Chapter 416: The Urgency of the Central Bank of Ming Dynasty
Zhong Jinwei recalled while saying: "Since the Ming Dynasty implemented the One Whip Law, it has been stipulated that all taxes must be paid in silver. This is where the problem lies."
After hearing this, Wen Tiren interjected: "But the money is not enough to pay taxes?" He had heard about this, so he said this.
Zhong Jinwei turned to Wen Tiren and nodded, then continued: "Yes. Shaanxi is located inland, and commerce is not very developed, so the circulation of silver taels is not very active. And every year, taxes are collected in silver taels, resulting in less and less silver taels in Shaanxi.
.”
When he said this, he turned back to look at Emperor Chongzhen and explained a basic phenomenon to him: "If there are too few silver taels, the value of the silver taels will rise, otherwise the silver taels will become cheap. This is actually the same as banknotes. It's just that the difference between the two
The difference is that banknotes can be issued infinitely, while the mining of silver coins is limited. Therefore, the degree of devaluation of banknotes can be infinite, but there is an upper limit for silver coins, and it is impossible to depreciate infinitely."
Emperor Chongzhen nodded after hearing this, he understood the truth.
"So in Shaanxi, silver taels are getting more and more expensive. Originally, people might only need half of the income from cultivating an acre of land in silver taels to pay taxes. But later, because silver taels became more expensive, they would need more than half, or even all or all of it.
There was not enough silver to exchange for taxes, so the people eventually turned to thieves because they could not afford the taxes."
When Zhong Jinwei said this, his face looked a little heavy, and he said to Emperor Chongzhen and Wen Tiren: "Those who have land cannot afford to pay taxes, especially those who rely on renting crops. And this phenomenon is universal, and it will affect everyone.
There is a shortage of enough silver in places. I remember that it seems that this situation will eventually spread to the whole country, and a large-scale silver shortage will occur throughout the Ming Dynasty."
Wen Tiren frowned and flared his nose slightly, thinking that this was really a troublesome matter. However, he had doubts and asked Zhong Jinwei: "Marquis Zhongxing, you said this phenomenon will occur in the entire Ming Dynasty. Do you think it will also happen in Jiangnan?"
Will it?"
Jiangnan was the most prosperous area of the Ming Dynasty. If a silver shortage occurred here, the consequences would be disastrous. Emperor Chongzhen also looked serious and stared at Zhong Jinwei slightly nervously to see how he would reply.
Zhong Jinwei nodded to Wen Tiren and said: "Yes, it will also happen in Jiangnan, because the largest source of silver in Jiangnan is overseas trade rather than silver mining. I wonder if Mr. Wen still remembers the world situation I talked about before?"
Wen Tiren didn't know why Zhong Jinwei mentioned this again, but he still nodded and said: "I remember everything."
"Westerners can make a lot of money by plundering the wealth of backward countries, obtaining enough silver, gold and other items, and then exchanging porcelain, silk and other items with the Ming Dynasty and selling them back to the country. In other words, the silver taels pass through the hands of Westerners
, circulated throughout the Ming Dynasty."
Zhong Jinwei told them one by one the history he read on the Internet: "In this way, the money obtained by these Westerners went to the Ming Dynasty and was rarely shipped to their home countries. And if their home countries' economies develop,
There must be enough silver taels, otherwise it will restrict their country's greater development. In other words, the shortage of silver taels will restrict their country's development. At the beginning, they will not feel it, but they will eventually find it."
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he couldn't help but ask: "So the emperor ordered that the silver they earned could only be transported back to the country?"
Zhong Jinwei nodded to Emperor Chongzhen and said: "Exactly, it seems that Spain, I don't remember very clearly, first issued an order requiring Spanish governors around the world to transport silver taels back to the country, which led to the gradual reduction of silver taels imported into the Ming Dynasty.
, causing the silver shortage in the Ming Dynasty."
Emperor Chongzhen's brows furrowed deeply. He still has no ability to change this kind of thing.
"Marquis Zhongxing, is this also a currency war launched by other countries against the Ming Dynasty?" Wen Tiren suddenly said.
Zhong Jinwei was stunned after hearing this, and then nodded, Wen Tiren was so awesome, he hadn't thought about it yet: "Yes, but they didn't do this deliberately, it was just a side effect on the Ming Dynasty due to their own needs.
I believe that no one in this world understands currency wars and will not initiate or prevent such currency wars."
This matter actually involves the concepts of trade surplus and deficit, but Zhong Jinwei did not mention it, so as to prevent the two people in front of him from not understanding and asking questions. His focus now is not to teach them economic concepts.
"Master Zhong, I have decided to speed up the process of replacing banknotes with silver coins. The Royal Bank of the Ming Dynasty will do as you say."
Emperor Chongzhen spoke firmly and forcefully. He believed in Zhong Jinwei and there was no need to lie to him about this matter. Moreover, the logic in it made sense. Even if it did not happen now, it might happen in the future. Emperor Chongzhen could not tolerate this situation happening.
Hence the decision.
Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen had made the decision, Zhong Jinwei felt happy and said: "Your Majesty, after becoming the leader, the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty will no longer handle ordinary business, but it can also have another business through which to operate domestic finance.
Solve the problem of currency quantity that I just mentioned."
This was actually said before entering the Wei Dynasty at this hour, but the specific method was still relatively vague. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen asked with concern: "What business?"
Talking to Zhong Jinwei, I also learned new terms one after another.
"I don't want to mention the bank's bank account number, so I'll always use the bank instead." Zhong Jinwei had to say two names every time, which made him very awkward as he came from a later generation.
Emperor Chongzhen did not worry about this and nodded to let him continue.
"The most common thing for ordinary banks is to handle deposits and loans. They give people interest on deposits and charge the interest difference on the people's interest on loans..."
Before Zhong Jinwei finished speaking, he was interrupted by Wen Tiren: "Marquis Zhongxing, this deposit also needs to pay interest to the people? Now the Ming Dynasty seems to charge a bank custody fee, which is collected from the people."
Zhong Jinwei was startled when he heard this. It turns out that banks have not evolved completely yet. He said with a slight embarrassment: "Ah, it turns out that the banks in Ming Dynasty are still in their initial stages. If this doesn't work, it will definitely become a way to pay interest to the people in the future.
"
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he was surprised and asked: "Master Zhong, wouldn't this be a loss? These bankers shouldn't be so stupid?"
Zhong Jinwei laughed when he heard it. Although Emperor Chongzhen was smart, he could not understand everything at once.
He explained in detail: "Your Majesty, what is the biggest strength of banks is how much money they have on hand to lend out. If they charge deposit custody fees, then wealthy people will be less willing to deposit money in banks, and banks will
There is less money that can be loaned out. If banks pay a little interest to people who are willing to deposit, then it is conceivable that not only will the money be safer in the bank, but there will also be interest. In this way, there will naturally be more people
I’m willing to deposit money in the bank.”
This matter is common sense to people in later generations, but to people in the Ming Dynasty, it was still quite novel.
However, the two people in the hall were both smart people. After Zhong Jinwei explained it, they all understood. Wen Tiren asked Zhong Jinwei: "The key is that the interest rate on the loan is high enough to make up for the interest paid on the deposit?"