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

Chapter 637 To untie the bell, one must tie it

Pei Yuan felt relieved.

He used the book "The Records of the Island Barbarians" as a starting point to arouse Zhu Houzhao's interest with the enormous wealth of seashells. Then, he used Yunnan as a starting point and the fact that seashells were being traded in Yunnan to make Zhu Houzhao think from his perspective and fear the prospect of people being able to take whatever they wanted with mountains of seashells.

In fact, Pei Yuan's assessment was too lenient.

Decades later, during the Wanli era, in Yunnan, people even had to pay high prices to buy seashells to use as currency.

Guo Tingwu, the Yunnan Provincial Inspector, submitted a memorial expressing his bewilderment: "Yunnan produces copper, but instead of using it for casting, we are buying seashells at high prices. This is not profitable."

If Zhu Houzhao knew that the local government in Yunnan in later generations not only continued to circulate seashells, but even sought to buy them at high prices, he would probably have a stroke on the spot.

In this particular atmosphere, one could easily stir up a conversation about the scarcity of gold and silver.

That would inevitably lead Zhu Houzhao to immediately associate seashells with gold and silver, and then with Yunnan and the entire Ming Dynasty.

If all the wealth of Yunnan could be easily exchanged for seashells.

If there were truly mountains of gold and silver outside of the Ming Dynasty, or even as easily mined as mud and rubble, wouldn't the entire Ming Dynasty be at your mercy?

And coincidentally, Zhang Yu, who was historically familiar with Yunnan and had strongly criticized Yunnan's silver mines, was just the kind of person who was suitable to stir up the topic.

Calculate step by step, and make move by move.

Pei Yuan finally made Zhu Houzhao fully experience what Pei Yuan was afraid of.

—After that, that became our shared fear.

Let's get to work, Ah Zhao.

The power to set the price of currency is the decisive factor that affects the Ming Dynasty in every aspect.

Pei Yuan had worked hard to support the Ming Dynasty's precious paper money, and he didn't want to see this bad boy cause trouble and sabotage things.

Faced with the flustered Zhu Houzhao, Pei Yuan gave a blank and bewildered look, saying, "This, Your Majesty, I don't know."

Zhu Houzhao was in a state of confusion and confusion, and roared in anger, "Then what do you know?!"

As he spoke, he swept everything off the imperial desk with a single sweep of his sleeve.

Pei Yuan was secretly pleased and watched with a smug look on his face.

Go ahead and print more money, go ahead and print more money, you fucking bastard.

Pei Yuan could already imagine what would happen to A Zhao next: a heart-wrenching, tragic love story about chasing after a Ming Dynasty banknote like a funeral procession.

Pei Yuan wasn't in a hurry to save A Zhao; he'd torture her first.

Pei Yuan, with a look of astonishment and simplicity, said, "This... Your Majesty, I just discovered a great treasure in ancient books and sincerely wanted to offer it to you. I didn't think that much for a moment."

Zhu Houzhao was speechless for a moment after being cornered by Pei Yuan.

In his panic, he was eager to share his terrifying discovery with Pei Yuan.

However, he dared not reveal too much in front of Zhang Yu, an outsider.

They wanted Zhang Yu to step down, but also felt that he was quite insightful and perhaps they could consult him.

Zhu Houzhao could only wait and see what Zhang Yu thought before discussing it with Pei Yuan later.

Zhu Houzhao then looked at Zhang Yu and asked, "What insightful opinion does Minister Zhang have?"

Zhang Yu, standing to the side, was completely bewildered by the exchange between the emperor and the military officer.

He didn't know which matter the emperor was referring to, so he continued talking about his previous request for the emperor to close those depleted silver mines.

"There are eight major problems with mining that are truly worrisome. First, the gathering of mining thieves easily leads to chaos. Second, the overburdened mining bosses are on the verge of collapse. Third, the cruelty of miners forces them into exile. Fourth, the lack of food for hired laborers causes them to cry out in hunger. Fifth, the widespread opening of mines is a wasteful and pointless endeavor. Sixth, the scarcity of silver in ore leads to the forced purchase of mines. Seventh, with everyone mining, agriculture and sericulture lose their jobs. Eighth, the tyranny of mining supervisors and their abuse of power incite unrest. Now, mining bosses die from overburdening themselves, ordinary people die from being forced to buy mines, and miners die from being crushed or fighting. If this continues, even emptying the treasury and exhausting the resources of the entire nation will not save us from extinction."

Zhu Houzhao listened attentively.

Although Zhang Yu's words were not the answer he expected, they also revealed the immense suffering that the people had endured in order to mine this silver.

If the Ming Dynasty continues to exploit and mistreat its people, all it will gain in the end are resources that can be easily obtained elsewhere. Wouldn't that make it a laughingstock to the world?

After Zhang Yu finished speaking, Zhu Houzhao gained a better understanding of this censor who was skilled in government affairs.

He earnestly sought advice, saying, "Leaving aside other matters, I am determined to abolish the seashell trade in Yunnan. In your opinion, Zhang Qing, what is the best course of action?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu frowned and pondered for a long time before hesitatingly saying, "In my opinion, there are two difficulties in this matter."

"First, the imperial court lacks sufficient currency to fill the market gap created by the shortage of sea cows. This will cause difficulties in local transactions and create huge problems."

"The main currencies used by the imperial court nowadays are nothing more than silver, copper coins, and paper money."

"Silver veins are small and difficult to obtain, so we won't go into that. The value of paper money is unstable and it's almost obsolete, so we won't go into that either. That means we can only mint more copper coins."

"Although there are not many silver mines in Yunnan, there are quite a few copper mines. Copper can be mined in Yunnan and then transported to Yuezhou and other places to be cast into copper coins, which may be able to make up for the gaps."

"The second problem is that the copper coins were of different standards and there was a lot of inferior coins, which made it difficult to gain the recognition of various tribes."

"Even if those tribes accept copper coins, if the imperial court wants to promote copper coins, should it confiscate and plunder all the seashells in their hands, or should it use the copper coins that have been painstakingly minted to exchange for the seashells from the various tribes?"

After hearing these two difficult questions, Zhu Houzhao also felt a bit of a headache.

He thought for a moment and asked, "If we're going to mint copper coins, what would the cost be? Why not mine the copper locally and mint it there, instead of transporting it all the way to Yuezhou?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu replied, "If that's the case, I'm afraid the copper coins won't be able to be minted."

Zhu Houzhao asked in surprise, "Why is that?"

Upon hearing this, even with his integrity, Zhang Yu was unable to answer.

As an imperial censor, he could not presume the actions of local officials before the emperor about something that had not yet happened, but based on his past experience, he knew very well that this matter could not be accomplished.

Despite being the emperor, Zhu Houzhao remained willful and pressed on, asking, "Why is this so?"

Zhang Yu had no choice but to answer, saying, "I fear the cost of minting coins will far exceed the value of the copper coins harvested. Such a loss would be unsustainable."

Zhu Houzhao found it even more puzzling: "Why transport copper all the way to Yuezhou to mint coins without fear of losing money? Why not mint coins locally instead, which would result in losses?"

Zhang Yu was so stumped by the question that he could only reply, "Your subject has no answer."

Pei Yuan, however, was well aware of the situation.

Later, Yin Zhengmao, a censor, suggested that the price of copper in the two capitals was too high, making the cost of minting coins unprofitable. He proposed that copper be sourced from Yunnan and transported to Yuezhou for minting.

He also roughly calculated the costs: the labor cost was 390,000 taels of silver, and the profit was 650 million cash, worth more than 930,000 taels of silver. There was a considerable profit to be made.

The Ministry of Revenue disagreed, arguing that Yunnan was a remote and desolate region with ample room for bold reforms and fewer constraints, so they could simply mint coins there.

After a year of casting, Governor Wang Bing couldn't stand it anymore, saying that the copper coins produced were less than the cost of the production.

This is very embarrassing.

By then, Emperor Wanshou was in power and believed that small expenses should be spent where necessary, so he insisted on minting coins in Yunnan. In the end, the court lost so much money that it simply abandoned minting coins altogether, and for the first time, it was formally proposed that all taxes and official salaries should be paid in silver. Damn it.

Therefore, the monetary system of the Ming Dynasty was an absolutely terrible mess.

Pei Yuan didn't want to take over such a mess later.

Zhu Houzhao wanted to press further, but when he thought of the second problem, he suddenly realized that this problem was nothing.

Even if copper coins were minted at great cost, how could those seashells be replaced from the hundreds of ethnic groups in Yunnan province?
If conscription is forcibly carried out, a large-scale rebellion will inevitably occur.

Given Yunnan's complex terrain and harsh environment, the amount of money and grain the imperial court would have to spend to quell the rebellion would likely be an astronomical figure that is difficult to measure.

But if we use copper coins to redeem seashells from the barbarians, wouldn't that be equivalent to the imperial court spending a huge amount of money to acquire a bunch of useless seashells?

Moreover, the imperial court's act of redeeming seashells with copper coins indirectly endorsed the value of seashells, making it even more difficult to remove them from the market in the future.

Thinking about these things, Zhu Houzhao felt like the sky had fallen.

In the afternoon, he was happily playing with the older boys, temporarily dispelling his gloom. Unexpectedly, he was met with a devastating blow as soon as he returned to the palace.

Zhu Houzhao pondered for a while, then looked at Pei Yuan, who appeared simple-minded and confused.

I always feel that the one who tied the knot must untie it.

So he said to Zhang Yu, "Minister Zhang, please compile today's memorial into a written report, and allow me to consider it carefully."

Zhang Yu was quite surprised.

It is said that the emperor is stubborn and close to treacherous officials, but now it seems that he is not entirely without fault.

He immediately replied respectfully, "Your subject obeys."

As soon as Zhang Yu left, Zhu Houzhao couldn't wait to exchange views with Pei Yuan.

“Pei Qing, have you ever thought about what if minerals like gold and silver are also distributed unevenly, like seashells? Wouldn’t that mean that the things that are rare here might be found in huge quantities elsewhere?”

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan replied, "This, Your Majesty, does not know."

Seeing that Zhu Houzhao was about to get angry, Pei Yuan thought for a moment and then gave a reply.

"Your Majesty, our Great Ming Dynasty is so vast, yet only a few places like Yunnan and Jiangxi have copper mines; other places are resource-poor."

"If we consider the Ming Dynasty within the broader context of the world, compared to those barbarian lands and remote regions, there might be other countries as resource-rich as Yunnan and Jiangxi."

Zhu Houzhao was even more depressed after hearing this. He said sadly, "This is what I am worried about."

Pei Yuan silently put his hands in his pockets.

Zhu Houzhao looked at Pei Yuan, "You help me figure out what to do about this?"

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and felt that he still had to say something, so he said to Zhu Houzhao, "From what Imperial Censor Zhang said just now, I heard both worry and joy."

"Oh?" Zhu Houzhao perked up. "Tell me about it."

He was almost in tears just now, but he didn't expect Pei Qing to be able to hear a hint of joy in his voice.

Pei Yuan said, "The so-called worry is that our dynasty relies too much on silver, making us vulnerable to being exploited. The so-called joy is that the issue of cowrie shells is easier to resolve."

"Since imported silver can destroy our currency, we can also excavate the seashells in Beiliu and destroy the currency system of various ethnic groups in Yunnan."

"When the various ethnic groups of Hu and Yi are forced to give up sea cows and use the currency of our Great Ming, they will inevitably become more dependent on the Great Ming in the long run, and only then can the various ethnic groups eventually be integrated into one family."

Zhu Houzhao became increasingly furious upon hearing this.

What kind of bittersweet good news is this? If this tactic works for Yunnan, wouldn't it further demonstrate the risks of relying entirely on silver?

Seeing Zhu Houzhao glaring at him angrily, Pei Yuan remained silent this time.

Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of Pei Yuan, Zhu Houzhao could only sit on his throne and rack his brains.

Pei Yuan was bored for a while when he saw a eunuch enter the Qianqing Palace.

Looking up, he was surprised to see a familiar face – it was Eunuch Yin Sheng.

Yin Sheng glanced at Pei Yuan and reminded Zhu Houzhao, "Your Majesty, the palace gates are about to close; it's time to let Commander Pei leave the palace."

Zhu Houzhao glared at Yin Sheng and said irritably, "What's the rush? What time is it?"

When Yin Sheng saw the emperor's anger, he was so frightened that he hurriedly knelt down and dared not say another word.

Pei Yuan became somewhat unsettled.

No, Ah Zhao, it's really late!

It wasn't that Pei Yuan suddenly felt a sense of awe and dared not spend the night in the inner palace; it was simply that A Zhao's reputation was so bad that it could easily tarnish his own honor.

He had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Your Majesty, it is indeed a bit late."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao came to his senses and was momentarily surprised, realizing that the hall was dimly lit and it was indeed getting late.

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand.

Pei Yuan understood and looked at Yin Sheng.

Yin Sheng quickly assigned a young eunuch to lead Pei Yuan out of the palace.

Zhu Houzhao remained alone in the Qianqing Palace.

Yin Sheng quickly learned from the other eunuchs that Zhu Houzhao was in a bad mood that day.

He dared not disturb them, and seeing that it was getting darker, he ordered the lamps in the Qianqing Palace to be lit.

Just as Yin Sheng was about to arrange some dinner for Zhu Houzhao, he heard Zhu Houzhao, who was sitting on the dragon throne with a frown, slowly ask, "By the way, where is the market price for the sale and purchase of paper money now?"

Yin Sheng knew that the Emperor had been paying close attention to this matter recently. Although Lu Yin and Zhang Rui were directly in charge, as an eunuch who was good at reading minds, how could he be completely unaware of something that the Emperor cared about?
Yin Sheng immediately said, "The selling price and purchase price of paper money have both rebounded today. The selling price of paper money has now reached the point where ten strings of cash can be exchanged for one coin, and the purchase price of paper money has rebounded to fifteen strings of cash."

To prevent Zhu Houzhao from misunderstanding the market situation, he specifically emphasized, "Currently, only thirteen banks with the character '泉' (quan) have offered a purchase price of fifteen strings of cash. Other banks are still observing the situation."

The Quan family-owned banks, which were originally unremarkable among the many money shops, suddenly gained fame thanks to this high price.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao instructed, "Have someone compile a complete list of the exchange rates of the paper money over the years. If the dates are too far in the past, check the official documents room."

Then, glancing around the Qianqing Palace, he asked with some surprise, "By the way, where is Pei Yuan?"

Yin Sheng knew that the emperor must have been so engrossed in his thoughts that he had overlooked what had just happened.

So he quickly said, "It's getting late, Commander Pei should go back and rest."

Zhu Houzhao retorted angrily, "How can he sleep after such a big incident? He caused trouble and then just walked away. Call him back here!"

(End of this chapter)