And these officials didn't even have the courage to question the data Liu Haojia said! They know that there will be no big problem if they talk nonsense in a special place like a temple, but if they tell practical data, they will take responsibility! They didn't think Liu Haojia would give his handle to his opponent!
In the silence again, Liu Haojia turned to Emperor Wanli and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I have now proven that the matter of me competing for profits with the people is completely false, so I want to say one more thing here, that is, I invented the method of making glass mirrors. Not only did it not affect people's livelihood, not only did it not displace the craftsmen, but it was of great benefit to the court, and it could even be said to benefit the country and the people!"
After hearing this, the ministers made another noise and expressed their contempt for Liu Haojia! It doesn't matter if you won before, why are you bragging about it? So someone said: "That's nonsense! It's just a civilian utensil. How can it benefit the country and the people?"
"That's right, it's just sensational!"
Among those who criticized him, the pale-faced censors who were standing in the main hall just now and being scolded by Liu Haojia were the ones who shouted the most fiercely! As if this can prove that they are neither making false accusations nor being stupid!
But at this time, Liu Haojia no longer gave them face. He turned around and said loudly: "A group of people who know nothing and can only falsely accuse others. What qualifications do you have to shout loudly here?"
A censor was so angry that he stood up and said loudly: "Why don't you let others talk about your arrogance? If you can tell where this mirror benefits the country and the people, I will be dismissed from office now!" "
Liu Haojia smiled slightly and said, "Remember your own words! I will teach you to be a good boy today!"
After that, he said proudly: "Jubaozhai has been selling glass mirrors for a long time now. It can be said that it has completely squeezed out the bronze mirrors from the market in the capital! It should be noted that copper is a scarce thing and the price has always been high! But since the mirror After replacing the bronze mirrors, the price of bronze wares in the entire capital market dropped by an average of thirty cents per piece!"
Upon hearing this, some of the ministers reacted immediately, while others did not understand what Liu Haojia meant at all! But several pavilion elders opened their eyes wide and showed surprise! Because as a few people in the highest ruling class of a country, they fully understand the great significance of this!
At this time, I heard Liu Haojia continue to say: "The price reduction of copperware is not because the price of copper materials has dropped, nor because there is sufficient supply in the market, but because the copper materials that should be made into bronze mirrors have been turned into other things, so Under the same supply conditions, the copper material on the market will be much more abundant. This is the reason why the price of copperware has dropped!'
Liu Haojia paused here to let the ministers digest what he just said, and then continued: "Your Majesty and the gentlemen can imagine that if the price of mirrors is further reduced through continuous research, it will be reduced to the level that the common people can afford." If you can afford it, it can replace all bronze mirrors, or even use glass to make other things that can replace bronze. So how much copper materials will be saved across the country, and how many more copper coins can be minted? And enough copper coins will make Private transactions have become more convenient. Is this a good thing that benefits the people and the country? Of course, although the results cannot be seen now, at least this is a solution to some problems!"
After Liu Haojia said these words, although some of the officials felt that he was lying, they had to admit that this was indeed a feasible direction, and it had some effect!
But what some high-ranking officials heard was not such a simple statement! Especially when these words fell in Zhang Juzheng's ears, they were like thunder! He had been hit unknowingly and sat upright, staring closely at Liu Hao's house with half-lidded eyes!
As the top chief minister of an empire, he is very aware of the current economic situation of the Ming Dynasty. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is riddled with holes! Otherwise, Zhang Juzheng would not be able to risk his own life and death to promote reforms and promote a whipping method!
The current economic situation of the Ming Dynasty is nothing more than the currency of the Ming Dynasty. It is a big pit that has existed for hundreds of years! And this pit can even be traced back to the Southern Song Dynasty!
During the Southern Song Dynasty, due to the Mongolian invasion, the Southern Song Dynasty had to print a large amount of banknotes in order to pay for huge military expenditures. As a result, the currency devalued and the economy collapsed! But I don’t know whether it was luck or misfortune. Just before the currency disaster broke out, the Southern Song Dynasty perished!
As for the situation after the Mongols came to power, they still couldn't catch up with the Southern Song Dynasty! These Mongolians, who know nothing about economics and only know how to plunder private wealth, are printing banknotes like crazy, making the problem of devaluation of banknotes even more serious! After all, as long as this kind of thing is painted on paper with some patterns and colors, it can be exchanged for real money among the people. For the looting Mongolians, this is much easier than fighting!
When the Ming Dynasty was established, Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised to find that such a large country was so short of copper mines that it could not meet the needs of coinage! Even when Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, it once happened that it cost two pence to mint one penny of copper coins!
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that things were not going well, so he had to re-issue banknotes. This is the famous treasure banknote of the Ming Dynasty! As a result, due to improper regulation, the value of the banknotes depreciated by more than 80% in just ten years! Therefore, no one uses Baoqian at all nowadays, after all, it is too hard to wipe the buttocks!
Gu Yanwu of the Ming Dynasty once recorded an example. He said that during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, many merchants in Fujian were using Song Dynasty coins for transactions. This shows how scarce copper coins were in the Ming Dynasty at that time!
This unstable currency gave rise to the gradual appearance of silver in circulation. Therefore, after Zhang Juzheng implemented the whip method, 90% of the tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty was turned into silver!
But after silver was used in large quantities, a new problem arose, that is, the Central Plains also lacked silver mines! So in order to solve the problem of lack of silver, the Ming Dynasty once opened the sea ban! Merchants began to do business overseas and traveled throughout Asia! Later, after they connected with the Europeans, the world-wide triangular trade was born!
The so-called Grand Triangle Trade is when Spain travels from Europe to the Americas. It mines a large amount of silver in the Americas and transports it to Asia. It is used to buy Chinese silk, porcelain and other goods, and then shipped back to Europe for sale. This allowed a large amount of silver to flow into China and alleviated China's silver shortage problem.
But then something happened that was very unfortunate for the Ming Dynasty, that is, a large-scale war broke out in Europe, known in history as the Thirty Years' War!
