The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 299 Creating Something Out of Nothing: No Poison, No Manliness

"silver?!"

Emperor Qianxi had seen not only silver coins, but also gold coins!
So as soon as he got his hands on it, before Shen Ye could even explain, he already knew what was going on.

He picked up a silver coin and felt that it was heavy in his hand, giving him a sense of weight.

Based on his experience, this silver coin contained about one tael of silver.

The obverse of the silver coin features the neat and upright characters "One Yuan" in regular script.
The back features a delicate flower with the words "Yuqing Bank" engraved below it.

Around the coin is a ring of fine gear patterns.

Emperor Qianxi examined the coins from all angles, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes: "What are you doing with these silver coins?"

Shen Ye replied earnestly, “Father, I have been dealing with silver a lot lately and I have found that the use of silver is really too chaotic nowadays—the purity is inconsistent, weighing is troublesome, and you have to carry a scale with you at all times, which is too much trouble! So I thought, why not unify and recast it into such silver coins?”

"Firstly, it's convenient to use and easy to circulate; secondly, if the imperial court uses it to collect taxes in the future, there will be no more 'fire loss'; thirdly..."

He smiled slightly and said, "We can add a little copper to this tael of silver. This will save silver and make the coin stronger and more durable."

Emperor Qianxi tossed the silver coin in his hand and remained silent for a moment.

Having been emperor for decades, he was acutely aware of the drawbacks of using silver.

Putting everything else aside, just the "fire consumption" alone has made countless people bloated and fat.

Moreover, when it comes to the "fire tax," those people collect it with a perfectly justified attitude.

Although Emperor Qianxi was aware of the drawbacks of this approach and had considered changing it, the vested interests involved were too deep, and he ultimately had to give up.

"Your Highness, do you know how many people's livelihoods will be at risk if the court promotes the use of silver coins?" Emperor Qianxi slammed the silver coins onto the table, his tone grave.

Shen Ye smiled calmly: "Your subject understands. Therefore, your subject is not in a hurry for the court to implement it immediately, but only plans to have Yuqing Bank first mint one tael of silver into such silver coins."

"We'll talk about what to do next once the people get used to it."

Emperor Qianxi nodded. If the imperial court were to issue an order to implement this directly, he would indeed have to be cautious and even consult with the various mints; but if it was just Yuqing Bank voluntarily changing the style of the silver coins, it wouldn't be a big deal.

It doesn't matter what shape it's cast in, since it's only one or two taels of silver anyway.

"But these silver coins must have been difficult to produce, right?" Emperor Qianxi weighed the silver coin in his hand. "Even if we could save some silver, the labor costs would probably still be quite high."

Emperor Qianxi fiddled with the silver coins in his hand and casually asked a question.

Shen Ye replied, “Father, it is indeed troublesome and laborious to rely entirely on manual labor. However, a few days ago, I asked Lord Cao to find some Western craftsmen. They made a set of special equipment for casting silver coins, based on our method of minting coins.”

"Although the speed is not fast, it can still produce 100,000 silver coins a month."

"Your subject intends to use them to exchange for the silver deposits held by depositors."

Emperor Qianxi waved his hand and said, "It's up to you, but remember, this is just a tael of silver, not the value of this silver coin."

"If the weight is wrong, there will be problems."

Shen Ye smiled and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Father. I know what to do."

After looking at the six silver coins, Emperor Qianxi had a feeling that the Crown Prince's Yuqing Bank had some grand ambitions.

But he really couldn't figure out what kind of trouble a bank that was like a pawnshop could cause.
"Alright, if there's nothing else, you can go about your business." Fearing that Shen Ye would press for money again, Emperor Qianxi chose to send him away directly.

Shen Ye was already quite satisfied with obtaining the tacit approval for the issuance of silver coins on this trip.

These silver coins were just the first step in establishing Yuqing Bank. When people gradually accepted the use of silver coins, that was when Shen Ye slowly promoted paper money.

As long as the scale is controlled properly, what's printed will all be real gold and silver.

Just thinking about this feeling made Shen Ye feel relaxed and happy.

As soon as he returned to Yuqing Palace, he saw Cao Min greeting him with a beaming smile.

Normally, Cao Min is dignified and poised, but rarely does she move with such light steps and radiant spirit as she does today.

Judging from Cao Min's expression, Shen Ye felt that Cao Min was in a good mood.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" Cao Min greeted with a smile.

In Yuqing Palace, Cao Min was the Crown Prince's concubine, and her status was second only to Shi Jingrong.

Cao Min is usually very poised and elegant in every way. What's wrong with her today?
Puzzled, Shen Ye casually asked, "What's got you so happy?"

“Your Highness, my father has returned.” Cao Min approached Shen Ye and whispered, “He is currently requesting an audience with His Majesty.”

"I just sent someone to inform him that after seeing His Majesty, he will come to Yuqing Palace to see you."

At this point, Cao Min, unable to contain her excitement, added in a low voice, "I heard that my father made a lot of money on this trip."

Shen Ye laughed as soon as he heard that.

Thinking about what Cao Yin had done, Shen Ye thought to herself, "No wonder Cao Yin made a fortune!"

Exchanging gold for silver at Xiao Rizi's place is definitely a highly profitable venture.

Just when he was short of money, Cao Yin arrived with the exchanged silver. It seemed like it was time to have some fun with those guys.

Shen Ye was overjoyed, but Ma Qi's face was rather cold.

Returning home from the Ministry of Revenue, he stared coldly at his nephew, Fuheng, and asked, "What's going on at Yuqing Bank?"

“I told you to keep an eye out, not to do nothing.”

"Now that everything is so calm, people who don't know the situation might think that Yuqing Bank's deposits are piled up like mountains!"

"If you can't handle this, just say so, and I'll find someone else!" As the son of Ma Qi's third brother, Fu Heng was spoiled, but he knew very well that his future depended entirely on his uncle, Ma Qi.

If Ma Qi has a prejudice against him, then his future is basically over.

However, he also felt very wronged about this matter.

Hearing Ma Qi's reproach, he quickly explained, "Uncle, it's not that I didn't try, but Yuqing Bank did things perfectly."

"They'll give you the money!"

"But under the guise of being responsible for depositors, they would first interview every depositor who asked to withdraw money, and after the interview, they would sign a withdrawal slip or something similar."

"That's not all. In order to prevent depositors from backing out, they gave them a fourteen-day cooling-off period."

"It means you should calm down first, and then consider whether you want to withdraw the money."

"Also, if the cooling-off period is over, you'll need to sign another withdrawal decision form, which requires their approval."

"This process takes fourteen days."

"Moreover, they have limited manpower and a limited number of people to talk to, so they only release one hundred numbers per day."

"These numbers are reserved in advance. Only after you get a number can you go to Yuqing Bank on the designated day."

At this point, Fuheng said with a hint of helplessness, "If you don't go to Yuqing Bank at the designated time, that's considered causing trouble, and the people from the Five Cities Garrison and the Infantry Commander's Office will arrest you."

“Our people simply cannot find any loopholes to cause trouble.”

"If we forcefully cause trouble, we don't have enough people."

"Most depositors saw hope, especially after the prince promised that the money in Yuqing Bank was absolutely safe."

“What’s stored with him, he will definitely let everyone take it.”

"They even brought up His Majesty, saying that a son's debts are the father's responsibility, and if he can't pay them back, His Majesty will pay them back for him. So most of the depositors are queuing up to withdraw their money."

Hearing Fuheng's explanation, Ma Qi felt a surge of anger.

That's some seriously impressive how they managed to renege on their debt.

So much so that even though Ma Qi could clearly see that the Crown Prince was deliberately stalling for time, there was nothing he could do.

This delaying tactic is truly brilliant; even though he's clearly being unreasonable, you can't find fault with him.

This gave Ma Qi the feeling that he had a lot of skills, but he just couldn't use them.

He took a breath before saying, "Fuheng, this matter cannot continue like this."

"If this continues, I'm afraid the Crown Prince will just keep dragging this out until next year."

"Since asking for money openly doesn't work, let's resort to some underhanded tactics."

"Isn't he just stalling for time?"

"You should create some trouble for him."

Upon hearing that trouble was being caused, Fuheng's expression immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.

He knew that this was no small matter; if he wasn't careful, he could be doomed.

"Uncle, with His Majesty and the Crown Prince watching over the capital, creating trouble would be too risky! We might end up in serious trouble!"

"Let's just do this step by step. If we do anything too outrageous, then..."

Fuheng didn't continue speaking, but Ma Qi understood the meaning behind his words.

Fuheng was afraid of getting his whole family involved. If they were all wiped out, it would be a huge loss!

Looking at Fu Heng's calm expression, Ma Qi suddenly realized that his nephew was actually a capable person.

Instead of being angry that his arrangements had been violated, he smiled and said, "Fuheng, it's good that you thought of this."

"But you need to use your brain more when you encounter problems in the future."

"It doesn't necessarily mean we have to be the ones to create trouble."

"For example, right now, we have already found censors to speak out, but we don't have an excuse to impeach them."

"What should we do? Just keep waiting?"

"No, many things change if we delay."

"And in such situations, you should try to create the necessary conditions."

Ma Qi stood up from his seat, slowly walked to Fu Heng's side, and said coldly, "Isn't he trying to stall for time?"

"Then you should create a serious consequence for him because of his delay."

"For example, if someone's family is ruined and they die because Yuqing Bank delays paying their money, as soon as such a tragedy occurs, the censors can intervene with a clear conscience!"

"And those depositors who can't withdraw their money in a short time can also be angry about this."

"besides……"

Hearing Ma Qi's words, Fu Heng felt a chill run down his spine.

While he was horrified by Ma Qi's scheme, a thought also came to mind: "Old ginger is spicier, and a man is not a hero without ruthlessness!"
It seems I still have a lot to learn!

　The second update for today is here! Please support me, everyone, as the month draws to a close.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)