Chapter 530: I request to establish the Ming Dynasty’s currency law!
Inside the Wenhua Hall.

Yan Shaoting's voice was powerful and lingering.

And what he said was equally appalling.

But only Yan Shaoting knew clearly in his heart that he just said such words today.

True.

From the very beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there were various fundamental institutional problems.

These problems are not obvious at the beginning, but will only appear little by little with the passage of time, and quietly become a situation that is difficult to reverse.

Of course, I cannot easily raise such a question now.

But the issue of money, gold and silver is now spoken from the mouths of foreign businessmen who can bring tens of millions of financial and tax revenues to the Ming court every year.

It seems very timely.

What if I were to propose the Ming Dynasty royal family vassal system now?

Now the Yan family can immediately cut themselves off from the court and the world.

If they were required to pay the tax based on the amount of land they ploughed into the land and if officials and gentry were to do the same, then the Yan family, which is still in its heyday and has authority over the government and the country, would immediately become a pariah that everyone would shout and beat.

Do the right thing at the right time.

This is the principle that Yan Shaoting has always followed.

And when he said that the legal system of the Ming Dynasty was flawed in the currency and gold and silver systems, although the Crown Prince Zhu Zaigui and Prime Minister Gao Gong and others in the hall were still horrified, they secretly breathed a sigh of relief for no reason.

No one wanted Yan Shaoting to really do something big at this time.

But these people obviously overlooked the importance of the currency and gold and silver system.

Ever since.

Yan Shaoting smiled, walked to a table, took out a few wooden boxes and placed them in front of everyone.

"Your Highness, all the elders."

Yan Shaoting tried his best to make his tone calmer and spoke very slowly.

He was afraid that these people would not be able to react to what he was going to say next.

As he spoke again, everyone immediately turned their attention to him.

Yan Shaoting first took a wooden box and placed it in the middle of the table.

He took out a Ming Dynasty banknote made of mulberry paper from his sleeve and placed it under the wooden box.

"Since Emperor Taizu Hongwu's eighth year, we have created treasure notes, set up a treasure note promotion office in the Ministry of Revenue, and established the banknote law. All the subjects of the world use our great Ming treasure notes."

"The Ministry of Revenue's Treasure Banknotes Administration has a banknote paper bureau, a banknote printing bureau, a banknote treasury, and a banknote circulation treasury. They are responsible for the use, printing, storage, and exchange of banknotes for circulation in the Ming Dynasty."

This is actually the Baochao system that has been operating in the Ming Dynasty for nearly two hundred years.

No one present knew this.

Yan Shaoting said: "Since the creation of Baochao, during the time of the Second Ancestor, all official salaries and local taxes in our dynasty were paid in Baochao. However, the court printed countless banknotes at that time, not knowing the harm. All rewards from the emperor were paid in Baochao, but Baochao could not be exchanged for gold or silver. As a result, the paper money system collapsed in a short time and could not be used again. The subjects were all afraid of Baochao."

This is actually the root of the problem of Ming Baochao.

Even Yan Shaoting felt that there was nothing wrong in using paper money.

But the root of the problem is that from the very beginning, Baochao was purely promoted and used relying on the national credit and authority of the Ming Dynasty, and it could not be exchanged for gold and silver. However, in the early Song Dynasty, since the Jiaozi, this kind of paper money could be exchanged for gold and silver at fixed locations.

By the time of the Ming Dynasty, it was a historical regression.

However, the treasure notes could not be redeemed and relied entirely on the credit and authority of the court. The ultimate result was excessive printing and issuance. After year after year of printing, it was like a flood to the Jinshan Mountain.

The value of the treasure notes also dropped sharply.

This can actually be classified as excessive money supply.

And what Yan Shaoting said now was tantamount to poking the Zhu family's face.

Zhu Zaigui couldn't help feeling a little annoyed.

Yan Shaoting continued, "Not long after the founding of the country, the banknote law was abolished. At that time, the court still prohibited officials and civilians from using gold and silver. It was not until the time of Emperor Yingzong that gold and silver were introduced, and local taxes and grain were converted into silver. Only then could the emperor use gold and silver to reward and pay the monthly salaries of civil and military officials. It was also since the time of Emperor Yingzong that although there was no explicit ban on the use of gold and silver by officials and civilians, officials and civilians could use them."

Having said this, Yan Shaoting paused.

Everyone began to think about the matter again according to what he said.

Speaking of the gold flower and silver system implemented during the reign of Emperor Yingzong, it can actually be traced back to the various systems with errors and omissions at the beginning of the country.

After Emperor Taizong moved the capital to Beijing, the salaries of officials in the capital were not directly distributed. Instead, officials went to Nanjing to collect their rice salaries with salary cards issued by the court. This led to the situation where officials sometimes bought rice at a high price and sold rice at a low price because of the long journey. Sometimes, officials could only get one or two taels of silver with salary cards worth seven or eight shi of rice.

Therefore, during the Xuande period, Zhou Chen, then governor of Jiangnan, submitted a memorial requesting a large amount of official land and allowing farmers to pay their tax grain in gold and silver, with the rate of one tael of grain equaling four dan of rice, to solve the rice salary problem of officials in the capital.

The tax collection was ordered to convert rice and wheat into silver, and the number of people who paid in paper money was gradually reduced. Rice, silver and coins were used as paper money, and the ban on using silver was relaxed. The government and the public generally used silver, and only small cases used cash.

It was also from this time that the Ming Dynasty began to generally relax the right to use gold and silver.

But after Yan Shaoting finished talking about gold flowers and silver.

Gao Gong smiled faintly, "How could we not know what Runwu said about our dynasty's banknote system and gold and silver system? In the first year of Zhengtong, Deputy Imperial Envoy Zhou Quan submitted a memorial to the court, proposing to collect the tax grain from Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Huguang, and Jiangxi in the form of cloth, silk, and silver to be sent to the capital to be paid as salaries. The then Jiangxi Governor Zhao Xin and the Minister of Revenue Huang Fu successively submitted memorials to support the proposal. The court then collected all the summer and autumn taxes from Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Huguang, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi, totaling more than 4 million dan, in the form of stamps."

It was obvious that Gao Gong was also well aware of the matter and spoke fluently about it.

He walked forward and looked around.

Gao Gong continued, "At that time, the imperial court set a price of 2.5 cents per stone of rice and wheat, which amounted to more than 1,012,700 taels of silver. After that, all provincial governments followed this rule and it has been a permanent practice until today."

After finishing speaking.

Gao Gong looked at Yan Shaoting with profound eyes.

There was a smile on his face.

"Moisturizing things, is there anything wrong with what I said?"

Yan Shaoting nodded and replied: "The Prime Minister has been in the court for a long time and is familiar with state affairs. There will be no mistakes."

Gao Gong smiled and said, "What do you want to do with the money you are raising today and the gold and silver you are talking about?"

This is actually Gao Gong’s biggest worry right now.

He was the Prime Minister of the current dynasty, and the previous emperor had been promoting the Jiajing New Deal with all his efforts. As the Prime Minister, he naturally had to become the main promoter of the Jiajing New Deal in the new dynasty.

However, the Yan family was on the edge of the court, and would occasionally interfere in the new policies. However, he had no idea about it beforehand, and once he tried to deal with it, he would be constrained.

Just as he could not tolerate Yang Bo, who was born in Jin Dynasty, entering the cabinet at that time, he could also tolerate the Yan family having a say in the new policy.

But the premise of everything.

It needs to be under your own control and you need to know it in advance.

What can be done.

What not to do.

This should be decided by himself, the prime minister of the current dynasty.

Yan Shaoting, however, looked calm, nodded, and smiled slowly: "What the Prime Minister said is exactly what I wanted to say."

immediately.

Yan Shaoting took out a silver coin and a gold leaf from his sleeve.

Place them on two other wooden boxes.

Yan Shaoting glanced at Zhu Zaigui, who was frowning and looking puzzled. He smiled and said, "Your Highness, the silver coins and gold leaves I have taken out now are equivalent to the gold and silver of our dynasty."

Zhu Zaiqi nodded and looked at the things on the table: "Banknotes, gold, and silver."

Yan Shaoting asked in a low voice: "I dare to ask what Your Highness has seen?"

Zhu Zaigui was confused for a moment, and looked up at Gao Gong and others.

Gao Gong and others also frowned slightly, obviously confused by Yan Shaoting's sudden display of gold and silver.

Yan Shaoting smiled faintly.

"Although the banknotes, gold, and silver are all in front of your Highness and the ministers, these three items are unrelated and have nothing to do with each other. This is the current symptom!"

Talking.

A round copper coin also rolled out from Yan Shaoting's fingers.

The yellow copper coin rolled on the table, swirling between the three wooden boxes, making a sound that gradually became faster and faster, and finally stopped steadily with a snap.

As the copper coins fell steadily onto the table.

Yan Shaoting also spoke again: "Your Highness, fellow ministers. Today, foreign merchants gathered in the city. I will not repeat what they said. What I want to say is that our dynasty has opened the sea, the world is open to trade, and the Ministry of Revenue must have a document on domestic and foreign trade. How much gold and silver does our dynasty earn every year? I can say that now all the gold and silver in the world come to our dynasty. This grand occasion is rare in history."

After finishing speaking, Yan Shaoting silently thanked the hardworking Spaniards and the Europeans who were sailing around.

If there were no such people, how could so much gold and silver flow into the Ming Dynasty?

Zhu Zaigui also nodded and said, "I know this. Most of the gold and silver in the national treasury now comes from trade between the court and foreign merchants, plus the income from taxes collected from foreign merchants."

Yan Shaoting immediately smiled and asked, "It is a good thing that gold and silver are coming to our court. But I dare to ask Your Highness and the other ministers, if gold and silver from overseas continue to come to our court for a long time, what changes will our court make in the future?"

A small question is raised.

Zhu Zaigui then looked at Gao Gong and others.

"Silver is cheap and harms the people."

Gao Gong frowned and gave the answer silently.

Then he looked deeply at Yan Shaoting.

"The Prime Minister is wise."

Yan Shaoting smiled and flattered.

Zhu Zaigui still didn't quite understand the logic behind this, and frowned as he asked, "What will happen then? How should the court respond?"

Although I still don’t quite understand it now.

But Zhu Zaigui keenly realized that this did not seem to be a good thing.

Gao Gong took over Yan Shaoting's task of answering and explained, "Your Highness, all the provincial governments in our dynasty collect gold and silver from grain taxes, and local officials and people also rely on gold and silver for their livelihood. If the amount of gold and silver increases day by day, but the local areas are unable to respond in time due to the difficulties in transportation, people can plunder the people with cheap silver. Or they can move it to many places and make a huge profit."

As Gao Gong explained, Yan Shaoting also looked at the other party with a smile on his face.

At least Lao Gao could still see the problem.

Yuan Wei, Li Chunfang and Zhao Zhenji who were present also noticed the problem.

Zhu Zaigui shook his head repeatedly, appearing very confused.

"Cheap grain hurts the people."

"Cheap silver also hurts the people."

"What can I do..."

Yan Shaoting shook his head and denied it: "Your Highness, the low price of silver not only hurts the people, but also hurts the country!"

Yuan Wei blurted out: "Runwu is asking for the establishment of a silver law?"

Yuan Ge Lao's words instantly made everyone look at Yan Shaoting again.

He has said so much today and all the issues have been raised, so logically speaking, Yan Shaoting is bound to bring up the issue of the court drafting a silver law today.

Zhu Zaigui immediately spoke up quickly: "What method do you have to nourish things? You can tell me."

Yan Shaoting still shook his head.

"What I am asking for today is not to establish a silver law."

"It's to establish the Great Ming Money Law!"

After finishing speaking, Yan Shaoting silently chose to shut up and leave time for these people.

The monetary system was also something that the Ming Dynasty had been lacking since its founding.

"Money is currency, used for trade and purchase of goods, and for the circulation of wealth."

"In ancient times, shells were used as money and currency for trading. Later, various countries developed their own currencies, and then there were other coins such as Wuzhu."

"When our dynasty was first established, we used both money and banknotes, banned gold and silver, and then opened them up."

"However, in today's world, all treasures, coins, gold and silver are different and difficult to communicate with each other, so there are loopholes that can allow outsiders to profit from them and harm the country and the people."

"I believe that the late emperor implemented the Jiajing New Deal, and Your Highness is the successor. You will soon ascend to the throne, and you are determined to make progress and develop the late emperor's old ambitions. Now is the time to complete the currency law."

Talking.

Yan Shaoting had already reached out and moved the banknotes, gold, silver and copper coins on the table together.

The intention is obvious.

He wants to merge all these things together.

Gao Gong frowned slightly.

The shortcomings of the money law are now clear.

But he was thinking about why Yan Shaoting brought up this matter today and what he was going to do.

And if the method proposed by Yan Shaoting is agreed by the successor emperor, then what role will he play as the prime minister of the dynasty?

But no matter how the Prime Minister thinks about the part that belongs to power.

Zhu Zaigui, the crown prince, asked, "I have benefited a lot from what Runwu said today, but I am short of money law at the moment. Does Runwu have any solution?"

"Have!"

When Zhu Zaigui asked the question, Yan Shaoting answered with a firm expression and a resounding answer.

Immediately.

Yan Shaoting stood up.

He took two steps back, then bowed and clasped his fists.

"I ask Your Highness to summon the Cabinet, the Ministry of Revenue and other departments to discuss this together."

"The Ministry of Revenue's Treasure Notes Division was changed to the Ming Dynasty's Money Division, and the exchange rates of gold, silver, and copper coins were set. New coins were minted and circulated throughout the country."

"In each province, prefecture, and county, a Ming gold, silver, and copper bank was established, which was under the jurisdiction of the Ming Money Bureau and was responsible for the payment and deposit of coins."

"The abolished banknotes shall be exchanged for gold, silver and copper notes, which can be exchanged by officials and civilians to facilitate the circulation of goods throughout the country."

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(End of this chapter)