Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 87: The Ming Dynasty's treasure notes are just a piece of waste paper

Looking at the piles of Ming Dynasty banknotes stacked up in the box.

Yang Chen picked it up and looked at it carefully again and again. It turned out that the thing that caused inflation during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty looked like this.

It is a very simple craftsmanship, and it looks like some ink was used to print on the paper.

I smelled the smell and it was very different from the smell of paper money in later generations.

Even a little old.

After counting the amount, it was exactly as Zhu Biao said, a total of five thousand taels of silver.

But he didn't know whether he could spend the money.

The Ming Dynasty's treasure notes appeared in the eighth year of Hongwu, and now it is only the twelfth year of Hongwu.

Inflation should not be so serious yet, and ordinary people will not refuse to accept Baochao.

It will be some time before the day comes when ordinary people use Ming Dynasty treasure notes to wipe their butts.

According to records, the Ming Baochao depreciated by at least 70% to 80% from the time it was issued to the end of the Hongwu period.

"Yang Chen? What did you just say? This banknote is too hard to even wipe shit with?"

"What do you mean? Do you think this banknote is unusable?"

He originally thought that his mother had pooled some money with him to give to Yang Chen, and even if the other party was not grateful, he should at least accept it with a smile.

But he didn't expect that the money that ordinary people regarded as a treasure was actually a piece of waste paper that Yang Chen would not even use to wipe shit.

"I can't react to this for a while, so I'm a little blunt. Please forgive me, A Biao."

Realizing that his words had been rude again, Yang Chen first expressed his apologies.

Queen Ma, who was sitting nearby, realized that there must be something wrong, so she mentioned it.

"Yang Chen, this banknote is a small gift from the prince and I, but I feel like you have a big problem with it?
If you have any problem with this banknote, just tell me directly. If you don't like it, I can find you some real gold and silver.

It's just that I can't gather so much right away. I can send someone to deliver it to your house tomorrow. What do you think?"

Hearing this, Yang Chen sighed. Ever since he appeared, he had been taken care of, especially by Queen Ma.

Many times he was provided with special care that other people could not even dream of.

She even told him clearly that as long as she was alive, Zhu Yuanzhang would not touch him.

In the entire Ming Dynasty, perhaps only Yang Chen enjoyed such treatment.

After thinking about it, Yang Chen took a deep breath and immediately explained:
"My lady, Ah Biao, I will make this short. If there is anything you don't understand, please ask me later.

This precious banknote, as well as the real gold and silver that Your Majesty mentioned earlier, and even the copper coins that I have never seen before, I don't know what you call these things.

But in the world six hundred years later, anything that can be used for purchase or exchange has a general name.

It's called 'currency'.

Regarding currency, based on what I have learned, there are roughly three modes that reflect the performance of currency.

First, barter, where the items themselves have very high value, such as lamb legs, ox heads, silk cloth, etc., which are valuable items, are exchanged for other items.

Second, commodity currency. You can understand this explanation as things whose value is defined as expensive by most people, such as precious jade, gems, glass, gold, silver, copper, etc.

Third, legal tender! The value of this thing is given by a ruling dynasty. It is actually not valuable in itself. It can be exchanged for things because of the face of the dynasty that made it.

For example, these treasure notes in my hand are the legal currency of the Ming Dynasty.

Normally, the more powerful a country prints this money, the more useful its notes are.

But your majesty's cognitive ability. To be more precise, everyone in the entire Ming Dynasty, including the Empress and Abia, thinks so.

As long as this treasure note is printed, can it be spent at will?"

Hearing Yang Chen explain Baochao as "currency", Zhu Biao and Empress Ma immediately perked up.

Especially Zhu Biao, ever since Yang Chen told him the truth that without investigation, there is no right to speak.

Zhu Biao swore that in the future he would measure the Ming Dynasty with his own feet and see the truth of the world with his own eyes.

Although Queen Ma had never formally heard Yang Chen's words, she could tell from his tone that this matter was definitely not simple.

She likes reading on a daily basis and has learned a wide range of knowledge. This is the first time she hears unfamiliar words, and it is very likely that these words are knowledge she has never been exposed to before.

Queen Ma was naturally very much looking forward to it.

“Starting from the Northern Song Dynasty, paper money gradually spread among the people, and then the imperial court began to stipulate fixed denominations.

As it circulated more and more widely, Baochao gradually had other names such as Jiaozi, Huizi, and Huaizi, until the Song Dynasty was destroyed and the Yuan Dynasty dominated the Central Plains.

Baochao was also printed and used, so why couldn't it be used in the Ming Dynasty?"

Knowing the three properties of currency, Zhu Biao asked Yang Chen with a little confusion.

Empress Ma also nodded in agreement.

Since the eighth year of Hongwu, money in the private sector has gradually become scarce, and people once resorted to bartering to make a living.

In order to solve the money shortage, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Secretariat to build the Baochao Tizhusi. After Hu Weiyong was killed, the Secretariat was abolished and the Baochao Tizhusi finally fell under the Ministry of Revenue.

From then on, the Ming Treasure Notes Administration, under the instruction of Zhu Yuanzhang, printed Ming Treasure Notes to enrich the national treasury, so that the people no longer needed to barter.

For them, this was a very good measure that solved the people's worries about having no money and also resolved the deficit situation of the imperial treasury.

Four years have passed now, and everyone feels that there is no problem.

Only businessmen who have the most sensitive sense of money.

They discovered that the Baochao was actually just a piece of waste paper with an irregular denomination, and the number of pieces piled up could be as big as a house.

In private, many merchants actually use real money to conduct transactions.

"Ah~ Actually, it is expected that you would have such an understanding, after all, the soil of the Central Plains is this.

If it had always been a feudal dynasty, it would have never cultivated people who could discover the essence of the problem. "

Hearing Zhu Biao's words, Yang Chen smiled bitterly and muttered to himself, then frowned and said seriously:

"As I said earlier, money can be expressed in three forms.

The Ming Baochao is the third type, which is the legal currency printed and issued by the imperial court.

This thing itself has no value. The reason why it can be used to exchange materials and purchase items is entirely because this small Ming treasure note embodies the national strength and credibility of the Ming Dynasty.

The stronger the national strength, the greater the purchasing power of the treasure notes. Six hundred years later, there was a country that was stronger than the country I belong to.

One ounce of their silver can be exchanged for six or even seven ounces of silver in my country. I wonder if you can understand what I mean."

"Hiss! There is actually such a tyrannical country in this world! Doesn't that mean that its national strength is very strong?"

Zhu Biao had never seen such a domineering country that used force to force others. Even the current Ming Dynasty could not do it. He could not even imagine how powerful this country was!

“There are too many things involved here, so I won’t explain them in detail. Let me talk about this treasure note first.

In addition to the purchasing power of Baochao given by national strength, there is also credibility, which can also be said to have similar meanings such as reputation, contract, terms, etc.

The reason why Baochao can be used to purchase items is that it serves as a substitute for silver and gold.

This is entirely because the people believe that the imperial court has enough gold and silver to match the treasure notes issued.

Because of this, the people have this illusion, which leads you to have this illusion as well, so you start to frantically print large-denomination and large-quantity silver banknotes.

My prince, let me ask you this: if you arrange for someone to print a banknote worth ten thousand or even one hundred thousand taels of silver, can this banknote made of mulberry paper be worth one hundred thousand taels of silver?

If things were really that simple, would the Ming Dynasty be so poor?

As long as there is a shortage of money, the emperor can just order the printing of money continuously. If there is no money, he can just print more. This is simply a profitable business!
Normally, if currency wants to circulate smoothly, it must have an anchor. If I explain it too complicatedly, you may not understand, so I will just put it bluntly. This anchor is something that the currency is pegged to.

For example, if you want the Ming Baochao to be valuable, it must be anchored by precious metals, such as silver, gold, or even copper coins.

As long as the imperial court can provide precious metals of the same value as the amount of treasure notes, it will be enough.

For example, if I take the 5,000 taels of silver treasure note in my hand to the imperial court for exchange, as long as it can really be exchanged for 5,000 taels of real silver, then this treasure note will convince the people.

If you can't, then just do as I said, the banknotes are too hard to even wipe shit with."

Yang Chen did not use too many professional terms, and even if he did, he replaced them with easy-to-understand terms.

It may not be explained very clearly, but this is not a class, it is just telling the other person something.

It's enough as long as Zhu Biao and others can understand it.

However, after hearing what Yang Chen said, Zhu Biao felt troubled.

The reason is very simple. The Ming government did not allow the people to exchange treasure notes for silver.

In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, people abandoned the Jiaozi left over from the Yuan Dynasty and used metal currencies such as silver, gold, and copper coins.

But 90% of these precious metals are concentrated in merchants, who either collect them or trade them with people overseas.

Eventually, the people were left with no money, and precious metals were lost overseas at a certain rate.

In order to avoid a money shortage and the outflow of copper coins, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the people not to use precious metals for transactions.

'Copper is not allowed to go to sea' is also one of the reasons why Zhu Yuanzhang enacted the maritime ban.

To a certain extent, it has prevented the further loss of precious metals.

Only after the issuance of Baochao did the signs of money shortage gradually decrease.

After hearing what Yang Chen said, Empress Ma and Zhu Biao both realized the seriousness of the problem.

"So if the Ming treasure notes are not restricted, they will end up like what you said."

“Is this too serious?”

Zhu Biao's casual remark prompted Yang Chen to cite another real example.

"I admit that what I said may make you think it is alarmist, but in the near future everything I said will be proven true.

I don’t remember some of the details very clearly, but the Ming Dynasty’s treasure notes depreciated too quickly.

I wonder, Prince, what denominations of banknotes are there nowadays and what are their values?
Could you please explain it to me in detail so that I can understand it clearly?"

In order to understand the current situation of the treasure notes, Yang Chen first had to understand the specific denominations of the treasure notes.

Otherwise he couldn't explain it in detail.

“Today, there are six main denominations of Ming Dynasty treasure notes.

In the eighth year of Hongwu, the Baochao Tizhusi was established in the Zhongshu Sheng. After discussions between my father and the ministers, it was finally decided to print six main denominations.

They are 100 wen, 200 wen, 300 wen, 400 wen, 500 wen and one guan respectively.

One guan is equal to one thousand copper coins or one liang of silver, and four guan is equal to one liang of gold.

Zhu Biao's memory on this aspect is very clear, which makes it much easier for Yang Chen to explain.

Nodding to show that he understood, Yang Chen continued:

“Let me use the usual as an example.

Initially, it was stipulated that one string of banknotes was equivalent to one thousand coins or one ounce of silver, and four strings of banknotes were equivalent to one ounce of gold.

Since the Ming court did not have any precious metals such as gold and silver in reserve during the issuance of Baochao, the printed money was mainly used for fiscal payments and soon depreciated rapidly.

In the 0.4th year of Hongwu, the official salary rice was converted into banknotes, and each string of treasure notes was equivalent to shi of rice.

In the 23rd year of Hongwu, in some areas in the south, each string of treasure notes could only be exchanged for 250 copper coins.

In the 160th year of Hongwu, each string of treasure notes in Liangzhe, Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi could only be exchanged for copper coins.

In the fourth year of Xuande, the official tax price was 0.02 dan of rice per string of banknotes. In the seventh year of Xuande, the official tax price was 1 fen of silver per string of banknotes.

After this, in the eighth year of Zhengtong, the official tax price was 0.01 dan of rice per string of banknotes.

In the third year of Jingtai, officials received their salaries in silver notes, with each string of notes worth 2 cents (1067 silver coins).

In the first year of Chenghua, the imperial edict was issued to implement the currency system, stipulating that commercial taxes and other taxes should be collected in cash. At this time, each string of treasure notes could only be converted into 4 copper coins.

From this we can see that the depreciation rate of Baochao was very fast, from the initial one thousand coins or one tael of silver.

Later, it could only be exchanged for 4 copper coins, and the depreciation rate reached hundreds or thousands of times. "

Yang Chen's tone was extremely solemn. They didn't know which emperors would rule the following reigns.

But it can be seen from this that the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes are depreciating too fast!
In the 27th year of Hongwu alone, the currency had already depreciated by nearly ten times! It was only 20 years ago!

However, this was not the end. What Yang Chen said next made the two of them feel like they were facing a formidable enemy, and Zhu Biao even had beads of sweat the size of beans on his forehead.

"If a dynasty, one that controls the fate of tens of millions of people, does not have a complete set of economic standards, it will lead to economic collapse.

Not only will it bankrupt the country and the people, it is also an important reason why corrupt officials are rampant.

Your Majesty arbitrarily issues treasure notes, and once the treasury is out of money, you use the treasure notes to pay officials' salaries.

In the beginning, officials only needed to carry a vegetable basket to carry their monthly salary. Later, they even needed a horse-drawn carriage to carry their monthly salary.

But this much treasure money can't even provide enough food and drink for a month.

Tell me, is there still law here? Is there still law? This is simply unacceptable!
You can see from the dynasties I just mentioned that every emperor perfectly inherited your Majesty's level of cognition.

Especially Yongle! When he was the emperor, he was completely a hands-off boss.

All they think about is war. When they have no money to pay salaries, they just print money like crazy.

In the end, these Ming Dynasty treasure notes were once used to go to the toilet, and even wiping shit was too painful to the buttocks.

Those merchants who smelled that there was something wrong with the treasure notes used these worthless treasure notes to deceive the people into buying the land they owned.

This led to extremely serious land annexation, causing many people to revolt.

Although it was suppressed with tough measures, the fact that people died and the people lost their support could not be hidden.

In short, the Ming Treasure Notes cheated the Ming Dynasty, cheated the people, and cheated the entire world!

The only ones who benefited were the wealthy merchants and local princes."

Yang Chen touched his chin, looking very interested, and then said with a hint of anticipation:

"I think it's better not to let Your Majesty handle this matter. If there is a chance, you can take care of it yourself, Prince."

"why?"

Zhu Biao was confused and didn't understand why the other party was encouraging him to usurp the imperial power.

Even though he is a prince with great power, there is no need for him to do this.

"This matter is very complicated, considering your father's small peasant economy thinking.

If he knew about this, the first thing he would do is not to solve the problem, but to deal with me as the person who raised the problem.

In addition, economics and currency are a subject that requires in-depth research before one can get started.

I am just an ordinary undergraduate. If I hadn't been close friends with a girl from the School of Economics, how do you think I know all this?"

Hearing this, Zhu Biao smiled awkwardly, looking a little embarrassed.

"How could my father be as bad as you say? Also, is this how the friendship between Guan Yu and Bao Yu is used?"

"Ahem. Anyway, just ignore it. That happened a long time ago."

Zhu Biao had clearly realized the dangers of the Baochao problem, but he could not figure out how to solve it for the time being.

When these notes were first issued, they were all real gold and silver, but who would have thought that they would soon become even less valuable than toilet paper.

If the people knew about this, there would definitely be a great uproar.

How to solve it then is a big problem.

"Is there no good solution to this problem?"

Queen Ma took a deep breath and tried to find out from Yang Chen if there was any solution.

And got a shake of head in response.

"My lady, there is really no perfect solution to this problem.

The first reason is that the Ming Baochao was circulated too widely. As the prince just said, it was issued in the eighth year of Hongwu.

It is now the twelfth year of Hongwu. For four full years, the people have trusted the court. If the court does not recognize these banknotes now.

Then the people will definitely spit at the court, and they will not believe anything the court says in the future.

There is no solution, but I do have some ways to alleviate it.”

When Zhu Biao heard Yang Chen say that the problem could not be solved, his face already showed pain.

Fortunately, things turned around.

“First of all, the foundation of legal tender is credibility. As long as you can maintain the credibility of Ming Baochao, half of this problem will be solved.

But the Ming Dynasty probably doesn't have enough silver, right? Even gold would be fine, or even copper coins.

If the people can exchange these precious metals with the imperial court, the problem of treasure notes can probably be solved by half.

As for the treasure notes being issued now, I suggest that the court hoard precious metals at the same time.

By the way, the treasure notes issued now will be slowly recovered and destroyed.

After all these are completed, we will then formulate a complete Baochao system. It would be best to find talents and establish a new institution to specialize in monetary economics, etc.

Otherwise, if a problem arises one day and leads to riots among the people, the court will not know the reason.

Isn’t that a big joke?”

If Yang Chen were asked to make guns and cannons, he might not be afraid, but he only remembered the general idea of ​​these fancy things.

Even if a master's degree in economics comes here, he cannot guarantee that the problem can be solved perfectly in today's era.

It's good enough to be able to come up with such a method.

However, Zhu Biao was in a dilemma.

The imperial court created the treasure notes because it did not have enough precious metals. If it had enough precious metals, it would not have fallen to this point.

Therefore, Yang Chen’s method was as good as saying nothing.

"You can't just stand by and watch them die, right? Is there no other way except hoarding silver and gold?"

Hearing this, Yang Chen quickly waved his hand to signal.

"What do you mean by watching someone in need and not helping? I can't do anything about it. Economic problems are always linked to one thing and affect the entire body.

The current situation of the Ming Dynasty is a complete mess. I really have limited abilities and cannot do it!"

The two of them also saw that Yang Chen was not lying, so they both became anxious.

“Biao’er, this matter is very serious. If we are not careful, it will destroy the people’s trust in the court.

A few days ago, your father said that the treasury was out of money, and he planned to ask the Treasury to print one million taels of silver in treasure notes.

Stop him now and tell him the seriousness of this matter."

After calming down, Queen Ma thought about this incident.

That night, Old Zhu mentioned to her that there was no money in the treasury, and then he wanted the Baochao Tizhusi to continue printing.

One million treasure notes may not sound like a lot, but if it were to spread throughout the Ming Dynasty, it would cause tremendous trouble.

"I understand. I will go tell my father right away. Yang Chen, you come with me first."

"Ah? But I still have to leave the palace. Wait for your father."

Before Yang Chen could finish his words, Zhu Biao didn't care about anything else. He grabbed Yang Chen's elbow without permission and walked out.

As the two left, Queen Ma frowned again and showed a bitter expression.

Zhu Xiongying, in her arms, looked at Yang Chen's back as he left.

"Grandma, who was that big brother just now?

I've met him before and he seems like a nice guy."

Zhu Xiongying has a deep memory of Yang Chen.

That day was in the afternoon, and Lu used the excuse of renovating the East Palace as an opportunity to make everyone ignore Zhu Xiongying and his brother.

Even the wet nurse was arranged by Lu to leave the Eastern Palace in the name of visiting relatives.

This caused Zhu Yunhuan to be hungry for a while in the afternoon.

The servant was not unaware of Zhu Xiongying's identity, but how could a child whose mother had died possibly defeat the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace?
The older brother soon felt distressed by the crying younger brother, so he quickly carried the younger brother to find his father.

If Yang Chen had not been taken back to the Eastern Palace by Zhu Biao and arranged accommodation, Zhu Xiongying would probably have to wait until the sun sets to see his father.

On that day, no one in the huge East Palace dared to approach Zhu Xiongying, and the young boy, despite his prominent status, received no help.

Only Yang Chen saw that the child was unable to hold his brother and wanted to lend a helping hand.

Zhu Xiongying, whose heart was chilled by Donggong, was a little wary. In addition, Yang Chen seemed strange to him from head to toe, so he did not dare to trust him easily.

Now he met Yang Chen again and found that his grandmother and father treated him with courtesy and were very polite.

Zhu Xiongying was very curious about this.

Queen Ma looked at Zhu Xiongying with loving eyes. She didn't expect that Yang Chen had such an impression of his grandson.

"He, he is a good friend of your father. From now on, just call him Uncle Yang."

As if she had thought of Yang Chen's identity, Empress Ma took the opportunity to test him and asked:

"Xiongying, you are almost five years old. It's time to find a teacher to teach you. What do you want to learn?

Did you understand what your father said to Uncle Yang just now?

He is very knowledgeable. Would you like to let him be your teacher? "

Hearing this, Zhu Xiongying did not show the impatience of his peers, but instead put his fingers against his mouth and made a humming sound.

"Grandma, what Uncle Yang said was really obscure. Xiong Ying was too stupid to understand it for a while.

However, if Xiong Ying can learn from Uncle Yang, Xiong Ying will definitely work hard to help grandma, grandpa, and father solve their problems in the future!"

(End of this chapter)