Time goes back to when Zhu Yijun was reading the chapter about fighting against Japanese invaders.
Because now is the time when summer is over and autumn is coming. The weather is getting cooler and the wind is refreshing, so Zhu Yijun will often work outdoors.
Now he was sitting on the recliner, reading these chapters with the setting sun on the blue lake.
And he also saw a letter that had just arrived in front of him. It was from Toyotomi Hideyoshi warning him that if he did not evacuate the Tang people who had moved to Japan as soon as possible, he would otherwise threaten to massacre the Tang people.
Zhu Yijun sneered after seeing it.
then.
Zhu Yijun read other chapters again. After learning that Ma Gui planned to land in the Japanese country of China first, he forced Toyotomi Hideyoshi to return for reinforcements in order to set up an ambush and planned to use Iwami Ginzan as bait to score twice against Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Taking advantage of the arrogance generated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi after defeating all the invincible rivals in Japan's Honshu, he couldn't help but laugh:
"The country's famous generals are a blessing to the country!"
"I can look forward to seeing the stone!"
As a result, Zhu Yijun's bad mood due to the recent rise in silver dollar prices has been reduced a lot.
He believed that Ma Gui would capture Iwami Ginzan next and complete what he asked.
but.
Nowadays, except for a few people such as Zhu Yijun, not many people know that the Japanese war overseas will have a great impact on the domestic economic crisis.
This is mainly due to information gaps.
Not everyone has all or the important information.
In addition, it is normal for people to be blind, and people often only want to believe what they want to believe.
Therefore, there are still many powerful and powerful gentry selling high-quality assets. Land, real estate, and antiques are flowing from wealthy families to ordinary people's homes.
Therefore, the number of silver dollars circulating in the market is still decreasing significantly, and the price of silver is still rising.
Many workshops are still shutting down, the unemployment rate is still increasing, and there are even fewer merchant ships on the canals. Many boat trackers have had to change careers to participate in large-scale infrastructure projects.
"How many fields did our family sell?"
Gu Xiancheng also asked Gu Yuncheng about selling high-quality assets that day.
Gu Yuncheng replied: "The 800 acres of high-quality water-irrigated fields by Taihu Lake were sold at a discount of 30 acres to 50 acres."
After hearing this, Gu Xiancheng said: "It's so cheap! My ancestors bought this for fifteen taels of silver per acre at the request of Yin Zhi from the government during the floods in Wuxi. It was not so cheap at that time even during the disaster years."
"Except for the poor households who don't have much land and really want to own their own land, who are now willing to spend silver dollars to buy it, the slightly affluent people are not willing to buy land, and they all want to hoard the silver dollars. They have no choice, so they can only set such a low price. Otherwise, poor households like them wouldn’t be able to afford it even if they scrape together money.”
Gu Yun Chengdao.
After hearing this, Gu Xiancheng sighed: "Well, it's really a bargain for these poor households!"
As he spoke, Gu Xiancheng looked at the large number of civilians who were working for the government, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly: "If this trend continues, the silver dollars lent from internal funds to foreign dynasties will not be used up for long."
"It should be so. It is said that the imperial censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate has begun to prepare new bullets to impeach Shenwu County and other new parties, and it is believed that His Majesty will not protect him again this time."
Gu Yuncheng said.
Gu Xiancheng smiled and said: "If we continue to protect you, Huangzhuang will be worthless. Those eunuchs in charge of Huangzhuang in the inner court will probably force your Majesty to liquidate Shenwu County and other new parties."
"It's natural. Why did the Imperial Village produce grain instead of silver dollars? But now it's the silver dollars that are rising and the grain that's falling."
Gu Yuncheng started talking with a smile.
Zhu Yijun summoned Shen Shixing and others again because the governors of various places reported that the unemployment rate was increasing, and even the government offices in Fengyang, Fujian, and Yingtian had suffered serious losses, and the sales of goods produced dropped sharply, and he said:
"Although many powerful rightists dare not openly speculate in silver coins, they still hoard silver coins by buying and selling land, and they are getting more and more crazy. It is obvious that they want not only silver coins, but also the power to govern the world, and even Let me trample on the new etiquette I advocated, but how can I let them get their wish?"
Zhu Yijun said: "So, I decided to lend another silver dollar from the internal funds to Taicang, and try to control the rising trend of the silver dollar!"
"His Majesty!"
"I have also discussed this matter and have decided to submit the book today."
"I have decided that the ruling ministers will donate five million taels of silver dollars saved by each family to save the market."
"In this case, even if the silver dollar price cannot be brought back to its previous state, it can be stabilized at the price at the beginning of the year and no more unemployed people will be added."
"Therefore, there is no need to borrow internal funds first, so as not to accumulate resentment in the inner court and harm the country."
Shen Shixing's meaning is very clear. The internal money has been withdrawn from the outside. I really don't know if there will be eunuchs who want to let the emperor fall into the water because of the serious loss of silver coins in the inner court.
As soon as the emperor fell into the water, they, the new party members, lost their core.
You know, there has always been a saying about the palace changes in the Jiajing Dynasty that Jiajing chose to only wrong the inner court and not the outer court during the financial reform, so the maids wanted to kill the king, because the emperor did something very disgusting, and it was still short of everyone. Treatment, less benefits for everyone.
Therefore, Shen Shixing and others who still care about the emperor's safety do not dare to support the emperor's excessive injustice to the inner court, because the inner court is not limited to the emperor alone, and the degree of damage caused by ordinary palace people cannot be underestimated.
After all, within five steps, your greatest power is only a mortal body, but the effect of power within five steps is far less than that outside five steps.
However, Shen Shixing and others were willing to donate so many silver coins to the court. It can be said that they were desperate and were forced by the old party.
They obviously also know that the old party wants to destroy everything through economic warfare, so even if they don't donate now, they will be eaten by the old party in the name of solving the silver dollar crisis in the future.
Instead of doing this, it is better to take the initiative to use all the silver dollars to save the market.
In this way, at least the fixed assets can be preserved, which is better than having no shelter or even life after being completely devoured by the old party in the future. And if the power can be preserved through this, it may be possible to earn it back in the future.
As for whether revealing their wealth to the emperor would further arouse the emperor's greed, they didn't care that much.
What's more, the fact that Zhang Juzheng was able to be saved also let them know that the emperor was not the kind of short-sighted person who was blind to money. He would not sacrifice himself for hundreds of thousands or hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, regardless of moral rules. Established credibility for many years.
Moreover, Zhu Yijun had made it clear a few days ago that his emperor had given the people of the world the legal right to own private property, and that he would not usurp it. This also convinced Shen Shixing and other new parties that the emperor would not be so short-sighted.
certainly.
The most important thing is that their new party has no retreat. After all, reform is not the emperor's business alone. The emperor cannot bleed alone. If they don't bleed, the new etiquette concept of governing the country that they have worked so hard to establish will collapse, and social logic will still fall apart. It has turned into the same cruel and internal conflict mode as before.
That is to say, whoever reforms will be ruined.
Zhu Yijun also understood why Shen Shixing and others did this, so he nodded:
"That's fine!"
"After all, this is not my business alone. Since you are like this, I must take it seriously!"
"But there is no need to donate money. When I donate money, I need to consider the peace of the inner court. Don't you need to consider the peace of the inner garden?"
"Are the clan members really willing to spend their increasingly valuable silver coins?"
"Although the ministers are people of high status in the clan, they can be suppressed by force and can force the relatives of the clan to agree to donate money."
"But I don't want to use this coercive method to ensure the smooth progress of the reform, so it is better to lend it to Taicang in the form of a loan, and turn this loan into a bond with the loan borrowed from our internal transportation warehouse. This kind of debt is called national debt!”
“The Cabinet Policy Department will improve the national debt system at that time.”
"At that time, let each family hold this bond. When the imperial court is full of silver coins, they will repay the debt and interest, so that the family wealth will not decrease but increase. This will also reduce the resentment in your respective inner gardens and know that you will not give it to the imperial court in vain. .”
"After all, it is not easy for members of the Qing family to manage their own family businesses. You cannot just give it to the imperial court."
"Your Majesty is kind and loving, and I will remember it from the bottom of my heart!"
"But how can I discuss benefits with the imperial court when I have received favors from the country? It is my ambition to repay the favor to the country, and my family has read poetry and books since they were young, and they know etiquette and loyalty, so naturally they are willing to donate money to the country. No. There will be resentment, and if they can really help the country maintain peace, they will be honored!"
Shen Shixing stood up and spoke.
Zhu Yijun didn't know if Shen Shixing was testing this or if he was pretending to be reserved because he was influenced by traditional Confucian thought, so he just asked directly:
"Of course the Qing family has no grudges over this, but can you guarantee that the other Gong Qing's families have no grudges and that their homes will not be in chaos because of this?!"
"Although you have discussed it with your own family and considered their feelings, and your family members all agreed that you would do this, have you asked other family members? Can you guarantee that other family members will not be resentful?"
Shen Shixing pondered for a while and then said yes.
Hai Rui wanted to speak out now.
Zhu Yijun waved his hand to stop him: "You don't need to say more. I still say what I said. You can benefit your own family, but you cannot benefit other people's families in the name of helping the country. You are not qualified to do so. It is not in line with the new etiquette, nor is it in line with my purpose of granting the people of the world the legal right to own private property."
Hai Rui had no choice but to say yes.
He can force his family, but he cannot force the families of Shen Shixing, Qi Jiguang, etc. to donate money to the court, which would make the families of Shen Shixing, Qi Jiguang, etc. uneasy, and thus affect the overall situation.
You must know that Qi Jiguang's backyard is already full of contradictions. If he persists, he may really affect the imperial military affairs.
In this way, Hai Rui couldn't force even his own family members.
The same goes for Shen Shixing.
So, next, the Ming court really began to implement the national debt system.
"His Majesty is still very confident in the reform of the system, and also very confident in changing the social customs in which people in the country only love to fight against each other. He is not the kind of benevolent monarch who was just influenced by Hong Confucianism in the past, but would give up midway, thinking that the destiny of the country is difficult to change."
Therefore, Shen Shixing then talked about his inner feelings to Hai Rui and other ministers.
Hai Rui nodded: "Where does your Majesty's confidence come from?"
"I know this very well. Your Majesty's confidence comes first from the princes and secondly from overseas."
Li Chengliang, who had become a deputy privy envoy to a civilian position, stepped forward and said something.
Qi Jiguang looked at Li Chengliang and asked, "What is the meaning of this statement?"
Li Chengliang said with a smile: "Changing the donation of silver to the issuance of national bonds, wouldn't the princes, in order to benefit the family, become more active in ensuring clean governance, ensuring an increase in tax revenue, and ensuring that the war ahead will not be constrained by the rear and it will be easier to win?"
All the ministers nodded.
Shen Shixing even smiled: "Your Majesty changed the donation into debt, and the consequences are here. This is because you don't believe that all the gentlemen are like Mr. Gangfeng!"
The ministers couldn't help but sneer.
Zhang Xueyan followed with a smile and said: "After all, Marquis Ningyuan has been managing the military and political affairs of Wai Andong for many years. He knows the principle of taking Wai An Nei, so he thought of this first."
"However, this is indeed true. Since the national bonds have been issued, we have also bought the national bonds first, so it is even more important!"
"First of all, the government cannot be broken. This is the foundation for the decentralization of money to the people. Whether it is projects or taxation, whether it can avoid becoming a policy that harms the people depends on this! Military supplies in the front cannot be withheld, and officials cannot be allowed to criticize the front. military."
Shen Shixing nodded in agreement.
Qi Jiguang then followed up: "The Privy Council will remind Ma Gui that it is best to eliminate the Japanese pirates more thoroughly, so that even if there is no silver coins to be issued in the future, they can be directly distributed to the fields."
"That's not enough!"
"In my opinion, let Chen Lin, Deng Zilong and other naval forces go to Annan and Java to intervene in the political affairs of the Pan-Yi people, stir up troubles and create disputes, and then take the opportunity to seize land for profit. Liu Wei can also be sent to Yunnan. The Burmese and Yi people are afraid of him. , he can also cause trouble and intimidate the barbarians in Burma, and seize gold and silver in Burma."
Li Chengliang said with raised eyebrows at this time.
Qi Jiguang couldn't help but look at Li Chengliang: "Did the Duke carry out poisonous schemes to provoke the Jurchens like this in Liaodong? So much so that the Jurchen tribes continued to fight each other during the period when the Duke was the governor of Andong."
"That's what I think!"
Yin Zhengmao, Minister of the Ministry of War, echoed: "In this way, even if there are still troubles inside, but there is chaos outside, it will make it appear that this dynasty is not actually that chaotic!"
When Shen Shixing heard what Yin Zhengmao said, he couldn't help but nodded: "It makes sense."
The other ruling ministers of the New Party followed suit.
As a result, many border ministers really became hawks.
As soon as Liu Wei arrived in Yunnan, he insisted that Meng'an, a Shan chieftain who had surrendered to Burma, had attacked and killed the family members of the border soldiers in his camp. He sent someone to question him and forced Meng'an to donate three thousand taels of gold to settle the matter.
Deng Zilong sent a navy to Annan to force the Mo family's regime to pay 100,000 taels of silver, saying that it would help it resist the Ruan family's attack in the south, which was equivalent to collecting protection fees.
The Mo family's regime refused to comply at first. As a result, the Ruan family actually threw a large ship and bombarded his port. He said that his own rebels were entrenched here and cut off their trade routes, forcing the Mo family to ask Deng Zilong for help. Pay money to eliminate disaster.
"Now the New Party is stirring up trouble everywhere, and the Fanyi who have good relations with us are very dissatisfied. They also know that this incident is caused by the unstable price of silver, so they sent Confucian scholars to ask us when we are going to cause trouble."
Wang Zhixiang also specifically asked about Gu Xiancheng that day.
Gu Xiancheng said with a sullen face: "Wait a minute, this is all because the emperor created a national debt to make the new party more united, and completely abandoned the etiquette, justice and integrity, and made trouble everywhere in the name of national supremacy to divert internal problems, but this national debt After all, it’s a tree without roots, so it won’t last long.”
(End of chapter)
