I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 272 Disadvantages of Silver Coins

The abolition of craftsman and humble status is still ongoing.

As the officials in various places posted edicts one after another, craftsmen from all over the place, especially those with lowly status, all cheered and cried with tears in their hands. Their impression of the new monarch was greatly improved, which gave Zhu Youxiao a good impression.

Of course, this also moved people from other classes, especially military households.

"Your Majesty, everyone in the world is talking about Your Majesty's abolishment of craftsmanship and lowly status. They all say that this is unprecedented good governance.

It's just that after the founding of the dynasty, not only craftsmen's households and humble households were established, but also military households, kitchen households, etc.Now someone is writing a question in the book saying that since the craftsman and lowly registrations have been abolished, can we discuss the abolition of military households and kitchen households in the next round? "

In Dongnuan Pavilion, Zhu Youxiao gathered Liu Yishui, Wang Yingjiao, and Xu Guangqi together again for the purpose of discussing the mining matter that he had previously discussed with Xu Guangqi.

But I didn't expect that Liu Yishen first brought up the matter of someone proposing military households before it started.

"These people don't need to pay attention to him. Whether or not to abolish it or how to abolish it is the imperial government's decision. How can they decide it with just one sentence?"

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand impatiently and asked Liu Yisui to reject it directly. He didn't like these officials who only asked difficult questions but did nothing.

The so-called military households are the households designated by the government to serve in the army.

After Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, he established a new and relatively complete military household system based on the old registers of the Yuan Dynasty.

The government of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that military households are determined by their nationality, and no misuse or alteration is allowed. The son inherits the father's inheritance, and the military service is permanent. Once a military household becomes a military household, it cannot be changed forever, and all descendants must serve in the army and serve in the army. .

The life of military households was extremely difficult. The imperial court stipulated that each military household must have a male to serve in the military. This was nothing, but the Ming Dynasty stipulated that military households were not allowed to serve in nearby guards. Instead, those with household registration in the south of the Yangtze River were transferred to the north of the Yangtze River. , the movement from the north of the Yangtze River is to the south of the Yangtze River, and the movement from the north to the south is reversed, traveling thousands of miles.

The sergeants were incompatible with each other.People in the south died of the cold, and people in the north died of miasma.The military households serving in the garrison had to travel thousands or seven to eight thousand miles from their hometowns. The journey was long and difficult, and no one could afford to support them. Many people died while fleeing, and very few people could go to the garrison to serve as corvees.

Even if the military service is so heavy, the lives of military households are not stable.Except for the regular soldiers, the children of military households are the remaining military or Yu Ding.When the main army goes to the guard station to serve as the flag army, the military household must also send two Yuding, one of whom will accompany the main army to the guard station to engage in production in the camp, assist the main army, and supply military uniforms.

Such a difficult and hard life led to a large number of deserters from military households. Even when they got married, it was difficult to find a wife and have children. As a result, the guardhouses withered and military households hid and fled.

Faced with the phenomenon of countless military households fleeing, the court was not indifferent.He sent people to replenish the deserted troops many times, and even set up a special censor of the Qing army to handle matters such as the escape of military households and the replenishment of the army.But these are still of no help and have made no difference. Until now, they have become useless.

Since craftsman status and lowly status have been abolished, military status is naturally within the scope of the system he wants to abolish.

However, the military household system is bound to the guard system. Once it is abolished, the guard system will also be abolished, and even the military system of the Ming Dynasty will have to be overhauled. The population involved may not be several million or more, so how can it be so big? easy?It's a matter of abolishing it.Therefore, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but get angry when he heard these words. He was really making noise.

Liu Yishen looked a little impatient when he saw the emperor, and said no more. He didn't agree with this matter, but after all, it was a major matter of revoking his citizenship and he had to talk about it. "Okay, please stop standing and sit down. I am calling you here to discuss mining and making money. Ten days ago, I issued a decree asking the cabinet, the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Ministry of Industry to discuss this matter. I wonder how your discussion went."

Liu Yishen and the other three looked at each other, secretly thinking that the emperor might know about their differences, otherwise he would never call them to discuss it again.

"Tell me, what is going on? There have been a lot of questions about minting and mining these days, and the opinions are very different. It seems that everyone is aware of this matter."

"Your Majesty, this matter is almost settled. There are only two issues that are slightly different. I'm afraid your Majesty will have to make a final decision."

Zhu Youxiao looked at Liu Yishen's reply without any disturbance in his heart.

"Tell me, what happened has the whole court talking about it."

"Your Majesty, the issue of minting new money when the new emperor ascends the throne is originally customized by the imperial court, and the cabinet naturally agrees. However, when discussing with the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, the cabinet's view is that the imperial court will implement a whip method and use silver to collect taxes. Then It would be better to directly mint the silver into silver coins and issue them, which would not only provide the court with additional income, but also avoid the suffering of copper shortage."

Listening to Liu Yishui's explanation, Zhu Youxiao became interested.

"I think this suggestion is feasible, so why is there a dispute?"

At this time, before Liu Yishen could express his position, Wang Yingjiao took the lead to speak out in opposition.

"Your Majesty, you must not do it. This will definitely lead to a great damage to the currency system and the prevalence of counterfeit coins. If you really want to mint new coins, it is better to use copper coins. Even if others mint counterfeit coins with a small face value, the harm will be minimal."

Zhu Youxiao understands this truth, because the newly minted coins of the imperial court are of good quality in terms of purity, craftsmanship, etc., and they are often easily taken back and collected by the people without using them.Some even melted the copper coins newly minted by the court and cast them into smaller coins, or added some tin and other metals for recirculation.

"I understand this truth, but now the imperial court is really short of copper. Even if new copper coins are minted, the amount is too small, which cannot alleviate the shortcomings of private money. In comparison, the imperial court collects a lot of silver. If it is minted into silver coins, it can not only make people The imperial court makes a profit, and it is more convenient for the people to use it, and it costs less."

After hearing Zhu Youxiao's explanation, Wang Yingjiao immediately knelt down.

"Your Majesty, the court cannot harm the interests of the people for its own gain. There are three disadvantages of silver coins:
First, it is not suitable for ordinary people. Even if it is used, it is specially used to cut silver blocks.If it is cast into silver coins, it will probably be cut and damaged by the time.

Secondly, although the court used silver taels to collect taxes, the imperial court did not accumulate much silver coins. Even if silver coins were minted, the silver coins minted were still much less than the silver coins used by the people. Whether the people would be willing to use silver coins at that time would depend on the taels. explain.

Thirdly, every time the imperial court minted new coins, they would be melted and mixed with tin by unscrupulous people and put back into the market for mixed use.By then, if the newly minted silver coins of the imperial court are not yet popular, there will be adulterated silver coins everywhere among the people, which will do no harm to the people. "

Wang Yingjiao's speech was resounding. These points he said are worthy of attention. They are also huge hidden dangers hidden in minting money for a long time. Zhu Youxiao also began to think deeply.

　Please subscribe, please comment, thank you for your support!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)