Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 458 Invisible War
From the Battle of Malacca in the 16th year of Taichang, to this moment, the Ming Dynasty's ambition to expand its territory was no longer hindered.

In this era, there is no moral accusation or public opinion - there are very few countries that can be called countries, and around the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty is the order maker.

In the past, it was a tribute system, but now the Ming Dynasty had a new diplomatic and trade system that combined the Lifanyuan and the Guanchanyuan.

While things were turbulent outside, another drastic change was happening within the Ming Dynasty: the new currency system.

The entire Eighteen Years of Taichang is now a propaganda stage, and the scope of propaganda covers every prefecture, county, and border city in the entire Ming Dynasty.

The method adopted is very simple: fixed-point display and manual tours.

In Kaifeng City, Henan Province, the original Henan Baoyuan Bureau has now changed its name to a new plaque: Henan Branch of the Ming Dynasty Silver Bank.

On this day, the Henan Provincial Government and the Henan Public Security Bureau sent special personnel here.

"Guide Prefecture, the prefecture city, six counties and one state, and fifteen sets of sample money!"

In front of the main hall of the bank, the official of the Henan branch of Daming Bank shouted loudly, and then the people behind him brought out fifteen boxes.

On the desk in front of him, there was an open box. Inside the box, there was a silk cloth at the bottom, on which were placed two sets of new coins, the front and back, and a layer of glass on top.

"Your humble servant signs." In the long line in front of him, the person at the front was naturally the person from Guide Prefecture.

He was seen carrying a government seal of Guide Prefecture. He signed his name and then used the seal. Then he clasped his fists to the escorting police officers from the Public Security Department, and quickly asked the clerk from Guide Prefecture who came with him to check the fifteen sets of sample money that their prefecture was going to take away.

"Ru Ning Mansion..."

The money was being distributed in an orderly manner here, while in the second official hall of the Henan branch of the Daming Silver Bank, four people in red robes were talking.

"It's a heavy task." Governor-General Xie Tingzan of Henan Province said to the provincial governor Zhang Yicheng, "Junyi, you have to pay more attention to this matter. If you have any difficulties, please tell me in time."

"...It is indeed a heavy task." Zhang Yicheng's face was full of worry. "I will ask the Governor's Office and the prefectures and counties to handle the propaganda. There are two most difficult things at the moment. One is the private money... The other is that the people are uneasy..."

Xie Tingzan listened to him patiently, and then said: "Your Majesty, don't worry about the private money. Your Majesty and the ministers have already made a plan. As for the people..."

When he said this, he looked at the security officer of Henan Security Bureau and said, "Baoying, how is the deployment of the Security Bureau going?"

The current Henan Public Security Commissioner is a Jinshi who obtained his rank in the seventh year of Taichang. His surname is Li, his given name is Yangchong, and his courtesy name is Baoying.

Hearing this, he looked embarrassed and said, "The Governor's Office and the Provincial Government, please understand. The situation at the Grand Iron Bridge is serious, so I have to arrange for police to take care of it. I have already told the Public Security Bureaus in various prefectures. As long as there is a provincial or prefectural order, they will naturally follow orders to arrest those with bad intentions. But I think that if we want to be on the safe side, the Public Security Bureau may need to add some police officers. Not many people, three hundred will be enough."

Xie Tingzan waved his hand and said, "It's not difficult. I can write to the Privy Council and the Central Military Governor's Office and ask them to transfer a sentry from Henan Camp to be ready for use at any time. Baoying doesn't need to be stingy with the police force we have now."

Li Yangchong nodded: "Then there will be no problem."

Xie Tingzan smiled, and then said to the Henan branch's inspector: "It is better to ease than to block. The privately minted coins will be strictly investigated by this governor in accordance with the imperial decree. The people are hesitant and easily agitated, but that will be a matter for the future. For now, the province, prefectures and counties will all work together to let the officials and gentry prepare to exchange for the new coins first. Whether this major event can be successfully implemented in Henan depends on Zou Yintai."

"I know the importance of this matter."

This man called "Zou Yintai" was Zou Weilian, a fellow Jinshi in the seventh year of Taichang with Li Yangchong. He now chose a very different path and entered the relatively independent Daming silver bank system.

At this time, Zou Weilian said solemnly: "Before I and the provincial governors left Beijing, Your Majesty gave me instructions in person many times in the special class of the governors of the Tongzheng Academy, and the key points were clearly stated. Wang Butang also gave me instructions according to the different situations in each province. In addition to the promotion of the new currency this year, the most urgent task for me is to set up branches in various prefectures. In addition, there are money shops and banks in various places. The real owners of these money shops and banks..."

Xie Tingzan said solemnly, "Don't worry, Zou Yintai! No matter who is behind these money shops and banks, I will definitely ask His Majesty to have the real owner present! On the contrary, now that all places are not allowed to mint coins or private coins, how much has the Henan branch approved when the time comes to exchange them?"

Zou Weilian did not evade the question and cupped his hands, "This depends on the province. We should first find out how many officials and wealthy families are willing to exchange for new money this year. Wang Butang will report on how the provinces will distribute the first batch of new money by the end of the year."

Xie Tingzan nodded slowly: "I understand."

He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Is it possible that the demand for minting coins is insufficient to meet the supply?"

Zou Weilian laughed and said, "In the beginning, I'm afraid silver dollars will be more in short supply. As for minting coins, the Governor's Office doesn't need to be in a hurry, right?"

"Oh? The mint is not short of copper?"

"I also received a document from the General Office not long ago. Wang Butang asked me to go ahead and do it, saying that with the guidance of Your Majesty, the ironworks has already made some progress in smelting large quantities of fine steel. After discussion at the court, the Privy Council is in the process of replacing the old copper guns with new ones. In addition, Yunnan and Outer Yunnan use steam engines to mine copper, so there won't be a big shortage of copper needed for minting coins."

Xie Tingzan could not help but mutter: "Even the old bronze guns from the past have to be melted down..."

There was still a worry between his brows, and Zou Weilian said seriously: "The difficult part of this is that we should try our best to redeem the private money of the people first, and we can't let the poor people have only private money in their hands. The mint has a lot of private money, and it's nothing more than re-melting it."

Xie Tingzan nodded slowly, and then his eyes became sharp: "Jun Yi, the implementation of this national policy will require both you and me to worry about it. Baoying, you should also put this matter first. I will keep a close eye on the Great Iron Bridge."

While all arrangements were being made in Henan, in the city of Wuchang in Hubei, in a private room of a restaurant, several people whose clothes and demeanor indicated that they were wealthy gentry were already groping for new money.

Although the people were only showing and promoting sample coins, they already had the real thing in their hands.

"How is it?" one person anxiously asked another person sitting in the main seat.

"The master craftsman in the workshop has already checked it." The man looked extremely serious, "This new coin will never be minted again."

"Is it that difficult?" The man stared at the new money in his hand, his face uncertain, "In my opinion, this flat money doesn't have those smooth spiral lines..."

"You didn't get much coins from Lord Bo, did you?" The man in the main seat sneered, "If you got more, you would know that there are a lot of tricks to coining!"

"Oh? What do you say?"

The man at the main seat snorted coldly, "Except for the difference at first glance, the new coins minted by this mint are made of extremely uniform materials! Not to mention how serious a crime it will be to mint private coins in the future, even if we first mix the formula of general appearance, size, and weight, we cannot make such uniform new coins. One coin may be able to pass as a fake, but if it is more than 100 coins, the difference will be obvious! The provincial branches obviously know this, and now they are telling the villagers one by one how much a 100-coin coin should weigh."

"That tiny difference..."

"Humph! That tiny difference can lead to a fatal disaster! The most difficult thing to guard against is to report it, and the provincial branches and the public security bureau will come with sophisticated scales to check, and the truth will be revealed once they check!"

"Then our silver shop...will only be able to make fire consumption in the future?"

"Huo Hao?" The host gnashed his teeth. "Who allowed you to do Huo Hao? Unless people don't want to exchange for silver dollars! But since there are silver dollars, who would let you sell silver? Collecting broken silver and old coins, exchanging them for silver dollars and minting coins, how much more Huo Hao can you charge? This is a small matter. Haven't you heard? Money shops and banks will not be allowed to be run by private individuals immediately."

“Isn’t this competing with the people for profit?”

"Didn't you understand what Lord Bo meant?" The man at the main seat also slammed the coins in his hand on the table in frustration, "Even the King of Chu..."

He stopped talking, paused, and then gritted his teeth and said, "Now there is only one way to go, that is to give up the shares and become a counter store of the branches of various prefectures. If you want to continue doing this business, you can only use enough private money to accept the first batch of silver dollars and mint coins first."

"Isn't that obviously a loss for us?"

There is no doubt that the implementation of the new currency system is bound to cause a huge uproar among the people. Astronomical amounts of private money have been circulating among the people, and the private casting and melting and exchange of scattered gold and silver is an extremely large industrial chain.

Now the imperial court wants to take back the monetary control, but the resistance it encounters is enough to scare the emperor and his ministers away.

Although Zhu Changluo had already laid some groundwork through royal family members and meritorious officials, the amount they could access was still nothing compared to the entire Ming Dynasty's existing currency.

But the court's determination was obviously firm, and the power of the entire Security Council was leaning towards this matter. The newly established Daming Silver Bank became an independent force that was only subject to the constraints of the Grand Political Conference and reported to the emperor and the ministers.

The new person in charge of general affairs of the Daming Silver Bank was Wang Xijue's son Wang Heng.

He was transferred to this position from the position of Director of the New Deal Reform Department, and was actually privately known as the Ninth Prime Minister.

Not to mention anything else, just the fact that the national tax revenue, the national treasury and the local treasury all circulate in the accounts of the Ming Silver Bank is a rather terrifying power - even though the Ming Silver Bank only served as a "warehouse keeper" and had no power of financial management.

Whether it is the central government or local government, if they need money, they can go to the Daming Silver Bank and withdraw it at any time.

But this is equivalent to the Ming Dynasty Silver Bank having its own account books for the country's tax revenue and the country's expenditure.

Wang Heng was very busy with this, as it was his final stop after many years of experience in the New Policy Reform Department - all new policies ultimately come down to money.

Now, with the money law as an opportunity, this matter should be promoted.

Behind this national policy, an extremely important supporting system is the power of industrialization.

The emergence of private money was not only due to the lack of copper, but also because the coin-making capacity could not keep up with the demand. According to traditional technology, how much copper ore can be mined and smelted every year? How many coins can be minted?

Now we have steam engines and the precision casting technology accumulated over the years of improving ordnance. Although the so-called precision today is far from the accuracy of later generations, it has been achieved while ensuring the cost while greatly improving the level.

What's more, the core goal of the court is to establish the credit of the official currency, and it will push forward this matter even if it has to grit its teeth now.

At a time when the value of Baochao has already collapsed, it is unrealistic to directly issue paper money again.

As far as the naked eye can see, the Ming Dynasty will continue to use physical currency for a long time.

Paper money can only be used for large-denomination silver bills.

Faced with the public discussions that had begun to be reported from all over the country, the Executive Yuan and other government offices naturally became nervous.

Compared with places like Henan and Hubei, the undercurrents in provinces like Huaiyang and Jiangning are truly terrifying.

But it's just an undercurrent.

The current emperor is not the same as before, and Jiangnan is no longer the same as before. What's more, the southern army that is heading to the east to attack Japan is gathering in various parts of Jiangnan, waiting for the Oriental fleet to be completed and to go with the army?
It was at such a clever timing that the imperial court began to publicize the new currency and then prepared to start exchanging new coins in the 19th year of Taichang.

In the 19th year of Taichang, both temporary and new coins were collected for taxation.

Many people in Jiangnan speculated: With the current strength of the Ming Dynasty, in order to march eastward to conquer Japan, the northern army also "ordered" Mongolia, the Jurchen tribes and Korea to be vassal troops. Is it really necessary to arrange another southern army?

Could it be that this southern army was mobilized just in case of an emergency with the new currency system?

No one could determine the emperor's true intentions. Local people could only conclude that the establishment of the Ming Silver Bank and the new currency system were things the emperor had to do.

"From now on, all salaries and official expenses will be drawn from the bank. This..."

"Is this something you and I should worry about? Do we need to discipline the officials again?"

The officials of a county in the south of the Yangtze River gathered to drink and discuss after their shift.

"Even if that coin was made of white copper, is it worth fifty? This is the worst way to squeeze the blood and blood out of the people!"

"Elder, can't we first exchange the coins in the tenants' hands for cash?"

"Be careful with your words! Do you know how many plainclothes officers there are in each village now?"

In a clan temple somewhere in Jiangxi Province, a large family was holding a clan meeting with sad faces.

In Qufu, Shandong, Kong Shangxian is already 75 years old.

He had an aged face and lonely eyes. He said weakly while lying on the hospital bed, "Exchange all... exchange all. Don't keep even a grain of silver... or a copper coin..."

The Kong family had long become the most obedient family, because Kong Shangxian knew very well that the emperor still wanted to keep the Kong family.

Among the academicians of the Academy of Scientific Research, is there a pure scholar?

The emperor's achievements in both civil and military affairs have long been proof of his profound knowledge. If there is only one sage in the world, it must be His Majesty.

He just wanted to preserve the title of Yanshenggong by "obedience from beginning to end".

Outside the east gate of Beijing, a small town with a city wall has long been built on the north bank of the Tonghui River. The city wall is made of cement and bricks, and several large chimneys inside emit thick smoke all day long. Even if you are far away in the Tonghui River, you can always hear the roar of the machines inside.

This town is often guarded by royal soldiers who take turns guarding it, and entry and exit checks are extremely strict.

On this day, outside the south gate of this small town known locally as "Gold and Silver Castle", the entire north bank and the entire Tonghui River were under martial law.

On the Tonghui River, every ship of the Grand Canal Transport Company was boarded by naval officers and soldiers protecting the canal.

One box after another was carried out of the gold and silver castle with great effort and then loaded onto the boat.

Important officials of the Privy Council came here in person, and many officials dressed in blue and green robes boarded different grain ships to escort the transport.

What these people are doing is not surprising to well-informed people inside and outside Beijing.

The first batch of new money that the Ming Dynasty actually spent was military pay.

Need I say more about the profound meaning behind this?

This first batch of military salaries issued with the new currency was transported to the south of the Yangtze River by grain boats before the canal froze. Is there any need to explain the profound meaning behind this?

This is essentially an invisible war over the right to mint and issue currency.

(End of this chapter)