On the wharf of Huating County, four tall and majestic ships with a dark metallic sheen slowly docked. A few seagulls flew in the port, chirping from time to time.
The news that Yang Fan was going to dock at the pier had already come back, and all the ships at the pier had been cleared. Such a big movement naturally attracted everyone's attention.
In particular, Pei Xingjian, Di Renjie and others came to greet them with officials who were not on duty. After hearing the news that Yang Fan had discovered Ishimi Yinshan and was carrying a large amount of silver and copper, the news came back.
Pei Xingjian and others were excited at first, but then they became worried. Naturally, they know what such a large amount of wealth means.
Moreover, there are too many unknown things on the sea, and they are really afraid of any accidents. When they saw Yang Fan's four warships slowly approaching the shore, they put their worries back in their stomachs.
Although I don’t know how powerful these battleships are, as long as the pirates and Jiangnan families are not fools, they will not dare to rob them easily.
"Congratulations to the Governor on the successful trial voyage!" Seeing that the ship had completely stopped, Pei Xingjian and a group of officials congratulated in unison.
Yang Fan first walked off the ship's bridge, waved his hand and said with a smile:
"I've kept you waiting for so long. Let's get on the boat and move everything down!"
"Let's go, colleagues, come with me!" Pei Xingjian couldn't wait to see how much more than one million taels of silver was.
As boxes of silver and copper were moved down, almost the entire dock was occupied. In the meantime, two officials accidentally tripped while carrying the silver. The white silver spilled on the ground and almost blinded the eyes of the onlookers.
If they hadn't looked at the densely guarded guards, these people might have started robbing him long ago. However, this did not prevent everyone from whispering and discussing.
"I heard that the Governor brought back more than 1 million taels of silver from his trip to sea. Do you think it's true?"
"Of course it's true. If you look at so many boxes, they may cost more than 1 million taels. It would be great if I had so much money!"
"Haha, don't think about it. That's the Governor's money. Do you dare to worry about it? But to be honest, the Governor is really the God of Wealth. It's so awesome to get so much money back from just one trip to sea."
"Humph, what are these? I heard that the Governor bought a silver mine in Fusang Kingdom, which can produce tens of thousands of taels of silver a day. I believe that with this money, our Huating County will get better and better!" Although Many people were prepared, but were still shocked by this astronomical figure.
According to ten thousand taels a day, it is more than three million taels a year. You must know that this is a long-term output like running water.
The entire Tang Dynasty could not produce so much silver in a year. Besides, this is just the initial production. If it continues in the future... the onlookers feel that their breathing is a lot heavier.
Wealth touches people's hearts. Who doesn't want to have endless wealth? After a long silence, someone spoke again:
"Okay, don't be envious. Anyway, most of the money will be invested in various projects in Huating County. As long as you are willing to contribute, the money will eventually fall into our pockets."
"Not bad! Not bad!" This was approved by everyone. Huating County's drastic reforms during this period have given the people here the most tangible benefits and are full of beautiful aspirations for the future.
Yang Fan just smiled at everyone's comments. When all the boxes were unloaded, Yang Fan took the lead and wandered along the cement road towards the Governor.
Such a large group of people and so many boxes attracted countless people to watch along the way, making the wide road somewhat congested.
But Yang Fan was not angry, but the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. The news that he had brought back the silver and discovered the mine was spread on purpose, so that the next step of the plan could be carried out smoothly.
He wished that more people knew about it! ...In the government office, officials at all levels gathered together, making it very lively.
"Chief Quan, you have been at sea for nearly a month. Fortunately, you are back now, otherwise my subordinates would not know what to do!" After returning to the county office, everyone calmed down, and Pei Xingjian said with a sad look on his face.
Quan Wanji frowned and asked:
"Oh, what happened? Is someone causing trouble again?"
"No one is making trouble, but we have no money!" Pei Xingjian smiled awkwardly and said quickly.
No money? Quan Wanji looked surprised and a little unbelievable. I only made more than 5 million yuan from selling the house a month ago. Is this money all used up?
Although the comprehensive construction of Huating County requires money, it is impossible to spend so much money in one month, right? If calculated based on Datang's annual tax of 30 million yuan, 5 million yuan is equivalent to 1/6.
How could such a large amount of money be used up in a place as big as Huating County? The only possibility is that someone is corrupt.
Thinking of this, Quan Wanji's face turned cold and he shouted solemnly:
"Did someone take money that they shouldn't have? The Governor gave us a salary that was more generous than the imperial court, but we can't let these people act like moths. Who are they?"
"Quan Changshi misunderstood!" Pei Xingjian smiled bitterly and quickly explained. It turns out that because various construction projects in Huating County are in full swing, the wages paid to workers every month are a large sum of money.
Although there are sufficient funds in the accounts, most of them are food, brocade, silk and other items. But paying workers’ wages requires copper coins!
Now there are not enough copper coins circulating in Huating County, so they say there is no money. Hearing this, Quan Wanji fell silent. There was nothing he could do!
After thinking about it, Quan Wanji put forward his own suggestion.
"I think it's better to ask the Governor if he can use brocade, silk and grain to replace the wages of the workers, or if he has any other ideas?" Although several ships of copper were brought from Fusang this time, The Metropolitan Government does not have the power to mint coins.
Besides, Yang Fan's various ideas may be able to solve the problem of copper coin shortage. This trial voyage not only bought a silver mine with amazing reserves, but also brought back so much silver that it was like the reincarnation of the God of Wealth.
Hearing this, Pei Xingjian couldn't help but slap his head and complained:
"That's right! The Governor is wise and powerful. Maybe there is a solution. Why is he so stupid?" In fact, it is not surprising that people like Pei Xingjian are like this.
On weekdays, Yang Fan only focuses on the general direction and rarely interferes in specific affairs, so it is understandable that he did not expect Yang Fan at the first time.
Everyone present had great confidence in Yang Fan and immediately agreed.
"Then let's go to the Governor's Mansion to ask for advice!" When they arrived at the Governor's Mansion, they found that in addition to Yang Fan, Song Guogong Xiao Yu was also there. Everyone hurriedly saluted:
"I have met the Grand Governor, Duke Guo of Song..." Yang Fan waved his hand:
"No need to be polite, please sit over there. Are you here for something?" After sitting down, Quan Wanji turned to Pei Xingjian and said:
"County Magistrate Pei, please report the situation to the Governor in detail." Pei Xingjian quickly introduced the current situation facing Huating County, especially the shortage of copper coins, and then quietly waited for Yang Fan to see if there was a solution.
After listening, Yang Fan understood what happened. Throughout the dynasties, every dynasty would have such a crisis when it was strong. This was caused by insufficient copper mine production during economic prosperity.
Because the output of copper mines directly affects the number of coins produced. Nowadays, unlike in later generations, there is not enough banknotes, so just turn on the money printing press.
What's more, people in China like to save money the most. As a result, people hid their wages at home and rarely used them.
This has also led to fewer and fewer copper coins circulating in the market, and the shortage of copper coins has naturally become more and more serious.
Although Yang Fan could foresee that there would be a shortage of copper coins in Huating County, he just didn't expect it to happen so soon.
It seems that the pace of paper currency reform will be accelerated. Thinking of this, Yang Fan smiled and said:
"It is inevitable that copper coins will be increasingly scarce. There is no need to worry." Quan Wanji looked confused:
"Oh? How do you say this? Why is it an inevitable phenomenon?" Not only Quan Wanji, but everyone else didn't understand the reason.
Yang Fan chuckled and explained:
"It's very simple, the people's labor will produce value, and if there are not enough copper coins to print out the value, then the value of the labor will depreciate, resulting in insufficient circulation of copper coins; on the other hand, the people will receive People like to store copper coins in the future just in case, which aggravates the shortage of copper coins." Regarding the economic issues of later generations, Yang Fan can only use this simple explanation to explain.
Although it is somewhat inappropriate, it is still a very vivid metaphor. Indeed, a good economic environment requires continuous circulation.
If value is created but not reflected, it will inevitably lead to currency tension. This is why later countries will issue corresponding coins every year when calculating GDP.
This novel explanation made everyone think deeply. After pondering for a moment, Quan Wanji asked: "Grand Governor, your description is quite appropriate. Is there any way to change this situation?" Yang Fan nodded affirmatively:
"Of course there is a way, just transfer copper coins from other places, or mint copper coins of the same value." As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Yu on the side said:
"Grand Governor, with all due respect, this method is not feasible. As far as I know, the copper coins in the Guanzhong area are also very tight now. In addition, the imperial court does not have enough copper to make copper coins." Xiao Yu served as prime minister twice. He is very clear about the current situation of Datang.
Yang Fan chuckled and continued:
"Since the imperial court did not have enough copper to cast coins, it had to use other coins instead." Before the Tang Dynasty, almost all dynasties used copper coins as transaction currency.
This also led to the formation of inertial thinking, so no one thought of using other coins instead.
"Other coins, are you talking about silver or gold?" When Xiao Yu heard Yang Fan said that other coins could be used to solve the shortage of copper coins, he immediately thought of gold and silver.
Although gold and silver are not often used in ordinary transactions, they are indeed included in the scope of currency transactions.
Unfortunately, the value of gold and silver is too high and is inconvenient in daily transactions, so it is difficult to implement it.
"No, what I mean is to promote a brand new currency, which will be replaced with copper coins at a ratio of one to one or multiples." Yang Fan's answer made everyone even more confused.
In everyone's opinion, Yang Fan's method is not feasible. Seeing everyone's puzzled look, Yang Fan certainly knew what everyone was thinking, and said again:
"Everyone, why do we have to limit ourselves to casting copper coins? Now that the imperial court has mastered movable type printing and can mass-produce paper, why can't it be replaced by banknotes?" As far as Yang Fan knows, banknotes were produced in the Song Dynasty, also in the Song Dynasty. It's what's called a banknote.
Because in the original history, the Song Dynasty had gradually mastered the mass production of paper and movable type printing.
Now that I have dedicated these two things to His Majesty Li Er, Datang has the prerequisites for minting banknotes.
Since there is an easier way, why hang yourself on the copper coin tree? Is it really feasible to use paper money instead of copper coins as currency?
Everyone present had question marks on their faces! In the eyes of everyone, who would exchange precious metals such as gold, silver, and copper for worthless banknotes?
This is probably the inertia of thinking.
"Grand Governor, if we use paper money, wouldn't it cause chaos in the world? After all, anyone can imitate it?" Quan Wanji was confused and expressed his doubts.
Others were also puzzled and echoed:
"Yes, Grand Governor, instead of minting copper coins, we will use paper money. Although the money shortage has been solved, won't it lead to the proliferation of coins?" Yang Fan explained with a smile:
“If you want to replace copper coins with banknotes, such banknotes must meet several characteristics. First, they must be easy to carry and difficult to copy. Second, they must be able to be produced in large quantities. Third, they must have considerable reserves of precious metals such as gold coins, silver coins, or copper coins. .”
"Of course, the more important thing is to issue corresponding banknotes based on the estimated gross national product. At the same time, it needs to be guaranteed by the empire's credit, and no random printing is done. This will not cause inflation." Although I don't know the principle of inflation, But everyone is smart and can still understand the meaning of Yang Fan's words.
The more I think about it, the more I think Yang Fan's words make sense, if that's really the case. In the future, paper currency will replace copper coins, which not only solves the problem of inconvenient transportation of copper coins, but also reduces the manpower and material resources required to mint copper coins.
Moreover, banknotes are more convenient for merchants to trade. At least when they are not doing business, they can bring in more copper coins than goods.
If portable banknotes were introduced, merchants everywhere would quickly accept them. As long as the imperial court carries out unified implementation, it will definitely be able to replace the shortage of copper coins in the short term.
"This seems to be a good idea, but it only requires the consent of the court. This cannot solve the problem of coin shortage in Huating County." Xiao Yu is worthy of being a prime minister. After thinking about it for a while, he realized that Yang Fan Great suggestion?
If it can be implemented, it will definitely be welcomed by all parties, and it is extremely operable. It is really possible to alleviate the money shortage in the market in a short time.
Unfortunately, the prerequisite for all this is that the emperor and the court must fully support it. Seeing Xiao Yu's move, Yang Fan smiled.
The reason why I invited him here today was because I wanted to unite the Jiangnan nobles to set up banks in the Jiangnan area.
Unexpectedly, Pei Xingjian raised the issue of money shortage today, so Yang Fan decided to merge the two into one, planning to establish a bank and promote banknotes at the same time.
To put it bluntly, 99% of the world's wealth is actually in the hands of the powerful. The same goes for Jiangnan!
Therefore, only with the support of these Jiangnan nobles can this policy proceed smoothly. After all, if they want to exchange the banknotes, these aristocratic families need to exchange all the gold, silver and copper coins they have hidden.
Without the participation of these people, the Jiangnan family would certainly not be willing to exchange the metals they considered valuable for these banknotes of unpredictable value.
This is why Yang Fan plans to recruit these people into the group.
