The Ming Dynasty was so short of money that it naturally seriously affected the development of commerce, so that the court became increasingly poorer. By the tenth year of Chongzhen, the finances were on the verge of bankruptcy.
Some people may say that a lot of silver from all over the world flowed to China during this period, and this is indeed true. The Western scholar Giese affirmed in his article "Beijing in the Ming Dynasty": "In 1597 (the twenty-fifth year of Wanli), Spain
The large ship transported 345,000 kilograms of silver from Acapulco to China. This amount was more than the production of the Ming Dynasty in half a century (the output of the official silver mines in the Ming Dynasty was about 6000 kilograms). How could China be short of silver?
Yes, a large amount of silver did flow into China at that time, but this silver was still not enough for the Ming Dynasty's rapidly expanding economy. The most terrible thing was that this silver had not yet flowed into the hands of the Ming Dynasty court.
Moreover, the West's huge silver supply chain to China was sometimes interrupted. There was a serious shortage during the Longqing period (1568-1572). "History of the Ming Dynasty? The Biography of Jin Xueyan" recorded this in a lamentable way.
Matter: "All the people in the world are worried about scarcity, not because they don't have enough grain and cloth, but because they don't have enough silver for their ears."
The rulers of the Ming Dynasty had long understood the shortcomings of insufficient silver. In the eighth year of Hongwu (1375), due to the shortage of silver, copper and other precious metals, Emperor Hongwu, who was born as a cowherd boy, issued a decree
The department called the "Banknote Law" established a treasure banknote promotion department, under which there were two papermaking and banknote printing bureaus and a banknote banknote bank. It was issued under the name of Zhongshu Province Nanjing in the following year. It was also prohibited
The private sector used gold and silver to buy and sell, which meant that the imperial court began to use banknotes instead of precious metals.
There are six denominations of treasure banknotes: 500 Wen, 400 Wen, 300 Wen, 200 Wen, and 100 Wen.
It stands to reason that the use of banknotes should be a symbol of civilization and an inevitable result of social development. However, the strange thing about the Ming Dynasty is that the Ming Dynasty only issued banknotes but did not collect them. It neither demarcated nor recycled old banknotes.
There is no modern awareness of reserve funds, resulting in more and more banknotes circulating in the market. Treasure banknotes are inundated, and inflation begins in the year of issuance.
There is an example that proves how ignorant our Hongwu Emperor was about issuing banknotes. Once, Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth son, Zhu Di, returned to the court after winning a battle. Zhu Yuanzhang was happy and rewarded Zhu Di.
A "check" - a treasure banknote with a face value of one million taels.
This is also the largest denomination in the Ming Dynasty. It is estimated that this is the number of one million printed in advance by Zhu Yuanzhang on a whim. Anyway, he is the emperor and can write any number he wants. From this, we can know that the Ming Dynasty
The rulers of China were so ignorant about finance that the people also sarcastically called the toilet paper used by the emperor "treasure notes". The deep meaning behind it is obvious.
In view of this, by the Zhengde period, the treasure banknotes were actually abolished. After that, the Ming Dynasty no longer issued banknotes, and only the previously issued treasure banknotes were still barely circulating on the market.
Although the credibility of the treasure banknotes was ruined, trading had to continue, right? Gold, silver, copper and other metal currencies began to circulate among the people. However, due to the lack of precious metals, the economy of the Ming Dynasty had become somewhat deformed.
Pang Gang, whose business is getting bigger and bigger, has clearly felt the economic impact of the lack of silver on Qingzhou. Since Pang Gang took charge of Qingzhou, Pang Gang relied on refined salt, cement and other items as support.
I did make a lot of money just now. However, due to the shortage of silver, it is also difficult to carry out some transactions involving large quantities of silver. The same reason is the lack of silver.
As the actual ruler of Shandong, Pang Gang had to make early plans for the future. Because of this, he set his sights on Oubaluo and the West. Only by letting his businessmen make money from the Oubaluo continent could he
This was the best way to alleviate his own silver shortage, so he forcibly resisted the urge not to immediately send troops to regain Taiwan.
Looking at Pang Gang's meditative face, Hua Yan and others did not dare to disturb the master's thoughts and quietly waited for the result.
After a long time, Pang Gang slowly raised his head, smiled at Lin Feng and said, "Governor Lin, if I send you to the Netherlands, what do you think?"
"What? Your Excellency is going to send a humble official to the Netherlands?" Lin Feng was stunned for a moment, and his fat face became a little stiff.
Pang Gang smiled and joked: "Why, isn't it okay for you to go to the Netherlands? I heard that you are not married yet, and the Yi women have big breasts and fat buttocks. Maybe you can still go to the Netherlands as an envoy this time?"
Bring back some foreign women!"
Lin Feng's face turned bitter all of a sudden: "Sir, please forgive me for your good deeds. Those red-haired devils all have red hair and green eyes. If you want me to marry those women, you might as well kill me!"
"Hahaha..." Seeing Lin Feng's sad face, everyone laughed. Hua Yan even touched Lin Feng with his elbow and said with a smile: "Brother Lin, remember to give it to your brothers when you come back."
Bring back some foreign women."
"Brother Hua, even you are laughing at me." Lin Feng's round face wrinkled even more.
Looking at Lin Feng's fat body and short figure, Pang Gang also smiled. The Dutch are the race with the tallest average stature in the world. Pang Gang remembered that the average height of Dutch men in later generations was 1.82 meters, and the average height of women was 1.82 meters.
It has reached 1.7 meters. Even if it has not yet reached the height of future generations, it should not be too far away.
Looking at Lin Feng's short and fat figure, Pang Gang's mind immediately pictured a scene of Lin Feng making out with a foreign girl with a stone under his feet.
"No, it's too sinister and naughty. Although Lin Feng is a little fat, as his boss, it's wrong to think so." Pang Gang, who suppressed a smile, patted Lin Feng's shoulder and encouraged: "Governor Lin, there are some
Someone has to do things. Why should we let those barbarians earn our money in vain? If you have money, you should earn it yourself. You must remember that the purpose of your visit this time is to get more of the other party's silver.
, earn back gold and other things..."
After Pang Gang's detailed explanation, Lin Feng and others understood Pang Gang's purpose. Yes, the Ming Dynasty was short of silver, but Opalo had plenty of it. For the development of Qingzhou, he really had to fly this way.
"But do you really want to humble your position and take those businessmen with you to the Netherlands? You must know that businessmen pursue profits, and humble your position because you are afraid..." Hua Yan on the side also raised his concerns.
"What are you afraid of? It's normal for businessmen to pursue profits. It would be terrible if one day businessmen stop pursuing profits."
Pang Gang is very open-minded about this, "As long as the merchants can bring more silver back to the Ming Dynasty and Qingzhou, I don't care how they make money. The more they make, the less money we have to pay for our taxes."
There will be more.”
Everyone discussed for a while, Pang Gang explained some things to them in detail, and then everyone dispersed.
When Pang Gang returned to the inner courtyard, Kong Ruolan, Wei Manting and other girls were already sitting in the small hall waiting for him to have a meal.
Looking at Ruolan, who was already four months pregnant and her belly was obviously bulging, Pang Gang quickly helped her sit down and scolded her lovingly: "It's true you guys, just eat first when you're hungry. There's no need to wait."
When your husband comes back, you are still pregnant, how can you be hungry?"
Because of her pregnancy, her original melon-shaped face gradually became rounder, and every smile carried a maternal glow.
Ruolan pursed her lips and said with a smile: "What are you talking about, husband? As the head of the family, you usually go out to fight. Now that you are back, how can I be so ignorant of etiquette? If you spread the word, wouldn't you be laughed at?"
Well, Sister Man Ting asked me if this is true?"
"Pfft!" Wei Manting laughed, "In my opinion, Ruolan is a girl who can only take food from two people, but she can't compete with us. What do you think, sir?" After saying this, Wei Manting's beautiful eyes turned pale towards Pang Gang.
One glance, and the meaning of sorrow and resentment is expressed in the words.
Pang Gang couldn't help but touch his nose and laughed brightly. He knew what Wei Manting meant very well. As the saying goes, the mother is more valuable than the son. Ruolan is pregnant now. If she gives birth to a son in a few months, he will be the eldest son.
In the future, I will inherit my family business.
No matter how magnanimous Wei Man Ting is, he will probably have some knots in his heart about this kind of thing, but Pang Gang also feels helpless. As God testifies, he has always been an average person in this kind of thing. Let alone Wei Man Ting, he
Enough effort has been put into Ling'er, Qiao'er, Li Xuezhu and even Chen Yuanyuan, but so far only Kong Ruolan has won the bid. What can he do?
Although Wei Manting is a generous person and Kong Ruolan is not a jealous person, and they are usually harmonious, but since they got married, the servants in the mansion and their subordinates have consciously divided into two factions. One faction is based on Kong Wen and his son.
Headed by this group, the people in this group are mainly businessmen from Qingzhou, and they are united because they have common interests in business.
The other faction is the official faction headed by Hua Yan. The reason is very simple. Wei Man Ting's father Wei is currently the governor of Shandong in the same year, and Wei Man Ting is a serious official lady, which naturally represents the power of scholars and the government. Hua
Yan and others have no reason not to support her.
Pang Gang was not unaware of the actions of the following people, but great men of later generations also said that factions in the party are full of strange things. Isn't it also said in the novel, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.
For this kind of thing, Pang Gang also knew that it was unavoidable and usually turned a blind eye. Now when he saw the resentful look on Wei Man Ting's head, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
In order to divert everyone's attention, Pang Gang turned to Kong Ruolan and said: "Ruolan, I plan to ask Brother You to accompany our delegation to the countries of the barbarians at the end of this month, that is, the Oubaluo Continent and his party. Let's see how it goes.
?”
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