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

"Only by adjusting the economic structure and driving economic transformation can we meet more of people's needs. Unfortunately, the rulers have always been driven by the idea of ​​maintaining their rule and have implemented a series of policies to curb economic development."

"It wasn't just the policies that suppressed commerce; the same applied to their social status. There was a prevailing atmosphere of 'merchants being inferior' in society, based on the traditional social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. Coupled with the excessive taxes at the time, this also inhibited the development of commerce in society."

Chen Mingliang felt a pang of regret, but he also knew that this was due to the constraints of people's perspectives over thousands of years, as well as the fact that their level of understanding had not reached that level. It was not just Zhu Yuanzhang's problem; the rulers of the Ming Dynasty and their officials still thought in this way.

They respect the past, follow the old ways, listen to ancestral teachings, and believe that things should remain unchanged, that the emperor should always be the emperor, and the common people should always be common people, and that this is the best way.

It would have been the same if it were Zhang Yuanzhang or Li Yuanzhang instead.

The more Chen Mingliang thought about it, the more he felt that the sky screen was a good thing. It subtly influenced people's cognition and broadened their understanding of the world. Otherwise, he wouldn't have seen these characters from history books, each with their own temper and personality, sitting here listening to his lecture, which was about economics.

“Traditional agricultural economy can only meet basic material needs. Further needs can only be met through handicrafts, services and trade. But this is the weakness of small-scale farming.”

"By the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, there was a high degree of imbalance between people's demand for and supply of abundant materials. The seemingly prosperous overseas trade failed to solve the supply problem, and the problems in the Ming Dynasty's economy became more and more numerous and severe."

Zhu Yuanzhang understood a little but not quite. He had a vague idea. If it were before, he would have thought that as long as there was money to be made, that was enough. But after listening to the lectures for a while, he felt that it wasn't that simple.

We need to solve this problem and that problem; we need to consider this and that.

Sitting next to Empress Ma, Zhu Biao highlighted a few key sentences in the document. As he pondered them, it seemed he was beginning to understand something new.

(Han Dynasty, Zhang Fei: I'm completely confused. I feel like something here is right and something else is wrong.)

(Song Dynasty, Zhang Fangping: The subtleties are for everyone to appreciate for themselves!)

(Liu Yuxi, Tang Dynasty: Financial matters concern the people and should be handled with utmost care.)

(Wang Anshi, Song Dynasty: It seems that later generations have been more critical of the Single Whip Law?)

Zhu Qinggu saw many unclear points discussed in the comments and asked the system to provide some simple explanations and even give some examples.

Some people have come to understand a little more.

……

"At that time, Chinese goods were highly competitive in the world market, being both high-quality and inexpensive. Although there are no specific data, it can be judged from many aspects that China during the Ming Dynasty was undoubtedly the number one exporter of goods and the number one recipient of silver."

"With large exports and small imports, Ming Dynasty merchants brought back a lot of silver. However, since there was no need to expand production of tea, porcelain, silk, and other such items, these merchants chose to store the silver."

"What can we observe from here?" Chen Mingliang's eyes swept over the people below.

The people below began to discuss quietly, and gradually came up with answers, but none of them were quite close to the answer Chen Mingliang had in mind.

He overheard what Chu Suiliang had just said in the corner, and that's why he called on him to stand up and answer the question.

Chu Suiliang stood up, and all eyes in the classroom immediately turned to him. He then gave his answer, “In times of war and chaos, gold and grain are both hard currencies. As for the Ming Dynasty paper money that I mentioned earlier, it is because the paper money itself has no value, and the government has lost its credibility. Therefore, people tend to store silver, which has value.”

“This has been a tradition of wealthy and powerful families since ancient times.”

What Chu Suiliang said was true; even if those wealthy and powerful families hoarded their copper coins until they were worn out, they would not easily take them out.

What they wanted to preserve was their family lineage; they valued the long term, not the country or these ordinary people.

Chen Mingliang asked him to sit down and nodded affirmatively, "That's right. Precious metals are not only a symbol of wealth but also a tool for hedging against risks. And there's another point that people don't see, which is spending money!"

"These people hoard silver but don't spend it. Can they really not spend it indefinitely? Actually, there's a problem here: they can't spend all that silver."

"For example, if Person Number One earns silver, he has nowhere to spend it, so he buys land. Land is what they believe can always retain its value. They never think about expanding their industry. But Person Number Two wants to consume what he produces. If Person Number One doesn't expand, Person Number Two can't buy it. So Person Number Two also buys land, and Person Number Three can't buy it either. This is how the demand side is never satisfied."

Chen Mingliang gave a simple example so that everyone below could understand that even if the example had some logical problems, it would not hinder their comprehension.

"What will happen if this silver doesn't enter the market? It will lead to low prices, and low prices will lead to deflation!"

We often talk about inflation, but do we rarely talk about deflation?

He asked his subordinates, who nodded in agreement. Both inflation and deflation are easy to understand; if either goes too far, they will cause immense harm to the country's finances.

Chen Mingliang picked up the chalk and wrote 'deflation', then drew a few simple cycle sketches.

"Deflation refers to a sustained decline in price levels, a reduction in the money supply, a sluggish market, decreased business investment, and insufficient economic vitality," Chen Mingliang added here, to help people in the public better understand.

"This will lead to reduced profits and tax revenue for businesses due to falling prices, which will affect national fiscal revenue..." Chen Mingliang did not mention the impact of national debt or social security here, but he only mentioned national fiscal revenue, which already made his subordinates tense.

After all, isn't the purpose of attending so many classes to make the national treasury more abundant and the country's fiscal revenue greater?

"In fact, rulers often knew that the national finances were deteriorating, and they would try to save the national finances through various means. Everyone knows about the 'Single Whip Law,' which was said to have extended the life of the Ming Dynasty. However, some people say that the Single Whip Law ended with the death of the ruler and actually increased the financial burden."

“But if we look closely, we can see that both the ‘Single Whip Law’ and the Longqing-Wanli New Deal and the Jiajing New Deal have their limitations.”