Chapter 637 Let these country bumpkins learn a lot
People in the Central Plains know about economic warfare.
In the former Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi used grain to do a cruel job.
However, perhaps due to inertia or the components of the past financial system of the Ming Dynasty, people today still have a vague concept of finance.
The asymmetry of information is bound to determine what the outcome will be.
The day of autumn harvest is approaching.
The famous families and the giant businessmen in the 18th Prefecture of Zhili Road have all raised enough silver coins and are always ready. As soon as the autumn harvest begins, they will use horse-drawn carriages to pull the silver coins to the countryside, and then send the money to the countryside.
The grain that has risen in price is sold at a high price.
The backyards that these people used to build with great care in the past have been destroyed one by one these days, so that the money that has started to turn black in the cellar can be taken out to bask in the sun.
On the surface, everyone is waiting for this autumn, which is destined to be a bumper harvest, but underneath the 18th Mansion on Zhili Road, there is already an undercurrent surging.
This year, the grain purchase prices in the 18th Prefecture of Zhili Province were completely unified in a short period of time.
Much lower than past prices.
In order to appear that they have not lowered the price, these people began to use various means to raise the price of silver.
So in the end, the silver price to gold price far exceeded the previous ratio of one to four, rising to one to three.
Nowadays, some people are even beginning to wait and see whether the price of silver versus gold will eventually be forcibly raised to one to two on the Zhili border.
"Pawn! Mortgage!"
"Even if you pay for our house, you still have to pay me back the money!"
Arriving in Zhenjiang City, Yingtian Prefecture, in a merchant's house, the owner's face turned red and he roared at the housekeepers.
And such scenes are staged almost every moment in the 18th Mansion of Zhili Road.
Grab money.
Everyone is grabbing money.
Then they have to pay a higher price than before, and these people have to get their money back. Fortunately, the autumn harvest will start in a few days, and they can exchange it for more valuable food.
It stands to reason.
When such a crazy situation occurs in the local area, the local government should take action in time to suppress this wave and stabilize the local people's livelihood and economy.
However, almost all local government offices have tacitly agreed to keep quiet. The offices are tightly closed, and there is a turmoil outside.
Occasionally, one or two yamen issued documents because of timidity, but other than that, there was no further action.
Amidst the noise and madness outside.
On the bank of Xuanwu Lake in the north of Yingtian City, the sound of several firecrackers spread out, causing ripples on the lake.
The north belongs to water and dominates Xuanwu.
Water brings about wealth, which means an endless supply.
Under the continuous sound of firecrackers and the wind blowing from the lake, the smoke that filled the place was blown away, revealing two official offices facing the lake.
The plaque on the left side of the Yamen reads: Daming Trading Company.
The plaque on the right side of the Yamen reads: Da Ming Silver Number.
Business names and bank names seem to be related to the economy.
Present at the unveiling of the two new imperial yamen, in addition to officials from the Ministry of Revenue, there was also Sun Gou'er, the chief administrator of the twenty-four yamen of the inner court.
Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Sun Gouer gathered around Zhu Yunxi and watched the carriages filled with silver boxes drive into the Ming Dynasty Yinhao Yamen.
"The total is five million taels of silver. The Ministry of Accounts will send 3 million taels and silver numbers in the early stage. When the Yingzhou Sidao silver mine output is returned next spring, the missing two million taels will be made up."
Xia Yuanji, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, looked at the carriage with a smile as he pulled the boxes of silver from the Okura of the Ministry of Finance to the Ming Dynasty Bank. He looked like the richest man in the world.
There was no trace of distress at all on the face of the Minister of Revenue.
If this happened twenty-four years ago in Hongwu, who would have wanted to take away five million taels of silver from the Ministry of Household Affairs at once.
No!
With the three million taels of silver now in front of them, everyone in the household department could eat each other alive.
Want to get money from the Ministry of Accounts?
no way!
But now, when the Ministry of Revenue said that they would take five million taels of silver, they really gave it to them without any discount.
Sun Gouer said with a smile: "Xia Shangshu's promotion to the Ministry of Household Affairs has been obvious to all in the government and the public in recent years. The stability of the country cannot be separated from Xia Shangshu, the God of Wealth."
Xia Yuanji smiled implicitly.
After all, although the Ming Dynasty Trading Company and the Ming Dynasty Bank were just established, they were managed by the royal family.
The person in charge of the business and bank is His Highness the King of Qin.
He, the Minister of Revenue, and Sun Gou'er, the chief steward of the inner court, could only serve as left and right deputy ministers on both sides.
According to the emperor's grandson.
This Ming Dynasty business and banking house belongs to neither the royal family nor the imperial court. Regardless of whether it is the imperial family or the imperial court, the people sent only have management rights.
As for the profits earned by the firms and banks in the future, they belong exclusively to the firms and banks.
The royal family owned the two places but had no right to handle them. The imperial court had the power of supervision to prevent corruption, and Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, served as the supervisory representative of the imperial court. But in fact, under him, there were also three officials from the Department of Justice
People will take on the responsibility of supervision here.
If the emperor's grandson had not said it himself, the money earned by the business and bank accounts would not be used for the royal family without authorization in the future, but would be used for the people and the local area. Xia Yuanji would never have been so straightforward.
Bring me a million taels of silver.
What moved Xia Yuanji even more was what he had always wanted to accomplish in the past.
With the power of the imperial court, the currency exchange rate of gold and silver in the world was unified and constant.
Determine the value range of goods in the world according to imperial laws.
Once these things are done, it will be difficult for those profiteers to have the opportunity to exploit the people as unscrupulously as they do now.
And this was the real reason why he was willing to send five million taels of silver to the newly established Ming Dynasty Bank.
Shops and banks were opened in a hurry.
The crowd gathered around Zhu Yunxi and filed into the bank.
Zhu Yunxi looked at the court ministers in front of him and couldn't help but sneer in his heart when he thought of the news sent from the Zhili Governor's Yamen.
Those people in the 18th Mansion of Zhili Road seemed to have forgotten, or underestimated, how rich the Ming Dynasty was now.
"The way of world economy lies in the people and production."
After everyone sat down, Zhu Yunxi slowly spoke and set the tone.
Zhu Yunxi knows very well how important production is.
An economic structure based on production is the most stable.
"The imperial court established business houses and bank houses not to gain profits from the people, but to benefit the people."
"Thanks to His Majesty's trust, I can temporarily take charge of two affairs and entrust hope."
"In recent years, the Ming Dynasty's treasure banknotes have depreciated excessively, and the people's confidence in the treasure banknotes issued by the imperial court has also become increasingly low. For this reason, Gu Yu Sheng's prelude pair was able to mint gold, silver, and copper coins to stabilize the lives of the people.
It is necessary to control money and prices to benefit the people."
"The people produce more, but suffer from no way out. Business houses can relieve the people's difficulties and bring wealth to the people. If someone's business is short, the bank can lend money, and the business company can take shares. If there are things needed by the court, it is difficult for the people to find them, and the people are confused.
It is difficult to manufacture independently, so companies can also set up their own workshops to produce for the country."
"You are all talented people in the court. At this time when the new government is in full swing, the people are eagerly waiting for it. You should work hard and work diligently, and the court will not hesitate to reward you."
This is something to say to everyone.
After most people dispersed, only a few people were left in the venue.
Those who can stay here are the core figures above the court.
Zhu Yunxi's tone became a little more relaxed at this time: "As for the gold, silver and copper coins, we have to wait for the inner treasury to get the money fans before they can be minted. However, the previous comparison between the three must be made known to the people now, and it cannot be tolerated.
If you make a mistake, the people should not suffer losses. You must not ruin a good thing that benefits the country and the people and turn it into a bad thing."
Xia Yuanji immediately held up his hands and said: "In the previous cabinet meeting, His Highness made a proposal, and the ministers also discussed it several times. I deeply believe that the currency exchange ratio should be fixed, and it can be changed if necessary depending on the situation in the world. Only in this way can it be stable.
The economy of the world.”
Zhu Yunxi nodded.
According to his idea, the ratio of gold, silver and copper coins is one to ten to ten thousand.
One tael of gold is equivalent to ten taels of silver, and one tael of silver is equivalent to one thousand copper coins.
In the past, the Ming Dynasty was short of copper and gold and silver, so it was creative in the early years of the country. Song Jiaozi was inspired by the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes.
However, treasure banknotes are just paper without a foundation. The imperial court has produced too many of them over the years, and the people are increasingly unable to accept them.
In the past two years, the imperial court's taxes have increased, the New Deal has been implemented rapidly, gold and silver from overseas have continued to pour in, and many copper mines have been discovered and mined.
The Ming Dynasty now has no shortage of these things.
It is fully capable of formulating a new monetary system.
Zou Xueyu, the governor-general of Zhili, who was sitting next to him, had a look of joy in his eyes.
The gold to silver ratio outside is now one to three.
If the silver number represents the imperial court at this time, the ratio of one to ten will be determined.
Zou Xueyu couldn't help but laugh out loud.
By then, I'm afraid there will be corpses hanging everywhere.
Everyone chose to ignore and tolerate Zou Xueyu's laughter.
After all, Zou Xueyu has endured too many slanders these days.
The first direct governor-general of the Ming Dynasty is facing unprecedented pressure.
Why did the establishment of the company and bank choose this time and open in a somewhat hasty situation?
What he did was to support the Zhili Governor's Yamen and try out another innovation of Hongwu's New Deal in Daowei, Zhili.
Xia Yuanji continued: "Wei Chen and below will give orders to the Ministry of Household Affairs. People in the 18 prefectures of Zhili Road can subsequently set up bank branches in each prefecture and county, and exchange treasure banknotes for banknotes at market prices, or later.
Exchange treasure notes for silver notes."
Zhu Yunxi immediately affirmed and said: "You should not issue too many silver banknotes. This is the reputation of the imperial court. The gold and silver banknotes should be used as the basis for the total number of banknotes. They should be issued according to the amount. They should not be used to cause harm to the country."
The casting of gold, silver and copper coins has become imperative.
As for banknotes, that is, banknotes, the royal family and the cabinet are very cautious.
After a reminder, Zhu Yunxi's eyes moved to Sun Gou'er beside him.
Although both bank accounts and merchant houses were managed by both inside and outside the palace, bank accounts were still dominated by the imperial court, and most of the people employed were transferred from the imperial court. However, merchant houses were almost all managed by the imperial court.
People who come from Si Yamen.
After all, even now, in the eyes of the officials above the court, businessmen are still out of the ordinary. Even if they make money for the country, they are still untouchable.
This gave people from the twenty-four bureau offices of the inner court an opportunity to go out of the palace to work on errands.
When Sun Gouer saw His Highness Taisun looking over, he stood up immediately.
"Reporting to Your Highness, the company has borrowed one million taels from the bank to use it to go to the countryside to buy people's grain during the autumn harvest in Zhili Road."
Zhu Yunxi was smiling.
Since those people in Zhili Road were planning to make a fortune by borrowing money from their mother-in-law, he wouldn't mind taking this opportunity to give them a hard beating.
"I have been to Shanglinyuan Prison before, and what the young master said is very pertinent. This year is a rare good harvest year. The rice is growing very well. I think the harvest will be a surprise. In addition, the weather has been beautiful recently, and the harvest is coming.
There is no wind or rain, and the millet can be stored in the warehouse after being beaten and dried in two days. The business is for the benefit of the people. The price of grain should be compared with previous years. Based on this, there must be no shortage of the people."
Sun Gouer nodded repeatedly.
At this point, today's affairs are mostly settled.
The establishment of business houses and bank accounts at this time was indeed aimed at those people in Zhili Province who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune while fighting against the Governor's Yamen.
Zhu Yunxi's eyes were dark. Like Zou Xueyu, he wanted to see how many hanging corpses there would be in Zhili Road.
Zhu Yunxi has always hated those people who exploited the common people either through monopoly or through raising and lowering prices.
Since they can use the method of raising the price of silver to purchase the grain harvested this autumn at a low price.
Zhu Yunxi doesn't mind letting these rubes see what financial war is like.
In particular, it is a financial war carried out under the rule of strong power.
On the carriage returning to the palace from Xuanwu Lake, Zhu Gaochi sat silently by the window, glancing at Zhu Yunxi from time to time.
Zhu Yunxi was a little annoyed by being stared at.
He opened his eyes and glared at Zhu Gaochi.
Zhu Gaochi immediately said: "Don't say these things, you just thought of them! I really thought that you had thought of these things before returning to Beijing, right?"
He had no doubts, but was very sure that this was a question.
Zhu Yunxi nodded silently.
"The New Deal has reached a critical moment and new changes must be made."
"The establishment of Zhili Road was beyond my expectation. I didn't expect that our old man would still have such great courage."
Zhu Gaochi pursed his lips: "So you took the opportunity to get these things done?"
"That's right." Zhu Yunxi smiled: "Since local people dare to raise the price of silver, they even raise money at the expense of mortgages, just to peel off a layer of flesh from the hands of the people and enrich themselves. So...
… Naturally, I didn’t hesitate to use my bank account to set an equal amount of money, so that they would all be successful and settle down this time.”
"Is it just Zhili Road?" Zhu Gaochi was a little doubtful.
Zhu Yunxi shook his head: "The bank account is naturally not limited to Zhili Road. The treasure bank account is now beginning to show signs of decline, but the imperial court is very rich now. It can only be said that it just happened to step on this opportunity. But what really matters is still
The banknotes at the back are anchored with gold and silver. In the future, my Ming Dynasty will really show off its power when it comes to foreign transactions."
Use pieces of paper to return massive resources, and then completely control the economic lifeline of all known regions in the world.
Zhu Yunxi really wanted to try it and see if he could do it.
Zhu Gaochi said again: "What's the business name?"
Zhu Yunxi glanced at Xiaopang and said softly: "Some things can be left to the private sector, but some things, I think, are better left in the hands of the court."
The carriage became quiet.
Zhu Gaochi thought for a while, and finally leaned gently against the carriage.
He now wanted to see how those people who raised a lot of money but found they couldn't spend it would react.