Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 581 Your plan is good, but I want it!
In many historical analyses, there are always various theories about why the Ming Dynasty fell in this way or that way.

Pei Yuan truly couldn't figure out what exactly caused the Ming Dynasty's demise.

However, he clearly realized one thing.

The memorial submitted by the Ministry of Finance in the seventh year of the Zhengde reign, and the final counterattack of the Ming Dynasty's paper money, marked the most critical juncture in whether the Ming Dynasty could survive.

Because if a country's currency is controlled by foreign silver merchants, then the country's downfall is only a matter of time.

However, if we can take this opportunity to stabilize the value of the Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes, and then change the binding of the highly poisonous One Whip Technique from silver to the Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes.

Next, the issuance of the precious paper was supervised by the two main beneficiaries: officials and the military.

Perhaps the Ming Dynasty can truly forge a different path.

At least, after taxes were converted into paper money, the imperial court did not want the collected taxes to become a pile of worthless paper.

After the sole form of taxation was paper money, officials and the army certainly couldn't rely on a pile of worthless paper to survive.

The balance of interests and mutual checks and balances are more than enough to ensure the continued operation of the paper currency system.

and so.

Regardless of which cunning bastard is behind this plan or what his ultimate purpose is, Pei Yuan is prepared to forcibly take over.

—Your plan is good, but I want it!

Chen Xinjian firmly stated from the side, "Since the situation is so critical, I will do everything in my power to raise the necessary funds as quickly as possible, so as not to jeopardize the important matter of the commander."

Although Pei Yuan had a general idea of ​​what was going on, he was still somewhat surprised that Chen Xinjian was still willing to pay after learning the inside story.

He smiled at Chen Xinjian and said, "There's no need for that. I said that just now to get Xiao Ying to hand over the money. That guy is very cunning; if I didn't say it that way, I couldn't gain his trust."

“You are now the head of the household, and it’s not easy for you to build up your family fortune. You don’t need to take risks with me.”

Chen Xinjian smiled and said, "Didn't the commander also stake his entire fortune?"

“I don’t know about others, but I know that the price we paid for the precious notes was already low enough. As long as we take advantage of their unpreparedness, Qianhu can quickly sell them and make a fortune.”

"The commander gave up such a sure-fire way to make money and instead did something that was difficult to succeed and thankless. I believe that the commander must have some principles in his heart."

Pei Yuan opened his mouth, but felt embarrassed to ruin the other person's positive impression.

He couldn't possibly say that he not only had multiple escape routes, but also a large fortune and countless opportunities waiting for him to reap, which was why he was able to steel himself to take a gamble, could he?

So, somewhat embarrassed, Pei Yuan could only gaze into the distance and say in a deep voice, "Although I, the commander, am of despicable character and capable of anything, when an opportunity to turn this era around is right before my eyes... and looking back at the ancients and those who come after, I am filled with regret. When I am facing this situation alone, how can I ignore it? How can I back down?"

"I am a commander of a thousand households, and I do this for the Ming Dynasty."

Just as Pei Yuan was feeling self-satisfied, Chen Xinjian spoke up at the opportune moment, "This subordinate is doing this for the sake of the Great Ming Dynasty."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan's emotions became somewhat disjointed.

"hiss--"

Your awareness is amazing!

I think you resemble "the Duke of Rongguo, who was appointed to assist the new emperor and promoted sincerity and strength".

Fortunately, Pei Yuan wouldn't really betray these guys, since they were his core group; even a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow.

Pei Yuan reassured him confidently, "Don't worry, I have a complete plan for this matter."

"If I hadn't realized the danger involved and had naively thought that the Siyueku petition was a good thing, I might have actually suffered a small loss."

"But coincidentally, I was the one who handled the Bazhou army incident last time, and I was also very familiar with Lu Yin, who was in charge of military affairs at the time, and I had seen the military supplies accounts at the front."

"Therefore, I have always been on guard against the outbreak of the Taicang Silver crisis."

"It is truly fate that this matter fell into my hands."

Pei Yuan said with a hint of relief, "If I had held a large amount of banknotes that I bought at low prices and foolishly waited to cash them out, or if I had supported the banknotes according to the original plan, then I would probably have watched helplessly as they smashed the money in my hands into nothing during the subsequent bombardment of selling."

"Then, when I have painstakingly planned and raised a large amount of silver, and want to raise the value of the paper money, it will coincide with their attack on Taicang."

"At that time, countless troubles that require money may erupt all at once. In order to support the Taicang silver, the imperial court will inevitably stop using paper money at the customs and start injecting silver into Taicang again to provide emergency relief."

"After this blow, the Ming Dynasty's paper money is doomed. It's possible that even the large amount of silver I raised to boost the market will become collateral damage to the paper money due to the court's political intervention."

"But it's different now."

"The reason I took out the precious paper money in advance to exchange for Li Shishi and Lu Yin was because I planned to build a strong resistance barrier in a place where five strings of cash could be exchanged for one coin."

"If I'm not mistaken, the price of the paper money will definitely rise rapidly after the petition is submitted to the Treasury."

"Because only when the price of the precious paper rises rapidly can those behind the scenes who bought it at a low price take the opportunity to make huge profits and trap all those who were optimistic about the precious paper and followed the trend of speculation at a high price."

"This is also a great opportunity for me. I can leverage the confidence generated by the surge in the price of the Treasure Notes to quickly transfer them to my allies through off-exchange transactions without affecting the price of the Treasure Notes."

Chen Xinjian remained expressionless as Pei Yuan continued.

"In this way, a certain situation will be created."

"The massive amount of precious banknotes I possess are locked in the hands of my allies at a rate of five strings of precious banknotes to one coin. Moreover, because of my guarantee, these precious banknotes will absolutely not be dumped at a rate lower than five strings of precious banknotes to one coin."

Chen Xinjian's eyes widened as he thought of the enormous amount of banknotes held by the commander. "Could this be the resistance barrier the commander was talking about?"

Pei Yuan smiled slightly and said, "Not entirely."

Chen Xinjian looked at Pei Yuan, and heard Pei Yuan proudly say, "My resistance barrier, and... in addition to locking in a huge amount of chips, I also got at least 700,000 taels of silver!"

Pei Yuan said, “We turned the 70,000 taels of precious paper we bought into 700,000 taels of silver, and then we can use this 700,000 taels of silver to defend the line of exchanging five strings of precious paper for one coin.”

“If I were to carry a handful of Ming Dynasty banknotes like before, I would naturally be overwhelmed by a single charge.”

"But now, the Ming Dynasty banknotes I originally held are locked at a trading price of 'five strings of banknotes for one coin.' If I use another 700,000 taels of silver to defend this price, I ask you, who in the world can break through it?"

"As long as we absorb those extra chips used to attack us, we can firmly hold the price of the Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes." Chen Xinjian looked at Pei Yuan's domineering and heroic appearance, and only one thought echoed in his mind.

Commander Pei is invincible!

Fortunately, Chen Xinjian didn't forget to remind Pei Yuan.

"Commander, if the Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes are really offered at a price higher than one guan of Treasure Notes for one wen, I'm afraid those people will be unable to resist selling them. That's more than five times the profit."

“People like Lu Yin and Xiao Ying might be able to stand with the commanders, but a guy like Li Shishi would definitely prioritize the interests of the Ning Kingdom.”

"When that time comes, the resistance bulwark of the thousand households might be shaken."

Pei Yuan laughed and didn't take it to heart at all. "It's alright, let's sell it then."

"As long as their transaction price is above my defense line, it won't affect me. Every time these precious notes are traded, the price is re-locked. Li Shishi and Xiao Ying made several times their profit and ran away, but the new ones who took over didn't earn a single copper coin."

"Moreover, the higher their transaction price, the less willing the buyer is to sell at a lower price."

As Pei Yuan spoke, he made a point of mentioning it.

"I can also tell you that the exchange rate of one string of paper money for one coin is likely still far underestimated. Even if we go back to the price in the fifth year of Zhengde, it's not impossible for one string of paper money to be exchanged for two coins."

"There are still many Ming Dynasty banknotes in circulation today."

"However, for many years, the value of paper money could only be used to pay commercial taxes. Therefore, a lot of paper money flowed to the major customs offices."

"We've already bought up all the places where it's easiest to acquire precious notes. Even if we go to other places to buy notes, it won't be easy to do so in a short time."

"Besides, their speed of collecting banknotes can't keep up with the speed of news transmission. With that time difference, by the time their people arrive, the news of the banknotes' surge and the latest prices might have already spread."

Pei Yuan concluded, "Ultimately, the value of the paper money lies not on the paper itself, but in everyone's mind. If everyone believes that one string of paper money is worth two coins, then one string of paper money is worth two coins."

Pei Yuan was confident that after this tough battle, his allies would make a fortune in silver, and he himself would be able to exchange his silver back into paper money while maintaining the currency's value.

Once the dust settles on this great war, a large number of banknotes will be locked at a high trading price. The commercial tax demand for Ming Dynasty banknotes will eventually cause the banknotes, which have fallen into a period of post-war calm, to gradually appreciate in value.

Pei Yuan murmured, "When that time comes, we'll face the biggest trouble yet."

—The emperor's greedy ambition to issue more paper money.

As for whether these precious notes can be redeemed again, that depends on what happens after Zhu Houzhao gains control of the military and Wang Qiong introduces the Single Whip Law.

Pei Yuan didn't care where the silver and paper money in his hands came from.

This battle only distinguishes between two types of people: those who stand on Pei Yuan's side and those who stand on Pei Yuan's opposite side.

Pei Yuan pondered who could stand by his side and couldn't help but feel troubled. "Gu Dayong has a lot of money, and Bi Zhen is also willing to work with me. With these two, we should be able to solve the quota of tens of thousands of taels of silver."

"We'll have to think carefully about what to do with the remaining money?"

The appreciation of the currency is most beneficial to the border troops and local garrisons.

Because a large portion of the imperial court's military pay was in paper money, the court also distributed large amounts of paper money as rewards to military officers.

The reason why the Treasury's money was almost gone was very direct: because of the successful suppression of the rebellion in Bazhou, the imperial court gave the soldiers who went to war a generous reward.

Unfortunately, Pei Yuan has recently had a falling out with Jiang Erge, so this path is not easy to take.

Just as Pei Yuan was feeling troubled, he suddenly heard Chen Xinjian say, "Commander, I have a way to solve a large part of the funding shortfall?"

"A large part?" Pei Yuan said, turning to look at Chen Xinjian.

A large portion of that amounted to hundreds of thousands of taels.

Does the Ming Dynasty really have anyone who can produce so much cash?

Chen Xinjian whispered a reminder, "Commander, how could you forget what we do? The richest people in our Great Ming Dynasty are the temples!"

“These temples not only receive large amounts of incense money from the people, but also have a lot of farmland under their names, which brings in a considerable income every year.”

"In addition, in order to make money from money, many of the larger temples are lending money at exorbitant interest rates."

"There are over a thousand temples of all sizes in our capital. Wouldn't it be easy to squeeze hundreds of thousands of taels of silver out of them?"

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan was initially tempted, but then shook his head and said, "Isn't this inappropriate?"

“When we first arrived in Beijing, we did confiscate several temples because we were short of money. But now those temples are all paying their share of the temple fees properly. If we were to start another big fight over money, we would probably incur public wrath.”

"His Majesty values ​​these temples highly. If things really get out of hand, it won't look good. Besides, rather than killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, it's better to let the temples support us slowly and steadily."

Chen Xinjian laughed and said, "Chief, we don't necessarily have to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. We can borrow the money politely and use it first. That way, the chief won't even have to give us the paper money."

"Once the treasury submits its petition, the commander will seize the opportunity to sell a batch of banknotes, which will easily cover the shortfall in silver."

Pei Yuan frowned slightly. "This matter is of great importance, and I only dare to confide in people I trust. How could I possibly conspire with those monks?"

Chen Xinjian quickly said, "The commander doesn't need to go into too much detail with those people. Moreover, this matter doesn't even require the commander's involvement; a middleman to help raise the money is enough."

Pei Yuan's mind was racing.

Chen Xinjian had already revealed the name of the person, "It's Yun Weilin, the head of the Yun clan, who's been working at Zhihua Temple these past few days. He has extensive connections in the capital and has served as the Daoist priest at Da Ci'en Temple for many years, so he's quite prestigious."

"As long as you tell Yun Weilin about this matter, and he raises the money, I believe the shortfall can be made up quickly. As for how to keep it from the monks, you don't need to worry about that, Commander Yun should be able to solve that problem."

Crowdfunding was already very popular during the Ming Dynasty.

Many small business owners who want to expand their businesses gather together with others who have the same needs. They pool their money, draw lots, and the winners can take all the money to start their business.

Then, based on how much money each person contributed, they would each hold a certain percentage of shares in the successful person's business, and everyone would share the profits.

This was an early form of fundraising.

(End of this chapter)