First Prince of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 250 Silver Note
Zhu Biao laughed a few times and walked into the courtyard. No wonder the emperors of the Qing Dynasty liked to go to the south of the Yangtze River. event.

Zhu Biao wandered around in the yard, Chen Zhifu came to the side and ordered the maid to serve attentively, these are the sons of the Chen family, and they have been slaves of the Chen family for several generations, so it is naturally credible.

After Chen Zhifu gave his orders, he found Liu Jin again, and politely asked about the crown prince's preferences and taboos, and he could make arrangements afterwards, and Liu Jin was naturally very satisfied.

Chen Zhifu saw that it was almost done, so he walked up to Zhu Biao and bowed and said, "Your Highness, rest for a while after traveling all the way, and wait for the minister to come to invite you for the dinner."

Zhu Biao nodded and said, "Then prefect Chen will be troubled."

Chen Zhifu didn't even dare to back out, and Zhu Biao was indeed a little tired. A group of maids came to serve, and all of them were very handsome, especially with the graceful and gentle temperament of women from water villages.

After carefully serving Zhu Biao to take a bath, Zhu Biao waved them away and sighed comfortably on the bed. Camping in the wild for the night is by no means a comfortable thing.

Liu Jin stepped forward and knelt by the bed. He could not look down at the crown prince at any time. He gently tucked the quilt for his highness and took out a ticket paper from the corner and said, "The prefect Chen gave the servant a ticket number of 500 taels." .”

Zhu Biao narrowed his eyes and said, "What a great deal, 500 taels is enough to buy a marquis's mansion in Kyoto."

Zhu Biao reached out to pick up the ticket paper, which should be made of mulberry paper, with complex patterns on it. These patterns are usually printed with dyes of various colors, and each silver ticket has a line of small characters on it, and the content of the words is not the point. , the point is that these words are so small that they are almost unreadable.

Banknotes started in the Northern Song Dynasty, and were issued by the government in the Yuan Dynasty, establishing the world's earliest complete banknote circulation system. It was the first dynasty in Chinese history to completely use banknotes as currency in circulation. Paper money also creates inflation.

The bank notes issued by the big private households themselves are a deposit and withdrawal certificate, not currency. The rather large bank note given to Liu Jin by the prefect Chen was obviously specially prepared, presumably for the purpose of forming a good relationship with the personal eunuch next to the prince. edge.

Zhu Biao casually threw the silver bill to Liu Jin. He was not afraid of eunuchs accumulating money. After all, he was a servant.

Zhu Biao ordered: "Let Quan Xu check it out."

Liu Jin bowed and retreated, explained to Xu Yungong who was guarding the door, and went out. Quan Xu's people were still in the front yard, Xu Yungong sat in front of the door to rest, and Chang Mao led people to guard in front of the courtyard.

Zhu Biao turned over and went to sleep. The matter of bank notes reminded him that he had to find some professionals in this field. It is good, and you can also delve into the work of anti-counterfeiting.

After all, this matter can only be done by him. Lao Zhu is really not a talent in this field, and Lao Zhu is not issuing banknotes to promote economic prosperity. He is to solve financial difficulties. Banknotes to collect money.

At that time, although the nationally recognized currency forms were silver, yuan banknotes and copper coins, in actual circulation, copper coins accounted for the largest share, and Hongwu Tongbao was the only currency officially issued by the government at that time.

However, as a metal currency, copper coins, like silver, are heavy and heavy, and are not convenient to carry in actual commercial transactions.Casting copper coins in the early Ming Dynasty not only lacked raw materials but also cost people money, and in the early Ming Dynasty, the country's financial currency reserves were small, coupled with years of wars, resulting in an empty treasury, and metal currency reserves such as gold and silver were not enough.

This reminded Comrade Lao Zhu of the good thing of banknotes. At the beginning, it was to alleviate the plight of currency shortage and to give some salaries to officials, but the more Lao Zhu used it, the smoother he was.

At the beginning of the issuance of Daming Banknotes, the value of the currency was relatively stable, as recorded in historical records: "At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, banknotes were very popular."But since then, with the sharp increase in the issuance and expenditure of treasure banknotes, the treasure banknotes have continued to depreciate sharply, and the situation has deteriorated, gradually heading for collapse.

In fact, it is inflation after all. Too many banknotes are issued, but there are only a few commodities. Naturally, the price keeps rising, and finally the banknotes are reduced to even worse than copper coins, losing all purchasing power.

The main problem is Lao Zhu. As early as the Song and Yuan Dynasties, China had developed a fairly systematic paper money system, but in the Ming Dynasty, instead of making significant progress, it regressed.

For example, the "Zhongtong Banknote" issued at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty established a fairly systematic reserve system, that is, the "silk silver standard" system, but the Daming Banknote issued by the Ming Dynasty did not establish a systematic reserve system.

Comrade Lao Zhu just printed a piece of paper and insisted that it was fucking money. Officials and people all over the country looked at the 30-meter machete in Lao Zhu's hand, thinking that this was the great emperor who reopened the sun, moon and new sky, and finally bit the bullet Recognized, Baochao became popular during the Hongwu period.

But that also has to admit that Zhu Yuanzhang is indeed a ruthless person. Although the value of the treasure banknotes was unstable in the Hongwu Dynasty, they could indeed be used as money. You must admire the authority of a person who can violate economic laws.

But it will not work in the future, Zhu Di likes to fight, what to do if he has no money in the war, and learns to print from his father, so the Ming economy has embarked on a road of no return. A large amount of money is issued, which will inevitably depreciate the paper money in people’s hands. The decline in purchasing power caused price rises and inflation, and the economic chaos also made the people lose trust in the Daming banknotes.

So this kind of thing must be handled by him himself, otherwise it would be impossible to see, Zhu Biao turned over again, forcing himself to sleep quickly, let's talk about this matter back to Beijing.

After sleeping for about an hour, Zhu Biao woke up when he felt someone entering the room. After a while, Liu Jin sat up and walked into the room, handed over a warm and fragrant handkerchief, and Zhu Biao took it and touched his face. got up.

The maid outside walked into the house to wait for her to dress. The process was silent, and her manners were very natural. Even Liu Jin felt very good, even if she was put in the palace for a few days at most, she would be able to serve the nobles directly.

After they withdrew, Liu Jin said: "Prefect Chen has a good reputation in Hangzhou, and the children in the direct line of the family are also very well-behaved. Although there are a few in the collateral lineage, they are all taught by the prefect personally when they commit crimes."

Zhu Biao nodded after hearing this. It is indeed very good that the family has such a reputation. Such a person can make Zhu Biao feel more comfortable. After a while, the prefect Chen came to invite him in person. Zhu Biao sat down and let Liu Jin invite him in. .

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(End of this chapter)