Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Its rise is sudden, its fall is sudden. How can we escape the cycle of history?"

"We have found a new way to break out of this cycle. This new way is democracy. Only by allowing the people to supervise the government will the government dare not slack off; only when everyone takes responsibility will the government not perish with the death of the leader."

Recalling these words, Zhu Youjian looked at the Currency Act in front of him, and his thoughts ran wild:
"The Ming Dynasty has been established for more than 260 years, and interest groups have become so intertwined that it is difficult to reverse the situation."

"If we want to break out of the historical cycle of rise and fall, order and chaos, we must reform ourselves and allow the people to supervise the government."

"I hope that the establishment of Congress can achieve this goal."

This "Currency Bill" was not the first bill passed by Congress, but it was the first bill finalized after negotiations between the government and Congress.

The previous property tax formulation was almost completely accepted by the National Assembly and the Zhuolu District Council without much modification.

Only when it comes to matters concerning their own money do many lawmakers finally muster the courage to act.

This is what Zhu Youjian hoped to see, so he temporarily gave up the issuance of silver dollar notes and only issued subsidiary currency notes instead.

After the Currency Act named paper money as subsidiary notes, it was estimated that silver dollar notes would not be issued for a long time. The three words "subsidiary notes" were difficult to be amended by Congress.

As a result, under the name of "subsidiary currency notes", the Ming Dynasty's paper currency could only issue three types of subsidiary currency: jiao, fen, and li. This is also the reason why the councillors of Zhuolu District would rather issue more 50-jiao paper currency than name the paper currency as subsidiary currency notes.

Regardless of whether the subsidiary currency notes will depreciate in the future, they are only subsidiary currencies, and the base currency of the Ming Dynasty is silver dollars. They can store silver dollars to protect their property.

This matter, which concerns whether their own wealth will depreciate, is the reason why they muster up the courage.

Zhu Youjian had mixed feelings about this. He hoped to issue silver yuan notes and gain more coinage revenue. He also hoped that the parliamentarians, as representatives of the people, would really muster up the courage to supervise the government on behalf of the people and prevent officials from slacking off.

In the end, he chose to respect the resolution of Congress and ordered the Shangbaosi and Shangbaojian to seal the "Currency Bill" to confirm the effectiveness of the bill.

The Salt Industry Act was also promulgated as a bill. This bill was mainly implemented in northern Zhili and had a wider scope than the Currency Act implemented in Shuntian Prefecture.

The enactment of these two bills was a milestone, representing that the still-forming Congress had the power to check and balance the government.

Liu Zongzhou watched this scene with joy, and together with Chief Councillor Fang Zhuangli and others, praised the emperor.

Cabinet Grand Secretary Han Yu and others, as well as Ministers such as Bi Ziyan from the Ministry of Finance of the Administrative Council, also praised him.

They were also delighted to see this scene, as the bill would not only restrain them, but also the emperor.

From now on, even if the emperor wants to issue more currency, he must go through Congress.

After completing this great task, Zhu Youjian listened to the praises of his ministers and said happily:
"The two bills have been finalized, and all the ministers have made contributions."

"For those who have made contributions, their years of service will be recorded, and they will be awarded a set of silver coins and subsidiary coin certificates, which will be stamped with seals as commemorative coins."

"I will also give you a set of coats and some wallets for carrying money."

He ordered the eunuchs in the Imperial Wardrobe to take out the specially made wallets and distribute them to the ministers on the spot.

These wallets were naturally what he asked for from the Shangyijian, and they could store coins and banknotes.

The coat also has pockets for wallets, and the inner pocket makes it safer to put your wallet inside.

The officials looked at the wallet and were very surprised. This was because the current emperor rarely gave out silver, clothes, etc. after ascending the throne. He only gave meritorious people awards and granted them official positions and titles.

They didn't expect that this time they would be given coins and a wallet to store money in. They were surprised and thanked him again.

Bi Ziyan looked at the wallet in his hand and felt that it was very suitable for storing banknotes. The inner layer with buttons can also store coins, and he can put the commonly used silver coins in it.

Thinking of the headache that the Ministry of Revenue was having, he suggested to the emperor:

"I think three circles can be printed on this wallet."

"They represent the sizes of a one-dollar silver coin, a fifty-cent silver coin, and a dime silver coin, for easy comparison."

Zhu Youjian asked curiously:
"Why is this happening? Could it be that counterfeit money has appeared now?"

"Can counterfeit coins be indistinguishable from the real thing?" One of the reasons why he changed silver coins from minted coins to struck coins was because struck coins required relatively higher craftsmanship and were not widely circulated.

Especially when the imperial court valued craftsmen and awarded them honors and titles, there were not many skilled craftsmen who would risk breaking the law to make counterfeit coins.

The Jinyiwei did report that some people counterfeited silver coins, and most of them used casting technology. The difference between them and minted coins could be seen at a glance, and few people were deceived.

So he was very confused and curious about Bi Ziyan's words.

All the officials looked at Bi Ziyan. The Minister of Revenue smiled bitterly and said:

"There are no counterfeit bills that are indistinguishable from the real thing yet, but there are people who cut the edges."

"They cut off a circle of the silver coin and then re-carve the edges."

"If ordinary people don't pay attention, they may be deceived."

"So I suggest printing three circles on the wallet to indicate the sizes of the three silver coins."

"When people receive a silver coin, they can compare it with the three circles to see if the edge is clipped."

This is what the Ministry of Revenue Bank discovered when it collected silver coins.

Some of the coins are the wrong size and are obviously smaller than the others.

After careful study, people from the Ministry of Revenue Bank discovered that the edge teeth of these silver coins were different from those of other silver coins and were re-engraved.

The matter of trimming the edges was thus discovered and reported to the emperor by Bi Ziyan.

The purpose of adding teeth to the silver coin is to prevent people from cutting the edges. Zhu Youjian was speechless when he heard that some people actually re-carved the teeth after cutting the edges.

With such skills, he could make a living by engraving edges at the Royal Mint. Why would he resort to illegal means to make a profit?
He then asked Wang Chengen who was standing beside him:

"If Hubu Bank could find out about this, why didn't Shuntian Bank find out?"

Wang Chengen hurriedly explained:
"Shuntian Bank also discovered this problem and solved it after distributing calipers to its sales staff."

"Now, silver dollar calipers have been widely used in banks and money houses in the capital. No one is so blind as to dare to deposit silver dollars with clipped edges."

After the emperor proposed the vernier caliper, craftsmen in the inner court made many calipers, including calipers with fixed distances, which were specifically used to test whether parts were qualified.

When Shuntian Bank discovered that some of the silver coins were smaller, it immediately distributed calipers, which could measure any slight discrepancy.

Shuntian Bank did not refuse to accept these silver dollars with clipped edges, but it would treat them as silver bars due to intentional damage and calculate their value by weight.

Except for those who accidentally received clipped silver dollars, those who specialize in clipping silver dollars dare not take the clipped silver dollars to the bank.

Some large merchants even purchased calipers to measure silver dollars.

However, small businesses obviously cannot afford it, and it is not convenient either.

In order to avoid increasing the cost of use and limiting the circulation of silver coins, Zhu Youjian thought about the appearance of coins in later generations and said:

"In addition to the side teeth, the coin edge can be made into a polygonal shape."

"And there should be text or patterns next to the edge of the coin so that the trimmed silver coin can be seen at a glance."

I drew some drawings of coins from later generations and asked them to study them carefully.

Bi Ziyan and others looked at the raised edge of the enneagon, the text near the edge, or the raised dots, and felt inspired. They thought that the new silver coin needed to have these added.

However, this would obviously be more troublesome to strike and would increase the cost of silver coin production. This made them hate those who cut the edges even more.

The intentional damage of coins was also proposed by the Ministry of Revenue officials to be severely punished to maintain the dignity of the Currency Act. (End of this chapter)