Chapter 84 Ding Xian’s worries
Ding Xian encountered problems in many things.
Needless to say about other issues.
The biggest problem he encountered was that there was no collateral for issuing new banknotes.
Yes. The biggest problem with Beijing's banknotes is that Beijing banknotes have always been convertible into gold and silver. Banks in Beijing all have such business, and there are even silver coins circulating on the market. One silver dollar can be exchanged for one dollar banknote, or one or two treasuries of silver.
This kind of exchange is always going on.
To this end, He Xi stored tens of millions of taels of silver and millions of taels of gold as hard currency. It is the ballast stone for the imperial court to issue currency. Of course, compared to the more than one billion yuan issued by the imperial court, this amount is very different, and it is estimated that it is not even one-tenth.
Even though He Xi has been looking for hard currency in various ways. For example, when opening a bank, the deposit paid by the bank cannot be banknotes, but must be gold and silver.
For example, as soon as the gold and silver produced in Japan comes out, it goes directly to banks and is exchanged for banknotes.
etc.
However, the increase in hard currency has actually been less than the increase in paper money. He Xi used many methods to fix the price ratio of paper money to gold and silver. In fact, it was indispensable to continue sucking blood from Japan.
In history, the gold-silver ratio in Japan was at its lowest at one to four, while in the Ming Dynasty it was at its lowest at one to twelve. Even lower. There is a big price difference. They were all eaten by Japanese pirates.
But it is different now. Because of the close relationship between Japan and Ming Dynasty, the price difference is not that big. And the price difference was also swallowed up by the banking system.
This alone, if banks find more currency.
But Nanjing has no hard currency.
It cannot be said that there was no such thing. Until the beginning of the North-South War, the gold and silver from Sado Island continued to flow to Nanjing. The Nanjing treasury left by Zhu Yuanzhang contained at least tens of millions of gold and silver, even more than the gold and silver in Beijing at that time.
But in the end, all the gold and silver was spent.
The reason is simple: the court has no money. This gold and silver is money.
Of course, there are also many dignitaries who are also very interested in hard currency. Even a lot of the gold and silver in it ended up in the hands of Beijing after changing hands many times.
But once it is in the hands of the Bank of Beijing, there is no possibility of getting it out.
There is a problem.
When exchanging banknotes, it is better to exchange new Nanjing banknotes for old Beijing banknotes. Old Beijing banknotes can be exchanged for silver. Genuine silver. Although it is said that if you want to exchange old Beijing banknotes for silver, you must go to a bank in the north, and it is the head office of each province. Otherwise, the banks below do not provide such services, and banks under the jurisdiction of Nanjing still use old Nanjing banknotes, but in essence. They can go to Beijing to exchange money.
But can the new Nanjing banknotes be exchanged for silver?
Of course it's impossible.
How could the Nanjing court have so much silver? The last bit of silver was not used as a reserve fund. It is to support the funds for the next few months. I really thought it cost nothing to fight.
Of course, if someone goes to Beijing to exchange tens of millions of dollars for money, look what He Xi does for him. It absolutely cannot be replaced.
But if ordinary people exchange it for a few taels or millions of taels, some people even exchange it for ten thousand taels. One hundred thousand taels is still okay.
At least He Xi did a good job in saving face.
But Nanjing couldn't even pretend to be peaceful.
With Ding Xian's ability, how could he not discover the problem?
He has been making preparations, and he wants to use other methods to replace gold and silver as collateral. However, there were many problems with other methods, and the first thing he thought of was food. The problem is also very simple.
Who has the power to price food?
Can we control bulk grain trading?
This matter was categorically resolved during the Hongwu period. But now there is a question mark.
Ding Xian actually discovered that the bulk grain trade was not actually controlled by the imperial court, but by these scholar-bureaucrats. These scholar-bureaucrats are naturally not grain merchants. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty has not yet developed a person who can influence the food supply.
price of grain merchants.
It was impossible for the Ming court to allow such an awesome person.
However, the scholar-bureaucrats had a lot of food at home. If they united, they could indeed have a certain impact on food prices.
If Ding Xian were Fang Xiaoru, this matter would be easy to handle. Fang Xiaoru's influence is enough to settle many things. But Ding Xian does not have this influence. Many scholar-bureaucrats even hated Ding Xian deeply.
Grain pricing power is a very troublesome matter.
Ding Xian obviously doesn't like trouble.
So Ding Xian hesitated, for he had a premonition of many problems.
But it's obvious that Zhu Yunwen can't wait any longer.
It is true that all aspects require a large amount of funds, no, a huge amount of funds.
Ding Xian thought for a long time and finally came up with an idea.
After Ding Xian went to court, he first went to the Duke of Wei's mansion. Had a long talk with Xu Huizu, the new Duke of Wei.
Xu Huizu immediately invited Li Jinglong and Yao Guangxiao to his residence.
Yao Guangxiao was shocked when he heard what Ding Xian told Xu Huizu and said, "How dare Ding Xian do this?"
Xu Huizu sighed and said, "I didn't expect that he would actually do this. In this case, what should we do?"
Yao Guangxiao also fell into deep thought.
Ding Xian performed a magical operation.
That is to use old Beijing banknotes as hard currency.
as collateral.
In other words, it is relatively easy to first find a way to collect a large number of old Beijing banknotes. After all, the Nanjing court is still a court no matter what, and there is always a way if you think about it.
The next thing is to follow Beijing's practice on a one-to-one basis, but just exchange the gold and silver for old Beijing banknotes.
Then new banknotes are issued on a large scale, and the new banknotes maintain a one-to-one replacement for the old banknotes.
And by endorsing it with the credit of the Nanjing court, it can be issued to the court official salary, military pay, etc. In this way, the court would have ready money in hand. As for the rest, it’s just like Beijing does. On the surface, it can be exchanged on a one-to-one basis. But there are actually restrictions on redemption.
Even Ding Xian has already thought about it.
He planned to carry out compulsory settlement of banknotes at the customs, and all Beijing banknotes entering the Ming Dynasty were replaced by Nanjing banknotes.
So for Yao Guangxiao, this is a very magical thing.
He originally wanted to make the difference. He wanted to destroy the credibility of Nanjing's new banknotes, but he never expected that Ding Xian would come into his hands. It seems that the price of new Nanjing banknotes is linked to Beijing banknotes.
If you mess with Nanjing banknotes, you are messing with yourself.
For a moment, Yao Guangxiao was also confused.
Yao Guangxiao thought for a moment and said, "Why did he come to see the Duke?"
Xu Huizu said: "He hopes that each family will come forward and pay a sum of Beijing banknotes to be deposited in the newly opened bank as collateral. He allows each of us to open banking business."
Yao Guangxiao said: "This Ding Xian is really Brother He's disciple. He really follows the instructions to this extent. It's a bit unbelievable."
Isn't this the policy before He Xi?
This policy earned him hundreds of millions in national debt. At the same time, the private loan sharking market collapsed. It greatly impacted the local economic system and the economic foundation of scholar-bureaucrats.
Ding Xian can follow He Xi closely in many thoughts, which is his greatest advantage. Because he has taken classes with He Xi, he can understand many of He Xi's actions. Only after you understand it can you copy it.
It should be noted that in many things, copying homework is not a simple matter.
Li Jinglong didn't care about this, he said: "Can he make the imperial court restrict loan sharking in various places like Beijing does?"
Xu Huizu said: "He said it's okay. We just need help from soldiers and horses from all over the place."
Yao Guangxiao was silent for a while and said, "Is Ding Xian crazy? Did Zhu Yunwen let him do such a thing?"
Xu Huizu was silent.
Li Jinglong was a little confused and said, "Why did Mr. Yao say this?"
Yao Guangxiao said: "I still don't understand. Ding Xian did this because he wanted to kill some people, but
It's because he doesn't have the strength in his hands that he wants to provide him with a position in the center, and you are taking action in various places. Didn't Ding Xian just think about it? If he does this here, how will it end in the future? "
Li Jinglong was stunned. He was not a fool and he immediately figured it out.
Civil servants, nobles, relatives and emperors, these forces check and balance each other and influence each other. Over in Beijing, businessmen have also entered the stage as a new force, acting as a check and balance. But this is not the case in Nanjing.
Because Beijing already has complete commercial laws, it may not be implemented in other places, but there is no problem at all in Beijing.
