Just the prefectural and county treasury accounts inspected by the special search team of the Planning Institute contained more than 40 categories and details. [Feng\/Huang\/ Update soon, please search] If you add in the inspection accounts of private property of bureaucrats, subordinate staff, etc., there are even hundreds of columns. Just browsing it once is enough to make Liu Xiang nervous.
Hainan was originally a backwater, a place of exile for officials and private citizens, and a "far-off military state." The circulation of metal currency is very small, and commodity economic activities lag behind. Therefore, after each county took over, it was actually directly integrated into Lingao's circulation coupon industrial economic system. As one of the richest places in South China, Guangzhou has rich collections, complex systems, and is incompatible with modern government and industrialized economic models, which really makes it difficult for the elders who come to Guangzhou to adapt.
"The most troublesome thing for me now is how to pay the cadres." Liu Xiang complained for a while and finally turned to the topic - it has been more than half a month since the landing, and all the sporadic administrative expenses they have currently spent have been used up. It is a variety of materials that are "financially returned": food in the warehouse is used for eating, cloth from the inventory is used for making clothes, confiscated furniture is used for office furniture... In short, as long as you can find things in the inventory, you will not go out to buy them. Only when you really need to go to the market to buy something do you use a small amount of broken silver and copper coins.
Before a new currency is issued, you must be cautious about anything involving money. He knows that the Senate attaches great importance to the issuance of new coins - he has received notice from the General Office that many fiscal elders have come to Guangzhou for "business" recently. What kind of business can all the senior finance officials do when they come to Guangzhou? It’s not just for the release of Aoyang!
When Liu Xiang was tired and stopped to drink water, Meng Xiancai spoke slowly: "The inventory and accounting of treasury silver and miscellaneous silver have been almost completed, and they will be shipped to Hong Kong for minting soon. Factory - Prime Minister Cheng has already said that all the new coins created by this batch of silver will be put into a special financial account, and the name of the account is called the Guangdong Special Expenses Account. This money will be earmarked for a special purpose and will be used to support the entire province of Guangdong. Financial expenses. As for the copper coins, they can only be recycled as industrial resources - the Planning Institute will naturally not be able to give you any compensation..."
Liu Xiang nodded: "I know that. Where is the Planning Institute? It's a place where even the flesh on a mosquito's leg has to be scraped out."
Meng Xian smiled and continued: "As for other things, the Planning Institute has also communicated with us. The unanimous opinion is to sell them on the spot. The funds obtained are placed in the special account, mainly for Guangzhou's use. Of course, As the most economically developed city in Guangdong, the Guangzhou Municipal Government still needs to take more care of other small cities in the province."
Liu Xiang quickly expressed his stance: "I fully support this." He added. "It's just that if we sell it on the spot, it's best for the Planning Institute to handle it. There are too many rags inside. According to the accounting books, it's still gold and silver. When you take it out, it's just garbage. A lot of it needs to be written off and scrapped. If our city government does it on its own, I'm afraid they will say no in the future. clear."
"Of course, our financial office will also participate when the time comes. All three parties will participate. The specific work is still handled by the municipal government. After all, you are the landlord, and all the merchants in Guangzhou must listen to you." Meng Xian held up the bag in front of him. Using a Venetian carved glass, he took a sip of the "Xue Ziliang" brand mixed fruit brandy specially provided by the elders. "You don't have to worry about paying salaries to cadres. This is a great time for the issuance of new currency. Just take this opportunity to push the money." go out."
"What I'm most worried about now is the credibility of banknotes." Liu Xiang finally expressed his worries, "Guangzhou is a pure silver area. We are now issuing new coins. In theory, banknotes and silver coins can be shared and circulated at the same value. Tongduitong Deposit. I’m worried that people won’t trust banknotes and there will be a run on silver dollars.”
Guangzhou was the place where silver was most frequently used in the whole of South China. The amount of silver in circulation was huge. Due to the shortage of copper coins, merchants even privately minted silver beans for circulation as auxiliary coins. Paper currency has a very bad reputation due to Ming Dynasty's bizarre monetary policy. Even the grain circulation coupons that are widely circulated in Hainan are rarely circulated in the Guangzhou market. They are basically only circulated in a limited way among "hard merchants". Guo Yi and Meng Xian tried several times to expand the scope of use of circulation coupons in Guangzhou, but Businessmen and people in Guangzhou didn't buy it.
"The Ministry of Finance has allocated one million banknotes. There are only 200,000 silver coins. I can't just keep all these 200,000 silver coins. I don't know how fast the silver coins will come back. But I know that the people won't do it at first. Those who have banknotes will be exchanged for silver dollars or purchased in kind as soon as they get them. We have said that they can be exchanged universally, but what if there are not enough silver coins in stock? This will have a huge impact on the credit of banknotes!"
Meng Xian put down his glass and said: "Old Liu, your worries are justified. Currency reform is a very difficult matter. Our financial department has specific financial measures to deal with the things you are worried about, and the Planning Institute has also The economy has prepared plans. But it is impossible to replace silver’s monetary status with paper money just by relying on market financial operations.”
His expression became very serious: "The establishment of a legal currency system must be implemented with the help of administrative power. At least with the use of swords and guns. In the final analysis, the circulation of modern currency relies on the government's credit - in other words, the violence of the government . The general currency we have now is actually a placebo, just to reduce the resistance to the issuance of banknotes. We have to be trustworthy, but we can't fool ourselves into it."
Liu Xiang didn't expect that what he said was so naked. He said with great difficulty: "So..."
"How much money can ordinary people have?" Meng Xian smiled, "I have been in Guangzhou for many years. Most of the people under the Ming Dynasty can only live in food and clothing. The food without isolation at home is the best reflection of their economic ability. A big The monthly salary of senior store clerks is only one or two taels of silver. They are already considered a relatively wealthy class among the citizens. The so-called exchange pressure is mainly concentrated on businessmen and landowning gentry who hold large amounts of silver. You put them Once it’s done, everything else will be easy to handle.”
"What are the specific measures?" Liu Xiang asked.
"The implementation plan has not been finalized yet. However, Chen Ce will come to Guangzhou soon, and he will bring a full set of implementation plans. If we want to go into details, the tax department will definitely be used - although it is not too difficult to interfere with your administrative work. It’s appropriate, but it’s best that the tax department is strengthened as soon as possible.”
"I have indeed considered this. After all, taxation is a normal source of fiscal revenue. We cannot always rely on confiscating homes and appropriating money to make a living."
"We must make money from confiscating homes, and you can decide when to make it. But taxation is indeed an urgent matter," Meng Xian said. "The issues involved in agricultural tax are more complicated. I think we can start with commercial tax. You enter After the city abolished all kinds of bad regulations, merchants only paid regular taxes - this tax amount is simply ridiculous. We must quickly adjust the tax rate and introduce new taxes, otherwise they will get used to low taxes and it will not be so harmonious if we implement them in the future."
Zeng Juan got up very late today - he was busy making scented wax at home last night and didn't go to bed until the fourth watch. Since the Kun people entered the city, the business of incense candles, which was originally lukewarm, suddenly improved. In this turbulent and changing world, the feeling of instability caused by the changing king's flag at the top of the city made many people beg for the blessings of gods and Buddhas and rush to buy incense candles. When you go to pray to God and worship Buddha, you must burn incense and pray in front of the ancestor's shrine in the ancestral hall, asking your ancestors to protect their children and grandchildren.
Thanks to the fact that Kun Ren came to the city, Zeng Juan's family was finally able to repay part of the debt they originally owed to the spice shop and oil and wax shop. When Zeng Juan went to get the goods, the boss's face looked better. Zeng Juan wanted a new hat for a long time, and his mother agreed to buy it.
But the dark clouds surrounding Zeng Juan's family have not dispersed. Also because of the Kun people coming to the city, the owner of the spice shop said that now that the foreign ships are not coming, the supply of spices is tight, and the prices of all the spices they use will increase.
I know this is just an excuse, but a small workshop like Zeng Juan's family has no bargaining power at all.
Zeng Juan's father calculated everything and realized that all the profits brought by the improvement in business this month would have to be used for next month's purchase. So Zeng Juan’s new hat had to be postponed.
"Little craftsmen like us will never be able to turn over in our lifetime." Zeng Juan came down the simple wooden ladder from upstairs and saw that his father, who had slept later than himself last night, was already dipping a candle by the stove--a sharpener. The skinned rushes are dipped into the melted oil and wax liquid over and over again and lifted out until they are of the right thickness and length.
This work is not only tiring, but also involves being next to melted oil and wax liquid all day long. Even in winter, I can only wear a single coat. In summer, I don’t need to get close to the pot. As long as I get close to that corner, I will feel an unbearable heat wave. Dad had to soak his feet in cold water to work.
In addition to the heat, there is also the stench of grease. A lot of the wax used to make candles is the foot oil of cattle and sheep. Even Zeng Juan, who was born here, can't stand the stench when it is boiled.
Looking at my father's busy back and the candles made beside him, he must have been doing this for a long time - I really don't know how my parents survived.
Zeng Juan had a sister who was married to the owner of a small teahouse on Qian Street. The tea house business was good, so Zeng Juan's sister had some money, so she supported Zeng Juan's education. Therefore, Zeng Guan did not suffer too much as a child. However, my sister died in childbirth last year, and my brother-in-law quickly remarried, so the money for studying was naturally gone. Zeng Juan knew that his parents were gritting their teeth and supporting him in his education. He wanted to turn over his schoolbag and live a decent and comfortable life without worrying about his success.
Now that the Kun people have come, social studies have been closed. In fact, even if the door is not closed and I study Shiwen diligently every day, what is the point of diligently practicing Zhuanjianqihe? He had long known that Australians did not hold imperial examinations.
What's more, Zeng Juan also knew that even if the Australians didn't come, it would be extremely difficult to pass the imperial examination based on his writing skills, which were criticized so much by his teacher! (To be continued.)
