I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 267 Minting Coins (Please subscribe)
"Your Majesty, this method is feasible. I will think about it after I return. Then I can try it out at the Ordnance Bureau."

Zhu Youxiao picked up the tea cup and sipped it to moisten his throat. When he heard that Xu Guangqi was about to give it a try, he said:
"Well, this is just my personal opinion, you can refer to it. But if you want to do it, you still have to plan it slowly, and set a very low salary as a guarantee, otherwise many people will not dare to try it. In addition, you can't just calculate it based on quantity, quality It’s also a very important standard.”

Xu Guangqi immediately nodded to express his understanding. He was not too worried about the quality. The Ordnance Bureau has always been very strict about quality control. There is a dedicated person responsible for every aspect of making firearms. The name of the producer will also be written on it, so that everyone is responsible. .If something unexpected happens, just pick up someone.

However, the emperor's method of improving efficiency is still good, and you can give it a try when the time comes.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I understand.

It's just that I'm afraid that if this policy is implemented, the enthusiasm of craftsmen will be greatly increased, and the expenditure in the firearms workshop will be much more than before.It's just that this year the cabinet has allocated 100 million taels of silver to expand the Tongzhou Firearms Workshop. If the cost is so large, the cabinet will definitely not allow it. "

Zhu Youxiao was speechless when he heard this. He didn't expect that Xu Guangqi's focus was actually this.

"You don't have to worry about this. The cost of the imperial court is a matter for the cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue. Just let them discuss it at that time. If it doesn't work, I will pay for it. You can only have more artillery, birds and muskets. Now the supply is completely in short supply."

There will be so many wars in the future, and I am afraid that these firearms will not be enough. Especially if warships are to be built in the future, wouldn't the demand for artillery double?

Seeing Xu Guangqi nodding his head and saying nothing after hearing this, Zhu Youxiao knew that he had put the matter aside, so he opened his mouth to discuss political affairs.

"How did you go about the things I assigned you to do before?"

When Xu Guangqi heard this, he was not surprised. Instead, he skillfully took out a question book from his sleeves, held it above his head with both hands, and handed it to Zhang Chang.

"Your Majesty, this is the information that I have compiled from the Baoquan Bureau of the Ministry of Industry. After the founding of our country, although the Baoquan Bureau was established under the Ministry of Industry, Baoquan Bureau was also set up in each province to assist in minting money. However, after the changes in the past dynasties, it is now Only five places including Nanzhili, Huguang, and Shaanxi still have Baoquan Bureau, and no other places have it."

Zhu Youxiao took the question book and listened to Xu Guangqi's explanation, with a puzzled expression on his face:

"Why are there so few now? Although the Ming Dynasty mainly used silver coins, but copper coins can also be used for auxiliary purposes. Why not cast them in large quantities?"

Xu Guangqi had already thought of this problem and immediately picked up the conversation.

"Your Majesty, this is not an inaction, but an inability to do so. The imperial court uses a lot of copper, for making cannons, making coins, building decorations, etc., all of which are large copper users, but we have relatively few copper mines.

Only Dexing and Qianshan in Jiangxi, Liangshan in Sichuan, Wutai Mountain in Shanxi, Ningqiang and Lueyang in Shaanxi have copper mines, but they are now increasingly depleted.In the 17th year of Chenghua, the copper pit of Mount Wutai was closed.

Jiajing, Long, and Wanjian repeatedly opened copper mines in Yunnan due to drum casting. Although they made some gains, there were many chieftains there and they were not very cooperative with the imperial decree, so mining was difficult.

Nowadays, there is a lot of criticism within and outside the imperial court about the mining. They are afraid of repeating the Wanli story and wasting people's energy. Moreover, they are afraid that the miners will gather people and cause trouble, so they are not very active in mining.

Furthermore, the imperial court issued Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes at the beginning of the founding of the country, and now mainly uses silver, so the matter of casting copper coins is not mentioned much. "Zhu Youxiao looked at the question book and nodded repeatedly after listening to his words. Xu Guangqi's words answered his questions. Baoquan Bureau was originally used to mint coins. Nowadays, copper coins are used less, and silver is mainly used. This makes Baoquan The Quan Bureau is of no use anymore.

After understanding the cause of this problem, Zhu Youxiao felt heavy again!His intention to ask Xu Guangqi to make statistics on Baoquan Bureau was obvious, that is, he wanted to mint copper coins.

Logically speaking, every emperor who ascended the throne would mint new copper coins in order to reaffirm legitimacy, but according to his understanding, the number of times the Ming Dynasty emperor minted new copper coins was very few.

Only a few of them, including Taizu, Chengzu, Yingzong, and Shizong, cast it after they succeeded to the throne, and the rest seemed to have forgotten about it.

Originally, he was wondering why this was the case, but now after listening to his explanation, he instantly understood that the main reason was the lack of copper.

The Ming Dynasty was already short of gold and copper, and before the Wanli Dynasty, mining had been done in the form of government-run mines. The efficiency had always been very low. Many people submitted letters to no avail. One of the reasons was that they were afraid that miners would gather in crowds and rebel easily.

I learned that in order to ease financial pressure during the Wanli Dynasty, they ordered the opening of the mining ban and sent eunuchs to collect taxes.

It was not impossible to do this kind of thing well, but those eunuchs were greedy and made the people resentful. Therefore, as soon as Shenzong died, Fang Congzhe immediately asked for an order to suspend the mining tax, withdraw all mining envoys, and reinstate the strict mining ban.

"The main reason is copper, Xu Aiqing, you said that if the imperial court reopens the mining ban, Guandu is privately run, and the Ministry of Household Affairs collects taxes uniformly, this will not only alleviate the suffering of copper shortage, but also increase the imperial court's income. Aiqing sees this method How is it?"

Xu Guangqi murmured in his heart when he heard this, what should he say? He is just the minister of the Ministry of Industry. Shouldn't he ask Wang Yingjiao about this kind of thing?Since the emperor asked, he could only bite the bullet and said:
"Your Majesty, this method is indeed possible, but the history of mining during the Shenzong Dynasty is vivid in our minds, and its drawbacks are obvious to all. It would be inappropriate to rashly open the mining ban. Besides, miners gather in deep mountains to mine. There are dozens and hundreds of people with a small number, and hundreds of people with a large number. Thousands, if a crowd gathers to cause trouble, it will be troublesome. The incidents of Ye Zongliu and Deng Maoqi can serve as a warning. Besides, even if the mine is opened now, it will not alleviate the temporary emergency."

Zhu Youxiao shook his head when he heard this. He didn't agree with it very much. It's better to clear everything up than to block it. If there are disadvantages, why not do it?

However, Xu Guangqi's words reminded Zhu Youxiao that the impact of the Shenzong mining tax incident was too bad.If the mining ban is suddenly abolished and private mining is reopened, there will definitely be many opponents, and a long-term plan is needed.

Xu Guangqi watched the emperor nodding and shaking his head in confusion, then frowned, obviously still worried about the copper mine.He couldn't bear it and began to care about it. In fact, he had already had an idea about the copper mine.

"Your Majesty, I have some thoughts about the copper mine."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao looked at Xu Guangqi with interest, and asked eagerly:
"Oh, what do you think? Tell me quickly."

"Your Majesty, in fact, the mining ban prohibits ordinary people from mining, and the imperial court can naturally open mines. I have read the report from the Ministry of Industry before, saying that there are many copper mines in Fujian, Huguang, and Yunnan, and the imperial court can issue a decree to allow the mines to be mined in these places. The political secretary opened a mine and purchased copper ore for the purpose of casting money and cannon.

In addition, I also heard that Japan is mountainous and contains many mines, most of which are silver and copper mines. In the past, merchants from the Ming Dynasty often sold silk and porcelain to Japan in exchange for silver.

Now that the imperial court has lifted the maritime ban, it can encourage merchants to go to Japan to buy copper and transport it to the Ming Dynasty. Although it is not a long-term solution, it can also alleviate temporary needs. "

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