My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 490 A New Financial War Begins

March 23rd.

Lin Bingzheng stepped down from the carriage, looked at the city walls of the capital, and was filled with emotion.

He did not rank highly in the imperial examinations, and after his observation of government affairs in the capital, he was not able to stay in the capital and was instead assigned to be the magistrate of a remote prefecture.

Lin Bingzheng rose through the ranks to become the magistrate of Fangshan County in the capital region precisely because of his hard work.

Later, he actively promoted the glass and coal mining industries in Fangshan, which caught the eye of Su Ze. Su Ze then recommended him to be the Provincial Education Commissioner of Shanxi, in charge of education work in Shanxi.

During his tenure as the Provincial Education Commissioner in Shanxi, Lin Bingzheng also wholeheartedly promoted educational reforms in Suze, establishing primary schools and selecting teachers in Shanxi, achieving remarkable results.

With the establishment of the five departments under the Secretariat and the Chancellery, Su Ze recommended Lin Bingzheng to serve as the deputy director of the Department of Criminal Justice and Rites.

After handing over his affairs, Lin Bingzheng left Shanxi in March and returned to the capital.

The five offices of the Secretariat and the Chancellery are extremely important. Being able to serve in one of these offices means you will frequently appear before the cabinet ministers and have access to central government affairs. Lin Bingzheng cherishes this opportunity.

Lin Bingzheng was filled with pride and joy, recalling how he had left the capital ten years ago with regret because of his low ranking in the imperial examination.

At that time, I secretly made up my mind that I must make something of myself.

Over the years, I have been transferred to various local posts, and although I am getting closer and closer to the capital, I am still stuck at the county magistrate level.

Lin Bingzheng had been in despair, but he seized an opportunity in Fangshan County and finally escaped the misery of being a grassroots official. He also made contributions as the educational commissioner of Shanxi and finally got his chance to rise in the ranks.

Lin Bingzheng was naturally extremely grateful to Su Ze for all of this.

Lin Bingzheng also knew that Su Ze was always honest and incorruptible and had no personal hobbies.

Su Ze also favored pragmatic officials, so Lin Bingzheng planned to work hard as the deputy director of the Department of Justice and etiquette, assist Shen Yiguan in handling official business, and repay Su Ze in a good way.

Of course, before going to Beijing, Lin Bingzheng had heard rumors about the "Soviet Party," which he scoffed at.

A gentleman does not form factions. Prosecutor Su simply brought together like-minded people to work together for the new policies. There is no such thing as a "Su Party".

Lin Bingzheng suddenly thought of the fat pigeon that he used to contact Su Ze.

He shook his head. Even if there were any Soviet factions, they were still public factions!
Just then, Lin Bingzheng suddenly saw a man in a brocade robe standing in front of the city gate who looked somewhat familiar.

The other person also saw him, and his eyes lit up. He quickly called the people around him to come forward.

As the person approached, Lin Bingzheng confirmed that the person who had come to greet him was his cousin, Lin Maocai.

"Thirteenth Brother!"

Lin Bingzheng also quickly stepped forward, grasped Lin Maocai's hand, and exclaimed:

"Twenty-seventh brother!"

The Lin family is a large clan in Fujian. Within the clan, there is a ranking system. Lin Bingzheng was ranked thirteenth, while Lin Maocai was ranked twenty-seventh.

Lin Bingzheng then looked at the people behind Lin Maocai. They were all dressed in brocade robes, but they were not officials or scholars. Lin Bingzheng was familiar with their attire; they must be wealthy merchants.

Since Su Ze's "On the Morality of the Four Classes of People", the imperial court has gradually reduced its restrictions on merchants. At least, it is no longer illegal for merchants to wear brocade robes.

Fujian was a province strong in the imperial examination system, and because of its scarce land, there were also many people who went into business in addition to those who took the imperial examinations.

Those who followed Li Wenquan to Penghu for colonization were mostly from Fujian.

"Twenty-seventh brother, who are you?"

Lin Maocai immediately said:
"Thirteenth Brother, you've been promoted and returned to the capital without even informing your younger brother."

"I only learned about this from a fellow merchant from my hometown, which is why I came to wait for my thirteenth brother outside the city. I've been waiting for three days already!"

“These are all shopkeepers from Fujian. They heard that Brother Thirteen had been promoted and came to wait for him outside the city.”

Lin Bingzheng was naturally pleased that his cousin had such a kind thought.

However, he was still somewhat uneasy. It was because of his large family that he was worried about asking for favors, which was why he secretly returned to the capital.

Lin Maocai had visited him many times before, but this time he was overly enthusiastic, which made Lin Bingzheng, who had been in officialdom for many years, wary.

"Brother Thirteen, we have prepared a banquet at the Fujian Guild Hall to welcome you and wash away the dust of your journey!"

Lin Bingzheng wanted to refuse, but seeing Lin Maocai's gaze and not wanting to be criticized by his own clansmen for being arrogant after achieving success, he had no choice but to agree.

Anyway, it was almost noon today, and Lin Bingzheng had decided to report to the Fifth Office of the Secretariat tomorrow, so he agreed.

Lin Bingzheng had no choice but to follow Lin Maocai and his group to the Fujian Guild Hall.

After taking his seat, Lin Bingzheng looked at the hometown dishes on the table, and a wave of homesickness welled up in his heart.

Although it was in the capital, the food on this table was authentic Fujian cuisine.

After several rounds of drinks, seeing Lin Bingzheng enjoying his meal, Lin Maocai asked:
"Thirteenth Brother, is the food to your liking?"

Lin Bingzheng praised:
"I haven't eaten such authentic hometown food since I left my hometown at a young age. Which restaurant did you buy this meal from, Twenty-Seventh Brother?"

Lin Maocai laughed and said:
"This is a chef I specially invited from our hometown. But a chef alone cannot make the authentic taste of our hometown. We also need ingredients from our hometown."

Lin Maocai said smugly:

"The ingredients on the table today, from dried seafood to a single grain of rice, were all transported from Fujian to the capital by fast ship."

"Even the salt for seasoning is transported from my hometown, which is why it's absolutely perfect!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Bingzheng put down his chopsticks. His drunkenness had completely vanished, leaving only deep vigilance.

However, Lin Maocai failed to notice and continued to talk eloquently.

With the support of numerous businessmen, the banquet atmosphere grew increasingly lively, but Lin Bingzheng became even more vigilant.

They waited until the banquet was coming to an end, when several wealthy businessmen left under various pretexts, leaving only the two of them in the room.

Lin Maocai pulled a thick stack of things out of his collar.

“Thirteenth Brother, your promotion and return to the capital is naturally a joyous occasion.”

"But I have also heard that the five departments of the Secretariat and the Chancellery are extremely important and have many dealings with the Six Ministries and the Nine Ministers. So, they naturally have a lot of personal relationships with each other."

"Brother has gained the favor of Prosecutor Su this time, so he must make some contributions, and he will certainly receive a lot of money."

“This allowance is given to all the brothers in the clan. My thirteenth brother used to be an official in Shanxi, so I’m saving it for you.”

Lin Bingzheng saw clearly what Lin Maocai was handing over: a thick stack of silver notes.

Silver notes are now very common.

In particular, Lin Bingzheng had previously served in Shanxi, where the banking industry was very developed, and even ordinary people used banknotes.

Fujian's maritime trade was particularly developed. Zhangzhou Yuegang in Fujian was the first port to open, followed by Fuzhou and Quanzhou. Trade flourished, and silver notes were used frequently.

Lin Bingzheng recognized the banknotes as those from "Rishengchang," a famous bank in Fujian.

This single silver note can be exchanged for one hundred silver dollars, and this thick stack must be worth over a thousand silver dollars. This is definitely a huge sum of money.

Lin Bingzheng didn't reach out his hand, but instead asked, "What's the share?"

Lin Maocai said in a low voice:
"This is a business that several of our families have jointly done in Japan, and each family member receives a share of the profits."

Lin Bingzheng continued to ask:
"Is it the clan's business, or the twenty-seventh brother's business?"

Lin Maocai said with a smile:

"What's the difference? Since I'm sharing the profits with the clan, it's naturally considered a clan business."

Lin Bingzheng breathed a slight sigh of relief. The good news was that this was not a matter involving the entire clan; at most, the clan only received some benefits.

"What kind of business is that, with such high profits? Twenty-seventh Brother, you won't accept this money until you explain it clearly."

Seeing Lin Bingzheng's resolute attitude, and knowing that he would have to drag his cousin into this mess in the future, Lin Maocai had no choice but to say:

"It's just some business dealings with Japan."

Lin Bingzheng's heart skipped a beat, and he asked:
"smuggling?"

Lin Maocai said:
"It's just smuggling some saltpeter. There are many merchants in Fujian who do this, so Brother Thirteen, you don't need to worry."

However, Lin Bingzheng's suspicions deepened.

Smuggling saltpeter was indeed something strictly prohibited by the imperial court.

However, the smuggling of saltpeter is inherently difficult to eradicate. There are many saltpeter merchants in the countryside who visit villages and towns to collect saltpeter, and the government has no way to deal with these merchants.

As Lin Maocai said, it was not surprising that Fujian merchants smuggled saltpeter.

That's how trade is. After all, this world is material, and everything has a cost. The cost of banning the smuggling of saltpeter was too high, exceeding the management limits of local governments.

Let alone the Ming Dynasty, even in the era before Su Ze's time travel, with such advanced information and management technologies, rare earth smuggling still occurred.

The Ming Dynasty's saltpeter policy was the saltpeter monopoly system designed by Su Ze.

The goal was to ensure that the main saltpeter fields remained under the control of the imperial court.

As long as the quality and quantity of official saltpeter are guaranteed, the small "surplus" from smuggling by the public is not a serious problem for the imperial court.

This is also the original idea behind the spatiotemporal control of rare earth elements.

But if it was just smuggling saltpeter as Lin Maocai said, Lin Maocai wouldn't have needed to fawn over me like this.

Lin Bingzheng, a veteran of officialdom, coldly snorted:
"I'm afraid it's not just about saltpeter, is it? Twenty-seventh brother, although we are brothers of the same clan, I won't take this silver note until things are cleared up."

Seeing Lin Bingzheng's resolute attitude, Lin Maocai said:
“Brother Thirteen has keen insight… Indeed, the saltpeter is just a cover, to facilitate the fleet’s movement. The real prize is this.” He pointed to the thick stack of “Rishengchang” silver notes on the table.

Lin Bingzheng was somewhat confused about what his cousin meant.

Lin Maocai licked his slightly dry lips, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of fanaticism and greed:

"Rishengchang is a money exchange that we, along with several other major managers from the south, have secretly established in Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Yuegang, as well as Sakai Port in Japan, Ryukyu, and Southeast Asia!"

"Thirteenth Brother, look at this banknote."

"This is not just an ordinary draft."

“These drafts can be exchanged for an equivalent amount of silver at any of Rishengchang’s draft banks.”

Lin Bingzheng's mind went blank for a moment.

"These silver dollars are of good quality and weight, and can be used to trade with overseas merchants. Nowadays, many overseas merchants recognize our Rishengchang silver notes."

"So what we smuggled was Japanese silver!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Bingzheng was struck dumb, and his face turned deathly pale.

"Smuggling silver? And issuing legal tender?! How dare you?!"

He instantly understood the weight of that "share of money." This was not a dividend; it was clearly evidence of a crime that could lead to the confiscation of property and the extermination of one's entire family!
Lin Maocai retorted, "Which law of the imperial court forbids us from issuing banknotes?"

"These silver exchange businesses were all conducted in overseas banks to facilitate trade with foreign merchants."

"Ming Dynasty silver dollars are good, but they only weigh half as much as silver. Many merchants prefer to use our banknotes for transactions."

"You should know that many Westerners come to Japan for silver. The more silver they bring back, the greater their profits."

Lin Bingzheng was stunned. He sensed something was wrong, but Lin Maocai was right. It seemed there was no law prohibiting the opening of a bank.

Shanxi merchants opened banks and offered bank drafts, and the imperial court did not prohibit them from doing so.

But Lin Bingzheng also vaguely felt that there was a big problem involved.

Lin Maocai said:
“If we issue Rishengchang silver notes, and more people use them and they circulate widely, won’t they be just like the silver dollars issued by the imperial court?”

"Our Rishengchang banknotes are easy to exchange and have a better reputation than official banknotes! Now even some small customs offices in Fujian and Guangdong are starting to secretly accept our banknotes to offset taxes in order to save trouble!"

Lin Bingzheng felt a chill run down his spine after hearing this. He never expected that these fellow villagers, old friends, and blood relatives would be so audacious!

This is far more than ordinary smuggling and tax evasion; it is a challenge to the financial lifeline of the imperial court!
The silver dollar reform can be said to be the beginning of all reforms by the Su Jianzheng.

These people actually wanted to bypass the imperial court's credit system and seize control of the issuance of silver coins.

This is undoubtedly shaking the foundations of the nation. If it spreads, the consequences will be unimaginable: chaotic prices, financial collapse, empty treasury, and even local separatism are all possible!

This is already a path to certain death!
And Lin Maocai actually wanted to drag him down with him?

In this situation, Lin Bingzheng quickly calmed down.

As Lin Maocai said, the clan is currently only receiving dividends and is not fully involved.

There is still a glimmer of hope.

With this in mind, Lin Bingzheng decided to first feign politeness with Lin Maocai in order to find out more information about his Rishengchang Bank.

Lin Bingzheng pretended to hesitate and said:
"It seems that this clause is indeed not in the laws of the Ming Dynasty?"

Seeing that Lin Bingzheng was "moved," Lin Maocai became even more eager to drag him into the mess.

Lin Maocai added:

"To be honest, my cousin, we have people in the maritime trade offices, customs offices, and local government offices in many ports in Fujian. There are also quite a few important figures who have invested in Rishengchang. I'm afraid I can't say more about that."

“Brother, you just need to take the money. There’s nothing for you to worry about these days.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Bingzheng pretended to struggle, and finally put the silver notes into his pocket.

What followed was a pleasant experience for both host and guests.
-
The next day, Lin Bingzheng reported to the Fifth Office of the Secretariat and the Chancellery. After entering Su Ze's office, he spoke directly to Su Ze:

"Your Excellency! I have an important matter to report!"

(End of this chapter)