The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 120 The advent of new banknotes shocked the ministers

Zhu Yuanzhang made two decisions at the same time, allowing salt merchants to purchase salt directly with treasure notes for a period of three months.

People can bring their treasure notes to one hundred warehouses built by the prince in Yingtian's jurisdiction to exchange for supplies.

There is no expiration date and you can redeem it at any time.

The materials exchanged include cloth, grain, salt, tea, ironware and other daily necessities.

As soon as this order came out, the court immediately exploded.

And this time it was not just civil servants who opposed it, but also military generals.

Civil officials objected because half of the Ming Dynasty's taxes came from salt taxes.

Allowing salt merchants to exchange treasure notes for salt is equivalent to not paying a penny of salt tax.

Even if it's only three months, that's not enough.

There is a logic here that makes Zhu Yuanzhang very embarrassed, that is, the civil servants default that treasure money is just a piece of waste paper.

Taking it back would be wasted.

Although this is indeed true, it is still very hurtful.

The reason for the general's opposition is also very simple. In the past, salt merchants transported grain to the border, and the court provided corresponding salt.

Nowadays, salt merchants directly use treasure banknotes to buy salt. What will happen to the grain at the border?
Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally prepared a long time ago, and he first took action to deal with the generals.

"Last year, the imperial court allocated a large amount of military supplies to the border, enough to last the army for two months."

"The imperial court will also set aside part of the salt supply and distribute it to the salt merchants who transport grain to the border troops."

"And the salt policy will be restored to the old system in three months, which will not affect the food and salary of the border troops."

With one sentence, the mouth of the Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army was silenced.

Then there are the civil servants: "Since last year, the prince has been opening up salt fields in Qingzhou."

"Half of the salt needed this time will be produced by this salt farm, and the other half will be produced by other salt farms."

"This will not only relieve the financial pressure of the imperial court, but also benefit all the people. You won't object, right?"

"Ah this..." Zeng Tai and others were speechless.

The prince didn't know where he found the method of drying salt, and recruited corvees to cultivate salt fields in the coastal area of ​​​​Qingzhou.

A full [-] acres of salt fields were developed in half a year.

In order to protect this salt field, a navy of 5000 people was specially established and stationed in the Qingzhou waters.

It's just that this salt farm is a bit mysterious and is directly under the jurisdiction of the prince.

I saw white flowers of salt being produced, but never a grain of salt flowing out.

There are a lot of gossips about how salt will come out of the sun.

Why wash coarse salt and get fine salt?

Some they believe, some they don't.

It's not like no one tried to mention this matter, but the emperor blocked them all.

Then no one mentioned it again.

However, various speculations about Qingzhou Saltworks have never stopped.

At this time, everyone finally understood what the emperor and the prince were going to do.

It turns out that they have been planning the treasure money since last year.

Qingzhou Saltworks, grain delivery at the border, hundreds of warehouses all over Yingtian...

Everything is for today.

Everyone couldn't help but admire the depth of the emperor and the prince's planning.

But then comes anger.

For such a big matter, you just don't discuss it with the ministers, and the execution goes beyond us?

Do you still take us seriously?
But no one dared to say this.

The only person who can compete with the emperor is the prime minister.

Since Hu Weiyong was killed and the post of prime minister was abolished, this situation will inevitably occur today.

The appearance of Jin Yiwei was the first time, and now it is the second time.

There will be many more times when they will have to learn to adapt to a completely new system.

But what they couldn't understand even more than these was that what was the purpose of the emperor and the prince doing so much?
If you just want to recover the treasure money, there is no need to spend so much trouble.Want to rebuild Bao Chao's credibility?

Hehe, stop making trouble.

If nothing else, the problem of counterfeit banknotes cannot be solved.

If the court admits counterfeit banknotes, it will face a bottomless pit.

Counterfeit banknotes are not recognized, and genuine banknotes are also discarded.

Oh, by the way, there seems to be a money bank.

But if you want to rely on them to combat counterfeit money...

It's a good idea, but what are the concrete results? I can only say it's better than nothing.

Every crackdown on counterfeit banknotes damages the credibility of genuine banknotes.

The more severe the crackdown on counterfeit banknotes, the less likely people will be to use real banknotes.

Therefore, Baochao is an unsolvable evil, and only the emperor naively believes that it can bring the dead back to life.

No, it seems that even the prince is confused.

The Ming Dynasty was really full of disasters.

The ministers lamented in their hearts.

There were also people who were gloating over the misfortune, waiting for the day when the treasure banknotes would be completely destroyed, and wanted to see what the emperor and prince's expressions would be like.

Let you abolish the prime minister, not listen to the words of the officials, and wait to regret it.

As if he saw what they were thinking, the corners of Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth turned up crazily, and a flash of pride flashed in his eyes:
"Everyone, we came across a strange method. The treasure banknotes made by this method have absolutely no possibility of being copied."

The ministers were a little surprised, not because the emperor had obtained a magical method, but because he was so naive.

Even the veterans who were most familiar with Zhu Yuanzhang, such as Li Shanchang, were puzzled.

It's very strange today.

What magic trick?What can’t be copied?
Even a three-year-old child doesn't believe this, but you actually believe it?
This is not in line with their impression of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Could it be that the emperor is getting old and becoming confused?

But what about the queen and the prince?Why don't you come out to persuade?

Could it be that the emperor did it without telling them?

That's not to say that it's impossible to create treasure banknotes that are difficult to imitate. The main reason is that people's ability to distinguish them is limited.

Counterfeit banknotes don’t need to be very real. As long as the details are handled well, it will be difficult for people to tell them apart.

this is the key of the problem.

Unless you can come up with the kind of banknotes that the common people can tell are genuine and counterfeit at a glance, all your efforts will be in vain.

Many people have already begun to think about how to refute the emperor later.

Of course, more people were worried, fearing that the emperor would waste money and bankrupt Ming Dynasty.

Beiyuan is still watching, Yunnan is also at war, and the Japanese pirates have not been eliminated...

It can be said that the Ming Dynasty is surrounded by enemies at this time. If the treasury cannot provide money and food, it will really be in danger of subjugation.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang was harsh and killed without blinking an eye, no one wanted to live through troubled times again.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw everyone's reaction in his eyes and remembered it in his heart.

Those who laughed at us will settle the accounts one by one later.

After whetting his appetite, he said:

"Sun Fu, bring the new treasure banknotes and show them to the ministers, lest they think we are talking big words."

"Yes." Sun Fu responded, turned around and said:
"Come up, everyone, be careful not to drop the baby."

A group of young eunuchs filed out, holding a tray in both hands.

Seeing that the emperor was so confident, the officials couldn't help but become curious.

What kind of new treasure was it that made the emperor so confident?

Until they saw the six rectangular strips of paper in different colors that would change colors in the tray.

Everyone opened their mouths wide with expressions of disbelief.

Is this... really something that can exist in the human world?

(End of this chapter)