Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 184 The Power of Finance! Yang Shiqi's Report!

The people are prosperous and suffer.

If they die, the people will suffer.

If the imperial court loses a war, it may impose additional taxes on the people in preparation for the next war.

Or they could conscript the people to perform more corvee labor, build cities, or transport food and supplies, etc.

What if we win?

The general who commands the troops will be rewarded handsomely, and the soldiers will also join in the fun and have a sip of the soup.

But what about ordinary people?

No benefit!

No benefit at all!
In order to prepare for war, the people even had to bear more additional labor, pay more money and grain to the court, and even be conscripted into the army.

This caused the people to be extremely disgusted with the court's launching of foreign wars.

Because it actually affects one's own interests.

Although the Southern Song Dynasty was in a remote corner of the country, ministers and scholars in the court were always obsessed with regaining their homeland in the north.

But ordinary people do not support this at all!
The reason is obvious.

The country belongs to the Zhao Song Dynasty, not to the common people.

What benefits will recovering the northern territory bring to the people who have lived in the south for generations?

Instead, they had to pay more taxes, more levies, perform heavier corvee labor, and even send their sons and husbands to fight on the front lines!

Why should they support it?

What reasons do they have for support?
As for the enemy country invading and the country being destroyed, we can just strengthen the defense. Why go on an expedition?
The chances of the expedition failing are much greater!
Is it wrong for people to think this way?

not at all!
From the perspective of the common people at that time, it was natural for them to think so.

Zhu Yunhuan was fully aware of this, so he decided to use all the money for celebration and rewards.

People will only support foreign wars if everyone can feel that foreign wars will not harm any of their own interests but will bring them visible and tangible benefits.

For thousands of years, the people of the Central Plains have formed the idea of living behind closed doors and ignoring the outside world.

This is because the environment in the Central Plains is very special and different from that in the West.

To the north are grasslands and cold lands, to the south are wild tropical virgin forests, to the west are plateaus and deserts, and to the east is a dangerous and unpredictable ocean.

Surrounded on all sides, no matter which direction you go, the living environment outside is extremely harsh.

In comparison, the Central Plains is like a perfect paradise.

Confucian scholars also generally believed that conquering the outside world was only for the emperor's fame and achievements and could not bring any practical benefits.

So, they all opposed outward expansion.

Today, Zhu Yunhuan is going to use practical actions to break this inherent concept.

The thoughts of ordinary people are very simple.

In short, I will support whoever benefits me!

If it benefits me, I agree.

Otherwise, I will object.

And this "benefit" must be visible and tangible, rather than just empty promises.

After all, it is a tradition for the government to deceive the people, and the people have long stopped believing in the government's "big promises".

Although this money was distributed, it was actually a huge income for Zhu Yunhuan.

Because in today's Ming Dynasty, the new banknotes have been fully popularized.

When 20 million silver coins were distributed, what was actually issued was paper money with the same face value and purchasing power.

The silver will only be deposited in Ming Bank as a deposit.

With a deposit of 20 million taels of silver, the currency that can be issued is far more than 20 million taels.

With this calculation, there is still profit.

If we make people feel that they can make money and get rich by going overseas, then everyone will support it!
Historically, it was this method that enabled the West to usher in the Age of Discovery.

To put it bluntly, they went overseas to be pirates.

They robbed money, robbed people, robbed various mineral resources, and made a fortune from it.

As it was profitable, people flocked to it one after another and went crazy to open up "colonies" overseas.

The so-called Age of Discovery can actually be called the Age of Pirates in another way.

Upon hearing Zhu Yunhuan's words, the people watching from afar suddenly burst into thunderous cheers.

The officials also quickly followed suit and praised His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for his kindness.

But Yang Shiqi and some officials from the Ministry of Revenue frowned.

But at this moment, of course I won't stand up and openly oppose it.

After the announcement, Zhu Yunhuan led the Ming navy into the city.

For security reasons, he did not show up in public.

After being assassinated once, Zhu Yunhuan knew that the more proud he was in such a moment, the more he should not be complacent.

Sitting in the carriage, listening to the cheers of the people on both sides of the street, his eyes turned to Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao who had just been called into the carriage.

Having been away from the Ming Dynasty court for several months, Zhu Yunhu urgently needed to understand the situation within the Ming Dynasty court.

Message delivery by carrier pigeons is one-way.

After all, carrier pigeons can return home on their own, but they cannot find a fleet sailing on the ocean.

That is, he sent the news back to Ming Dynasty, but he was not clear about the situation in Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, although still on the way, Zhu Yunhuan could not wait to summon Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao for questioning.

"The court is relatively peaceful."

"Now, the Bank of Ming has opened branches in all 159 prefectures in Ming, and nine out of ten counties also have branches of the Bank of Ming."

"The number of branches of Daming Daily is basically synchronized with Daming Bank."

"Several cases of counterfeiting new banknotes have been discovered among the public and the offenders have been arrested."

"The counterfeit banknotes are of low quality and can be identified at a glance."

"After the newspaper publicity, the people were able to easily distinguish the new banknotes, and it did not have any impact on them."

"Now, throughout the entire Ming Dynasty, people holding new banknotes can basically travel freely."

Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao reported on the progress of their various work.

"According to His Royal Highness's request, the construction of the five national highways planned in the first phase has all started. They are all cement roads ten feet wide."

"Among them, the national highway from Jinling to Songjiang Prefecture via Suzhou is nearing completion."

While reporting, the two men handed a brief that had been prepared long ago to Zhu Yunhuan.

"Everything in the court is going well, but there are also a few things that worry me." Yang Shiqi spoke carefully.

Zhu Yunhuan raised his eyebrows and said, "Why not tell me about it?"

"The first one is about the Ming Bank. I am a little confused."

"The total deposit of the Ming Bank has reached 360 million taels." "But the actual amount of silver in it is less than 100 million taels. The rest is new banknotes, valued at more than 260 million taels."

"However, the Bank of Ming did not issue so many new banknotes."

"After careful and repeated screening, the new banknotes deposited were all printed by the Ming Bank and were not counterfeit."

"I just can't figure out the reason behind this."

"There may be hidden dangers, and I have to report it to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Yang Shiqi expressed his doubts.

He has had sleepless nights for many days because of this matter.

At first, Yang Shiqi thought it was counterfeit money.

However, the Ming Bank's banknote printing technology is extremely advanced, and each banknote is numbered, with special anti-counterfeiting measures that are not disclosed internally.

However, no matter how the bank authenticated it, it found no signs of forgery.

There are no duplications in the numbers.

But the bank clearly didn’t print so much money!
Where does this money come from?
Yang Shiqi couldn't figure it out.

I can't figure it out no matter how hard I try.

When asked Yao Guangxiao, the old monk, who was always intelligent, was also stumped.

After much thought, I'm afraid only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can solve this mystery.

After all, the Ming Bank was founded by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

When Zhu Yunhuan heard this, he burst into laughter.

"This is normal because Daming Bank has lent money."

“Once banks lend, there is a money multiplier effect.”

Money multiplier effect?

Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao looked at each other, both of them with shock and confusion in their eyes.

This was the first time they had heard such a statement.

Zhu Yunhuan began to explain.

Zhang San deposited 100 million yuan into the bank, and the bank lent 80 million yuan of it to Li Si.

After Li Si gets the loan, he will spend the money, and the money will flow into the hands of Wang Wu.

Wang Wu deposited the 80 million he received into the bank, and the bank then loaned 64 million of it to Zhao Liu.

After Zhao Liu got the loan, he spent the money, so it flowed into Sun Qi's hands.

Sun Qi deposited another 64 million into the bank... and the bank loaned it out...

so cycle.

Although there were only 100 million notes issued at the beginning, there were 244 million deposits in the bank's deposit account, or even more, because it would continue to circulate in the future.

The same goes for loan accounts.

The amount of the payment for the goods far exceeds 100 million.

The same is true for money circulating in society.

This is the money multiplier effect of banks.

After listening to Zhu Yunhuan's explanation, Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao suddenly understood.

Yang Shiqi slapped his head hard and said with a wry smile: "The truth here is actually very simple, but I have been thinking hard for many days and still can't figure it out. I am really too stupid!"

Yao Guangxiao stroked his beard and said with a smile, "No! It sounds simple, but if you don't know the truth, you really can't figure it out."

"It turns out that a deposit and a loan can produce such a magical change."

"I can't believe it! I can't believe it!"

"If it weren't for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's words to clear my confusion, I would probably not be able to figure it out even if I pondered for several more months."

Yang Shiqi also had a look of admiration: "Your Highness is a talent a thousand times better than mine. I'm afraid that only Your Highness can see through everything in the world."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled faintly.

These are just simple economic common sense in later generations.

But for those who have never learned these basic knowledge, it is really difficult to understand it all of a sudden.

“That’s what bank reserves are for.”

Zhu Yunxun said: "Banks keep a certain amount of reserves not only to cope with bank runs, but more importantly, to regulate the amount of money in circulation in society."

“The money multiplier effect will significantly increase the amount of money circulating in society, thus causing prices to soar.”

"Banks need to control the amount of money circulating in society by adjusting loan interest rates and reserve requirements."

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhu Yunhuan gave them some popular financial knowledge.

With the establishment of Ming Bank across the country, the prosperity of the financial industry will inevitably bring profound changes to Ming society.

If the people who control the Ming Bank have no knowledge of finance, then the Ming Bank, which promotes social development, will lose control and become a sword that cuts at the Ming itself.

This is very dangerous.

Banks do more than simply provide deposits and loans.

It has many responsibilities.

It is particularly important for stabilizing the national economy.

In later generations, unified management and regulation were carried out through central banks.

Now that we only have Ming Bank, it’s not that troublesome.

After some scientific research, Yang Shiqi suddenly understood.

It turns out that the power of banks is far greater than I imagined.

If it is not controlled well, it will cause the collapse of the entire Ming Dynasty economy.

Banks are a double-edged sword.

If used well, it can promote the development and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty.

If it is not used properly, it will be a big problem.

There were many mysteries in it that he had never thought of before.

But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince seemed to have foreseen everything and knew it all.

In the carriage, Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao's admiration for Zhu Yunhuan reached a new level.

This is the real future emperor.

Far beyond mortals.

"What about the second thing?" Zhu Yunxun asked with a smile after explaining the functions and roles of banks.

Yang Shiqi pondered for a moment, then slowly said: "The amount of tax collected by the tax bureau is extremely high, but if this continues, I'm afraid something will happen."

……

(End of this chapter)