Emperor Ming's grandson

Chapter 411 The Conservative Economist

Zhu Yunying attached great importance to the Shibo Department, which was the window of the Ming Dynasty's import and export trade.These places must be controlled by the imperial court. It is hard to say whether they will be further liberalized in the future, but at this stage he will not allow too many non-governmental forces to participate.

After all, the output of the current Shibo Department is relatively large, and it is in the stage of continuous development and growth.

At this time, of course, it is necessary for the court to earn the most lucrative benefits, rather than allowing some businessmen to continue to grow and develop.What's more, Zhu Yunying's three uncles were gearing up, and some Wu Xun also got some news intentionally or unintentionally.

They are becoming more and more interested in the natives of Nanyang, and they also hope to use the land bestowed by the imperial court.Although the current land is basically in Liaodong, if it is developed, it will be a good output.

They are all killed on the battlefield, and wealth is obtained by killing people. At this time, there is no need to talk about kindness.

As long as they don't do something in the territory of Ming Dynasty, the imperial court can turn a blind eye.On this point, the meaning of the emperor is obvious.

Zhu Yunying, who came down to court, called the six ministers to the Hall of Martial Arts, and he had other things to say.It is said that it is related to the Shibo Department, but Zhu Yunying also needs to further improve some of his plans.

Seeing the important officials coming, Zhu Yunying asked directly, "How is the Xinming Silver Mine?"

The Xinming Silver Mine is the Iwami Silver Mine in Dongying, which was one of the important sources of silver in the Ming Dynasty.

Yan Zhenzhi stood up immediately, he understood these things clearly, "Your Majesty, since the discovery of the silver mine, the imperial court has continuously sent more skilled craftsmen and recruited Japanese craftsmen."

This is a euphemistic way of saying that Zhu Yunying's fourth uncle opened up territories in Dongying, except for some people who were included in the kingdom.The defeated samurai, the rebellious common people, or some young adults will all be handed over to the Xinming Silver Mine Guards.

The imperial court gave Zhu Di soldiers, horses, food, etc., which naturally helped Zhu Di expand his territory.But it's not without asking for rewards. The Xinming silver mine is naturally the focus.Therefore, apart from the craftsmen sent by the Ming Dynasty, many miners were from the mainland of Japan.

Yan Zhenzhi continued, "The imperial court has already found the main vein of the silver mine, and often found some branch mines in recent years. Now [-] mine tunnels have been opened, and there are still mine tunnels under construction and opening. The imperial court has also introduced ash blowing methods, etc. , the amount of silver increased dramatically."

Zhu Yunying nodded slightly, and just asked, "Nowadays, how much silver is sent to Daming every year?"

Yu Xin immediately said, "Your Majesty, about 140 million taels of silver will be sent to Daming each year, and there is still 5 taels of gold. The 50 taels of silver will go to the internal treasury, and the 30 taels will be taken over by the Clan Mansion and the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies." The remaining 60 taels will be returned to the state treasury."

140 million taels, which is about fifty tons.And the silver of the Ming Dynasty was one tael, about 37 grams.

Seeing Zhu Yunying frowning, Yan Zhenzhi hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, the reserves of the Xinming Silver Mine are astonishing. The imperial court has not yet known how much gold and silver can be dug out of the Xinming Silver Mine. And the amount of silver is constantly increasing."

Zhu Yunying interrupted Yan Zhenzhi and said, "I am not dissatisfied, and I also know that it will take time to mine those silver mines."

Although Daming's craftsmen are powerful, Daming is also constantly investing resources there.But to say that it is difficult to produce millions of taels of silver every year at once. In fact, most of the current mining is filled with human life. Basically, don’t expect mechanization. It would be good to use some animal power.

Yan Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, these bigwigs in the court naturally knew something, especially some of Zhu Yunying's direct descendants.

At that time, Lao Zhu listed Dongying as a country that would not be conquered, probably because he felt that it was not worthwhile to conquer Dongying, and he could be regarded as having learned the lesson of the Mongols who conquered Dongying.The Ming Dynasty at that time was just doing some trade with the Southern and Northern Emperors of Japan.

But at that time, the emperor's grandson sent people to search for Dongying's mineral deposits, and "accidentally" discovered a huge mineral vein.

As a result, the emperor Lao Zhu and the crown prince Da Zhu immediately turned their faces, and the country of no conquest did not exist.Moreover, Dongying must also be conscripted. Whoever made the Emperor of Dongying fail to manage the Japanese pirates well, and did not pay tribute to Ming Dynasty, has already dared to be called the "emperor" by a small country.

It can be said that the Xinming silver mine was a pride of Emperor Yingshi.Even if the war was arranged by the Supreme Emperor, many people know about it, and the biggest hero is the current Emperor Yingshi.

Zhu Yunying nodded slowly, and said with a smile, "That's good, Daming has more and more silver, and the copper coins can be recovered."

The Ming Dynasty had not issued additional copper coins for many years, and the copper itself was not enough.But it was not abolished immediately, but every time the copper coins were withdrawn, they were basically used for smelting, and more and more silver and banknotes were circulating in the market.

This is a good thing, and it's a good thing for Zhu Yunying, who made Daming really lack copper, and it's better to use as little as possible.

Zhu Yunying continued to ask at this time, "What does the Ministry of Households say about the treasure notes?"

Yu Xin replied immediately at this time, "Your Majesty, over the years, the people have become more and more accepting of precious banknotes. Now there are seven types of precious banknotes, including one, five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, and consistent." .”

This is also the face value of the treasure banknotes. According to Lao Zhu's regulations on issuing treasure banknotes in the eighth year of Hongwu, it is always equal to one thousand copper coins or one tael of silver, and four pennies equals one tael of gold.

In fact, this is also adjusted. The denominations of the treasure banknotes issued by Lao Zhu at the beginning are relatively large, starting from [-] Wen to consistent.But over the years, the imperial court imposed more and more restrictions on copper coins, so small denominations of treasure banknotes appeared.

Now Daming Banknotes belong to the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Industry, and the two departments can only control the ownership of banknotes.Moreover, there are also the Bank Bureau and Yinshoujian among the 24 yamen participating, and the clan mansion also sends people to supervise from time to time.

Zhu Yunying nodded slightly, and emphasized, "You have to remember well, don't let people make counterfeit ones. If you find counterfeit banknotes, you will be severely punished. The counterfeiters will be imprisoned, ransacked, or beheaded. They should not be punished lightly. And please don't change the name of the currency, Form and system, don't let the people worry."

In fact, the people of the Ming Dynasty did not accept banknotes very much at the beginning, or it is almost the same now.

For ordinary people, gold, silver or copper coins are the hard currency.In their eyes, banknotes are basically just a piece of paper, and they are also worried that the imperial court may not recognize banknotes anytime soon.

Under such circumstances, it is naturally a test of the government's credibility.

So over the years, paper money can also be used when paying taxes.If you do business with the imperial court, the imperial court does not issue gold or silver, but only paper money.

It seems overbearing, but there is no way to implement it like this.Fortunately, banknotes can be circulated, and the imperial court also recognizes them.

Seeing Yu Xin and the others nodding, Zhu Yunying continued to remind, "Remember to dump banknotes. Banks and warehouses have been set up in various places to collect and exchange dilapidated banknotes. All denominations and characters that can be recognized can continue to be used. Those who use old banknotes to buy goods are not allowed to buy goods." price increase."

This is recycling. Some rotten banknotes will definitely be taken back by the court, and they also need to be destroyed.

Zhu Yunying does not want to see a lot of new banknotes and old banknotes being used together in the market, or that the old banknotes just have no actual face value in the eyes of some people.Otherwise, it is likely to lead to inflation.

Yu Xin said immediately at this time, "Let's play Your Majesty, the imperial court has already set up a bank to exchange old banknotes. Collecting banknotes, destroying them, and distributing them are all under the supervision of the Ministry of Households, the Three Legal Departments, and the Clan Mansion."

Zhu Yunying was quite satisfied with Yu Xin's answer.The manufacture, recycling and destruction of banknotes, etc., all require strict control.The old banknotes cannot be made out of circulation, and the banknotes recovered and destroyed by the court must also be recorded.

In the final analysis, Zhu Yunying did not want to see the paper money of the Ming Dynasty causing inflation.

In history, the banknotes of Lao Zhu's period were relatively in circulation, but after Zhu Di usurped the throne, he continued to make northern expeditions and spend money.He continued to print banknotes, which also caused the people to start not accepting banknotes, and the circulation and credibility of Daming Banknotes became worse and worse.

Regarding these situations, Zhu Yunying was naturally quite satisfied.Although he more or less understood that these people were 'reporting good news but not bad news', they were talking about some of the most optimistic situations.

But no matter what, the acceptance of banknotes is getting higher and higher, and the circulation is becoming more and more convenient, which is naturally what Zhu Yunying is happy to see.

At this time, Yan Zhen said straightly, "Your Majesty, make one-, five-, and ten-cent banknotes, the imperial court"

"You have to remember that the imperial court does not make banknotes to make money." Zhu Yunying interrupted immediately, and said very seriously, "Small banknotes must be made so that the common people can use them."

It is indeed a loss-making business to make some small banknotes now.It's just that the court can't just think about the cost of making banknotes. What the court needs to see is whether the banknotes can be circulated and whether they bring some convenience to the people.

What's more, to put it bluntly, banknotes are issued and printed by the imperial court, which obviously means that the imperial court can print as much as they want if they don't want the bottom line.

It's just that this is definitely not possible, although I don't know much about the economy.But Zhu Yunying has always been strictly opposed to the wanton printing of banknotes, and he does not hope that the Daming banknotes will become a piece of waste paper by then.

"How much silver and gold does the imperial court have, and how much banknotes are printed." Zhu Yunying once again emphasized solemnly, "Don't be greedy, if I know that someone disturbs this matter, I will punish them severely!"

Speaking of it, Zhu Yunying is quite conservative. He didn't study economics before.Then there is the 'finance of a country'. The management, microeconomics, macroeconomics and other courses I have learned are just superficial.

There is no harm in being conservative, because Zhu Yunying doesn't want to take too big a step all at once, and doesn't want to cause some troubles.

(End of this chapter)