I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 605 Financial Hegemony
Looking at the bewildered Zhuang Jiye, Zhu Houxuan chuckled and said, "You are usually responsible for the affairs of your respective departments, and rarely have the opportunity to look at this war from a global perspective, so I won't blame you for this..."

Zhuang Jiye breathed a sigh of relief and was very curious about what Zhu Houxuan had just said.

"Although the Royal Group has not had the power to penetrate into the grassroots level in the south over the past decade, the economic and trade exchanges between the Royal Group and the south are still very close. The southern provinces are the dumping grounds for various industrial products of the Royal Group. Now the sudden decoupling of the north and the south has caused great damage to the economies of both sides, but the difference is that we are aware of this problem and have made corresponding preparations in advance, which can reduce this damage a lot. But the gentry in the southern provinces are not aware of this problem at all. In fact, even if they are aware of this problem, it is useless. They can only stare blankly at this problem. The southern rebels seem to be advancing triumphantly and smoothly, but there are many hidden worries under the seemingly prosperous situation. The economy of the south will fall into chaos as a result."

Zhu Houxuan began to explain to everyone that this was also the purpose of this meeting.

"But this is not enough. The South's economy will not remain in disarray forever, so we have to continue to fuel the situation from other aspects."

The people present listened to Zhu Houxuan's words attentively.

"Do you know what is the most popular thing of our Royal Group in the south?" Zhu Houxuan suddenly asked with a smile.

This question made everyone a little confused.
"Steel?"

"Fine salt!"

"Cloth Bar"

"."

Everyone said in a hurry.

"Neither!" Tian Cheng, president of the Royal Bank, suddenly stood up and said with a smile: "The most popular thing in the Royal Group in the south is the silver dollar certificate!"

Everyone was stunned, and after thinking about it carefully, they found that it was true. Who doesn’t like silver dollar notes?

"Yes! It's the silver dollar certificate!" Zhu Houxuan said loudly.

"In the 9th year of Zhengde, the Ming Royal Bank was established in Beijing and immediately launched silver coins. In the 11th year of Zhengde, the Ming Royal Bank launched silver dollar certificates. In the 12th year of Zhengde, the imperial district of the capital designated silver dollar certificates as the payment of taxes. In the 12th year of Zhengde, silver dollar certificates were implemented in the four northern provinces. In the 18th year of Zhengde, silver dollar certificates were implemented throughout the country. The late emperor issued many decrees to establish the status of silver dollar certificates as the only legal currency of the Ming Dynasty. Now, in the first year of the Republic, silver dollar certificates have been implemented throughout the country for a full eleven years." Zhu Houxuan led everyone to recall the development history of silver dollar certificates in an impassioned voice.

"Relying on the right to issue silver yuan coupons, the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty firmly grasped the financial hegemony of Ming Dynasty. After eleven years of promotion and use, relying on the endorsement of the central government and a series of policies, the people of Ming Dynasty, both in the north and south, have become accustomed to and recognized the existence of silver yuan coupons. There is no better currency than silver yuan coupons on the market. The currency value is strong, easy to use, and it is also easy to exchange for silver coins."

"Silver Yuan coupons have been circulated in every corner of the Ming Dynasty. Most transactions in the Ming Dynasty are carried out using silver Yuan coupons. The scope of use of metal currency has become pitifully small."

"Since we have mastered financial hegemony, we must use it to strike the enemy. As for how we use financial hegemony to strike the enemy, Tian Cheng, you are the president of the Royal Bank, and this is your responsibility. Please introduce it to everyone." Zhu Houxuan felt a little tired of talking, so he handed the rest of the explanation to Tian Cheng. "Okay!" Tian Cheng gladly accepted the order.

The people present suddenly understood why Tian Cheng attended this meeting.
"Hello, colleagues. Let me introduce the situation in this regard to you. Since the coup in the capital three years ago, His Highness has asked the Royal Bank to implement a series of policies targeting the south." Tian Cheng said to everyone with a smile.

"The most important one is to raise the threshold for exchanging silver dollars in the south for gold and silver, and to add various restrictions. The core purpose is to prevent people in the south who hold a large number of silver dollars from exchanging them for gold and silver and transporting them to the south," Tian Cheng said briskly.

At this time, Zhuang Jiye suddenly raised his hand, indicating that he had something to say.

Tian Cheng immediately asked Zhuang Jiye to speak.

"President Tian, ​​I am very curious about one thing. I often use silver dollar notes, and they are obviously the same. How do you tell whether this silver dollar note is from the south or the north?" Zhuang Jiye asked curiously.

"It's very simple! Each silver dollar note has a unique number. Through this number, the employees of the Royal Group can tell which region the silver dollar note was issued in..." Tian Cheng said simply.

Tian Cheng's words caused a commotion, and many people knew this for the first time.

"Then can't they find a northern merchant, exchange their southern silver dollar certificates for northern silver dollar certificates, and then exchange them for gold and silver?" Zhuang Jiye immediately thought of a loophole.

"The Royal Bank's control over northern finance may be beyond your imagination. If such a batch of silver dollar certificates arrive at the bank, we will immediately ask them to explain the source of this batch of silver dollar certificates and provide the purpose of exchanging them for gold and silver. If they cannot explain, they will not be exchanged. At the same time, we can quickly find out the origin of this batch of silver dollar certificates. We must be clear about one concept, that is, the convenience of gold and silver currencies in transactions is far lower than that of silver dollar certificates, so silver dollar certificates are the main force in market circulation transactions. Therefore, large-scale exchange of gold and silver is an abnormal behavior for the Royal Bank itself, so a legitimate reason is needed..." Tian Cheng said with a chuckle.

"Then they can always take the silver dollar coupons from the south to the north to spend them." Zhuang Jiye was still a little unconvinced.

"Of course!" Tian Cheng said, "This is also a behavior we have always encouraged!"

"But! Three years ago, the Royal Group issued a regulation prohibiting the trading of some bulk goods, such as steel products, steam engines, horses, grain, saltpeter, sulfur, ships, etc. Apart from these things, you can buy anything you want," Tian Cheng said, spreading his hands.

Zhuang Jiye had never noticed this rule, but he immediately realized that the prohibited items were all strategic materials that could be used in wars. However, he still couldn't help asking, "If these can't be traded, then what else can they buy?"

"There are many things to buy. We encourage them to buy more luxury goods, such as pearls, furs, precious medicinal materials and the like. We also welcome them to invest in building factories in the north or invest in some real estate," Tian Cheng said in a light tone.

(End of this chapter)