Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 127 Equivalent Currency, Differential Currency, Credit Money
Zhu Youjian recognized King Philip IV of Spain because he had his portrait printed on silver coins, which were called "Benyang" in the Western world during the Ming Dynasty.

His own first batch of Chongzhen Tongbao coins had been minted, but had not yet been released to the market. If the exchange rate was based on the court's regulation of one tael of silver to one thousand copper coins, then as of now:

The Ministry of Revenue's "Baoquan Bureau" had a minting capital of 90,000 taels, and earned over 26,000 taels of silver in interest from minting coins, producing 116,000 strings of cash in coins.

The Ministry of Works' "Baoyuan Bureau" produced 130,000 taels of silver in coins, earning over 46,000 taels in interest, and minted 176,000 strings of cash.

The Nanjing mint produced over 79,000 taels of silver, yielding over 39,000 taels in interest, and 118,000 strings of cash in paper money.

The Sichuan "Baochuan Bureau" minted 50,000 taels of silver, earning over 45,000 taels in interest, and produced 95,000 strings of coins.

A total of 505,000 strings of cash, or 50.5 million coins, were minted. Of course, this is an ideal scenario; in reality, 1,000 cash coins couldn't even be exchanged for one tael of silver. If we consider the actual exchange rate in the private market, the imperial court would likely have lost money minting coins, which is quite abstract.

Local authorities frequently engage in fraudulent currency issuance, overreporting the number of coins minted and exaggerating minting costs to swindle funds from the imperial court. Therefore, the claim of 50 million coins is likely far from accurate. However, verifying this is extremely difficult. While it's possible to send people to count the coins before they are issued, once they begin circulating, the truth becomes unclear.

This is another case of Wei Zhongxian's fault. Originally, the imperial court only minted coins in the two capitals and Sichuan. In order to make money, the right to mint coins was delegated to the nine border towns, and officials and princes all got the right to mint coins.

Money is sold by the piece, not by weight, so naturally, the less material used, the more profit is made. Since less material was used, adding impurities wasn't unreasonable, right? Thus, coins became smaller, thinner, and more brittle—the very essence of Gresham's Law (bad money drives out good) came into play. The common people melted down the government's good coins to make worthless ones, turning one coin into three, and were quite pleased with themselves.

The imperial court was also inhumane, forcibly recalling copper coins and exchanging them for paper money and toilet paper. They collected taxes but did not collect paper money. When issuing coins, they calculated them as one or two thousand coins, but when collecting taxes, they calculated them as one tael of five or six thousand coins. When questioned, the copper coins were said to be "insufficient in purity" or "broken when strung," and any wear and tear had to be calculated as fire loss, etc.

There are too many intricacies surrounding currency to be fully understood even in the 21st century, and Zhu Youjian, being a fool, was naturally confused and only had a vague understanding. However, he at least restored the original minting system of two capitals plus Sichuan, and reclaimed the local minting rights. But this would cause upheaval in the regions, and some people would lose their jobs.

Local officials might not dare to openly oppose it, but could act secretly, or even sell the mint to a private individual. After all, others are more likely to care about protecting and suppressing private minting when profits are shared. If the imperial court were to sever local minting rights, what grounds would local officials have to confiscate private minting?

Could the imperial court really extend its reach that far? The state only earned tens of thousands of taels of silver a year from minting coins; was there enough incentive to crack down on private minting? The money earned might not even be enough to pay the salaries of the relevant departments. Therefore, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty didn't particularly like minting coins; instead, they printed paper money at an alarming rate.

By now, the paper money had become completely invalid; it was no longer accepted at a discounted price but outright rejected. The minting of coins had evolved into a political performance, a way to announce to the people that a new emperor had ascended the throne and the dynasty had changed its era name.

Zhu Youjian was very fond of coins, including copper, gold, and silver coins. The copper coins currently being minted by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works are relatively exquisite. Although they cannot compare to Song Dynasty currency, they are at least considered top-quality among small-denomination coins.

Ordinary people can be quite abstract sometimes. They might find thick coins inconvenient to carry and prefer thin ones. Of course, they also know that thicker coins are actually more valuable, so they generally like to keep the better coins at home and are reluctant to spend them.

Zhu Youjian felt that the small notes in the cabinet were inconvenient for communication, and he himself was somewhat incompetent. So when he encountered problems that he didn't understand, he liked to go to the cabinet office to ask questions and get approvals. He believed that pooling wisdom and efforts was better than making decisions blindly on his own.

Inside the Wenyuan Pavilion, Zhu Youjian moved a grand master's chair and sat opposite Bi Ziyan. The old man's eyelids twitched, but he pretended not to see them and continued processing official documents from various regions.

Being close to the emperor wasn't all that great. Perhaps to make up for not having received imperial education in his youth, he would refuse to hold lectures after ascending the throne. The emperor would take the initiative, turning into a curious child and asking all sorts of tricky and inquisitive questions.

Once or twice was fine; Bi Ziyan would even think the emperor was studious and be extremely pleased, even stopping his work to patiently teach the emperor. But as time went on, he realized something was wrong. The emperor's questions were endless and increasingly enthusiastic, and there were some he couldn't answer. At his age, didn't he have any shame?
Holding multiple positions—Grand Secretary and Minister of Revenue—and suffering from kidney problems due to his advanced age, Bi Ziyan had to strain to urinate. Terrified of needing to urinate, he dared not drink more than a sip of tea, only taking small sips. The emperor's relentless questioning consumed his time, but work still had to be done. Pity the old man; working tirelessly day and night, he was truly nearing exhaustion. Bi Ziyan felt he had fallen into the emperor's trap. Since moving into the palace, he couldn't even steal a moment of peace. He longed to go home; even being burned to death would be a relief.

Zhu Youjian played with the newly minted Chongzhen Tongbao coin. It was made of brass, six parts copper, three parts zinc, and the rest lead and tin. It was golden in color, and because it had not been circulated, the edges were sharp and not very comfortable to the touch.

"Minister Bi, since it's difficult for the imperial court to make money from minting coins, and the people don't like using the government's money, do you think we should continue minting coins now, or should we stop?" Zhu Youjian asked.

"Your Majesty, we believe that the benefits of heaven and earth are hidden in the mountains and marshes. Therefore, the most important thing for the country is to mint salt. If we mint it into coins, which can be used by the people, then all the copper in the world will be transformed into silver. What could be more beneficial?" Bi Ziyan replied without looking up, staring at the memorial at the same time.

"What do you mean?!" Zhu Youjian stared with innocent-looking big eyes, looking exactly like his daughter, Chou Chou.

Bi Ziyan finally looked up, his eyes filled with helplessness, and said, "What I mean is that minting coins is very profitable and should continue. As for the common people, it's not that they don't like using money, but they suffer greatly because silver is expensive and coins are cheap, and bad money is rampant."

Our dynasty uses ceramic molds for casting coins. These molds are easily damaged, the molten copper is uneven, and the edges are rough. For every hundred coins cast from a mold, ten will inevitably have missing pieces or flying edges, requiring filing and polishing before they can be used, consuming up to one-tenth of the copper. In contrast, the coins cast by the former Song dynasty used refined copper molds, which are sturdy and durable, producing clear inscriptions and precise weights. By improving the coin-casting method, we can reduce the cost of casting coins.

Since the Wanli era, the "reduced weight coins" were issued such that "if the weight of the coins was 1.3 qian, then 1,000 coins would be worth 1 tael of silver; if the weight was reduced to 1 qian, then 1,000 coins would only be worth 8 qian of silver. People would inevitably destroy official coins and recast private coins to make a profit."

The imperial court can regulate the minting of coins that are too heavy or too light, and order local mints to add characters such as "Chuan" or "Quan" to the coins to clarify their origin. If inferior coins are passed off as superior ones, those responsible can be held accountable.

Private minting, such as the rampant production of "goose-eye coins" and "white coins," involves coins made from low-grade copper, lead, and tin, with each thousand coins worth only two coins of silver, while a thousand coins minted by the government cost four coins of silver. This leads to a "congestion of government currency and soaring prices," and should be strictly prohibited. Anyone found engaging in private minting must be severely punished by the relevant authorities.

"I have heard that the Western powers use water-powered casting. Why doesn't our Great Ming Dynasty follow suit?!" Zhu Youjian asked again.

“Your Majesty, this currency is made of silver, which is soft, while brass is hard. Even if it is made of fine steel, it will break and the characters will become unclear after a hundred or a thousand coins, and it will need to be replaced. The cost is three times more expensive than sand casting. Guangzhou, Quanzhou and other places have tried die casting coins, but they had no choice but to give up in the end.”

"Is there a mint in Guangzhou?!" Zhu Youjian asked in surprise.

Bi Ziyan smiled but didn't say anything. Zhu Youjian instantly understood and shook his head helplessly.

"Since those red-haired barbarians are minting silver coins, can our Great Ming Dynasty do the same?!"

“This…” Bi Ziyan frowned, pondered for a long time, and then shook his head helplessly, saying, “If properly supervised, it could be a brilliant way to increase revenue, but unfortunately…”

"Your Majesty, the court's current tax revenue is in the form of silver coins. If we were to mint silver coins, it would be difficult to manage. Minting pure silver would only increase costs, and the people would likely not accept a combination of copper and silver. Perhaps we should wait a few more years before trying to implement this."

"I have heard that the Shu Han dynasty once had a 100-cash coin that could be used to pay taxes. Its value was maintained for decades without collapsing. Now that the court is short of silver and the people are short of money, could we mint 100-cash silver coins?"

(End of this chapter)