I'm really not doing business

Chapter 544 The Whetstone of the Great Ming Sword

"Can such a complicated matter really be solved so easily?" Zhu Yijun said with some uncertainty. This is a major event that has led to widespread deficits in local government treasuries across the country and is a major problem of systemic corruption.

How could it be solved so simply?

Wang Chonggu said with a smile: "Your Majesty, this is not simple at all. The emptying of the treasury is complicated. In fact, everything is based on concealment. The most important thing is to find the ultimate beneficiary, that is, to whose hands the silver has flowed. ”

If only simple means are needed to find the ultimate beneficiary, then the treasury being emptied means that the treasury can also be held accountable. Whoever benefits will bear the responsibility, which will eventually alleviate this chaos.

Use Dingjian's great work to create debts that should not exist, use debts to divert people's attention, and create fog to hide it. An ultimate beneficiary hidden underwater can pressure the local government to admit the existence of these debts, and finally complete a fish Eat two.

Debts that should not exist are caused by layers of buying and subcontracting, and they have already been eaten once at this time.

The debt is eventually transferred to a certain beneficiary, and this time it is the second time to eat, and the diners who eat one fish and two are often the same people, or even very clearly, most of the time they are the same people.

In fact, Wang Chonggu did not explain his words clearly and thoroughly. In fact, this was the inevitable result of the teacher system. Just like the case of the 700,000 acres of official land in Baoding Prefecture being occupied, Fan Yingqi was the one who suffered the most. The Jin Party of the Ming Dynasty had high hopes. Jin people.

As long as the simple debt cannot be transferred, the ultimate beneficiary will no longer be able to hide under the water, which means that he must take the risk of exposure to take this bite. Once the incident occurs, it will be noticed by the court, and then the Great Ming God The sword must come.

The second is the formula. If you want to make abaca paper smooth and white, you need to work hard. There are usually fibers exposed on the hemp paper. The Ming Dynasty household improved the technology, such as using soda ash instead of plant ash, and using white clay instead of sunlight. Bleaching, limestone increases the adsorption of ink, and a flying bottom knife beater is used instead of the traditional pounding and grinding. Each step of the improvement of these techniques is a very confidential formula.

Zhu Yijun thought for a while and replied in the memorial: "To boil water, you must start from the bottom. If you start boiling water from the top, it will definitely not boil. The heat will dissipate in the form of water vapor. If you have nothing to do, read the Ge Wu Bao to understand the infinite nature of all things." reason. ]
Zhang Juzheng's one-yuan autocracy won't work, because Zhu Yijun is really busy. Emperor Taizu Gao's method, Zhu Yijun really can't work, that thing is fatal.

Some time ago, during the imperial examination in the capital, the Ming Dynasty Jingtang arrested a lot of brokers. Ninety-nine percent of these brokers were big swindlers. When the registered debts could not be bought, sold or transferred, the swindlers seemed to have found a new one. The business growth path is guarantee.

The first is that raw materials are hard to come by.

Zhang Xueyan looked around and whispered: "This is abaca paper made of 10% abaca. This is abaca paper made of 30% abaca. Da Situ, please shake it."

It’s not a panacea that works all the time, but it can be used as an extremely important tool in the toolbox to alleviate conflicts.

In this way, the front end reduces local debts that should not exist by prohibiting layer-by-layer purchases, and the back end prohibits debt trading and prevents the realization of debts. The two aspects exert force to keep local treasuries away from the encroachment of monsters and monsters.

"Good." Zhu Yijun certainly knew this.

"The paper of Tongxingbao banknote contains 20% abaca." Zhang Xueyan picked up the trial-produced banknote in his hand and whispered: "The sound is crisp and crisp, and it is resistant to folding."

The Ministry of Household Affairs received Xu Wei's memorial. It was really an eye-opener for the impact of overseas currency notes on the Japanese country. The restricted treasure notes could be successfully implemented overseas, and it also had certain positive significance. It really allowed households to On the other hand, it is unexpected, but on the other hand, it supports a point that Ming Dynasty is really too free.

Scammers deceive, and the main thing is that one dares to say something and the other dares to believe it. It is true that it goes both ways.

"Calm down, you are a young Situ, a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Household Affairs, how can you behave so recklessly? I, a high-ranking second-rank official of the Ming Dynasty, are so happy, it is not in line with etiquette." Wang Guangguang gave a lesson and picked up the hand. Ma Si asked: "What is this?"

Zhang Xueyan said extremely excitedly: "Because now only the imperial court can make abaca paper, and only the imperial court can obtain large quantities of abaca! Abaca paper is the best anti-counterfeiting."

The situation is absolutely clear for Hai Rui to come out of his shell. At least anti-corruption is a topic that can be mentioned and implemented.

Zhu Yijun started his day of grinding, opened the memorial and began to review it.

Abaca is divided into green stems and red stems. Among them, green stems have the highest yield and the best quality, but it is difficult to introduce. In the second year of Wanli, when the Luzon Governor's Palace was first established, the specialness of this raw material was noticed. , because cables needed to use this kind of hemp material, Yin Zhengmao began to introduce it to Guangzhou and Hainan Qiongzhou.

Privately minted copper coins are common among the people. The Ming Dynasty was so free that even privately minted copper coins and privately printed treasure banknotes were not beheaded. What is this but freedom?
"Da Situ!" Zhang Xueyan walked in excitedly, hurriedly walked to Wang Guoguang, placed a handful of flax in front of Wang Guangguang, and said extremely excitedly: "I found a good thing!"

After finishing his confrontation with Wang Chonggu, Zhu Yijun thought about it carefully and brought over many corruption files from the Metropolitan Procuratorate. After careful review, Zhu Yijun really discovered something fishy. The phenomenon Wang Chonggu said is real. Some major construction projects, such as the cost of building a city on three sides, were obviously abnormal. The court gave 10,000 taels of silver, but a fort actually cost 100,000 taels of silver to repair, and then the place began to run into losses.

The proliferation of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, in addition to the excessive issuance by the court, the biggest hidden danger is the private seals of the emperor's relatives and military ministers. During the Hongwu period, cases of private issuance of treasure banknotes were often not investigated. Because it involves someone the emperor does not want to blame, Tiqi, who is completely obedient to the emperor, has to stop.

In the third year of Wanli, there were 200 acres of land. The introduction of red-stem abaca was successful, but the green-stem abaca failed. Green-stem abaca is mainly intolerant to insect pests and is not suitable for the local soil and water. It is always prone to diseases and often dies in large areas.

Because the people responsible for decision-making are diners who eat two fish and eat two things, is this to fight against corruption?
Do you let him turn against himself? Even Gao Gong can only ensure that he is clean. He can't even counter the corruption of the Jin Party. Hai Rui is invincible in some cases and useless in other cases. He is an invincible sword, especially It was in the matter of anti-corruption and corruption, but the previous general environment destined that Hai Rui's magic sword could not be unsheathed.

Abaca is called Manila hemp. This plant is not everywhere in Manila, and the living conditions are not harsh. However, it is currently only grown in some parts of Luzon. It is mainly used for ship production, and abaca is used for papermaking. The results of the Ministry of Accounts' exploration of banknote methods.

"Actually, the most critical thing is the engineering battalion. If the imperial court does not have a large construction team, this kind of thing will happen. It is obvious that the imperial court bought Yi to take charge of the case, but in the end, after going round and round, Guilai was responsible. One or two It is possible that Gui spent only 200,000 yuan on the construction of a huge construction project worth millions, so it would be surprising if nothing happened." Wang Chonggu still strongly promoted and sold his engineering regiment and battalion system.

It is impossible to find out whose hands the deficit fell into. It is not that the Tiqi people did not do their best, but that the amount of inspections was too large, and the cases were handled locally, and the resistance was even greater. The officials of the Ming Dynasty also gave the Emperor a good punishment. Class, what does it mean to enrich one's own pockets, what does it mean to harm the public and enrich one's private interests?

The purpose of reading sentences is to prevent ambiguity, and the common characters are to make the emperor's reading easy and simple. Everything is to make administration more efficient.

Many of the big problems that seem overwhelming now were not important or urgent more than ten years ago because there were more important problems that needed to be solved urgently.

The courtiers' memorials were of various kinds, but on the whole they were mainly about talking about things. The memorials that had nothing to do and say hello gradually decreased after being severely warned by Zhu Yijun. From the memorials that were read without sentences at the beginning, they became full of punctuation marks. Memorials, and more and more memorials with popular texts and common characters, were requested by the emperor.

"Anti-counterfeiting function?" Wang Guangguang asked with a frown.

Wang Chonggu further explained: "There is no need to worry too much since we haven't started yet. It is true that the engineering regiment camp is by no means a panacea that has been tried and tested, and there is no such thing, but it is better than nothing."

In Wang Chonggu's view, maintaining the quality of the Dingjian project and providing labor remuneration to the poor coolies are the two most urgent things.

In the past, Zhu Yijun felt that the treasury was emptied mainly due to the lack of money. For example, subordinate officials filled their own pockets and secretly moved things in the treasury. During the investigation by superiors, a fire dragon cleared the warehouse and wiped out the old accounts. But Zhu Yijun knew from Wang Chonggu. , it turns out that this is how the Ming treasury was emptied.

"Good stuff! Good stuff!" Wang Guoguang looked at the ball of abaca thread in his hand, and then looked at the abaca paper that had been made. There were some slightly yellow and green papers, very smooth, and there was no traditional abaca paper. The rough feeling, as well as the trial-produced Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, made Wang Guoguang express his emotions with joy. Wang Guangguang, who had been trying to calm Zhang Xueyan just now, became less calm.

A Ke Dao Yanguan went to the meeting and asked a question, that is, the overall direction of the Ming Dynasty's current decrees made him unable to understand. The overall direction of the Ming Dynasty is still to settle down the poor coolies, harshly criticize the rural gentry, and want to be powerful and right-wing. He said Even worse, it means killing the rich and giving to the poor. It is true that meat eaters do have many problems, but what is the reason for this choice?
What is the difference between this and killing the chicken to obtain the eggs? Without the leadership of the rural gentry and powerful right-wingers, the poor coolies would not have enough wealth to invest in various projects to allow the Ming Dynasty to complete the reform and implementation of the New Deal.

"Abaca." Zhang Xueyan said with a smile: "It is often used to weave cloth, and is mostly used to make ship's cables and anchor ropes. Of course, for the household department, its most important role is to make paper. Paper is very wear-resistant. , while being more resistant to damage, it can also play an anti-counterfeiting role.”

Therefore, abaca can only be imported from Luzon to the hinterland. This is the first difficulty. If you want to obtain abaca, you must open up all the joints from Luzon to Daming to buy abaca. This is to increase private ownership. The threshold of India, and the cultivation of green-stemmed abaca, are mainly concentrated near Manila, and all abaca gardens are in the hands of the Governor-General.

It is extremely difficult for me to make hemp paper technically. Coupled with anti-counterfeiting ink and so on, the cost of production after research and development may be more expensive than the banknotes produced. head risk.

The 10% abaca paper is crisper, but after a few shakes, there are obvious creases, while the 30% abaca paper has a less obvious sound when shaken, but there are no creases.

"Then add a restriction on debt transfer in Hai Zongxian's memorial. Yamen's debts cannot be bought or sold." Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and agreed with Wang Chonggu's statement. This is silver, and every time it is handled , reasonable losses will occur, and registered debts, if transferred, will bear the risk of being defrauded.

The Ministry of Revenue has been looking for a hard-to-obtain, high-strength, corrosion-resistant, anti-fungal, anti-wrinkle linen material to make paper and print banknotes, and now it has been found by the Ministry of Revenue. Making paper from abaca means privately printing banknotes. the maximum threshold.

Therefore, in the early days of the Republic of China, the carnivores who secretly printed banknotes or secretly minted Tongbao often sought shelter from relatives of the emperor and military ministers.

"Your Majesty, this seems very simple, but in fact it is really difficult, because before this, there was no possibility of doing this." Wang Chonggu corrected His Majesty's simplicity twice. In the context of the eleventh year of Wanli, this It was a simple matter, but during the Jiajing and Longqing years, this matter would never have started.

Anti-counterfeiting will also become simple, you can hear it as soon as you shake it, the sound is crisp and resistant to folding, 20% abaca is the result of continuous experiments.

"Go and find your Majesty!" Wang Guoguang picked up the treasure box on the table and headed to Tonghe Palace impatiently. He was more anxious than Zhang Xueyan, self-restraint? what is that? Is it that important?

When Zhu Yijun was approached by Wang Guoguang, he was also very surprised. Zhu Yijun himself recognized the efforts of the Ministry of Revenue for upgrading banknotes from cotton paper to abaca paper.

"The Ming Dynasty was not suitable for the implementation of treasure banknotes, and there was insufficient reserve funds." Zhu Yijun said: "The anchors in the "Banknote Law Anchorage" on the Ministry of Household Affairs are not sufficient."

"It's overseas promotion." Wang Guoguang said with great confidence: "Build the scale first, the skills will become more mature, and the industrial chain will become richer." "Does the Japanese country also use abaca banknotes? Give it to them. It would be nice to have some tissue paper for wiping your butt." Zhu Yijun said very unhappily, Japan is not worthy of it, and asking it for silver is to give it face and let it fulfill its filial piety! Give it a chance to be filial and it must learn to be grateful!
"It's not for the Japanese country, it's for Luzon. It's still a treasure banknote that can be used overseas." Wang Guangguang said quickly. The banknotes given to the Japanese country were 10 million guan, which can be used for a long, long time.

"Oh, that's about the same." Zhu Yijun heard that the Ministry of Revenue was planning to expand the pilot project of treasure banknotes, and then he seriously considered it. It was a waste of good coins to be used by Japan, but it was just right for Luzon.

Luzon is also short of money.

Luzon has copper, and there are 11 large copper mountains, but Luzon is still short of copper, because all the copper in Luzon was given to the Ming Dynasty. The siphon effect of the Ming Dynasty on gold, silver and copper was so strong that it The two teeth far away in the west were absorbed by the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty was short of money. With the advantage of commodities, precious metals from Luzon would flow into the Ming Dynasty. Even Britain, which had completed the first industrial revolution, had a long-term trade deficit with the Tatar and Qing Dynasties, and silver flowed into the Taqing Dynasty.

"Large bills are harmful to the people, and the face value should not be about 100 Wen." Zhu Yijun gave specific instructions on Luzon's banknote law. The face value should not be too large. A large face value means more tax revenue from mints. Luzon is developing in the direction of counties. An excessively high seigniorage tax is a rip-off and a drain on the marrow.

Zhu Yijun gave a face value of 100 Wen, rather than always. A small amount of good banknotes that are difficult to copy is conducive to economic development. This is a principle that has been practiced in the Japanese country, but a large number of disorderly, shoddy and bad banknotes will The damage to the economy is fatal.

"To have reserves, Luzon's banknotes must be cashable currencies, preferably silver and red copper." Zhu Yijun further restricted It will be extremely difficult to pass treasure money in the hinterland.

The political status and treatment of Luzon and Japan in the Ming Dynasty were completely different, even worlds apart. The Ming Dynasty could use non-redeemable currency to brutally exploit Japan, but doing so to Luzon would push Luzon further and further away.

As for anchors, there is no shortage of anchors in Luzon. The Guangzhou Shipping Department and the Yuegang City Shipping Department receive a large number of merchant ships every year, and the goods are extremely abundant.

Previously, copper materials from Luzon entered the Ming Dynasty and were converted into Tongbao and imperial silver coins. Luzon did not take away these coins but exchanged them for goods at the Shipping Department and returned to Luzon.

Now there is an additional option, that is, you can exchange it for Ming Dynasty Overseas Pass Banknotes and return to Luzon.

Different from the bad currency of the Japanese country, the treasure banknotes given by the imperial court to the Nagasaki Governor's Palace were in units of tens of millions. They did not care at all whether the Japanese country could accept such a large amount of treasure banknotes, and did not care about the life or death of the Japanese people.

However, there is a reserve fund and an anchor for Luzon's banknote exchange. The court must not say that the treasure banknotes are not currency, otherwise Luzon will inevitably become disloyal. It will also limit the number of banknotes circulating in Luzon and start from the source.

If the Luzon Governor's Office can print money independently, doesn't that mean that the Governor's Office is plotting rebellion? The right to issue banknotes must be in Jingtang.

After Zhu Yijun had an extremely in-depth and effective communication with the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Zhu Yijun decided to write a letter to ask the surnamed master for his opinion first, so that the Ming Dynasty could make preparations first.

"Your Majesty, I am worried that... the treasure banknotes of Japan will flow back. I am not too worried about the treasure banknotes of Japan. Everyone knows that there is no reserve for the currency of Japan. However, the treasure banknotes of Luzon are very likely to return to Ming Dynasty." Wang Guangguang said very worriedly.

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "The Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes are not recognized. Who will spend the treasure coins when they are returned?"

Of course Zhu Yijun knew how serious the money shortage was in the Ming Dynasty, and he also knew why Wang Guoguang was so worried about the return of treasure banknotes. Once a large-scale return of treasure notes occurred, the Luzon Governor's Office would actually have the function of issuing banknotes. This was the power of the Ministry of Revenue. The passage of time also undermined the Ming Dynasty's monetary policy.

Luzon Governor's Mansion: That's bad, I have become the Central Bank of the Ming Dynasty!

However, the Ming Dynasty Baochao has no credibility at all and is generally disapproved of. Even the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty turned his eyes at the corruption of the Baochao and spread his hands, unable to do anything.

"Salt can be used as money. Once the treasure banknotes are circulated in Luzon, with reserves and anchors, I am afraid that the treasure banknotes will really flow back to the Ming Dynasty, and it will be a very large-scale return." Wang Guangguang argued with reason.

Things are different now, and the Ming court now has credibility.

Not only that, but because of His Majesty’s extremely strong credibility, the credibility of the imperial court is now rising with the tide.

Not only among the people, but also in the officialdom, foreign officials serving in local areas usually regard the court and the emperor as a whole, so the emperor's credibility is equal to the credibility of the court in the eyes of most people.

The treasure banknotes circulating in Luzon will inevitably return. This is Wang Guoguang's judgment as the Great Situ. The Ming Dynasty is really short of currency. Starting from the Northern Song Dynasty, the banknote method has been tried and failed, but every time it is issued, it can last for a period of time. .

The Ming Dynasty's siphoning of precious metals is essentially a siphoning of currency. As Da Situ, Wang Guoguang is very clear about this, and he is reminding His Majesty. To prevent the return of treasure money.

"Indeed." Zhu Yijun was stunned and said: "We cannot prohibit Luzon's treasure banknotes from entering the customs, otherwise it means that the Ming Dynasty has abandoned Luzon and is using the treasure banknotes to make the last profit from Luzon."

"Let me think for a while." Zhu Yijun frowned. Everything in the world seemed to be like this. After finally solving one problem, these two problems appeared again.

The security and durability of banknotes have finally been partially solved, and issuance has become a problem again.

The return of Baochao is an issue that the court has to think about.

Zhu Yijun thought for a long time before shaking his head and saying: "That's why it's a pilot project. If the return of treasure banknotes really has a very bad impact, then the imperial court will come forward to redeem all the treasure banknotes."

Zhang Xueyan said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, who cannot be redeemed, the more he redeems, the higher the price will be. Unless the court takes it back at an equivalent price or a high price, paper money has its convenience. In large transactions, a transaction may be tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands." It is not convenient to have too much money between two pieces of silver, which is why the Bank of China and the Kowloon Post Office can carry out acceptance and exchange business. "

The more the imperial court redeems the treasure banknotes, the more it proves the value of the treasure banknotes. Then the more convenient treasure banknotes will become the priority currency to hoard. This is not the love of Goulan Washe. You can buy it if you want and sell it if you want to sell it. .

It is impossible to redeem the money, only by exchanging banknotes.

"That makes sense." Zhu Yijun was silenced.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said: "Issuing banknotes is a brand new challenge for the Ministry of Revenue. However, facing this challenge, we have to find the most critical problem. The most important thing for the court is to ensure that the number of banknotes is kept constant. There will be over-issuance, and secondly, it is necessary to ensure that the treasure banknotes will not be stolen or printed privately. If we can do these two things, the return of the treasure banknotes will not be a problem. The Ming Dynasty will eventually implement the banknote law. "

The more silver flows in, the less silver there is. This absurd logic was true when the Ming Dynasty was developing rapidly.

After all, silver is limited, and currency cannot be supplied stably and adequately, so department stores lack channels for circulation. Even if they occupy the great silver mountain in Peru, it is not enough for the Ming Dynasty, which needs countless currencies for rapid development.

After all, we have to reach the step of currency law, which requires more silver, more goods, stronger national strength, and a healthier society.

"Wang Cifu said that the treasury is in short supply. What do the two ministers of the Ministry of Revenue think of what Wang Cifu said." Zhu Yijun took out Hai Rui's memorial and Wang Chonggu's additional opinions.

After Wang Guoguang and Zhang Xueyan read it, they both frowned, and after discussing with each other, they said: "It turns out that this is how the treasury is depleted. I only had guesses before, but I never expected that it would actually work like this. "

Even the ministers of the Ministry of Household's debt to the treasury remained at the level of eating and drinking, and the fire dragon burning the warehouse. They did not expect that the Ming Dynasty had so corrupted the treasury. It is not their fault. They have no experience in being corrupt officials. , Wang Guoguang turned out to be a member of the Jin Party. He was originally a cautious and independent person. He was independent and never joined forces with the Jin people, so he did not know the details.

It is really difficult to understand this kind of gameplay without the parties involved talking about it. The key is especially the concealment of multiple transfers of creditor's rights.

"This solution is feasible." Wang Guoguang could only say that Wang Chonggu really wanted to leave a lasting legacy, instead of being written down in a biography of a traitor and being scolded in the spine whenever he talked about it.

"Calculating the time, Captain Liu Ji and the fleet of the Ming Dynasty Ocean Trading Company should have arrived in the Mughal Kingdom by now. They will return to the Ming Dynasty in three months." Zhu Yijun talked about the progress of the Ming Dynasty Ocean Trading Company's trading fleet. , according to the plan, we should return to Songjiang Prefecture in June.

If this succeeds, the five major ocean-going trading houses will finally deserve their names and become real ocean-going trading houses. Thanks to the good relationship between the Ming Dynasty and Spain and Portugal, the ships of the Ming Dynasty can trade around the world instead of traveling to and from one place.

In the spring of the 11th year of Wanli, there were fireworks in March. The entire North China Plain was shrouded in the splendor of spring, and the much-anticipated Beijing Kaichi Road finally began to break ground. In the direction of the capital, the imperial court established two engineering regiment battalions, heading from the north to Several sections were constructed in the south, while four engineering regiment battalions were allocated to the Henan direction to construct multiple sections from south to north.

When the project was in full swing, the detailed anti-corruption rules for Dingjian Dachang, led by Hai Rui, came out and were published on the front page of Di Daily. Some people who were preparing to flex their muscles in the Dingjian project of opening Chidao in Beijing After reading the detailed rules, a bureaucrat started yelling! Break the defense directly.

How did Hai Rui, a tough-minded official with thick eyebrows and big eyes, know so much about the dirty tricks in Dingjian Daggong! Moreover, he made so many targeted regulations, and while cursing, he also sensed that something was wrong. Is this what Hai Rui could do?

Hai Rui didn't avoid anyone when he visited Wang Chonggu, so it soon became clear that Wang Chonggu was the sharpening stone for the Ming Dynasty Sword!
Hai Rui's divine sword is already sharp enough. He has been killing corrupt officials since he took it out of its sheath. Now Wang Chonggu still feels that this divine sword is not sharp enough, so he has to polish it!
The cheap Confucians couldn't scold Hai Rui, so they could only find a new target, and that was Chonggu, the second assistant king of the Ming Dynasty!

This trend had just started to gain momentum, but it immediately came to an abrupt end. The demon book called "The Love Affair of Famous Confucians of Qingliu" once again caused a huge storm in the capital!

(End of this chapter)