If I fail to overcome the tribulation, I can only return to the Ming Dynasty and become a prince.

Chapter 34 Bills of Exchange and Banks

Zhu Zhanquan was just thinking about how to cultivate with the help of luck, when his fat father suddenly came to his door.

"Zhanjun, I thought about it for a while. I think the strategy written in the brochure you gave me before is still a bit inappropriate. If you take it to the court like this, you are likely to be opposed. You and dad can sum it up. Let's see if there is any better way." Zhu Gaochi took out the folding note that Zhu Zhanyu had given him before from his sleeve and handed it to Zhu Zhanyu again: "I have written some experiences and thoughts on it, please read it first before talking about it. .”

Zhu Zhanquan took the folder and unfolded it. He saw that it was densely written with Zhu Gaochi's comments in red pen.

While watching, he asked Zhu Gaochi: "Dad, what do you think is wrong?"

"Your method is really clever. Based on the credit of the imperial household department, merchants can deposit their silver into the treasury to exchange for national bills. This not only solves the problem of the silver needed by the imperial court to reform banknotes, but also re-issues it for the imperial court. The treasure banknotes have established credibility, but the problem is what should these merchants do if they need to exchange large amounts of silver in remote places?" Zhu Gaochi raised a question that he was worried about to Zhu Zhanqun, and in addition, he also had other questions Other more worries: "And one more thing, you wrote that these bills of exchange are not treasure money, and they must be paid in full at any time. But if there is a special situation and there is not enough silver in the national treasury, it will be like last year. When the inventory of silver is at its lowest, there are only a few thousand taels of cash left. What if someone comes to redeem 1 taels of silver?

I saw that you didn't write about these issues, so I wanted to ask, Zhanjuan, how you think about these issues. If you haven't thought about Fang Zi, then we, father and son, should think about it. If you have thought about how to deal with it, , then tell dad, and dad will have something to say when we discuss it in the court. "

"I have really thought about this." Zhu Zhanquan first helped his fat father sit down, poured him tea and served it, and then explained to Zhu Gaochi: "First of all, Dad, you said the first point , the problem of exchange in remote areas is easy to solve. As long as the court stipulates that the exchange of money orders exceeding a certain amount must be notified in advance, so that the government can mobilize cash, it can be solved very well.

Moreover, most merchants are smart. Unless it is a very special situation, usually they will not go to remote areas to exchange large sums of money. Moreover, when things like money orders have gained the trust of merchants, they feel that this thing can be used as a currency. When making money, in most cases, they will use the money order directly instead of exchanging it for cash. "

The method Zhu Zhanjuan gave Zhu Gaochi is actually easy to understand. It was to ask the Ministry of Accounts to open a place similar to an early bank or money bank in the name of the treasury to attract wealthy businessmen to deposit silver, and then issue a bank with the imperial approval based on the amount of silver deposited. draft.

These money orders are different from treasure banknotes. They clearly indicate the time, place and amount of silver deposited on them, and must be paid in full. In this way, the money orders are equivalent to real gold and silver that can be circulated.

Naturally, there are many benefits to doing this. The first point is that it can absorb a large amount of cash into the national treasury and solve the problem of money shortage.

After all, the lack of silver in the imperial court does not mean that the merchants and nobles are short of silver. As long as they are willing to deposit the silver in the treasury, the cash can be directly turned into bills of exchange of equal amounts, and bills of equal amounts, or even Excess treasure money.

It can be said that as long as the court does not commit suicide by over-issuing treasure banknotes or directly using the cash to collapse the court's credit, this method can greatly improve the current financial problems of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, there are not without drawbacks. The exchange issues raised by Zhu Gaochi are still trivial. More importantly, this approach, which is similar to establishing a central bank, also has risks. "This is a solution. The imperial court keeps larger amounts of silver in the state capital, and leaves some small amounts of silver in remote counties and villages for daily exchange, and large amounts can be transferred from the state capital." Zhu Gaochi himself is a government official. A good player, Zhu Zhanjun understood what to do as soon as he said it, and he also understood that this was indeed a feasible method.

But this problem is not what Zhu Gaochi is most worried about. He is good at political affairs and has already thought about how to solve these problems after reading the excerpts, and has also considered the matter comprehensively.

Zhu Gaochi has thought enough about issues such as how to exchange cash, how to use and circulate money orders, and even how to make and prevent counterfeiting of money orders. Perhaps these methods are not as mature as those in Zhu Zhanchun's mind. It is a method that has been tested by later generations, but it is also very remarkable in this era.

Among all the problems, Zhu Gaochi's biggest worry was what to do if he couldn't redeem the money.

Of course Zhu Zhanchun also knew about this problem, and there was a special word to describe this matter among banks in later generations. This word is run.

Of course, it is somewhat inappropriate to describe it as a run, because on the one hand, the money order is not a banknote or a bank note, and the treasury where the money is deposited is not an ordinary bank. The inability to exchange the money order for silver is not the same thing as the bank's inability to withdraw the money. .

However, the meaning and phenomenon expressed by the two are the same, because they both mean the fact that there is no money.

If a bank is run, you can also seek funding from higher-level banks or loans from the central bank to rescue the market. But if the national treasury runs out of money, then things will be really serious, because it means the bankruptcy of the national finance and the collapse of national credit.

"In order to prevent this kind of thing from happening, the first thing is that this yamen or money bank should be set up independently, without the jurisdiction and interference of any other yamen, to avoid being manipulated by others to the greatest extent, and even the emperor himself cannot use it. Take the money inside." When Zhu Zhanchun opened his mouth, he said something that sounded very rebellious to Zhu Gaochi, but he did not get angry, but seriously considered the significance and feasibility of Zhu Zhanchun's suggestion.

After thinking carefully, Zhu Gaochi nodded and said: "It should indeed be so. If the emperor can take money from it at will, this policy will become a means of making money for the royal family. If the king is self-disciplined, it will be fine, but if he is not self-disciplined, it will be really bad." It turns into exploiting the people! Zhanju, you did a good job on this!"

"In addition to operating independently, this bank treasury must also be separated from the national treasury controlled by the Ministry of Accounts. It is not part of the treasury, and the cash account department inside cannot be touched." However, what Zhu Zhancheng said next, Zhu Gaochi was a little confused.

But Zhu Gaochi did not object rashly, but waited for Zhu Zhanyu to explain to him.

(End of this chapter)