Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 324 Royal Bank, unlimited money printing!
When the news that the Kingdom of England had become the first European kingdom actually occupied by the Ming Dynasty reached the country, it shocked the cabinet and they all held a collective audience with the emperor.

Zhu Houcong was looking through the relevant files of Jiaozi of the Song Dynasty and Baochao of this dynasty. As wealth from all over the world continued to flow into the Ming Dynasty, the drawbacks of metal currencies such as gold, silver and copper gradually became apparent.

Shen!
For any transaction involving a value of one thousand taels or more, the transaction must be carried out using a cart and the power of oxen or horses.

Although the country has become more harmonious, there are still thieves and robbers in remote areas, which are prone to theft and robbery.

It is inconvenient for the people, and even more inconvenient for the court. Now the annual taxes of the Ming Dynasty are counted in billions.

In order to collect taxes for the imperial court, the court had to use hundreds of thousands of ox carts and horse carriages to transport them every year, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers had to escort them along the way.

It can be said that in order to collect taxes, nearly one million people "travel" at public expense every year, and the round-trip fare, salaries, and military pay alone amount to tens of millions of taels of silver.

Accounting for about half of the total tax revenue, the loss is huge.

If metal currencies such as gold, silver and copper are converted into paper money, this loss can be greatly reduced.

The Jiaozi of the Song Dynasty is too old and there is not much to learn from it, but there are many lessons to be learned from the Baochao of this dynasty.

The treasure notes issued during the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao have become a complete joke today.

Judging from the perspective of Zhu Houcong's two generations, there were roughly six reasons for Emperor Taizu Gao's failure.

First, there is a lack of reserves.

When Baochao was issued, it mainly relied on the credit of the court as a guarantee, and no reserve system was established.

This means that Baochao is not linked to precious metals such as gold and silver, and lacks stable value support.

Secondly, the circulation is out of control.

In order to meet the financial needs of the court and huge military expenditures, Emperor Taizu Gao, Emperor Jianwen and Emperor Chengzu Wen issued a large number of treasure notes.

He thought the imperial court could print unlimited money, but he didn't expect the treasure notes to depreciate rapidly as a result.

In just three dynasties and decades, the amount of treasure notes issued far exceeded the sum of the Ming Dynasty's taxes, economy and other resources. The treasure notes could not be exchanged for physical resources, which naturally caused serious inflation.

In order to save the Baochao, the imperial court immediately launched a "rescue", but it only exacerbated the failure of the Baochao.

In order to promote Baochao, the imperial court implemented a strict policy of banning gold, silver and copper coins, restricting the use of gold, silver and copper coins by the public.

Although this promoted the use of Baochao to a certain extent, it also limited the circulation scope and frequency of use of Baochao, and aggravated the depreciation of Baochao.

Secondly, the anti-counterfeiting measures of Baochao were seriously insufficient. Anti-counterfeiting methods such as stamping the banknotes had too low technical content and were too easy to forge. A large number of counterfeit banknotes flooded the market, which seriously affected the credibility of Baochao and its circulation.

Moreover, when the Ming Dynasty was established, the Central Plains had just experienced nearly a hundred years of plundering and looting by the Yuan court, and the people had nothing of value in their hands.

In addition, Emperor Taizu Gao's system of "promoting agriculture and suppressing commerce" also made merchants the lowest among all industries.

Therefore, in the early years of the dynasty, the market was small or even nonexistent, and most people still used the oldest method of barter to trade, so the demand for currency was limited.

The excessive issuance of Baochao led to the high cost of goods and money, further exacerbating the depreciation of Baochao.

The last point of failure was the impact of silver.

It is true that the sea ban was an ancestral system during the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao, but for two hundred years, ships of the imperial court, the royal family, princes and nobles, and major merchants such as Jin Huichao have never stopped going to sea.

With the development of trade between the East and the West in the world, silver gradually became the main currency in circulation. Its value was stable and was widely recognized by the Eastern and Western markets.

The court's trade and the smuggling of the upper class would inevitably affect the lower-class people. The depreciation of the treasure notes made the people of the Ming Dynasty more inclined to use silver for buying, selling and trading.

The above six points are most of the reasons for the failure of Emperor Taizu Gaohuangdi’s treasure notes. However, considering that Emperor Taizu Gaohuangdi himself was just a commoner from Huaiyou and did not have much cultural and economic knowledge in his mind, and that at that time, everything was in a state of revival and there were too many places in the world where money was needed, it is understandable that he was addicted to the joy of printing money.

As time passed, Zhu Houcong felt that these lessons learned seemed to be of little use during the Jiajing period.

Let’s talk about reserves first. Most of the world’s gold, silver and other resources flowed into the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, gold and silver dug out from large gold and silver mines such as the Sado Gold Mine and Iwami Silver Mine in Japan continued to flow into the Ming Dynasty.

As for the issue of circulation, there is no need to worry. The total value of gold, silver and other valuable items in the Ming Dynasty is already higher than the total value of the existing economy of the Ming Dynasty. As long as money is not printed continuously, there will be no problem.

Metals such as gold, silver, and copper have not been banned, even in the later days when paper money or even virtual currency was so prevalent. Gold has always been a representative of important currencies.

As for silver and copper, their values ​​have continued to depreciate as their mineral resources have increased and their production has become simpler. It can only be said that they have returned to their true value as metals.

Silver is still a precious metal, and copper is still a common metal, and their properties have not changed.

The problem of anti-counterfeiting exists for all currencies. There are fake gold, silver and copper coins. However, if the anti-counterfeiting on paper is handed over to the Jinyiwei and the Ministry of Works, there will definitely be no problem.

In the past two years, Jinyiwei has relied on spending lavishly to recruit and absorb countless craftsmen with various abilities at home and abroad, and has improved and even upgraded the skills in various industries.

It had a great impact on the careers of many craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty, and this had the most direct impact on the Ministry of Industry. How could an informant actually start an industry?

Therefore, after the Ministry of Works obtained the two national policies of "25,000 miles of straight roads" and "100,000 schools" and had abundant money, it began to have some ideas.

Without the imperial court's knowledge, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Ministry of Works quietly started an industrial competition. No matter whether it was popular or unpopular, as long as it involved craftsmanship, the two yamen would compete with each other.

When it comes to banknote anti-counterfeiting, there is no comparison between the Jinyiwei and the Ministry of Works, but they have definitely compared things related to it. Even if there is nothing, the two government offices can still put together a team for comparison.

If he can forge something under the anti-counterfeiting measures of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Ministry of Works, then there is no need for such a talent to forge counterfeit currency. Both government offices are willing to open their doors to him and hope for the recruitment of such a talent.

The current economic scale of the Ming Dynasty, with the liberalization of the household registration system, countless officials and common people are buying and selling things, and the economic scale is very large. Some shrewd businessmen are constantly opening up trade routes between the East and the West. One day, the economic scale of the Ming Dynasty will expand to the entire world. The last point is the impact of silver. Most of the silver in the world is in the hands of the court. Once the court shrinks, the silver in the private sector will also be taken back by the court one after another, and paper money will replace metal currency imperceptibly.

Zhu Houcong felt that it was time to create the first royal bank.

With huge reserves of gold and silver and powerful maritime power, when royal banks are spread all over the world, all economic risks of the Ming Dynasty will be passed on to the whole world.

It is not impossible to print unlimited money.

"Your Majesty, the ministers have arrived." Huang Jin, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot, reminded.

"Xuan!"

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, Li Chunfang, Hai Rui and Zhu Heng all bowed and praised the emperor.

This was also the first time that Hai Rui and Zhu Heng entered the palace to meet the emperor after entering the cabinet.

Huang Jin moved the embroidered cushion, and even with the years of temperament of Hai and Zhu, they were suddenly touched.

The scenery you see when standing or sitting in front of the emperor is different.

"Your Majesty, after the fireworks, Chen Weiming, the 'Western Caesar' created by the Jinyiwei and Chen Yiqin's Chen family, quickly invaded London, overthrew the Tudor dynasty, completed the restoration of the Norman dynasty, ascended the throne and was named 'Caesar I'.

As the King of England, he issued a letter of persuasion to all forces in the Kingdom of England. The islands of Great Britain and Ireland both recognized the rule of Caesar I. Now, Jinyiwei Commander Lu Bing and Chen Ping, the elder of the Chen family, have completed their expected tasks and requested the court to send a fleet of treasure ships to the West. After Hu Zongxian's judgment, he believed that one or two fleets of treasure ships should be sent to the strategic Atlantic Ocean. "

As the chief minister of the cabinet, Gao Gong spoke first to explain the cabinet's decision and the reasons for it.

Fireworks day.

That was the day when Gatsby, Little Fox and others blew up Queen Elizabeth I of England, the nobles of the House of Lords and the members of the House of Commons.

After Chen Weiming led the Irish army to attack London, he forced the royal family members of the Tudor dynasty to abdicate, turning the military seizure of royal power into a legal succession, which reduced the resistance in the hearts of the people of Great Britain. This was also the reason why the group of "warlords" on the British island were willing to surrender.

This means that there will be no large-scale liquidations or purges after Caesar I Chen Weiming ascends the throne.

The nobles are still nobles, the generals are still generals, the priests are still priests, and they can enjoy wealth and honor forever. Who would risk their lives for the dead Elizabeth I and the Tudor dynasty?

This also laid the prerequisite for the Ming Dynasty to incorporate the Kingdom of England into its territory in the future.

Since the Tudor dynasty could abdicate to the Norman dynasty, then Caesar I of the Norman dynasty could also abdicate the Norman dynasty to the Ming Dynasty.

In this way, the resistance of the British and Irish islanders to joining other countries can be minimized and the "swallowing" can be achieved.

In order to let the British islanders vent their anger, Caesar I Chen Weiming found Gatsby, Little Fox and twelve others, and executed them all opposite the collapsed Westminster Palace.

In response to the demands of the British islanders, they were first hanged, then beheaded, disemboweled, their internal organs burned, and finally quartered.

But the original "wish" of these twelve people was fulfilled. Caesar I Chen Weiming recognized that church believers, Protestant believers, and believers of all faiths enjoyed equal rights and treatment.

On the islands of Great Britain and Ireland in the Kingdom of England, all religions and believers are equal, and there is no more discrimination.

Europa is the continent of faith. Through the madness of Gatsby, Little Fox and others, we can see that the power of faith is infinite.

But in many cases, the right to believe is not in the hands of ordinary people.

During the reign of Henry VIII, the main religion of the Kingdom of England was still the church, and everyone was a church member.

But just when the people were used to believing in the church, Henry VIII died and Elizabeth I became queen. Because Elizabeth I believed in Protestantism, the main belief changed. Protestantism became the main belief, and people changed their habits and began to believe in Protestantism.

Before Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, other beliefs were popular in the Kingdom of England. As long as they exist, even if they disappear later, they will always leave traces.

Caesar I respected all kinds of beliefs, and freedom of belief was something that no previous English king had granted to ordinary people.

Caesar I Chen Weiming's fame also reached its peak at that time.

After so many days of research and analysis, Hu Zongxian, the deputy minister of the cabinet and the designer of the world strategy of the Ming Dynasty, believed that they should develop the Atlantic Ocean while developing the Indian Ocean.

The geographical location of the British Isles and the Irish Isles is really excellent. To the east is the European continent, to the west is the American continent, and to the south is the African continent.

The treasure fleet of the Ming Dynasty could restrict the three continents by resupplying on the two islands, but considering the small population on the small islands, it was already the limit for Great Britain and Ireland to supply two treasure fleets.

Zhu Houcong never doubted Hu Zongxian's strategic vision. He nodded and said, "The eleventh treasure fleet is guarding our sea areas, the tenth treasure fleet is guarding our Malacca Strait, the first, second... ninth treasure fleets are all in the South Asian subcontinent, and the first treasure fleet has been in the South Asian subcontinent for a long time. We will still use the first treasure fleet as the pioneer to open up the sea areas to the west and explore the Atlantic Ocean."

There were too many ashes of the Mughal Empire. The first treasure fleet that landed on the South Asian subcontinent had more than ten killing karmas on its hands and was stained with blood.

Temporarily leaving the South Asian subcontinent, whether it was to adjust the mentality of the naval soldiers or to dispatch the most elite troops to conduct strategic operations, the First Treasure Ship Fleet was always the most suitable treasure ship fleet to go to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Kingdom of England had just experienced the economic crisis caused by the Tulip Bubble and the trauma caused by the war that destroyed the Duyi Dynasty. It could only withstand the supply of two treasure fleets at most, but out of caution, it was undoubtedly the safest to have one treasure fleet lead the way.

"We obey your order." Gao Gong and Hu Zongxian stood up at the same time and bowed to receive the order.

Zhu Houcong motioned for the two to sit down, looked at Hai Rui, and asked, "How is the construction of the school going?"

Hai Rui immediately stood up and replied, "Your Majesty, more than half of the 100,000 community schools have been built, especially in the affluent areas such as Jiangnan. The designated community schools have basically been built and put into use. After the teachers have learned simplified Chinese characters and phonetic notation, they educate the students. The number of scholars in our Ming Dynasty is increasing by more than 10,000 every day. Your Majesty's grace is overwhelming!"

(End of this chapter)