Daming: If I find a great-grandson, I will teach an emperor through the ages

Chapter 134: Opening a national bank and financial system.

The Japanese silver mine has begun to bear fruit, and today's court meeting is a feast for the emperor and his ministers.

After Zhu Yuanzhang dismissed the court with a very happy voice, he supported Zhu Xiongying and left.

The officials also walked out of the hall one after another, talking in twos and threes while walking.

Maybe it's because people are in high spirits during happy events. Their voices today are much higher than in the past. When they see Cao Wei, they will greet Cao Wei warmly and exchange a few words.

After all, it was Cao Wei who petitioned Zhu Yuanzhang to raise the salaries of officials like them.

Now Zhu Yuanzhang has really adjusted the salaries of the officials. For the officials with vested interests, Cao Wei is their great benefactor!

Cao Wei dismissed everyone with a few casual words, then turned around and went straight to the door of the imperial study.

After the little eunuch at the door came in to report, Cao Wei entered the imperial study.

Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting on the dragon chair, wearing reading glasses on the bridge of his nose. He was holding a memorial in one hand and marking it with a red pen in the other. He was talking to Zhu Xiongying who was sitting beside him. The latter was listening and nodding.

"Your Majesty," Cao Wei shouted with cupped hands.

Zhu Yuanzhang put down the memorial in his hand and looked up at him.

"If you have something to say, just tell me."

Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well Cao Wei's nature of not going to the Three Treasures Hall without incident.

"Wei Chen came here to tell His Majesty that your Majesty must use the silver brought back from Japan with caution. You must not let a large amount of silver flow into the market without taking countermeasures."

"Ok?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little confused, why he couldn't understand what Cao Wei said today.

It was Cao Wei who told him that Japan had silver mines, and it was Cao Wei who first proposed opening the sea.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has successfully opened the sea, the mining of Japanese silver mines has gradually got on the right track, with good profits.

Why did Cao Wei say this again?

Can’t we spend the silver brought back from Japan?Then why dig for silver?
"You kid, please speak clearly, why can't we understand?"

"This silver was brought back from Japan, why can't we spend it? If we just leave the silver unspent, what's the difference between it and stones?"

"Also, what are the coping methods you mentioned?"

Although Zhu Yuanzhang was a little confused, he was not angry.

Cao Wei's talents are far beyond ordinary people's imagination. This is a fact that Zhu Yuanzhang has already seen clearly.

Cao Wei would say this at this time, and he must have a reason.

"Your Majesty, don't be impatient. Please listen to me slowly."

"The silver mines of Japan contain a large amount of silver, and this silver will be continuously mined and transported back to the Ming Dynasty in the next few decades or hundreds of years."

"In the beginning, like today, one or two hundred thousand taels of silver were brought back to the Ming Dynasty, and His Majesty spent it as much as he wanted. It was only 20 taels of silver, which could not have any important impact on the Ming Dynasty."

"But when the amount of silver shipped back from Japan increases, reaching millions or even tens of millions, if Your Majesty does not take measures to check and balance, it will lead to inflation, and Ming Dynasty will suffer from it."

Zhu Yuanzhang still didn't understand. Even though he was the Hongwu Emperor with great achievements, he was still a man from the old times and couldn't understand inflation at all.

Not to mention Zhu Yuanzhang, all the unified feudal dynasties in China must have had financial constraints to some extent.

The money in hand is simply not enough to spend, so how can there be inflation?

Only Zhu Yuanzhang listened to Cao Wei's suggestion and found the Shijian Silver Mine after opening the sea, which gave the Ming Dynasty the possibility of inflation!
Even 300 years later, Iwamiyama's silver production still accounted for about [-]% of the silver circulating in the world at that time!

With such a large amount of money flowing in, if Ming Dynasty does not make any checks and balances, it will bring unpredictable serious consequences!
Cao Wei knew this because Cao Wei had the experience and knowledge reserves of later generations. To be precise, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Xiongying were both natives of the Ming Dynasty. They could not imagine things they had never seen or heard before.

"What's the truth? Isn't the richer the better?"

Cao Wei was silent for a moment, then thought about it and said again:

"A country has a lot of money. If the country's productivity can be linked to the economy, there will be no problem. But when there is an imbalance between the economy and productivity, problems will emerge."

"Your Majesty, let me give you an analogy. According to the productivity of the Ming Dynasty, there are ten hoes made, and buying a hoe costs fifteen copper plates. Then only 150 copper plates are needed to flow in, and the market will operate stably as usual."

"But if these ten hoes are still created, and the corresponding ones in the market are 150 taels of silver, what will happen?"

"The price of a hoe...has become 15 taels?!"

Zhu Yuanzhang somewhat understood the seriousness of the matter, and his heart couldn't help but sink.

"That's right," Cao Wei nodded.

"Market economy and productivity have objective laws. Generally speaking, no human intervention is needed. But when a huge amount of money suddenly pours into the market and a hoe originally worth fifteen copper plates costs 15 taels of silver, then Something is terribly wrong!”

"Your Majesty should also have heard the problem. The direct result of inflation is currency devaluation, and money will become worthless."

"At that time, the money in the hands of ordinary people will depreciate wildly, but the prices on the market will skyrocket, and ordinary people will not be able to buy them, and merchants will not be able to sell their goods, but they will not do charity, so they can only smash them into their hands... …”

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, his back was already cold!
He couldn't even imagine the scene Cao Wei was talking about.

That seemed not much better than the horrific scenes in the late Yuan Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang's intuition was very accurate. The economic depression in the United States in the previous life was a financial crisis caused by inflation, which led to a substantial devaluation of the currency. On the other hand, prices skyrocketed, and the manufactured goods could not be sold at all!

The milk produced by farmers and the bread produced by bakeries cannot be sold. They would rather pour it into the river, destroy it and throw it away than sell it at a low price.

Ordinary people did not have enough money to buy food, so they froze to death and starved to death...

The entire country's economy has completely collapsed, and all industries have been forced into depression due to force majeure. Bankrupts on the rooftop of Wall Street have to queue up to jump off the building.

At that time, the United States already had a very sound financial and economic system to support it, but it was still so difficult under the inflationary financial crisis.

Today's Ming Dynasty, when the financial and economic system is still in its infancy and needs to be developed, cannot withstand the financial crisis of inflation!
There may even be an economic collapse that will cause all the development of the Ming Dynasty to rest and recuperate for more than 20 years and be reduced to nothing.

"This this!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little dumbfounded for the first time.

He didn't expect that obtaining a large amount of silver from the Japanese country, which was originally a good thing, would suddenly become so terrifying.

"Then what are the countermeasures you mentioned? Is it possible that the Japanese silver mines can no longer be mined?" Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Cao Wei.

Even Zhu Xiongying on the side was nervously clenching his clothes. After listening to Cao Wei's words just now, he felt that inflation was too scary!

A hoe costs 15 taels. What about the others?

How much does a bowl of noodles cost?
How much does a handful of green vegetables cost?How much silk does it cost?How much salt is needed? …

As an "adopted son" who lived with Cao Wei in Zhengkan Village for ten years, Zhu Xiongying is well aware of the hardships faced by the common people.

If an inflationary financial crisis comes and causes currency devaluation, those people will be unable to resist!
At this time, Zhu Xiongying looked at Cao Wei with the same eagerness as Zhu Yuanzhang.

Cao Wei shook his head and said with a slight smile,

"Wei Chen proposed to open the sea and suggested that your Majesty look for Japanese silver mines. Naturally, this is not just a hot idea. I have already thought of a countermeasure."

"Oh? What is it?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked quickly.

His cooperative look was like a compliment. Cao Wei flattened his mouth and said,

"The solution is to open a national bank and establish a market regulatory agency to promote the development of industry and commerce."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned again by these two unfamiliar words: national bank and market supervision.

Cao Wei immediately explained,
"The National Bank is equivalent to...a bank established by the imperial court. Its main function is..."

In the face of inflation and financial crises, even in future generations, all countries will have no good way to deal with them.

However, we can prevent inflation and prevent financial crises from actually happening through supervision and regulation of the economy.

This principle is the same as seeing a doctor.

Minor illnesses will not cause too much harm to the human body and are easy to treat, but serious illnesses are difficult to resist or cannot be stopped at all, just like infectious diseases and influenza.

But later people invented blocking drugs to block disease transmission.

Or if a person's body is originally healthy, if some minor problems arise, they can be detected in time and treated and adjusted, so that the worst consequences will not be caused.

Ming Dynasty is equivalent to this healthy body, and the national bank and market regulatory agencies are the means for Ming Dynasty to check and control problems and prevent inflation and financial crises.

The National Bank regulates the normal circulation of money and grain in the market and plays an important role in maintaining the healthy development of the country's economy.

The regulatory agencies are in charge of the development of industry and commerce, control their orderly operation, and complement each other with the national bank to promote the development of industry and commerce and improve productivity.

"The economy must be linked to productivity. If there is too much money but insufficient productivity, the solution to the problem is to increase productivity."

Zhu Yuanzhang wandered around for a long time and finally came to his senses.

If you want to use the silver shipped back from Japan, you must establish banks and set up regulatory agencies to prevent inflation and financial crises that lead to currency devaluation.

Zhu Yuanzhang breathed a sigh of relief. The overwhelming wealth almost turned into a disaster.

"You will be responsible for managing the national banks and regulatory agencies. Come and show us the process after it is finalized."

Zhu Yuanzhang is well aware of the importance of the national bank and regulatory agencies, and he must find someone reliable enough to handle these two institutions.

And now Cao Wei is trustworthy enough and extremely reliable for Zhu Yuanzhang!
And whether it is Kaihai, the Japanese silver mine, or the national bank and regulatory agencies, these were all proposed by Cao Wei, and no one is more suitable to do these things than Cao Wei.

Cao Wei knew there would be such a result, so he was not surprised. He just cupped his hands and said:
"Your Majesty, running a bank is different from developing things. Craftsmen cannot do it. Your Majesty must give me some professional talents to do the work."

"Okay, I'll give you a list later and you can choose from it."

Cao Wei nodded and said:
"Your Majesty, it would be better to find someone younger."

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and said nothing, as if he understood Cao Wei's intention.

Most of the older people in the court had inextricable connections with the founding heroes, and their forces were deeply intertwined and complicated.

It would be better for departments such as the National Bank and regulatory agencies to find people with clean feet to do their jobs.

Not only are young people definitely more capable of accepting new things than older people, but this can also effectively avoid nepotism caused by interests.

After a while, Zhu Yuanzhang wrote a list of names on the blank paper and gave it to Cao Wei to choose.

When Cao Wei saw it, he called Lao Zhu Shide.

Hu Guang, Huang Huai, Zhuo Jing, Rui Shan...

These people were all Jinshi, and most of them were famous for generations to come, so there was no doubt about their abilities.

Zhu Yuanzhang was able to bring out all these people for Cao Wei to choose from, which is enough to show that he attached great importance to this matter.

Cao Wei took the list and looked at it for a moment.
"Your Majesty, take this minister first and think carefully about who to choose."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, "Take it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Cao Wei left the imperial study and came to the manufacturing bureau as usual.

At the entrance of the manufacturing bureau, Zhao Heng was still recruiting more than a dozen people.

Cao Wei did not disturb them and went straight into his room to consider the candidates on the list one by one.

Organizing the national bank and regulatory agencies, although these two things are crucial, it is not easy to involve too many people in the early stage.

Finally, Cao Wei thought about it and his eyes fell on a name.

Qianyi.

This person was a Jinshi in the 18th year of Hongwu. He was favored by Zhu Yuanzhang because of several petitions and was promoted to Zhongshu Sheren.

Although Zhongshu Sheren is a seventh-grade official with a low official position, he has considerable power. His responsibilities are to write, make edicts, silver books, and iron certificates, and is equivalent to the emperor's little secretary.

Zhu Yuanzhang put him in this position, which is enough to show that he attaches great importance to him.

But before confirming, Cao Wei still thought it would be better to see Qian Yi with his own eyes.

Cao Wei sent someone to invite Qian Yi, and half an hour later, Qian Yi arrived at the Xijiao Manufacturing Bureau.

"Qian Yi has met Cao Guogong."

Qian Yi was young and looked young and promising, making it easy for people to like him. When he saw Cao Wei, he immediately bowed and bowed respectfully.

"No need to be polite," Cao Wei stepped forward to support him.

"I called you here today because I have something to discuss with you."

"If Duke Cao Guo has an order, Qian Dare not disobey it. Duke Cao Guo will just say it."

For Qian Yi, Cao Wei is the real emperor's close minister, the kind who is so red!
Who can, in just a few years, go from being a humble farmer to Cao Guogong, who is shaking the Yingtian Mansion today just by stamping his feet?
Even the founding heroes who conquered the world with Zhu Yuanzhang back then were not promoted as fast as Cao Wei is now!

(End of this chapter)