The world of film and television begins with the God of Medicine.

Chapter 1541 Advice
"Your Majesty, this matter is entirely beneficial and without any drawbacks."

Wang Yan said, "It was all my audacity that led me to do this, under the guise of Your Majesty's grace. I don't need to hide anything. There are so many people involved in maritime trade, why can't Minister Hu do it? Why can't I do it?"
We can make a fortune by working quietly, and in the process of maritime trade, we can also build a powerful naval force. In addition, we should try to find some craftsmen to build some large ships, or even recreate the treasure ships that Zheng He sailed during his voyages.

They wouldn't go far, just to Southeast Asia. They heard there was plenty of grain there, while their own grain supply was scarce. By trading grain, they could control the Ming Dynasty's grain merchants and even disrupt the Grand Canal. This way, they could make money and ensure the people's livelihood.

With more grain, we can raise poultry and livestock, and even brew wine. Thus, this humble servant has raised more poultry and livestock..."

In the Yuxi Palace, Wang Yan spoke eloquently to Jiajing about the benefits of organizing a fleet for smuggling at sea, the crackdown on armed smuggling groups along the coast, and the control over the southeast.

Money, Jiajing wanted it. Stability, Jiajing wanted it. Greater power, Jiajing also wanted it.

Everything Wang Yan said was genuinely good; there wasn't a single bad thing about it. Even the worst issue—his reputation—was entirely his own responsibility. He claimed that Wang Yan had abused his power and acted on his own initiative, and that it had absolutely nothing to do with the Jiajing Emperor.

On the other hand, Wang Yan proved his ability to stir up trouble, get things done, and solve problems for Jiajing. Hu Zongxian fought for four or five years, eliminating the Japanese pirates and restoring peace to the coastal areas, demonstrating equally outstanding abilities.

In this way, Jiajing only needed to do two things: when Xu Jie was purging people in the southeast, he protected some of Hu Zongxian's people, and at the same time, he pretended not to know anything about other things.

At the same time, he maintained absolute control over Wang Yan and Hu Zongxian. After all, this kind of thing was punishable by death. Even without armed smuggling, Wang Yan had taken 100,000 taels of silver, which was enough to warrant execution.

Although the silver was collected from a fine he imposed for creating a fire hazard, anyone else, even the Jiajing Emperor himself, wouldn't have been able to collect it. But Wang Yan was the county magistrate, exercising official power, and any silver he collected was public funds. Therefore, his taking 100,000 taels of silver was embezzlement of public funds, and there was no arguing about it.

As for Jiajing himself, he was completely at ease, with no other risks except for the palace catching fire. Just like when Wang Yan collected cleaning fees, fines, and conducted field inspections in Daxing, he suffered no losses whatsoever.

Moreover, it's hard to say whether armed smuggling is more difficult, or the things Wang Yan did in Daxing are more difficult...

Jiajing's eyes lit up: "You're saying you can earn tens of millions of taels of silver a year?"

“Your Majesty, at the beginning our ships were small and our men were few, and our soldiers were not strong enough at sea. We need to grow stronger. Based on what I learned in Chun'an, if there are few accidents, a ship can earn tens of thousands of taels of silver a year. Let Minister Hu go back to his hometown and start doing this. He should be able to make two or three round trips and at least escort goods worth 100,000 taels of silver to the capital.”

If development proceeds smoothly, we can have two or three hundred thousand ships next year, and over five hundred thousand the year after. By then, Your Majesty should have a vast fleet that traverses the oceans, and a navy that is invincible at sea.

The "profit" that Wang Yan and Jiajing mentioned refers to net income. A net profit of 500,000 taels of silver per year would require a fairly large fleet with several thousand people, and a gross profit of over one million taels of silver. After deducting the various costs of ships, people, and goods, only 500,000 taels would remain.

At this point, saying they are invincible would be an exaggeration, but it is certain that they generally have no rivals at sea.

In particular, their development directions are different. The armed smuggling groups along the coast are mainly aimed at making money. The armed smuggling group proposed by Wang Yan is for the purpose of supporting personnel, building a navy capable of operating in the open ocean, eliminating other smuggling groups, blockading the sea frontier, and dealing with the powerful families in the southeast.

Jiajing nodded and then started talking about the scenery at sea.

This clearly means tacit approval, allowing Wang Yan and Hu Zongxian to proceed as they see fit.

But Wang Yan did not give up there. He turned to Jiajing and said, “Speaking of silver, Your Majesty, I have been thinking about the way of money circulation recently and have some insights. I would like to share them and ask Your Majesty for guidance.”

He glanced at the oblivious Wang Yan, but Jiajing, who was in a good mood because of the new source of income, didn't say anything. He just strolled to the window and felt the breeze.

So Wang Yan, being sensible, spoke directly: "Your Majesty, our Great Ming has little silver and not much copper. Among the wealthy families I searched, all of them had ornaments made of melted copper and silver. These wealthy families didn't spend the silver they earned, or rather, they spent less than they earned. They were simply too rich. They melted down all the extra money to enhance their family's foundation and accumulate wealth for their descendants."

Thus, the already scarce silver, copper, and gold, coupled with the continuous hoarding by these wealthy households, naturally exacerbated the shortage of money, leading to a money shortage. To put it simply, money was not circulating, or rather, its circulation was incomplete.

Because powerful and wealthy families are constantly seizing land and evading taxes. Even though only 500 mu are exempt from tax, they dare to claim 5,000 mu. Furthermore, the officials investigating and registering land use are often colluding, making it impossible to accurately determine the exact amount of land...

All of this resulted in the money that ordinary people worked so hard to earn ultimately ending up in the hands of these wealthy families. The Ming Dynasty court only collected a small fraction of it. How much silver was actually collected annually?

……

Your humble servant racked his brains for a solution, and finally thought of the precious paper money of my Great Ming Dynasty!

"Treasury notes?" Jiajing couldn't help but ask.

He listened to Wang Yan for a long time and took it all to heart, finding Wang Yan's words to be reasonable. Now, upon hearing about the precious paper money, his deep eyes flashed with a sharp light.

"No one recognizes the Ming Dynasty's precious paper money anymore. Everyone who issues it is disgusted. The people in the Precious Paper Money Management Office are all incredibly lazy and fat."

Even the Jiajing Emperor complained, and then asked, "Are you saying that the Ming Dynasty's paper money is actually worthless, and no one is willing to hoard it?"

"Your Majesty is wise and insightful."

Wang Yan praised it, saying, "The paper money of our Great Ming Dynasty is the best thing that could be done. What is money? It is nothing more than a value that people recognize. What does 'value' mean?... Gold, silver, and copper are inherently priceless, but our Great Ming Dynasty has given them value, and it is the people's recognition that gives them value, allowing them to be spent anywhere in the Great Ming... Paper money is the same..."

Therefore, after much deliberation and reflection, I believe that the failure of our Great Ming's paper money lies in over-issuance and the failure to recall it. We must recall the old and damaged paper money, issue paper money according to the national strength of our Great Ming, and plan for deficits, borrowing tomorrow's money to spend today.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty's paper money can circulate, preventing the people from rejecting it and avoiding it. It can also solve the Ming Dynasty's money shortage, making the Ming Dynasty even wealthier and stronger.

Emperor Jiajing frowned and pondered, remaining silent for a long time.

Because Wang Yan's words contain too many knowledge points, many concepts to understand, and the principles behind their operation to comprehend, it is not just one or two terms, but a whole set of logically rigorous theories, which requires a lot of time to understand.

So, while Jiajing was trying to understand, the sensible Lü Fang, like a curious child, started asking questions.

"Magistrate Wang, there are some things I didn't understand. Could you explain them to me again?"

"Father-in-law, please tell me."

Lü Fang didn't know what Jiajing didn't understand, but he knew what he didn't understand. So he thought very thoroughly about a series of issues, such as why there should be a deficit, how to increase the money supply, how much to increase, how to recover the deficit, anti-counterfeiting measures for the currency, nationwide issuance, public acceptance, supervision and regulation, and so on.

Lu Fang's position was certainly not given lightly; he possessed considerable administrative abilities. Even if he were sent to govern a local area, he would be able to make a significant impact. This was a combination of his understanding of systems, his grasp of interpersonal relationships, his personal insight and decision-making, and many other combined capabilities…

Lu Fang asked so many questions, and Wang Yan answered them one by one, taking even longer than he had explained them once before. He arrived in the morning, and now the sunset outside was ablaze with color.

Jiajing finally spoke: "Lü Fang, have the people in the Treasury of Paper Money obey his orders. You keep a close eye on things. First, produce the new paper money and promote it in Daxing. We'll see how things go before making any further decisions."

"Yes, master."

"Your Majesty, I will do my utmost to ensure the successful implementation of the paper money, so that our Great Ming Dynasty may become even more prosperous and powerful."

"Go ahead," Jiajing waved his hand.

Wang Yan bowed to Jiajing, nodded to Lü Fang, then turned and walked out of Yuxi Palace, escorted out of the palace by a young eunuch.

In truth, Wang Yan's rise in status is obvious. When he first entered the capital to meet Jiajing, he had to kneel to speak, his head half-raised, with a sense of unease emanating from behind him. Now, when he enters the palace to meet Jiajing, he only needs to kneel briefly upon entering, and then he can speak standing up.

As for Lü Fang personally seeing him off, there must have been something he wanted to do that Jiajing couldn't ask or say, so he came out to inquire and give some instructions.

Now, Wang Yan is always escorted in and out of the palace by Lü Fang's grandson, whose lineage is unknown. He walks quickly when he comes in and leisurely when he leaves. Since there's nothing much to do, he chats and enjoys the scenery along the way, which is quite peaceful and carefree.

Along the way, he encountered several high-ranking officials from the Six Ministries and Nine Courts who were handling official business. They all gave him friendly looks, smiling as if neither side had offended the other. In reality, however, Wang Yan had swindled money from these people.

"Greetings, Grand Secretary Gao." Wang Yan greeted Gao Gong politely with a cupped hand as he approached.

Gao Gong grunted and stood with his hands behind his back: "Magistrate Wang, you've been going to the palace quite frequently lately."

"Your Excellency, I have only been to the palace twice recently. Since I arrived in the capital, I have only been to the palace four times. How can you say it is frequent?"

"Stop talking nonsense." Gao Gong waved his hand impatiently. "The last time you entered the palace was when Hu Zongxian was imprisoned in the imperial prison. This time you entered the palace, Hu Zongxian was dismissed from his post and returned to his hometown. I heard that Hu Zongxian is living in your mansion. Wang Yan, you are trying to protect Hu Zongxian."

"Your Excellency is mistaken. It is His Majesty who is protecting Hu Zongxian, not me. I once served as the registrar in Chun'an and had a pleasant conversation with Hu Zongxian. I don't have many friends, so drinking and talking with Hu Zongxian, a retired high-ranking official, to learn from his experience is not a big deal."

Gao Gong laughed: "You can't talk to me, you have to talk to Grand Secretary Xu."

"He even hit his second son, what else is there to say?"

"I heard you privately call Grand Secretary Xu an old man?"

"Oh dear." Wang Yan feigned alarm. "They say one should be careful with one's words and actions, and it seems that this is indeed true. Even private jokes have reached Grand Secretary Gao. Does that mean Grand Secretary Xu knows about them too?"

"And what do you say about me?"

"I have the utmost respect for Your Excellency, and I have never spoken ill of you behind your back."

"It's fine to talk about it, who doesn't talk about others behind their backs? And who isn't talked about?" Gao Gong waved his hand. "You'd better watch yourself."

After saying that, Gao Gong turned and left, walking with a brisk and energetic gait, looking quite robust...

"Magistrate Wang, why didn't I understand what Grand Secretary Gao meant?" the young eunuch asked curiously. He knew that Wang Yan was a kind and easy-going person, and that he had been given silver right away, which was why he dared to ask.

Wang Yan chuckled and replied, "Take care of yourself. Grand Secretary Gao is warning me. He's not angry that you hit Grand Secretary Xu's second son, nor is he angry that you talk behind Grand Secretary Xu's back as an old man. But Grand Secretary Xu is very angry that you're protecting Hu Zongxian."

The young eunuch kept praising the important figure, but he spoke in veiled terms, never saying it directly...

Actually, Gao Gong's words were also interesting: he believed that Wang Yan shouldn't become Jiajing's new balancing tool, as he now had enemies everywhere and his end would be unfavorable...

Wang Yan's residence was not far from the county government office, only a few hundred meters away. It was a two-courtyard house, originally inhabited by relatives who participated in the assassination attempt on Wang Yan and were killed. Wang Yan then confiscated the house.

There was a pavilion in the courtyard, and the table was already full of food prepared by Wang Da and his son. Wang Yan and Hu Zongxian sat facing each other.

After hearing Wang Yan recount what had happened, Hu Zongxian bowed to the palace and downed a cup of wine, saying, "Your Majesty is wise indeed."

"The main task is still to be handled by Your Excellency. In addition, there is also the matter of supervision. The Imperial Guard will definitely have something to say. Your Excellency, there is no rush to leave. Let's discuss this carefully in the next few days and make sure to do this well. We cannot let His Majesty down."

Seeing that Wang Yan still couldn't resist flattering Jiajing in private, Hu Zongxian sighed, "It must be tough on you."

"Your Excellency, you are well aware of the ups and downs of officialdom. This is the foundation of my position. Otherwise, how could I, a mere scholar, have become the magistrate of Daxing County? How could I collect the sanitation fees and conduct field inspections? As long as I don't make any major mistakes, my position is actually the most secure."

"If you can see it clearly, then I won't try to persuade you anymore."

"When I went out today, I ran into Grand Secretary Gao, and he also advised me..."

Hu Zongxian couldn't help but sigh again: "You're right, my heart is like ashes, my body like a boat adrift..."

"My lord, from now on, the sea is wide enough for fish to leap and the sky is high enough for birds to fly..."

"I hope so."

"Yes for sure!"

Wang Yan raised his glass and drank with Hu Zongxian...

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