Gu Jikun glanced at Wu Qikang and said with a smile: "I have collected relevant information in the past few years. Preliminary estimates suggest that the amount of silver flowing into our Ming Dynasty every year is about three to four million taels."
"You must know that this is the quantity of the banned sea. If the imperial court relaxes the banned sea, the quantity will definitely increase greatly. If they want to acquire it, it is like a mantis trying to block the car..."
Although Zhu Yuanzhang was good at strategy, he was slightly lacking in economics.
At this moment, after listening to Gu Jikun's words, it was like seeing the fog through the clouds, and suddenly enlightened.
However, he also has a concern, that is, although Gu Jikun's method is good, it is too passive.
Because according to this approach, the imperial court still did not have the right to mint coins.
At this time, Zhang Mingzhen suddenly said: "Brother Zhongqing, I heard from missionaries in the West that there are wars in the West due to religious issues, and pirates are rampant. I am afraid that if the sea ban is opened, the amount of silver flowing into our country will not increase much, right?"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he glanced at Zhang Mingzhen in surprise, and then looked at Gu Jikun.
Gu Jikun smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang, although what you said is reasonable, you overlooked one thing. It's just a habit."
"You must know that over the years, Westerners have long been accustomed to our dynasty's tea, porcelain and other products, and this will not change in a short time."
"Besides, the people who can buy porcelain and other items are either rich or noble. Even if there is a war, how much impact will it have on them?"
Zhang Mingzhen could also hear the sarcasm in Gu Jikun's words, but he was heroic by nature and said indifferently: "Having said that, the amount of silver inflow has been decreasing in recent years."
"If after the sea ban is lifted, the amount of silver does not meet expectations, and wealthy businessmen hoard it, it may be detrimental to the overall situation."
Hearing this, Gu Jikun shook his head and said, "Master Zhang, you are worrying too much. You must know that businessmen are all profit-seeking people and there is no way they can hoard that much silver."
"And even if they hoard, it doesn't matter. We can also issue treasure notes and let their silver become a decoration."
Zhang Mingzhen glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang secretly, and when he saw that his expression was as usual, he said, "In the early years of our dynasty, we also issued treasure banknotes, but they became a tool for wealthy businessmen to exploit the people. If we issue treasure banknotes again now, the people will probably not accept it."
"Furthermore, wars are raging now. If we distribute them forcefully, it may cause... commotion!"
After hearing Zhang Mingzhen's words, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but change his view on him.
Because after Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, due to insufficient copper mine production, the number of copper coins could not meet the needs of transactions, so he followed the methods of the Song and Yuan Dynasties and issued Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes.
According to the needs of transactions at that time, the face values of Ming Dynasty banknotes were divided into six types: consistent (one thousand coins), five hundred coins, four hundred coins, three hundred coins, two hundred coins, and one hundred coins.
In order to ensure the smooth circulation of treasure banknotes, he also promulgated legal regulations prohibiting the circulation of gold and silver (which could be used to pay taxes), and strictly stipulated that transactions exceeding one hundred coins should only use treasure banknotes.
Later, according to the ratio of one tael of silver to one tael of silver and one tael of gold to four guan banknotes, the people were forced to exchange their gold and silver into treasure banknotes.
In addition, in order to prevent private production of counterfeit banknotes, in addition to using special anti-counterfeiting measures, it also stipulates that anyone who prints counterfeit banknotes will be beheaded.
Through these measures, when the treasure banknotes began to circulate, the effect was indeed good.
But later, with the increase in the number of treasured banknotes and the proliferation of counterfeit banknotes, the value of treasured banknotes rapidly depreciated.
In the end, he was forced to have no choice but to return to the most primitive barter.
Even after receiving their salaries, some officials still go to the market to set up stalls and exchange them for the firewood, rice, oil, salt and other items they need for their own needs...
Just as Zhu Yuanzhang was deep in thought, Gu Jikun's voice sounded: "The reason why it was difficult for treasure banknotes to circulate in the past was because there was no standard for the issuance quantity."
"If we use the treasury gold and silver as the basis, or distribute it according to the needs of the people, and adjust the quantity of treasure banknotes in a timely manner, we can avoid this drawback."
Hearing this, Zhang Minzhen shook his head and said, "Nowadays, it is because of the shortage of national treasury that we have to issue treasure banknotes. It is inappropriate to use gold and silver as the basis."
"As for your statement of distributing money according to the people's needs, that's too general. The people don't know how much money they want, so how can we know?"
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's expression of approval, Gu Jikun sneered: "Master Zhang, this is the disadvantage of saying what is right but not what is beneficial."
"You know, I just said it would be based on the treasury's gold and silver, and I didn't say it would be distributed on a one-to-one basis. How could it not be feasible?"
"In fact, we only need to deal with the initial exchange of banknotes. After the confidence of the people is restored, we can completely distribute the money in the form of one to two, one to three, or even one to ten."
"As for the number of treasure banknotes that people need, there is no need to count people's needs. It only needs to be converted based on the taxes from the Ministry of Household Affairs."
"Because what people buy is food, silk and other items, once we have the total number, we can calculate the amount of treasure banknotes needed for that year or season based on their prices, and by issuing or recycling them, we can ensure the value of the treasure banknotes... ..”
After listening to Gu Jikun's story, Zhang Mingzhen felt that this method seemed reasonable but difficult to implement.
However, because Gu Jikun spoke sarcastically to him, in order to prevent the other party from thinking that he was deliberately making trouble, he did not speak again.
Xia Wanchun saw that Zhang Mingzhen was hesitant to speak, so he guessed a bit, so he said bluntly: "Mr. Tinglin, although your idea is reasonable, there are three difficulties. The first is how to confirm the amount of the treasure."
"Because the treasure banknotes are not only used once, but can be used repeatedly, how much less should the number of treasure banknotes be than the total number of goods?"
"The second one is how to adjust the quantity of treasure banknotes. You must know that it is not easy for the Ministry of Household Affairs to approve the tax revenue of various places every year. Your treasure banknotes need to be adjusted not only annually, but also seasonally. It may not be easy to implement."
"The third point is how to get people to accept treasure banknotes, because people are now accustomed to money and other things. If you suddenly introduce unpopular treasure banknotes, they will not be accepted by the people!"
Gu Jikun also admired Xia Wanchun because he was familiar with Chen Zilong.
Now that I see that he can grasp the key to the problem at such a young age, I value him even more.
Gu Jikun pondered for a moment, then smiled and said: "Master Xia, it is actually not difficult for the people to accept treasure banknotes, because the amount of gold and silver today varies, and it is far less convenient to use than fixed-amount treasure banknotes."
"So we only need to restore people's confidence in the banknotes through pilot projects, and they will definitely use the banknotes."
"As for confirming the number of treasure banknotes, it is not difficult. It can be estimated based on the usage of money over the years and the pilot situation. Moreover, the number of treasure banknotes only needs to be a rough number, and it does not need to be very precise, because this can be adjusted later."
Gu Jikun said, then looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said: "But if we want to adjust the amount of treasure banknotes, we may need to incorporate feudalism into the counties and counties, so that officials in various places have the right to handle local finances, so that timely adjustments can be made... ..."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard the first two points, he nodded slightly, but when he heard that he was going to delegate power, his brows immediately wrinkled.
