"Who suffers the loss? Naturally, it is the people at the lowest level. They have no savings and no gold or silver. If there is a shortage of salt today, take a chicken to sell it. If there is a shortage of cloth tomorrow, take a sheep to exchange it."
"If the treasure banknotes once depreciated, they sold a chicken in exchange for the treasure banknotes and turned around to buy salt. They could have bought two kilograms of salt, but they could only buy half a kilogram. They could have bought two pieces of cloth, but now
They could only buy one piece. They couldn't even buy a pound of salt or a piece of cloth. They could only buy one tael of salt and a foot of cloth. Even in the end, they held a lot of treasure money in their hands, but they didn't even have a needle.
You can’t even buy it.”
"Everything must be gained and lost, and what is gained must be consumed. Treasure money can obtain countless materials, but there is no consumption. I'm afraid your Majesty has always been puzzled?"
"The reason why treasure banknotes can be exchanged for countless supplies is because of the people's love and trust in Your Majesty. Your Majesty has fought hard and fought hard since he started the army. He wiped out the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty and gave the people of the world a bright future. The people have unparalleled trust in Your Majesty. Your Majesty
It is said that a consistent treasure banknote is worth a consistent value, so that it can be recognized by the people. Since ancient times, those who win the hearts of the people win the world, what is the people's support, the people's support is the national destiny, and the treasure banknotes consume the national destiny of the Ming Dynasty."
After Han Du finished speaking, he knelt on the ground and bowed.
On the one hand, Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao felt as if the sun had cleared the clouds. Han Du's explanation gave them a sense of enlightenment, but on the other hand, it also frightened them. Is issuing treasure banknotes a waste of national fortune?
Although they didn't want to admit it, they couldn't find any reason to refute Han Du.
National luck, every emperor regards it as a taboo, even a taboo. A wise king will not talk about it. Even a faint emperor, no matter how stupid he is, will not want the national luck to be lost, and even wish that the national luck is there every day.
increase.
Zhu Biao has been extremely smart and knowledgeable since he was a child, but at this moment he couldn't find a single word to refute Han Du.
It was so quiet in the main hall that one could hear the needle drop.
Han Du prostrated himself on the ground, waiting for Lao Zhu's verdict on him.
The eunuch on the side was so frightened that he didn't even dare to swallow his saliva. His eyes were staring at the area in front of his shoes, as if there was a great attraction there. He even wanted to plug his ears.
I wish I had never heard these words from Han Du.
Lao Zhu was sitting on the dragon chair, expressionless and silent, but his face was gloomy like an approaching storm, which made people feel extremely scary.
Zhu Biao also had a very deep expression on his face, and after a long time he said in a solemn voice: "Father, if not, the issuance of the treasure banknotes will be suspended first..."
Although Zhu Biao was the prince, even though he was inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people, he did not dare to continue doing things that would harm the fate of the country, such as issuing treasure notes, so he advised Lao Zhu.
The scene described by Han Du was so terrifying that Zhu Biao seemed to see a torrent of treasure money appearing out of thin air, starting from the capital and flooding in all directions until it submerged the entire world.
Lao Zhu's expression was still gloomy, without any change, and asked Zhu Biao: "What about the Northern Expedition? What about Meng Yuan? Should we give up the Northern Expedition and miss this opportunity to give Meng Yuan a chance to take a breather? Sit back and watch Meng Yuan grow stronger, and then
The iron cavalry goes south again and plunges the whole world into dire straits?" Zhu Biao did not dare to directly abolish the treasure banknotes, but tactfully proposed to suspend the issuance.
Facing Lao Zhu's question, Zhu Biao was speechless. He had no choice. If he had the best of both worlds, he wouldn't have advised his father like that just now. It was precisely because he had no choice that he had to do a
The choice of "the lesser of two powers that harm each other".
When Han Du heard that Zhu Biao was going to suspend the issuance of treasure banknotes, his heart skipped a beat. "What does Zhu Biao mean by this? Does he want to give up treasure banknotes completely? No, I haven't finished speaking yet."
"It seems that what I just said was a little too forceful, and it scared Zhu Biao and Lao Zhu," Han Du thought to himself, "I have to give out the treasure notes."
Historically, although the treasure banknotes issued by the Ming Dynasty later suffered large-scale depreciation and were even abandoned by the people for a time, social transactions once again returned to the path of gold and silver as currency, but no one can deny that when the treasure banknotes were used as currency,
It has indeed greatly facilitated social transactions and greatly promoted the prosperity of the commodity economy.
If Lao Zhu gave up issuing treasure banknotes because of the call he just made, then he would probably be scolded miserably by people in the future. I am sure that whenever he mentions the earliest origin of banknotes - treasure banknotes, he will be regarded as a
With such a negative background, this would simply make him infamy for eternity. What's more, he might even pull himself out of the grave and whip his body, leaving him with no peace of mind even after death.
Thinking of this, Han Du's face instantly turned ugly, and he no longer cared about etiquette. He got up from the ground and said to Zhu Biao: "Your Highness, the treasure banknotes must not be discarded."
Lao Zhu's eyes suddenly lit up. What's the saying? To untie the bell, you must tie the bell. Since Han Du discovered the shortcomings of the treasure banknotes, maybe he actually has a solution?
Lao Zhu directly passed Zhu Biao and asked Han Du impatiently: "Do you have any idea?"
"I have a way." Han Du affirmed.
Lao Zhu was overjoyed and said, "Come quickly."
Zhu Biao also looked at Han Du in surprise, not expecting that he actually had a way. In Zhu Biao's view, this treasure banknote was simply a knot that could not be untied. Let's distribute the treasure banknote, which consumes the national fortune of the Ming Dynasty; no
Let's distribute treasure banknotes, but we are unable to conquer the Mongolian Yuan in the north. Once the Mongolian Yuan can take a breather and expand, it will send its troops south, and the whole world will fall into turmoil again.
Unexpectedly, Han Du had a way to untie this knot, so Zhu Standard was prepared to listen carefully.
"Your Majesty, the reason why the treasure banknote consumes the national fortune is just because it is just a piece of paper and has no actual value, or the difference between its own value and its face value is too big. If we make it have the same value as the face value
,Wouldn’t this mean that the country’s destiny would not be wasted?”
"What should I do?" Lao Zhu asked eagerly, with a happy face. It seemed that Han Du was right.
"Bundle the treasure banknotes with gold and silver. For example, we bundle the consistent treasure banknotes with one tael of silver, so that the consistent treasure banknotes can be exchanged for one tael of silver at any time, so that the value of the treasure banknotes will not depreciate, and the value of the treasure banknotes will not depreciate.
It will not waste the country's fortune." Han Du took out a regular treasure note from the eunuch's hand, and then took out a tael of silver, indicating with both hands that the two could be continuously exchanged.
This is actually what reserves mean. When issuing banknotes, there must be reserves equivalent to the amount of banknotes issued, or at least there must be actual items linked to banknotes.
Paper money without reserves is called Zimba Webb.
If the Ming Dynasty's treasure banknotes continue to be issued indiscriminately as they are now, in less than a hundred years, even Zimba Webb will be inferior.
The smile on Lao Zhu's face suddenly solidified, and he seemed to grab an inkstone and hit Han Du on the forehead. Because after Han Du gave him great hope, he immediately gave him great disappointment. Han Du's method
It is indeed feasible, but it is unrealistic for Lao Zhu.
Why? Because Lao Zhu has no money. Isn’t it just because Lao Zhu has no money that he gives out treasure notes? If he had money, what kind of treasure notes would he need to give out? Wouldn’t it be good to use money directly? What would he give out if he took off his pants and farted?
Treasure money?
Zhu Biao smiled bitterly and shook his head at Han Du, saying: "Although your method is feasible, you don't know something. The imperial court simply does not have enough gold and silver to ensure that the consistent treasure banknotes are worth one or two silver coins."
"Don't worry, Your Highness, just listen to me." Han Du was filled with the pleasure of crushing Lao Zhu and his son in terms of knowledge. He was so excited that he didn't even call himself the word "sinner" and said directly, "I
”.
At this time, Lao Zhu and his son were completely attracted to Han Du, who would care about the details of his self-promotion.
Han Jie deliberately coughed twice and continued: "First of all, we have to understand that the reason why treasure banknotes can be accepted and used by the people has nothing to do with whether it represents national destiny or real money.
Relationship."
Zhu Biao's eyes widened as soon as Han Du opened his mouth, "Why doesn't it matter? Didn't you say it yourself? The banknote itself has no value at all. The reason why it can reflect its value is that it relies on the national destiny or real money behind it.
.”
It was Lao Zhu who was much more steady and advised Zhu Biao calmly and calmly, "Don't be anxious, let him continue talking."
"Yes, Your Majesty. In fact, there is nothing wrong with His Highness the Crown Prince's view. That is because he sees it from the perspective of the imperial court. But what if we look at it from the perspective of the common people? As long as the common people believe that a consistent treasure banknote can be of uncompromising value
One tael of silver, then this treasure banknote can be freely traded in the world. When Your Majesty issued the treasure banknote, the treasure banknote could circulate smoothly and freely without any drawbacks. In fact, it was because the people believed it. I call this the credit system.
What the court needs to do is to establish a credit system for Baochao. As long as this credit system is established and maintained, Baochao will be able to flourish without any obstacles. Of course, the fastest and best way to establish a credit system is to use Baochao and Baochao.
Bound together with gold and silver hooks.”
"After talking for a long time, I still need silver. Let me tell you clearly that I don't have that much silver to tie up with the treasure banknotes now. And if one million taels of silver can only issue one million taels of treasure banknotes, then I have
Why go to all the trouble of handing out treasure notes, it’s better to just use silver.”
"Your Majesty, forgive me. It's because the sinner didn't explain clearly. The sinner will give you another example, and your Majesty will know the benefits of issuing treasure notes."
After saying this, Han Du pulled the eunuch out.
But at this time, the eunuch was no longer frightened as before, and smiled at Han Du's mercy. Although he had not been with the emperor for a long time, he could also see that the emperor had completely calmed down and was gone.
The initial anger. In this case, Han Du used him as an example to the emperor. At worst, the emperor would remember his hard work. If he was lucky, he might be able to make some achievements in front of the emperor.