Ming Dynasty: Every day, Zhu Yuanzhang is in trouble

Inside the cell, Crown Prince Zhu Biao put down his chopsticks and sat there, looking a little nervous. He looked at Mei Yin, his second brother-in-law, and said.

Although he had already witnessed the abilities of his second brother-in-law over this period of time.

I know that every time my second brother-in-law made a death-defying remonstrance, I would give a corresponding solution to the problem he was remonstrating against.

But now, what we are facing seems a little too serious.

It can be said that it is related to the foundation of the Ming Dynasty!
Moreover, in the eyes of many people, no matter how it is handled, it is a dead knot that cannot be resolved.

Under such circumstances, how could Zhu Biao not be nervous?

Mei Yin didn't let Zhu Biao wait any longer, but kept him in suspense on purpose.

At the same time, he was already used to Zhu Biao asking him this question.

Not surprising.

He immediately said, "Brother, I do have some ideas about this."

Hearing what Mei Yin said, Zhu Biao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Very good!
This was the news he wanted to hear most.

My second brother-in-law did not disappoint me and is still as reliable as ever!
Although he hadn't heard what Mei Yin was going to say next.

But I feel at ease in my heart.

He knew his second brother-in-law too well.

He is very reliable in his dealings with people.

As long as my second brother-in-law says there is a way, then the solution he gives next will definitely be very useful.

He quickly took out writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone from a box nearby and placed them on the table.

Looking at Zhu Biao's actions, Mei Yin seemed to be somewhat at a loss as to what to say for a moment.

My own brother-in-law, this is too serious and too exaggerated.

"Brother, let's eat and talk at the same time, there's no need to do this."

Zhu Biao shook his head and said, "No need, Second Brother-in-law, just eat and drink, I'll just listen here."

Hearing what Crown Prince Zhu Biao said, Mei Yin thought for a moment and put down the chopsticks in his hand.

Seeing this, Zhu Biao waved his hands and said, "Brother-in-law, don't worry about those empty words.

Just eat, drink and talk, I won’t think too much about it.

This will make people feel awkward and restrained.

If you don't eat or drink, I'm embarrassed to record it."

After hearing what Zhu Biao said, Mei Yin picked up the chopsticks again.

"In that case, I'll continue eating.

Big brother, the food you brought this time tastes really good."

Zhu Biao was immediately happy to see that Mei Yin was not being too pretentious.

That's right. Family members don't need to be so polite or care about so many false formalities.

This is how we should treat people sincerely.

Mei Yin said: "Brother, the most fundamental point of this treasure banknote is that you can't print too much.

The number of Baochao issued needs to be strictly controlled within a relatively reasonable range.

This treasure note looks really good.

When making it, you only need to make the mold and other aspects well, and then just print it, and soon the paper can be turned into valuable real money to buy things.

It couldn't be better.

However, everything in this world has a price.

It’s just that some have clear price tags, but most have no price tags at all.

If you want to get something, you have to give something.

Things like Baochao seem to be made of just paper and can be printed at will.

Just print as much as is needed. It is like a treasure trove that is inexhaustible.

But this is not the case.

If you really do this, there will inevitably be endless disasters!

Among them, the most important point is that the treasure notes will quickly become worthless due to excessive issuance.

Within the same period of time, the world needs a certain amount of money.

Too little is not good, as it will lead to a shortage of money, restricting the development of the court and the prosperity of industry in various ways.

It affects the national economy and people's livelihood.

But having too much money is not a good thing either.

It will cause a series of particularly serious problems.

I have already talked about the dangers of the devaluation of Baochao before.

I won't go into details with you here, brother.
Now that we know one of the major reasons for the depreciation of Baochao, it is because too many Baochao were issued.

This has seriously exceeded the amount of treasure banknotes needed by this world.

In this case, we need to strictly control the distribution of packaging..."

Zhu Biao quickly picked up the pen and started recording here.

He wrote down everything Mei Yin said, with a very correct attitude.

"Second brother-in-law, how many notes should be issued to be considered appropriate?
After issuing so many, no more will be issued in the future.

Or will it be released every year in the future?
If it is issued, how much should be issued? "

Crown Prince Zhu Biao looked at Mei Yin and asked a series of questions.

Many of the questions get straight to the point.

From this we can see that Crown Prince Zhu Biao had already done enough homework on this matter and listened very carefully.

His mind works quickly too.

Compared with Zhu Biao, Zhu Yunwen, this brainless idiot, is far inferior!
From now on, if the eldest brother had not died young, and he had taken over the country from Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty would definitely have become very different.

Mei Yin said: "The specific circulation volume needs to be evaluated through various aspects before we can get a rough estimate.

This does not mean that new banknotes will no longer be printed in the future.

It still needs to be printed, but there has to be a limit.

I think the total value of newly printed banknotes each year is about one-tenth of the previous year.

After all, generally speaking, all industries need to develop.

As long as there are no major disturbances, under normal circumstances, the economy will grow every year.

There will be all kinds of valuable things produced..."

Mei Yin naturally knew how to accurately evaluate and calculate, and control the amount of currency issued. He had a complete set of strict evaluation and calculation methods.

There are many details to pay attention to.

But, how to say it.

In this day and age, too many indicators are a bad thing.

It is difficult to do a variety of assessments.

The various evaluations of later generations are all based on the great development of communications, information acquisition and processing, etc.

The current Ming Dynasty obviously does not have such ability.

In that case, just make it roughly one-tenth of the size.

As long as we can strictly guard against this, even if there are still some problems with the treasure notes of the Hongwu Dynasty in the future, they will not be too serious...

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao quickly wrote it down.

After Mei Yin saw that Zhu Biao had memorized all of this, he continued, “In addition to some other issues, there is the issue of the circulation of treasure notes.

It cannot circulate only among the people, but must be allowed to circulate between the people and the government.

From now on, when the government collects taxes and other necessities, it can allow the people to pay with treasure notes.

Only in this way can the people recognize that this is money.

Baochao will not become a tree without roots or water without a source.

Let the treasure notes form a cycle.

In this cycle, more values ​​are created.

This is crucial.

Because to be honest, there is a big difference between paper money like Baochao and metal money like gold, silver and copper, which have value in themselves.

The reason why it could be used as money was because of the credit and military force of the imperial court, which forcibly turned it into money.

This is a kind of credit certificate.

In this case, my father must use various methods to maintain his credibility.

Let everyone in the world agree that Baochao is money.

The important point here is that the government must also recognize it.

The treasure notes were originally issued by the government. If even the government itself dislikes the treasure notes and does not recognize them, how can the people use them with peace of mind in the future?
Today, the Baochao has only been in use for less than a year, but it has already experienced a certain degree of depreciation.

The biggest reason is not that there are too many banknotes.

Rather, it was the people’s distrust of the treasure notes.

It’s hard to over-issue notes in such a short time…”

Zhu Biao nodded repeatedly and wrote quickly, writing it all down.

Like a good and obedient student.

Mei Yin picked up a piece of food with chopsticks, chewed it slowly, and took a sip of the hot soup.

After seeing Zhu Biao finish recording, Mei Yin continued:

"The imperial court should set up special institutions in various places to replace damaged banknotes for the people free of charge, so that damaged banknotes can be withdrawn from circulation..."

Speaking of this, Mei Yin especially wanted to complain about Boss Zhu.

He did this thing really roughly.
His petty-mindedness, such as being fussy about some things and reluctant to spend money, was completely exposed.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang issued a special order when he promulgated the Baochao.

For example, damaged banknotes cannot be used in transactions and need to be replaced with new ones.

This is a very good regulation. If the banknotes are damaged, the impact on the appearance is not a big deal.

The most important thing is that damaged banknotes are easier to counterfeit.

Not a very good thing.

In theory, his regulation is quite good, but at the same time as it was introduced, there was another regulation.

That means not allowing the people to exchange banknotes for free.

When the people's treasure notes were damaged, they had to go to special places to exchange them for new ones and they had to pay a certain fee.

Only then can the exchange be successful.

The cost of exchanging old banknotes for new ones is twenty wen per string of banknotes.

This is a particularly tricky regulation.

"Brother, this matter must be changed.

In the future, we will provide free replacement of new banknotes to the people. Not only will the replacement be free, but we will also provide replacement at more locations to make it more convenient for the people to replace their banknotes.

This will make it more convenient and quick for people to replace new banknotes.

Think about it, the common people are not very receptive to Baochao.

It is only possible because of Your Majesty's strong implementation of the imperial power that this policy can be implemented.

At this time, if the Baochao was damaged, you had to spend your own money to replace it.

Each time you exchange it, one string of banknotes costs twenty wen.

I have conducted a survey and found that overall, things are not going well in about three years.

Many of the banknotes in circulation are easily worn out and need to be replaced.

Compared with gold, silver and copper, treasure notes themselves are less easy to preserve.

Easy to be eaten by insects and bitten by rats.

Once the fire starts, it will also be gone.

Metal currencies such as copper coins are very wear-resistant and not easily damaged.

A string of copper coins, when held in your hand, will still be worth a string after a few years, even a hundred years.

However, since the one-yuan treasure note is easily damaged, the old one needs to be replaced.

Not to mention the depreciation problem of Baochao in this process, just the issue of replacement is very serious.

If you calculate it as being replaced every three years, after a few years, if the money is left there without being moved, twenty cents will be wasted.

If we take into account the depreciation of the treasure notes themselves, the loss would be even greater.

It is really hard to earn money from the people. Every penny is soaked with blood and sweat.

How could I not care about this!

How could it be possible that they would accept Baochao from the bottom of their hearts?

This is something that is built on credit.

Now there are so many shortcomings, under this circumstance, the treasure notes will inevitably depreciate faster..."

When Prince Zhu Biao heard what Mei Yin said, his face turned red.

He also felt that what his father did was very unkind.

It’s not like someone had raised similar opinions before, but they were all forcefully rejected by my father.

It now seems that this matter needs to be resolved as soon as possible.

He then said, "Okay, I will tell my father next.

We must make him abolish this matter!"

In addition to these points, Mei Yin also gave Zhu Biao some other related suggestions.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao nodded repeatedly after hearing this.

Although some people still don’t quite understand at this time, they feel that if they really do what their second brother-in-law says.

You will definitely achieve great success in the future.

The problem of Baochao will definitely be solved well.

My second brother-in-law is indeed worthy of being my second brother-in-law. He never disappoints me!

He actually has a way to deal with this matter!"

So many people were unable to solve the problem, but when it came to my second brother-in-law, he gave a very good solution in just a few words.

After a while, Zhu Biao looked at the paper with many words written on it, put down his pen, rubbed his wrist, looked at Han Cheng and said, "Second brother-in-law, since this treasure note has so many dangers.

Then...how about abolishing the Baochao?"

At this moment, Zhu Biao really had this thought in his mind.

Mei Yin shook his head upon hearing this and said, “Brother, you can’t be abandoned.

Although Baochao has many problems, it also has many problems.

However, it is also true that the Ming Dynasty is facing a financial crisis.

Although Baochao has many problems, so far, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages overall.

Especially in the future, after certain regulations and restrictions have been imposed on Baochao.

The advantages of this treasure banknote will be more clearly demonstrated and its disadvantages will be reduced.

We can’t stop eating because of choking.”

Hearing Mei Yin say this, Crown Prince Zhu Biao nodded and gave up his strong idea.

I think what my second brother-in-law said is quite right.

Mei Yin thought for a moment, looked at Zhu Biao and spoke again: "Brother, in fact, in addition to these, there is a better way to solve the problem of treasure notes becoming worthless."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao suddenly became particularly energetic again.

The body sits very straight.

“That’s silver!

If we can obtain a lot of silver, then the problem of treasure notes can be solved most effectively in the future."

Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment.

It's not that he hadn't thought about this, and some people in the court had also thought about it.

Compared with paper money like Baochao, gold, silver and copper are more valuable.

But the question is, where can we find so much silver?

The Ming Dynasty is now short of not only silver but even copper coins!
If his father hadn't been short of money, he wouldn't have issued the treasure notes.

Now that my second brother-in-law said these things, isn’t it equivalent to going around the issue again?

Now, the southwest has not been recovered yet.

A large amount of Yunnan copper cannot be mined.

If you can take over the southwest, you will get a lot of copper coins.

Then the problem of money shortage at the founding of the Ming Dynasty would not be a problem anymore...

"Silver is not easy to obtain!"

Zhu Biao sighed.

Mei Yin shook his head and said, "Brother, it's not that it's hard to obtain, but some ways to obtain it have not been promoted yet."

When Zhu Biao heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up.

He knew that his second brother-in-law was such a smart man that he would definitely not do something without a purpose.

At this time, saying such words to yourself must have other meanings.

Now it seems that it is indeed the case.

He immediately sat up straight again, picked up the pen he had put down, and waited to hear his second brother-in-law continue his speech.

And I had to quickly write down everything my second brother-in-law said.

Mei Yin said: "Lifting the maritime ban and re-establishing the Maritime Customs Office is a key to obtaining silver.

After the opening of the Maritime Customs, a lot of wealth will be obtained from overseas.

Overseas, many places are very wealthy.”

As he said that, he took a cup and a plate and placed them here.

"For example, this is my Ming Dynasty."

Mei Yin pointed at the plate.

Then he pointed to the small cup and said, "This is Japan.

It looks like a small place, and the people there are all barbarians.

But in fact, the output of silver in this place is absolutely astonishing.

There are a lot of silver mines!"

Mei Yin said so much, and finally revealed an important piece of news.

This news is not only important, it can also solve the problem of money shortage in the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, it can also satisfy Mei Yin's emotions very well!
He has come to this era. If he doesn't take good care of his daily life, how can he succeed?

Mei Yin really didn't have a good impression of this life.

Before, he had also thought about what method could be used to encourage Lao Zhu and others to bring warmth to Xiao Ruizi.

With the silver mine, everything will be easy!
Just look at Crown Prince Zhu Biao, whose ears stood up like a rabbit and whose whole temperament changed drastically after he heard the news.

Mei Yin knew that this matter was absolutely a sure thing!
If Crown Prince Zhu Biao was like this, one can imagine what choice Zhu, who was extremely short of money, would make after learning the news!

From now on, let the daily life tremble!
Perhaps, in the future it will become a province of the Ming Dynasty.

"Second brother-in-law, are you...real about what you said?"

Zhu Biao looked at Mei Yin and spoke with some excitement.

There was also a lot of solemnity in the voice.

Mei Yin said: "Of course it is true. I will never tell a lie on such an important matter.

I am very interested in overseas.

These days, I have been using various methods to learn about things happening overseas.

I also learned some information from Mr. Qingtian.

Found an interesting phenomenon?

They are the people who engage in foreign smuggling, some of whom specialize in doing business with Japan.

You can get a lot of silver and gold from there.

There are also some other signs that indicate there are large amounts of silver mines there.

There are even many gold mines.

With Japan's inferior and crude gold and silver mining technology, they were still able to obtain so much gold and silver.

If it were the Ming Dynasty, we would be able to occupy those places and then send special people to mine there.

You can imagine how much gold and silver you will get in the future!"

Zhu Biao was very happy.

"Brother-in-law, this is a good idea!
This is indeed a good idea!"

After confirming from Mei Yin that there was indeed a large amount of gold and silver in Japan, Zhu Biao became somewhat restless.

If we can really get a large amount of gold and silver from Japan, we will make a fortune!

Many problems will be solved!

"With a large amount of gold and silver, we can abolish the treasure notes in the future!
In this way, we no longer have to worry about the treasure notes harming the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Biao said excitedly.

But something happened next that surprised Zhu Biao greatly.

Mei Yin shook his head and said, "Brother, the treasure notes cannot be abolished. They must continue to exist."

Zhu Biao was confused.

Isn’t it said that Baochao has many problems?
If we can obtain large amounts of gold and silver in the future, why should we allow Baochao to continue to exist?

Doesn't this seem extremely redundant?
Zhu Biao really couldn't understand why his second brother-in-law would say such a thing at this time?
But he also knew that his brother-in-law must have some reasons that he couldn't figure out. (End of this chapter)