Faced with this problem, Lin Jingchun had no good solution.
Because it is indeed true.
Methods such as setting up warehouses and digging cellars have been proposed. Red lines have been set for the storage capacity. Grain and salt must not be withdrawn beyond this red line. Legislation must be made to prevent any person or group from crossing the line.
But such an operation cannot convince the public.
If some natural or man-made disaster breaks out, conventional warehousing cannot be handled at all, and people are about to starve to death. Can you open the warehouse?
Human lives are at stake, will you distribute disaster relief food or not?
Do you believe that the hungry and anxious victims will collectively attack you if you insist on not opening the warehouse?
What do you want the Ming army to do at that time?
Soldiers from the common people are fighting swords against the common people?
What a joke!
This strategy was severely criticized by the revival members. They smashed the table and the bench, grabbed Lin Jingchun and pointed at his nose and scolded him. Lin Jingchun turned red and couldn't say a word.
To this end, the Ministry of Finance proposed a variety of plans, and argued with many officials for many days at the State Council. In the end, the disputes could not be resolved. Voting by a show of hands by all participating officials could not gain majority support, and the highest support rate could not be obtained. More than 30%, but still unable to pass this resolution.
After several meetings, Lin Jingchun realized that this reform plan could not be recognized, so he had to give up.
He proposed to postpone the currency reform until after the Song Dynasty was overthrown and he took full control of the production of Shu brocade, tea and porcelain, and then linked these three hard currencies to the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes to stabilize the value of the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes.
These three things are not related to the national economy and people's livelihood, so they can be used to link them, right?
These three items are time-tested, have strong values, and are in high long-term demand.
All in all, it is better not to continue to use metal currencies such as copper coins and iron coins. The Ming Dynasty was in short supply of these coins. It costs more to mint money than the money itself. Isn’t this nonsense?
But even so, his suggestion was still questioned by many officials.
The main demanders of these three commodities are the upper class of society and foreign rulers. The exquisite craftsmanship and strong demand for these two areas support the value of these three commodities.
However, technology and demand themselves are also unstable. People's needs are not static. Any piece of demand that is less will affect their value and thus the monetary value.
Xin Qiji made one point.
If a country is unable to continue to purchase Shu brocade due to war, and the demand for these three goods decreases from the beginning of the war to the end of the war, will it affect the value of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes?
Metal currency has its own value after all. As long as the face value and weight are stable, it is very stable as currency. Without goods, its own value remains unchanged and people still recognize it.
But for banknotes, just look at the Jiaozi and Huizi that people in the Song Dynasty had. The currency value is very unstable. If you can't buy what you should, it will immediately become a piece of waste paper, which is too hard to wipe your butt.
If something goes wrong and the people doubt the government's ability, the situation that Ming Dynasty has finally created will collapse.
Can your Ministry of Finance shoulder this responsibility?
Xin Qiji and Lin Jingchun never had a strong friendship, but they had a pretty good relationship with each other. However, they were tit for tat on this issue and had many quarrels, which also caused a big debate between the metal currency faction and the paper money faction at the State Council.
The metal currency faction and the paper currency faction have been arguing endlessly over this issue. In the past five years, Hongwu's currency reform proposals were unable to be passed at two consecutive state conferences. Many people still adhere to the copper currency strategy, thinking that if there is a lack of copper, go to find copper. If there is no domestic currency, go to the country. Find it abroad.
Lin Jingchun believes that whether it can be found is one thing, how to mine it is another thing, and how long it will take to put it into the market and start operations is another thing.
Maybe by the time you find the copper you want, Ming Dynasty will have already fallen into depression due to deflation!
The two sides argued endlessly, and no one agreed with the other.
Finally, Chai Yuanming, the left minister of the Ministry of Finance, even proposed the concept of credit currency across the ages.
What he means is why the Ming Dynasty Baochao cannot be turned into a government credit currency with reference to the current actual situation of Baitiao?
He believes that because it is proposed that the government guarantees the value of ITBs and ensures that ITBs can be deducted from taxes, it has led to the current situation of people trusting ITBs and even using them as currency. This may be a precursor to the issuance of credit currency.
According to his field investigation, he found that in the Yellow River Project area and in a large number of areas in Henan and Shandong provinces, the white bars issued by the Ministry of Finance of the Ming Dynasty were actually currency.
He saw with his own eyes that people used white bars to buy rice, meat, and fish in the market. He also saw with his own eyes that big businessmen used many white bars to buy bulk goods, such as silk cloth. The locals were not clear about using white bars as money. There are no worries anymore.
They take it for granted.
For the sake of caution, Chai Yuanming disguised himself and went deep into the people. He had many conversations with farmers, urban industrial and commercial practitioners, and businessmen, asking them about their actual views and trust in Bai Tiao.
From this, he learned that people generally believed that IOUs were money and were no different from money. It said how much tax it could be deducted from, and how valuable it was, and it could be used for daily business transactions.
Because the Ming Dynasty changed the copper coin tax, the latest white note is linked to the quantity of copper coins, which is simpler and clearer.
Folks abandoned the huizi issued indiscriminately by the Southern Song Dynasty government and used white strips as banknotes for commercial exchanges. From ordinary farmers to wealthy businessmen, and even government officials, all used white strips for daily shopping.
More importantly, Chai Yuanming found that they generally didn't even care whether Bai Tiao could actually be exchanged for the same amount of copper coins.
They only know that this thing is useful to the government, and the government recognizes it. When they pay taxes, they hand it over to the government, and the government really accepts it and recognizes it.
In this way, it no longer matters whether it can be exchanged for the same amount of copper coins, and few people actually went to the bank to ask whether the IOU could be exchanged for copper coins.
They have begun to ignore the copper value of Baitiao, and have begun to regard Baitiao itself as a real currency.
Based on this, Chai Yuanming believed that IOUs could be issued as a complete currency.
Because in this process, due to the high credibility of the Ming government, there was no trace of copper coins in the entire process from goods trading to tax payment.
“Farmers, handicraftsmen, merchants, these are the main people who trade goods in the market. They don’t even care whether Bai Tiao can be exchanged for the same amount of copper coins at banks in various places. They no longer care about this issue.
They believe that Bai Tiao can buy the things they need. They believe that Bai Tiao will be handed over to the government when paying taxes, and the government will recognize it. During the whole process, I did not find a single trace of copper coins. "
Chai Yuanming looked excited.
He stood up and addressed the officials attending the meeting as if making a speech.
"From what I have seen in the prefectures of Shandong, the locals have basically become accustomed to using copper coins for small transactions and white notes for large transactions. They generally think that copper coins are heavy and they can just carry a little. Baitiao is lightweight and easier to carry.
When buying some gadgets, rice and salt, they would bring a few copper coins with them. When it was their turn to buy meat, oil, cloth and other items, they generally used white bars, and merchants even used white bars on a large scale. , I have never seen copper coins before. Doesn’t this mean something? "
The officials attending the State Council looked at me and I looked at you. Many of them were having small discussions in low voices, as if they were very serious about this matter.
Many people couldn't help but turn their attention to Su Yonglin.
There is no doubt that the person who can make the final decision and bear the ultimate responsibility for it is Su Yonglin.
Chai Yuanming then also turned his attention to Su Yonglin.
"Chairman, it is not unfeasible to continue the copper coin strategy, but the problem is that as the population of the Ming Dynasty increases and the number of people engaged in business continues to increase, copper coins will inevitably fall into a state of being unable to make ends meet. By then, the copper coins produced in the Ming Dynasty will also become more expensive than the money itself. situation, this is no small problem.”
Chai Yuanming expressed his opinions and hoped that Su Yonglin would recognize his suggestions.
