Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 134 The Prime Minister Talks about Silver Dollars
After the beginning of autumn, the weather did not cool down, but instead was as hot as oil boiling over a raging fire, burning people's skin and causing pain.

Not to mention ordinary people's homes, even in the residence of Grand Secretary Zhang, Zhang Juzheng wore a short shirt with wide sleeves. The servants changed two basins of ice cubes in a row, but the hot sweat still couldn't stop flowing down his cheeks.

Li Youzi, who was sitting opposite him, was even worse. He was fat to begin with, and now that he had unbuttoned his shirt, a bunch of fat took the opportunity to roll out.

He picked up the palm-leaf fan and fanned it vigorously, greedily absorbing the cool air, but only a gust of hot wind hit his body.

Li Youzi licked his lips and looked at Zhang Juzheng and complained, "Uncle, it's really hot this year. It's probably not this hot at this time of year in previous years. This year is really strange."

Zhang Juzheng nodded to his old friend, then suddenly thought of something and burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Li Youzi asked suspiciously.

"When I heard you say it was hot, I thought of a joke."

"What joke?"

"When I went to Wuchang City to take the exam, I heard an old man on the street say this." Zhang Juzheng saw that the atmosphere was depressing, so he spoke out, "It was a bully in Wuchang City who was going to go to the eighteen levels of hell after his death. Originally, a person with such heinous crimes would be thrown into the mountains of knives and the pot of oil. The King of Hell ordered people to throw him into the pot of oil, but the bully was calm and composed."

"The King of Hell asked him, 'What kind of magic did you use to not be afraid of this oil pan?' The bully replied, 'I am from Wuchang, how can it be hotter than your oil pan?'"

"The King of Hell slapped his forehead and said with emotion: 'This Wuchang City is so hot. It seems that the ghosts from Wuchang City will be spared the punishment of being boiled in oil in the future.'"

Zhang Juzheng described it vividly, and Li Youzi also clapped his hands and laughed: "Haha, uncle, this Wuchang city is really hot. When I went to take the exam, I wanted to go into the examination room with my shirt off."

After some joking and teasing, the two of them cheered up.

Glancing at his old friend, Zhang Juzheng got straight to the point and said, "Yuan Shu, the emperor wanted to mint new silver coins a few days ago, and he also said that he wanted to get the right to mint coins. What do you think of this, as a Langguan from the Ministry of Revenue?"

"This is definitely not something that can be given, otherwise the country will no longer be a country and there will never be peace." Li Youzi said without hesitation.

"Yes, that's what I mean." Zhang Juzheng echoed, and then said, "We want to take the right to mint silver coins back to the Ministry of Revenue, and then let the Ministry of Revenue open a money shop."

"The court wants to open a money shop? Isn't that competing with the people for profit?" Li Youzi was a little surprised.

"What do you mean by competing with the people for profit? I think you're competing with the rich and powerful for profit." Zhang Juzheng frowned and snorted, then stood up, walked to the window, leaned against it and looked into the distance, and said with his back to Li Youzi, "Those money houses lend money, which one doesn't make 90% of the money out and 13% back? Our court collects 90% of the interest from them every year, which is not too high, right?"

"Uncle, there is something I need to remind you of."

"explain."

"You are so money-minded now, thinking about how to make money all day long. This is not like you." Li Youzi said, sweat dripping down his neck. "Besides, think about it, whose business is that bank?"

"Whoever their business is, we have a way to deal with them."

Zhang Juzheng was quite pleased with himself, and it was obvious that he had everything planned out.

Li Youzi stood up, walked to Zhang Juzheng's side, and asked tentatively: "Uncle, from your tone, it seems that you have a plan. Tell us about it quickly."

"We plan to use the interest from this bank to subsidize the officials in Beijing when their salaries are no longer paid in kind."

"Oh, that's great news."

Li Youzi clapped his hands, and his two thick eyebrows rose up.

The salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty were divided into two parts: one was the salary in cash, which included rice, rice in silk, and rice in gauze; the other was the salary in cash, which included cash in cash and silk and cloth in cash.

The salaries of officials consisted simply of rice, gauze, copper coins and silver.

If the court has no money, then it’s hard to say.

When Zheng He sailed to the West, he brought back a lot of strange and exotic things. The imperial court was afraid that these things would be spoiled, so they used them to offset their salaries.

What pepper, sumac, etc. Those officials complained bitterly.

To some extent, this has seriously dampened officials' desire to go overseas.

If Zheng He had brought shiploads of gold, silver and jewelry to the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty might have already planted its flag in North America by now.

"As long as we can stabilize these Beijing officials and local officials can't find a way out, the world will be stable." Zhang Juzheng turned sideways and looked at Li Youzi, saying without joy or sadness.

"Then how do you plan to convert physical objects into salary?" Li Youzi asked again.

"Rice in the capital is now 6 cents per stone. We can give these officials 7 cents per stone and convert all the rice into silver. This way, the officials will have money and can buy food on their own."

"We can allocate some of the grain in the capital to be transported to the border."

"Food is expensive there."

This was a great way to please people, so Li Youzi immediately patted his chest and agreed: "Uncle, don't worry, we will get these rules in place as soon as we get back, and we will give them all the money next month."

"Instead of giving out silver taels, we give out silver dollars."

Zhang Juzheng smiled and shook his head, then took out five exquisite silver circles of different sizes from his arms.

"Is this the silver dollar you mentioned?"

"Yes." Zhang Juzheng smiled and nodded, then put four silver coins on the window railing and introduced them one by one: "The largest one on the left is ten taels of silver, and from left to right are five taels, one tael, five cents, and one cent."

"I'm afraid this is less than two taels." Li Youzi frowned and asked tentatively, "Can this be used?"

"Yuan Shu, are you confused too? This is silver, not jewelry, why do we need a sufficient amount?" Zhang Juzheng said, his mind unable to help but recall the debate his son had a few days ago.

What is silver?
A commodity that acts as a general equivalent.

As long as the court says it is ten taels and does so consistently, it is ten taels.

Although this will harm the interests of some people, the officials in Beijing are also beneficiaries and will naturally not go against it.

one left.

In future overseas trade, the Ming Dynasty only recognized silver dollars and forced them to use silver dollars as well.

Zhang Juzheng was thinking about it when Li Youzi shook his head and his sweaty face turned into a bitter gourd. He wiped the sweat off his face and said bitterly, "Uncle, you have given us a hot potato."

"Don't worry, we have made preparations. Rice, grain, oil, and cloth can all be purchased with silver dollars."

"We have already sent people to inform many merchants in Beijing. If they are willing to accept this silver dollar, we will reduce their business taxes every year."

Li Youzi was relieved now. He glared at Zhang Juzheng fiercely and couldn't help complaining, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? You made me worry for so long."

"Don't we have to take it slow?"

"Okay, when I get back, I'll immediately have the Mint produce this type of silver dollar."

"No need." Zhang Juzheng waved his hand and interrupted him, "The Mint under the Ministry of Revenue is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue, and now the Silver Dollar Bureau is directly under the joint jurisdiction of the Cabinet and the Emperor."

"Uncle, you."

Li Youzi was puzzled, and Zhang Juzheng smiled and said, "We can't help it. In the future, the bank will be jointly managed by the cabinet and the emperor."

"Eighty percent goes to the national treasury, ten percent goes to the inner palace, half goes to the officials in the capital, and the remaining half is used as money to stabilize the capital."

(End of this chapter)