Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 169 Financial Start
The Ming Dynasty's cabinet generally had six bachelors, known as the four palaces and two pavilions.They are the Grand Bachelor of Zhongji Palace, the Grand Bachelor of Jianji Palace, the Grand Bachelor of Wenhua Palace, the Grand Bachelor of Wuying Palace, the Grand Bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, and the Grand Bachelor of Dong Pavilion.

There is no fixed order among the four halls and two pavilions, but generally the Wenyuan Pavilion is the most respected, the Grand Master of the Dong Pavilion is the last assistant, and the rest are listed among them.

Yan Song ranks as the first assistant. He is now the bachelor of Wenyuange. Xia Yan was demoted to the rank of bachelor of Dongge before Wang Daoqiu went to Shandong because of a series of suicide attempts. He is now among the four existing ones. The end of the cabinet bachelor.

Now Emperor Jiajing asked Wang Daoqiu to join the cabinet, and directly gave Wang Daoqiu the title of Grand Bachelor of Wuying Palace.Instead of following the tradition of seniority in the Ming Dynasty cabinet, Wang Daoqiu was appointed as the Grand Scholar of Dongge, and then Xia Yan was promoted to the cabinet.What Emperor Jiajing meant by doing this was to let Xia Yan continue to be his Dongge bachelor, continue to let him rank last in the cabinet, and let Wang Daoqiu rank in front of Xia Yan in the cabinet.

So as soon as Emperor Jiajing announced his appointment, Xia Yan was even more embarrassed than those Qingliu who had just suggested that Emperor Jiajing send Wang Dao Qiu Lingchi to the throne. Now his old face really had nowhere to put it!

Ignoring the angry-eyed Qingliu and Xia Yan who turned his head to the side with a red face, Emperor Jiajing continued: "Although Xiao Wang Aiqing is talented and intelligent, he is too young and inexperienced. Let's see, Xiao Wang Aiqing enters After the cabinet, he focused on studying in the cabinet and stopped signing the cabinet votes. A few days ago, Wang Gao, the Minister of Household Affairs, was consulted by the censor and accused him of bribery. Later I wrote to the Metropolitan Procuratorate Together with Jin Yiwei, we jointly investigated. Yesterday, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Xia Bangmo Aiqing, submitted a letter to me, saying that there was evidence for this matter, and suggested that I dismiss Wang Gao from office and put him in jail. Okay! Xia Aiqing has always been upright and fair as an official, and I still believe his words. Then put Wang Gao in jail and hand him over to the Tribunal of Justice for trial."

"My lord Xia Bangmo, thank you for your kindness."

When Emperor Jiajing was talking about Wang Daoqiu, he suddenly mentioned that Wang Gao, the Minister of Household Affairs, had been informed of bribery by the imperial censor a few days ago.And after preliminary investigation by the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Jin Yiwei, the matter was deemed to be true. Based on this, Xia Bangmo, the boss of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, made a petition to ask Emperor Jiajing to dismiss Wang Gao from office and imprison him.Even the palace approved Chabonmo's performance.

Regarding Emperor Jiajing's trust in his personal character and support for his work in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Xia Bangmo came out to express his gratitude to Emperor Jiajing.

After Xia Bangmo thanked him and returned to court, Emperor Jiajing continued: "Wang Gao was imprisoned, and there will definitely be many officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs implicated this time, but the errands of the Ministry of Household Affairs must not be delayed, and someone must take up the responsibility. Everyone knows that Wang Daoqiu, a scholar of Wuyingdian, is good at managing money. I think this is the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, so let him do it! Of course, Wang Aiqing is now the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Governor of Water Transport. The court should choose another talented person. . There are also Wang Aiqing’s missions in Shandong. After all the matters in Shandong are arranged, Wang Qing should return to the court to handle errands. The governor and chief executive in Shandong should also be appointed by the court. In this way, regarding these candidates, After the next court, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will discuss it carefully with the cabinet and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, finalize the list as soon as possible, and send it to the inner court for approval."

"The minister obeys the order"

Wang Daoqiu's invitation to the Prime Minister freed up four positions with real power: left minister of the Ministry of official affairs, governor of water transportation, governor of Shandong, and chief envoy of Shandong.This made all the important officials in the court who were extremely jealous of Wang Daoqiu's entry into the cabinet just now no longer in the mood to be jealous of Wang Daoqiu.Instead, they transferred their wisdom to how to help their own people to grab those four positions of real power, especially the position of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who has the power to control the personnel of middle and lower-level officials across the country.

Four such big pieces of fat meat were thrown out, and the dogs' minds turned to how to grab the meat. If the meeting continued that day, it would be meaningless.So under the hint of Emperor Jiajing's eyes, Yan Song, as the chief minister of the cabinet, hurriedly came out and knelt on the ground and shouted: "Long live long live long live long live", announcing the end of today's court meeting.

After all the important officials of the imperial court left the Longevity Palace, since Emperor Jiajing did not dismiss Wang Daoqiu from his position as Minister, Wang Daoqiu stayed on justifiably.

Emperor Jiajing looked at Wang Daoqiu now. He still had the same anger as when he reprimanded Wang Daoqiu yesterday. He said with a straight face and a strong tone: "I originally wanted to punish you today, but those bastards just now , it made me so angry. I was unhappy, so I got angry with them, which gave you an advantage. You were granted the title of Marquis and Prime Minister when you were only eighteen years old. This is a glory that I have never had in the nearly 200 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty! You got such a big bargain, but don’t be too happy. I will hand over the household department to you, and I will also hand over the Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty to you. From now on, the court’s money and my money will be left to you. .”

"But as the saying goes, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. Listen to me, kid. From now on, my internal treasury can only have more and no less money. The accounts of the Ministry of Accounts at the end of the year are not allowed to be in deficit. Mader? Someone else. If you can't make money, then there is a problem with your ability. If you say you can't make money, then there is a problem with your character. If you really dare to do that, then I will continue what I said yesterday and cleanse your body. Let your boy come into the palace and pour the chamber pot for me."

Give yourself all the financial power of the inner and outer courts?Damn it!This foolish king really dares to delegate power to the people he likes!Looking at it this way, this Hunjun's character and ability are quite good.At least it is much better than Chongzhen, who had been in power for 17 years but replaced [-] chief ministers.

Thinking of the many advantages of this foolish emperor, Wang Daoqiu sincerely bowed to Emperor Jiajing to express his gratitude.He also flattered him and said: "Since ancient times, sage kings have been very courageous and employ people in an eclectic way. They employ people..."

"Okay, okay, there are so many people who flatter me, and you are the only one left. By the way, you and I have to explain it. After I hand over all the money bags in the world to you, how do you plan to run it?"

Every time Wang Daoqiu flattered him, Emperor Jiajing always felt that Wang Daoqiu was joking with him and there was no sincerity at all.So now as soon as Wang Daoqiu started to flatter him, Emperor Jiajing interrupted him impatiently and asked him to talk about the important points.

This was not the first time that Emperor Jiajing interrupted Wang Daoqiu's flattery. Wang Daoqiu knew that Emperor Jiajing liked others to flatter him, but he did not like himself and Lu Bing to flatter him.So Wang Daoqiu complied with the emperor's wishes and said with a harmless expression: "Your Majesty has shown kindness to the people in Shandong this time. Your kindness is as heavy as a mountain. In the same way, the people will repay the Holy Emperor enthusiastically. I dare to guarantee what Shandong will gain this time. It can at least offset our finance and taxation for 15 years in the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, after I take charge of the Ministry of Accounts and the Royal Bank, I will ask the Royal Bank to allocate the part of the money that Shandong should give to the Ministry of Accounts to the Ministry of Accounts in 20 years."

"In this way, even if the tenants who buy land and the nobles who buy mines in Shandong only pay [-]% of the down payment and borrow [-]% from the Royal Bank, Shandong will still have at least [-] million taels of silver flowing into the Royal Bank this time. Bank. The Royal Bank only needs to give them a loan contract, and does not need to actually lend money. After all, those lands now belong to the emperor, and the money used by the tenant farmers to buy the land should also be given to the emperor."

"When the money arrives, I will allocate 3000 million taels to the Ministry of Household Affairs. The Ministry of Household Affairs will first ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to distribute all the arrears of border army wages over the years and this year's wages to maintain the majesty of the imperial court and the stability of the border. . In addition to the silver, I also want to cast it into standard coins like copper coins. Your Majesty, now in our Ming Dynasty, silver has already become a currency in circulation like copper coins. But the size and fineness of silver vary from place to place. It is too inconvenient to weigh every transaction and judge the quality.”

"Therefore, I plan to have the imperial court issue standard silver coins, with each coin being one tael, so that when everyone pays with silver in the future, they don't have to weigh and judge the quality. Of course, there will be fire consumption and labor when minting silver coins, so it should be This part should be deducted from the silver coins issued by this court. I see that the silver coins are marked as one tael, but the actual seven taels is almost the same. Moreover, Your Majesty, in the past, when I was bored, I mixed the silver with some copper and tin and melted it together. The silver dollar finally made not only does not turn black after being stored for a long time, but also holds the center of the circle with two fingers, blows it against the wall of the silver dollar and listens to it. The silver dollar will also make a buzzing sound, which can be used to identify the authenticity of the silver dollar. Fake.”

It can be short of a pound, and there is also a trick to prevent counterfeiting. A silver dollar marked as one tael actually weighs only seven taels. If it is mixed with some copper and tin, wouldn't it mean that one tael of silver can be used as two taels of silver!Thinking of this, Emperor Jiajing immediately became excited, and immediately asked Lu Fang to call the silversmith from the palace to bring silver and copper and tin. He asked Wang Daoqiu to make that kind of silver dollar for him on the spot.

Not long after, Lu Fang brought the silversmith and materials, and Emperor Jiajing took Wang Daoqiu out of the Wanshou Palace and asked Wang Daoqiu to make that kind of silver coin for him in an open space under the Wanshou Palace.

Then Wang Daoqiu added a little more fire to the ratio of silver, copper and tin according to the ratio of silver, copper and tin in the Republic of China. After weighing the importance, he directed the silversmith to melt the mixed materials in front of Emperor Jiajing and cast it. A round shape with even thickness.

When the silversmith cast the silver dollar according to Wang Daoqiu's request, Wang Daoqiu took it in his hand, and then started the process of identifying the authenticity of the silver dollar according to the standards of the Republic of China.Hold the center of the silver dollar between your two fingers, blow against the edge of the silver dollar, and then quickly put it to your ear.Sure enough, it was the unique "buzzing" sound of the silver dollar.

Hearing the sound, Wang Daoqiu hurriedly gave the silver dollar to Emperor Jiajing to try.Emperor Jiajing took the silver coin from Wang Daoqiu's hand, and he followed Wang Daoqiu's example of identifying silver coins. Sure enough, he also heard the "buzzing" sound.Hearing this sound, Emperor Jiajing was astonished. After playing with it several times, he threw the silver dollar to Lu Fang. Then he asked Wang Daoqiu what the reason was and why the money was blown away. It will make a noise.

Why does the silver dollar make a sound when blown? This is too scientific. How can Wang Daoqiu explain it clearly?So Wang Daoqiu reluctantly told Emperor Jiajing that he didn't know this either.

Wang Daoqiu failed to teach Emperor Jiajing and resolve his doubts, which disappointed Emperor Jiajing.But it doesn't matter, as long as Emperor Jiajing knows, Emperor Jiajing's six coins can be used as one tael of silver, and Emperor Jiajing will be very happy.So Emperor Jiajing immediately made the decision and asked Wang Daoqiu to design a prototype of this silver coin immediately, and then asked the Mint to mint this silver coin immediately, and stated that all future royalties would use this silver coin.

Seeing that Emperor Jiajing was happy, Wang Daoqiu suggested again: "Your Majesty, the most difficult thing about the issuance and promotion of a new coin is to make people believe in its credibility. Therefore, I suggest that your Majesty, after a certain amount of this kind of silver coin is produced, your Majesty will The decree was issued to the world, allowing the people of the world to exchange the same amount of treasure notes for silver dollars. That is, one thousand treasure notes can be exchanged for one silver dollar. It was also decreed that starting from this autumn tax, the people of the world can use one silver dollar to offset the tax. Pay a tax of one tael.”

"What? My dear, you are lying to me! That treasure note is like waste paper now. No one picks it up when it falls on the ground, but you want to exchange it for one. And there is only six pieces of silver in this silver dollar. Why can you use it? One tael of tax credit? This won’t work, this won’t work, my dear, this will definitely not work.”

Upon hearing that Wang Daoqiu planned to use this kind of silver dollar to recycle treasure banknotes, he also asked people to use this kind of silver dollar, and one silver dollar was worth one tael of silver to pay taxes.Emperor Jiajing gave up immediately. After all, he planned to use this method of shoddy goods to spend his one tael of silver as [-] taels. He did not want to be taken advantage of and squander the wealth.

Seeing that Emperor Jiajing was anxious, Wang Daoqiu hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, please be quiet and please listen to your words. The treasure banknotes were issued since Taizu Hongwu's time, which made a huge contribution to solving the imperial finances at that time. . But the essence of the treasure banknotes is actually a credit IOU issued by the imperial court to the officials and the people. However, later on, the treasure banknotes depreciated in value year after year, and the court refused to allow them to be used to pay taxes. This, this... Your Majesty, if I have to say something unpleasant, If the court does this, doesn’t it mean that it doesn’t pay back the money it owes?”

"Your Majesty, the two dynasties of Taizu and Chengzu issued the most treasured banknotes of the Ming Dynasty. That is to say, Taizu and Chengzu issued the most IOUs to the officials and people of the Ming Dynasty. If Your Majesty can now recover those treasured banknotes at a ratio of one to one, it will undoubtedly be in the future. Paying off the debts of Taizu and Chengzu is a filial son and virtuous grandson. Moreover, by doing this, His Majesty also showed the officials and people all over the world that my emperor of Ming Dynasty meant what he said and would never owe money to the officials and people. If you, Your Majesty, have paid this debt, then who dares to say that Your Majesty, this is not the Jiajing era?"

The essence of treasure banknotes is the same as that of later generations of banknotes. They are actually IOUs issued by the state to the people.When the country significantly devalues ​​the banknotes it issues, it is actually using a money printing machine to rob the people.

For example, during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the banknotes with consistent face value were issued. At that time, the imperial court could exchange this banknote for three hundred catties of grain in the hands of the common people.But now the common people want to take this precious banknote to buy things in the world, but no one wants it at all.If you use it to pay taxes, the government won't collect it.A currency issued by the government itself is not even willing to recycle it, so what is the difference between this and robbery?
Emperor Jiajing also understood the essence of the treasure note. He also knew that it was an IOU issued by his ancestors to the people and should be repaid.But it would be too heartbreaking for him to take out this real money.

(End of this chapter)