I'm really not doing business

Chapter 904: The rise and fall of the gold debt, the danger of the sea country
The madness of a leaderless country on the verge of collapse, the lack of any consensus and complete opposition between the gentlemen in high positions and the villains in low positions have led to all kinds of terrible chaos. In fact, the political ecology has been completely destroyed and there is no possibility of repair.

There is no solution to this kind of madness.

Because the destruction of the political ecology is never caused by a traitor or a foolish ruler.

The foundation of the country is a complete political ecosystem, which is composed of thousands of individual wills and countless interest groups. This madness is a collective choice made with the participation of everyone.

So there is no one who can take the blame, and no one can clearly tell the direction of the new road.

Qi Jiguang said that it was because the emperor gave the Ming Dynasty a new direction for individuals and the collective that everyone regained consensus;

Zhang Juzheng thought that through the narrative of gratitude such as the Longevity Festival, the emperor could become the one that millions of people admired;
Zhu Yijun felt that the sharp weapon of the Beijing Camp was the fundamental reason for forcing various interest groups to bow their heads and recognize the imperial edict.

But did the Ming Dynasty really find a new direction? In fact, Zhu Yijun thought otherwise.

The new direction of the Ming Dynasty is in the fourth volume of class theory, in which the imperial system will inevitably be eliminated; the fifth volume is about continued struggle, in which as long as there is oppression, there will be resistance, and this is the path that the Ming Dynasty must take.

But even if Zhu Yijun wrote the fourth volume, as an emperor, he had neither the position nor the ability to have it published and become a consensus among all classes in Ming society.

Feng Bao has seen Your Majesty write the fourth volume. Even if Your Majesty dares to write it, he, Feng Bao, dare not read it!
Feng Bao felt that no one in the Ming Dynasty dared to read those things, not even Zhang Juzheng.

Judging from the draft of Your Majesty's fourth volume, Feng Bao would sometimes secretly criticize Your Majesty, as he felt that Your Majesty's demands were sometimes too high.

The Ming Dynasty had a wise emperor and virtuous ministers, and they were able to build one or two of the five large tiled houses during the Wanli Reform. This was a blessing from their ancestors.

The fate of an individual or a country certainly depends on one's own efforts, but the course of history must also be taken into consideration. And many times, the importance of historical progress is far greater than self-struggle.

The historical process of the Ming Dynasty was simply unable to accept a world without an emperor. How should one live? With an emperor, there was hope. But without an emperor, there was no power above everything. How should those contradictions be reconciled?

Moreover, Feng Bao sometimes felt that no matter what he did, whether it was as small as a family, a handicraft workshop, a machinery workshop, or the management of an imperial farm, or as large as the country, there must be a backbone.

This backbone is the leader of everyone. At the critical moment, when everyone is confused, he stands up and tells everyone what to do.

In this state of madness, with no leader and the building about to collapse, is there really no one who knows where to go in this confusion? Is there really no one who can clearly explain what went wrong? Not necessarily.

Many times, everyone knows where the road is, but one person needs to stand up, do everything that can and cannot be done, and take all the responsibility and infamy.

Among the thousands of ministers in the Ming Dynasty, only Yu Qian and Zhang Juzheng were willing to take the initiative to stand up and take responsibility.

Baozong was captured in the north, and the Oirat people were shouting to restore the glory of the Yuan Dynasty and besieged Beijing. At this time, someone had to stand up, organize people, and repel the enemy;

The dynasty was in decline and the empire was about to perish. Zhang Juzheng stood up, rejected the proposal of Yang Bo, Wang Chonggu and others to merge Chu and Jin, and put a bridle on all officials.

Zhang Juzheng was old, and as a minister, he had done everything he could. Your Majesty then stepped forward and, through Zhang Juzheng's new policies, perfected the Wanli New Policies and pointed out the future path for the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Feng Bao could not understand the few words that Your Majesty wrote in the fourth volume. Since he did not understand, he did not remember them. Moreover, Your Majesty usually used the contents of the first three volumes and was somewhat taboo about the contents of the fourth volume.

Time comes and the world has the same force, and it is not free to transport heroes.

Zhu Yijun actually had his mind very clear. Taking advantage of the development trend of the Ming Dynasty opening up the sea and exploiting the benefits of overseas barbarians, he should quickly use the tools in his hands to sort out internal conflicts. This was the main responsibility of the emperor Zhu Yijun.

Instead of struggling with the fourth volume which is difficult to achieve and not many people agree with it at the moment.

Zhu Yijun was not old and senile, so he could still clearly distinguish the four words "important and unimportant" and "urgent and unimportant".

Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial in his hand for a long time before he said, "Call Li Yashi."

Legazpi wrote a memorial, in which the content was about why Felipe became so crazy, mainly focusing on the issue of gold bonds. Originally, the two bankruptcies of Spanish gold bonds and this bankruptcy crisis were of extremely important reference significance to the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty was issuing Ming Baochao.

Most people in the Ming Dynasty could not understand the memorial written by Le Ya Shi, because the Ming Dynasty was not a debt-driven economy. They could not empathize with the situation of the gold bonds. They just thought that Felipe was probably crazy. A tributary state that came to the Ming Dynasty to beg for food dared to be so arrogant.

This memorial systematically explains the operating logic of gold bonds.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty be in good health." Li Yashi bowed five times and kowtowed three times to meet the emperor. He did not receive any special treatment that allowed him to meet the emperor without kneeling.

"No need to be polite, sit down and talk." Zhu Yijun held Li Yashi's memorial and asked with a frown, "I don't understand what you said. What do you mean that the gold bonds will never default, but Spain can no longer afford the cost of defaulting on the gold bonds this time?"

“If there will never be a default, then there is no risk of default, so why would there be a cost?”

This sentence is a bit difficult to understand, and even logically difficult to understand. A debt that will not default actually has to bear the cost of debt default. Such a contradictory statement forced Zhu Yijun to personally summon Li Yashi to get it clear.

Li Yashi thought for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, let's first clarify the three main issues of borrowing. Who will borrow the money? Who will repay the money? What will be used to repay the money?"

"First, Felipe was borrowing money from all Spanish citizens, who bought these bonds with silver and gold, and the repayment was made by slaves in the New World, using silver from the rich silver mines and gold accumulated over thousands of years."

"As long as the New World is still controlled by Spain and the Governor-General's Office, this debt will be repaid sooner or later. This is why the gold bonds can still be sold even though they have gone bankrupt twice."

"Because His Highness Felipe distributed some of the territory that could be called cultivated land to his creditors. He may be bankrupt, but in order to issue new gold bonds, no one will buy new bonds if the previous loans are not repaid."

Borrowed money must be repaid, no matter in what form. This is the basic logic of borrowing. During Felipe's first two bankruptcies, he used land to repay his creditors.

Therefore, as long as Felipe's adventure ships continue to explore the New World, establish new strongholds, expand the strongholds, eliminate the local barbarians, and build enough plantations and mines.

In theory, gold bonds can always go bankrupt, be liquidated, and be reissued.

"I understand. That's why." Zhu Yijun finally understood why Felipe could bankrupt the gold bonds three times. If Zhu Yuanzhang was willing to divide the land, the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes could be used for two hundred years!

Zhu Yuanzhang obviously did not want to use his assets to repay his creditors, so he simply refused to pay his debts.

Legazpi continued, "Your Majesty, the existence of gold bonds is a kind of distribution. Anyone who buys gold bonds can enjoy the dividends of the great voyages. The huge profits flowing into Spain from overseas colonies are distributed to every citizen who is willing to buy gold bonds through the interest of gold bonds."

“Interest never comes out of thin air, it is a share of the spoils from plundering overseas colonies.”

Legashi tried to keep his words simple and straightforward, because Ming was not a debt-driven economy. Even the Ming Emperor, the prophet of the Great Light Church, who was very willing to accept new things and a rebel against traditional Confucianism, had only a vague understanding of the role of gold bonds.

Shen Shixing's famous saying still makes Li Yashi wonder how to refute it.

Shen Shixing said that debt turns people into slaves.

"I don't understand, didn't Felipe defeat England? Although the Invincible Armada was almost destroyed last year, he bought ten five-masted ocean-going ships and escaped safely from the violent winds and waves. In the following year, he won a great victory in the war against England." Zhu Yijun was a little confused as to why a single failure could cause the gold bonds to collapse.

Felipe won.

Although they brazenly launched an expedition against England and the Invincible Armada was destroyed in an Atlantic storm, the following year, the English royal family appointed Francis Drake, a pirate, as vice admiral of the navy and launched the Corunna Expedition.

In the Corunna expedition, Drake suffered a great defeat and Spain won a great victory in the first round.

If the military fails, the gold bonds will collapse. If the military wins, the gold bonds will still collapse. Whether you win or not, they will collapse. This goes against Zhu Yijun's intuition a bit.

Li Yashi was a little emotional. His Majesty didn't understand. His Majesty was right not to understand. If His Majesty could understand, the people of the Ming Dynasty would suffer.

Your Majesty is not like Felipe, who owes so much debt. The biggest advantage of the Ming Dynasty's system is stability. The biggest problem with the systems of Western countries is instability.

Political instability will kill many people.

Legazpi said sincerely: "Your Majesty, because people have discovered that the Invincible Armada is no longer invincible, or in other words, the greatest endorsement of trust in the past game of passing the parcel is that Spain is still invincible at sea and in the West."

"Although he went bankrupt the first two times, people still generally believed that he could win it back. Even if he wins this time, no one will believe that Felipe can do anything."

“That’s why the following sentence is that gold bonds cannot go bankrupt again.”

"Because Spain can no longer afford the cost of bankruptcy, liquidation, and re-issuance. On the surface, this gold bond is a collapse of confidence. Everyone has discovered that His Royal Highness Felipe is no longer invincible. In fact, it is the result of the overall bankruptcy of credibility."

"People no longer generally believe that gold bonds can be redeemed, even if they are paid in the form of land."

Legas explained the gold bond crisis in detail. Gold bonds can be used to borrow new money to repay old debts, but the problem is that everyone is selling gold bonds now. The price of gold bonds has fallen rapidly. As bond prices fall, real interest rates are rising.

In order to sell new gold bonds, the interest rate must be higher than the actual market interest rate. However, if the interest rate is raised further, it will be so high that Felipe cannot even afford to pay the interest.

No matter how finance is operated, the interest must be paid in real money, otherwise the gold bonds will lose their credibility before the military defeat.

"The only way is for His Highness Felipe to completely destroy England within a year and prove that he is still invincible, but His Highness no longer has the money to form a new invincible fleet." Legazpi explained the deadlock.

To resolve the crisis of trust, England must be destroyed, and to destroy England a new fleet must be built, and to build a fleet real money is needed. If Felipe wants to borrow money, he needs the general trust of the people.

"Felipe can actually borrow money from me. My war loans are still very generous." Zhu Yijun gave another way.

"Your Majesty is wise." Legashi sang praises with a bit of embarrassment. The emperor was still thinking about his war loan.

Honest? Antonio was desperate. In order to obtain the throne, he had to borrow money from the Ming Emperor and simply became a vassal state of the Ming. The Ming's war loans were not honest at all!
Although the Ming Dynasty had no gold and silver, it could sell ships. The price was just a little bit higher, not much, only five times the premium.

Moreover, while the war is ongoing, the horrific interest rate can double the war loan in just one year. After the war, the loan can be extended for forty years. Your Majesty, this is not just borrowing money, this is clearly a death sentence!
If Felipe really borrowed money from the Ming Dynasty for the war, the only outcome would be that after the war, he would have to pay the entire Spain to the Ming Emperor.

To some extent, Felipe was really desperate. Among the worst outcomes, he chose to offend the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was too far away and there might be endless troubles, but the important thing was to survive the current crisis.

Zhu Yijun learned about the operating logic of the gold bonds in detail, and was amazed at the low standards of these Western kings. This was basically a moral vacuum. If such kings were placed in the Ming Dynasty, they would all be kings who lost their country.

Li Yashi said in confusion: "In fact, the reason why there are so many differences between Ming Dynasty and the West is because of the Yellow River."

Why did they take two completely different paths? In Legazpi's opinion, it was because of natural endowment. The Yellow River is the mother river, but this mother seems to be a little too violent. Since the beginning of records, for nearly 1,500 years, the dam has burst once every two years on average.

The Yellow River will equally spin like a top every dynasty that refuses to properly manage its water resources.

Even dynasties that managed water well were punished.

After much hard work and the mobilization of manpower and material resources, the Yellow River embankment was finally built. However, the Yellow River was diverted for 800 miles, showing the emperor of the imperial court what it meant to have all their efforts go to waste.

From the West to the Ming Dynasty, river sacrifices are popular all over the world except the Yellow River. When the Yellow River is hungry, it will find sacrifices to eat, and it will also eat when it is not hungry.

There is an old saying in the Central Plains: Thirty years on the east side of the river, thirty years on the west side of the river. What may be moving is not the people, but the river.

The river burst its banks, hundreds of millions of people died, and destiny was lost.

The changes of dynasties in the Central Plains are closely related to this river.

Li Yashi read various historical materials related to the Yellow River and finally came to a conclusion that the reason why the Ming Dynasty got rid of religion was because sacrifices were completely ineffective and could not even deceive the ignorant people.

In ancient China, there was a struggle between royal power and divine power. Because of the existence of the Yellow River, a large amount of manpower and material resources were needed to build dams and dredge the river, which led to the complete victory of royal power.

Chanting scriptures and praying to the Yellow River will be of no use.

There is no other river like this in the world. Even the Yangtze River, which has a larger flow, is much gentler than the Yellow River.

It was the flooding of the Yellow River that gave birth to the more organized Central Plains dynasty.

"The Yellow River hasn't burst its banks for five years now." Li Yashi spoke of something with emotion.

The Ming Dynasty had a very magical thing, which was a way to measure the weight of water.

From Kaifeng Prefecture to Huai'an Prefecture, the prefectures and counties along the way had special river officials who took water from the river and weighed it every month to predict the water volume and sediment volume of the Yellow River in the coming year and determine whether the Yellow River would flood the following year.

Li Yashi was very fond of reading the water density figures published in the official bulletin. The Ministry of Revenue would publish this figure every year.

When the Yellow River is clear, the world will suffer disasters.

If the sediment in the Yellow River suddenly decreases this year, it means that a severe drought has occurred in the upper reaches and there is a high probability of flooding next year. It is necessary to speed up the construction of river embankments to prevent breaches.

But in the past five years, the amount of sediment in the Yellow River has been slowly decreasing. Although it is not much, after years of accumulation, there has been a noticeable change.

This represents Pan Jixun's contribution to the management of the Yellow River as the Governor-General of Suiyuan and the Governor-General of the River. This contribution can be quantified by measuring the degree of success.

"Governor Pan and others have taken root in Suiyuan, giving the people of the Ming Dynasty a sigh of relief." Zhu Yijun was very grateful to these officials who worked hard.

Le Ya Shi's views were somewhat geographical deterministic, but in the past he would never dare to say these words in front of the emperor, because every time the Yellow River burst its banks, it brought suffering, making it a taboo to say these words. He couldn't even talk about them because he would most likely be hung on the Chaoyang Gate by the emperor.

It is because Suiyuan has achieved some results in controlling soil erosion in recent years, and if it continues to do so, the impact of the Yellow River floods will be minimized, and Li Yashi can discuss these issues in front of Your Majesty.

Zhu Yijun and Li Yashi chatted for more than half an hour, and Li Yashi chose to leave.

The reason why Legashi told the story of the gold bond was that he hoped that the Ming Dynasty could learn from it when issuing Ming treasure notes. The mistakes made by Felipe could serve as a warning to the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Baochao involves the most important part of the Wanli Reform of the Ming Dynasty, the transformation of production relations, from forced personal dependence to free employment relations. This transformation is the basis of everything.

The Ming Dynasty naturally lacked precious metals such as gold, silver and copper, and considering the size of the Ming Dynasty, no amount of precious metals could satisfy the Ming Dynasty's voracious appetite. The success or failure of the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes was directly related to the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty.

You must be cautious and cautious.

"Your Majesty, Lin Fucheng's travel notes of Southeast Asia have been published again." Feng Bao presented the travel notes that Lin Fucheng had just written to the emperor.

This time, Lin Fucheng wrote about the Opium Street, or Drug Street, in Coconut Sea City, and recorded the consequences of the rampant opium epidemic with pictures and texts.

"Wow!" Zhu Yijun was shocked when he opened the first page. Zhu Yijun, who was well-informed, felt physically uncomfortable with the first illustration.

The blue sea, blue sky, seabirds, coconut trees and Han town are arranged very reasonably and magnificently in the picture. The artistic conception is extremely profound and fascinating. However, in the foreground of this illustration, a man is half leaning in an opium den. He is skinny and bony.

In addition to being skin and bones, the most typical feature is that there are many unknown spots on the body, which are ulcers caused by broken skin.

What made Zhu Yijun feel physically uncomfortable was that this heavy opium addict was lying in the smoke, looking contented with a very gentle smile on his face.

The whole composition is a bit too scary.

"Oh no! I forgot to tear off the first page. I am guilty." Feng Bao was actually also shocked at first. He thought that His Majesty was a man who had seen a lot of storms and would not be scared, so he did not tear it.

I didn't expect that His Majesty would feel nauseous after seeing it. If I had known earlier, I should have smeared it twice to prevent His Majesty from seeing it directly.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said, "It's okay, I just had nightmares for two days. Tell the kitchen that I won't eat lunch. I really can't eat."

"Fan Yingqi smoked opium, but I also saw Fan Yingqi when he was interrogated by the Northern Pacification Office. He was not so scary. This person looks like a ghost, not a human. It is indeed a bit creepy."

"Your Majesty, Fan Yingqi has been smoking opium for a total of one and a half years..." Feng Bao said hurriedly.

Fan Wuqi smoked for a short time, and he knew in his heart that this was not a good thing. He only smoked it to relieve the pain because he could not bear the toothache. When the emperor threw him into the Jiekui Hospital for drug rehabilitation, he was still a normal person and was far from being a drug addict.

Fan Wuqi locked himself up in a prison and sentenced himself to life imprisonment, but he refused to leave because he was afraid that he would relapse and become a bad person.

The person in this painting has been taking opium for seven years and he doesn't have enough money. He takes it even when he's hungry and when he's sick. He just takes a few puffs and he gets better. Eventually, he becomes like the person in the painting.

Zhu Yijun learned about the life of the man in the painting. This man was considered a Han Chinese. His ancestors fled to Java to escape disaster at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty. He was also a landlord there. In seven years, he sucked away all the family property, all the land, and even his wife ran away, and even the flesh on his body was sucked away, but he was still sucking.

"Lin Fucheng is really brave. He even goes to question such a person?" Zhu Yijun said in surprise. Lin Fucheng said that the investigation was simple, but simple as hell!
If Zhu Yijun saw such a person, he would really stay away from him.

When Zhu Yijun saw this illustration, he finally understood what Lin Fucheng meant when he said that people begging for money in Southeast Asia would dress themselves up to look barefoot so that people wearing shoes would pay up obediently because they did not want to conflict with them.

The person in the picture exudes ominousness all over his body, and any entanglement may bring misfortune in various senses.

Zhu Yijun read a passage and said with a smile: "The absolute liberals say this is freedom, the freedom to take opium. This shows how the absolute liberals have made themselves hated by everyone."

Lin Fucheng once again attacked the heretics of the liberals, the absolute liberals, and said that anyone who yearns for such freedom should become such a person.

"Master Lin's research is extremely thorough." Feng Bao couldn't help but admire that Lin Fucheng was really curious about everything. He even asked questions about the poisonous insect. Of course, he asked the poisonous insect with his sword pointed at its forehead.

Lin Fucheng asked this drug addict if he regretted it.
The drug addict's answer was very accurate. He had no regrets and wanted to continue to smoke. The feeling of being intoxicated and living a life of dreams was really too wonderful.

Later, before leaving Coconut Sea City, Lin Fucheng often went to that street, but when he left, he never saw this person again - he was probably dead.

As the second most prosperous city in the Governor's Office of Old Port of Daming Dynasty, Yehai City is unable to effectively combat drug abuse and prevent the spread of opium.

It’s not that Zhang Yuanxun is not as powerful as Yin Zhengmao, nor is it that Zhang Yuanxun is not ruthless enough.

Zhang Yuanxun was a captain of the Xinhe Station of Haimen Guard. He was born in the lower class. He became Marquis Yingyang by killing people. His methods were more direct and violent than Yin Zhengmao's.

The reason why there is such a drug street in Coconut Sea City is that the Old Port Governor's Office as a whole is still a vertically divided society, with all kinds of people gathered in various different blocks, which are clearly divided.

The "world" of most barbarians is confined to the two or three streets where they are born, grow up, and die.

Each community in the vertical section is highly autonomous. They have their own rules and customs, and the power of the Governor's Office cannot effectively radiate to them.

The protection of drug dealers in various communities is extremely serious. The resistance to drug control in the Governor's Office of Old Port is much greater than that in Luzon.

People in the Ming Dynasty might think that Lin Fucheng was talking about the city wall, but Lin Fucheng discussed this in detail and it was not the case at all.

The neighborhood wall is a wall, but it does not mean that people will not pass through it. Not to mention the neighborhood wall, even the city wall is useless. When the streets are filled with the bones of officials and nobles, and the gates are full of heads of the powerful and wealthy, these neighborhood walls and city walls cannot even stop the poor and laboring people.

The culture, rules and customs of a community are invisible cognitive barriers. People living within these cognitive barriers know nothing about the outside world.

Even the idea that opioid use is bad is not widely accepted.

But can Opium Street represent Coconut Sea City? No.

On the College Road in Yehai City, the streets there are clean and tidy, students are walking in the sunshine, and the sound of reading aloud can be heard constantly;
In Danbi Square, under the majestic statue of the emperor, people were feeding the pigeons raised by the Governor's Office;
On Daming Street, there are rows of shops, a constant flow of traffic, and people jostling for position. It is extremely prosperous.
Daming Street is the central street block, Danbi Square is the residence of the Governor's Office, Xueyuan Road is the cultural and educational center of the entire Old Port Governor's Office, and Opium is the slum within the slum. These are all Coconut Sea City.

This is the various aspects of human life.

"Marquis Yingyang still didn't listen to me and built the statue." Zhu Yijun noticed a detail. The statue of the emperor watching the sea, which he strongly opposed, was completed without the emperor's approval and became a landmark building in Coconut Sea City.

Feng Bao said tentatively: "Marquis Yingyang also has his own difficulties. He has to tell the Han people who come to him where they come from."

"Just build it. It's already been built. I won't order it to be demolished. I just think the Governor's Office is not financially strong enough and it's a waste of money." Zhu Yijun shook his head. He mainly felt that this kind of useless construction was a waste of money.

However, Zhu Yijun also built a bell and drum tower in the North Yamen, and the Yuejiang Tower had been unfinished for two hundred years. Zhu Yijun also built it. He spent money to buy cohesion, influence and stability, which was worth the money, but it was a bit expensive.

What surprised Zhu Yijun was Zhang Yuanxun's solution, which was to let these communities fend for themselves.

The method was very simple. All the Han people who came from the Ming Dynasty were vaccinated with cowpox to prevent and treat smallpox. Smallpox, such a terrible killer, would kill one by one those communities that refused to accept the king's rule.

When Lin Fucheng left, a plague broke out in Yehai City, and all those who had been vaccinated against cowpox were safe and sound.

(End of this chapter)