Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 56 New Coins

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the sale of alcohol has been strictly controlled by the government.

After all, most of the wine on the market is brewed with grain. If the court does not control it, it will become inevitable for merchants to waste grain due to their profit-seeking nature.

With the imperial court strictly controlling the number of taverns, Bai Jinfu could open a tavern in the capital and operate it for a long time. It was not possible to just rely on the presence of people in the officialdom. He also needed to pay relevant taxes and fees on time.

After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he did not collect high commercial taxes, implemented moderate taxation, and opposed the principle of heavy taxation.

He specifically rectified the cumbersome levy of closing the market since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and clearly stipulated that the commercial tax should be "one out of thirty, and those who exceed the order will be considered as violating the order", as well as "agricultural tools, books and other things that are not in the market" Don’t tax either.

Generally speaking, the business tax during the Hongwu period was relatively light. Although the merchants at this time had a lower social status, their material life was not poor.

Even so, if a tavern or shop with good profits pays a large sum of taxes every year under the condition of [-] to [-] tax.

If it was a place where the emperor was far away, tax evasion would be fine. Jinling was an imperial city. Who would dare to pay less than the full amount if they wanted to do long-term business?

In line with the mentality of saving money when possible, there are many businessmen like Bai Jinfu who are ready to exchange new coins. After all, Zhu Di's financial reputation among the people is still guaranteed.

In recent years, there have been too many people in Jinling City. Because of the policy of exchange and redemption of treasure banknotes presided over by Zhu Di, the value of the treasure banknotes in their hands has not been devalued.

There were even people who resold treasure notes from other places and came to Jinling Imperial City to exchange them for copper coins or grain from the Yamen, making a small profit.

Of course, during this period, it was inevitable that some people would take risks for the sake of huge profits. For example, in October of the 28th year of Hongwu, Yan King Zhu Di led Yousi to crack a major case of counterfeiting treasure banknotes that shocked the world. More than 2000 people were killed because of this case.

"The gang leader doesn't know something. I have a friend. His distant relative works in the Ministry of Household Affairs. The news that paying taxes in Singapore dollars can reduce the tax by [-]% is absolutely reliable."

Bai Jinfu wanted to show off, and continued: "And I heard that after the new currency is launched, in addition to grain, the salaries of officials in the DPRK and Central Government will also be given a part of the new currency."

"No wonder Shopkeeper Bai bought a silver shop a month ago. It turned out that he knew that the imperial court would introduce new coins."

Zhu Gaoxu pretended to admire him.

"To be fair to the gang leader, I didn't acquire the bank after knowing in advance that the imperial court would issue new coins, but I saw that His Highness King Yan often sent people to collect old banknotes from the people in the past few years. I would make a bold guess that if the new monarch succeeds to the throne in the future, It is very likely that the new currency will be introduced, so I took the risk and bought a bank store.”

Bai Jinfu smiled awkwardly and then gave a detailed explanation.

After hearing these words, Zhu Gaoxu gave this man a high look.

In ancient China, there was a long-standing situation of diversified currency systems and mixed circulation of multiple currencies. Therefore, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were people who specialized in currency exchange to seek profits.

This matter developed in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Initially, it was run by gold and silver shops, cabinet shops, etc.

In the Yuan Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial court wanted to exclusively issue banknotes, but the people still used silver ingots and copper coins. Silver, money, and banknotes were available in parallel. Various public and private institutions and firms also engaged in exchange business.

Historically, during the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Dynasty banknotes depreciated seriously, the imperial court relaxed the ban on the use of silver, and silver coins circulated openly.

In the following generations, due to the huge variety of private money and the different weights and fineness of copper coins, the price comparisons between made money, private money and white money were greatly different and varied, and the exchange industry became more developed.

For example, during the Jiajing period, the founding furnaces were opened, and there were many types of coins. For coin making alone, there were dozens of names such as gold backs and spiral edges.

Under this situation, there were more copper coins being sold and privately minted and smelted, so that there were several financial organizations specializing in copper coin exchange, called money shops, also called money shops, money banks, exchange shops, money shops, money tables or money stalls.

During the eighth year of Jiajing, smuggling of copper coins was rampant, and the imperial court banned the sale of copper coins. As a result, money tables and money shops operating currency exchange businesses "made private contracts with each other and closed the money market, resulting in soaring prices."

In the fifth year of Wanli, Pang Shangpeng approved the establishment of a money shop, which was the beginning of the legalization of the money shop. The money shop was filled by wealthy households in the town. Depending on the amount of their funds, they bought money from the government to facilitate transactions. This is the origin of the money shop.

However, at present, there are no banks in the Ming Dynasty, and there are no formal organizations with financial functions such as loans, deposits, and currency exchanges. There are private loans.

For example, the silver shop Bai Jinfu planned to open, the court registration documents showed that its business scope was to sell gold and silver jewelry.

As for the business of exchanging currency and making money from the price difference, it is done secretly in private by using the name of the bank to attract customers who need to exchange money.At this time, the imperial court introduced new coins, including silver coins with round square holes. Although only silver coins were allowed to be circulated in public and no other types of silver were allowed to be used, the ban on the use of silver was lifted in disguise.

This is an opportunity for Bai Jinfu, who owns a silver shop, to make a fortune.

Perhaps taking advantage of this opportunity, he could make a fortune in a short period of time by secretly helping others exchange new currencies for each other and making a profit on the price difference.

Bai Jinfu knew that there was someone in Zhu Gaoxu's court who had a strong backing, and there were some things he couldn't say on this occasion, so he wisely took a step back, preparing to change the topic and talk about new coins with Zhu Gaoxu.

"Gang leader, do you know what is the difference between this new coin and the old coin?"

Zhu Gaoxu pretended not to know, shook his head and said, "Please give me some advice from shopkeeper Bai."

Bai Jinfu said with a sense of superiority: "I heard that the new coins are extremely exquisite. They are divided into copper coins, silver coins, and gold banknotes. They are very different from the old copper coins and treasure banknotes in the past."

"After hearing what Shopkeeper Bai said, I really want to see the true appearance of the new coins. Let's go and exchange the new coins."

Zhu Gaoxu walked forward with his hands behind his back.

Under the careful protection of Zhao Junchen and other surrounding secret guards, Zhu Gaoxu led Bai Jinfu to the new currency exchange office and joined the queue.

"Shopkeeper Bai, please."

Zhu Gaoxu motioned to Shopkeeper Bai to get in front of him.

Bai Jinfu heard that Gang Leader Zhu liked to deal with people who did things neatly, so he stopped talking and took a few steps forward to stand in front of Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhao Junchen stood behind Zhu Gaoxu very cautiously.

This exchange office is still some distance from the main entrance of Yingtian Mansion Yamen. Since King Zhu Di of Yan personally sits at the entrance of the Yamen, the official in charge of the currency exchange here is a high-ranking official at the rank of minister.

Zhu Gaoxu recognized this person as Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs who had just taken office a few days ago.

As the people in the front row exchanged their new coins one by one and turned around to leave, it wasn't long before it was Bai Jinfu's turn.

Xia Yuanji was not blind, so he naturally saw Zhu Gaoxu standing behind Bai Jinfu.

He knew that Zhu Gaoxu often went out in disguise, so he did not rush over to salute rashly. Instead, he immediately stood up, took two steps forward, pushed aside the assistant officer who had just handled the currency exchange, and personally received Bai Jinfu in a standing posture.

"May I ask, sir, what is the exchange ratio between the old currency and the new currency?"

Bai Jinfu asked politely.

"Exchange old coins for new coins without any discounts. Only copper coins, silver taels, and gold can be exchanged for new coins, and there is a total limit on the daily exchange. The court also stipulates that you can pay [-]% less when paying taxes with new coins." Xia Yuanji replied.

"I wonder if the treasure notes can be exchanged for new coins?" Bai Jinfu asked.

Although today's treasure notes have depreciated a lot compared to those in the early Ming Dynasty, they can still be used, so he asked this question.

"Temporarily not redeemable."

Xia Yuanji secretly glanced at Zhu Gaoxu behind Bai Jinfu. Seeing that the other person was expressionless, he didn't dare to say anything and just answered in a routine manner.

Bai Jinfu is a smart man. He heard an important message from Xia Yuanji's words, that is, the court may allow old treasure notes to be exchanged for new coins in the future.

"May I ask, sir, what is the limit?" Bai Jinfu asked again.

PS1: For the sake of continuity for readers, I will publish today’s second update as soon as possible!I urge you veterans to continue to vote for this book!
PS2: Many veterans have left messages asking what happened to the pregnant Wang. I will give a unified reply here. It is estimated that Wang will appear in two chapters and will explain the causes and consequences in detail.

(End of this chapter)