Prime Minister of Great Qin

Hear the words.

Fusu was stunned.

‘Robbing’ from the rich to give to the poor? What does this mean?

Under the government decree, can we still distinguish the rich from the poor?

If the imperial decree really had such an effect, why would the imperial court have so many situations?

He cupped his hands and said, "Sir, please explain clearly."

He sat upright, leaning forward slightly, as if listening.

Ji Heng looked calm. He lay lazily on the recliner and asked, "Who are the rich people in the world?"

Fusu thought for a moment and said slowly: "Those are nobles, powerful men, corrupt officials, and people with high titles awarded by the imperial court. In addition, there are some businessmen operating in hugely profitable industries, such as business There are not many merchants such as the Ba clan from Bashu and the Wu Luo clan who deal in horses."

Ji Heng nodded and said with a smile: "Then in what form does the wealth in their hands exist?"

Fusu glanced at Ji Heng suspiciously and said, "Most of them exist in the form of coins, grain, and cloth."

"What kind of money are there in the world?"

"Of course it's Qin Banliang." Fusu said without thinking.

immediately.

He seemed to have thought of something, hesitating on his face, and said suspiciously: "But Zhang Cang once mentioned to me that although the legal currency of the Qin Dynasty is Qin Banliang, looking at the world, the number of Qin Banliang is still too small. , so in many places in Kanto, the coins of the Six Nations can still be used, and their circulation is not low."

Ji Heng asked again: "Do the lower-class Guizhou leaders and slaves have money?"

Fusu shook his head.

He said solemnly: "The leaders and ministers at the bottom are in danger. They barely have enough to eat. How can they save money and food? If the local leaders and ministers were rich, the court would not have to collect corvees most of the time. , isn’t it just because they can’t collect money and let them use their labor in exchange.”

"No money!"

Ji Heng smiled, his smile was very bright.

He said calmly: "Then what do you mean, the coins of the six countries are all in the hands of local powerful, nobles, and corrupt officials?"

"Of course it is." Fusu said.

"Then what if the 'money' is really void?" Ji Heng sneered.

Fusu's pupils shrank.

He thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "That will undoubtedly make these powerful, nobles, and corrupt officials who have a large amount of currency from the six countries in their hands suddenly 'robbed of everything.' But as I said before, the court cannot take it." Although the imperial court wanted to do so with so many Qin Banliang, it was really unable to do so."

“And the localities won’t listen.”

"It's just about being obedient and disobeying others."

"Besides, if this is really implemented, the place may be in chaos."

"Because of this, many times, the court turns a blind eye because there is really no other way."

"And if you do this, won't you offend the whole place?"

Ji Heng chuckled.

He closed his eyes slightly, a cold look flashed in his eyes, and said calmly: "There is no need to offend everyone, just try to win over and divide them. As for the local powerful and nobles, the local officials will deal with it themselves."

"What's the point of this?" Fusu frowned: "If the imperial court really orders the abolition of other currencies, many local officials will also suffer heavy losses. Under such circumstances, how can they stand in the same queue as the imperial court? So what? Will you target nobles and powerful people?"

Fusu looked puzzled.

Ji Heng said coldly: "As long as the benefits are big enough, nothing is impossible."

Fusu remained silent.

Waiting for Ji Heng to give an explanation.

Ji Heng slowly sat up straight and said calmly: "The currencies of the six countries are not tolerated by Qin's laws. It is natural for them to be completely abandoned. The reason why it was not possible in the past was because there were not so many Qin coins circulating in the world. , so Qin Ting can only turn a blind eye, but if the amount of Qin Banliang in the world increases all of a sudden, is it still necessary for the currency of the six countries to circulate?"

Fusu shook his head.

He said coldly: "If there are so many Qin Banliang in the world, naturally there is no need for other currencies."

"Then let there be so many in the world." Ji Heng said firmly.

Fusu frowned.

He looked at Ji Heng and said solemnly: "But there is no such thing in the world?"

"Then make it." Ji Heng said.

The doubt in Fusu's eyes became even stronger.

Ji Heng continued: "If the imperial court can't make it, then it will relax the restrictions, decentralize the minting power to the localities, and allow local private minting. However, the imperial court has strict requirements for privately minted coins, and they must meet the standards that Qin Banliang should have." Texture, otherwise there is no need for circulation.”

Hear the words.

Fusu looked shocked.

He looked horrified and said: "Sir, this is no small matter. Once the power of minting is decentralized, doesn't it mean that localities can mint at will? If this continues, won't the world be in chaos?"

Ji Heng waved his hand and said calmly: "You think too clearly."

"Qin Banliang, Qin Banliang, the most important thing is the word 'Qin'."

"As long as it is Qin Banliang, it is allowed to circulate in the world and is regarded as legal tender."

"Indeed."

"This will lead to a proliferation of local privately minted coins."

"But it is not that easy to cause a flood. Minting takes time, and the six lands of Kanto are mostly the currencies of the original six countries. In the next period of time, the world will continue to replace currencies. In the past, the currencies of the six countries , will gradually be replaced by Qin Banliang. Only when all these currencies are replaced will the world's currencies begin to flood, and this is destined to take a long time."

"It can take as short as a few years, or as long as more than ten years."

"As for the Qin Banliang issued by Da Qin itself, the currency change has no impact on the court."

“The real impact of currency replacement is on people with six currencies.”

"When the imperial court announced that it would decentralize the right to mint coins, the currencies of the six countries in the hands of these people suddenly became useless coins. Not to say they were worthless, but at least they would depreciate significantly."

"And that's what I call a money grab!"

"Snatch the money from the hands of nobles, powerful men, and corrupt officials."

"Although the imperial court cannot directly profit from this move, after the local forces mint coins, they will definitely spend it, and spending it means that tax revenue will be generated. Through the previous actions, the imperial court has a certain grasp of the Kanto economy. We can continue to collect taxes from it, and the currency replacement stage is also a stage where the court's tax revenue increases significantly."

"Waiting for the replacement of the world's coins to be completed."

"The imperial court can take back the minting rights of the coins."

"This way."

"In just a few years, the imperial court plundered all the wealth accumulated by the nobles and powerful men in the past. Without the accumulation of tens or hundreds of years, the influence of the nobles and powerful men in the world will plummet, and then they will lose their influence. How can it be possible?"

Hear the words.

Fusu only felt a roar in his mind.

He has never thought that there is such a way for currency?

Ji Heng said lightly: "The circulation of money in the world is actually very simple, it is purchasing power." "And coins with purchasing power are divided into good coins and bad coins. In fact, it is just the gold, silver and copper content in the currency. However, In fact, there is another kind of bad currency in the world, not because of poor quality, but because there are too few official currencies in the world, so substitutes have to be used. Under a normal country, this kind of bad currency should not exist."

"However, the amount of formal currency is too small, and gradually, bad currency has become mainstream."

"Get to the bottom of it."

"Actually, good coins have the same purchasing power as bad coins. In the past, the minting power of Qin Banliang was in the imperial court. Local governments did not have the right to mint Qin Banliang. It was too troublesome to use cloth or grain to buy things. Therefore, the currency of the Six Kingdoms It became popular again, and the six countries' currencies used to circulate in the six places, so they were naturally easily accepted by the people in the six places, so the currencies of the six countries, which were not officially recognized, had the same purchasing power as Qin Banliang."

"gradually."

“Bad money replaces good money.”

"Bad coins are even more popular in Kanto."

“But if the court decentralizes the power to mint coins, it means that good coins will increase.”

"And this also means that the purchasing power of bad currencies will be greatly weakened or even lost. This also means that the currencies of the six countries will depreciate significantly. In other words, if you have two currencies in your hand, one is Qin Ban Two, one is the currency of the six countries, which currency will you use first?”

Fusu almost didn't think about it and said directly: "The currencies of the six countries."

"What if only Qin Banliang is circulating in the market?"

Fusu smiled bitterly and said: "Then naturally we can only use Qin Banliang."

"This also means that the purchasing power of the currencies of the six countries has been lost and they have become completely useless currencies. They may be recast, but if the Qin banliang has higher specifications, it also means that the currencies of the six countries will be damaged if they are recast. More, the blow to the powerful local nobles is self-evident."

“The main reason why seigniorage is important is seigniorage.”

"That is, the profit from coining money."

"If the purchasing power of casting Qin's half-liang currency is ten, and the costs of mining, smelting, casting, etc. add up to one, then the difference of nine is the seigniorage. It is with this seigniorage that the court can exchange large amounts of money from the world. Benefit."

"Compared with the huge profits from salt and iron, minting is actually more profitable."

"That's why."

"The right to mint coins has always been monopolized by the imperial court."

"And if there is a large increase in the issuance of coins, it also means that the purchasing power of the same Qin half liang in the world will decrease. This also means that the value of coins in other people's hands will be diluted, but on the other hand, the wealth in the hands of the imperial court will increase. , which is also a kind of seigniorage.”

"If the imperial court decentralizes the power of minting coins."

"The people at the bottom naturally have no power to do it."

"This coin naturally fell into the hands of rich, powerful and powerful people."

"So after the Qin Order is promulgated, the world's powerful, nobles, and wealthy businessmen will accumulate wealth crazily in this money-making carnival."

"But those who can own copper mines are destined to be a minority."

"This also means that the currencies of many nobles, powerful people, and wealthy businessmen in the world will be greatly devalued. Those who can mint money are equivalent to robbing the wealth accumulated by these people. Therefore, the originally monolithic Kanto will naturally Conflicts arise, and there is a basis for division and suppression.”

"Most of the people who can control copper mines are actually powerful."

"Faced with the benefits that come from heaven, how can we stand against the imperial court? They may not care at all about the accusations of other nobles' tyranny, and may even take the initiative to suppress these people. In this way, the imperial court will Standing on the same side as the local powerful groups, and then targeting the 'lost' party."

"How is this not conducive to the imperial court?"

Hear the words.

Fusu's mouth opened wide.

He was completely shocked by Ji Heng's thoughts.

The seigniorage tax on currency is very high, and it will definitely be a huge profit, which will be higher than the huge profits from salt and iron. If the imperial court takes over the economic power of salt and iron, but delegates the right to mint money, this will also be a difficult time for the local area. Decisions and interests move people's hearts. In the face of such interests, most people may compromise.

It eventually evolved into.

The imperial court and local governments joined forces to target groups that had lost power.

These people are natural allies with powerful local groups.

Back and forth.

The imperial court took back the economic power without bloodshed, and at the same time suppressed a large number of powerful nobles, without even spending too much effort.

It can be said to serve multiple purposes.

Fusu cupped his hands and said, "Sir, you have great opinions. Fusu admires you."

Ji Heng continued: "This is not enough. Because the right to mint money has been decentralized, you don't know what coins these people will mint privately. If they all mint inferior coins, it will force the local people to use the currencies of the six countries again, so we should also introduce them at the same time." A 'money scale' is a thing that specifically measures the weight of currency. This thing is actually inconspicuous and even seems very negative, because it is almost a direct message to the world that the imperial court can no longer control your private coinage."

“But if the world looks down upon ‘weighing money’, then it would be a big mistake.”

"Weighing money is not for those who make coins."

"It's for the bottom class."

“To enable them to differentiate between good money and bad money.”

"After the power of minting is decentralized, the currency owners are the miners. These people have so many coins, and they naturally have to use them. However, if the people at the bottom can distinguish good coins from bad coins, do you think the people at the bottom will accept good coins or bad coins? currency?"

Fusu said without hesitation: "Nature gives priority to good coins."

"The laws of the Qin Dynasty stipulate that all trading media, whether gold, copper coins, or cloth, have a fixed price comparison, and the purchasing power of good coins and bad coins is forced to be the same. No one can question the quality of coins, not even the government. You can’t pick and choose coins.”

"So the next step is to abolish this law."

“This also means that good money and bad money no longer have the same purchasing power.”

"In this way, if people use good money to buy things, they can ask the merchants to charge less or give them more goods. If they use bad money to buy things, the merchants can ask for a higher price or sell less goods. , and under the spontaneous choice of the market, the people at the bottom will become more and more inclined to use better quality coins."

“It would also increase competition between these currencies.”

"Do you know what this means?" A smile appeared on Ji Heng's lips.

Fusu didn't speak.

He frowned and thought for a moment, then said with a horrified look on his face: "In order to spend the coins they minted, they can only greatly improve the quality of the coins."

Ji Heng nodded.

“That’s what I call good money driving out bad money.”

"If you want good money to drive out bad money, you need to meet the two requirements I mentioned earlier."

"One is that people can distinguish good money from bad money."

"The second is that good money and bad money no longer have the same purchasing power."

"Under the natural selection of the market, it will directly evolve into good money and drive out bad money."

"The powerful class who originally wanted to get something for nothing and easily gain a lot of benefits eventually had to raise their standards and spit out more profits. In commodity transactions, the court was able to continuously collect commercial taxes, and at the same time, it could also Some of the 'inferior' powerful men and nobles will be eliminated from the world."

“Then achieving multiple goals with one stone.”

"By the time the people of the world react, the imperial court will have already become stronger."

"This is also a conspiracy."

"Take huge profits as a guide." (End of chapter)