The Great Bandit in Kangxi Year

Chapter 204

However, Cheng Zhang raised a question: "What are angles and points?"

Jiang Tao didn't even think about it, and replied: "The auxiliary currency points are used as jiao, fen. One silver dollar can be exchanged for ten jiao, and one dime can be exchanged for ten cents."

Fearing that everyone would not be clear, he continued: "Silver coins need a fixed ratio, one tael of silver is exchanged for two silver dollars. Now the value of silver is still very high, and it is not a lot for ordinary people to earn four silver coins a month. From this point of view, silver coins and auxiliary coins There is a big difference in the amount of exchange. Therefore, the king divides the auxiliary coins into six grades. The denominations are stipulated."

"This method is wonderful!" Huang Zongxi understood, and said, "However, local people and officials must prevent imitation, because silver is expensive and copper is cheap, and when the people exchange copper coins for silver dollars on a large scale, I am afraid there will be chaos."

"Well, that's true. The first point is that it is strictly forbidden to melt coins, otherwise it will be punished according to the law. Second, anti-counterfeiting signs must be made. Third, copper metal is now a strategic material, and it must be controlled. Private people are not allowed to own large quantities. Well, as long as the new coins As a result, it is necessary to gradually change the copper coins in the world." Jiang Tao nodded again and again, among other things, the counterfeiting ability of Chinese people is first-rate, and he dare not be careless.

Wei Donglai said: "Will such a large-scale minting of new coins increase the financial burden of the imperial court?"

Jiang Tao said with a smile: "Don't worry, didn't you come up with both the steam engine and the hydraulic machine? It only needs to be improved a little, and it is still very easy to turn it into a small coin minting machine!"

"Your Highness is wise!"

"Then it's settled!"

Jiang Tao was overjoyed. In fact, he also had another purpose, which was to print his face on the coins. This would not only increase his influence, but also make his name last forever. As a bandit, he couldn't help laughing out loud. .

The next day, the cabinet passed and promulgated the "Regulations on the Casting of Silver Standard Coins", which stipulated that the silver standard currency should be named "Yuan", with a total weight of 26.6971 grams, 80.00% silver and 12.00% copper, that is, 23.493448 grams of pure silver.The weight and fineness of the silver standard currency per yuan, compared with the legal weight and fineness, must not exceed the tolerance of 0.3, and it is stipulated that all public and private transactions are given and accepted with the silver standard currency, and the number of uses is unlimited each time.

According to the plan, three months later, Jiangning will first implement the "abolition of the two and changing the yuan", and it is expected to issue a nationally unified silver coin within a year - "Jiang Tao's head" silver dollar, or dragon coin. Many landlords and old fortunes privately say that this is Jiang big head.

On the front of the coin is Jiang Tao's big head portrait, marked with Chinese characters and silver dollar denominations, on the back is the Great Wall and Dragon Totem logo, marked with Arabic numerals denomination and minting time, and as many as five anti-counterfeiting marks.

At the same time, six kinds of copper coins were minted, with denominations of one dime, two dime, five jiao, one cent, two cents and five cents.

The six copper coins differ in size and weight, but the images on them are all the same. On the front is a dragon about to come out of the water, and on the back is a tiger about to descend from the mountain.

When the sample coin was made, not only Jiang Tao was very satisfied, but also the civil and military ministers were all happy. The surface of the coin is smooth and smooth, and the relief is exquisite and detailed, lifelike, which makes people happy at first glance.

Now the national treasury has more than 1000 million taels of silver. Jiang Tao approved on the spot to make 2000 million silver dollars first, and there are countless other copper coins.

Although Jiang Tao was impatient, he didn't take it seriously. He knew that the Dutch would not let go of the huge benefits, and it might have been delayed due to an accident.

In the following days, he just selected capable students at Huaxing College to train them in banking business.

No, within a few days, Jiang Heng, who was in Manila, received crucial information: "More than [-] warships of the Portuguese stopped in Malacca for half a month, and are now sailing to the South China Sea with all their strength, and I am afraid they have plans. "

Jiang Heng is now sent to Southeast Asia to develop intelligence agencies and establish strongholds to lay the foundation for the empire to colonize Southeast Asia.

Jiang Tao compared the before and after, and immediately understood that the Dutchman is really not a good guy. He made a lot of money from Lao Tzu, but still wants to attack his own naval strength. It's really disgusting.

This time, Jiang Tao did not believe that the Dutch did not intervene.

He secretly said in his heart: "Last year when the army captured Guangdong, the soldiers under his command took Macau by the way. Although they confiscated a lot of property, they completely offended Portugal. Although Portugal is a small country, there are no outstanding naval battles, but the naval strength But it should not be underestimated, this time I come to Xingshi to inquire about the crime, but I don't know the specific strength?"

"Come on, send an order to the Navy Command immediately to gather all the navy and prepare to deal with the powerful enemy."

Jiang Tao was still a little uneasy. After all, the opponent this time was the Portuguese Navy. If all the battleships came, he was really not sure, because he knew too little about the strength of the Western fleet.

And this time the Netherlands is not moral, let's see how the king will deal with you next time, the key is that the Netherlands temporarily cuts off trade, which is a huge blow to the empire's finances, and thousands of taels of silver can't last for a few months.

Just as Jiang Tao was itching his teeth with hatred, Joseph, the commander of the Dutch Far East Fleet, and Nicholas, the speaker of the Dutch East India Company, sat comfortably on wicker chairs under the shade of the trees, drinking red wine happily.

"Cheers, but Mr. Speaker is not afraid that the Portuguese will destroy the Black Dragon Fleet. Wouldn't it be a huge loss for the Netherlands to sign a Jiang-Portuguese treaty then?" Joseph sipped his red wine gracefully and said with a playful smile.

"Mr. Commander, you are wrong. Everything is under the control of our Dutch. Do you think the Portuguese can win? This time the Portuguese came with one first-class battleship, ten third-class battleships, and twenty cruisers. Ships, five frigates, these strengths seem to be stronger than the Black Dragon Fleet, after all, the Black Dragon Fleet has no battleships, but sir, don’t forget, the Portuguese are facing a huge empire, so what if the Portuguese win? There are us."

Hearing Nicholas' relaxed explanation, Joseph became even more confused, and asked directly: "Sir, don't you intend to intervene in East Asian disputes?"

"That's true, but if the Portuguese fleet returns victorious, the task of annihilating the Portuguese will be handed over to the commander. After this battle, the Black Dragon Fleet will become weaker and weaker, which is in the interests of the empire. The Portuguese treaty is also a piece of waste paper, and William III is very satisfied with our income, and plans to strengthen the strength of the Far East Fleet, and prepares to occupy the entire Philippines, to drive the fallen Spaniards out of this sea area, hahaha, I wish us cooperation Happy, cheers, Your Excellency Commander!"

Nicholas sat up straight all of a sudden, explained patiently, and couldn't help laughing at the end.

Joseph heard that William III wanted to strengthen the strength of the Far East Fleet, he raised his neck and drank the red wine in the glass, and said energetically: "Don't worry, the Far East Fleet can go to battle at any time."

"Very well, we must keep it secret this time, and be careful of Spain's Philippine fleet. We patronized Spain's treasure fleet a while ago, and Spain has also strengthened the strength of the Philippine fleet, although Spain can no longer compete with the Netherlands at sea. , but don’t anger the Spanish governor and fleet for the time being.” Nicholas also has concerns, after all, the Netherlands is under a lot of pressure in Europe, and the third Anglo-Dutch war has just ended, making too many enemies is not a good strategy.

However, the entire United Provinces is well aware of quietly attacking the forces of other powerful countries.

"Okay, but I heard that the king of the East has defeated all opponents, and our allies are getting stronger, and intelligence shows that he has an army of more than 150 million, and he doesn't need to buy guns and artillery. The population of the Netherlands is only a few million, so that's it. Horrible numbers, such a powerful background, it is chilling to think about." Joseph thought of Jiang Tao's big black face, and couldn't help trembling in his heart, after all, the next time he went to Jiangning, the loud roar would definitely be indispensable.

"Don't worry, Mr. Commander, without a strong navy, even a powerful army cannot threaten the Netherlands. Recently, he has made a lot of money." Nicholas said indifferently.

Joseph shook his head and sighed: "I hope that the Portuguese with no achievements can give us some surprises. At that time, it's time for our ally to play."

(End of this chapter)