Hongwu Daming: Why hasn't my son rebelled?

Chapter 232 Issuing Currency - Ming Yuan

Regarding the issuance of banknotes, Zhu Qi actually heard that Zhu Yuanzhang was arranging them before.

It's just that the paper money issued by Zhu Yuanzhang in history is effective for all to see. Basically, it is no different from waste paper.

The common people in the folk still use silver or cloth as objects of exchange.

The best dynasty to use banknotes is naturally the Song Dynasty.

From the issuance of banknotes, it is not just according to individual will, but a complete set of rules and regulations.

Indiscriminate printing is not allowed, and there is even a reserve fund to prevent runs, resulting in the inability to cash in silver taels, and reducing the credit of banknotes.

In a word, it is to maximize the credibility of banknotes.

Let the government departments endorse the banknotes, and the people will naturally use the banknotes if they trust them.

Before the Southern Song Dynasty, this was done well.

It's just that in the Southern Song Dynasty, with the frequent wars and foreign wars, it became more and more unclear.

The rulers of the Song Dynasty also began to issue more and more paper money to fill the fiscal gap.

The direct result is that inflation has deepened sharply, and the printed banknotes are not recognized by people like waste paper.

In history, the banknotes issued by the Ming Dynasty were even worse. From the very beginning, they were directly printed one by one.

This is naturally because the knowledge of monetary theory is not well developed, and people do not know such things as reserve funds, let alone printing too much paper money will cause inflation.

Even in the Song Dynasty, the reserve fund was set up based on the experience of trading in commercial banks on weekdays.

However, the paper currency system of the subsequent Song Dynasty still collapsed. Naturally, the Ming Dynasty did not want to imitate the operation methods of the Song Dynasty.

But in fact, the issuance of banknotes in the Song Dynasty was ahead of the world from the very beginning.

It can even be said that there is almost no big difference between the first paper money system in the Song Dynasty and the paper money system in effect today.

Moreover, the people who designed this system almost thought of all the loopholes and problems that could be thought of.

The only loophole and shortcoming is that they did not expect that the follow-up battle would be so tense that the rulers did not follow the previous system, but printed and issued banknotes indiscriminately in an attempt to fill the financial vacancy.

Naturally, the paper currency system collapsed. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang learned from the lessons of the Song Dynasty and naturally hoped to set up this system according to his own ideas.

However, history has proved that the system of the Ming Dynasty was not a good system. On the contrary, the paper money was issued indiscriminately like the Song Dynasty in the later period, without any credibility at all.

Therefore, Zhu Qi had already advised Zhu Yuanzhang before that if banknotes were to be issued, the banknotes must be linked to something, such as gold.

The reason why the currency is linked to gold is also because of the successful experience in the history of the world.

From the beginning of Western history, although the monetary system is not as good as ours in China, but in terms of the subsequent development of banknotes, Western history has developed quite well.

The fundamental reason is that they have not let the currency be directly determined by the will of the individual in terms of the system.

That is to say, the ruler cannot increase the amount of currency because of his own preferences, it must increase the amount of currency based on the reserves of gold reserves, or other similar things.

And the benefit of this is obvious, that is, stability.

However, the gold standard is not so prevalent in modern times, the reason is because of modern large-scale commercial activities.

The amount of gold reserves in the world today cannot meet the needs of human commercial activities at all, and accordingly, banknotes on the back of national credit have emerged to replace the gold standard.

However, at this time in the Ming Dynasty, such problems naturally did not exist.

Therefore, the best choice is to establish a gold standard financial system.

This will not only ensure the convenience of currency, but also ensure that it will not be abused and maintain the stability of the currency system.

And the benefits brought by a stable currency system can also suck blood from the outside world. You must know that there is no country that uses banknotes within the surrounding area of ​​Ming Dynasty.

If the Ming Dynasty can stabilize the paper currency system, then let other countries also use the currency of the Ming Dynasty.

But it can achieve the goal of controlling other countries in the economic field. The Song Dynasty once did this kind of thing.

It's just that the rulers of the Song Dynasty didn't know what benefits other countries could bring by using their currencies.

They just watched their own currency being used by the other party, but there was no room for manipulation by any means.

The reason is that the military power of the Song Dynasty was too weak.

The other party is not afraid of the Song Dynasty at all, and even if they use the currency of the Song Dynasty, they are not worried that the Song Dynasty will use the currency to do some shameless things.

Because in this world, whoever has the biggest fist has the right to speak.

The Ming Dynasty was different. The Ming Dynasty was not only strong in military strength, but also in economic strength.

If the currency of the Ming Dynasty can be successfully issued and used by other countries, then imagine that we only need to print some banknotes to exchange for various raw material resources such as cloth, minerals, etc. in other countries.

What a terrifying thing it is to carry out processing and production.

Think about why the current beautiful country maintains the global status of the US dollar. The fundamental reason is that it can suck blood through the US dollar.

And I, Daming, can do the same.

If you need something, just print money and exchange it with others.

Some waste paper can be exchanged for real goods. This is really cool, and I feel very happy when I think about it.

Not only that, but you can also learn about such things as minting rights.

If it is shameless enough, let others collect a little seigniorage when they use their own dollars,

Whenever I need something, I don't even need to print money, just using this tax money can offset it.

In many modern countries, it is just a big loss like a beautiful country.

Since Zhu Qi knew this method, he didn't have to feel sorry for the people of Daming.

This is also the reason why Zhu Qi wants to throw out tariffs at this time.

Those foreign envoys definitely don't want to impose this tariff, but as long as Zhu Yuanzhang's tone is firmer, they have nothing to do.

I must think of my own side, and then let them use Ming's paper money and give them some tariff relief.

After the banknotes that are popular in their country start to be used stably, they are carrying out various operations, printing banknotes for commodities, or charging their seigniorage and so on.

That's all a matter of waving hands casually. Of course, the prerequisite is to let them use currency voluntarily. You really can't force this kind of thing.

As long as the common people get used to using currency, everything will be easy to handle.

It's better to sign some treaties or something. If someone is brave and dares to break the contract, then I can use force to force them to submit in the name of the contract.

Zhu Qi thought so, and then he was surprised to find that his current thoughts seemed to be much more sinister and vicious than before.

If it is said that when he first came to Daming, he would never do such a thing to harm others for his own benefit, but it is normal to think about it, and he does not feel guilty at all.

People don't kill heaven and earth for themselves, let alone things between countries.

After Zhu Qi promised some tax relief to those foreign envoys, he signed contracts with them respectively.

Naturally, these contracts were not signed in his own name, but in the name of the tax bureau of the Ming Dynasty, the official department.

After all, this is the only way to be effective. Although people don't know what legal effects mean at this time, at least they have to do enough on the surface.

If someone turns against the water in the future and doesn't want to use Daming's currency anymore, and takes out this contract for a shot, then who can say anything?

After Zhu Qi signed the contract with them, he began to move up and down. Of course, this up and down movement was for them to see.

In fact, Zhu Qi had already discussed this matter with Prince Zhu Biao and Zhu Yuanzhang.

Without the approval of the two, how could he do these things secretly?
Soon his activities came to fruition, and the emperor let go, allowing them to reduce or exempt some taxes.

Of course, in name, it means that I am a great country in China, a country in the sky, and I will not compete with other small countries for these interests.

It's just that some taxes have to be collected, so we can't suffer like this every year.

And Zhu Qi naturally said that he had accepted a task of promoting currency, and printing a lot of banknotes on his hand was useless.

If they are willing to take it, they can take it. When they come to the Ming Dynasty for trade every year, they can use these currencies to buy things.

Of course it has to be taken away, and these currencies must be exchanged for gold.

They did a simple calculation, and exchanged gold for these banknotes, and then exchanged them for Daming's products. Not only did they not make the price much higher, but it was even cheaper.

Including the tax reduction and exemption, after going back and forth, it seems that there is no loss in this trade.

By next year, if this is done again, the tariff will be nothing more than a paper tiger for display.

As for why Liao King Zhu Qi wanted to sell banknotes, it must be for his own personal benefit.

When they thought about it, they thought it was funny, the tariff imposed by the Ming emperor was quite good, but he had such a prodigal son under him, everyone said how wise His Royal Highness King Liao is, and now he is still very greedy for money.

It is impossible for a person to not have any weaknesses. It is good to have weaknesses. If you are greedy for money, you can send more money to him. After this relationship is established, it will definitely be of great benefit.

Everyone thinks so in their hearts.

Little did they know, they felt that they were taking advantage, and that the prince of Daming was no more than that.

However, he has become an out-and-out fool, and because of the leadership of His Royal Highness King Liao, when they came to pay tribute this time, the trade goods they took away were all purchased with paper money newly issued by King Liao.

And this banknote also has an official name - Ming Yuan.

And those foreign envoys who bought trade goods with Ming Yuan did not feel that there was anything wrong.

They don't know that the customs departments at the border at this moment have now received news that if the people in the border area want to pass the customs in the future, they must pay in Ming Yuan.

Also, if foreigners come to do business, they must use Ming Yuan as a deposit guarantee.

If there is no Ming Yuan, then all kinds of policies prohibiting trade with Daming will come down. In a word, Ming Yuan must be made famous, and all countries that do business with Daming will use Daming banknotes.

Of course, this is a slow process. As the saying goes, there are policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom.

The folks will definitely have various ways to circumvent this regulation, but Zhu Qi is not in a hurry, as long as the time is long enough, I believe everyone will accept paper money.

As long as the government departments give enough endorsements, all that is left is to wait for paper money and see the effect after it becomes popular in other countries.

If the effect is good by then, it will definitely be promoted on a large scale.

But I guess it won't take too long to wait, after all, things like the economy are the fastest-growing things.

Naturally, Zhu Yuanzhang was not in a hurry, he had unconditional trust in Zhu Qi.

Now that Zhu Qi had already handed over the issue of banknotes to Zhu Qi, he naturally wouldn't ask too much.

And what Zhu Qi said about reserves, or other currencies used by foreign countries, and endorsements by state departments, etc., are just a matter of one sentence.

And it is not a day or two for Zhu Qi to prepare banknotes. In the 13th year of Hongwu, after these foreign envoys bought a large amount of banknotes from him, Zhu Qi also began to try to promote them in Daming. .

This promotion cannot be carried out directly and rudely, after all, ordinary people still need a stage of adaptation.

And to understand what paper money is, whether it can be used, etc., all of which require large-scale publicity and official endorsement.

For example, give away a batch of banknotes first, and let everyone take the banknotes and exchange them for any commodities, etc., as long as they come and go, and the people trust it.

But Zhu Qi originally wanted to leave this matter to his elder brother Zhu Biao, and go back to Liaoyang City to continue to be his prince. Anyway, Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng are the ones who fight for such things.

There are still so many frontier generals over there, so there is no need to rush to fight in person.

It's more comfortable to go back to Liaoyang.

But when he was about to bid farewell to leave, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped him. Zhu Yuanzhang's meaning was also very simple, that is, to let Zhu Qi be in charge of issuing banknotes in the capital.

After all, Zhu Qi seems to know paper money very well, and Zhu Yuanzhang also trusts his son quite a lot.

For such an important matter, if it is done, it will be of great benefit to Daming.

We must know that the mining of precious metals at this time is not so easy, and the trade volume of Daming cannot be satisfied by the current mining of precious metals.

If you can issue banknotes that the common people trust, everything can be solved.

As for how to make the common people trust the banknotes, it needs to be carefully researched and studied. Fortunately, Zhu Qi has a lot of these weird ideas.

He quickly arranged everything, the main thing is to let the government office post a notice at the gate of the city, as long as there are ordinary people who come to the customs office before noon tomorrow, they can get a hundred-yuan bill. The avatar is naturally well-designed.

The hundred-dollar bill is equivalent to one tael of silver.

Good guy, this is obviously sending money out.

(End of this chapter)