Whether treasure banknotes can be circulated in the world depends not only on the will of the court and the rules established, but also on merchants. If merchants collectively do not recognize or use Baoqian, have no trust in Baoqian, and still mainly trade money, it will be difficult for Baoqi to gain a foothold.
The issuance of Ming Dynasty banknotes is very different from that in history. It not only determined the standard of gold and silver, but also directly implemented the imperial guarantee in the form of the Ming Dynasty Bank, allowing gold and silver banknotes to exist at the same time, and designed a recovery and exchange mechanism for faint banknotes. .
It can be said that the basic framework of the Ming Dynasty Baobao has been solidified, and now someone needs to bring the Baobao into circulation.
This person is a businessman.
Gu Zhengchen was aware of Hu Dashan's concerns and also knew that many people were deeply impressed by the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty's treasure banknotes. However, for the Ming Dynasty, the promotion of treasure banknotes was a necessary means to drive the economy. Going out with copper coins in a cart and carrying money in your arms. , these are two speeds, two costs, two profits...
Moreover, there was not much copper and not much silver in the Ming Dynasty. Once the economy continued to develop, without a large import of overseas silver, a shortage of gold, silver, and copper would inevitably occur.
If the treasure banknote is determined and established, these problems can be overcome in the future.
In the early days of the gold and silver standard, 100% gold and silver were benchmarked against treasure banknotes to avoid the collapse of the credit of treasure banknotes due to runs. Ten million taels of treasure banknotes were issued for every ten million taels of silver. But after the credit of the treasure banknotes is established and the treasure banknotes completely become a credit currency, the gold and silver reserves can be appropriately reduced, and 10 million taels of silver can be used to issue 20 million or even 30 million guans of treasure banknotes. Of course, in order to avoid a sharp devaluation of the currency, it needs to be supported by economic development, which is a later matter.
Gu Zhengchen assured Hu Dashan: "You know, I am the deputy of the Baochao Promotion Department. I was involved in the formula and issuance rules of the Baochao. I even offended many people by suggesting that officials use Ming Dynasty Baochao first, and I was eventually jailed. I can assure you and the merchants who use treasure banknotes that the value of the treasure banknotes is guaranteed by the imperial court. If you take the consistent banknotes, you can definitely exchange them for a thousand copper coins or one tael of silver at the Daming Bank anywhere."
"If any of you can't successfully exchange gold, silver, copper coins with Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, you can come to me directly! I will exchange gold, silver, copper coins or grain for you first with the guarantee of Quanzhou Treasury. Which Ming Dynasty money bank will not do it for you? For settlement and exchange, I will personally ask their supervisor! The Bao Banknote Collection Office has the responsibility to supervise the issuance of Bao Banknotes. If anyone does not act according to the rules, I will teach them the rules!"
Hu Dashan was shocked by Gu Zhengchen's words and stood in awe: "This way, things can be done!"
Gu Zhengchen put his hands behind his back: "After all, I am a court official. It is inconvenient for me to meet too many businessmen directly. You can bring these words to them. In addition, tell them that anyone who carries more than 2,000 Ming treasure banknotes to Fujian Province for transactions and completes tax payment merchants, the entire Fujian province will exempt them from customs duties and taxes for three years."
Hu Dashan took a deep breath and said quickly: "Are you sure it's Fujian Province, not Quanzhou Prefecture?"
That means that as the prefect of Quanzhou, you may not be able to be the master of Fujian Province.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Hu Dashan and said seriously: "There are only a few Guanjin in Quanzhou Prefecture, so naturally it is the entire Fujian Province!"
Hu Dashan looked deeply at Gu Zhengchen. There was no trace of amusement in his eyes, so he replied: "Okay, I will tell you."
Gu Zhengchen nodded, chatted for a few words and left.
Hu Dashan sat behind the desk, pondered for a long time, and wrote the names of thirty businessmen on the paper. Then he called the shopkeeper and arranged: "Tell these people that there is something important to discuss, and they must come at noon tomorrow." .”
The shopkeeper takes the order.
For the next seven or eight days, there was a lot of scolding in the court. Some officials were even angry that Zhu Yuanzhang had left his own memorial and ignored it. It is not known whether it was thrown into the trash and burned as firewood. They listed Gu Zhengchen's crimes in the court and called him a person who "flatters the emperor and causes harm to the country".
Xu Da almost cursed after hearing this several times. In their mouths, Gu Zhengchen was comparable to Su Daji from Jiuwei. He was a man, not to mention Zhu Yuanzhang was not King Zhou...
On this day, Zhang Cen, the director of the Ministry of Industry, submitted the impeachment document and scolded him so Wenya that he almost had to accuse Gu Zhengchen of his 18th generation. Gu Zhengchen unexpectedly appeared in the court today. How long will it take if he doesn't scold him?
Zhu Yuanzhang had extremely high fighting skills, and his ability to control the court was even more superb. He had already shown his butcher's knife before others could scold him.
So what, Chief Zhang, right? Some people have accused you of embezzling five hundred taels of silver during the process of building the river. Is this relevant?
If you don’t admit it, call the witness.
If you embezzle together, he says you are embezzled, and there is evidence.
Oh, admit it, drag him out and kill him.
Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and looked at the officials majestically: "The common people are hungry, cold and trapped. They often hate life and hate to die soon. I feel sorry for myself, so I work hard day and night and dare not slack off. I only hope that all people in the world will be safe. I have been responsible for the affairs of nature for many years. I have repeatedly warned officials not to commit corruption and harm the people. I am busy sharpening my sword and peeling off my skin late. Is it because my punishment is not harsh enough, or are you not afraid of death?"
"In my opinion, anyone who commits corruption should be beheaded! Regardless of whether it is sixty guan or six cents, whoever reaches out his hand should die! The former censor Han Yike bluntly said that the imperial salary was too low. After the Rong County government issued the money to support integrity, Jurong County became a good government. Later, Gu Zhengchen, the prefect of Quanzhou, persuaded me that corruption was repeatedly banned, which was indeed the reason for the low salary."
"I want to say that the imperial court's low salary is not unreasonable! The people are in poverty, and I have four dishes and one soup every day, and rarely eat meat. As for you, you often take concubines, even play music day and night, and drink and eat, especially if you don't know it! How much salary should I give to you, Huo Huo? If Jurong County is not governed with great kindness, I will definitely kill all corrupt officials and leave no one behind!"
Leng Sensen's words made the civil and military officials feel goosebumps.
Yu Pu and Ma Gui, the Minister of Household Affairs, looked at each other. How could the person who was impeaching Gu Zhengchen be involved in corruption and get so angry?
Hu Weiyong squinted his eyes and remained motionless.
At times like this, just listen and don't say anything. As for whether the person he was insinuating was Wang Guangyang, that has nothing to do with him.
Wang Guangyang didn't take his seat accordingly. He didn't take concubines frequently and play day and night. He took a concubine every once in a while, and he only played at night. He was working during the day and had no time. He was definitely not talking about himself. He couldn't tell which prince he was, for example. Fei Ju, Lu Zhongheng, etc...
Zhu Yuanzhang changed the subject: "Governor Gu was the first person to raise honest money. He issued a military order to me. As long as I agreed to set up the Quanzhou Special Zone and open sea for business, he could use the commercial taxes and interest earned from business to subsidize the imperial salary. Gu Magistrate, yes or no?"
Gu Zhengchen left the office and said in a deep voice: "Back to Your Majesty, this is indeed the case. I am willing to use long-distance trade to increase business taxes and replenish the national treasury. If the national treasury is full, Your Majesty can be kind to all civil and military officials and officials in the world, and promote honest and trustworthy people. , let honest officials be honest but not impoverished, let corrupt officials stop their hands without abusing the people. Supplemented by supervision and assessment, and controlling corruption in local areas, this is the way to be clear and clear."
Zhu Yuanzhang asked sternly: "How much interest can you get from going to sea under the decree? Can it really make up for the salary of the officials in the world?"
Gu Zhengchen took out an account book from his sleeve, bowed respectfully and raised it above his head: "Your Majesty, I ordered people to go to sea and get eight ships of sea goods. For spices alone, I got more than 120,000 guan of silver and food. More than half a million shi. The silver has been sealed and shipped to the Ministry of Revenue for inspection, and the grain has been transported to the granary outside Jinchuan Gate, waiting for verification by the Ministry of Revenue before being put into the warehouse."
Hu Weiyong couldn't help but frown.
During this trip to sea, I actually got nearly 400,000 yuan of money and food?
Chen Ning couldn't help but secretly rejoice.
Lao Zhu and Gu Zhengchen sang in harmony, one said he was receiving the order and the other was saying he was following the order.
Fortunately, the Yushitai was not mobilized to vigorously impeach Gu Zhengchen this time. Obviously, this kind of violation of rules and head-turning was done only after the emperor gave permission.
Ma Gui and Yu Pu, the Ministers of the Ministry of Revenue, were also shocked by the figures given by Gu Zhengchen. How could they get so much money and food in one trip? You must know that last year, the entire Fujian province's tax and grain taxes were only a little over 800,000 guan, which is equivalent to about 400,000 guan...
One trip of trade was equivalent to a year's tax and grain supplies for Fujian Province, which was terrifying.
No wonder Gu Zhengchen dared to say that all officials can adopt Lian Yin. This is not a joke. If he is given a few years, there is no way he can really do it!
Ma Gui was very depressed. You, Gu Zhengchen, are so good at making money. You should be the Minister of Household Affairs. Why should you be the prefect of Quanzhou? Qu Cai...
Xu Da played with his beard.
This guy was very good at making money in Jurong, and he was also good at robbing. The Buddhist and Taoist sects gave him a lot of money. He also arrested a bunch of corrupt officials in Quanzhou Prefecture. Now he controls the only maritime trade zone in the Ming Dynasty. It is estimated that he will use Within a few years, he could bring millions of wealth to the court.
Having money is a good thing. If you have more money and food, you can exchange it for war horses, firearms, armor, crossbows, city walls...
Wang Baobao, you have defeated me, but I, Xu Da, will eventually defeat you and completely eliminate Yuanting!
Zhu Yuanzhang made a rare act of generosity: "Because of the repeated comments of Gu County Man and Han Yushi, the treasury received another amount of money. The Ministry of Households heard the order: 40,000 yuan of 120,000 guan of silver was allocated to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of War. The Governor's Office rewarded the Jinling sergeants, and the remaining 80,000 guan were distributed to all officials in Beijing. As for the 500,000 shi of grain, they did not need to put it into the warehouse. They recruited the people and directly transferred 100,000 guan each to Fengyang and Henan for disaster relief. The remaining Three hundred thousand shi were transferred to Datong, Xuanfu, and Peiping to be used as food and wages."
Ma Gui and Yu Pu walked out excitedly.
The officials in the court were even more overjoyed. No one had thought that the emperor, who had always been stingy, would distribute money for the first time...
Gu County man is a good man, we wronged him before.
Zhu Yuanzhang's frugal nature will never change. The reason why he distributed 400,000 yuan of money and food in one go was because there was a batch of money that was directly deposited in the East Palace.
Spices are just the big part of seafood, but the small parts are very valuable. Such as coral, agarwood, gemstones, ambergris, tortoiseshell...
Gu Zhengchen only sold 70% of these items and received gold and silver. The proceeds, including the remaining goods, were all given to the East Palace. As for the fact that Queen Ma took away 90% of Zhu Biao's gold and silver before he could count it, Gu Zhengchen would not tell anyone...
