Chapter 31 Treasure Banknote War - Establishing Military Order
After leaving the door of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the guards Yang Feng and Chen Xing whispered: "Your Highness came to the Ministry of Household Affairs to discuss the reform of Baoqian today, right?"
Chen Xing glanced at Yunxi and said, "Yeah, what's wrong?"
Yang Feng said: "This salt and iron are also things that everyone needs. Why not bind the treasure notes with salt and iron? Aren't salt and iron also needed by everyone?"
Chen Xing said: "Then how do I know?"
At this time, Yunxi, who was walking in front, heard them talking and turned around and asked, "Chen Xing, what are you two talking about?"
Yang Feng was the first to reply: "I'm asking why you don't tie the treasure notes and salt and iron together. Don't everyone need salt and iron?"
Yunxi said: "Salt is not good. Now the Kaichu Law is implemented. In order to encourage merchants to transport grain to the border, all salt is sold to merchants who transport grain to the border. This is related to the food security of the border. Your Majesty will not agree to it.
Treasure notes and salt are tied together."
Yunxi still had something to say. Compared with food, salt is easier to preserve and smaller in size. The seasonal changes in price are not as big as that of food (it can be said that the price of salt will not change due to seasonal changes), and it is also
If necessary, ordinary citizens are likely to exchange large amounts of treasure banknotes, which will defeat the purpose of allowing citizens to hold treasure banknotes.
"As for iron, it's not good either." Yunxi just said this about iron and stopped talking. Although others were curious, they didn't dare to ask and could only have doubts in their hearts.
The reason why iron cannot be used as the benchmark of the standard is partly the same as that of table salt, but the most important reason is that the output of iron is too small and the circulation of treasure banknotes is too large. The average price of one stone of iron in the Ming Dynasty was 1.5 taels of silver, and it may be even lower in the early Ming Dynasty.
According to the ratio of one tael of silver to four guan of treasure banknotes, it is equivalent to using six guan of treasure banknotes to exchange for one stone of iron.
In the late Hongwu period, the annual iron output was about 20,000 tons, or about 170,000 shi. In this way, only more than one million guan of treasure notes could be exchanged for a year's output. At this time, the stock of treasure notes exceeded 30 million guan.
, coupled with the huge private demand for iron, the country also needs a large amount of iron. The stock of iron is very small, and it is impossible to suppress the depreciation of treasure banknotes. It is estimated that it will be gone as soon as it is put into the market.
And if the supply is limited, whether it is iron or salt, it will inevitably end up being that only people with connections can exchange it, and others cannot exchange it. Ordinary people or ordinary businessmen will not hold on to it if they know that they cannot exchange it.
There are treasure notes. In comparison, the reserves of grain are relatively large, and the ability to withstand shocks is greater.
At this time, Lao Zhu was approving the memorial in Jinshen Hall. Yunxi walked to the door of Jinshen Hall and walked in directly. When Lao Zhu saw Yunxi coming in, he asked kindly: "Why is Yunxi back now?"
Yunxi also replied with a smile: "Why don't you ask grandpa to pay attention to this?" Then he talked about the demand for food in a serious tone.
After Zhu Yuanzhang heard Yunxi's words, his face immediately became serious. He said: "It is estimated that 1.8 million shi of grain will be needed in ten days, and it is not expected that the number of people who will redeem it will decrease in the future. Now a total of 1.8 million shi of grain will be issued nationwide.
How many Guanbao notes?"
"Grandpa Huang, according to statistics from the Treasure Bank Collection Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the total is at least 30 million guan."
Lao Zhu said: "I will collect about 24 million dan in taxes next year, of which about 12 million dan will be used for food. In ten days, 1.8 million dan will be consumed. If this is the case, then that's it.
But the total circulation of treasure banknotes exceeds 30 million coins. What if people keep exchanging them in the future and the national treasury is empty?"
Yunxi also felt that it was difficult, but as a person with the memory of later generations, he knew that paper money was the general trend, and the profits from paper money were unimaginable, so he would never give up. Moreover, if he did not work hard to restore the credit of the banknotes now, he would wait a few times in the future.
When he succeeds to the throne in 2016, the price will be even harder to pay and the price will be even greater.
Yunxi thought for a moment and said to Lao Zhu: "As long as the treasure banknotes are stabilized, the country will gain a fortune out of thin air."
Lao Zhu interrupted him: "Yunxi, although I don't read much, I also understand the huge benefits of treasure money, but what we need to solve now is to ensure that the country's granary will not be emptied."
Yunxi said: "The country's current grain reserves are about 10 million dan. The autumn grain harvest will start soon, and the taxable grain will be about 4 million dan. It will take about 5.5 million dan to support the summer grain harvest next year. In addition, for
In preparation for war and other emergencies, there are about seven million stones of food that cannot be moved."
Lao Zhu heard that his calculation was correct and nodded without saying anything.
Yunxi continued: "The most important thing to stabilize the value of treasure banknotes is to give the people confidence that they will not be able to redeem much food. We can further reduce the number of cities, excluding Jinan and Kaifeng, and the remaining eight cities will be exchanged for food."
The number of mouths is reduced to five, so the food required for the first ten days is reduced to 720,000 shi."
"In addition, after sufficient preparations were made in various places, the exchange began together, and a large amount of grain was piled in the open air at the place where grain was exchanged to give the people confidence."
"At the same time, the imperial guards and others spread rumors among the people, saying that the imperial court has countless grains, which are enough to exchange. They can also say that the imperial court may restore the value of the treasure banknotes in the future, but now they will lose money if they exchange the treasure banknotes. Wait for rumors to confuse the people.
"
These methods are all the tricks of later generations, and the common people understand them. But although the common people today are not stupid, they have too little experience to understand these things, so they can still frighten the common people.
Lao Zhu was also from ancient times and had never seen such a method. However, the method of spreading rumors during rebellion was similar. After thinking about it for a while, Lao Zhu understood the truth and immediately had a higher evaluation of Yunxi's IQ.
But Lao Zhu was very cautious in doing things. After thinking for a moment, he still rejected Yunxi's method: "Your method is still risky and cannot be adopted."
Yunxi still refused to give up: "Grandpa Emperor, all the dynasties of the Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties issued banknotes, and they ensured the stability of the banknotes even when there was no trouble inside and outside the country. They will not fail."
Lao Zhu still shook his head and said: "The success of the previous dynasty does not mean that this dynasty will be suitable."
Yunxi had the last resort. He knelt down and said, "Grandpa Huang, please trust me this time. If it fails in the end, I would rather not be involved in political affairs from now on." This put pressure on his own future, including that of the emperor.
The position of grandson.
Lao Zhu sensed Yun Xi's determination from his words, but Lao Zhu would not allow him to put pressure on him. Even if Yun Xi failed this time, it did not mean that he was not good enough. Lao Zhu would not give up easily on someone he had identified.
He said: "Then I will give you a food limit of two million shi. After one month from the beginning, as long as you can make the exchange amount of grain in one city less than 500 shi per day, you will be considered successful. The city you set at the beginning will be
There is no need for more, just Beijing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, these cities are nearby and easy to contact; and in the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, people have enough food at home, so there will not be much demand for exchange."
After a pause, Lao Zhu added: "Don't make such promises frequently in the future. Life is so long and anything can happen. Even if you fail this time, grandpa will not blame you."
After hearing these words full of care and love from the elders for the younger generation, Yunxi was immediately moved. Human beings are not grass and trees, how can they be ruthless. Yunxi, who was full of emotions, immediately had red circles in his eyes: "Grandpa..."
Lao Zhu clapped his hand and said: "You are my chosen successor, and the entire country will be yours in the future. Regardless of success or failure this time, it will be a valuable experience for you, which will be beneficial to you in governing the country in the future."
."
Yunxi wiped the corners of his eyes and said, "Then I'll go down and get ready. Today is September 20th, and I'll try to start on the first day of October."
Lao Zhu nodded and said, "Okay, then go down and prepare."
Yunxi bowed and was about to leave. Before he turned around and left, Lao Zhu warned: "As a superior, you can control the overall situation. You can leave other matters to your subordinates. You only need to be responsible for supervising the final results.
There is no need to do everything personally; in addition, I have already instructed the information about the "Military Academy" to be returned to the Ministry of War, and it is up to you to handle it. You should also pay attention to it. This matter is also very important. If there is anything you don't understand or can't handle, you can
Ask the minister, minister, etc. more; if you are unclear about the overall situation, you can ask me at any time."
After Yunxi heard the instructions, seeing that Lao Zhu had nothing else to say, he turned around and went out.