Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1470 "Federal Reserve Bank of Ming Dynasty"

As the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, although Gao Yushi is often distracted, he is still very concerned about his own work. What's more, he always believes that the decline of the Ming Dynasty is first manifested in finance, so he pays special attention to financial reforms. .

Objects, copper coins, silver, banknotes... these are all words that often hover in Gao Yushi's mind.From Zhu Yuanzhang’s comprehensive in-kind tax (nearly comprehensive), which was a reversal of history, to the later banknote customs, to the collection of copper coins during the pilot period of the whip method, and to Gao Gong’s decision to promote the monetization of silver, the process of reform has actually been accelerating.

Yes, the monetization of silver came during the high arch period.

In the film and television works of later generations, it seems that silver has always been the common currency in all dynasties of China, and the Ming Dynasty was no exception.But this is a erroneous point of view, due to space limitations, let alone other dynasties, at least silver was not the legal currency of Ming Dynasty at all, and there was no silver system in the Ming Dynasty before Gao Gong came to power.

Historically, the monetization of silver itself originated from the private sector, rather than from the official system design.After the Cheng and Hong years of the Ming Dynasty, silver experienced a period of transition from official illegal currency to officially recognized legal currency.

By the Jiajing period, with the proposal of a whip method and intermittent small-scale implementation, the monetization process of silver had been basically completed, but unfortunately, no system had been formed.

Until the first year of Longqing, Emperor Muzong of the Ming Dynasty promulgated a decree under Gao Gong's suggestion: Anyone who buys or sells goods worth more than one yuan of silver will use both money and money; money is only allowed if it is less than one yuan.

This decree is the first decree of the Ming Dynasty that clarified "both money and money" under the objective reality of silver monetization.It was also the first time that the Ming Dynasty affirmed the legal currency status of silver in the form of legal authority, and fixed silver as the currency form of the main currency in the form of legal authority. [Note: This article is a historical fact. 】

Therefore, this decree promulgated by Emperor Longqing can also be regarded as a proof of the establishment of the silver standard currency system in Ming Dynasty.Official recognition and promotion accelerated the pace of silver monetization. Since then, silver has spread throughout the society, penetrated into every corner of society, and penetrated into people's daily lives.

The monetization of silver accelerated currency circulation, enlivened the commodity market, prospered the social economy, and brought about changes in the entire social structure of Ming Dynasty.In a sense, the prosperity of the commodity economy of the Ming Dynasty, the formation of business gangs and chaebols, the rise of private ports in cities and towns, etc. all benefited from the monetization of silver.

It is precisely because of this that the inflow of overseas silver is a requirement arising from the economic development of the Ming Dynasty and the changes in the social structure.Gao Wushi wanted to win the Philippines, but at the same time he was afraid of interrupting the import of American silver, precisely because he was afraid that this demand would not be met.

Private transactions with silver began to prevail in the Jin Dynasty.In the Yuan Dynasty, the treasure banknote system was implemented, and silver was used as the banknote, and silver was used in foreign trade.All these laid the social foundation for the monetization of silver in the Ming Dynasty.

However, the monetization of silver in the Ming Dynasty was not a natural process. In fact, it was the result of a game between the court and the people.

Not long after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the treasure banknote currency system was established, and gold, silver and copper were repeatedly banned in order to implement the treasure banknote system.But the problem is that the gradual collapse of treasure banknotes, coupled with the lack of raw materials for copper coins, has objectively promoted the trend of silver monetization.

In the eighth year of Hongwu (1375), after the "Da Ming Tong Xingbao Banknote" was issued, the imperial court ordered the prohibition of the circulation of gold and silver, and later even copper coins were also banned, and paper banknotes were exclusively issued.

However, since the Ming Dynasty implemented the banknote law without precious metals or real objects as preparations for issuing banknotes, more precious banknotes were put into circulation and less returned.Therefore, it was only in July of the ninth year of Hongwu that the problem of old banknotes actually appeared, and the "law of reversing banknotes" was enacted.

But the "dumping banknotes method" was very unsuccessful. "The method of collecting and exchanging faint banknotes was originally for the benefit of the people, but the method of many people is treacherous. Every time you use a banknote that is usable, you will come and exchange it easily"-a treasure that is not broken Just replace it with a new one, which unnecessarily increases the cost.

Due to the huge flaws in the treasure banknote system itself, the depreciation of Daming banknotes began almost immediately after the banknote law was implemented.

Judging from the price comparison between banknotes and silver, in the middle period of Hongwu, one tael of silver was roughly equivalent to three or five guan notes; in the seventh year of Xuande, the commercial tax fish department in Huguang, Guangxi, Zhejiang and other places folded banknotes, and one tael of silver was paid for one hundred guan notes. ; In the first year of Zhengtong, "one tael of silver is worth more than a thousand guan"; during the Chenghua period, the commander of Daxing Zuowei made Zhou Guang's report even more serious. ".

It can be seen that in the past hundred years, the depreciation of treasure banknotes has become more and more serious. By the Chenghua period, the depreciation rate had been about a thousand times.

The depreciation of precious banknotes made the circulation of precious banknotes difficult, which was called "the blockage of banknotes" at that time.As early as the 21st year of Hongwu, the currency in circulation in the society was not only precious banknotes, but also other gold and silver, satin, rice and other physical substitutes.In order to maintain the value of the precious banknotes, in the 27th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang miraculously introduced a decree banning copper coins.

This ban on copper led to an unexpected result, that is, the currency system in the early Ming Dynasty, which was dominated by banknotes and supplemented by money, was destroyed, which instead caused an increase in the phenomenon of private use of silver.As a result, at the end of Hongwu, there was a situation that "merchant merchants from all counties in Hangzhou, regardless of the price of the goods, always use gold and silver to discuss the price".

Precious banknotes depreciated day by day, and they were not trusted by the people, and they gradually withdrew from the field of private circulation.But Zhu Yuanzhang was very unconvinced by this, so in the 30th year of Hongwu, he once again offered a magic weapon: prohibiting the trading of gold and silver crops.

Needless to say, no matter how majestic the court's decree is, it cannot be opposed to the actual needs. This decree has not really prohibited the use of private silver.

The monetization of silver started from the people. This bottom-up trend of monetization of silver impacted the monetary system of the Ming Dynasty, forcing the imperial court to accept and recognize this huge power from the people.

In the first year of Zhengtong (1436), Hubu Shangshu Huang Fu (Note: Readers who have read the Guangxi volume, remember that I wrote about this man after Gao Wushi took down Annan, and praised him a lot ?) Played to the emperor:

"Precious banknotes and copper coins are used together. In Hongwu, one tael of silver is worth three to five guan, and now one tael of silver is worth more than a thousand guan. The law of banknotes is worse than this."

The grim reality faced by the imperial court at that time was that the precious banknotes had depreciated a thousand times, and had actually been discarded by the people.For the court, this is obviously a very threatening fact.

Out of an instinctive reaction, the Ming court center still tried to change the policy and do everything possible to maintain the treasure banknote system.It's a pity that the so-called change of policy is just "receiving money with money" to deceive the country and harm the people.

Although the imperial court took various measures to try to establish the main currency status of the banknotes, it still failed to stop the impact of silver on the banknotes.

In fact, according to Gao Pragmatic's view, the Ming Dynasty issued treasure banknotes without banknotes and unlimited quotas, with a large amount of circulation and few returns. The order of exchanging old and new banknotes was not only chaotic but also the price was very different. Very easy to counterfeit, just about everything.

The inferior banknotes flooding the market obviously greatly exceeded the actual currency demand of social commodity circulation, which would inevitably lead to inflation and the depreciation of precious banknotes.

Moreover, from a highly pragmatic point of view, from the subjective point of view of the emperors of all dynasties, the implementation of the banknote law by the Ming court was for the purpose of amassing wealth, and it was not for the convenience of the people at all.The Banknote Law had various problems and soon collapsed shortly after its implementation, which is closely related to this motivation.

Objectively speaking, apart from the imperial court, some profiteers and unjust officials benefited from the implementation of the banknote law. The banknote law only brought disaster to ordinary people.

In fact, after the reigns of Zicheng and Hong, people's distrust of banknotes has reached its peak, and banknotes have completely lost their credibility and value. Silver is mainly used for private payment, and banknotes cannot be circulated. It's the same as fiction.

After Longqing, silver became an official currency, and after the widespread implementation of the whip method—especially in the Jiangnan area, this situation could no longer be reversed.

What is irreversible is not only the big system, but also the system in detail.For example, in addition to land tax and corvee, which are uniformly collected and calculated on the basis of the field, the two largest fiscal expenditures, the imperial government salary and military pay, as well as important large-scale national tax revenues such as salt tax, tea tax, customs duties, and commercial taxes, are also calculated in silver. .

This is the establishment of the silver standard.

However, as far as Gao Yushi is concerned, although the silver standard is definitely more advanced than before in his eyes, there is still a lot of "unprecedented progress"-yes, what he wants is paper money.

Although the banknotes of the Daming Banknotes were a complete failure, this does not mean that banknotes are the wrong direction.Even to a certain extent, the failure of Daming Banknotes is an excellent lesson for the past. As long as the problems that arise during the implementation of Daming Banknotes are resolved, and a new banknote system is created, it will almost succeed.

I just mentioned where the problems of Daming banknotes lie: there is no banknote, and there is no limit, the circulation is large, the amount of return is small, the order of exchanging old and new banknotes is chaotic, and the price is very different. In addition, the production is simple and easy to forge. That's why the banknote failed.

Is there a solution?Yes, Gao Pragmatism has already figured out a solution.

There is no banknote, that is, there is no issuance reserve.This reserve fund is obviously huge, and it is absolutely impossible to expect the court to take it out.

With the current situation of the imperial court, to put it bluntly, as long as Gao Yushi is replaced, whoever is replaced as the Minister of the Household Department will either go bankrupt directly, or can only open the ban, strengthen preparations for war, and repair the imperial mausoleum. Wait for a few major events to stop.

Ask the Ministry of Households to take out at least 2000 million taels of silver as a reserve for banknote issuance?dream.

This money must be found elsewhere. According to the high-practical meaning, it is naturally the Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance, and perhaps the royal family, civil and military officials, and even vassals from all over the world can be brought together.

But to get these people to come up with real money, it is obviously not something that can be done by being highly pragmatic and calling on everyone to love the country and the people. There must be benefits here!There is a pragmatic solution to the high interests, which will be discussed later.

The second problem with the failure of treasure banknotes is that they are issued in unlimited quantities, and the circulation is very large, but very few returns-this is an interrelated problem.However, there are also highly pragmatic solutions.

Unlimited circulation will lead to too much circulation. In fact, as long as the emperor and the court do not intervene in this problem, it will be fine.In other words, the issue of circulation is entrusted to this independent agency to handle according to the rules-of course, the rules are highly pragmatic.

As for the lack of return, it is not difficult to solve this problem. The key lies in whether the court has the determination: just like the success of silver monetization is established by collecting silver from various taxes, as long as the court official salary, military pay, and Important large-scale national tax revenues such as land tax (including corvee tax discount), salt tax, tea tax, customs duty, and commercial tax were all changed to accept (or pay) banknotes, and the problem was solved.

The imperial court allows you to pay taxes with banknotes, so why don't you use banknotes?As long as the imperial court recognizes the value of your banknotes and calculates your taxes according to the face value of the banknotes at any time, obviously you will not lose money. What reason do you have to reject this currency that is more convenient to carry and use?
It is impossible for a person to carry 1000 taels of silver with him when he goes out, but if it is banknotes, what if it is 1 taels?The reason why the people do not recognize the treasure banknotes is not here, but because the treasure banknotes continue to depreciate, and it is a disadvantage to keep them in their hands.

Then there is the issue of exchanging old banknotes. Originally, the exchange of Daming treasure banknotes for new and old banknotes was very confusing, and the exchange required additional money, but the amount spent in different places varied, which led to many disadvantages.

The highly pragmatic plan is to have a clear statement on the exchange standard for old banknotes, just like the RMB exchange in later generations, there must be a unified standard for any handwriting wear and corners, and only when the standard is met can it be exchanged.

As for the exchange price, it is free to exchange the old RMB banknotes for new ones in later generations, but Gao Pragmatically estimates that he should not be able to avoid it now, and there is still a charge here.It's just that he doesn't plan to overcharge, basically he only needs to recover the cost of producing banknotes.That is, the cost of making the paper, printing the face of the currency, and shipping it.

Among the three fees, the first two are relatively fixed, and the transportation fee is difficult to distinguish according to the transportation distance.However, Gao Wushi knows that in fact it cannot be distinguished. Once the distinction is made, it will lead to differences in exchange prices in various places, and it will return to the old way of the Daming Banknote.Therefore, he believes that an average value must be taken, and then the exchange fee will be calculated according to a unified standard across the country.

The last "lessons learned from the past" is actually the issue of anti-counterfeiting of banknotes.The material used to make Daming banknotes is called "Sang Rang", which is mulberry bark.The appearance of the treasure banknotes is blue, with special anti-counterfeiting dragon-shaped patterns and anti-counterfeiting seal characters on it. In the center is the pattern of money strings, and the number of money strings is used to represent the face value.

The highest denomination of treasure banknotes is 33 Wen copper coins, and there are six denominations of 22 to [-] Wen copper coins.According to the weights and measures of later generations, the whole banknote is [-] centimeters long and [-] centimeters wide.Only in terms of appearance design, it can be called high-end and elegant.

However, this is of no use. Its banknote-making technology was okay at the time, but it didn’t take long for it to be reduced to the point where people can imitate it—of course it’s over. After all, under the huge benefits, there are people who dare to take risks. .

Here is a foreshadowing that can be uncovered: Gao Pragmatism invested in a new type of paper before, that is, thick paper that is popular among Europeans and can be used for writing with hard pens. It is useful at this time-the best type is obviously Suitable for making banknotes.

As for anti-counterfeiting technology, it can be divided into two categories.One is anti-counterfeiting at the level of large-value banknotes, and the other is anti-counterfeiting for small-value banknotes in ordinary circulation.

The common technical means between the two is the exquisite pattern, just like the dragon shape used for treasure banknotes.Both types of banknotes in the High Reality program must have the highest level of detail.

This is no problem for the Jinghua Steelworks, which has the highest level of craftsmanship at present. The factory can certainly produce the most exquisite steel engraving impressions, and impressions of this level are basically impossible to be imitated by the people.What Gao Yushi has to do is to make Jinghua's self-monitoring in place, and don't let the impression spread out.

In addition, there are multiple printing anti-counterfeiting, secret key anti-counterfeiting, seal anti-counterfeiting, etc. These are all methods that have existed since the Jiaozi era in the past, and their ideas can still be used now.Of course, methods such as cryptographic deposit are only for bank notes, and it is impossible to make such complicated things for small-value banknotes.

The technical means have been met, and now the high-practical need is to raise initial equity capital.Apart from the fact that Jinghua itself was determined by him, even the Maritime Trade Alliance needed to be persuaded, not to mention the royal family and officials.

But it doesn't matter, Gao Pragmatism has already explored a good way during the Yunnan-Burma War...

Gentlemen, I like war, because war means making money!Do you want to earn this money with me?
You ask me how to earn?Of course you have to invest first.Considering that Luzon will receive a steady stream of money in the future, this investment is obviously a long-term investment, so we might as well set up a dividend distribution institution first.

I have already thought of the name, it is called "Da Ming United Savings", or "Ming Fed Reserve" for short.
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Thanks to the book friend "Shen Yang" for the support of 12 monthly tickets, thank you!

PS: Seeing so many monthly tickets, I knew it was the end of the month again.Then other friends may wish to check it out. I don’t care if you vote or not. The main thing is not to waste it. I vaguely remember that voting for monthly tickets seems to add experience points or something.

(End of this chapter)