Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 177 Is this extortion? No, this is robbery!
When Bi Ziyan accepted the heavy responsibility that could make him famous or infamous for eternity, and stepped aside with a surge of emotion, the focus in the warm pavilion naturally fell on the person who stood there like a statue from beginning to end.

Fan Jingwen.

The Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate felt as if he were a mortal who had accidentally stumbled into a battle between gods, and every breath of air around him was filled with immense pressure that made his soul feel like it was about to break.

He personally overheard this revolutionary dialogue between the emperor and the future Minister of Revenue, from the determination to "change the world" to the madness of "crossing the Yangtze River" to the new Ministry of Revenue concept backed by military force... He felt that his understanding had been completely crushed, reshaped, and then crushed countless times again.

All he wants to do now is get home alive, and keep everything he heard today to himself until he dies.

However, the emperor clearly had no intention of letting him off the hook.

His gaze fell gently upon me, the ruthless decisiveness gone from his eyes, replaced by a soothing smile.

“Minister Fan,” the emperor said softly, “there is no need to be nervous.”

Fan Jingwen was startled and quickly bowed, saying, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty is terrified!"

His voice was trembling. He didn't know what the emperor was going to say to him next, but it was definitely not going to be easy.

What easy task could an imperial censor possibly have in such a situation?
Could it be that he's being made a "supervisor" of the new policies, responsible for impeaching officials who refuse to cooperate? That would be a job that would offend the entire civil service!
Zhu Youjian smiled as he looked at Bi Ziyan, who was equally puzzled.

"Minister Bi, what do you think of my plan for the Ministry of Revenue?"

Bi Ziyan respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, when I first heard of Your Majesty's grand plan, I felt it was a potent medicine prescribed to cure the deep-seated ailments plaguing our Great Ming Dynasty. If this medicine succeeds, the decline of the nation's finances will surely be swept away! However..."

He hesitated slightly.

“I just feel like something’s missing, right?” Zhu Youjian said it for him.

Bi Ziyan felt a chill run down his spine and nodded, saying, "Your Majesty is wise. I dare to speculate that Your Majesty's swift and decisive methods in amassing this enormous wealth are not merely intended to leave it to gather dust in the national treasury."

In the past, when the national treasury was empty, the talk was about increasing revenue and reducing expenditure to ensure self-preservation; but things are different now. So how should these funds and grains, once they are deposited into the treasury, be circulated and transformed into even greater power in Your Majesty's hands? This... is probably the true meaning behind Your Majesty's intentions.”

"Well said!" Zhu Youjian clapped his hands in praise. "A household needs more than just a manager who knows how to make money! It also needs a matriarch who can hold the purse tightly and make every penny generate new money! Today, I am going to establish this second, equally important department!"

The emperor's gaze swept over the surprised and uncertain faces of Bi Ziyan and Fan Jingwen, and he slowly uttered a completely new name that neither of them had ever heard of before.

"Under the Ministry of Revenue, I will establish a new office called—the Great Ming Treasury!"

Treasure paper?

Bi Ziyan and Fan Jingwen were both taken aback.

The Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes—weren't they already infamous and worthless?
Emperor Taizu's idea was good, but his descendants' excessive spending has long since destroyed his credibility.

Why is Your Majesty bringing up "precious paper" again now? Is Your Majesty trying to repeat the same mistakes?

"Your Majesty," Bi Ziyan couldn't help but remind him, "the system of paper money has long...lost the trust of the people. The people only recognize silver and copper coins. If paper money is issued again, I fear no one will be willing to accept it, which would only damage Your Majesty's reputation!"

“I know.” Zhu Youjian smiled slightly. “Therefore, what I want to set up is not the old ‘Precious Paper Money Management Office’ for printing paper, but something completely new.”

He walked to the imperial desk and picked up another draft document that had already been prepared.

"The core of this head office can be summed up in just two words: 'trust' and 'strength'."

"Where did its 'trust' come from?" Zhu Youjian asked himself, answering the question.

"It doesn't come from the vague and illusory reputation of the court, but from me! It comes from the mountains of real gold and silver I confiscated from the Shanxi merchants, grain merchants, and the Qin Prince's mansion! It comes from the assets of all the corrupt officials, including the gentry and wealthy merchants who defied the imperial edict and betrayed the country, that I subsequently investigated and confiscated! It comes from the exorbitant profits obtained from the court's monopolistic industries! This money is its most solid foundation!"

"Its power," the emperor's tone hardened, "comes from imperial decrees! Comes from my will! I will issue an edict stipulating that all large transactions in my Great Ming Dynasty after August must be completed through its system! Anyone who dares to disobey will be disobeying my imperial decree!"

Bi Ziyan and Fan Jingwen were completely confused, but they both grasped a key point—this so-called "head office" seemed to be a money shop that was forcibly implemented by the emperor's personal wealth and imperial power.
But how is this any different from an ordinary money exchange?
"And the first president of the Great Ming Treasure Notes Bank..." Zhu Youjian's gaze finally landed on Fan Jingwen's dumbfounded face.

Fan Jingwen's heart skipped a beat.

"My heart belongs to you, Fan Jingwen!"

Fan Jingwen felt dizzy and completely dazed.

"Your Majesty!" he almost screamed, "No, absolutely not! I...I am but a remonstrating official...!"

He knelt down with a thud.

The emperor gave a mysterious smile: "You don't know the specific rules and methods, but I... can teach you myself."

Fan Jingwen knelt there, completely dumbfounded.

The emperor personally taught him how to manage money? That's unheard of!

Bi Ziyan, standing to the side, suddenly gleamed with an unprecedented sharpness in his eyes.

He seemed to understand the emperor's intention!
"I will now tell you what this Treasury Bank is all about." Zhu Youjian did not give Fan Jingwen a chance to object and began to expound his grand plan.

"The first thing is to establish a national treasury administration!"

"As the name suggests, the National Treasury will be the only legitimate treasury of our Great Ming Dynasty from now on!" Zhu Youjian's voice was resounding. "All taxes collected under the new policies of the Ministry of Revenue, all revenue from the sale of imperial property, the monopoly profits of the Salt and Iron Bureau, and the customs duties of the General Administration of Customs—all of it! All the money must be deposited in the National Treasury or its branches in various places!"

Bi Ziyan gasped, unable to resist asking, "Your Majesty, in this case, the defense of the national treasury becomes of paramount importance. What if..."

“There’s no chance of anything happening!” Zhu Youjian interrupted him.
"The treasury of the Baochao Bank headquarters will be personally guarded by my personal guards, with sentries every three steps and patrols every five! No one without my decree and the headquarters' credentials will be allowed to approach the treasury! I also hereby decree that if any government office is found to have a slush fund, its head official will be directly punished by the Jinyiwei without going through the Three Judicial Offices!" The emperor's gaze swept over the two men: "What I want is for the Forbidden City to have absolute, tangible control over all the money of my Great Ming!"

This is no longer control, this is monopoly!
Bi Ziyan was deeply shocked; the emperor intended to completely seize control of the nation's finances!
"The first major task to be undertaken by this office is to establish a mint!" Zhu Youjian continued.

"The silver ingots on the market today are of varying purity, and the broken silver is even more chaotic. Copper coins are also rampant with inferior ones, causing immense suffering to the people. How can a nation stand if this continues?"

"The Mint's purpose is to unify the power of currency issuance across the country!" Excitement gleamed in the Emperor's eyes.
"I have plenty of silver! I will use the massive amounts of silver I have seized, as well as the silver that will be continuously transported from Japan and the West, to mint 'Chongzhen Yuanbao' silver coins with a silver content of 99%! I will also use the full amount of brass to mint standardized copper coins! I will use the best coins to replace all the rotten and broken coins in the market!"

Bi Ziyan trembled with excitement, but quickly calmed down: "Your Majesty, it's easy to say that good money drives out bad, but the people are used to hoarding silver and may not be willing to take out their old silver to exchange. In that case..."

Zhu Youjian smiled coldly, “The Order of Mandatory Currency Exchange! Give all the people of the land a corresponding deadline. Within this deadline, they must take all their miscellaneous silver, foreign silver dollars, and all old currency to the branches of the Baochao Bank in various places and exchange them for ‘Chongzhen Yuanbao’ according to their purity!”
"Once the deadline has passed, all old currency will be invalidated and shall no longer be allowed to circulate in the market! Of course, government orders must also be humane. For those illiterate elderly people in rural areas who are unaware of the new policies due to lack of information, once verified, they may still be granted leniency. But apart from that, if anyone uses old currency for transactions, their currency will be considered scrap metal, confiscated by the government on the spot, and the transaction will naturally be deemed invalid!"

"My reforms will begin in the areas I currently have complete control over, including the capital region, Shaanxi, and Liaodong! Within three years, I will establish the credibility of the new currency!"

Fan Jingwen was stunned. This...this is too domineering!
This is practically holding a knife to the throat and forcing everyone in the world to exchange money!

But he had to admit that this was indeed the fastest and most effective way to unify the economy!
"Secondly, establish a central office for the money exchange!"

Zhu Youjian turned to the next page, his thoughts already drifting to faraway places.

"Connecting the world is a vital business for merchants. What do they rely on now? They rely on the manpower of security escort agencies and the reputation of private banks. This is too slow and too unsafe! More importantly, I... cannot see it!"

"I will establish a government-run monetary bureau system that allows official silver to circulate throughout the country! I will issue a type of note that corresponds one-to-one with the head office's silver reserves, called... 'Dragon Note'!" Zhu Youjian said in a deep voice. "The name 'Great Ming Treasure Note' has become tarnished. I will use a new name to represent my credit!"

"Your Majesty," Bi Ziyan asked again, now fully engaged, "how can we persuade merchants to abandon their familiar escort agencies and banks and switch to using the government's 'dragon tickets'?"

"I still stand by what I said: force!" Zhu Youjian said without hesitation. "As long as my Great Ming Dynasty still exists next year, as long as the swords of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the horses of the border troops still obey my orders, this order shall be implemented without any discount!"

Starting next year, all inter-prefectural transactions exceeding five hundred taels of silver within the territory of our Great Ming Dynasty, or any inter-governmental fund transfers, are strictly prohibited from using cash! They must, and can only, be processed through the banknote system of the Imperial Bank of China!

Seeing the shocked expressions on their faces, the Emperor continued, "This is not just for security and convenience, but also for... surveillance! Just think about what will happen when every large sum of money, from where it comes to where it goes, is clearly recorded in the head office's ledgers?"

Fan Jingwen felt his mind had been blown away! This wasn't just a money exchange; it was clearly a vast, inescapable net! An invisible net monitoring the flow of wealth across the world!

"Establish a Bond Issuance Division!"

"There are many wealthy people in our Great Ming Dynasty. But most of their money has been turned into gold bars and silver ingots, hidden in cellars and locked in chests. This is all dead money! It's all dead money that doesn't move or generate interest! What I want to do is turn this dead money into living money that the Great Ming Dynasty can use!"

A sly glint flashed in Zhu Youjian's eyes, like a fox eyeing a fat sheep.

"I will issue national bonds! The first tranche will be called the 'Liaodong Revival National Bond'!"

"National debt?" Bi Ziyan and Fan Jingwen looked at each other, this was yet another completely new term.

"Simply put, it's about the imperial court borrowing money from the people, agreeing to repay the principal and interest at a set time!" Zhu Youjian explained. "But this is not just a way for everyone to make money; it's also a... 'touchstone of political loyalty'!"

"I will call on wealthy households across the land to purchase national bonds in the Ming Daily to support the soldiers in Liaodong."

For those exceptionally wealthy merchants, I will have the Embroidered Uniform Guard personally visit them and politely suggest purchases.

The amount they purchase will become an important criterion for me to measure their loyalty!

"Of course, a big stick isn't enough; we also need sweet dates," Zhu Youjian said with a smile. "Those who purchase large amounts of national bonds will receive benefits from me. For example, they will have priority in the bidding process of the Imperial Property Monopoly Bureau; their children can obtain admission to the Imperial Academy or the Military Academy; and those who buy a particularly large amount, I can even bestow upon them an honorary title like Assistant Minister, to satisfy their vanity!"

"What if... we don't buy anything, or we buy too little?" Fan Jingwen asked in a trembling voice.

"Then the Embroidered Uniform Guard will start to pay attention to whether his family's businesses are all legal, whether they have evaded taxes, and whether they have engaged in forced buying and selling. Of course, there are other details that the Embroidered Uniform Guard knows better than I do," Zhu Youjian said casually, but the threat in his words sent chills down Fan Jingwen's spine.

Isn't this extortion?
Zhu Youjian took in Fan Jingwen's shock, but inwardly sneered.

Extortion? So what if it is extortion?

No, this is worse than extortion, this is robbery!
Do I have to wait until I'm truly desperate and hang myself from that crooked tree on Coal Hill before I regret my leniency today?

When that time comes, won't Li Zicheng come to plunder? Won't the Jurchen Tartars from beyond the Great Wall come to plunder?

Since the money is going to be stolen anyway, then... I'll just have to do it myself!
Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian's gaze became even more profound.

"Finally, establish a government-run Industrial Investment Bureau!"

"The national treasury has money, but it can't just sit in the vault and let it rot! Money needs to circulate to generate more money! I want to use this money to do something that the Ming Dynasty has never done before, or rather, has done wrong before—to start businesses!"

"The silk of Jiangnan, the porcelain of Jingdezhen, the cotton cloth of Songjiang, the ironware of Foshan... these are all treasures of my Great Ming! I will use the national treasury to build the largest and most advanced workshops, recruit the best craftsmen, and produce the finest goods! Then, through the Royal Chamber of Commerce and the fleet of the Customs Service, we will sell them all over the world! To earn back a continuous stream of gold and silver for my Great Ming!"

Fan Jingwen knelt on the ground in a daze, finally understanding why the emperor had chosen him.

At that moment, he felt like he had wasted the first half of his life on dogs!
All those worldly essays and court debates are nothing but empty talk and pedantry of Confucian scholars in the face of the emperor's earth-shattering methods!
Now, a path that can truly lead to great achievements and benefit the people is right before us! And behind us stands a mighty ruler who disregards the laws of our ancestors and dares to change the face of heaven and earth!

A scholar dies for a confidant!

Born into such an unprecedented upheaval and encountering such an unprecedentedly powerful emperor, if one still hesitates and looks back, wouldn't one be unworthy of being a seven-foot-tall man!

The last vestiges of his scholarly integrity were utterly crushed, replaced by a surge of frenzied passion and unwavering resolve!

Who cares about the bad reputation after death! Who fears the public opinion of scholars!
All those thoughts ultimately coalesced into a roar in my chest—

Let's do it! Let's follow the emperor and give him a grand and spectacular victory!
(End of this chapter)