Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 379: Money that flows is money!
Huang Zicheng and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.

They didn't think about this problem.

After hearing what Xia Zhibai said, he suddenly realized that there might not be much money in the world. The Ming Dynasty minted very few new copper coins every year, and the smelted silver was also in short supply. There was a shortage of money in the world, and even if there was some money buried in the ground, only a few people were willing to take it out.

At least for now, no one will take the risk.

The people have no money.

How can the court borrow money?

You can't force people to sell their children to the court, right?
Wouldn't that cause chaos in the world?
immediately.

Zhao Mian's eyes moved, as if he had guessed Xia Zhibai's thoughts, and he said, "That's why you boldly want to use paper money. The current situation of the world's lack of money cannot be solved in a short time, and the court is in urgent need of expanding its finances, so it can only find another way to increase the money of the people."

"Minting money is too slow and the effect is hard to see. Only paper money can be minted, which is the fastest."

"Once paper money is accepted by the people, the imperial court will borrow money to send a large amount of paper money to the world, making the world rich overnight. Then, by taking back these paper money, the circulation of money in the world can be controlled, and the world's economy can always be under effective control."

"Is there something wrong with what I said?"

Xia Zhibai looked at Zhao Mian and couldn't help but look at him with admiration.

He just said a few simple words, and Zhao Mian understood it immediately. He was indeed one of the most talented people of this era. Even though he did not understand the economics of later generations, he saw the truth at a glance just from some related books and his own experience in handling political affairs.

Xia Zhibai said: "That's right."

Zhao Mian touched his chin and said uncertainly: "This should be a problem, right?"

Xia Zhibai nodded and said, "Indeed, there is money that will become less and less valuable, so the court needs to effectively control it to prevent the money from depreciating too quickly. Of course, the most important thing is that the money should be used for practical purposes, such as building roads, doing some basic water conservancy construction, and improving people's livelihood."

"Appropriate inflation is beneficial to the world economy."

"After all, money is always there, and people who are rich will hold on to their money tightly and won't think of giving it away."

"The only way is to let money depreciate gradually. These people see their money shrinking. In order to prevent themselves from becoming poorer and poorer, they have to try to take the money out, either by lending it to the court to build some livelihood projects, or by using it for business and investment. Money is only money when it is in circulation."

"Otherwise it's just a pile of waste paper."

"As the central government, what we need to do is to make money flow."

"Under this system, the Ministry of Revenue will have more responsibilities than it does now, and will be more focused on the economy, especially on increasing the speed of economic development. The money printed by the court will flow through the Ministry of Revenue to local governments, then to the corresponding merchants, and then to the people."

"The people use this money to spend, which promotes the prosperity of the private economy and the prosperity of Ming Dynasty industry and commerce. The court can collect more taxes to repay the loaned money and interest, and the remaining money will be the court's reserve fund."

"If the local area encounters natural disasters or man-made disasters again, the national treasury has money, and the court will be able to provide better assistance."

"It's not that we are short of money, and we have to worry about all kinds of things even for disaster relief."

"If the court is generous, the people will also benefit, and if the people benefit, they will naturally be loyal to the court."

“It goes hand in hand.”

"In this system, there are those who distribute money, those who earn money, those who print money, and those who collect money. Such a huge operating system cannot be attributed to the Ministry of Revenue. It must be divided into at least three institutions, or even more."

"Otherwise, the power is too great and it is easy to be unable to control it."

Xia Zhibai didn't say any polite words, but spoke directly from his heart.

He would not allow financial power to be put in one basket.

This is too dangerous.

Put more baskets. For the sake of their own positions and to avoid responsibility, the relevant government offices must be careful to avoid printing money at the first sign of the emperor's request. At least they must have the qualification of "bargaining", and multiple departments must hold each other hostage. If too much money is printed, those in charge of the economy will complain. After all, money is worthless. The people's resentment will be directed at them. They will go to the government offices that print money to settle disputes. If too much money is borrowed, those who pay it back will be dissatisfied. In this way, a relative balance can be achieved.

But this is just a prototype.

It will take some time to truly establish it.

But he has already told the officials of the Ministry of Revenue about the changes he wants to make to the Ministry.

The audience was silent.

Zhu Tong frowned and thought about the feasibility of what Xia Zhibai said.

Zhu Biao was a little surprised by what Xia Zhibai said in public about "decentralization". It was really too sudden. All the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were present, but Xia Zhibai did not hide anything at all. He just said that he wanted to increase the power of the officials of the Ministry of Revenue, and then he was hit hard.

but
He admitted it too.

Printing money makes money too quickly.

If it is not controlled, it is easy to go astray and then follow the old path of the Song and Yuan dynasties, which would be a loss. Through the form of multiple government offices, restrictions are imposed on the corresponding financial power, and most importantly, the emperor's "right to speak" is secretly restricted.

In the past, the emperor had the final say and no one dared to question the decisions he made. They could only follow his orders.

But in this case, even if the government office that prints the money agrees, the one who has to pay back the money may not agree. And even if the one who has to pay back the money agrees, the one who earns the money may not agree. After going around in circles, telling the emperor the dangers and negative situations in turn will reduce the possibility of the emperor making mistakes to a certain extent.

If the emperor insists on his own way, he will ultimately have to bear the consequences.

Zhu Biao nodded.

He still approves of this approach.

He was also worried that printing money too crazily would cause the Ming Dynasty to repeat the mistakes of the Song and Yuan dynasties.

It's good to have restrictions.

Xia Zhibai's considerations were very comprehensive and thoughtful.

Huang Zicheng stood there in a daze.

His expression changed again and again. He didn't understand it at first, especially when he heard Yang Jing say "borrow new and repay old", he was even more confused. However, in the conversation between Xia Zhibai and Zhao Mian later, he gradually understood.

I was even more shocked.

Because this way of operating is indeed more efficient than the current one.

And the court will also be richer.

What made Huang Zicheng even more uncomfortable was that Xia Zhibai seemed to have considered everything very carefully. He not only took into account the hidden concerns, but also thought of solutions. At least on the surface, there was nothing wrong with it, and it even seemed very complete.

Huang Zicheng snorted coldly and turned his head away.

Yang Jing and Zhao Mian looked at each other with bitterness in their eyes. In fact, they have always been reluctant to think that they are not as good as Xia Zhibai, but now they have to admit that Xia Zhibai is worse than them. Although his ideas are very fanciful, they are indeed desirable.

At least in their opinion.

The money and power system proposed by Xia Zhibai is obviously better than the current one of Ming Dynasty.

And much more clever.

(End of this chapter)