"It is not enough to give 1.5 million taels to the inner treasury as a reward for gold flowers and silver. The next war against the Japanese is imminent, so we need to leave an additional 1.5 million taels to prepare for the reward of silver for the future war against the Japanese;" Lan
"The remaining nearly five million taels of silver cannot be left in Taicang."
"The Duzhi Division will work with the Royal Academy to divide a sum of money based on calculation knowledge to purchase various materials to suppress prices, so as to prevent the common people from selling their children in famine years due to natural disasters and man-made disasters. Girl, in a good year the grain is cheap and much rots in the warehouse and cannot be turned into silver. The inner treasury will also provide a sum of silver to jointly cultivate wasteland and set up government-run shops to stabilize the price. If in a good year grain is purchased and sold overseas, the exchange Iron ore and so on are returned to the country, and in disaster years they buy grain overseas and return to the country.”
"In short, if the silver is only kept in Taicang, he can only use it as silver. He has to think of ways to buy more real things that benefit the country and the people, even if he goes to the fields and people outside."
"The imperial court cannot imitate the rich man's method of just burying his money in the soil and not letting it flow. He only wants to pass it on to his descendants. It must use the knowledge of the saints and the talents of the world to keep the money in exchange for the descendants. A more valuable tool is to promote education so that everyone in the world can learn Han rituals and become kings, thereby reducing the harm caused by the barbarians; it is also like strengthening water to benefit agriculture and mulberry trees, so that floods and droughts can be controlled by people, everyone has enough food and clothing, and peace lasts for eternity."
"Not only the money, but also the grain in the various warehouses in the capital. There are hundreds of large granaries stretching for miles. It is not enough to make them abundant. They must be made to flow. For some old grain, the cabinet and the Ministry of Household Affairs must come up with regulations to deal with it. .”
Zhu Yijun continued to make arrangements at this time.
After hearing this, Wang Guoguang, Zhang Xueyan and other officials all looked at Zhang Juzheng in surprise. Lan
Zhang Juzheng did not show any surprise, nor did he pay attention to the looks of other ministers. He only said seriously at this moment:
"Although Your Majesty does not want to accumulate national funds and cannot benefit the people, he is afraid that although the goal of leveling prices in government-run shops can be achieved, the government-run shops will only see losses but not profits."
Zhu Yijun knew that Zhang Juzheng would say this, because this method is indeed not new in Chinese history. The Han and Song dynasties had done this before. Ministers are not unaware of it. Anyone who reads history books will know that the imperial court was directly involved in commercial operations. Disadvantages.
But Zhu Yijun really does not want to have only a pile of silver sitting in the treasury, and then it will be consumed every day, and wait until more and more silver pours in, causing inflation.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun already had his own response and said: "That is better than being floated for no reason. At least it can have the function of stabilizing prices."
"But after the corruption of officials, not only did they fail to stabilize prices, but the bureaucrats in charge of the government colluded with the powerful and wealthy businessmen to hoard, which in turn pushed up prices. They even deliberately lowered prices at the expense of official funds to attack small businesses. The merchants and hawkers made the small traders bankrupt, but also allowed the powerful and wealthy merchants to purchase materials at low prices and sell them elsewhere to make huge profits, thus intensifying the merger of goods!"
"In addition, if a large amount of silver circulates, the price of rice, salt, etc. may rise due to the shortage of commodities in the world. Therefore, I am afraid that only a small part of the silver can be circulated temporarily." Lan.
Shen Shixing, who had returned to Beijing, also rebutted at this time. As a wealthy businessman, he obviously also expressed his hidden concerns about the government's intervention in the economy.
Zhu Yijun smiled, not angry, but secretly sighed that his ministers in power were indeed not simple people, and they also had a clear understanding of economics and human nature.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "It makes sense. As for how to avoid the shortcomings of direct management by the court, what if it is only officially run abroad, and the domestic court only invests money and does not participate in the operation?"
"That is, if you only send officials to buy grain and ore from overseas and return home, keep it in the national treasury, or sell it to big merchants, even if you lose money, you will at least exchange the money for other useful things."
"As for the silver that cannot be circulated in large quantities at once, this also needs to be considered. Only a small part of the silver can be circulated in the form of Ming silver coins at the beginning. The specific amount of circulation first is based on the calculations of the Royal Academy. The results will be determined as appropriate.”
"In short, the money that the imperial court plans to spend is mainly used in the form of silver dollars to purchase more grain, ore and other materials overseas and bring them into the country."
Zhang Xueyan spoke first at this time: "Your Majesty, it is so obvious to do something so obvious. It is better for the imperial government to seize external benefits than to seize internal benefits. Anyone who wants to use various shady means to make money from the country should go out first. Say it again!" Lan
"It is indeed more appropriate to do this, but I think that if the imperial court really wants to do this, it will issue an imperial edict that only our Ming Dynasty silver dollars are allowed to be traded in places where sea trade is open, so that all countries need to save our Ming Dynasty silver dollars through the benefits of business, and even In the future, it is best to use paper money directly as Ming silver dollars, so that even if our Ming officials fail to govern and the people are poor, we can still blame other countries."
Wang Guoguang also started talking.
Shen Shixing glanced at Wang Guangguang and Shen Shixing, nodded for a moment, then raised his hands and said: "I second the proposal!"
"What do you think, sir?"
Zhu Yijun asked Zhang Juzheng.
When Zhang Juzheng saw that Wang Guoguang and Zhang Xueyan, two people who were good at managing money, agreed, he followed suit and said:
"I have no objection. This move is indeed beneficial to our country! However, we should advocate frugality and restrain tyranny, and we should not just maintain the country in this way, making it difficult for other countries to be peaceful, and if things go on like this, it may backfire on our country. This is a technique, not a purpose. Tao." Lan
Zhu Yijun nodded.
"pedantic!"
Wang Guoguang cursed secretly.
Because Zhang Juzheng also agreed, and Shen Shixing, Wang Guangguang, and Zhang Xueyan all made strong representations, the other ruling ministers in the political hall also had no objections.
As a result, Zhu Yijun's holy will officially reached the cabinet and the Ministry of Household Affairs in the form of an imperial edict.
Zhu Yijun then asked: "Is there anything else to discuss?"
Liu Yingjie, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, stood up at this time and said: "The Ministry of Personnel has been ordered to discuss the merits of the implementation of the new policy of unified grain payment by the government and the gentry of the Southern Province and the merits of the disputes between the scholars and the people caused by the reduction of rent and interest. It has been discussed that when the application is added, As a young master, I will add Prince Hai Rui as a young protector." Lan
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun nodded: "Accurate!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"
Shen Shixing quickly kowtowed.
Zhu Yijun said no courtesy, and after Shen Shixing stood up, he said, "According to your notebook, both Wang Xijue and Wang Shizhen actively cooperated in this rent and interest reduction?"
Shen Shixing replied: "Yes! There are officials from the same county and town who understand the country's conditions and wishes. I would like to recommend these two people."
"In this case, the officials will discuss it and reinstate these two people with their original grades as appropriate."
Zhu Yijun said. Lan
Liu Yingjie raised his hand and said yes.
At this time, Wang Guoguangze said again: "Your Majesty, I have just received an inscription submitted to the cabinet by the Governor of Nanzhi on promoting more landless people in Nanzhi to enter the weaving industry. He said that Wang, Xu and other large households are interested in Expanding the scale of weaving and opening cotton and silk shops to Busan will not only increase the income of local people, but also save the court from having to transport a large amount of cotton to Busan to meet military needs. Instead, private merchants like them can transport cotton there and sell it at a fair price. For the military, the imperial court can directly transfer silver to them in the mainland, and the imperial court can save transportation costs."
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun asked: "To transport cotton and silk satin to Busan, the loss of food and other materials on the way is not low. Then sell it to the military at a low price, what do they earn?"
"According to what Hai Rui said in the title book, Suzhou in the south of the Yangtze River has many skilled workers such as weaving and pad-dying, as well as famous craftsmen who are good at making exquisite spinning wheels and looms. They can directly start training classes for the refugees in Fengyang, Xuzhou and other places, and then use low wages to , high-yield cotton and satin are shipped to North Korea, so that no matter how high the cost of traveling is, it is enough to make a profit, and the remaining cotton can be sold to the people of North Korea at a low price."
Wang Guoguang listened.
Zhu Yijun laughed after hearing this: "They also have a keen sense of smell, but it seems that the Japanese country has to be conquered."
Zhu Yijun said: "It's accurate!"
Then, Zhu Yijun glanced at Zhang Juzheng and said, "The imperial sister has reached the age of marriage. Do you have any suggestions on this?"
Zhang Juzheng understood and immediately stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that since Qihou was ordered to recruit troops and train in the Shimiao Temple, many of his old troops have been promoted to generals for their anti-Japanese achievements. Now the pro-army guards have a large number of their old troops to train." His name will be included in the campaign against Japanese invaders in the future. According to the request of the Privy Council, he will be appointed as the commander, so that he can suppress the generals of the southern army and make orders and prohibitions. This can be said to be a high achievement and a powerful force!"
"Although your Majesty has no suspicion, he is also wary of Xiao Xiaoyou taking advantage of this slander to cause slander. Therefore, in order to nip it in the bud, he should release his military power after the Japanese are pacified, and it is best to be close to the Tian family, and Show favor and honor.”
"Therefore, I propose that a descendant of the Qi family should be elected as the consort. In this way, even if Qihou is relieved of military power in the future, it will be considered legitimate and the generals will be convinced."
Zhang Juzheng then started talking again.
At this time, Yang Zhao, Minister of the Ministry of War and Deputy Envoy of the Privy Council, Assistant to Rongzheng, said: "Your Majesty, I think it is inappropriate. The Qi family is a general, and raising him as a relative of the country. Doesn't it mean that the general's children can no longer be used?"
"If you don't regard me as a relative of the country, do you want the Qi family to marry my Zhang family or other powerful officials?" Lan
"So, do you really allow your majesty to safely use his old troops to defend the country?"
Zhang Juzheng asked.
