Two hundred and eighty-six chapters issued treasure notes
The Ming Dynasty itself lacked copper, and there were not many silver mines. In addition, the current technology of mining ores was backward, and not many silver mines could be mined in a year. The annual silver output was actually limited.
However, the increase in grain and other agricultural products in the Ming Dynasty was extremely rapid. Thanks to Lao Zhu's policy of resting with the people and the three-year tax exemption policy for reclaiming wasteland, a large amount of wasteland was reclaimed and planted with food every year.
The increase in money is negligible, but the increase in food is rapid. As a result, food will naturally become cheaper and cheaper. In the late Hongwu years, there was even a situation where three coins of silver per load of food appeared. As food became cheaper and cheaper
Understandably, those who suffer are naturally the common people, and those who gain are naturally the officials and wealthy businessmen.
Because ordinary people do not save a large amount of money in their hands, and they do not have the conditions to save a large amount of money. Only officials and wealthy businessmen have a large amount of money in their hands. This situation is equivalent to the continuous appreciation of the value of money.
The winners are naturally those who have a lot of money in their hands.
Han Du persuaded Lao Zhu not to worry about increasing the value of his treasure.
Lao Zhu also knew that it was not advisable to increase the value of the treasure banknotes, so he nodded and said: "Just do as you say. Well, the day after tomorrow is the court meeting, so the distribution of treasure banknotes will start with the salaries of the officials."
Money is heroic courage.
Lao Zhu has a lot of money and feels that he has more confidence.
At the court meeting in Fengtian Palace, hundreds of officials stood in line.
Han Du was still wearing the eighth-grade official uniform as always, standing outside the palace with several officials at the same level. The weather today was good, the sun was shining brightly, it was a good day.
Lao Zhu saw that all the officials had reported everything that should be reported. In fact, the officials did not report anything major, because the big things were settled by the hard-working Lao Zhu. Therefore, the officials had no choice but to bother him with trivial matters.
Zhu to express his dissatisfaction with Lao Zhu's abolition of Zhongshu Province.
Lao Zhu knew this very well. However, he refused to give in on the matter of abolishing the Zhongshu Province, and acted like he was fighting to the end with the officials. The officials put all government affairs in the hands of Lao Zhu, and Lao Zhu
He was very happy and worked diligently to handle the government affairs in an orderly manner. At the court meeting, the officials bothered Lao Zhu with trivial matters, and Lao Zhu listened attentively with a serious face. People who didn't know anything about it couldn't tell what Lao Zhu was.
If you listen to small things, you will think that you are discussing national affairs with officials.
Of course, the officials did not dare to go too far. After all, they wanted to express their dissatisfaction with the emperor's abolition of the Zhongshu Province, not to commit suicide in front of the emperor. If nothing else, the emperor's butcher knife was fast and bright, and hundreds of officials wanted to do it.
The officer has seen it before.
Therefore, seeing that the time was almost up, all the officials kept silent and signaled that the emperor could withdraw from the court.
However, today is a little different from the past. Lao Zhu did not directly announce his resignation. Instead, he glanced around the officials and said with a smile: "Have all the dear ladies finished their memorial? Since all the dear ladies have nothing to do, then I
Just announce two things."
It is not unheard of for the officials to encounter situations where the emperor continues to talk after he has finished speaking to the officials.
Therefore, when the emperor said this, the officials were not surprised and acted as if they were all listening.
"The first thing is that from now on, all official salaries will no longer be distributed separately in treasure banknotes, silver, and discounts. Instead, they will all be distributed in unified banknotes."
Lao Zhu's words caused a stir, causing everyone except the officials in the first few rows to look left and right and talk about it.
If Lao Zhu had promulgated this decree a few months ago, I am afraid that hundreds of officials would have opposed it. Now it is only mid-level officials discussing it, which is already a good phenomenon. After all, the value of treasure notes has depreciated in the past. If money is not issued,
Doesn't it mean that all the treasure notes are reducing the salaries of the officials in disguise? Now that the value of the treasure notes has returned to normal, the reaction of the officials did not become intense, it was just a discussion.
After Lao Zhu finished speaking, he also stopped, as if waiting for the officials' discussion to end.
"Your Majesty, I have doubts." A minister came out and asked.
"Say." Lao Zhu replied expressionlessly.
The minister was not afraid. He straightened up and looked at the emperor and said: "As far as I know, although a treasure banknote can be exchanged for a copper coin, in a month the money can only be exchanged for 900 copper coins. If
In the future, I will be able to exchange for the same amount of money. The emperor, generals and ministers will all exchange their salaries for treasure notes, and I have no objection. But if the change goes back to the same amount in the future, and I can only exchange for 900 yuan, what should I do? And what should I do?
That is, although the treasure banknotes are light, they cannot be exposed to water, and even sweat will affect them. If you carry them with you, if they get wet with sweat, wouldn't it be..."
What the minister means implicitly is that there are too many disadvantages and uncertainties in treasure money, and he does not want all his salary to be turned into treasure money.
If Lao Zhu had listened to the minister's words in the past, he would have become angry. There was no way to solve the problem, so Lao Zhu had no choice but to use Long Yan's anger to cheat.
But now it's no longer necessary.
After listening to the minister's words, Lao Zhu not only looked calm, but also had a faint smile. The few ministers at the front looked at the emperor's expression and glanced at each other secretly. They didn't know that the emperor was today.
What happened to make him do this unusual behavior?
Lao Zhu is really happy now, because Han Du has given him the most confidence to face these problems.
Even his voice sounded gentle, "My dear friends, don't worry. This is a newly made treasure banknote. It is completely different from the previous banknotes. Dear friends, you don't have to worry about the depreciation of the treasure banknotes, let alone
I’m worried that the banknotes will blur and become rotten when exposed to water.”
After speaking, Lao Zhu waved his hand.
Soon, several groups of eunuchs from outside Fengtian Palace filed in with trays. Each tray contained new treasure banknotes, and the amount corresponded to the salary of hundreds of officials.
When all the officials heard that the emperor said that the treasure banknotes were not afraid of water, they were all surprised. The treasure banknotes were printed on paper. Is there any paper in the world that is not afraid of water?
When Baiguan saw the treasure banknotes in the tray, he was suddenly surprised. This treasure banknote was really different from the previous ones. Although it was much smaller than the previous ones, the color of this treasure banknote was completely different from the previous ones.
Li Shanchang was in charge of the supervisory censor, and he stood a little further forward than the six ministers. With Li Shanchang's reputation as the second most meritorious official, the six ministers were naturally inferior to him.
Without hesitation, Li Shanchang reached out and picked up his salary. As soon as he got the treasure note in his hand, Li Shanchang felt something strange, "This paper... seems to be a little different."
After taking a closer look, he exclaimed: "The lines are slender and exquisite, just like needle carvings. It's really breathtaking."