Chapter 68: General Principles of Baobao Reform
That's because the growth in the quantity of money has boosted the growth of productivity itself. Later generations have also proven that appropriate monetary easing helps economic development.
This is also the reason why He Xi is so concerned about the reform of Baochao.
Why didn’t the Industrial Revolution happen in ancient China? Many answers may not be correct. But it is not necessarily wrong. After all, such a huge problem is definitely a comprehensive problem, not one reason, but the sum of multiple reasons.
He Xi said: "This time, we only need to succeed and not fail. We need to do it slowly. I think we should first use three methods to recover the huge amount of treasure. The first is the land in the city, except for government offices, palaces, and houses given by the court. In addition, all are sold, and only treasure notes are collected. The second method is to sell all the unimportant factories built in Beijing this time to offset the treasure notes. Finally, it is the whole process of building Beijing city. , in all circumstances, only use banknotes and banknotes. Collect banknotes and issue banknotes. Of course, you can also use some banknotes appropriately. Use three years to collect banknotes to a minimum. Then start the exchange. "
Yao Guangxiao said: "Sir, in this way, the value of the treasure banknotes will continue to increase."
The value of treasure money is never dead. It had been depreciating before, but has begun to stabilize in recent years. That is because of Zhu Yuanzhang's various bailout policies. Although it is said that Zhu Yuanzhang's financial means and tools are quite scarce. Not much can be done. At least, more than 4 million guan of treasure banknotes are recycled every year, and the number of treasure banknotes supported each year is gradually equaling. This allows the price of treasure banknotes to stabilize.
Now that a large number of treasure banknotes are being recycled, the price of treasure banknotes will naturally rise.
As a result, I don’t know whether it is good or bad.
The advantage is of course that He Xi used a lot of assets to offset the excessive issuance of currency. The problem is that if the price of the treasure banknotes is first pegged and then exchanged, the cost is not too high. It is about tens of millions of taels of silver. Using silver notes is about No way. After all, he had just been cheated by banknotes. If this method is used, the price of the treasure banknotes will rise after the huge amount of treasure banknotes are almost recovered. However, the banknotes consumed are definitely no longer small.
Even if He Xi wants to take action on the treasure banknotes, this news is only circulated among the highest levels, and the price of the treasure banknotes has increased a lot.
This is evident.
He Xi said: "It doesn't matter. As long as big things are done well, there is no need to worry about small amounts of money." He Xi's general idea is to reduce the excessive issuance of currency on the one hand, and to increase the total demand for money in society, that is, to develop productivity. . Boost the economy and let society consume excess currency on its own.
Just like He Xi had a lot of fun in Liaodong.
But there was no problem in the end. Although many people didn't know this method existed, but more importantly, the development of Liaodong's industry requires more currency, and the development of maritime trade also requires more currency. With Liaodong's industry as a guarantee, Only then did we have room for tens of millions of taels of silver notes.
Liaodong's industry alone cannot support this market.
Now, the capital has to support at least 80 million to 100 million taels in order to resolve the risk of exchanging treasure notes.
That is to say, the total value of Beijing's real estate, plus the total value of the industry that He Xi can sell, and the total currency usage of Beijing and nearby places must reach the level of 10,000 taels. Even more.
He Xi actually didn't know if he could do it.
He vaguely felt that it could be done. Even more can be done.
But without specific data and statistics, He Xi can only rely on his feelings. But whether this feeling is right or wrong, he can only gamble.
He Xi explained the truth to everyone in detail.
Some people heard it in confusion, while others understood it a little bit. It seemed to He Xi that the people who understood it best were actually Yang Zhen and Yang Shiqi.
Yang Zhen is involved in the business world, and he is most sensitive to money. And Yang Shiqi is also very good at internal affairs.
Yang Shiqi said: "Your Excellency is wise. I originally had no clue about this matter, but now I understand what your intentions are. However, if you want to do this, the current Banking Department is far from capable. Minister Please expand the banking department to at least have branches in Liaodong, Hebei, Korea, Japan, Nanyang, and other places, and even have branches in Nanjing, Jiangsu and other places. Only in this way can we maximize the potential for digesting treasure banknotes."
Yang Zhen said: "What Mr. Yang said is very true. Students have heard that in many places in Nanyang, gold and silver shops also handle the exchange of silver notes. If I don't do these things, others will do it."
Yao Guangxiao said: "How many people do we need?"
When He Xi heard this, he immediately frowned.
When people use it, it just doesn’t exist.
The same is true today. Now I don’t know if there are a thousand people in the banking department, but they will spread it out as they said, not to mention more than a dozen branches and hundreds of branches. All are few. There are enough hands to comfort everyone. The number of people in the banking department must be at least over 10,000.
And the people the Banking Department needs are not ordinary people. At least he should be able to read and write, and he shouldn't be too bad at mathematics. Once the calculation is wrong, the consequences will be disastrous.
Where do these people come from?
The few people trained in Liaodong are far from enough.
And He Xi also has to consider one thing, and that is the cost of the bank. There are also costs to support such a big bank. Maybe it would cost more than raising an army of tens of thousands. This cost must also be accounted for.
He Xi said: "What do you think should be done to solve this problem?"
Yao Guangxiao suddenly took out a folding fan from his hand, turned it a few times in his hand, opened it with a bang, and smashed it into his hand again, and said: "Sir, since Beijing is Beijing and there is an Imperial College in Nanjing, does Beijing also have one?"
He Xi said: "Beijing Imperial College?"
Yao Guangxiao said: "Exactly. It takes ten years to grow trees and a hundred years to cultivate people."
He Xi looked at Yao Guangxiao, seeming to understand, but also not understanding, and said: "The students of the Imperial College are not suitable either."
Yao Guangxiao said: "Your Majesty is overthinking. Your Majesty will consider your thoughts. As long as there is a suitable reason."
He Xi glanced at the others, and the others' eyes moved. They looked at He Xi without saying a word, but their eyes showed support.
In many other aspects, Yao Guangxiao's ability is not outstanding, but when it comes to political struggle and calculating people's hearts, Yao Guangxiao is He Xi's subordinate and does not think secondarily. Did Yao Guangxiao's words help He Xi solve the manpower shortage problem?
Yes, but also no.
It is to establish reserve forces and establish an academic base camp. He wanted He Xi's school to become authentic in the north, thus competing with Confucianism.
As mentioned earlier, the situation in the north has been plagued by wars for many years. From the perspective of Confucians, the north is a place with shallow culture, that is, they do not care too much about Confucianism. Even during the Yuan Dynasty, it seemed that the Yuan Dynasty valued Confucian ministers, but in fact In the view of the Yuan Dynasty, Confucian officials were put together with Taoists, monks, and Catholics. It is a religion, not a political doctrine.
Even when the Confucian ministers and the Hui merchant ministers fought, it would be a life-and-death struggle. Very miserable.
Therefore, there is not that strong Confucian power in the north.
In this way, the doctrine led by the government can easily gain the upper hand.
For example, He Xi’s theory.
He Xi's theory was easy to implement in Liaodong because there were not many scholars in Liaodong. Not many people care about authentic Confucianism. In order to have enough to eat, many people did not mind going to the Mongols or the Jurchens outside the customs. Why do you care whether you are a Confucian official or not?
The Imperial College is the highest institution of learning in the Ming Dynasty. Regardless of whether it is the Imperial College in Nanjing or the Imperial College in Beijing, their status is equal in this regard.
Although the Nanjing Imperial College was in the hands of He Xi, it was essentially in the hands of Song Lin. Song Lin had limited academic achievements, but had a special status. He was Song Ne's son. With Song Lin around, many Confucian officials would not make it too difficult for him. Similarly, Song Lin's support will not be too excessive.
This is why there have always been voices opposing He Xi in the Nanjing Imperial College. It’s just not mainstream.
He Xi couldn't really suppress all the voices forcefully. After all, ideas cannot be killed. The geographical location of Nanjing Imperial College determines that they cannot be immune to the influence of the outside world.
