Daming: I, the emperor who trains the carpenter

Daming, Yangzhou Prefecture.

Early in the morning, Aunt Wang got up in a hurry, and rushed to the street with a bamboo basket in her arms and a cloth bag in her arms.

The Chongzhen Dynasty is already in its second year.

It has been two years since Emperor Tianqi, who was respected as the Great Emperor of the East by the Nanyang Group and the Western Yi Kingdoms, and was regarded as the Great Khan of Naren by the grassland tribes, died of illness in the Tianqi Dynasty.

The good days of Daming, with the death of Emperor Tianqi and the resignation of Zhang Xiangye, have become farther and farther away from the common people.

The Chongzhen Dynasty and the Tianqi Dynasty were completely different, as if Emperor Tianqi and Emperor Chongzhen were not blood brothers, their ideas and practices were quite different.

The Apocalypse Dynasty loved the people. Since Taizu Hongwu established the country, it has loved the people comparable to the Taizu. It truly loves the people. The government is clear and the world is peaceful.

The Great Ming ruled the world, the kingdoms of the four directions came to the court, and all peoples respected it.

But in the Chongzhen Dynasty, the emperor loved the gentry, the gentry were the people, the people were not the people, the officials were the people, and the people were not people.
The new law disappeared, the new policy disappeared, the original clean and honest officials disappeared, and those good officials who were diligent and caring for the people disappeared, and the ones who came up were all corrupt officials. All of them were arrogant, extravagant and lustful, only caring about pleasure and greed. No one cared about the people at all.

All kinds of exorbitant taxes came back, and the people's fields were once again taken away by the landlords, gentry and officials.

The people once again fell into the mud, and the Apocalypse Dynasty, where the country was strong and the people rich, and all industries flourished, will never come back.

Various passes and local miscellaneous taxes not only hinder the development of commerce, but also make people's lives difficult.

That's all, at least the people have lived a good life for a few years, and the family has some money left.

However, Daming treasure banknotes are not worth much now.

It doesn't matter when it started, there are more and more precious banknotes in Ming Dynasty, but the price of things is also getting more and more expensive, which makes the precious banknotes in the hands of the people less and less valuable.

Originally, one yuan of treasure bills could buy a hot sesame seed cake, and ten yuan of treasure bills could buy a delicious meat, but now, even ten treasure bills can't buy a single sesame seed cake.

How much more than ten times the depreciation of treasure banknotes?
Aunt Wang hurried to the market, she was going to buy rice.

During the Tianqi Dynasty, when the first emperor was still there, and Zhang Xiangye was still the first minister of the Ming Dynasty, the prices of rice, vegetables, chicken, duck and fish were all stable, and the common people could afford it. Not to mention eating meat every day, but once a week It's not a big problem, this is a rare good day.

Compared with that time when all nations came to Korea, commerce was flourishing, and many things from Japan, Nanyang, Western Regions, Southeast Asia, and the West kept pouring in, and ordinary people could buy everything.

But now.
"Ugh"

Aunt Wang sighed sadly. She touched the cloth bag in her bosom, but she didn't know how much food these precious notes could exchange for.

Originally, Aunt Wang also wanted to exchange the banknotes for gold and silver. After all, gold and silver are more valuable than banknotes now, but the gold and silver of the Daming Bank in Yangzhou Prefecture had been exchanged by those big businessmen and landlords long ago, and now they are going to Shuntian Mansion The head office wants gold and silver, how can there be gold and silver for the common people now?

Mrs. Wang did not exchange for gold and silver, and many ordinary people, small businessmen and even small landlords did not exchange for gold and silver, so they had to continue to trade with treasure banknotes. After all, the Chongzhen Dynasty did not abolish treasure banknotes. It's worth it.

Putting aside the messy thoughts in her mind, Mrs. Wang hurried to the grain store, took out the cloth bag from her arms, and said, "Replace them with grain."

The clerk of the grain shop took the cloth bag and looked at the banknotes inside, and his face became sad. When he looked at Mrs. Wang again, he sighed and exchanged the grain for Mrs. Wang.

When a cloth bag full of grain was handed over to Mrs. Wang, Mrs. Wang was not happy: "Why are these grains? I have three thousand treasures in it."

The clerk at the grain store said helplessly: "Sister-in-law, the banknotes are worthless. The boss has already told us not to accept the banknotes. If you hadn't always taken care of me, I wouldn't have risked being fined by the boss. You exchange these grains."

"You can be satisfied with these grains. What can you exchange for three thousand treasures now?"

Aunt Wang's expression changed when she heard this, and she finally thanked her in a low voice, and hurriedly took the food away.

Back home, Aunt Wang told her husband about the matter, and saw this once glorious Yangzhou textile factory worker, who now lost his original job and had to support his family with a long sigh: "Oh, in this world, is it right?" It's getting harder."

At the same time, in the Daming Bank in Jinling, a large number of landlords, gentry, and merchants held up their precious banknotes to ask for gold and silver. The number of people will be comparable to that of the Shuntianfu head office. It was all packed and there was still a long queue outside.

A landlord pushed a box full of precious banknotes to the counter, and then a small box of silver was pushed out of it. The landlord quit immediately and shouted: "This is a hundred thousand precious banknotes, just use this little silver to fool me!" ? Is it easy to bully when I am Master Zhang?!"

The person at the counter said calmly: "Now the exchange of silver and banknotes is at this price. If you are not satisfied, you can be wrong. After all, there are so many people waiting behind."

Upon hearing this, someone yelled from behind: "Fatty Zhang, get out if you don't want to change, we still want to change!"

For a while, there were voices all over the back: "That's right, don't waste time if you don't change!"

"It's going to take a while, the banknotes are about to fall again, hurry up!"

"I have millions of treasures with me, whoever is wasting my time, who am I in a hurry with?"

Hearing the urging sound from behind, Landlord Zhang quickly put away the money and left in a hurry.

And on the top floor of the building of Jinling Daming Bank, Zhang Huan, the president of Jinling Daming Bank and a bigwig in the southern country's financial industry, was sipping tea leisurely.

"My lord, our gold and silver reserves are almost bottoming out. Originally, we were the head office of the Southern Kingdom, which was in charge of the gold and silver exchange of the entire Southern Kingdom and the gold and silver exchange of the foreigners' vassal states. But now, our treasury can't support it anymore. , branches all over the country are asking for gold and silver, what can we do!"

Hearing the old man's unconcealable worry, Zhang Heng smiled: "Exchange all the gold and silver, and don't keep a tael of gold and silver. If it's all gone, ask the head office to ask for it. The emperor can't just ignore it, right?"

The old man is still worried: "But."

Zhang Heng waved his hand: "Nothing to worry about."

As he said that, Zhang Heng walked to the window, looked at the long stream of people outside, and said with a sneer: "The emperor abolished the new laws and new policies, and the stock market to stop commerce. It's nothing more than those rich and powerful landlords making a comeback. membership!"

"Bad, cheap, we can only be slaves for the rest of our lives together? Be dogs to those powerful people for the rest of our lives?"

"Since the emperor wants to play, let's play with them and see how long he can play!"

The old man turned pale when he heard this: "My lord, this is a word that can punish the three clans, be careful that the walls have ears!"

Zhang Heng said disdainfully: "The Three Clans? Don't worry, Uncle Fu, it's not just us, these big chambers of commerce in the south of the Yangtze River, big merchants, which one thinks of the emperor? Where do you think these treasures come from?"

"No." The old man pointed in the direction of Liaodong.

Zhang Heng said with a smile: "But why are these precious banknotes circulating so quickly?"

The old man was stunned.

Zhang Heng smiled more happily, but there was no smile in his eyes: "The new policy and the new law not only affect the Datong Party, but also affect the people of the world. The new law has been implemented for ten years, and the country is safe and peaceful, and everyone lives and works in peace and contentment. Now the emperor is going against the law, Abolish the new laws and new policies, and everything will become the ancestral system, so what about those of us who have finally managed to be human?"

"What about those slaves?"

"And the people of the world, the people in the new party, what should they do?"

"The emperor really thinks that the New Party is those people who came out of Datong Academy? Looking around the villages and towns, looking at the provinces and counties, how many people are there in the New Party? The emperor wants to block the hearts of the people in the world, and wants to stop the flood of the world with his own power."

"How many more years can he stop?"

"How many more years can he be arrogant?"

"As soon as the first emperor left, Daming would become worse day by day. If it continues like this, it's better to just change. Anyway, without Daming, everyone will still live."

Hearing his young master's rebellious remarks, the old man was stunned and didn't know what to say.

But Zhu Youjian didn't know that his behavior had offended businessmen all over the world, common people all over the world, workers and scientists, and everyone who enjoyed the benefits of the New Deal.

Of course Zhu Youjian is not alone. He has all the landlords, gentry, honorable officials as support.

And he wanted to suppress Daming and maintain his rule with honorable officials, landlords and gentry, which naturally put merchants, common people, workers, etc. on the opposite side.

Zhu Youjian wants to use the entire feudal and decadent class to fight against the hearts of the world, but in today's era, the hearts of the world are not only represented by aristocratic families.

As a new-age scholar who has studied in Datong Academy and read some articles written by Zhang Haogu, Zhang Heng knows very well that Zhu Youjian is bound to lose.

On governing the country, on marching and fighting, on stabilizing people's livelihood, on developing industry and commerce, and even on uniting people, what can Zhu Youjian compare with Zhang?

Daming, a powerful dynasty covering the east, needs a leader who has rich experience and strong enough political skills to overwhelm everyone, and needs a strong man who can lead Daming farther and farther.

Previously, Tian Qi and Zhang Haogu were jointly responsible for this strong man. Their ability and reputation were enough to suppress the world, but now Zhu Youjian?

He doesn't have enough experience in governing the country, he doesn't have strong political skills, he can't even convince the people of the world, and his prestige is not enough at all. He is just a young man who has studied for several years. How can such Zhu Youjian take over Tianqi and Zhang Haogu? The huge power vacuum left after leaving?
He can only distribute the rights, and after he distributes it, it is not easy to take it back.

Zhu Youjian doesn't have this ability!

This is not only the opinion of the big family of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce, but also the idea of ​​all the wise people in the world.

Now it seems that Zhang Haogu has retreated to Liaodong, and the new party has shrunk in an all-round way.

But why did the new party change its name to Datong Party?
But why does the New Party still occupy the entire North?

Zhang Haogu is waiting, the Datong Party is waiting, and so are the smart people in the world.

They did not blindly rely on Zhu Youjian. The Ming Dynasty never had the final say on the emperor alone. The emperor was just the chairman elected by everyone. We will have a new chairman.

But now the chairman not only suppressed the original shareholders, but also brought up those old shareholders again, exchanging the interests of the new shareholders for the support of the old shareholders. How could the new shareholders be reconciled?

Someone yelled, "The bank is out of gold and silver! The precious banknotes are about to fall into your hands!"

Suddenly, the crowd was boiling!

"What should I do? The treasure notes are worthless, what can I do with these treasure notes!"

"Who has gold and silver? I'm willing to exchange ten or a hundred times the money!"

"Going to Zhili, the capital must have gold and silver, and the treasury is full of gold and silver!"

"Yes, go to the capital and exchange for gold and silver!"

Looking at the boiling crowd, Zhang Heng said with a smile: "Our emperor, if there is something to suffer."

Treasure notes are worthless, really worthless!
All over the country, all the provinces and governments of the Ming Dynasty, everyone began to feel insecure, and exchanged the precious banknotes in their hands for gold, silver and even food.

Under such panic, the prices of gold, silver and grain soared all the way, and the value of treasure banknotes kept falling, but how many gold and silver reserves could there be in various places?
Even if nobles and landlords and gentry cashed out, compared to the precious banknotes in their hands, that bit of gold and silver was nothing more than a little.

And what about the broader common people and grassroots workers and businessmen?

What should they do?

When Zhu Youjian found out that the treasure banknotes had been compiled thoroughly, and there was a faint momentum of abandoning the treasure banknotes in various places in Ming Dynasty, he also panicked. He hurriedly summoned his cabinet to solve the problem.

After all, Zhu Youjian is a rookie who has been the emperor for less than two and a half years. Before that, he was just an idle prince, a pretentious Wenqing, not to mention governing the country.

The chief minister of the cabinet Qian Qianyi, the Minister of Rites Wen Tiren, the Minister of Household Shi Fenglai, and the Minister of Industry Yang Changsi were called by Zhu Youjian and asked them to solve the big troubles of the Chongzhen Dynasty.

"There are too many precious banknotes and they start to depreciate in value. The common people demand to exchange them for gold and silver. The Daming banks are all in a hurry. Even the Jinling Bank's treasury is empty. Now the common people are panicking, the gentry are alarmed, and the world is in turmoil. What should we do?"

Listening to Zhu Youjian's question, Wen Tiren remained silent. How could he understand economics?

He is a pure literati, a literati who has a strategy in mind and can govern the world, and business and business paths are not included in his general strategy.

As for Qian Qianyi, Shi Fenglai, and Yang Changsi, they all know economics, and among them Qian Qianyi knows the most, but because he knows the most, Qian Qianyi is more and more afraid to speak.

In the end, it was Yang Changsi and Shi Fenglai who negotiated and asked Zhu Youjian to declare that the Daming banknotes would still be the common currency of the imperial court. .

Zhu Youjian didn't have any good ideas, so he passed this decree.

This is all right, the people all over the world are even more panicked. The imperial court has ordered the circulation of precious banknotes, and at the same time does not allow everyone to exchange them for gold and silver. So is this precious banknote really worth anything?
For a while, everyone panicked, but they desperately exchanged gold, silver and grain. The banks would go to the black market and go underground if they refused to exchange it. Although the price was higher, the treasure banknotes were waste paper. If you don’t exchange gold and silver at this time, you still keep What are you doing?
Therefore, following Zhu Youjian's imperial decree, not only did the turmoil in the world not subside, but the value of the banknotes fell again.

The common people try their best to exchange precious banknotes for food, and the landlords, gentry and officials are also constantly changing ways to exchange precious banknotes for gold, silver and grain. Like a cliff.

The precious banknotes in everyone's hands are becoming more and more worthless, and everyone wants to exchange them for other gold, silver and grain. As a result, the price of food and gold and silver will increase again, and the price of precious banknotes will fall again.

Such a vicious cycle kept going back and forth, and the economy of Ming Dynasty collapsed instantly. Almost overnight, the common people were not willing to trade with precious banknotes, and the merchants stopped accepting precious banknotes.

Grain, gold, silver, and cloth once again acted as currency. For a while, Ming Dynasty seemed to have returned to the era of poverty and poverty in the early years of Hongwu, when the world used cloth and grain as currency.

Emperor Chongzhen's dream of restoring the ancestral system has really come true!

The people in the world are really as poor as in the Hongwu Dynasty, the treasures are really as worthless as in the Hongwu Dynasty, the price of food and cloth has risen again, and there are more and more lawless and corrupt officials.

It's a pity that Chongzhen was not Emperor Hongwu, he didn't have the feats of opening up the world, let alone the ability to subdue the world, and he was unwilling to attack officials and gentry, which caused the turmoil in the world to intensify and become uncontrollable.

But at such a time, something happened to the three battalions again!
It is now June of the second year of Chongzhen. According to the old practice, it is time to pay the soldiers of the three battalions the first half of the year.

However, after waiting for a long time, the soldiers did not receive rice, nor gold and silver. Everyone only received a large bag of treasure money.

Now the soldiers are not happy.

"Precious banknotes are now the same as waste paper. How can we use them if they give us precious banknotes?"

"That's right, even treasure notes can't buy food anymore. With the treasure notes, we can eat and drink whatever we want!"

"Shouldn't there be food in the first place? Why is there no food?"

"Food? How long has it been since we replenished our arrows and ammunition consumption? There are no more weapons and armor, and we still count on food? Let those officials be greedy!"

The soldiers complained and demanded to exchange for food, gold and silver. After all, treasure banknotes are worthless now, who wants to take these waste papers!
The honorable officers in the three battalions naturally knew about the complaints of the soldiers.

A military officer was a little worried: "Is it really okay to give them all treasure notes?"

Another noble son said: "What is the price of food now? What is the price of gold and silver? If we don't give them precious money, do we have to pay them for food and gold and silver?"

When this was said, the officer who had begun the conversation fell silent.

Speaking of which, these honorable children really don't all only know how to eat, drink and have fun. They can come to these three camps, at least they all have a rough understanding of military strategy and know some things about the army.

Don't they know that sergeants need to be trained more often, and they need to consume ammunition to feed the elite?
But the emperor has already decreed that the three major battalions should be frugal, waste is strictly prohibited, training is not mentioned, martial arts performance is not mentioned, and even the usual daily consumption is stopped. How can these supplements be obtained if there is no money?
The honorable children also want to lead good soldiers to repeat the glory of their ancestors. After all, they are all young people with some ambitions. Who doesn't want to follow the example of Cao Wenzhao and lead [-] kings to fight a fierce battle with [-] Manchu-Mongolian allied forces and become famous in Monan?

Who doesn't want to follow Zhou Yuji's example and lead thousands of elite riders, chasing death and chasing the north, fighting Huang Taiji so that all the grass and trees are like soldiers?

Who wouldn't want to learn from Zhao Yuqi and Huang Degong who led the army to conquer the country and become famous all over the world?

But what they encountered was not Tianqi, but Chongzhen.

As for Emperor Chongzhen, he was too addicted to food.