Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 556 Directed Circulation

"I...Liu Xiaozu, pay homage to Your Majesty!"

"No gifts."

Zhu Youxiao lifted up the sleeves of his robe, but his attention was not on Liu Xiaozu who was bowing and saluting. Instead, it was the eunuch standing behind him, holding a tray covered with red cloth, that attracted Zhu Youxiao.

"Done?"

Zhu Youxiao looked at Liu Xiaozu and asked.

"Your Majesty, the Mining and Cleaning Department has been ordered to supervise the creation of new coins. In compliance with your Majesty's previous decree, new coins of gold, silver, and copper will be minted according to specifications!"

Liu Xiaozu couldn't hide his excitement, his hands were shaking uncontrollably, and he reported to the emperor the results of the Coin Mining and Cleaning Department. For today, he was under too much pressure! !

The currency system is the foundation of a country!

From tax collection to trade circulation, everything is inseparable from the currency-based money-making system. If there is not a strong enough and sufficient money-making system to support the country's circulation needs, then this country will inevitably emerge. Chaos! !
For Zhu Youxiao, he had long wanted to reform the currency system. The chaotic currency system of the Ming Dynasty had caused too much harm to the Ming Dynasty.

Especially since the One Whip Law was implemented, even after Zhang Juzheng's death, various policies related to reform were abolished, but some policies have declined.

The most intuitive thing is that land taxes, Ding taxes, etc. must be paid in silver. This burden on the lower class groups has undoubtedly increased silently!

Fire consumption!
This kind of deceptive and evil government has long been deeply rooted in the Ming Dynasty!

If the people at the bottom want to pay taxes, they must first sell the grain in their hands, so that they can get money, and most of them mainly make money.

But when you use the coin to pay taxes, the local government won't accept it. You have to exchange it for enough silver. But where do ordinary people get the silver? The key is the fucking silver!

In this way, you have to go to a place where silver can be exchanged and exchange for silver. It's just the money in your hand. When you really want to redeem it, it's not up to you.

After going through this series of processes, the income of the people at the bottom after a year of hard work is almost the same as that of being exploited. The key is that they know they are being exploited, but they can only do it with gritted teeth and tears, otherwise it will be tax resistance. But resisting taxes among the people is a serious crime!

After so many years, I don’t know how many people at the bottom have been forced to sell off their land and have their families destroyed just because they paid land tax, Ding tax and other taxes! !
"Send it up!!"

Zhu Youxiao's breathing was a little rapid, and he stretched out his hand and said to Liu Xiaozu.

"Here!"

Ancestor Liu Xiao responded, then turned around, took the wooden plate from the hand of the eunuch of the inner court, and walked quickly towards the imperial court.

Seeing this, Liu Ruoyu instinctively wanted to step forward to take it, but Zhu Youxiao pushed him away, so Liu Xiaozu bowed his head and walked over.

Zhu Youjian and Zhu Changzi, who were standing aside, all had surprised expressions on their faces when they saw their royal brother/His Majesty like this.

After being together for so long, this was the first time they saw the emperor acting so gloomy.

It's just that they don't know at all what the new coins minted by the Minting and Cleaning Department mean to the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Youxiao stretched out his hand and pulled open the red cloth in front of his eyes. What he saw were dozens of coins. They were of different sizes, colors, and designs. But when he saw these coins, Zhu Youxiao's face was filled with emotion. smiled.

"Is this a portrait of Emperor Taizu Gao?"

When Zhu Youjian, Zhu Changzi and others who came over saw the money-makers in front of them, many of them opened their eyes wide, and the junior Zhu Shugui couldn't help but exclaimed.

"Has all Qian Fan been minted?"

Zhu Youxiao picked up a gold coin, looked at the words, patterns, patterns, etc. on it, and said to Liu Xiaozu, who was holding a tray with his head lowered.

"Your Majesty, the first batch of fixed-grade money models have been cast!" Liu Xiaozu reported truthfully.

"What's the yield like?"

Zhu Youxiao continued to ask.

"Your Majesty, the mint under the jurisdiction of the Mining and Clearing Department, based on the current scale, can produce 10 gold coins per month, including 2 coins in the one-yuan specification, 2 in the five-corner specification, and 3 in the twenty-cent coin specification. The size is 3 pieces, and the size of one dime is pieces.”

"There are 60 silver coins made in the month, including 10 pieces of one yuan, 10 pieces of five jiao, 20 pieces of two jiao, and 20 pieces of one jiao."

"One million copper coins are minted every month. All of the above can pass the currency inspection and acceptance. After being inspected and accepted by the department, they will be circulated among the people for trade!"

“Mint production is too low!!”

Zhu Youxiao frowned, looked at Liu Xiaozu and said: "According to this efficiency, when will the Ming Dynasty realize the replacement of old and new coins?"

"Your Majesty, the Mint and Clearance Department has jurisdiction over the mint. Several locations have been selected and construction is currently underway."

Liu Xiaozu did not dare to hesitate and followed what the emperor said: "By the end of October this year at the latest, the above-mentioned mint will be put into operation. At that time, the minister will step up efforts to promote the casting of fixed-grade coins."

"We must do it quickly."

Zhu Youxiao said: "The gold and silver stored in the internal funds will be minted this year. This batch of newly minted gold, silver and copper coins will be of great use to me!"

I obey the decree!
Liu Xiaozu bowed his head and responded.

For Zhu Youxiao, his determination to reform the currency system has never changed, but the prerequisite for everything is to have a new currency.

The incident of privately minted money brought back from Sichuan made Zhu Youxiao feel this sense of urgency. If the new Ming currency cannot be issued and circulated, then the fate of the bottom class being exploited will not be solved, and more importantly, this Some of the taxes that should be collected into the national treasury will be manipulated by others!
"Brother Emperor, is this the new coin you have been mentioning?"

Seeing that his royal brother stopped asking, Zhu Youjian endured his surprise and looked at Zhu Youxiao and asked.

"Yes."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said: "Since the beginning of my ascension to the throne, I have realized that the currency system of the Ming Dynasty is too confusing, especially the local officials who have a tendency to mint indiscriminately. This has led to some treacherous people who despise our laws and mint privately. If this continues, the court will Turning a blind eye and turning a blind eye will lead to a sharp rise in private prices, and the key is that the tax revenue belonging to the national treasury will also shrink day by day! "

"Your Majesty, how should the seigniorage tax you mentioned earlier be collected?"

After hearing this, Zhu Changzi asked doubtfully.

"From the time new gold, silver, and copper coins were minted, the seigniorage tax was already collected by the court."

Zhu Youxiao raised the one-yuan gold coin in his hand and said with a slight smile: "The weight of this coin is one tael. It is anchored with one or two full-color gold. It contains 85% of the full-color gold material. It is doped with There are colored materials such as copper.”

"The 15% doping used is the seigniorage tax levied by the court. Of course, if we want the people to recognize this new coin, we must solve some problems, such as the strength of the currency. This requires the introduction of corresponding measures at the official level. policies to ensure their currency status!”

"The degree of resistance to loss during circulation must also be addressed. We cannot say that losses will occur within a few years of circulation. Wouldn't making money in this way depreciate in disguise?"

Zhu Youjian and Zhu Changzi opened their mouths wide, with expressions of surprise on their faces. According to this calculation, the imperial court only needs to cast a batch of gold, silver and copper coins, and it can extract 1.5% of the seigniorage tax!
According to the current silver standard policy pursued by the Ming Dynasty, if one million taels of pure silver is used to cast a batch of silver coins, a seigniorage tax of 100 taels can be levied. This is definitely a stable source of tax revenue!
"Pass on my oral instructions to summon Bi Ziyan to the palace to see me."

But when everyone was surprised, Zhu Youxiao suppressed his smile, looked at Liu Ruoyu and said loudly.

Now that the new currency has been minted, how to issue and circulate it, and how to make the new currency recognized by the public, is what Zhu Youxiao must solve.

If these new coins cannot be circulated, then the efforts made by the Minting and Cleaning Department to continuously innovate the coinage technology and prevent private minting have been wasted. This is Zhu Youxiao definitely doesn't want to see it! !
(End of this chapter)