People live in the Ming Dynasty, evil spirits are soaring into the sky

Chapter 17: The Ming Dynasty that loses its monetary sovereignty will perish!

Now no one will think that Chen Han is joking.

At first, they all thought how could someone like Chen Han know anything.

But after listening to the first point Chen Han said, they knew that Chen Han was definitely not a simple person.

His reform measures were very targeted and groundbreaking.

So even though I hate Chen Han very much in my heart, I still want to listen.

Chen Han continued: "The second point is to issue banknotes."

"Bank note?" Zhang Juzheng was stunned for a moment.

He knows about banknotes.

Nowadays, Shanxi merchants do business all over the country and it is inconvenient to carry money everywhere, so they use banknotes similar to treasure notes in a small area.

Now Chen Han proposed to issue banknotes, which he felt was a bit inappropriate.

Not only Zhang Juzheng had this idea, but other ministers also thought so.

When the People's Republic of China was first founded, Emperor Taizu imitated the Yuan Dynasty's Baobao system and issued Baobao. What was the result?
In less than a hundred years, the treasure banknotes depreciated and turned into waste paper that no one picked up even if it fell on the ground.

Nowadays, not only officials are reluctant to recall that period of history, but even ordinary people would probably discard paper money like worn-out shoes when they hear it.

It is estimated that even if it is released, no one will dare to use it.

Because no one knows to what extent banknotes will depreciate.

Chen Han saw their expressions and understood what they were thinking.

Explaining: "I know what you are thinking. Don't you just think that banknotes may be the same as treasure banknotes?"

The expressions of the ministers were noncommittal.

Even Zhang Juzheng thinks so.

But Chen Han said seriously: "The reason why the original treasure banknotes depreciated like that was because Taizu did not allow private citizens to use treasure banknotes to exchange silver, and secondly, it was due to the random issuance of additional coins.

When Taizu was here, he didn't understand the real gameplay of the Baochao system, which required the preparation of reserves. What he was doing was trading without capital.

Moreover, private citizens are not allowed to use treasure banknotes to exchange for silver, so random issuance of treasure banknotes will naturally lead to inflation and devaluation of treasure banknotes.
But the bank note system that I am now proposing will definitely allow the people to redeem it, on the one hand, and on the other hand, a large amount of reserves will be prepared, and it will even be issued based on market economic conditions to a certain extent. "

After hearing this, Zhang Juzheng couldn't believe that this young man actually understood this.

He is a financial expert, definitely one of the few in the Ming Dynasty.

There was Xia Yuanji in the Yongle period, and Zhang Juzheng was the only one in the Wanli period.

And he has that kind of insight because he holds a high position and has seen too many shortcomings in the country.

But Chen Han also investigated and found out that he was really just a handyman from Tai Hospital.

How can someone with such an experience have such knowledge?
Chen Han didn't care how shocked they were, but asked: "Mr. Zhang Ge, and you cabinet ministers, do you know where our Ming Dynasty's current silver comes from?"

A minister said: "Nowadays, it mainly comes from overseas trade with barbarian merchants."

Chen Han disliked the people of the Ming Dynasty very much and called Spain and Portugal in the Age of Discovery barbarian merchants.

The Ming Dynasty itself was still clinging to its own laurels, but it looked down upon the Western colonists who had begun the Age of Discovery.

Chen Han said: "That's true! Silver is mainly mined from South America by Spain and Portugal, two countries in Western Europe.

These two places are thousands of miles away from the Ming Dynasty. Why do they transport large amounts of silver to our Ming Dynasty? "

Zhang Juzheng and others obviously knew nothing about what Chen Han said. All they knew was that silver was constantly flowing in through trade.

They only know that with silver, Ming Dynasty will be rich.

This idea is correct.

The reason why the Wanli period produced the illusion of the emergence of capitalism was precisely because of the large inflow of silver at that time.

But this illusion is only short-lived. Once the silver stops flowing into Ming Dynasty, it will collapse immediately.

So this is definitely not a long-term solution and can only be reformed immediately.

Seeing that they were silent, Chen Han said: "Our Ming Dynasty has porcelain, tea, silk and other products that are famous at home and abroad. They are not only commonly used by ordinary people in our Ming Dynasty, they are also sought after overseas.
Many countries overseas are proud to have our Ming Dynasty's products, so these merchants can make profits hundreds of times and thousands of times.

But it is a pity that our Ming Dynasty is rich in products and does not seem to need to import anything from the outside. Therefore, we can only obtain silver continuously, but this is by no means a good thing! "

When Chen Han said this, he picked up the tea bowl on the table and took a sip to moisten his throat.

Zhang Juzheng and the others had gone from disbelief at first to becoming somewhat interested in what Chen Han said.

Even those cabinet ministers who looked down on Chen Han were a little surprised and uncertain at this time, and pricked up their ears to listen.

Chen Han said directly without any nonsense: "Our Ming Dynasty does not produce silver. Even if there is fineness and reserves, it is too small, so it can only come in from outside.

The embarrassing point is that no matter how much silver comes in from the outside, there is almost no silver circulating in the market. "

As he spoke, Chen Han looked at the cabinet ministers and asked, "Sir, you guys, think about it for yourselves. Do you usually use silver to buy things?"

Several ministers immediately shook their heads.

Of course they have silver and a lot of savings.

But this was all obtained through unfair means.

Zhang Juzheng said from the side: "Tishuai, I know you want to say that most of the silver has flowed into the hands of the powerful and landlords!"

Chen Han nodded: "Mr. Ge is still knowledgeable, indeed.

Those who can do overseas smuggling business and obtain silver are the rich or powerful.

After they got the silver, they hoarded most of it.

I said that our Ming Dynasty is rich in products and does not need much from the outside. At the same time, there are not many things of investment value in our Ming Dynasty.

After the rich and powerful got the silver, they hid it all except for a small amount of it which was used to make jewelry and utensils and buy land and property.

This led to the fact that even though there was a continuous inflow of silver in our Ming Dynasty, very little was circulating in the market.

Do you admit this? "

Zhang Juzheng nodded.

Other cabinet ministers nodded.

So Chen Han immediately said: "Then I want to ask, what will happen if overseas countries cut off the inflow of silver when no one uses the treasure notes and everyone in the Ming Dynasty believes that silver is their currency?"

Zhang Juzheng felt his scalp numb when he thought of the result Chen Han said.

Right, what will happen if the silver stops flowing in?
It must be that officials cannot get their salaries and military pay, and then there will be big trouble.

Chen Han said: "Then the country will be destroyed!!"

……

(End of this chapter)