I am the king of the dead

Chapter 195 The coinage is not exquisite and equals no coinage

In the Ming Dynasty, there was an Emperor Jiajing who practiced immortality, but Hai Rui scolded him severely, Jiajing Jiajing, and his house was clean.

But when Emperor Jiajing first came to the throne, he was not a king who ignored things for the next 20 years and only wanted to live forever.

Emperor Jiajing was the last king of the Ming Dynasty, who tried to save the rotten economic system and currency system of the Ming Dynasty.

In the sixth year of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing ordered to start casting copper coins again, despite efforts to improve the casting process and increase the weight of each coin.

But Jiajing's new monetary policy still failed.

The big coins he made were very heavy, and the value of copper coins was once restored to its original level.

But soon, his new currency, the Big Copper Coin, was dragged away before it was released from the Baoyuan Bureau, melted and recast, and turned into thin coins.

Who took away the big copper coins and turned them into thin coins?
Nature is the home of power.

The family members of these powerful families, upon hearing the news, immediately entangled a group of rogues, beggars, bandits, and coerced merchants and common people. Ratio, forcing people to hand over silver in exchange for thin money that is not worth bad money.

What happened in the end?
Nine out of ten merchants in the capital were closed, commerce and trade were blocked, and the price of grain in the capital soared from four coins to seven taels.

The new monetary policy failed.

Jiajing was furious. In the eighth year of Jiajing, he promulgated the "Decree on the Dispossession of Foreign Relatives and Lords", saying: Qi Wanzhou's relatives are not allowed to have the same teeth as Khan Ma Yuxun, and wantonly dismissed his relatives and enshrined them as nobles.Started to attack the Shiyao Haoyou's family.

Zhu Qiyu is completely different from Jiajing, he has Jingying, Jiajing does not, he has Yu Qian, Jiajing only has Yan Song, and Hai Rui...

It's a pity that Hai Rui is an official, which is a big flaw in the officialdom of Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Qiyu didn't intend to do it overnight. For today, he has been preparing for it since he accepted the beggars and entered the Beijing camp.

His new monetary policy started with silver coins, not copper coins.

This is a scythe, and the target of harvest is the house of the rich and powerful.

Relaxing the ban on gold and silver, but firmly grasping the right to interpret the ban on gold and silver in his own hands.

Wang Bingfu knelt on the ground tremblingly and said: "Your Majesty let the minister express his feelings. It is not that the minister does not do anything, but that the minister has nothing to do. The stoves make noise with the minister every day. They want to open the furnace to make money, but the minister is also powerless. what."

"There is no copper on this one, and there is no old copper on the other. People come to the door every day and ask if there is any copper money to exchange, but so do the ministers. It is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice."

Zhu Qiyu nodded and said, "I know, so your head is still there. If it weren't for that, you would already be at Caishikou by now."

He changed the subject and continued: "The Bureau of Military Warfare has been selling money recently. I think you have heard about it. Let me know what you think."

Wang Bingfu knelt on the ground, bowed his head and ears, trembling, he knew that this was an opportunity, and also knew that if he didn't speak well, his head might fall to the ground.

He raised his head, as if there was light in his eyes, completely different from the lazy look just now.

Wang Bingfu took a deep breath and said: "Your Majesty, since you listened to His Majesty's request to relax the ban on the use of gold and silver, I thought that we should collect silver from all over the world to mint coins, and Baoyuan Bureau would naturally have a living. I also thought about it for a long time, and I didn't know what to say. Is it reasonable?"

Zhu Qiyu nodded and said, "Speak."

Wang Bingfu's forehead was covered with sweat, but he didn't lower his head, and continued: "Your Majesty, silver is not an asset of our country, and silver is not inherent in Ming Dynasty. Since the maritime trade in the former Song Dynasty, silver has gradually increased."

"Emperor Taizong Wen had great martial arts skills. He went south to the Western Ocean and realized that the silver is abundant. But in the final analysis, there is still more silver in the folks, and there are fewer silver in Taicang and the inner warehouse."

Is it the court with more money, or the folks with more money?

Naturally, the folks have a lot of money.

What Wang Bingfu said is true. Shen Wansan, who built the city wall for Nanjing City, wanted to get rich. At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, he was the richest businessman in Ming Dynasty. His family had more than ten million taels of silver. The entire city wall of Nanjing City was built by Shen Wansan. of.

The smuggling activities in Ming Dynasty probably date back to the former Song Dynasty.

Daming has a lot of silver, but it is not in the internal coffers, let alone in Taicang, but in the country of Daming, but buried deep in the pigsty of the powerful family.

Wang Bingfu saw that His Majesty had not spoken, so he continued: "I have been in charge of the Baoyuan Bureau for seventeen years. I am well aware of the disadvantages of the Ming currency. The silver is stored in the world, but the court cannot get it. Your Majesty casts silver coins. Dare to be the first in the world. A move above."

"I think that Baoyuan Bureau should be used as an example to collect silver from all over the world, mint money, and then promote it to the world."

Zhu Qiyu nodded, teasing the bird hanging on the tree with his hands behind his back: "Continue talking."

Wang Bingfu became bolder: "The common people and merchants have been deprived of money for a long time. Every day, they wear a small weight on the left side of their waists, and on the right side, they hold scissors. When doing transactions, they are weighed by more or less scissors."

"But Your Majesty, the titles of these people are not exactly the same, the silver color is different, there are variegated colors, and there are gold flowers, and there are a lot of quarrels. Every day, the most important things that Shun Tian Fu Cheng does are these people. Chicken bits and pieces."

"If there is a coin with outline articles, it will be popular all over the world, and it will naturally be sought after by common people and merchants!"

"If the people are allowed to go to the Baoyuan Bureau to exchange broken silver for silver coins, then the silver in the world will no longer be buried deep in the ground, but circulated in the world."

"Your Majesty's military campaign, this Ming silver coin is a steelyard for our Ming Dynasty!"

"I affirm! Your Majesty's strategy is actually a strategy to enrich the country and strengthen the people."

"Bold minister! If your Majesty's policy cannot accept the silver of the world, it is just water without a source and a tree without roots, and it will not last long."

Zhu Qiyu stopped teasing the bird and looked at Wang Bingfu kneeling on the ground.

This is the official of the Ming Dynasty, even if he is the head of the idle yamen gate of the Baoyuan Bureau, he understands everything.

But the bureaucrats are always unwilling to do anything, and they are unwilling to do it well.

Zhu Qiyu must be severely punished every day!Holding up the emperor's ancestor's instruction, holding a knife behind him, and staring at these bureaucrats with eagle-eyed eyes, they are willing to work.

What an oddity.

Zhu Qiyu took out a piece of silver from his sleeve, threw it in front of Wang Bingfu and said, "How many silver coins can I exchange for this silver?"

Wang Bingfu picked up the silver ingot and weighed it, looked left and right and said, "It can be exchanged for two silver coins. The silver is about [-]% fine, and the alchemy flowers of various colors cost one cent and four cents in fire, and the silver coin in Jinhua costs six cents in fire."

Zhu Qiyu picked up the silver ingot, and it was indeed like what Wang Bingfu said, the silver ingot was almost fine.

He spent a long time fiddling in the Tai'an Palace, and he didn't know how long it took before he figured out the fire consumption and how many silver coins to exchange.

Zhu Qiyu nodded and said: "I will go to Fusi Yamen in Beizhen by myself and get thirty court sticks. I will leave this job to you."

"If you do it well, you will be rewarded. If you don't do it well, Yongning Temple will be your home."

Wang Bingfu took a deep breath, kowtowed his head suddenly and said, "Your minister must be so heartbroken that you will live up to the grace of God!"

Wang Bingfu was a craftsman himself, and his father was the head of the Baoyuan Bureau. He gradually rose to the position of the head of the Baoyuan Bureau and received the imperial salary.

He also thought about being the head of the Baoyuan Bureau, how, how, how to let the Baoyuan Bureau play its original role.

But he had absolutely no idea what to do, or how to do it.

In the 14th year of Zhengtong, even Zhang Fu, the Great British Duke of the Ming Dynasty in Ping Annan, had to live by the face of Wang Zhen's little eunuch Xining. A woman in the family was beaten to abort and died, and Zhang Fu cried to Tianque.

Xining was forgiven, and the offender only needed to be beaten with a few sticks, and the matter was over.

But fortunately, His Majesty is a person who can make up his mind, and he is also very good at it.

Just like this silver coinage method.

Zhu Qiyu got on his horse, and when he arrived at the Bingzhan Bureau, he first made up a formality for Wang Bingfu, and then told Xing'an to send an eunuch to Baoyuan Bureau, not to do anything else, but to watch them work.

"Baoyuan Bureau is an important place for distributing silver coins. You must remember to find someone who is not greedy for money." Zhu Qiyu warned.

Is there any eunuch who is not greedy for money?

At least Xing'an and Li Yongchang haven't shown signs of being greedy for money so far. As long as the emperor can meet with the civil and military officials of the outer court, the eunuchs will not be able to sit down completely. These eunuchs have more or less eyes on them.

For example, when Zhu Qiyu asked Xing'an to return the small gold ingot, he took a gold ingot that was twice as big. After Zhu Jianshen recovered from his illness, Xing'an immediately took the two-weight gold ingot and the small ingot, and returned them to Lu Zicai, who was sentenced in the imperial hospital.

The eunuch itself is a bridge for the emperor to communicate with the courtiers, of course it must be used, but Zhu Qiyu never abused it.

He stood up straight, and walked into the Ming Dynasty Bingjue, Bingzhaoju, now it has completely become a place for rewarding medals and medals, and now this Bingzhaoju is full of guys who mint coins.

Daming is extremely eager for currency, and Zhu Qiyu is well aware of this.

The fact that Yanyin's super-issue was absorbed by private saltworks is proof of Ming's desire for currency.

If it wasn't for the fact that the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had not rewarded the kings with excessive honors and issued excessive salt quotations too many times, Fifth Qi's salt quotation system could actually have continued until the moment when Daming collapsed.

Labor is the sole measure of the exchange value of all commodities.

The value of Yanyin is the grain and grass sent to the border town and the salt from the southern saltworks. The double labor determines its value.

The value of Yanyin naturally plummeted immediately.

When Yanyin was used as a currency, the exchange value plummeted, and the increase in use value was not enough to make up for the sharp drop in exchange value. Naturally, Yanyin became less and less valuable.

The less valuable the money, the more the imperial court promiscuously issued it, and finally the Yanyin system collapsed completely.

The more debts owed by Daming, Chongzhen looked at the 200-year debts owed by the ancestors, and could only mourn.

However, in the current Ming Dynasty, Yinliang has no use value, but has great exchange value, and is a very stable currency.There is no way to overshoot.

Zhu Qiyu is unwilling to use Yanyin as currency, but for a long time in the future, Yanyin and silver coins will be used as real currency and will be widely circulated in the market.

As for the workshops of the Bingzhan Bureau, the speed at which coins are minted determines whether the Ming Dynasty can enjoy long-term peace and stability.

How did the Baoyuan Bureau be abolished, and why did Wang Bingfu, the head of the Baoyuan Bureau, have nothing to do all day long?

If the Baoyuan Bureau were allowed to mint 30 billion copper coins a year, Wang Bingfu would not be so fat now, he is so busy that he is dizzy!

At this time, the Bingzhanju workshop was very busy.

Zhu Qiyu strolled in the military battle hall, everyone was in a hurry, everyone was busy, weighing silver, smelting silver, copper, tin, pressing them into silver bars, making tire cakes and rolling them, and then printing them. On the profile article, weigh the box again.

Now the Bingzhan Bureau has received a large order of 350 million taels of silver. The large order of 350 million taels of silver will first be 200 million taels from His Majesty, and then 150 million taels from the Ministry of Household Affairs. A total of 450 million Ming silver coins will be produced.

And the construction period is one year.

If it is to be converted, it is equivalent to about 90 billion copper coins, which flowed into the Ming market.

How busy is this?
The craftsmen work in three shifts day and night, so that it is possible to finish the work.But this is the best way to relieve the pressure on Ming's currency.

The Bingzhan Bureau has four super-large Wanliang scales, with an accuracy of one centimeter, that is, 0.001 taels.

There are 28 crucible furnaces in Bingzhan Bureau, and each furnace can melt three hundred catties of silver, copper and tin at a time.

For the production of mold embryos, the initial pattern was drawn by Zhu Qiyu himself. Screw press, engraved with cupronickel to shape.

The human screw press was a powerful tool used by the Military Bureau to prepare medals.

After the silver material and copper tin are fused, they pass through a rolling machine to become a silver bar with a fixed thickness, and then pass through a turning machine to cut the embryo cake, and the embryo cake is rolled to a smooth edge.

The embossing machine is also a manual screw press, but this one is bigger, and uses gears, and is driven by sixteen people.

After the embossing is over, there will be a special person to weigh and determine the weight. Only after passing the test will they be put into the box and placed one by one.

Every ten silver coins is a stack, tied with a red string to hang the names of all process craftsmen, and sent to Taicang and the eunuch in the inner shipping warehouse for inspection.

Zhu Qiyu picked up a silver coin, the pattern is extremely exquisite, because tinned copper is also strong and wear-resistant enough, and it is precisely because of strict checks that Zhu Qiyu can safely promote his new monetary policy.

Currency is not exquisite, it is equal to not minting coins.

During the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the Daqing minted silver coins wantonly, intending to continue the Daqing for decades. Its Ding Wei Shuanglong silver coin is 37 grams, 27% silver, but its purchasing power is still not as good as the [-] grams of Spanish Yingyang silver coins, which contain [-]% silver. .

It is because Spanish silver dollars are more exquisite and there are very few fake ones.

Guangxu silver coins are rich in silver, but they are not exquisite, cannot be anti-counterfeiting, and there are many counterfeit ones.

On Zhu Qiyu's silver coin, in addition to his own inscription and sketched ears of wheat, there are also several small anti-counterfeiting marks, such as a small circle border on the front printing.

The outline article, four words, has exhausted the knowledge on coinage.

But up to this point, Zhu Qiyu was still a little worried.

He is not afraid of a powerful and powerful family. If he can't fight, everyone will fight and practice.

But seven cents per cent, worth one tael, will it be recognized by the common people?

　Today is still four changes, about 1 words, thank you for your support, this book is already a boutique after 22 days on the shelves, thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)