I'm really not doing business

Chapter 1067 Be cautious at the beginning and respectful at the end, and you will not be trapped in trouble.
Li Yougong used the gold notes in his hand to exchange for some sugar coupons, and then went to buy some things. When he received his change, the stall owner gave him twelve extra coins. The reason for the extra amount was that the stall owner gave him private coupons, which were valuable vouchers issued by Dele Sugar Shop.

He went to Dele Sugar Shop, bought some sugar, spent the private notes, and then returned to the governor's office.

He walked around for most of the day and finally understood the basic logic of how sugar coupons worked.

This is almost identical in principle to Felipe's issuance of gold bonds.

Just as Westerners believed that treasure ships would continuously bring gold and silver from the New World back to Spain, almost all Cantonese people believed that sugar cubes would be continuously transported to Guangzhou Prefecture through merchant guilds, merchant groups, and the small sampans of poor laborers.

In fact, the government treasury did not have that many sugar cubes, and sugar coupons could be exchanged at will, but people still accepted the sugar coupons because they needed a general equivalent to measure the value of goods.

Moreover, besides sugar as its anchor, sugar coupons also had another anchor that surprised Li Yougong: tobacco.

In Southeast Asia, tobacco was widely cultivated, and tobacco shreds became the currency of Southeast Asia before the circulation of paper money, the hardest of hard currencies.

Since the tobacco industry became fully state-owned, tobacco taxes have been extremely heavy. Even the state-owned tobacco factories in Guangzhou had to pay full taxes, so the price of tobacco naturally included these taxes.

In Southeast Asia, there are a lot of small factories that produce tobacco, and these tobacco leaves have become a major target for smuggling.

This is also the key point of the struggle between these small sampans and the coastal defense patrol, because some smuggled tobacco ends up being smuggled opium as they travel.

Sugar and tobacco together contributed to the popularity of sugar coupons in Guangdong, but this popularity was limited to Guangzhou, as it was the most prosperous area in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions.

After searching for a while, Li Yougong concluded one thing: people's acceptance of currency was greater than that of paper money, greater than that of silver, greater than that of official sugar tickets, greater than that of private tickets, and greater than that of flying money.

Flying coins were a type of very thin iron coin. These small coins circulated for two hundred years during the Ming Dynasty and were the main currency of the Ming Dynasty. However, within about twenty years, the small coins were almost completely squeezed out of the market by the Wanli Tongbao coins.

It's not only bad money that can drive out good money; good money can also drive out bad money.

People accept inferior goods only when they have no other choice, not because they are inherently fond of inferior goods. It is because there are too many inferior goods in the market and not enough good goods that good goods are driven out.

To Li Yougong's utter surprise, Guangzhou Prefecture was not so enthusiastic about silver; paper money and coins were more readily accepted.

The reason for this phenomenon is very simple: after silver was stamped into coins, it was not easy to make change. One silver coin was equal to seven hundred copper coins. In daily use, such large coins were actually very inconvenient. They were mostly used for savings and large transactions, while copper coins were used for daily life.

However, copper coins were not as useful as gold notes. Copper coins were too small and inconvenient to carry. Gold notes were heavier, smaller, and easier to lose. They were also not easy to store. In the market, neither buyers nor sellers liked copper coins because they were not easy to exchange for silver coins.

Both Baochao (宝钞) and Tongbao (通宝) could be exchanged for silver coins at the Huitongguan Post Station. However, the face value of Tongbao was too small, resulting in low enthusiasm for exchanging copper coins at the Huitongguan Post Station. In addition, with the imperial court promoting the issuance of gold Baochao, the Huitongguan Post Station preferred to exchange for Baochao.

This is why the phenomenon of paper money being more valuable than copper coins, which in turn were more valuable than silver, exists.

Liu Jiwen, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, requested the imperial court to issue additional gold and paper money, as this was both a local need and an urgent matter.

Li Yougong reported to His Majesty in detail what he had seen and heard in Guangzhou Prefecture and the cases he had handled.

When Zhu Yijun received the memorial, it was already July 11th. After reading Li Yougong's memorial, he was relatively optimistic and there were indeed not that many traitors.

As for those pirates who dared to attack the Ming army, since they chose to take an opposing stance, they were no longer Ming citizens.

"Sugar coupons, I have been emperor for twenty-two years, and I still haven't been able to solve the problem of the money shortage," Zhu Yijun said with some emotion.

In the past, Zhang Juzheng bribed Feng Bao with salt certificates, which were almost identical to the sugar coupons currently circulating in Guangzhou Prefecture; both were currencies with an anchor.

The Ming Dynasty was severely short of money; even a metropolis like Guangzhou lacked sufficient silver for circulation.

Of course, this wasn't because Emperor Zhu Yijun was a failure, but because the Ming Dynasty was a glutton with an insatiable appetite; no matter how much silver was poured in, it was never enough.

"Next, I'll go to the Ministry of Revenue to discuss the matter of targeted issuance of additional banknotes." Zhu Yijun had written the official document and asked Zhang Hong to send it to the Ministry of Revenue for his opinion on targeted issuance of additional banknotes. This would inevitably involve the issue of over-issuance of banknotes.

The emperor is no longer as worried about excessive issuance.

The Western merchant alliance could act as a floodgate, channeling precious currency westward and creating a tide of transactions.

To achieve all this, goods are the foundation. Once the Ming Dynasty loses its commodity advantage, it will gradually lose this ability to create trends.

The Ming Dynasty was gradually perfecting its theoretical framework for overseas expansion and colonization, and its military, political, economic, and cultural colonization efforts had begun to unfold comprehensively.

Zhu Yijun himself was thirty-two years old, in the prime of his life. If he could continue to steer the helm for another thirty years without change, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Ming Dynasty had achieved a revival.

"No, is Annam a chaotic mess? It's all a complete mess." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorials from Chen Lin, Luo Shangzhi, Li Yougong, and others with disbelief.

In a tiny place like Annam, there were actually five horse-drawn carriages!
In the Ming Dynasty, there was only one emperor's carriage, with civil officials, military officials, and relatives all on board. However, in Annam, there were five major families, with the extra one being the powerful minister Zheng Song.

Zheng Song defeated the Mo family, and the Mo family patriarchs, Mo Maoqia and Mo Quan, the military governors of Annam, were successively killed by Zheng Song.

Zheng Song recaptured Thang Long City, supported a new king, and appointed himself 'Grand Marshal, Chief State Councilor, and King Ping An,' making him the rightful regent.

The four major families of Annam had as many as 72 factions under their control, creating a chaotic situation of five main families and 72 smaller families vying for power.

Tong Mo, Li Zao, Du Hui, Ruan Kang, Chen Hongyi, Pan Jinjiang, Wu Gong, and so on—these names were listed densely before the emperor. Of these seventy-two families, more than thirty were powerful clans and pirates who migrated to Annam during the Longqing and Wanli periods.

"Wait, how come there's a Zhou Zhuangsheng from Taiyuan, Shanxi?" Zhu Yijun was extremely surprised.

It was one thing for people from Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Shandong to do so, but even people from Shanxi had occupied Xuanhua and Jiaxing prefectures in Annam, dominating the region and submitting to the Nguyen family patriarch.

Zhang Hong didn't know much about this person either, and shook his head, saying, "He's probably there to do business."

Some Shanxi merchants liked to buy property and settle down in Yangzhou. It is possible that Zhou Zhuangsheng from Taiyuan went to Annam from Yangzhou.

The reason why Haiyang City remained unmoved when Luo Shangzhi led his troops to attack Guang'an City was simple: Du Hui of Haiyang City and Wu Gong, the city lord of Guang'an City, had a feud.

King Zheng Song of Ping'an arranged for two people with deep-seated hatred to work together in a pincer movement, entirely to unite Haiyang City and Guang'an City and pose a threat to Shenglong City.

Clearly, in the eyes of King Zheng Song, internal strife was far more important than defending against enemies, and internal defense was more important than external defense.

Du Hui, commander of Haiyang City, originally intended to teach Guang'an City a lesson before sending troops to its aid. However, he did not expect the Ming army's attack to be so fierce. Guang'an was captured in less than two days, and Haiyang City, unable to withstand the attack alone, simply fled.

The maritime gateway to Thang Long City was handed over to the Ming Dynasty.

In the context of the Ming Dynasty, this meant that Tianjin Prefecture offered almost no resistance and fell into enemy hands.

The absurdity of the situation made Luo Shangzhi feel a little embarrassed to ask for credit; the other party had fallen down before he had even exerted any effort.

"Why does Annam seem worse than the northern barbarians, or even the Japanese pirates?" Zhu Yijun stared at the geomantic map for a long time.

Whether it was Tuman Khan or Anda Khan, their fighting strength was still very strong. The Ming Dynasty always fought steadily and surely. Once the Northern Barbarians were able to maneuver, the outcome would be uncertain.

Meanwhile, the Japanese pirates fought against the Ming Dynasty in Korea for three whole years before the Ming Dynasty finally pushed them into the sea and destroyed all the mountain fortresses they had built.

Overall, the northern barbarians and Japanese pirates were both formidable opponents, while Annam was far too weak.

“Your Majesty, this is the true face and true strength of the barbarians.” Zhang Hong felt that this was the normal performance of the barbarians in Annam.

The Northern Barbarians and the Ming Dynasty had fought for two hundred years and knew each other inside and out. During the Ming Dynasty's eastern expedition and the Korean battlefield, the Japanese pirates were also battle-hardened soldiers with strong fighting power.

"Indeed." Zhu Yijun agreed with Zhang Hong's statement. Among the barbarians that had emerged on the borders of the Ming Dynasty, the northern barbarians and Japanese pirates were indeed formidable fighters.

Annam's behavior is exactly what barbarians should do.

Zhu Yijun still recorded Luo Shangzhi's merits according to the Ming Dynasty's Five-Class Merit Award System, and issued a memorial to the Ministry of Rites to prepare to confer the title of Earl on Luo Shangzhi. As long as he successfully conquered Annam and achieved a military victory, this hereditary Earl title would be the legacy that Luo Shangzhi earned for his descendants.

Gao Qiyu of the Ministry of Rites submitted a memorial explaining a phenomenon that the emperor did not quite understand.

These were all important results of the great debate during the Wanli Reforms. The theory of contradiction was widely accepted, but the theory of class was shelved. Even in the study of class theory, it was difficult to find a renowned teacher to educate students.

This phenomenon is so common, but few people bother to figure out the reasons behind it.

Because class theory was meant to replace the distinction between Chinese and barbarians, rather than other theoretical systems within Confucianism.

If we were to forcibly promote class theory, we would have to explain whether these barbarians had the same status as the people of the Ming Dynasty.

Obviously, this is impossible. Not to mention the heartland of the Ming Dynasty, even in the Luzon Governor-General's Office, there were more barbarians than Han Chinese. The Han Chinese used the "Great Ming Code," while the barbarians were subject to the "Luzon Barbarian Regulations," which was not even a law, but just a set of articles.

In Luzon, if a Han Chinese kills a foreigner, they only need to pay some compensation, but if a foreigner kills a Han Chinese, the governor's office will send troops to suppress the attack.

If we replace the debate between Chinese and barbarians with class theory, then many things become inexplicable. The Japanese slaves of Japan, the barbarian slaves of Luzon and Annam, and the Kunlun slaves sold by Persians and Arabs were also poor laborers who were exploited.

If we consider these people as human beings based on class distinctions, then the Ming Dynasty would have no legitimate reason to plunder wealth.

From the perspective of the development of the dynasty, class theory is obviously more reasonable, but the distinction between Chinese and barbarians is more in line with the current situation.

Gao Qiyu's memorial explains why class theory is something that only officials of the fifth rank or above can learn to become enlightened officials in the court, because it is inherently not suitable for widespread application.

If the theory of contradiction is a methodology, then there is no such concern at all.

Zhu Yijun largely agrees with this view, believing that the biggest problem in promoting class theory is not Confucianism, but rather the current social situation and environment.

If promoting a class theory requires abandoning the plunder of wealth overseas, then Zhu Yijun would rather have never written a class theory.

After Zhang Juzheng retired, the emperor became the head of the biggest conservative faction in the Ming Dynasty.

As the Minister of Rites, Gao Qiyu had to explain the rites and laws. In the latter half of his memorial, he explained why the class theory was reasonable.

He wrote a very unacceptable view: that the demise of aristocratic politics was related to the heyday of the imperial examination system, but the fundamental reason for the demise of aristocratic politics was that Huang Chao killed people according to their family genealogy.

Most Ming Dynasty scholars believed that the demise of aristocratic families was a result of the progress of the times and the inevitable outcome of the maturation of the imperial examination system and the bureaucratic system. Huang Chao was simply fortunate to have the opportunity to rise to prominence.

Gao Qiyu's memorial would not normally be published in the official gazette. Gao Qiyu told the emperor that things were not like that.

In the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty after the An Lushan Rebellion, 75% of the prime ministers came from prominent families of seven surnames and ten clans, while the remaining quarter came from humble backgrounds. These humble backgrounds were not those of poor laborers but rather those with social standing.

Before Huang Chao, it was unimaginable that people like Fan Yuanshan, a son-in-law who married into the family, and Xiong Tingbi, a cowherd, could pass the imperial examinations and become Jinshi.

The basic structure of the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty can still be summarized as 'no poor families among the elite.' The imperial examination system, which was gradually perfected in the Tang Dynasty, was still firmly controlled by aristocratic families. The advantage of the gentry in obtaining official positions did not decline before Huang Chao; in fact, it was even strengthened with the improvement of the imperial examination system.

Huang Chao's execution of aristocratic families and clans according to their family genealogies greatly weakened their influence. Coupled with the chaos and turmoil of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, this ultimately led to the complete demise of aristocratic politics.

The theory of class has been proven, as stated in the book of the Struggle in the Theory of Classes: all fairness and justice are obtained through struggle, not by the charity of others.

Gao Qiyu's memorial to the throne was very clear: as the ruling class, it was necessary to study class theory and combine it with the theory of contradiction in order to govern the country and make decisions.

Zhu Yijun replied with more than three hundred words, affirming Gao Qiyu's statement and also expressing his own views as the emperor.

"Never trust the wisdom of future generations, because you have no idea how foolish they can be." Zhu Yijun picked up another memorial, and after reading it, he felt dizzy and immediately took out his seal, stamping the memorial with the mark 'base scholar'.

If this chapter is completed, the cabinet will severely reprimand the official who wrote the memorial. The cabinet's severe reprimand is an immense pressure on any official.

Over the years, Zhu Yijun had never seen an official who could affix three seals; usually, once a seal was affixed, the official would no longer dare to talk nonsense.

Zhu Yijun rarely used the "lowly scholar" chapter. It was common knowledge that the emperor was not easy to fool. Now, he really couldn't get away with the court flogging. When His Majesty flogging, he really beat the emperor to death.

This memorial was jointly submitted by Li Ruhua, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, and Yuan Zhen, the salt transport commissioner of Lianghuai. They felt that Wang Guoguang, the Duke of Wending, had some shortcomings in his policy of providing in-kind military pay to border regions, namely that it was too expensive.

The imperial court paid a full 660 million taels of silver to the military garrisons and garrisons every year to purchase various goods, which were then distributed in kind.

The two of them came up with a good idea called the "Gangyun System".

The idea was to organize the most powerful salt merchants along the coast of Jiangnan into "gang merchants," who would be fully responsible for supplying grain, salt, and other materials to the border regions, while the imperial court would directly levy salt taxes on them.

This not only solved the problem of scarce resources on the border, but also the current situation of huge financial losses in the imperial court, and also solved the dilemma of difficulty in collecting salt tax. It can be said to have killed three birds with one stone!
Zhu Yijun is not a ten-year-old child; he is thirty-two years old and has twenty-two years of work experience. When it comes to government decrees, let alone achieving three goals at once, even resolving a dilemma requires considering the consequences.

The transport system is good in every way, but it never takes into account the lives of soldiers on the border!

"In the eyes of these scholar-officials, are our Ming border troops even human? Are they even people of the Ming Dynasty? How could they come up with such a vicious plan?" Zhu Yijun was furious.

Besides stamping it with the seal of a lowly Confucian scholar, he wrote more than three hundred words, cursing the two lowly Confucian scholars to the point of being bloody and vicious!

This three-pronged transportation system, through which the merchants formed the "gang merchants," would completely monopolize the transportation of salt.

Previously, anyone could transport grain, salt, and other goods to the border regions and exchange them for silver at the garrison posts. However, with the establishment of the "Gang Shang" (a type of merchant system), there was a threshold for entry, and only a few merchants approved by the imperial court were authorized to transport goods.

This is the third of three birds with one stone: directly taxing the merchants, which is simple and straightforward.

In the future, if the merchants want to send supplies, the border region will receive only a small amount. If they don't want to send supplies, they will sell things like salt to the interior, not the border region, where there is nothing, not even salt.

They haven't had enough of the bitterness of monopolies; they want to suffer it all again.

The reason why Ming Dynasty merchants were willing to send goods to the border regions was because the border regions received silver from the imperial court. If this power were truly given to the powerful merchants who formed the "gang merchants," the border regions of the Ming Dynasty would only become completely corrupt.

"Send this Li Ruhua to Suiyuan to reclaim wasteland and farm for three years, and he will understand everything. Sitting in the government office in the capital, pointing fingers at the border, who gave him the audacity! Pointing fingers without understanding the situation, even I dare not do such a thing!" Zhu Yijun gave a clear punishment: first, send him to Suiyuan to farm for three years.

Doing some work will clear your mind.

As for Yuan Zhen, the salt transport commissioner of Lianghuai, he was quite different from Li Ruhua.

Yuan Zhen hoped to transport more goods to the border areas, and his idea was to restore the previous opening-the-center method.

With the completion of the Kailong Road, transportation capacity and costs have been greatly reduced. Could we take advantage of the convenience of the Kailong Road to restore the ancestral ways?

His idea is good, but it's wishful thinking.

Some policies, once broken, are truly gone forever. If there were even the slightest possibility of restoring the Sino-French trade agreement, Wang Guoguang would not have given all his hard-earned money to the Bianfang.

This is an enormous amount of support, amounting to 660 million taels of silver per year, for 11 imperial tombs in a year (initially 50 taels of silver were used, and later 10 taels of silver were added for repairs, so each imperial tomb cost 60 taels of silver).

If given the opportunity, Zhu Yijun would certainly have hoped to reinstate the Kaizhongfa policy, but unfortunately, the policy had already been completely undermined during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong.

The Book of Documents says: "Be careful at the beginning and respectful at the end, and you will not be troubled at the end."

That's just how the world is. Once a decision is made, you can't change it just because you regret it. Often, it's too late to regret.

Zhu Yijun was very cautious about every policy. If he saw that something was not going to work, he would withdraw his order. Even if he really wanted to do something, he would wait a very long time before doing it, just because he was afraid that his wrong decisions would bring great hardship to the people.

"Huh, what are the Zhejiang merchants doing in Songjiang Prefecture all day? Shouldn't they be at the Ningbo Maritime Trade Office?" Zhu Yijun picked up the memorial from Hu Junde, the prefect of Songjiang, and discovered a very interesting phenomenon.

The chaotic infighting among merchant groups in Songjiang Prefecture was even more chaotic than the infighting among the five chieftains and seventy-two families in Annam.

"It's not just a few merchant groups from Zhejiang, but even merchant groups from Shanxi are all in Songjiang Prefecture." Zhang Hong went to investigate this situation, and it turned out to be quite complicated.

Merchants from Shanxi, Guizhou, Anhui, Wu, and Yangzhou were all based in Songjiang Prefecture, engaging in extremely fierce competition with the local ocean trading companies. In fact, the Songjiang Ocean Trading Company was almost replaced by these companies working together.

They even displayed a fighting spirit akin to vying for supremacy in the Central Plains. Songjiang Prefecture is a fine place; only the virtuous should reside there!
Sun Kehong invested in Songjiang Maritime Academy for a long time. When Shanghai University was being built, Sun Kehong also donated 500,000 taels of silver, asking for nothing in return, only hoping to gain goodwill.

The naval instructors from the Maritime Academy and the students from Shanghai University, after graduation, all cherished this connection, and if conditions were the same, they would all join the Songjiang Ocean Shipping Company.

Otherwise, with several companies joining forces, Songjiang Ocean Shipping Company would really be no match for them.

Talent is always the key to victory or defeat.

Hu Junde submitted a memorial mainly concerning the selection of personnel for the Songjiang Ocean Merchants Company. Sun Kehong did not recommend his son to succeed him as the company's general manager, which was something that almost no one expected.

Sun Kehong recommended his elite troops.

A stranger from Chu named Chen Jingyi was from Changsha. His family was extremely poor. He was originally an apprentice in Sun Kehong's cotton mill, and everyone called him Liu Zi.

This sixth son was extraordinary. In just twelve years, he went from being an apprentice to managing all of Sun's cotton mills. By the twenty-second year of the Wanli reign, Chen Jingyi had become Sun Kehong's most trusted subordinate.

Sun Kehong wanted to recommend his own son, but after much deliberation, he finally recommended Chen Jingyi to the court. He believed that Chen Jingyi was capable and responsible enough to lead the Songjiang Ocean Merchants Firm forward.

His main concern was his son, who wasn't particularly capable. If he were to go to jail over some financial dispute, the Sun family would truly become a laughingstock in Shanghai.

"I hope that Chen Jingyi will live up to Sun Kehong's expectations," Zhu Yijun wrote in vermilion ink on the memorial.

Songjiang Ocean Trading Company has grown into a colossal entity. Its merchant ships, due to their military presence, possess armed forces that even surpass the overall strength of Annam.

The merchant ships of the trading company had to go to the Governor-General's Office of the Eastern Pacific three times a year. Without enough weapons and equipment, it was impossible for them to navigate freely in the Pacific Ocean.

With such a powerful force at play, the selection of the head of the merchant guild must be reported to the imperial court for a final decision.

In essence, the merchant guild was not a completely private merchant group, but a merchant group established under the organization of the imperial court. In the original share capital, the Songjiang Prefectural Government accounted for a full 60%.

The following day, Zhu Yijun met with Sun Kehong and Chen Jingyi.

Chen Jingyi never expected that taking over as head of the Chamber of Commerce would lead to an audience with His Majesty. In terms of official rank, the head of the Chamber of Commerce was only a ninth-rank official. Being summoned by His Majesty was truly an honor that made Chen Jingyi feel flattered.

"Your Majesty, we pay our respects! Long live Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!" Sun Kehong and Chen Jingyi were extremely respectful, not daring to let their etiquette be flawed in the slightest.

"No need for formalities. It's been years since we last met. Mr. Sun, you still look as dashing as ever," Zhu Yijun said gently. He looked Chen Jingyi up and down. This man was very handsome, not in a effeminate way, but rather very capable and with a touch of righteousness.

At least he did not behave improperly in front of the emperor.

Meeting the emperor is already nerve-wracking, and the elaborate rituals only exacerbate that tension.

In recent years, many officials have lost their composure when meeting the emperor for the first time. Many are so nervous that they cannot speak coherently, and some even speak incoherently.

Chen Jingyi was a man of the world, who had seen many storms. He had led the merchant company's ships to the other side of the Pacific Ocean twelve times, earning the company a fortune.

The purpose of the merchants coming together is to make money, and since Chen Jingyi can lead the merchants to make money, it is not surprising that Sun Kehong chose him as the person in charge.

"Not bad." Zhu Yijun gestured with his hand and said, "Sit down and let's talk."

Chen Jingyi's heart, which had been pounding in his throat, finally calmed down a little. It would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous; he was just trying his best to control himself and not lose his composure, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble for himself, his family, or his business.

Offending the Emperor and disturbing His Majesty's presence carries a price no one can afford.

"Songjiang Trading Company has been established for almost twenty years now. When I first met you, you were in your prime," Zhu Yijun said with some emotion. This was a little communication tactic—catching up to ease the tension and awkwardness.

To be in a position of authority, you must be good at holding meetings, guiding the direction of meetings, and communicating effectively, rather than being aloof and arrogant.

"In the second year of the Wanli reign, my younger brother was ordered to establish the business. At that time, there were only four merchants, including government offices. Now there are almost seventy. I am sixty-five years old this year." Sun Kehong recalled the past with a sigh.

At that time, because he had difficulty walking, his younger brother Sun Keyi was ordered to set up the business. Later, Sun Keyi made a rash decision and went to Nagasaki, where he stayed for almost twenty years, leaving the business to him.

Zhu Yijun and Sun Kehong chatted for a few minutes, and the atmosphere immediately became harmonious. After all, whenever the emperor made things difficult for Xu Jie, the Sun family would always lend a hand. It could be said that they had a common enemy and a common topic.

Seeing the lively atmosphere, Sun Kehong immediately spoke up: "Your Majesty, promoting the circulation of gold notes throughout the entire Eastern Pacific Governor's Office cannot rely solely on the Pan-Pacific Merchants Alliance General Council. Merchants must play a key role. Chen Jingyi has some ideas; let him explain them to Your Majesty?"

Sun Kehong and Chen Jingyi both took note of the central government's thoughts and the enormous resistance they encountered.

Issuing too many gold notes could lead to a collapse of credibility due to over-issuance, while not issuing too many would result in a shortage of gold notes. Therefore, establishing a reservoir becomes extremely important.

"Tell me about it." Zhu Yijun looked at Chen Jingyi, indicating that he could begin to speak.

"The key to promoting the circulation of paper money lies not only in the goods themselves, but also in winning the hearts and minds of the people." Chen Jingyi took a deep breath and began to paint a rosy picture for His Majesty the Emperor.

Chen Jingyi was always good at making empty promises, but this time he was making empty promises to the emperor. If His Majesty couldn't get what he wanted, he couldn't bear the blame.

Chen Jingyi was very well prepared and adept at reading people's expressions. His Majesty clearly disliked so much pedantry, and Chen Jingyi also spoke very clearly and thoroughly.

By making good use of ocean-going merchant fleets, with warships on one hand and goods from the Ming Dynasty on the other, these barbarians will naturally accept gold and paper money after several years.

“That’s how barbarians are; they accept it after a beating,” Chen Jingyi succinctly summarized.

(End of this chapter)