Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1708 New Currency System

After listening to He Xin's report, Lin Baiguang nodded to signal him to go out.He drew a symbol on his buckskin notebook with a pencil.

Most of the Ming military checkpoints and cities along the waterway from Hong Kong to Guangzhou have reached an agreement to "surrender" with them.Even military officers who are unwilling to openly vote for Australia say that they will never block the way of the Senate and "suicide themselves".

On the eve of the storm, betrayal has become common practice.The battle of Guangzhou a few years ago broke the backbone of the officers and soldiers in Guangdong - thus making all the officers and soldiers in this area "turn pale".

Regardless of whether they believe that the Australians have the ability to "compete the world", it is a fact that very few people are willing to be loyal to Ming Dynasty in the face of the Australians' superiority in "ships and guns".

The more vested interests of the court, the less willing to be loyal to the court in the face of a crisis.Lin Baiguang felt this most deeply during his work on enemy workers.These people have too much wealth, and will try to avoid damage to their personal and property when facing a crisis.The generals of the Guan Ning army, who were supported by food and salaries collected by the Ming court, were so fat that they completely lost the courage to fight for the court.

Although the Ming army in Guangdong is not the Guanning army, the situation in the army is the same. The officers choose their fat and devour them according to their rank and power, embezzling military salaries and exploiting soldiers.Except for supporting his own soldiers and servants, he doesn't care about the life and death of his subordinates.The army is corrupt to the extreme.Once the Fubo Army launches an attack, it is bound to be a devastating situation.

But Lin Baiguang and the veterans who are about to take over Guangdong are also very clear that although the officers and soldiers have been corrupted, they are local snakes that have been operating for many years after all. Many battalions are from the local guards. It is difficult to guarantee that they will not resolutely "defend the country" for the purpose of "protecting the family" when a strong enemy is approaching.At the time of the first crow, the Green Battalion of the Eight Banners was already decayed, and they were vulnerable to the British attack. Only when the British army attacked Zhenjiang, the local Eight Banners garrisoned it with all their might.

Destroying the enemy is not difficult, but under the flames of war, life and property will be greatly damaged.Secondly, the defeated soldiers scattered into the countryside, and they would immediately become bandits, causing secondary damage to the countryside and aggravating the social security tasks after the Senate took over the power.

Therefore, the general principle of the military control committee's policy towards Guangdong's officers and soldiers is to adopt a "peaceful" model as much as possible, to win the "surrender" of the original organizational system, and then to adapt and absorb them one by one.The worst ones can also be sent to Hainan Island to enrich the labor brigade.

"In terms of winning them to surrender and accept the adaptation, it is best for them to be sincere, and it doesn't matter if they are half-hearted." It doesn’t matter if we run away, we can do whatever we want. As for buying a few hundred households, it’s much cheaper than the military expenses and soldiers’ pensions spent in war. As long as the army accepts the reorganization, The rest is up to them."

Under such an overall principle, Lin Baiguang commanded the intelligence network to carry out massive activities, basically clearing the way for the Fubo army to enter Guangzhou.He is not worried that the official will go back on his word, and he has arranged hidden stakes at key nodes.If the official repents, someone will naturally come out to incite the soldiers.The soldiers owed wages year after year and were oppressed by the officers. They had long been full of resentment and could easily be provoked into a "mutiny".

It is not difficult to enter Guangzhou, and it will not take much effort to occupy the whole of Guangdong.The resistance of the Ming army can be directly regarded as air.However, there is a local saying in Guangdong that "fighting wind is full of armor in the world".The situation of the security war faced by the Guangdong regional government will be very complicated.

The reason why Guangdong has become popular in history is inseparable from the strong economic capabilities and mobilization power of the clan landlords who live together. Especially in the Chaoshan area on the East Road, not only the clan power is stronger, but the social atmosphere is even better. Fighting bravely, every time Guangdong encounters a war, Chaozhou Lianyong is always armed by the place that was mobilized first.It has become a common tactic for the government of all dynasties to use the Chaoshan people to balance the Cantonese people to divide and rule.

From this point of view, the real enemy that the Fubo army had to deal with was not the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, but the regiments controlled by various sages scattered in the four townships.

Lin Baiguang has never been an official in Guangdong, but when he exchanged and studied at the beginning, he heard a lot from local officials in Guangdong about this matter.Many villages have reached the point where the government's administrative power cannot be enforced without the use of armed police.This is the 21st century with unprecedented government control.Advance to the 17th century when the current regime does not go to the countryside, and the countryside is basically countless independent small kingdoms.Without the support of the Fubo army's bayonet, the townspeople will not buy it.

"It's not easy." Lin Baiguang silently looked at his notebook.The simple and brutal mass killing, head rolling is naturally the easiest and most effective method, but if you kill more, there will be more sequelae.If it is not handled properly, it will fall into the quagmire of security warfare.Especially when they are short of troops and cadres...

At the work meeting, it was proposed to "strengthen leniency with strictness", which is easy to say, but difficult to do.

"Chief, here is the proof of the call to action." His secretary came over and handed over a large scroll.He unfolded the scroll, and on it was "Discussing Zhu Mingxi" printed in beautiful Song style characters. On the slightly yellowish white scroll, the black font strokes were clear and very beautiful.

This proclamation, which symbolizes the declaration of war, was deliberated by the Great Library after inviting several veterans who are proficient in ancient Chinese. Originally, they wanted to ask Liu Dalin, a scholar-in-chief, to "rectify", but later they decided not to provoke him. The benchmark figures who have worked so hard to set up can't think of committing suicide for a while, and their previous efforts will be in vain.

"Has the manuscript been proofread?" he asked.

"Three schools have done it."

"Print five hundred copies first." Lin Baiguang ordered, and signed the "printing permit".

"Yes, Chief."

This is the terminus of the Guangzhou Intelligence Station.The intelligence station is now located in Guangzhou Great World.Lin Baiguang took his men and horses here all night to direct the secret activities in the whole province of Guangdong.The immediate focus is to prepare for the takeover of Guangzhou.

A secret printing factory was set up here a few months ago. Various printing plates were shipped from Lingao and sent here to start printing various documents, forms, leaflets, pamphlets, notices and certificates needed by military control committees at all levels.In the warehouse, various "occupation" printed materials piled up like a mountain.Even the new banknotes "silver dollar reserve certificates" to be issued have also shipped dozens of boxes.According to the plan, after the occupation of the Pearl River Delta is completed, the new currency system will be fully implemented.

Prior to this, Delong had begun to gradually withdraw the grain circulation coupons on the Guangdong market.Of course, the circulation of this kind of banknotes in the market is not much, mainly because there is a small amount of use in Guangzhou, and the objects of use are mainly several enterprises under the name of Ziji, so it is not difficult to return them.

Economic work is the primary job after taking over.The quality of law and order has a lot to do with the economic environment. Issuing new currency and implementing the new currency system are the primary tasks of the Senate regime after taking over Guangdong.

In the past, the Senate ruled only Hainan Island. The circle of currency circulation was very small, and commodity circulation was under strict control. The relationship between currency notes and silver was controlled by a compulsory foreign exchange settlement system. After silver was imported, it had to be exchanged for currency notes. It circulates in the market, and the circulation certificate does not have the ability to pay externally.The profits made by foreign merchants in Hainan Island were either consumed by buying local commodities or re-converted into silver.

Once they occupy Guangdong, they will occupy the second largest commodity market in China in the 17th century. Both the total volume and scope of commodity circulation will far exceed Hainan.Continuing to use the system of grain circulation coupons can no longer meet economic needs.The use of the new monetary system was officially on the agenda.

The new currency system adopts the silver standard system.This is a decision made after comprehensive consideration of the usage habits, acceptance ability and commodity circulation needs of the local indigenous people.Silver is a precious metal generally recognized by indigenous peoples, unlike banknotes that require a lot of time and effort to promote and publicize.The stock of silver itself is very large, and the coins are abundant.Based on the level of metallurgy and mechanical processing mastered by the Senate, it is possible to easily produce silver coins with a low silver content, but with exquisite appearance and look "genuine".The seigniorage benefits obtained simply by collecting measured silver from the market and re-minting it are very considerable.

Caijingkou proposed that the benefits of promoting silver coins are not limited to this. Through the issuance of silver coins, token coupons can also be issued, that is, the so-called "silver dollar reserve coupons".With the physical silver dollar as an endorsement, banknotes will be easier to accept, preparing for the complete circulation of banknotes in the future as credit currency.

In Lingao, hundreds of kilometers away from Guangzhou, a tense technical meeting is being held.Although most of the veterans in mechanical processing and metallurgy were present, there were also several veterans in finance and economics who made generous speeches.

The meeting they are having is discussing the long-delayed issue of the new currency.

In Lingao, the only consensus on currency discussions is that a new currency system must be adopted to replace the current grain circulation coupons. In addition, there have been extensive debates about whether to adopt the precious metal standard and the material of the coins.It can be roughly divided into three factions: one faction advocates the adoption of the silver standard system and the issuance of silver coins; the other faction insists on abolishing coinage and adopting a credit currency circulation system of pure paper money; group".However, this faction has declined because the metallurgical industry cannot produce stainless steel and industrially smelted aluminum.

(End of this chapter)