In fact, Xia Yuanji's words are not alarmist at all. As the Minister of Household Affairs who has managed the Ming Dynasty's finances for more than ten years, Xia Yuanji knows very well that the Yongle Dynasty's ancient civil and military achievements are based on overdrafting national power - to put it bluntly, it is abuse.
Issue treasure banknotes
China is a country with a severe shortage of precious metals. The issuance of banknotes by the imperial court is nothing new in history. The earliest currency - the white deer skin coin - appeared during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. By the Song and Yuan Dynasties, banknotes became the national currency system.
An important component. But before this dynasty, the rulers of all dynasties attached great importance to the credit issue of paper currency - because they were using national credit as a guarantee to make the people accept paper money as a substitute for gold, silver and copper coins. Once the paper money depreciated significantly,
, the wealth of the people disappeared in an instant, and their resentment was enough to overturn the river and the sea, overturning the entire country.
Therefore, the rulers of the past dynasties did not know that the excessive issuance of banknotes could easily seize people's wealth and enrich the state. However, they all knew that the bankruptcy of banknote credit was equivalent to the bankruptcy of national credit, and could even lead to the destruction of the country. Therefore, there is no such thing as nothing.
When there is still a way to go, you will never drink poison to quench your thirst... Even the despised Mongolian Yuan Dynasty did not give up the reserve system until the country was in chaos and the end of the regime was approaching, and began to issue banknotes indiscriminately in an attempt to exhaust
People and wealth, carried out the final madness. But the result was that even the northern people, especially the Semu people, who originally supported them, regarded them as enemies. This made Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition proceed extremely smoothly...
After the Ming Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, it was supposed to learn from the lessons of the previous dynasty and be more cautious about the issuance of banknotes. However, the ruler of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, did not listen to the advice of knowledgeable people in the court and banned the use of gold and silver trade among the people.
The issued Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes were designated as the only currency. There was no issuance limit, no issuance reserve, and they could not be cashed into gold and silver. This laid a serious hidden danger for the financial crisis of the Ming Dynasty.
At the beginning of the issuance of Baobao, due to the expulsion of the Tartars and the restoration of China, the prestige of Emperor Hongwu and the credibility of the Ming Dynasty were at their highest, so the currency value of Baobao was relatively stable, and the people still recognized this kind of paper money. But during the Ming Dynasty,
Another shortcoming of the North Korean banknote law, the reverse banknote law, triggered the first inflation ten years after the issuance of the treasure banknotes.
At first, due to the phenomenon of damaged and fainted currency issued one after another, in the ninth year of Hongwu, the imperial court established the law of counterfeit banknotes and set up bank treasuries in various places to collect and exchange damaged banknotes. But four years later, it also stipulated the exchange of fainted banknotes.
According to the boundaries of banknotes, all banknotes with face value and legible characters can continue to be used. This makes it basically impossible for ordinary people to exchange old banknotes for new ones.
Although the court stipulates that people are not allowed to reject old banknotes or discount old banknotes, in fact, the government only collects new banknotes for tax collection, while the private sector uses old banknotes at reduced prices or even refuses to use them. This creates a price difference between the old and new banknotes.
, causing currency devaluation and damaging the court's credibility.
By the end of Hongwu, a brand-new treasure banknote could only be exchanged for 400 yuan. In Jiangxi, Fujian and other places, it could only be exchanged for about 250 yuan. In the past twenty years, the currency had depreciated by 60%, making the people afraid of treasure banknotes.
Like a tiger. It’s just that the Chinese people are more afraid of Zhu Yuanzhang, who is murderous, so they can only endure it silently... But in general, Zhu Yuanzhang still cherishes the credibility of the court and is considerate of the people. He does not regard treasure banknotes as a means of plundering people’s wealth.
Under such an extremely shameless banknote method, it is already an incredible miracle that 40% of the face value is still left after twenty years.
In the Yongle Dynasty, Emperor Yongle, who was determined to be the emperor for eternity and prove that he was the best successor to the Ming Dynasty, began a grand project that shocked the past and the present. He conquered Mongolia, conquered Annan, built canals, built grand ceremonies, and went to the Western Ocean to expand the Western Regions.
, building the city of Beijing, cultivating the martial arts temple in Wudang Mountain... any of these things would be enough for an emperor to glorify him for a lifetime, but Zhu Di achieved all of them to the extreme in just over ten years, making the Ming Dynasty's civil and martial arts reach great heights.
Han and Tang Dynasties, unparalleled
But behind these great achievements was the rapid depletion of the Ming Dynasty's national power and people's wealth. In fact, in a few years, Zhu Di spent all the rich family wealth left by his father, and not a single copper was left in the treasury. The Yongle Dynasty's major projects
They are still running vigorously and non-stop. This is of course not an incredible miracle, but is supported by a shameless bad policy - the indiscriminate issuance of treasure money.
The Yongle court issued treasure banknotes and implemented a gangster policy of only going out but not entering. All payments made by the court, such as official salary and military salary, purchase of supplies, and employment of civilians, were all paid with treasure banknotes. However, when the court collected taxes, it was only willing to accept in kind or copper coins.
, only accepting a small amount of new banknotes, or simply not accepting precious banknotes. This is simply a naked robbery of the people's wealth, and the result can be imagined - the wealth of the people of the Ming Dynasty was robbed, and the treasure banknotes have also become the same.
waste paper
From the last years of Hongwu, when new banknotes were worth four hundred cents, to now, new banknotes are only worth twenty or thirty cents, and the old banknotes are even worthless. In just over ten years, the value of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes has depreciated by two cents.
Ten times, the wealth represented by those treasure banknotes will naturally disappear... In fact, although the imperial court repeatedly ordered not to use gold and silver to trade in order to maintain the status of the treasure banknotes, the merchants would rather risk imprisonment than take the risk to use gold and silver.
Transactions. Ordinary people would rather use primitive barter than use hard-to-wipe treasure money... As for the enforcers and defenders of laws and regulations, Ming officials have long only recognized
Gold and silver no longer recognize treasure notes.
The day when the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes were completely abandoned by the people was really not far away... As the Minister of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty, Xia Yuanji was naturally worried about this. In order to promote the treasure banknotes, he ordered the treasure banknote promotion department to suspend the issuance of new banknotes.
On the one hand, it revised the law of dumping banknotes and intensified the recycling of stale banknotes. At the same time, it tried its best to implement the 'household banknote salt method' and 'door stall course method', allowing people to buy salt with treasure banknotes and allowing merchants to use banknotes to pay to door stalls.
Lesson. Forcing businessmen and ordinary people to use banknotes barely prevented the cliff-like decline in the value of treasure banknotes.
Little did he know that the emperor was going to issue a large amount of treasure banknotes again. Xia Yuanji knew that if the amount was exceeded this time, the value of the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes that had just been restored would be completely destroyed. More importantly, the credit of the imperial court would be completely bankrupt.
This will not only cause the Ming Dynasty treasure money to be completely abandoned by the Chinese people, but will also cause a series of serious consequences that are simply unimaginable...
'Even if he risked his life, he still had to stop the emperor. Xia Yuanji had always been very obedient to the emperor and basically responded to his requests for many years. But Zhu Di really broke through his bottom line this time, allowing Xia Shangshu, who had always regarded Zunzhi as a loyal emperor, to
Can't give in anymore
After hearing the emperor's scolding, Xia Yuanji hurriedly knelt down on his knees, but still had the courage to say: "Your Majesty, I must be clear that I am not an alarmist. The consequences of many years of unrestrained issuance of money are that the Ming Dynasty's banknotes are almost worthless.
It has almost withdrawn from the daily transactions of officials, merchants and common people, and no one will regard it as a store of wealth." He ignored the emperor's increasingly darker face, and then poured out the words he had been holding in for many years: "The emperor is the king of Yao and Shun.
, I often teach ministers to cherish the people, but I think that forcibly paying them treasures that neither the government nor the people will accept in exchange for the fruits of their labor is tantamount to robbery with open fire. Now the people in the world are extremely resentful about this matter.
Importantly, the top priority is to channel this emotion rather than continue to intensify the contradiction. Your Majesty, please stop issuing new banknotes for ten years and only allow old banknotes to be exchanged for new ones. Then the value of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes will definitely rebound."
It should be said that Xia Yuanji's heartfelt words were spoken from the bottom of his heart. All the ministers nodded secretly, but Zhu Di was very unhappy. First, Xia Yuanji said that he robbed the people, which made Zhu Di, who regarded himself as a wise king, embarrassed. Secondly, Xia Yuanji
If he actually asked him not to issue money for ten years, wouldn't that mean he has to tighten money for ten years? I am already over fifty, how can I still have so much time to wait?
This is Xia Yuanji. If he had been replaced by another minister, Zhu Di would have exploded a long time ago. But Xia Yuanji is irreplaceable. Ming Dynasty's finances have ten cups and seven lids, and they can't do anything without him. Zhu Di could only swallow his anger and said
: "The Qing family said that treasure banknotes are worthless. Isn't it an exaggeration?"
"I really exaggerated." Xia Yuanji said: "In the capital, new banknotes are always worth eighteen cents. In Beijing, because there are millions of people receiving imperial salary, the discount of treasure banknotes is even greater. On average, new banknotes are always worth 18 cents.
The banknote can be worth eleven copper coins. If it is an old banknote, it can only be worth two, three, one or two copper coins, and it may even be impossible to spend it."
"That's still worthless." Zhu Di couldn't help it. His obsessive-compulsive disorder, which was because he wanted to prove that he was a perfect emperor, broke out again. He glanced at the ministers and asked loudly: "Is this really the case?"
All the ministers lowered their heads one after another. No one dared to take this issue, but their performance undoubtedly proved that what Xia Yuanji said was true...
"How could this be?" Zhu Di slumped down on the dragon chair and muttered a few words to himself. All the ministers in the golden palace held their breath and did not dare to take a breath for fear that they would become the emperor's punching bag.
Fortunately, it only took a few breaths for Zhu Di to adjust his mood, regain his composure again, and asked coldly: "Who gave them the courage to be so contemptuous of my Ming Dynasty treasure money?"
"Reporting to the emperor, there are many reasons." Xia Yuanji explained duty-bound: "But generally speaking, because the treasure banknotes have depreciated almost fifty times in the past forty years, no one will use the treasure banknotes anymore.
.”
"What's the point of not using treasure money?" Zhu Di said in a dull voice.
"The common people barter, and the merchants trade gold and silver..." Xia Yuanji said.
"Gold and silver?" Zhu Di stared and said: "Our Ming Dynasty ancestral system does not allow gold and silver to circulate in the market, but those cunning businessmen ignore the national law and continue to circulate gold and silver. This is the reason why the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes depreciated." He said fiercely
He glared at Xia Yuanji fiercely and said, "You are putting the cart before the horse, and your intentions are worthy of death."
"I don't dare..." Although he had made up his mind to tell the truth to the emperor even if he offended Tianyan, Xia Yuanji still broke into a cold sweat when he heard Zhu Di's comments.