Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 100 The era of great reform is here! Take the crucial first step!
The twenty-fifth year of Hongwu.

The second day of the tenth month of the lunar calendar.

Early in the morning, officials coming to the Prince of Wu's palace squeezed through the gate.

Songjiang Prefecture reported that Japanese pirates had invaded a few months ago, and the court had ordered the reinforcement of the city walls and coastal defenses. However, a total of more than 700,000 taels of silver were needed. Songjiang Prefecture raised more than 400,000 taels on its own, and still needed more than 300,000 taels from the court.

The Hangzhou government reported that floods had occurred frequently in recent years and rivers had overflowed, and that dikes needed to be repaired this winter for defense. The court allocated more than 600,000 taels of silver.

The Taiyuan Prefecture reported that in order to prevent the Northern Yuan Dynasty from invading from the south, it wanted to move immigrants to the border to strengthen border defense, and that it would require the court to allocate more than three million taels of silver.

……

Last night, I ordered Yao Guangxiao to seal the account books and storehouses of the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Revenue no longer withdrew silver. Naturally, officials from various ministries and governments came to the King of Wu to ask for money.

……

"The Ministry of Public Administration received 1,652 memorials, of which more than 800 were requests for appropriations from the court, and more than 200 were requests for tax reductions and exemptions."

"The total amount of funds requested is more than 37.6 million taels."

"The total amount of tax reduction requested is more than 8.6 million shi."

After a night of hard work, Yang Shiqi had sorted out all the memorials.

He had just finished his report when someone came from outside to report.

"Minister of Revenue Zhao Mian and Minister of Works Yan Zhenzhi request to see you."

Zhu Yunxun immediately let them in. After the greetings were completed, he asked with a smile, "You two adults have come here hand in hand, but what is the matter?"

Zhao Mian glanced at Yan Zhenzhi, who stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, last year there was too much rain along the Yangtze River, causing floods everywhere."

"Fortunately, with God's blessing, the final loss was still within an acceptable range."

"But we must be prepared for floods."

"I will soon petition the court to reinforce the Yangtze River dike this winter to prevent flooding next year."

"His Majesty has already approved this matter. It is already October, so construction will begin soon."

"But today when I went to the Ministry of Revenue to withdraw the silver and grain needed to repair the river embankment, I found that the Ministry's warehouse was sealed."

"I went to see the Minister of Revenue Zhao Mian again, but he said that the Ministry of Revenue had no money and could not allocate silver."

"The order to build the levee has already been issued."

"Some of the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers are on their way."

"What should we do if they say we don't have money to repair the dike at this time?"

He beat his hands repeatedly, obviously extremely anxious.

Zhu Yunhuan turned his gaze to the Minister of Revenue Zhao Mian and asked, "What's going on?"

Zhao Mian stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, it's not that I don't want to give him money, it's just that the Ministry of Revenue has no money!"

"Last year, the total tax revenue of the imperial court was only over 26 million taels of silver."

"After deducting the salaries of officials, the wages of soldiers, the construction of city defenses, disaster relief, and rewards to meritorious officials and generals, there is still some surplus."

"The Ministry of Revenue now has over 5 million taels of silver in its bank account."

"This is the only wealth the court has."

"You have to keep some for emergencies, right?"

"In case of war or disaster, the court can also use it."

"But Lord Yan asked for three million taels of silver as soon as he opened his mouth."

"If I give it to Lord Yan, the Ming Dynasty's treasury will be basically empty."

"If there is an emergency and the court can't provide money, what should we do?"

"Anyway, I don't dare to pull it out."

"I can't serve in this household."

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, please let anyone you think is capable take the position."

Zhao Mian was furious and said, "Anyway, His Royal Highness the Grandson of the Emperor has already sent people to seal the account books and warehouses of the Ministry of Revenue yesterday, so why not just let someone take over the Ministry of Revenue?"

After Zhu Yunxun heard what he said, he said coldly: "Why? Lord Zhao thinks that I shouldn't have sent people to seal the account books and warehouses of the Ministry of Revenue. Can't I check the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue?"

Zhao Mian cupped his hands and said, "How dare I?"

"The Ministry of Revenue is the Ministry of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty, not the Ministry of Revenue of Zhao Mian, a humble official."

"Your Highness, the Prince of Wu is the regent. If he wants to check the accounts, he can do so."

His tone changed slightly, he clapped his hands and then spread them out, saying: "But, even if we check the accounts, we can't make any money out of them!"

"Now it's not just Lord Yan who wants money. Which of the Thirteen Ministers of the Ming Dynasty doesn't ask me for money?"

"If we give them all, even five Ming Dynasty treasuries wouldn't be enough for them to share!"

As soon as his voice fell, Zhu Yunhuan's words suddenly rang out like metal and stone.

“It’s definitely not enough!”

He stood up and said, "Yesterday I brought back more than a thousand memorials from the Ministry of Public Administration, and most of them were asking for money."

"If we follow their request and remove all of them, it will cost more than 37.6 million taels of silver."

"Just now, Lord Zhao said that the total amount of silver in the Ming Dynasty treasury is only over 5 million taels. Five Ming Dynasty treasuries are definitely not enough!"

Yan Zhenzhi became even more anxious when he heard this.

"In other places, we can save as much as possible."

"But the money for repairing the river embankment cannot be saved at all!"

Zhao Mian remained calm and said, "Then there is nothing I can do."

Zhu Yunhuan's eyes fell on him and said, "You are the Minister of Revenue, you have to find a way to deal with this matter."

"Don't say anything like you're quitting your job. What do you think you are as an official of the Ming Dynasty?"

"You can do it if you want to, and not do it if you don't want to?"

"Tell me, what can we do?"

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became solemn.

Zhu Yunhuan poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip leisurely, and looked very contented.

He didn't care at all about Yan and Zhao's reactions.

Zhao Mian looked thoughtful, and after a while he said, "The solution is nothing more than starting from two aspects."

"One is to increase revenue, and the other is to cut costs."

"Saving money means reducing unnecessary expenses. Many applications submitted from various places can only be rejected."

"How can the court approve whatever they report?"

"In that case, no matter how much silver you have, it won't be enough to spend."

Yan Zhen interrupted angrily, "Repairing the riverbank is no small matter. The Ministry of Revenue must pay for it."

Zhao Mian turned sideways and said, "Master Yan, please don't be impatient. Just listen to what I have to say."

His tone changed: "Necessary expenses cannot be saved."

“Then we can only open source it.”

"If you want to open source, there are only two options."

“One is to raise taxes, and the other is to print money.”

"The court's taxes are all set by your majesty and cannot be changed without permission."

"So, my humble suggestion is to print 30 million new Ming Dynasty banknotes, which can help the river workers build the embankment."

"Secondly, it can also help to allocate some of the money needed in various places."

"Not a cent of the money in the national treasury can be touched."

"Kill three birds with one stone. Please grant me your permission, Your Highness King Wu."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Zhenzhi immediately shouted, "The face value of the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes is now less than one tenth. What I want is three million taels of silver to build the dike, not three million strings of treasure notes!"

"Aren't treasure notes and silver the same?" Zhao Mian sneered, "The court has long issued an order that all transactions between the people should be paid in treasure notes, not gold, silver or copper coins."

"How can Lord Yan's Ministry of Works take the lead in violating the laws of the court?"

Yan Zhenzhi was overwhelmed by his criticism and said with a flick of his sleeves: "I don't care about any laws."

"But if we pay all in banknotes, the river workers will definitely not do it."

"If anything goes wrong, don't blame me for not warning you in advance."

Zhao Mian's tone turned cold, and he said, "What kind of trouble can come out?"

"Whoever dares to cause trouble will be chopped off."

"Also, anyone who refuses to use the treasure notes will be chopped off!"

"Do you really think that the laws of my Ming Dynasty are just for show?"

"Kill those who are violating the law and leading the riots, and the others will naturally behave themselves."

Yan Zhenzhi was so angry when he heard this that he blew his beard and glared at him. He glared at him fiercely and stopped arguing with him. Instead, he bowed to Zhu Yunhuan and said, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince, printing banknotes to pay for the river repair project is absolutely not allowed."

"It is extremely difficult for the river workers to repair the dike. Although the treasure notes are printed by the court, their actual value has long been incomparable to their face value." "The river workers worked so hard, but they were only given a pile of waste paper. How can they not feel resentful?"

"If hundreds of thousands of people start to make trouble, it will become a situation that is difficult to handle."

Zhao Mian pointed at him and said, "Master Yan, stop talking nonsense. How can you say that the imperial banknotes are waste paper? This is an insult to the state. I ask His Royal Highness the King of Wu to punish him."

"I think that Lord Yan is right!" Zhu Yunhuan smiled faintly, shocking Zhao Mian.

Zhu Yunhuan changed the subject and said, "However, what Lord Zhao said is also correct!"

"If you want to increase revenue, you have to raise taxes or print money."

"However, there is one thing that Lord Zhao is wrong about."

“There is nothing wrong with this tax.”

"I think raising taxes is a good idea."

Zhao Mian's pupils shrank slightly, and Yan Zhenzhi's face also showed shock.

Apparently, neither of them had considered raising taxes.

Yan Zhenzhi cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, raising taxes is no small matter."

"If we are not careful enough, it will shake the foundation of the country. Your Highness, please think twice before you act."

"Of course it's not a small matter." Zhu Yunxun smiled slightly and said, "The farmers' taxes cannot be increased!"

"Then let's increase the business tax."

"The commercial tax rate in this dynasty is 1 in 30. This is too low!"

"This king intends to levy taxes at a rate of 15% from now on."

Yan Zhenzhi's face was filled with shock, while Zhao Mian was lost in thought, seemingly planning something.

"Your Highness!" After a while, Zhao Mian said, "The proportion of commercial tax in the total tax revenue of this dynasty is only about 5%."

"Even if the commercial tax is doubled, it will only increase the court's tax revenue by 5%, which is still a drop in the bucket."

Zhu Yunhuan already had a plan in mind.

Once my plan is implemented, commercial tax will not be just 5%.

However, there is no need to tell Zhao Mian now.

Because he also took this opportunity to achieve another goal.

He smiled and said, "Then let's implement Mr. Zhao's other method, printing money!"

Zhao Mian's face lit up with joy, while Yan Zhenzhi was panicked and said, "Your Highness, this cannot be done!"

"No need to say more!" Zhu Yunhuan waved his hand and said, "My king has made up his mind."

Yan Zhen stood there blankly for a long time without saying a word.

Zhao Mian smiled happily: "Your Highness is wise!"

But his smile didn't last long and froze.

Zhu Yunhuan said in a serious tone: "Most of the common people do not recognize the notes printed by the Baochao Tizhusi before."

"Plus, too many copies were printed, so the actual value is less than one tenth of it."

"Now that we have restarted printing money, there should be a new atmosphere."

"This king has decided to abolish the Baochao Tizhusi and establish the Ming Bank to be in charge of printing and issuing new banknotes, as well as managing the national treasury and supervising currency."

He had already made plans in his mind. The Ministry of Revenue was in charge of the country's taxes and financial expenditures, and at the same time it was in charge of the Ming Dynasty's treasury.

Income and expenditure are mixed together and not separated.

If the national treasury is not managed independently, it will be easy for people to tamper with it and commit fraud without the outside world knowing anything about it.

It must be separated out.

The storage and use of large sums of money should be separated.

This is also a method commonly adopted by modern countries in later generations.

Just like the accountant and cashier in a modern company cannot be the same person.

The Treasury Department has only one bill, and all the money is in the bank.

This bill cannot be forged. The amount of money must be recorded as it is because it must match the bank's deposit account.

On the contrary, if the money is not in the bank but in the Ministry of Finance, the account is also in the Ministry of Finance.

Even if the Ministry of Finance makes a fake account, the outside world will not know that it is a fake account because it is in charge of the warehouse.

This is the case with the Ministry of Revenue.

In fact, in the history of the Ministry of Revenue, there are countless false, bad, and confusing accounts.

There were even more cases where the actual amount of silver stored in the national treasury did not match the figures recorded in the Ministry of Revenue's account books.

Sometimes when the imperial court wanted to check the accounts, they knew the accounts didn't match, so they made up some nonsense overnight.

It was precisely because he knew these circumstances that Yao Guangxiao suggested sealing the Ministry of Revenue's account books and warehouses with lightning speed.

Although at that time the Ming Dynasty had a clear political situation and its officials were relatively honest and dedicated.

After all, Lao Zhu's butcher knife is still very scary.

However, if storage and use are not separated, it is difficult to say that there is no one who has embezzled the funds.

Sometimes, people cannot control their greed.

A good system is actually a salvation for people.

In a sense, a system that does not give officials the opportunity to engage in corruption actually protects officials very well.

"The Ministry of Revenue's five million taels of silver will all be transferred to the Ming Bank as a deposit for the first batch of new banknotes."

"From now on, when the people pay taxes to the court or buy grain from the granary, they can use the Ming Baochao issued by the Ming Bank. It is universal."

"If you really need to exchange it for silver, you can go to Daming Bank to exchange it. Daming Bank will charge you a handling fee for the exchange."

"But the imperial court only accepts banknotes for tax collection, except for the mandatory grain. It does not accept silver or copper coins."

"If you only have silver and copper coins, you must go to the Ming Bank to exchange them for treasure notes and then pay the tax."

In the past, the credibility of the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes was low. One important reason was that the Ming Dynasty court could use the treasure notes to pay the wages of employed people and buy things for the people.

But on the other hand, it was not allowed for the common people to use the imperial banknotes printed by the court to pay taxes to the court or to buy grain from the court's granaries.

It must be real money.

In this case, only a fool would believe in your precious banknotes.

Now Zhu Yunhuan wanted to rebuild the credibility of the new banknotes. The first step was to use five million taels of silver as a deposit to serve as an anchor for the currency.

It is no longer like before, printing money without an anchor.

On the other hand, the court's taxes and granaries were used as collateral.

The newly printed banknotes can be used to pay taxes to the court or to purchase grain from granaries.

This undoubtedly effectively guarantees its value.

But it also means that the Ming court needs to take extremely high risks.

However, in Zhu Yunhuan's view, it was all worth it.

How could we reform and rebuild the credibility of the Ming Baochao, which had almost become worthless paper, without taking a little risk?
If the imperial court does not take the risk and asks the people to bear it, the people will definitely not agree.

The issue of Ming Dynasty treasure notes then became an eternally unsolvable problem.

It can only become waste paper as time goes by.

Until it was finally abolished and returned to the silver standard system.

After Zhu Yunhuan finished speaking, he turned to look at Yan Zhenzhi, who was already stunned, and said, "Master Yan, this year's wages for river workers repairing the dike will all be paid with the newly printed Daming treasure notes."

"Go tell the river workers that they can use the banknotes printed by the Ming Bank to buy grain from the imperial court, and use them to pay next year's taxes."

"As long as they are willing to pay a certain percentage of the handling fee, they can also go to Daming Bank to exchange it for silver."

After the currency is printed, it needs certain distribution channels and ways to send the printed money out.

This one seems simple, but it is actually a very troublesome thing.

Because it is easy for the money to be distributed to wealthy businessmen instead of to those who need it.

Giving it to the workers who are repairing the river embankment is undoubtedly a very good channel.

Take this opportunity to put the money into the hands of ordinary people.

His reform blueprint of building a national treasury, setting up banks, and collecting commercial taxes has been rapidly implemented without anyone noticing.

After Zhu Yunhuan finished speaking, he didn't care about the reactions of the two people who were still in shock, and said: "That's it, I'm tired too. If there's nothing else, I'll take a rest first."

Yan Zhenzhi suddenly woke up as if from a dream, and said: "Your Highness, this is of great importance, think twice!"

Zhu Yunhuan ignored him and turned away.

Behind him, Zhao Mian had a complicated expression at first, but soon returned to normal.

Then, a very excited smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

……

(End of this chapter)