Daming: I am the most powerful emperor grandson, please abdicate the throne

Chapter 375 On the feasibility of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes

After dinner.

Zhu Yuanzhang went to look at the money. Most of it was fragmentary Hongwu Tongbao copper coins.

The amount of silver is not much.

But when the number of coins in dozens of boxes increases, the money can appear to be a lot.

"Please accept it, Grandpa Huang."

Zhu Xuan said: "This money was originally obtained from the people. The emperor can use it back to the people. Only in this way can the value of money be shown. There are still many places that need to spend money to restore the losses caused by smallpox."

Recovery after the plague does cost money.

Realizing the filial piety of his little sweet grandson, Zhu Yuanzhang did not hesitate any longer. He took the money, asked a few strong men to carry it, and sent it to the Ministry of Household Affairs for the heads of the Ministry of Household Affairs to store in the treasury. Dozens of boxes of money were carried away together, and a lot of money was needed. Someone comes and carries it.

"Grandpa Huang, sometimes it's quite troublesome when you have too much money."

Zhu Xuan wanted to take the initiative to bring up the topic.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "But there is nothing we can do. Those are all money, so we can't do without it, right?"

Zhu Xuan rolled his eyes, took Lao Zhu's hand, sat down on the soft couch, and said, "Grandpa Huang, why don't you make money easier?"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and explained: "Money is metal. No matter how thin it is, it will still be heavy if it is made too much. If it is made thin, the value of the money will be lost."

"What about making money out of paper?"

"You can't even use paper. It's not like we haven't done it before."

Zhu Yuanzhang explained patiently: "When we first conquered the world, we imitated the Tatars and used paper to print money, but it was worthless! The value depreciated too fast. The more we printed, the faster the devaluation. When the Tatars were still there, , their paper money is completely worthless, and our Ming Dynasty banknotes are almost the same, alas!"

He printed money when he was short of money to spend.

However, the introduction of the Ming Dynasty Bao Banknotes also shook the market. Although there are still Bao Banknotes circulating, almost no one is willing to accept them.

The devaluation is too great.

"My grandson knows Grandpa Huang's Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes."

Zhu Xuan said what he had in mind at this moment and said, "But has Grandpa Huang considered how to fix the value of a treasure note?"

Of course Zhu Yuanzhang had considered it, but judging from their economic understanding, there was no way at all. He asked: "Is there any way, dear grandson, to fix the value of the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes?"

As soon as these words came out of his mouth, he felt it was possible.

You must know that the ideas Zhu Xuan sometimes gives can be very surprising and useful, such as the previous cabinet, dividing a small family into an acre, etc.

Zhu Yuanzhang would not be surprised if Guaisun had thoughts about Ming Dynasty treasures.

"My grandson has an idea. In fact, the value of Ming Dynasty banknotes cannot be fixed and will only depreciate. The reason is that there is insufficient gold and silver bound to the banknotes."

"For example, Grandpa Huang asked the Treasure Banknote Proposal Department to print 10,000 consistent treasure banknotes."

"A consistent treasure banknote is worth one tael of silver."

"But the treasure bank collection department does not have ten thousand taels of gold and silver in reserve."

"When the time comes for people holding precious banknotes to exchange them for cash, we won't be able to provide enough cash for exchange, so the value will naturally depreciate or even be worthless."

After Zhu Xuan said this, he looked at Grandpa Huang.

There was hope in his eyes, wanting to be recognized by Grandpa Huang.

Zhu Yuanzhang fell into deep thought after hearing this.

Zhu Xuan's words are not difficult to understand.

The Ming Dynasty treasure banknote is equivalent to a credit certificate.

People who have treasure notes can exchange them for gold, silver, or copper coins at any time.

However, there are too many treasure banknotes printed, and there are not enough gold, silver and copper coins in reserve. The extra treasure banknotes are almost like a piece of waste paper.

It is almost impossible to use a piece of waste paper to replace real gold, silver and copper coins.

After all, the value of paper is not high. “What do you think we should do?”

Zhu Yuanzhang cast his expectant eyes on Zhu Xuan.

Zhu Xuan said: "Sun'er believes that Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes cannot be printed casually, nor can we print as many as we want. We need to print corresponding ones based on the quantity and value of gold and silver we reserve, as well as the specific circulation situation of the currency. Only money can guarantee its value. If treasure banknotes are separated from the reserve gold and silver and separated from the actual market circulation, the more they are printed, the less valuable they will be."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly and said: "Everything my dear grandson said is right, but we used to print money because the Ming Dynasty's treasury was short of money and we wanted to use this method to supplement expenses."

Zhu Xuan said: "Now that the emperor has money, he can completely reorganize the treasure banknote collection department, reissue treasure banknotes, establish the credibility of the court, and ensure enough reserves, the treasure banknotes can be compared with copper coins, gold and silver Same, for normal consumption.”

This sounds like pretty good.

But to do it, we have to establish a complete banknote system, which is a very troublesome process.

"According to Guaisun, why not trade directly with copper coins and gold and silver?"

"A piece of paper makes people very uneasy."

"Paper is also easily damaged and loses its value."

Zhu Yuanzhang had been heartbroken by the Ming Dynasty Baochao. He had made many adjustments but could not stabilize it.

Up to now, although treasure banknotes continue to be issued.

But it is basically in a state of decay, regardless of whether anyone uses it or not.

But now that Ming Dynasty is rich, the value of treasure banknotes has indeed increased, and the purchasing power has increased a lot.

The Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes have always had an embarrassing status in history. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, almost no one used them and they disappeared from the stage of history.

Zhu Xuan said: "Although the Ming Dynasty treasure banknote is a piece of paper, it is more convenient to use. As long as the purchasing power and value are fixed, it can still be circulated."

Zhu Yuanzhang analyzed and said: "But to promote the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes as a currency for transactions, we need to establish many government-run banks in various parts of the Ming Dynasty. This is another huge expense. Just rely on Exchange cannot sustain the operations of so many banks."

In addition, in order to develop banks, etc., strong anti-corruption measures must be adopted and relevant rules and regulations must be introduced.

Qianzhuang is related to money. If you reach out and touch it, it will be full of oil and water, which tests people's humanity.

The only money-making business of ancient banks was exchange.

It's probably the bank's acceptance bill, with a handling fee charged.

The loan business really appeared in the late Ming Dynasty.

Only when more people use Ming Dynasty Baoqian can we collect handling fees. Otherwise, opening so many banks will be a waste of money and the capital will not be repaid.

Seeing that Grandpa Huang was thinking so much, Zhu Xuan thought for a while and continued: "The convenience of transactions can promote the prosperity and development of business. My grandson knows that Grandpa Huang does not like businessmen, but if a country wants to become rich, only It’s not enough for farmers to cultivate the land, we also need prosperous business activities.”

In another year or two, Ming Dynasty will no longer be short of food.

A small number of people can farm to meet the food needs of most people.

Then the spare labor force can do a lot of things.

Such as doing business.

For example, the development of the employment relationship.

and other ways of earning a living.

The emergence of the sprouts of capitalism and the prosperity of business can promote the upward development of Ming Dynasty and dominate the world.

Of course, when capital appears, it must be controlled, otherwise it will become as terrible as the period of Western capital expansion.

"It is indeed difficult for exchange to support the operations of so many government-run banks."

"But we can implement loan business to collect loan interest as the main means of income."

Zhu Xuan still wants to persuade Grandpa Huang to reform.

Zhu Yuanzhang was thoughtful after hearing this.