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

Chapter 128 The Emperor is like Gao Yang, wise for half a day and mad for half a lifetime?!

Bi Ziyan looked at the emperor with the same loving gaze one would give a mentally challenged child, and slowly uttered two words: "No!"

Zhu Youjian was a little flustered. He had come up with this idea all night long, so how could it be rejected?!

"Why not?!"

"Your Majesty, what is the difference between a hundred cash and paper money?! During the Hongwu era, one string of paper money was worth one shi of rice, but now a thousand strings of paper money cannot even buy a dou of millet!"

"You can use a hundred coins to pay taxes!"

"In the past, Emperor Huizong cast Chongning Zhongbao coins, which were worth ten coins and weighed about three small coins. As a result, the people often hoarded small coins and secretly minted large coins."

"If Your Majesty were to mint coins worth one hundred cash, I fear many people would secretly mint them, and the problem would be impossible to eradicate. Within three months, there would be no small coins of worthless value circulating in the market, merchants would refuse to accept coins worth one hundred cash, and grain prices would surely skyrocket several times over," Bi Ziyan said calmly.

"Anyone who privately mints coins worth one hundred cash shall have their entire family exterminated!" Zhu Youjian said viciously.

"The people are not afraid of death, so why threaten them with death? Back then, hundreds of thousands of people privately minted Chongning coins, and Emperor Huizong pardoned them all. This is because the law does not punish the masses!"

"If this won't work, and that won't work, then why can Ji Han do it?!"

"The Shu Han dynasty was confined to a corner of the country, with a population of only 900,000; while our Great Ming dynasty had two capitals and thirteen provinces, with a registered population of over 60 million. There are different methods for governing a large country, and the two are not comparable. Throughout history, the use of inferior currency has been impossible to eradicate, and the imperial court can only try its best to maintain it."

However, minting large coins has always been a temporary measure in times of chaos, a path that can also lead to further chaos. The court is living within its means and practicing frugality; simply increasing the minting of coins will not necessarily enrich the nation. Currently, the court's annual revenue of twenty million taels is more than sufficient. Your Majesty instructed me to increase grain production and reduce silver collection; why the change of heart today?!

"The imperial court levies taxes in silver, which greatly exploits the people. Even in years of abundant harvest, they can hardly survive. The foreign vassals exchange useless silver for valuable goods of our Great Ming. I am unwilling to be exploited by them," Zhu Youjian said dejectedly.

"The imperial court uses silver as a tax, intending to facilitate the flow of goods throughout the land and strengthen the foundation of the nation. The people are being exploited, not because of the silver itself, but because of the corruption of the bureaucracy. Local officials use the pretext of 'fire loss' to extort money, and powerful families hide their land to evade taxes, resulting in 'a bumper harvest year, when grain is cheap and farmers suffer, and silver is expensive and money is scarce.' Now, we must strictly order the prefectures and counties to verify the land area and determine the 'fire loss,' so that taxes are returned to the right track, and only then can we alleviate the people's suffering."

"Although the silver from Western countries is not minted by our dynasty, it can be exchanged through maritime trade. They bring silver to buy silk and porcelain, and we receive silver to supplement our border defenses and replenish our national treasury. This is 'exchanging goods for silver, and silver can benefit the country.' Our Great Ming can also purchase warships and cannons from the Western barbarians. How can it be useless silver?!" Bi Ziyan patiently explained to the emperor.

Although the emperor spoke his mind and was very sincere, sometimes he still couldn't understand what the emperor was thinking.

Zhu Youjian suffered another defeat, realizing that finance was not a field he could touch. He had already been thoroughly humiliated by Bi Ziyan's accounting, and the sense of defeat was so intense that he even considered resigning. Being an emperor was too difficult; being a carefree prince was much more enjoyable. Unfortunately, he was born at the wrong time; now, in the twilight of the dynasty, even being a prince was no easy task—one wrong move and he could be burned alive!
Fortunately, the rise and fall of a nation is not entirely due to financial problems. It is difficult to improve the situation, but doing nothing can also rely on inertia to sustain it for a period of time.

So, being an emperor must be good! If you want to do something, you just tell your ministers and let them figure it out and do it. It's much better than him deciding to do something on a whim and ending up humiliating himself.

In reality, there's no perfect solution to the currency problem. Western silver and gold coins weren't inherently superior; they also faced issues like counterfeiting, trimming, outflow, and devaluation. A good global currency isn't necessarily a good national currency, and a good national currency isn't necessarily a good currency for an emperor.

Zhu Youjian wanted to replace precious metal currencies with fiat currencies, but unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty's monetary credibility had long been bankrupt, and other forms of credibility were also in jeopardy. After all, credibility is something that's easy to promise but hard to deliver.

Even the finest Spanish currency eventually had to have its silver content reduced due to a shortage. The whole world was a strange place; while matter itself doesn't disappear, money seemed to vanish into thin air. The imperial court desperately minted and issued coins, but there was simply no money in circulation. Zhu Youjian dared not think about it further; the more he pondered, the worse it seemed.

With each new emperor comes a new court, and Zhu Youjian suddenly felt a sense of mission. He felt that he, as emperor, was not entirely a parasite on the country; at least if he could live a little longer, it would be beneficial to the Ming Dynasty, allowing some good policies to be continuously implemented.

If we act a little more humanely, stop shifting blame, make our orders clear and unambiguous, and stop resorting to executions so readily… perhaps over time, the Ming Dynasty and the emperor’s nearly bankrupt reputation will slowly recover, and all levels of society will regain confidence in the Ming Dynasty.

However, this was only limited and selective. He could only manage himself; he couldn't control what previous emperors had said or done. He couldn't possibly hold a copy of "The Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Emperor" and follow it completely, could he? Previous emperors were also prone to causing trouble. For example, Emperor Wanli's eldest son, Prince Fu, was someone Zhu Youjian felt shouldn't have so much.

Emperors don't generate benefits; they are merely biased distributors. This emperor, Zhu Youjian, prioritized survival above all else. "I think, therefore I am," he reasoned, "if I'm gone, who cares about this or that?" Next came the nation; the nation's demise meant the demise of the empire, let alone the country. Don't deceive yourself.
Secondly, we must address the grievances and, at the very least, do our utmost to protect our heroes, ensuring they don't suffer both bloodshed and tears.

Aside from that, it's all about fantasy: trampling the Jurchens underfoot, kicking the Japanese devils, making Japan kneel down and sing "Conquest," and killing all those traitors and lackeys in China!

Zhu Youjian slurped, feeling quite pleased with himself, and wiped the drool from his mouth.

Bi Ziyan watched helplessly as the emperor went from dejected to grinning foolishly, and a chill ran down his spine. No way! Could the emperor be like Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi, Gao Yang, wise for half the day and mad for the other?!

Clap clap clap! Zhu Youjian clapped his hands, attracting the attention of several Grand Secretaries. He said loudly, "My eldest daughter has reached her one-month milestone. I have prepared a celebration banquet in the inner court. My beloved ministers, please join me for a few drinks."

"Your Majesty is blessed with boundless fortune. The birth of the eldest imperial daughter in the Purple Palace is an auspicious sign of Heaven's favor and the prosperity of the nation! In the past, when King Cheng was young, the Zhou dynasty extended its reign through auspicious omens. Now that the princess is one month old, it is a testament to Your Majesty's benevolence that moves Heaven. Hence, we have the auspicious sign of a unicorn and the joy of a daughter's birth. Your Majesty, I offer my congratulations!"

"Your Majesty has shown consideration for us by hosting a banquet in the inner court. How could we dare disobey the imperial decree? However, a ruler's word is law. Your Majesty has invited these old ministers for a drink. Please do not deceive us by mistaking plain water for fine wine!" Zhu Xieyuan said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)