Jiefu.
When Mrs. Cao saw that Jin had returned from the court, she ordered her servants to bring the food and poured warm water herself. She said to Xie Jin, "I didn't say I would go home early today, so why is it so late?"
Xie Jin took off his coat and sighed: "Who can keep the time accurately for two dynasties in one day?"
Cao complained: "Winter has arrived, and it should be time to relax. How can we still have two dynasties in one day, and the affairs of the court are so complicated?"
Xie Jin sat down, watched the servants serve the dishes, and said, "You should stop asking about the court affairs. Tomorrow, arrange for the housekeeper to go to the bank to take out all the copper coins we have and exchange them for silver."
"Ah, I'm afraid this is a little inappropriate..."
Mr. Cao frowned.
Xie Jin took a bite of the food and said: "What's wrong is that it's just a small loss. I always feel there's something weird in this. The Emperor rarely suffers losses since he ascended the throne. It seems like he's going to suffer a big loss this time when he launches a bank." .”
Mrs. Cao turned around and took out a bill, handed it to Xie Jin, and said, "This morning, the housekeeper went to the Taipingqiao Bank's main store and exchanged four hundred copper coins."
"What? You..."
Xie Jin's expression changed and he quickly took the bill and looked at it.
The words "Royal Central Bank" are written on the top of the bill, the specific amount is written in the middle, and the bank's seal is stamped on the bottom on the right side.
This is a simple exchange note, without remembering the name, token of agreement or password.
When Xie Jin saw that the bill was genuine, he couldn't help but look at Mr. Cao with a look of sorrow and anger, and said: "The emperor scolded all the officials in the court for being greedy and carnivorous banks. I thought I was different from them. Haha, now it seems that if the central bank Death, I, Jie Jin, am also an executioner!"
When Mrs. Cao heard what Xie Jin said, she couldn't help but become nervous and said, "I didn't ask the officials. I only saw that copper coins were getting more and more scarce outside, so I got selfish. Let's arrange for someone to return the copper coins and exchange them for silver to make up for it." .”
Jie Jin nodded heavily, stood up and said: "Since I was exiled by Taizu, I have realized that in the officialdom, the most important thing is to oppose the emperor. Talent and ambition must be ranked below loyalty. You have to remember, The Jie family must stand together with the emperor. The emperor is glorious and so are we. If the emperor suffers losses, then we should be even more distressed and cannot be better than the emperor."
"I haven't eaten yet..."
"If you don't want to eat, I will write a memorial to apologize."
Xie Jin turned around and returned to the study, picking up his pen and meditating.
In recent days, Zhu Yunwen's actions seemed a little abnormal.
After more than a year of observation, Xie Jin knew very well that Zhu Yunwen was not an impulsive person, let alone a monarch who could not listen to persuasion. However, regarding the matter of the Central Bank, Zhu Yunwen was not only impulsive, but also blocked the Ministry of Household's input.
It is no longer a rational judgment, but an emotional speculation.
It is true that there is a reality of copper shortage among the people behind this, but it does not make the emperor so anxious, right?
eager?
Xie Jin frowned, and the time from the emperor throwing out the Royal Central Bank to the opening of the bank was dizzyingly fast in just a few days. However, these actions cannot be completed in just a few days!
Five banks and five houses cannot be selected in one sentence. Well, even if the emperor gives an order to requisition the houses and no one disobeys, doesn't it take time to move the copper coins?
Such a large amount of copper coins would require a lot of carriages and horses, but thinking about it now, I didn't see any carriages or horses transporting the copper coins.
Even if the emperor has the power to reach heaven, he can get the copper coins without anyone noticing.
Among the five banks, where is the manpower? People who are proficient in banks cannot just post a recruitment notice in the morning and go to work in the bank in the afternoon.
After seeing through all this, Xie Jin was horrified, stared and said to himself: "This is a plan that the emperor has been planning for a long time!"
Without long-term planning and secret preparations, it is impossible for Qianzhuang to be born so "simply". Could it be said that the emperor is acting?
Prince Yan's Mansion.
When Zhu Di saw someone carrying hundreds of wooden boxes into the rear mansion, he couldn't help but ask Xu Yihua, "What is this?"
Xu Yihua ordered someone to open the wooden box, revealing a lot of copper coins, and said: "Your Majesty, the copper shortage is very serious outside, Xu'er proposed to take out part of the silver in the house and exchange it for 100,000 copper coins, so that it can be spent in the future. "
Zhu Di looked at the Central Bank bill handed over by Xu Yihua, looked at it carefully, smelled the bill, and said: "The ink smell is very weak."
"Your Majesty, this note is just an exchange voucher and has nothing to do with ink."
Xu Yihua grabbed a handful of copper coins and threw them down again. Hearing the sound of the coins hitting each other, his face was full of smiles.
Zhu Di stared at the bill and said seriously: "I'm afraid this bill is old. It doesn't look like it was published in recent days. How could a smart man do such a loss today? There must be changes in this matter. Will this be changed?" Keep some of the copper coins and deposit the rest back to the bank and convert them into silver."
Xu Yihua took away the note, shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, if the court had any means, it would have been used long ago. Just this evening, the bank outside Jubao Gate was closed because there were no more coins. The court has five central banks. In just a few days, The second one has been eliminated, which means that the imperial court does not have much copper coins anymore, so it can only concentrate on supplying the remaining banks and delay time to think of countermeasures."
"Many businessmen are already hoarding copper. People can't exchange it for copper. Copper is much more expensive outside. There are too many people queuing up outside the bank. You can't live without waiting because you can't wait, right? Let's prepare for a rainy day. I dare not send it back."
When Zhu Di saw this, he smiled and said: "That's all, I only have one hundred thousand copper coins left and right, so I can afford to lose it."
Xu Yihua rolled her eyes at Zhu Di and said these unlucky words.
Zhu Yunwen's call did not have much effect. Officials participated and businessmen exchanged large amounts of silver for copper without any obstruction. In just a few days, the central banks outside Jinchuan Gate and Tongji Gate were also forced to close down, leaving only The Taipingqiao Central Bank Head Office in Midtown Nanjing is struggling to support itself.
Liang Chengtong, the head of the Central Bank, met with Zhu Yunzhen in Wuying Hall, took out several account books, and said: "The Central Bank released a total of 1.4 million copper coins and took in 200,000 silver coins. There are only 200,000 copper coins left in reserve, and there are still Including copper coins transferred from the local area, if this continues, the Taipingqiao store may not be able to maintain it."
Zhu Yunwen looked through the account books, but he did not expect that these officials and businessmen were so excessive. He Fu sent a large amount of copper coins, plus the coins of the harem, the three kings, the household department, the local government, and the common people, the total reached 1.6 million coins. .
I expected that 800,000 copper coins would be enough to solve the imbalance of silver and copper, but now that 1.4 million copper coins have flowed out, it's just that the contrast between silver and copper has not improved, but has become even more unbalanced.
You don’t know how to be restrained and satisfied, right?
Zhu Yunwen's eyes were cold, and he summoned the Security Bureau for a third review and asked: "Where are the post envoys from Guangxin, Raozhou, Wannian, and Dexing in Jiangxi?"
Gu Sanshen said solemnly: "We are already outside the city, just waiting for the emperor's decree."
Zhu Yunwen said coldly: "Let's get started."
Gu Sanshen turned and left.
Zhu Yunwen told Liang Chengtong:
"Continue to release copper and absorb silver. Once the news comes from the Jiangxi Post Envoy, the exchange ratio will be adjusted from one tael of silver to 700 coppers to one tael of silver to 800 coppers."
"According to the order."
Liang Chengtong understood that it was time for a turning point.
Early the next morning, the post envoy from Dexing, Jiangxi Province rode into the capital, shouting along the way: "A large copper mine has been discovered in Dexing, and the copper shortage will be solved."
News of the large copper mine spread quickly.
Dexing's report was passed to the cabinet, and Xie Jin quickly realized that the emperor was already closing the deal. Zhang Yan just put the report aside casually and said, "Isn't the news about the Dexing copper mine coming too soon?" it's time?"
Xie Jin asked calmly: "Zhang Ge thinks this report is false? No, Dexing is not so bold."
Zhang Yan did not doubt the legitimacy of the report, but he doubted the timing of the report. The central bank here was in trouble and was about to be completely closed. When news of the large copper mine suddenly came from Dexing, anyone would think twice.
The content of Dexing's memorial quickly reached the ears of all officials. The reason why the "secrets" were "leaked" so quickly was because it was related to the memorial method of the Ming Dynasty.
Memorials in the Ming Dynasty are divided into two categories. One type is called "Zouben", which is a memorial in the name of an official personally. For example, someone with the surname Yang said to someone with the surname Huang, "I want to give you a copy," or "I will give you a copy." "I have something important to report" and so on. This kind of obviously personal memorial is called a memorial.
The memorial was passed through the hands of officials and delivered to the emperor. If the emperor does not handle it properly, it will not be made public. Whether it is kept secret or not depends on whether the officials handling it leak the secret.
There is also a type called "title book", which can be titled for any routine official affairs such as the impeachment of officials, money and food for soldiers, orders for theft and punishment, etc. The inscription memorial is often made in two copies, one is given to the General Affairs Department and sent to the palace, and the other is given to Liuke Langfang for copying.
The memorial from Dexing is actually a type of question book. After passing through the sieves of the General Affairs Department and Liuke Langfang, many secrets are no longer secrets.
However, the attitude of the officials was almost the same as that of Zhang Yan. They all believed that this was a "heart attack" method used by the imperial court to stabilize silver and copper, and that it was not a real new large copper mine.
Just one day, Jiangxi Raozhou delivered a memorial, reporting that copper mines had been discovered in Raozhou, and bluntly stated that Raozhou had arranged for people to mine it, and the post envoy also brought high-quality copper ore.
Just when officials were doubtful and merchants were watching, the Royal Central Bank actually reopened its four stores, Tongjimen, Jubaomen, Jiangdongmen, and Jinchuanmen. In line with Taipingmen, it adjusted the silver and copper exchange ratio to one or two. Silver is worth eight hundred copper coins.
Such a big move attracted the profit-seeking eyes of businessmen, but it also made them wary.
Take one tael of silver to the bank, and you can now exchange it for eight hundred copper coins. Compared with the previous seven hundred copper coins, it is a full one hundred copper coins more. Logically speaking, you will make more money now.
But what is even more hidden is that the copper coin has depreciated in value. It is no longer the equivalent of 700 fen equivalent to one tael of silver, but has become the equivalent of 800 taels of silver.
The copper coins are worthless in the bank.
If the people follow this ratio, won't the copper coins in their hands become worthless?
Some cautious officials or businessmen began to put some copper coins into banks to avoid greater losses. Only those who firmly believed that the copper shortage would continue and that the price of silver and the price of copper would not change were gritting their teeth and hoarding large amounts of copper coins.
Zhu Yunwen didn't mind what these people thought, he just spread the news that the imperial court sent officials and craftsmen to Jiangxi...
PS: Fourth update, please vote for the next month, recommend votes and remind me to update, thank you Jingxue.
