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

Huang Yu's arguments about the precious paper were quite novel.

He first gave examples of why the Ming Dynasty government would give up control of currency and switch to using silver, citing arguments from different experts in academia.

The initial points were the same old ones: the underlying design of the Ming Dynasty banknotes was flawed, there was no guarantee, it was difficult to exchange them for new banknotes, and the government over-issued banknotes.

Another example is the view of a scholar surnamed Shen, which is due to the impact of counterfeit money and silver in the market.

Gradually, the following viewpoints became somewhat fresh.

For example, the Ming Dynasty's conservative and retreating monetary policy has always been described as aggressive and reckless by everyone. This is the first time someone has called it conservative and retreating.

Seeing that everyone was a little confused, Huang Yu didn't mind explaining a bit more. He tapped the blackboard lightly and wrote on it, saying as he wrote, "First of all, there was the rigidity of the monetary system and the government's forced implementation. In the early stages, the Ming Treasure Notes, which had no market basis, were forcibly implemented, and gold and silver were banned."

"However, after the problems arose with the Baochao (precious paper money), the government refused to reform it for a long time and issued decrees time and time again to forcibly maintain the legal status of the Baochao. As a result, the monetary system violated market and economic laws and became out of touch with the real economy."

His handwriting on the blackboard was quite different from his serious demeanor; it was wild and unrestrained. When he wrote on it, it felt like the blackboard was being constantly struck, and everyone held their breath in suspense.

“That’s the surface,” he wrote in parentheses, filling in the surface within the parentheses, and continued, “Even after silver was monetized, it wasn’t due to government reforms, but rather a passive result of the development of the commodity economy and the inflow of overseas trade!”

“Even the Single Whip Method is outdated!” He heavily pointed his chalk at the four characters 'Single Whip Method' that he had casually written next to him.

The Single Whip Technique, which was previously praised, became something else entirely in his hands.

Huang Yu gave a serious look at the people below. Zhang Juzheng, who was already standing upright, straightened up even more. Even Zhu Yuanzhang, Li Shimin, and others below him subconsciously tensed up.

Zhu Qinggu sat up straight. Huang Yu reminded her of her former English teacher, who was a nightmare.

Even those under the sky immediately sat up straight when they received Huang Yu's gaze; that gaze was incredibly powerful.

It's not about being menacing; it just subtly makes you obey without you even realizing it.

This criticism of the Single Whip Method is like saying, "You can't even pass an open-book exam, what do you want to do? You're the worst class I've ever taught!"

"When faced with the monetization of silver, the Ming Dynasty government did not establish a silver reserve system at all. You know that when you circulate paper money, you need to issue it out and then withdraw it. But silver—no! There was none! There wasn't even a circulation system. What was the Single Whip Law for? What did you discover after careful observation?"

"Yes, that's right. These so-called policies are just waiting! Waiting for the paper money to depreciate, waiting for silver to circulate, and gradually changing to taxing in silver. Isn't that very passive? Isn't that very outdated?"

They thought that the previous lectures by Quan Hanfang were already mixed with a lot of personal feelings, but they didn't expect Huang Yu to erupt like a volcano now.

That's exactly how a Ming Dynasty fan reacts – angry at their lack of ambition and saddened by their misfortune.

"In addition to these, there are restrictions on overseas trade. The fact that overseas trade can continuously flow into silver shows that it can supplement the monetary system to a certain extent. However, there are policies from above and policies from below, and the channels for the inflow of silver have become passive, such as smuggling or tribute. In this way, the government has no way to actively regulate the money supply through international trade."

Huang Yu gave a simple example, such as how later generations of China regulated their economy through international trade.

For example, using foreign exchange to buy and invest may seem like a lot of money is spent, but a lot of money is also returned. Moreover, it transfers excess production capacity. In some international trade now, we have even abandoned the US dollar and demand RMB settlement.

At this point, Huang Yu's tone wasn't very intense, because the maritime ban during the early Ming Dynasty under Hongwu had a certain historical background. Ancient China didn't value the ocean as much as Europe did, which was also due to geographical factors.

Europe has many small countries and peninsulas with limited land resources, so they naturally need to expand outwards. On the other hand, China has a vast continent with abundant land resources, and its agricultural production is basically self-sufficient.

In addition, the Chinese coast lacked natural harbors and was prone to typhoons. Furthermore, China had a typical land-based mindset, and controlling the nomadic peoples in the north was far more important than developing the ocean.

Furthermore, Confucian culture emphasizes contentment and discourages adventurous exploration... All these factors contributed to China's lack of attention to the ocean.

So Zhu Yuanzhang simply cut it off.

Later, the sea was banned because people could no longer afford to travel.

Zhu Di set a bad precedent: many of the valuable items Zheng He brought back went into his own private treasury, but the expenses for shipbuilding and voyages were paid from the national treasury. When the officials below saw this, they realized that this was not acceptable!

By the time of Zhu Zhanji, various issues had arisen, leaving him with no choice but to prohibit sea voyages.

Huang Yu then briefly explained what administrative means and economic laws are, telling them that the Ming Dynasty government preferred to use administrative orders rather than market mechanisms and economic means.

This demonstrates their conservative fiscal mindset and lack of understanding of the laws of monetary economics!

The group below were all thoroughly criticized. Even if it had nothing to do with the Tang Dynasty, there might have been some flaws in the laws and regulations of the Tang Dynasty, which people in later generations must have seen.

If they were the ones being criticized now, they would probably be very embarrassed.

"So, wouldn't you call this conservative and retreating?" Huang Yu asked, looking at them.

The people below nodded subconsciously, seemingly unable to stir up any waves in his presence.

……

These are some of the perspectives Huang Yu has given examples of. There is another perspective that is less common, and that is...

"Has everyone forgotten the Tumu Crisis?" Huang Yu asked again.

The people below nodded, then some felt a chill run down their spines—could it be…?

Zhu Yuanzhang cursed inwardly, "Damn Zhu Qizhen!"

He's still not at peace now, making him lose face here!

Zhu Qinggu was also puzzled. Could this possibly be related to Tumu Fortress?

She thought for a moment, and then it dawned on her: Of course!

Huang Yu, who was mentioned above, also said, "In fact, the Tumu Crisis also caused the people to lose confidence in the paper money."

"His shadow is everywhere, humph!" Zhu Yuanzhang thought of the game of match-3 with Zhu Qizhen, but he still felt unsatisfied and wanted to let them match it again.