My Ming Dynasty, I have the final say

Chapter 158 Not enough silver coins?
With Liu Shimin's words, it was a foregone conclusion that Jin Yiwei would be involved in the salt farm affairs.

"During the past few days, didn't Duke Cheng Guo have to endure the hardship of training troops in Nanhaizi?"

"Looking at his pot-bellied appearance, you can tell that he is a wealthy man who has a good way of acquiring wealth."

"Let him go."

Zhu Youxiao said and looked at Yuan Shizhen.

"Leave the matter of the Salt Patrol Division to Yuan Aiqing."

"The minister obeys the order."

Hearing this, Yuan Shizhen bowed, and then sent the emperor, who was dressed like a rich young man, out of the Hubu Yamen.

"It's gone."

Standing at the yamen gate, watching the emperor leave, all the household officials reached out to wipe the sweat from their foreheads.

No matter how much the emperor wears the eldest son of a rich family, he is still the emperor, and he is followed by fifty or sixty-year-old royal guards overtly and covertly.

And today, a group of merchants came to the Hubu Yamen. If that short-sighted guy got in trouble, all the officials from the Hubu Yamen would be in trouble.

Fortunately, the emperor only watched a show on the second floor and left.

After leaving the Hubu Yamen, I got on the carriage.

When the carriage passed Zhengyang Gate, Zhu Youxiao suddenly turned his head and looked at Liu Shimin.

"My dear friend, please ask Duke Cheng for me. If the Ming Dynasty disappears, will the title of Duke Cheng be passed down to him?"

"The slaves obey the order."

Lifting his head and glancing at the emperor, Liu Shimin responded quickly.

I had just been assigned the task of leading someone to supervise the salt administration, and I was told this sentence. This was a clear attempt to beat the Duke of Cheng, Zhu Chunchen, to stop corruption.

After Liu Shimin got off the carriage, Zhu Youxiao closed his eyes and thought about who to ask to go to Nanjing to promote silver coins.

The names of the eunuchs in charge of rituals floated through Zhu Youxiao's mind one by one.

"Wang Tigan."

Suddenly, Zhu Youxiao thought of someone.

Wang An's "classmate" in the inner study hall was once the holder of the seal bureau of the East Palace and now the chief ceremonial officer. Historically, Wei Zhongxian was able to control the key figure of the chief ceremonial officer.

This is someone who can do things.

"Let Wang Tiqian come to see me."

Tapping his hands on the table, Zhu Youxiao thought about what to do next.

Liaodong can feel relieved for the time being, and the next step is political reform.

The silver coin and salt reform are just minor issues, and there is no chance that they will lead to an uproar in the world.

Yuan Shizhen thought very carefully about promoting silver coins in southern Zhili.

The copper coins used by ordinary people in Guizhou are at most a little heavy to hold and a little troublesome to count, but the impact is not big.

This wave of promotion is mainly targeted at large households.

The advantages of silver coins are that they are of good quality, easy to count, and anti-counterfeiting.

If you want to enjoy this convenience, you must pay a seigniorage tax to the court.

As for the rebellion, it didn't happen at all.

The lower class people are not stupid and follow the upper class to cause trouble.

Besides, there's no way local officials are going to watch this happen.

After all, this is an official-based society. Find out more about breaking down the county magistrate and exterminating the family and the governor.

Most of those who serve as officials in the south are officials from the north.

It is obviously the emperor's intention to increase the fire consumption in the south. Even if someone above wants to give him eye drops, it depends on the emperor's permission.

There is a theorem in officialdom since ancient times.

If you are not capable enough, there is still a way to save yourself.

But if you take the wrong side, there will really be no salvation.

Compared with the interests of the local gentry, the black gauze hat on one's head is more important.

Now is the first year of the Apocalypse when the new emperor ascends the throne, and the remaining power of the Ming Dynasty is still there.

It was not the 18th year of Chongzhen who abolished the post station system and then made the central court a cage and a mute.

Compared with Chongzhen, although his apocalyptic Ming Dynasty was decadent, it was not to the point of losing its majesty and had enough room for error.

Just when the emperor was leaving the city, the inn in southern Jing was extremely lively.

Businessmen from other places were watching the North Zhili salt merchants in the middle who were settling accounts with each other with amusement.

"Shopkeeper Li, seven thousand portions of salt, I will hand over to you right now."

"Shopkeeper Zhao, this is 6 taels of silver, please check it."

A group of merchants are handing over materials to each other.

If you need salt, you need salt. If you need silver, you need silver. If you don't have enough silver, you can use shops and the like as collateral.

There are people behind everyone, and no one can say that they are tired of living and refuse to pay.

Besides, they are all on the same level and abide by the rules among themselves.

Those who don't follow the rules will no longer know where the bones are buried in the gutter.

"Have you heard everything clearly?"

Fan Jinxiong asked as he turned to look at Chang Sui beside him.

"Go back to my employer and find out more about it. All the salt produced by Changlu has been distributed."

"Twelve prefectures and two prefectures have selected fourteen merchants, all of whom are locals. The other salt merchants are now in charge of the salt in the library, but they have a deadline of three months to sell out. They are no longer allowed to sell salt in the future, and the salt in their hands will not be sold anymore. Sell ​​to other merchants at a fair price.”

"After March, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development will issue a letter to local governments to issue approval plaques, asking them to crack down on merchants who sell illegally."

"Where is the salt farm? Did you say when the ban will be lifted?"

"We haven't notified yet about the opening of the salt field. We only said that the ban will be opened after the salt inspection department and Jin Yiwei arrive."

"Jinyiwei?"

Hearing this, Fan Jinxiong was shocked.

Salt administration has always been the domain of interests of civilian officials. How could the military attache, or the emperor's secret service organization in the palace, be allowed to get involved.

"I don't know that."

Hearing this, Chang Sui said helplessly.

"Nowadays, none of the Beijing officials dare to collect money. I also found out from a clerk in the Ministry of Household Affairs."

"Well, I see."

Nodding, Fan Jinxiong's hand wearing a jade ring rested on the railing on the second floor.

Looking at the merchant below who was handing over supplies in a friendly manner, his eyes flickered, wondering what he was thinking.

Although the Fan family's main business is export business, they must get involved in the salt merchants' matter and leave a way out for themselves.

The Fan family, or the Eight Great Families of Shanxi, are now dancing on eggs.

At that time, relying on the road leading to Li Chengliang, they transported materials to Liaodong through the Yanshan Passage, transported them to the Jiannu territory via Shenyang, exchanged them for mountain goods, and then transported them to Beizhili via the Jinning Corridor to sell them for profit.

But since Xiong Tingbi arrived in Liaodong, the crackdown on smuggling has become more severe day by day.

After his second brother Fan Jincai mysteriously disappeared with the entire caravan, Fan Jinxiong had an ominous premonition in his heart.

Now the road to Shang Liaodong is almost cut off.

While Fan Jinxiong was lost in thought, Li Changgui in the middle of the lobby looked at the man who was weighing the silver, took out a silver coin from his sleeve, looked at it and sighed.

"Hey, I don't know when it will be our turn to have these silver coins."

"You have it too?"

Shopkeeper Wang standing next to him saw the silver coin in Li Changgui's hand, and his eyes immediately lit up.

"Let me take a look."

"Huh? What's so interesting about this?"

Hearing this, Li Changgui was a little confused and handed the silver coin to Wang Zhengde.

"Om~"

Taking the silver coin from Li Changgui's hand, Wang Zhengde held it between his two fingers very skillfully and blew it.

Then, a burst of mosquito buzz came out.

"How many are there in your family?"

After listening to the buzzing of silver coins with enjoyment, Wang Zhengde looked at Li Changgui and asked.

"What do you want to do?"

"I'm willing to increase the fire cost by [-]% in exchange for this silver coin from you." "Are you dreaming?"

Hearing this, Li Changgui gave the other party a big look and took the silver coin back from his hand.

"Everyone is in business, so it's not like they don't know how popular this thing is in the market now."

"Now, in addition to the generous monthly salary provided by the adults, the number of silver coins released by the capital every day is limited. One person can only redeem up to five coins at a time, and only [-] coins are released every day."

"Merchants from all over the country are gathering in the capital, waiting to exchange."

Li Changgui picked up the silver coin and tossed it.

"Such a piece can be used as two taels of silver."

After listening to Li Changgui's words, Wang Zhengde sighed.

“I don’t know when the number will increase.”

"I'm afraid you're overthinking this."

As soon as he finished speaking, a businessman named Bai Si poured cold water on him.

"Now not only are the officials asking their family members to exchange money every day, but even merchants from other places also get involved and go to exchange money."

"And I heard that the imperial court will give priority to promoting silver coins in Yingtian Mansion, and will also open a shop to exchange the silver coins."

"Production will increase, and the quantity should be large by then."

Hearing this, Wang Zhengde's fat face twisted and said hesitantly.

"I guess it's difficult."

Looking at the other party, Bai Si shook his head and took out his hands from his sleeves.

"The news I heard is that the Baoquan Bureau only produces 15 pieces per day. [-] pieces are given to the emperor's internal funds, [-] pieces are given to the Duzhi Division, and [-] pieces are given to the public."

"Internal funds and money from branch offices also need to be spent, and they will still have to be circulated to the public at that time."

"I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to get it."

Hearing this, Bai Si shook his head helplessly.

"Shilang Yuan from the Ministry of Husbandry is responsible for the silver exchange in Yingtian Mansion. I followed the path of his parents. I heard from him that each person in Yingtian Mansion can exchange silver at most [-] coins per day, with a fire cost of [-]%. Priority will be given to large households. , merchants.”

"The imperial court is currently short of silver. It is estimated that the new daily output in the future will be given priority to Shuntian Mansion."

"Hey, these Southerners."

"This grandpa Huang is in Shuntian, how can he give grace to the people of Yingtian Mansion?"

After the Yuan Dynasty, the north and south were divided.

Now that they heard that this southerner would rob them of their silver coin exchange quota, everyone immediately became angry.

"Forty percent fire consumption, are those people willing?"

However, there was an outlier among the crowd who made a different sound.

"I heard that Shilang Yuan is reading "Hanshu Shihuo Zhi" recently."

Looking at everyone in the hall with a look of despair, Bai Si continued.

"I guess they will have to be willing even if they don't want to."

""Book of Han·Shi Huo Zhi"?"

"what is that?"

Although these businessmen also read books, they don't like to read much history books.

However, there was also a knowledgeable person who immediately exclaimed.

"Calling Min Ling and Reporting Min Ling?!"

"Ah."

Hearing this, Bai Si nodded in agreement with the man.

"Report that you did not use silver coins but silver, and then all your property will belong to others."

"Isn't this...a clear robbery?"

As Bai Si's words fell, everyone in the hall immediately became panicked.

Counting Min Ling and Gao Min Ling, this thing has a huge impact on businessmen.

It can be said that it is taking other people's property by force.

"Does the Ming Dynasty in the imperial court agree?"

"The money on the market today is not enough for everyone, right? This is Hongguoguo's robbery!"

"Did you say it would be implemented in Shuntian Mansion?"

"Quiet quiet."

Pressing down with both hands, Bai Si looked at the crowd and said.

"You don't need to panic, this matter has not been decided yet."

"But why do we need to add [-]% more fuel consumption? Isn't this bullying us southerners?"

Among the crowd, there was naturally the southerner, who immediately said angrily.

"I heard that it was because the imperial court felt that the south was not respectful, so it was added extra."

"How can we southerners be so disrespectful?"

Hearing this, the man immediately blushed and asked.

"There are two capitals and thirteen provinces in the Ming Dynasty. Except for Shaanxi in the north, the poor are almost as poor as their pants. The remaining provinces that owe taxes are all in the south of you. How much tax does South Zhili owe? How much Liao salary is owed?"

Hearing this, Bai Si immediately rolled his eyes.

"Don't you know whether you are being respectful or not?"

"!!!"

Hearing this, Li Jinyan's face turned pale at first, and then turned red again.

"This, this is not because our taxes in the south are too heavy!"

"Don't take our southern Gansu and Fujian with you."

Hearing this, a businessman from Southern Gansu next to Li Jinyan sneered and took over.

"Fujian does not owe taxes. Our southern Gansu taxes and Liao salaries were personally escorted to Beijing by Zhou Shangshu."

"That's right, our taxes in Guangdong are not light, but we haven't owed even a cent."

Hearing this, another businessman from Guangdong also continued.

"And our fleet transporting taxes north this time also transported 24 cannons fished out of the sea."

"..."

Being looked at with contempt by everyone in the hall, Li Jinyan was about to have a fit when Wang Zhengde said again.

"To be honest, if we can exchange a large amount for silver and add [-]% of the fire cost, I think Shuntian Mansion is not impossible."

"Hey, I don't have the technology, otherwise I would even want to mint this silver coin."

"Are you crazy?"

After hearing Wang Zhengde's words, everyone looked at him like a madman.

"Didn't you see the imperial list posted on Zhengyang Gate?"

"That is, because the three uncles secretly minted copper coins, the imperial grandfather Guo took away their titles, had their heads chopped off at the Meridian Gate, and the whole family was exiled to Qiongzhou."

"Why, you also want your family to go to Qiongzhou."

"That's why I said I was willing to add another [-]% of the fire cost in exchange for silver."

Looking at everyone's eyes, Wang Zhengde spread his hands and said helplessly.

"It's not like everyone can't see the benefits of this silver. It can prevent counterfeiting, facilitate transactions, and has no counterfeit currency."

"The silver coins on the market now all cost one or two and a half, or even two taels of silver per coin."

"If you add [-]% of the fire consumption, it's still less than this."

"Yes."

Hearing this, Bai Si nodded.

"How about we jointly submit a letter requesting the emperor to give priority to the implementation of silver coins in Beizhili, especially for those of us who have more than two yuan in the family, and give more quotas."

"This..."

After hearing Bai Si's words, everyone in the hall fell silent.

Is it crazy for a man on the pole to give money to the emperor?

　Ask for a monthly pass, ask for a recommendation ticket

　　
　
(End of this chapter)