After broadcasting the ancient times live, I handed the system over to the state.

It's Emperor Xuanzong again!

Zhu Zhanji sensed that everyone was looking at him again. He lowered his head, wanting to say something but feeling choked up, so he could only cover it up with a cough.

Zhu Gaoxu turned to him, flashing a set of white teeth with a sinister smile, "Nephew, are crickets fun?"

Zhu Zhanji sat up straight and smiled slightly. "The braised chicken in the clay pot is fun, and it smells delicious, Second Uncle."

Zhu Gaoxu stopped laughing and looked at him with a sinister expression, mimicking Zhu Yuanzhang's.

Zhu Zhanji continued to smile.

Many people didn't see the wit here, but were completely focused on the blackboard.

For example, regarding the door stalls, the Ministry of Revenue said that the paper money system was not working because it was caused by merchants accumulating goods without paying taxes and by the frustration of vendors selling their goods in the market. Therefore, they proposed to collect ten times the door stall tax!

Emperor Xuanzong was also frightened; ten times was too much! So he changed it to five times, which wasn't exactly merciful either.

There's also a tax on storage facilities, which are places where goods are stored. You have to pay a lot of tax on that too!

"At this time, the court officials accused merchants of obstructing the paper money system and blindly expanding the types of taxes, which did nothing but hinder commercial development," Quan Hanfang shook his head slightly in denial.

"This also shows us the Ming Dynasty government's inaction in the face of economic and financial problems, its lack of knowledge on how to act, and even its chaotic actions."

Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di) smacked his lips, his deathly gaze sweeping over Zhu Zhanji.

Zhu Zhanji immediately withdrew from his confrontational demeanor towards Zhu Gaoxu. How could he dare to act presumptuously in front of Zhu Di?

"During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, a customs duty for paper money was also established. In the early Ming Dynasty, there was no customs duty for paper money. In order to bring back paper money, Emperor Xuanzong ordered the establishment of customs duty for paper money in places where merchants gathered. It is worth mentioning that the customs duty for paper money was not paid by all merchants who passed through the customs, but was levied on ships that transported goods, based on the distance of the journey."

"It was precisely because of the customs duties on paper money that the Ming Dynasty was able to recover a large amount of funds. Later on, the customs duties on paper money were no longer collected, but instead gold, silver and other commodities were collected. In the late Ming Dynasty, this brought huge amounts of funds to the government."

Originally thought to be a way to hinder commercial development, it turned out to be a blood bag for the late Ming Dynasty.

They stared wide-eyed at the data table above; it looked like a lot of banknotes had been returned!

Why is the currency system still facing obstacles?

Some people don't understand, some vaguely understand, and some are pondering.

Quan Hanfang opened his water glass, took a sip, showed them the data table, cleared his throat, and then laughed, "Doesn't it look like a lot? Why isn't it being used?"

Quan Hanfang noticed the understanding on Zhang Juzheng's still relatively young face and nudged him, "Zhang Juzheng, you seem to have your own answer. Why don't you share it?"

All eyes in the classroom immediately turned to him. Zhang Juzheng stood up, sighed slightly, and said, "Because these are all just treating the symptoms, not the root cause."

Wang Anshi, standing beneath the sky, also realized that if he could communicate with Zhang Juzheng, they could perhaps develop a mutual respect.

Fan Zhongyan looked at the table several more times and finally understood its mystery.

Zhang Fangping, having overseen financial matters, easily understood these issues.

“Because the court recalled the paper money, but it wasn’t a true return of the money; it just recalled and destroyed the old paper money. However, it continued to spend paper money afterward, and the expenditures were extravagant,” Zhang Juzheng recalled. “In the fifth year of the Zhengtong reign, because too much paper money was spent, there was even a situation where the treasury of the two capitals was insufficient to cover the expenses.”

“In the market, the amount of paper money is still unbalanced, with expenditures still exceeding returns.”

“That’s right, great! Please sit down!” Quan Hanfang nodded and said, a smile gradually spreading across his face. “In addition, the various policies of the imperial court are basically more harmful than beneficial, and may not even be beneficial at all, so the paper money continues to depreciate.”

Later, Quan Hanfang briefly discussed the Baochao (precious paper money) and the Ming Dynasty's monetary system. The table clearly shows the proportion of Baochao in the currency system, which was quite high at the beginning.

Later, as the value of the paper money gradually declined, people began to use cloth for transactions, with only a small amount of silver. When the ban on silver was lifted during the Zhengtong era, the paper money was directly excluded from the market.

"Later on, although the Ming Dynasty still insisted on using both paper money and silver as currencies, it gradually evolved into a single silver standard system due to popular resistance, which laid the groundwork for the later monetization of silver," Quan Hanfang said.

The monetization of silver was actually a very important topic in the Ming Dynasty, but it is not part of Quan Hanfang's theory. Quan Hanfang will only briefly mention it here.

The monetization of silver was also a last resort, because the devaluation of paper money affected national tax revenue. With the reduction of national tax revenue, the imperial court began to promote the monetization of silver from the top down.

Subsequently, Quan Hanfang also discussed the impact of paper money on national finances from many perspectives, and the impact of paper money devaluation on national finances.

Quan Hanfang also voiced the sentiments of many Ming Dynasty officials.

One reason is that the salaries of Ming Dynasty officials were already low, and they were all paid in paper money. When the paper money depreciated, some officials couldn't even support their families.

A comparison with the salaries in the Han Dynasty reveals the truth: after the devaluation of paper money, an official's annual salary was even less than half a month's salary for an official in the Han Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty officials under the sky were in an uproar, expressing sympathy, but not really sympathy.

Because at that time, Han Dynasty officials were mostly from aristocratic families, they felt that they and the common people were two different species. The "people" they were referring to were actually themselves, while the common people were like cattle or horses, not worth cherishing.

Even with the appearance of the canopy in the sky, many people still hold this view.

Many officials in the Ming Dynasty rose through the imperial examination system; they were originally poor or commoners. Compared to some officials in the Han Dynasty, they were a completely different species.

However, the rulers still coveted these talents, and they would be willing to recruit more of them to serve as officials!

……

Quan Hanfang said with some regret, "I once read a discussion that I felt was partly right and partly wrong. Someone said that after mastering both literary and martial arts, one should serve the emperor. But what if someone studies hard for decades, finally passes the exam, becomes an official, but still can't support their family? Looking into their eyes and thinking about how their family worked so hard to support your education, how would you feel?"

He used this opening to lead into what followed: "So this gave rise to an industry, namely, official lending."

"In the sixth year of the Chenghua reign, Yao Kui, the Minister of Personnel, reported that some people were specifically looking out for information about officials, seeing who was short of money, and then lending money to them. Many officials were unable to repay their debts, and these debts would follow them to the local areas, and many officials were even controlled as a result."

"Some people will embezzle money because their salary is not enough."

"The devaluation of paper money was not the main cause of official corruption, but it was one of the reasons."