third grade, is directly under Zhongshu, and Zhu Yuan is in charge by default, and reports directly to His Majesty the Emperor.However, regarding the minting and issuance of currency, we still need to cooperate with the traditional Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Industry for the time being.

According to the theory given by Zhu Yuan, Lao Zhu has been deliberating in private recently, and his ideas have become more and more clear. If the imperial court can mint millions of coins every year, as it did in the Song Dynasty, it will be equivalent to having more resources worth millions of coins available.

If you want to create a flourishing world unseen in a thousand years, you can never have too many resources.

For this reason, Lao Zhu has already planned to include silver coins in it.

This is also the first of its kind.

Of course, gold coins are not good, it is someone's suggestion, and it is intended to be used as a national reserve for the future.

In the meeting room, Yang Siyi saluted and presented a prepared memorial: "My lord, this is the plan for minting coins that I made after discussing with Mr. Shan."

Lao Zhu printed many copies of Zhu Yuan's "Work Report" and sent it to his ministers, asking the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty to learn the format. He also planned to publish a part of it in the first issue of "Da Ming Monthly" and spread it widely throughout the world.This time, with regard to the Central Bank of Ming Dynasty, Yang Siyi also used the word "plan" from someone in the previous explanation, which is good... What can I do next?
Lao Zhu took the memorial and pointed to the long table in front of him: "Sit down too."

Yang Siyi glanced at the long table at the meeting, and Shan Anren's uncomfortable appearance, hesitated a little, came to the other side, and sat down opposite Shan Anren.

look at each other.

Lao Zhu was already browsing through the memorials quickly.

After the establishment of the Central Bank of Ming Dynasty, the first thing to do was to mint coins.

Lots of coins.

This is what Lao Zhu asked Yang Siyi and Shan Anren to plan. Looking at the content of the memorial in front of them, the plan they discussed is also very simple, which is to pick up the very mature Qianjian model of the Song Dynasty again.

There are also many tables attached, listing some information about Qian Jian in the Song Dynasty.

The money supervisors in the Song Dynasty were not concentrated in Bianliang or Hangzhou, but were scattered all over the country. At most, there were more than 20 money supervisors in the country, and the highest number of coins minted each year was close to 600 million.

This is also the goal that Lao Zhu is looking forward to.

However, it is not easy to achieve this.

The main reason is that the Yuan Dynasty was keen on issuing banknotes and suppressing copper coins, which led to the overall abolition of the metal currency system for a hundred years. Therefore, it is easy to clarify the money supervision model of the Song Dynasty, but the key to implementing it is people, but enough craftsmen need several years to develop.

After browsing through the memorials in his hand, Lao Zhu turned back to one of the pages, motioned to Yang Siyi and the two below, and said, "This plan to mint silver coins should be based on the 400% content of copper coins. Copper coins are small coins, and zinc and tin are not cheap. And This silver coin is a lot of money. One tael can buy an acre of land in a remote place. If you give it seven coins, it will damage the reputation of the imperial court, and the common people will hardly recognize it. Heh... just like the [-] coins I set earlier. The proportion is not acceptable to the common people, so what can you do?"

Yang Siyi thought for a while, and tentatively said: "My lord, then... use [-]%?"

"Ninety percent of what, I will give you ten percent pure silver," Lao Zhu said, "I know what you are thinking, and this move can earn the difference for the court. What price difference?"

When Lao Zhu said this, Yang Siyi and Shan Anren looked at each other, and they could only nod together: "I obey."

As for...

Where does so much silver come from, anyway, everyone does what they want.

In fact, Lao Zhu also understood this problem, and turned over the part of Yang Siyi's memorial that involved silver mines.

In the current territory of the Ming Dynasty, referring to the classics of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there are 68 silver mines that can be confirmed. However, it seems that there are many, but the output is not much. The annual output of many mines is only a few thousand taels, and the total is estimated to be about 50 taels. .

Yang Siyi stated that this is only an estimate based on the records of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and the specifics can only be confirmed after the official mining by the court. However, the specifics should not deviate too much.

To improve, you can only explore new mines.

At a glance, Lao Zhu understood why the previous dynasties did not issue silver coins. There were too few and not enough.

Therefore, I remembered what my baby's 23rd grandson mentioned, that Japanese silver mines account for [-]% of the world's output... Alas, I have to think about knocking down that side early.

Thinking of this, Lao Zhu quickly continued: "You know, next year there will be a big canonization, and rewards to the army. Besides, I plan to rebook the salaries of officials in the near future, thinking about the combination of food and coins. This... …Copper coins, at most 30 taels next year, well, that’s all, but the silver coins, more minted, 300 million taels, can the two of you complete it?”

Although all the silver mines have been mobilized and only about 50 taels a year, Lao Zhu can still produce 300 million taels of silver coins next year.

First of all, the emaciated camels were bigger than horses in the previous attack on Dadu, but the treasuries of the Yuan court received 17 taels of gold and 119 million taels of silver respectively.

Next is the salt tax.

The authorities are currently mainly collecting silver, and next year... at least there will be 150 million taels.

Then, there is sea trade, including city ship tax and profit division.Lao Zhu secretly calculated that it should not be a problem to earn 100 million taels.

Only these three parts are enough to meet the minting demand of 300 million taels.

Others, not to mention the frugal accumulation of these old Zhu, just other scattered income, such as various "groups" and "companies" that contribute income, this part is also at the level of millions of taels of income, and it is completely possible Guarantee other contingencies.

When Lao Zhu mentioned this, Yang Siyi and Shan Anren looked at each other again, and they were also thinking quickly.

As for the source of silver, the two of them understood the court accounts and were also not worried.

The problem is still casting.

Daming's current ability to mint copper coins, next year's limit is about 30 guan, which is written in the memorial, but silver coins, 300 million taels... After careful consideration, it seems that the latter is far more than the former, and there is a big gap.

However, after thinking about it again, the reality is... even more disparity.

Copper coins range from "Xiaoping coins" to "Dangshi coins". The compromise is calculated based on "Dangwu coins", and 30 Guan is equivalent to 6000 million coins.

As for the silver coins, apart from suggesting the silver content, Yang Siyi and the others have no other plans.However, if it is based on the average silver coin of 1 tael, which is equivalent to 1 guan, then the total is only 300 million.

6000 against 300.

The latter, of course, is fine.

However, I can't say enough, Yang Siyi said: "My ancestors, this silver coin may have been minted in the previous dynasty, and it is also a very small amount. If it costs 300 million taels... Well, how to make it, such as whether it is feasible to turn sand, still needs to be tried .”

Shan Anren also said: "Ancestor, there is still weight...one penny is too small, one tael...seems too big, how should I start?"

Lao Zhu listened to the two talking, and changed his mind accordingly.

Assuming the role of an old farmer he used to be, one tael of silver seems to be... a bit too big, and one penny, Lao Zhu also understood that it would probably be a little smaller, so he didn't figure out the result for a while, so he said: "So, wait Make a set of silver coins as soon as possible, from one coin to one tael, well, let’s go to ten taels, let me see how it looks first.”

The two agreed again.

Lao Zhu turned to the front again to play the chapter, and continued to discuss various details with the two senior officials. After another quarter of an hour, the matter was finally finalized.

Yang Siyi was sent to work, but Shan Anren was left behind again.

Sitting at the weird long table, Shan Anren, whose hands were still empty, felt more and more uncomfortable, and could only wait patiently for His Majesty's orders.

"That's it..." Lao Zhu said: "Yuaner and I have talked about some porcelain, and I just thought... Heh, just follow the model of Daming Iron and Steel Group and set up a Daming Ceramics Group. You have to organize it in the past few days." Give me a piece of information on the ceramic industry in various places, but do you understand?"

All kinds of new words, all kinds of understanding.

The figure of a young Pingzhang once again appeared in Shan Anren's mind, and he promised: "I will arrange someone to do it as soon as possible."

Lao Zhu then continued to explain various details.

Speaking of this project, Lao Zhu figured it out entirely by himself.

Of course, the business logic, and even the overall economic logic, still come from the 23rd generation of his own baby.

In addition to being stimulated by the blue and white porcelain that can be exchanged for 500 million shi in the future, Zhu Yuan also mentioned it many times before.

To put it simply, Lao Zhu hopes to monopolize all the best craftsmen, best craftsmanship, and even the best porcelain clay related to the Ming ceramic industry.

If the people want to burn it, they don't stop it, but the best ones must come from the government.

Then, sell high.

Whatever the royal family uses, you can use whatever you want as long as you spend money.Of course, we are talking about quality, not standard, such as dragon and phoenix texture, it is definitely not enough.

This business is done not only externally, but also internally.

Even... more is internal.

Whoever does not buy a few sets of high-quality porcelain from a rich family will have to buy the best porcelain from the government for the sake of dignity in the future, and it will cost a lot of money.

Therefore, the coins minted by the imperial court can be collected in this way.

A virtuous circle.

Frankly speaking, Shan Anren felt that he couldn't keep up with Lao Zhu's various thoughts.

As an old minister of Huaixi who followed Lao Zhu very early on, Shan Anren felt very directly. In the past year, his master has changed too much.

In the past, my master was always recruiting talents tirelessly, and sending people to search and search for talents over and over again, it was like hunger and thirst.

Now, no enthusiasm.

Love will not come.

All these transformations were just because of one person.

enough.

Moreover, whether you are envious or jealous of the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, the result... can only be helpless.Because no one has the unconstrained mind of Xiao Pingzhang.

You want to target a person, but if you don't understand what's going on in that person's mind, how can you fight?

Can only be passively 'beaten'.

(End of this chapter)