My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 138 A Grand Gift for Zhang Juzheng
After leaving Gao Gong's house, Su Ze continued walking towards Zhang Juzheng's house.

When they arrived at Zhang Juzheng's house, they saw a completely different scene.

The area in front of Zhang Juzheng's house was neither as bustling as the area in front of Li Chunfang's house, nor as deserted as the area in front of Gao Gong's house; rather, it was a chaotic yet orderly scene.

The Zhang family did not accept gifts from visiting officials, but they always asked them to leave a visiting card.

Officials who came to pay their respects presented their visiting cards one by one and then registered their names, making the whole Zhang residence feel like a work attendance system.

The line wasn't long, and those who left their visiting cards left quickly, so there was no crowding.

When Su Ze arrived, the steward immediately said:

"Scholar Su, Grand Secretary Zhang invites you to his residence for a chat."

Su Ze was taken aback. The steward hadn't even come into the mansion to announce their arrival?
Upon glancing at the booklet in the steward's hand, Su Ze suddenly realized that Zhang Juzheng must have already prepared a list in advance. Those on the list could enter the mansion directly, while those not on the list would leave a visiting card and leave.

Su Ze thought Zhang Juzheng's method was better. It wasn't like Li Chunfang's method, where the doorway was a mess and no one in the family could go out, nor was it like Gao Gong's method, which was cold and distant and alienated everyone.

When I become a Grand Secretary, I'll do the same thing!
Upon entering the somewhat luxurious Zhang residence, just as Su Ze had expected, Zhang Juzheng had even prepared a special side hall for tea to entertain those who had already entered the residence.

This is... the Grand Secretary's reception room?
The reception room was filled with elderly officials. When they saw Su Ze and Xu Wei enter, they assumed that Xu Wei had come to pay a visit to Zhang Juzheng.

However, seeing Xu Wei's attitude towards Su Ze, he turned his attention back to Su Ze.

Su Ze also saw a familiar face.

Mao Kai, Minister of Justice.

During the last cabinet meeting, Su Ze already suspected that Mao Kai had sided with Zhang Juzheng.

Seeing him in the reception room today indicates that Minister Mao has officially taken sides.

However, for such important officials as the Ministers of the Six Ministries to come and pay their respects in person, instead of sending their sons and nephews to visit each other, shows that Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng certainly had quite a lot of airs.

Of course, one could also say that Mao Kai was flexible and adaptable.

Upon seeing acquaintances, Su Ze naturally stepped forward to greet them, while Mao Kai warmly took Su Ze's hand and said to everyone:

"This is Su Ze, also known as Su Zilin, who is highly regarded by the Grand Secretaries."

Mao Kai deliberately added a "men" (们), and everyone present understood his meaning, showering him with compliments one after another.

Mao Kai then pulled Su Ze aside and introduced everyone in the room to him. Xu Wei immediately presented his visiting cards, and Su Ze also accepted quite a few visiting cards.

It can only be said that those who can become ministers of the six ministries are all very shrewd and worldly-wise. Mao Kai's actions brought him closer to Su Ze and helped Su Ze build a lot of connections.

Those who could sit in this flower hall were all core members of Zhang Juzheng's faction, mostly officials from the Ministry of Revenue.

Having received everyone's invitations, we've become acquainted. This will be a valuable network for Su Ze when he needs someone to help him in the future.

A short while later, the steward of the Zhang residence came out and invited Mao Kai into Zhang Juzheng's study.

Su Ze found a corner to sit down and listened to the officials chatting. He also heard quite a bit of gossip.

That's probably how Shen Yiguan's information was gathered.

"I heard that Shen Shu, the supervising secretary of the Ministry of Justice, has finally taken a concubine."

"Is it because of the memorial submitted by the Censorate?"

"Yes, people outside are saying that Shen Shu's family is not peaceful, that he has a shrew who won't let him take a concubine, so he still doesn't have a son. This time, the Censorate has actually helped Shen Shu."

"Hahaha, with a pear blossom overshadowing a crabapple, can an old tree still sprout new buds?"

Su Ze was somewhat speechless. As he listened, the conversation veered towards these strange gossips. Sure enough, this kind of news was more likely to spread.

Although Zhang Juzheng treated Su Ze well, the officials in charge still summoned them in order of rank and the order in which they came to the residence.

This way, no one would feel slighted. Su Ze secretly noted it down. When it comes to emotional intelligence, Zhang Ge Lao is still the best!
Nearly half an hour later, it was finally Su Ze's turn. Su Ze carried the box and walked into Zhang Juzheng's study.

Zhang Juzheng's study was very large. After Su Ze entered, bowed, and greeted him, Zhang Juzheng said:
"I also supported your decision regarding the performance evaluation law, but Chief Minister Li beat me to it."

Zhang Juzheng's meaning was also very clear: he was telling Su Ze that Li Chunfang had helped with the performance evaluation system.

As a Grand Secretary, Zhang Juzheng naturally had his pride, and these things needed to be made clear.

Su Ze said quickly:

"Without Grand Secretary Zhang's strong support, the Performance Evaluation Law could not have been promulgated. I am still grateful to the Grand Secretary."

Zhang Juzheng nodded slightly. He had indeed voted in favor of Su Ze's opinion, and he accepted Su Ze's words.

Zhang Juzheng then inquired in detail about the assessment and performance evaluation system, and Su Ze answered all his questions. Zhang Juzheng nodded in satisfaction.

Zhang Juzheng could only sigh, "Is this what they mean by great minds think alike?"
In fact, Zhang Juzheng had long had the idea of ​​implementing the performance evaluation system, and after talking with Su Zeyi today, many of his ideas aligned.

He still felt a little regretful that his most outstanding student, Shen Shixing, was following a path somewhat similar to that of the Grand Secretary Li Chunfang.

It's a pity that Su Ze isn't his disciple, otherwise he would definitely be able to inherit his mantle.

After discussing the performance evaluation system, Su Ze took out a few silver dollars from the box.

Su Ze placed the silver coins on Zhang Juzheng's desk and then said:

"Grand Secretary Zhang, these are newly minted silver coins at the ports of Dengzhou and Laizhou by Governor Tu."

"So fast?"

These silver dollars were brought back by carrier pigeon; the ones sent to the Ministry of Revenue won't arrive until after the New Year.

Su Ze used fat pigeons to transport silver dollars, partly to test the pigeons' carrying capacity, and partly to present them as a gift to Zhang Juzheng before the festival.

"Grand Secretary Zhang, I have proposed several methods to improve coinage. This is a silver coin that Governor Tu is trying out."

Zhang Juzheng looked at the silver dollar in his hand; its design was quite strange.

The silver dollar has small teeth on both sides, which is understandable; this is to prevent people from cutting off the corners of the silver coin.

This problem was discovered when the Wuzhu coin was minted in the Han Dynasty. Some unscrupulous merchants would cut off the edges of the copper coins and then use the scraps to privately mint coins.

Later, the Wuzhu coin had its borders added, which alleviated the problem to some extent.

The edge teeth on Su Ze's silver coin seem to be more functional and exquisite than the outer edge.

The obverse of the silver coin features the characters "Longqing Tongbao," while the reverse depicts the Ming Dynasty's sun and moon flag.

Zhang Juzheng was somewhat puzzled; the silver coin was much more exquisite than he had imagined.

Su Ze said:

"Grand Secretary Zhang, this was cast using the stamping method."

"Stamping method?"

Su Ze nodded and said, "Melted silver is shaped into a circle, then placed in a mold, and then pressed with a hammer to create silver coins like these."

Zhang Juzheng seemed to understand, but he knew that silver was relatively soft and easy to mold, but how much manpower would that require?

Su Ze said again:
“Stamping does not require manual labor. In the mints of Dengzhou and Laiyang, there is a heavy hammer that is filled with water by a waterwheel. Once the water is full, the hammer falls and can mint a hundred coins at a time.”

Seeing that Zhang Juzheng still didn't understand, Su Ze took out the structural diagram of the hydraulic hammer press. After the explanation, Zhang Juzheng finally understood.

"Is this what they call 'gravity'?"

Su Ze was somewhat surprised, not expecting that Zhang Juzheng had also read his article and even made the connection that this was the application of gravity.

Su Ze said quickly:

"Your Excellency is wise; it is precisely the wonder of gravity that has been utilized."

Zhang Juzheng grew increasingly fond of the silver coins, to the point that he couldn't bear to part with them.

Zhang Juzheng asked again:

"How much does this silver dollar weigh?" Su Ze replied:

"Five qian (approximately 15 grams) is equivalent to half a tael of silver."

"It's a bit too heavy."

Su Ze nodded in agreement. He had previously submitted a memorial stating that the heavier the silver dollar, the larger its face value, which was detrimental to currency circulation.

However, with current technology, this is the only silver coin that can be minted.

It should be noted that in the late Qing Dynasty, the Yuan Shikai silver dollar, minted using imported foreign technology, weighed seven qian (approximately 3.3 grams), making it heavier than the one minted by Su Ze.

If we really wanted to mint lighter and more refined silver coins, we would need a minting machine, which would be part of the steam age's technology tree.

Zhang Juzheng asked again:

"How much firepower was consumed?"

Su Ze said:

"Governor Tu has calculated it; the fire loss is less than 10%."

Zhang Juzheng exclaimed in surprise:

"So low?"

The original meaning of "fire loss" was that local governments levied an additional tax on silver during tax collection to compensate for the loss caused by melting and casting small pieces of silver. Later, it gradually evolved into an additional tax levied by local governments.

The existence of the "fire loss" tax was actually quite reasonable, but as corruption deepened, it gradually became a means of exploiting local authorities.

The "fire loss" that Zhang Juzheng mentioned refers to its original meaning, which is the cost of minting coins.

Smelting silver involves labor costs and machine wear and tear in the workshops, all of which incur costs.

Actually, this percentage is not low. In the Jiangnan region, the government only collected about 5% to 10% of the gold and silver as a fire loss.

However, Su Ze's silver coins were much more exquisite than the silver ingots sent from Jiangnan to the Imperial Treasury. Such exquisite silver coins had a fire loss of less than 10%!
Zhang Juzheng then asked, "Are these exquisitely crafted silver coins intended to prevent unauthorized minting?"

Su Ze nodded quickly.

As expected of Zhang Juzheng, his understanding of finance far surpassed that of others.

In fact, if Su Ze didn't pursue embossing, he could have reduced the cost even further.

However, he did this in order to mint more exquisite silver coins.

Su Ze said, "I have reviewed the memorials on the minting of coins during the Jiajing era and found that the reason for the failure of the minting of coins during the late emperor's reign was that the court issued good coins, and the people collected good coins and minted bad coins. Every time coins were minted, it would lead to more bad coins in the market, and the price of coins would plummet."

"But the government's fire loss rate is high, while the private minting rate is low, so the government always loses money when minting coins."

"Therefore, during the reign of Emperor Sejong, the price of coins would plummet after each minting. As a result, the court would collect less tax revenue. Thus, the conversion of gold coins from coins to silver was gradually changed."

"But people are not born to use inferior currency. Fine silver coins have a more stable value, and merchants and ordinary people actually prefer to use them."

"The bad money drives out the good money because the coins minted by the government in the past were not good enough and the cost was far higher than that of private minting. So the more money was issued, the more bad money there was in the market, and the more the court lost money each time it was discovered, and the more the monetary system became blocked."

Zhang Juzheng nodded repeatedly, as Su Ze was describing the current situation where monetary laws were not being implemented.

The cost of official minting was far higher than that of private minting, and the reasons for this are self-evident.

But as Su Ze said, the coins minted by the government are also of poor quality!

During the Jiajing era, coins were minted three times, with Zhang Juzheng participating in two of them. In all three instances, the copper content decreased continuously.

Isn't this just rampant illegal minting?

Su Ze solved the problem of excessive fire consumption with technology, and minted better silver coins with less loss. Then, issuing silver coins would not be a losing business, and the government would have the incentive to continue.

With more silver coins issued, the bad coins in the market can naturally be driven out.

Just as Su Ze said, people aren't born cheap and love to use privately minted inferior coins. Inferior coins are hard to distinguish from genuine ones, and there are different exchange rates. When doing business, you have to haggle over the quality of the coins first.

If the silver coins minted by the imperial court were both cheap and of good quality, and could be issued in large quantities, who would insist on using inferior currency?

Moreover, the cost of counterfeiting such exquisite silver coins as Su Ze must be extremely high for ordinary people. This is using technological gap to suppress the survival space of inferior coins.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Su Ze with even greater satisfaction.

However, this was not the gift Su Ze was giving to Zhang Juzheng this time; he took out two more coins.

One is a gleaming gold coin, even more exquisite, with "Longqing Treasure" inscribed on the obverse and a coiled dragon on the reverse.

"This is?"

Su Ze said:

"These are gold coins minted for His Majesty, weighing five qian each. Please, Grand Secretary Zhang, present them to His Majesty as a royal reward."

“From now on, a reward of one tael can be converted into a reward coin.”

Gold is more malleable than silver, so the patterns on the back are naturally more exquisite.

Since it is for the use of the royal family, it is natural that dragons can be carved on it.

Zhang Juzheng liked it more and more as he looked at it.

It was normal for the emperor to reward his subjects with gold.

Su Ze's cunning lay in turning the one tael of reward into a gold coin, which reduced the weight by half. But if this kind of gold coin were used instead, the ministers would probably be even more delighted.

"it is good!"

Although Zhang Juzheng was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and had no control over the emperor's private treasury, if the emperor needed money, he would still have to ask the outer court for funds.

The current emperor is more generous than the late emperor; last year during the festival, he bestowed ten taels of gold upon the Earl of Wuqing.

The emperor was also the patriarch of the largest clan in the land.

During festivals, weddings, and funerals, even the emperor had to contribute money.

If you spend money so extravagantly, no amount of money will be enough.

Su Ze's idea is excellent. Using gold coins instead of rewards is a good way to show the imperial favor. Members of the royal family, nobles, relatives of the emperor, and court officials would probably keep them at home as a keepsake.

This would greatly reduce royal expenses.

"it is good!"

Zhang Juzheng was truly relieved. With the Ministry of Revenue in charge, there was no better gift than enabling the country to increase revenue and reduce expenditure.

Zhang Juzheng then asked, "Have these dragon-patterned silver coins been minted?"

Su Ze then remembered that the emperor not only bestowed gold, but also silver.

Grand Secretary Zhang is truly remarkable; he even set his sights on the bestowed silver.

Su Ze said quickly:

"That requires imperial approval from the palace. Please, Grand Secretary Zhang, submit the request in the name of the Ministry of Revenue."

Zhang Juzheng declared, taking full responsibility:

“Once the sample coins from Dengzhou and Laizhou arrive after the New Year, I will personally petition His Majesty.”

Zhang Juzheng was in high spirits. If the emperor were to bestow silver in the future, instead of in taels, it would be in coins, which would save the palace expenses.

Little by little, these small expenses may seem insignificant, but they actually constitute a major portion of the royal expenses.

Su Ze finally pulled out a coin, which was the highlight of his gift.

(End of this chapter)