Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 477 Zhu Xieyuan takes office

"Ding……"

Gently tapping the silver dollar and listening to the sound it made, Gu Yanwu sighed:

"Silver dollars are really good things. They are much more convenient than loose change."

"One dollar can be spent individually, and a letter of one hundred dollars can also be spent."

"This thing can be separated and combined, it's more convenient than a silver ingot!"

Gu Yanwu kept praising the emperor's use of silver dollars, and was extremely impressed.

Being well versed in practical matters, he could see at a glance the benefits of adopting silver dollars.

What impressed him most was that the emperor really did not intend to make money from the silver dollars, and even took this opportunity to increase the salaries of officials.

All officials' silver was calculated based on the previous silver taels and directly converted into silver dollars.

Considering that one silver dollar can be exchanged for one tael and one qian, or even one tael and two qian at the current price, this is the actual salary increase.

As a result, it gained the support of officials and became circulated in the capital.

In this case, the imperial court suffered losses in making silver coins. The money that previously required spending one tael of silver actually became one tael and one cent.

If we include labor costs, the loss will be even greater.

This made him a little worried about whether he could maintain it:
"The silver content of the silver dollar is more than the previous one tael of silver, actually about one tael and one qian."

"Wouldn't it be a big loss if the court just used one yuan as one tael?"

Discussing this issue with Zhang Yongan, Zhang Yongan said:
"The expenditure on paying salaries to officials is too much."

"But when it comes to external use, the silver dollar is priced according to the market."

"Brother Gu should read the Financial Times. Every issue of the newspaper contains the prices of gold, silver and copper."

"Now the price of one ounce of pure silver is one yuan, and the price of one ounce of 925 standard silver is about 90 cents and 2 cents."

"When buying vegetables with silver dollars, they are always used as one tael and one qian."

"The military expenditure of our patrol camp has actually increased."

The Financial News had just been published, and Gu Yanwu did not pay much attention to this highly professional newspaper.

When Zhang Yongan mentioned it, I learned that a precious metals exchange had been built in the capital. The trading prices of gold, silver, copper and other metals were announced every day and published in newspapers for reference.

Today, the gold-silver exchange rate, and the exchange rates of silver and copper coins in the capital have begun to be affected, with the prices of the exchanges used as a reference.

Many people choose to trade precious metals through an exchange.

After learning this, Gu Yanwu was even more amazed at the court's strategy for issuing silver dollars.

Obviously this is a comprehensive plan, not just a random decision.

The replacement of silver bars by silver dollars is an inevitable trend.

Even the status of gold and copper will be affected.

He had mixed feelings about this matter.

Because he was against the use of silver, which was not used in ancient times.

He also hated the problems such as fire consumption caused by silver.

However, the current reality is that silver is widely circulated. If silver dollars can be widely circulated, the source of fire consumption can be eliminated.

But the status of silver will also be strengthened and even replace copper coins.

This made him feel complicated about silver dollars.

But no matter what, replacing silver bars with silver dollars is an improvement.

He was still happy about the issuance of silver dollars.

The same is true for the people in the capital. Almost as soon as the silver dollar was issued, it was sought after. Otherwise, its value would not be so high that it could be exchanged for more than one or two silver bars.

In particular, merchants who were included as royal suppliers, under the call of the inner court, introduced silver dollar prices, which were generally more favorable than using silver bars.

The merchants and citizens of the capital could be said to have voted with their feet, showing their welcome for the silver dollar.

As a result, the issuance of silver dollar notes was also put on the agenda by the Ministry of Revenue.

However, Zhu Youjian was cautious about this and decided not to issue silver dollar certificates before issuing 10 million silver dollars.

Otherwise, the insufficient circulation of silver dollars would lead to insufficient recognition of silver dollar certificates, and the issuance might fail.

This is very likely to happen for the Ming Dynasty court, which turned the treasure notes into waste paper.

We must be extremely cautious in issuing banknotes.

Now, he has allowed the Inner Court Bank to start businesses such as silver bills, checks, and bills of exchange, so that the public can realize that paper bills can be exchanged for money.

With the help of the gradually improved arm communication system around Beijing, Shuntian Bank's remittance business from Beijing to Tianjin was very smooth.

Non-urgent remittances can be transported by carriage for settlement on the same day, while urgent remittances can be transmitted to another place using armboard communication.

So much so that Tu Wenfu began to promote communications from Beijing to Nanjing, intending to allow Shuntian Bank and Yingtian Bank to carry out inter-bank remittances.
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Another person who also attached great importance to the arm board communication system was Zhu Xieyuan, the newly appointed commander of the Great Wall.

When he first took office, he did not understand why the emperor allowed him to return to the capital every month.

After seeing the efficiency of the arm-board communication, he finally understood everything:
As the center of the surrounding communication system, he received news faster in the capital than in Miyun.

As long as he is not going to the front line to inspect, he can stay in the capital to handle affairs.

Therefore, the emperor allowed this minister of war, who had been given an additional title, to return to the ministry to take charge of affairs.

Now, he is also responsible for a large part of the affairs of the Minister of War.

This is because Yuan Keli knows how to avoid suspicion.

After the emperor ascended the throne, he was constantly burdened with responsibilities.

But he kept turning it down and giving the position to others.

So after Zhu Xieyuan came to Beijing, he actually served as half of the Minister of War, and the rest of his time was used to deal with affairs along the Great Wall.

But even so, his abilities were demonstrated.

He was extremely clear in what he did, and could decisively deal with military letters without the need for staff.

Moreover, he did not avoid danger and often went to the Great Wall to inspect it personally and determine the defense system.

Under his arrangement, the successful experience in defending the city in the southwest was soon spread to the Great Wall.

The troops along the line were also mobilized to better meet the defense requirements.

Xu Chengming, who followed him to Beijing, was appointed General of Changping.

The White Spear Soldiers led by Qin Liangyu were deployed in the Miyun area.

This is the residence of the Great Wall Commander-in-Chief. When he returns to the capital and is not in Miyun, Qin Liangyu will be in charge of front-line affairs and the defense of this area.

It can be said that all the meritorious officials who came to Beijing from the southwest were given important positions.

Even Liu Kexun, the military supervisor who had competed with Hou Liangzhu for merit with the Qian soldiers, was given the title of Censor-in-Chief and served in the General Office of the Military Supervisor.

As long as he can make achievements, there is a high probability that he will become a governor or a military commander in the future.

Relying on these old subordinates, Zhu Xieyuan was able to control the troops in the Great Wall area, but at least he was able to gain a firm foothold.

He also began to reform the battalion system of the troops along the Great Wall according to the emperor's request, and reorganized these chaotic troops into the Great Wall Front Army.

But before that, he still needs to participate in a drill to watch the attack and defense of the bastion after the Jingxi bastion is completed. (End of this chapter)

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