Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Although it was said that the gold standard was adopted, in practice, Zhu Youjian actually adopted a composite standard.

In addition to the limited gold bullion standard, a silver standard and a commodity standard were adopted in parallel.

Only by combining these factors could the Ming Dynasty obtain sufficient currency.

The monetization of commodities is another important part of the development of capitalism.

If bartering continued, Zhu Youjian could not imagine how capital would develop.

Therefore, after acquiring easily obtainable gold through metal exchanges, Zhu Youjian quickly decided to push the court to adopt the gold standard.

He originally planned to issue gold coins, but after Chen Jiru mentioned it, he discovered that paper money was more readily accepted in the Ming Dynasty than he had imagined.

As long as stability can be maintained, the people of the Ming Dynasty do not reject paper money.

Therefore, he decided to reform the vouchers, changing the initial plan to use corvée labor as collateral, and adding gold and silver.

The ultimate anchor is gold, to maintain stability as much as possible.

In this way, the vouchers originally intended to be issued jointly by the Supply and Marketing Group and the Imperial Bank became official currency issued by the imperial court. Naturally, they could no longer be issued arbitrarily and needed to be managed by the imperial institutions.

This institution is readily available: the Gold and Silver Reserves Committee, which issues subsidiary currency.

It was jointly established by the Inner Court, the Outer Court, and the Parliament, each with three committee seats.

Yang Jingchen, the Deputy Cabinet Secretary in charge of implementation, said:
"The issuance of subsidiary currency by the Financial Reserve Council has not encountered any major problems."

"I believe that the vouchers should be issued by the Gold Reserves Association and subject to the supervision of the Imperial Court."

The Planning and Development Committee, responsible for allocating corvée labor supplies, was unhappy. Han Kuang said:

"The vouchers are first and foremost secured by goods, and goods need to be released to maintain their value."

"The procurement and sale of corvée labor materials are handled by the supply and marketing group."

"The issuance of vouchers cannot bypass the supply and marketing group."

At the same time, a proposal was made to the emperor:
"The supply and marketing group is responsible for the procurement and sale of corvée labor materials. I believe it should be included in the planning and development committee."

"The imperial court should pay to redeem the shares of the supply and marketing group."

Zhu Youjian was displeased, because 40% of the shares in the Supply and Marketing Group were controlled by the inner court.

He intended to control the Ming Dynasty's economy through this enterprise; how could he possibly give it up?
Therefore, he refused:
"The various committees of the cabinet are all coordinating bodies, and apart from some office staff, they are not allowed to have subordinate departments."

"If the Planning and Development Commission wants to supervise the Supply and Marketing Group, it should simply recruit the group's chairman as a member of the Planning and Development Commission. It shouldn't be thinking about direct management."

"The same goes for the Financial Reserve Committee; they can give up a seat to the Supply and Marketing Group."

Han Kuang dared not seize power in front of the emperor or add departments to the Planning and Development Commission, so he could only hint at it indirectly:
"The outer court only has three seats in the Gold Reserve Council, and the Ministry of Revenue is already dissatisfied."

“If the supply and marketing group occupies another one, the Ministry of Revenue will not agree.”

Zhu Youjian frowned, seemingly impatient, and said:
“If the outer court is unwilling to give up its seats, then the inner court will take them.”

"I will have the Imperial Assets Management Committee acquire the 10% stake held by the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area. This will give the Imperial Court half of the shares in the Supply and Marketing Group, making it a true Imperial Enterprise."

This decision made Han Kuang open his mouth, but he was strongly opposed to it.

Because the greatest power of the Planning and Development Commission was the power to allocate corvée labor materials, which was implemented through the supply and marketing group.

If this group is controlled by the inner court, his movements will inevitably be restricted.

Xu Guangqi, who was also in the Planning and Development Commission, said:

"Your Majesty, although the Supply and Marketing Group is called a company, it is actually more like a government office."

"If it is placed under the jurisdiction of the inner court, it will be inconvenient for the outer court to manage it."

Zhu Youjian shook his head and said:
"A business is a business; it must never be run like a government office."

"The sales business that the supply and marketing group is engaged in is a competitive industry, and it must be operated in accordance with industry rules."

"I was worried that you would run your government offices with too many people and too little work, which is why I allowed the inner court to control the business."

"But rest assured, apart from ensuring the profitability of the supply and marketing group, the inner court will not interfere in other matters."

Han Kuang and Xu Guangqi were understandably worried, but since the emperor had given such a guarantee, they had no choice but to accept it.

Half of the shares of the Supply and Marketing Group were incorporated into the Imperial Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

Then Zhu Youjian mentioned another matter, addressing his ministers:
"Furthermore, I think the Gold Reserve Council should be expanded. The original nine members will form a standing council, and additional members will be added below it."

“In the future, when vassal states have more gold stored in the Gold Reserve Association, they should be given a voice.”

The ministers had not considered this question. Han Kuang said:
"Where are the gold reserves of vassal states stored?"

Why was it arranged this way?

Zhu Youjian replied matter-of-factly:

"The Ming Dynasty and its vassal states have a unified currency, and they also need to use vouchers."

"If they are taken away by people from vassal states, wouldn't the Ming Dynasty's vouchers be insufficient?"

"Therefore, they need to deposit gold in the Gold Reserves to issue more vouchers."

"To put their minds at ease, it was natural to grant some vassal state commissioners the status of overseeing the gold."

This is plundering from vassal states, or rather, robbery.

The courtiers felt no remorse whatsoever about this; even Han Kuang, eager to amass wealth, remarked:
"Should the silver from vassal states also be deposited here?"

"Enterprises in vassal states were also required to perform corvée labor."

Zhu Youjian almost laughed upon hearing this, then shook his head and said:

"The corvée labor and taxes of vassal states are collected by the vassal states themselves, and the Ministry of Revenue will sign relevant agreements with each state."

"As for silver storage, forget about it. Some natives may not accept vouchers, and vassal states need silver to trade with them."

"However, the gold must be stored in the Gold Reserve Association, and one-tenth of the taxes paid by vassal states must also be collected in gold."

"Any vassal state that conceals or evades taxes and tributes shall be stripped of its title."

This statement reminded the courtiers of the phrase "confiscating gold and stripping titles."

Emperor Wu of Han used this tactic to strip many nobles of their titles.

The emperor's advance warning demonstrates the importance he attaches to this matter.

From now on, all vassal states must strive to earn gold in order to pay tribute.

At the same time, regulations were also made regarding gold mines in vassal states, stipulating that the gold mined must be sold to the Gold Reserve Association.
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With this communication, the issuance of the vouchers was finalized.

Zhu Youjian linked this matter with the establishment of the Shuntian Prefecture Council, and immediately after the council was established, he voted to amend the "Currency Law".

Then, in accordance with the bill, new vouchers were issued.

Subsidiary currency will be incorporated into the voucher, becoming the subsidiary currency of the voucher.

Silver coins continued to be issued as metal currency.

Thinking of this, he addressed his ministers:
"Among the machines brought back by the mission to the West this time, there was a spiral coin-making machine."

"This machine is complex to manufacture, making it difficult to imitate, and it produces more exquisite coins."

"I have decided to use it to make silver coins, and to replace the struck coins with machine-made coins."

"To prevent some craftsmen from handcrafting and counterfeiting inferior silver coins."

This was yet another new thing, and the courtiers listened in bewilderment.

However, they agreed with the emperor's suggestion to avoid forgery.

Although the imperial court had only been minting silver coins for a few years, some of the Ming Dynasty's artisans were already able to counterfeit them exactly. At that time, the circulation of silver coins was limited, so the problem wasn't too significant.

However, once it is issued on a large scale in the future, the issue of anti-counterfeiting will inevitably need to be further considered.

Another issue is that minting silver coins is extremely troublesome. To meet the demand of 400 million taels of silver in the Ming Dynasty market, at least 400 million silver coins would need to be minted.

That would require far too much manpower. At the current production rate of over seven million coins per year, it would take more than fifty years to produce enough silver coins.

This is also why the court officials supported the vouchers; they all hoped that currency issuance could be expedited.

Of course, the stability of subsidiary currency after its issuance was also a decisive factor.

After the emperor replaced paper money with subsidiary currency for paying salaries, they welcomed the issuance of this collateralized paper money.
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The decisions made at this meeting were quickly compiled by the newly established Secretariat and published in its internal reference.

Although the articles in the internal reference materials have certain confidentiality requirements, the requirements are not strict.

Once the councilors and above know, those in the officialdom with good connections will generally know as well. Officials are especially concerned about matters that directly affect their own interests.

After the imperial court used the revenue from subsidiary currency to increase their salaries, many people looked forward to the issuance of vouchers to further increase their income.

In particular, the proceeds from the vouchers were explicitly intended to support scholars, and as scholars themselves, they naturally would not object.

Mao Qizong was one of those concerned about this policy. Working at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, he soon learned that the court was about to adopt the gold standard.
"The imperial court will issue vouchers that can be exchanged for gold, but they can only be exchanged by financial institutions and gold-using enterprises, and individuals may not store more than ten kilograms of gold."

"How is the gold I buy at the metals exchange calculated?"

Having interacted with Japanese Buddhism, he had long noticed that the higher gold price in Japan would cause the gold price in the Ming Dynasty to rise.

So he bought gold on the metals exchange early on and stored it, waiting for the value of gold to appreciate.

Over the years, he made a considerable profit from his gold purchases.

Hearing about this regulation now, I am immediately very concerned.

Many of his colleagues knew about his gold purchases, especially after Mao Pijiang went to North Korea, when he frequently went to the exchange to check prices.

Qian Qianyi, the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, asked curiously:

"Brother Mao, did you buy a lot of gold?"

"It's already over ten kilograms?"

Mao Qizongdao:

"It definitely weighs more than ten kilograms!"

“Initially I bought 1,000 taels, and later, after the price of gold rose, I took another 5,000 taels from home to buy more.”

"In addition to my salary, royalties, and other income, I mostly use it to buy gold."

"At that time, gold was cheap, so I bought seven hundred taels of gold in installments."

"Based on 37.5 grams per liang (50 grams), that's close to 30 kilograms."

This number made Qian Qianyi gasp in astonishment.

According to the emperor's stipulated exchange rate of 1 to 15, this amounted to 10500 taels of silver.

How much capital did Mao Qizong invest? At most, no more than 7000 taels.

This means that his income from trading gold over the past few years could exceed 3000 taels.

Such a tremendous gain prompted Qian Qianyi to exclaim:

"Exchanges are really making money!"

"No wonder there are often news reports in the newspapers about people getting rich quick on the stock exchange."

Mao Qizong shook his head and said:

"Most of the money is made in the stock exchange."

"It's common for stocks to rise by 20% or 30%, and some can even rise several times over."

"My gold has only increased in value by 20% to 30%, and that took several years. If it weren't for the Emperor's mandatory regulation, it wouldn't have reached a ratio of 1 to 15 at all."

This statement aroused curiosity among some officials who heard it:
"The price of gold in the Ming Dynasty never reached one to fifteen."

"Isn't the imperial court losing out by buying gold at this price?"

"Brother Mao, you should sell it soon, otherwise it will be troublesome if the imperial court refuses to buy it."

Mao Qizong was somewhat tempted by this, because he thought so too.

The highest gold price in the Ming Dynasty's surrounding region was in Japan, at a ratio of 1 to 13.

Now that the imperial court has raised the exchange rate to 1 to 15, it's unlikely that gold will have any further potential for appreciation.

Qian Qianyi then said:
“The imperial court will not refuse to accept them; printing vouchers doesn’t cost much.”

"As long as the gold is acquired, the imperial court can issue corresponding vouchers, so it will not lose out at all."

Mao Qizong asked in confusion:

"What if someone takes a voucher obtained with silver and tries to exchange it for gold bars?"

"The imperial court bought gold at a high price of fifteen for one, but it was then exchanged for by someone else, so they were losing out."

Qian Qianyi laughed heartily:
"You didn't read the internal report carefully."

"It was clearly stated above that vouchers should be used to redeem supplies first; even at the bank, you can only exchange them for silver first."

"Exchanging vouchers for silver coins is a market-based exchange, and at the current price, how could the imperial court suffer a loss?"

The current exchange rate between gold and silver is still 1 to 13. If the imperial court uses 15 taels of silver to buy one tael of gold and issues vouchers, and those who receive the vouchers exchange them for 13 silver coins at the market price, the imperial court will not lose money at all.

This was probably the purpose of the imperial court in raising the price of gold, to prevent some people from exchanging large amounts of gold vouchers for silver coins.

However, there are risks involved, Mao Qizong frowned and said:

"You're not losing out at the current price."

"But if the price of gold rises to more than fifteen taels, then we'll be in trouble."

"If banks follow market trends, wouldn't they have to put out even more silver?"

This question left Qian Qianyi speechless, unsure how the court would respond.

Many people who received the news went to metal exchanges to see if the price of gold would continue to rise.

Could someone offer an even higher price and compete with the imperial court to buy gold?

Zhu Youjian was also paying attention, because the relevant decision was published in the internal reference, which was his way of deliberately releasing the news to see the outside world's reaction.

If the external reaction is as he expects, then the issuance of the vouchers will most likely be successful.

If the opposition is strong, or if it manifests in various ways, it means someone is trying to stop him. He can send the Imperial Guards to arrest those who are deliberately causing trouble.

After his victory in the Liaodong campaign, he became increasingly daring and no longer hesitated to use violence.

On such a crucial issue as currency issuance, he was not hesitant to use force to push it through.

He then arranged for the collection of gold as preparation for the issuance of vouchers.

The Ministry of Revenue, which was also willing to issue vouchers, therefore issued an order:
All citizens, especially intellectuals, should proactively declare any gold exceeding the limit that they sell to the Gold Reserve Council.

If the money is not sold within the specified period, it constitutes illegal possession of gold. If discovered, scholars will be stripped of their status, while ordinary people will be fined.

The Ministry of Revenue and the Gold Reserves Association allocated a large amount of silver coins to purchase gold.

Mao Qizong, being an official, was naturally a scholar. Many people knew about his gold purchases, so he couldn't escape the scrutiny.

So after careful consideration, he chose to liquidate his entire portfolio and sell all his gold holdings. (End of Chapter)