A hint of bitterness appeared on Zhu Di's face, and he asked: "So, the disadvantages of treasure money cannot be solved, right?"
Zhu Di could not imagine where he would find so much money to supply the people.
Even if the court only prints 10 million guan of treasure notes a year, after more than 20 years, it will be close to 30 million guan.
The Ming Dynasty originally lacked precious metals such as gold, silver, and copper. Even if the entire Ming Dynasty's gold, silver, and copper were collected, I would not be able to raise so much money.
"Not really."
Chen Kan's understatement made Zhu Di see hope instantly.
He didn't dare to underestimate this matter anymore.
He put Zhu Zhanji down and sat down and asked, "How to solve it?"
Chen Kan said what he had already prepared in his mind: "It's very simple, let the treasure banknotes regain their due value, link the treasure banknotes to gold and silver, and replace the old banknotes with new ones."
Zhu Di was a little confused: "What do you mean?"
Chen Kan explained: "Your Majesty, does he know the reason why the treasure banknotes have depreciated significantly?"
Zhu Di shook his head.
Chen Kan stopped pretending and asked, "Does Your Majesty know the operating principle of Jiaozi in the pre-Song Dynasty?"
This question is a scoring question for everyone, and Zhu Di is no exception.
He thoughtfully said: "Jiaozi, naturally Jiaozi with the same face value can be exchanged for the same amount of gold and silver."
After listening to Zhu Di's answer, Chen Kan nodded with satisfaction and said: "Yes, Jiaozi can be exchanged for the same amount of gold and silver, but our Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes cannot."
"What's the reason for this?"
Zhu Di's curiosity has now been completely aroused by Chen Kan.
Chen Kan saw that the purpose of guiding Zhu Di to think had been achieved, so he no longer kept his secrets.
He said calmly: "The reason why Jiaozi can be exchanged for equal amounts of gold and silver is because Jiaozi itself is linked to gold and silver. For example, how many Jiaozi a firm issues depends on how much silver it has on hand. But Baoqian is not."
After a pause and seeing a thoughtful look on Zhu Di's face, Chen Kan continued: "Baoqian is just a piece of paper and is not linked to gold or silver. It relies on the court's credit system. To put it simply, In fact, treasure banknotes have no value. The reason why they can be used as money and circulate in the market is because the people trust the imperial court."
Chen Kan tried his best to explain the difference between Jiaozi and Baochao in plain language that Zhu Di could understand.
Zhu Di couldn't help but ask: "You mean, if treasure banknotes can be linked to gold and silver, this problem can be solved, right?"
"Exactly!"
Chen Kan nodded.
Zhu Zhanji on the side couldn't help but asked in a low voice: "If treasure banknotes are to be linked to gold and silver, what is the difference between that and banning treasure banknotes?"
Zhu Di was also stunned for a moment: "Yes, what's the difference?"
Where does the money come from? This is indeed a big question.
Although Zhu Di vaguely felt that there must be some difference between the two that he didn't know, he couldn't think of it and had to look at Chen Kan with doubtful eyes.
The question raised by Zhu Zhanji was not a problem for Chen Kan.
Although he had never studied finance, he lived in the era of knowledge explosion in later generations and experienced several iterations of SoftMei Coin.
This knowledge will be nothing in future generations, any elementary school student will know it, but in this era, it will be a dimensionality reduction blow.
So Chen Kan didn't panic at all.
He looked at Zhu Zhanji and asked: "Your Highness, does he know the reason why treasure banknotes depreciate?"
Zhu Zhanji's little face wrinkled up and he whispered: "Is it because the treasure banknotes cannot be exchanged for equal amounts of gold and silver?"
"Yes and no."
Chen Kan's ambiguous answer obviously did not satisfy Zhu Di. He frowned and said, "Stop trying to trick me."
"Your Majesty, don't be impatient. Please listen to what I have to say in detail."
After saying that, Chen Kan took out a stack of banknotes and two silver nuggets from his arms, and placed the banknotes and silver nuggets on the table.
He planned to explain clearly the reason for the depreciation of treasure notes to the two of them first. Otherwise, no matter how many subtle ideas he had, it would be in vain if Zhu Di knew about them but didn't know why.
"Your Majesty, please see, if I represent the imperial court, I have two treasure banknotes and two taels of silver with the same face value. Now the value of the treasure banknotes and silver are equal."
After saying that, Chen Kan took out two more treasure notes.
"Now I have issued two more treasure banknotes, but the silver in my hand has not increased. Therefore, two taels of silver are now equal to four treasure banknotes."
Chen Kan took out two more treasure notes: "Now, two taels of silver are equal to six treasure notes."
Zhu Di couldn't help but look a little pale when he saw that Chen Kan had more and more treasures in his hands, but the silver was always only two taels.
"Okay, that's enough. I already know the reason why treasure banknotes continue to depreciate."
Finally, Zhu Di interrupted Chen Kan's demonstration.
Because he seemed to have seen the people rushing toward the palace in a swarm with treasure money but unable to buy any supplies.
Chen Kan took back the treasure notes and silver and said calmly: "This is the reason for the devaluation of treasure notes. The more treasure notes issued by the imperial court, the less valuable they are."
"As I just said, the treasure banknotes themselves have no value. The reason why the people admit that the treasure banknotes can be used as money is because they believe in the court and your majesty."
"Now, with every additional treasure banknote issued, the people's trust in the imperial court will decrease by one point. Until one day, the treasure banknotes will become completely useless paper, and the people will be completely disappointed with the imperial court."
"What should I do?"
Zhu Di was a little panicked. The real function of treasure banknotes was to plunder people's supplies.
This is so scary.
"Establish the Ming Dynasty Royal Bank, rely on the royal credit, set up reserves, create new treasure banknotes that are very valuable at first glance, and open exchange channels for treasure banknotes and gold and silver."
Chen Kan quickly said the solution.
Zhu Di heard this and asked: "If all the people use their treasure notes to exchange for gold and silver, where will the court get so much money to exchange for the people?"
Again, where does the money come from?
Chen Kan said with a smile: "No, I have just said that the issuance of new banknotes needs to rely on the credit of the royal family. The reason why Taizu was able to issue treasure banknotes was because the people trusted him.
Besides, I didn’t say that I would exchange the gold and silver at once. I was just using the capital as a pilot project for the time being. How many treasures can the entire capital have?
The one million taels of silver outside the city is enough. Your Majesty does not need to worry too much. "
Zhu Di said worriedly: "There is only one million taels of silver outside the city, but the treasure banknotes circulating in the capital market will never be less than five million taels. How can it be possible with a five-fold difference?"
"Your Majesty, you are overthinking how many treasures those people have in their hands. Even if all the people in the capital came to redeem them, it would be impossible to exchange them all for one million taels of silver.
The real bosses are officials and businessmen.
But if officials and businessmen can use the treasure banknotes to purchase supplies with the same face value, why do they need to exchange the treasure banknotes for gold and silver?
You know, treasure banknotes are much easier to carry than gold and silver. "
Zhu Di still had some doubts: "How can you ensure that the value of treasure banknotes and gold and silver are equal?"
Chen Kan opened his mouth, and all the saliva was in vain?
At the critical moment, Xiao Zhu Zhanji suddenly said: "I understand, is it the royal credit you mentioned?"
Zhu Di's thoughts were too complicated, and it was not as easy as Zhu Zhanji, a child, to think through these things.
Chen Kan smiled and nodded: "Yes, relying on the royal family's credit, His Majesty said that the new banknotes are the same as gold and silver, so they are the same. Even if they are different, when the people exchange them a few times, they will gradually agree. "
"Your Majesty, if there is a kind of paper that can be used as money and can be exchanged for an equal amount of gold and silver at any time, will you choose to use gold and silver or paper?"
Zhu Di blinked, obviously he still couldn't understand the connection between the royal credit and the treasure money.
But he could come up with the answer to this question without thinking about it: "Of course it's to use paper."
"Wait a minute, boy, what if I can't exchange the paper for the same amount of gold and silver?"
Chen Kan looked at Zhu Di with evil intentions and said with a wicked smile: "This is a royal matter. Think about it, if you are a commoner and take the paper to the bank opened by the royal family, but you can't exchange it for the corresponding gold and silver, you What will happen?”
After listening to Chen Kan's explanation, Zhu Di's face suddenly darkened.
Then he said angrily: "Good boy, are you going to make me bear the infamy for thousands of years?"
"You are so brave!"
Zhu Di understood that if the people couldn't exchange their feelings for money, he, the emperor, would be scolded.
Damn it, luckily I gave him a title and a knighthood, but this little bastard actually gave me the idea of having a son with no butthole.
Seeing that Zhu Di was about to get angry, Chen Kan quickly lowered his head and cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, please calm down! Your Majesty, please calm down!"
"You bastard, absolutely not!"
When Zhu Di thought that the royal family might be burdened with infamy for thousands of years, Zhu Di was itching with hatred. Fortunately, he didn't listen to this little bastard's temptation. Otherwise, wouldn't he have no peace even if he died?
"snort!"
With an angry snort, Zhu Di's eyes suddenly turned evil when he looked at Chen Kan.
Chen Kan quickly raised his hands and said, "Wait a minute, Your Majesty, I have something else to say!"
Zhu Di stared at Chen Kan unkindly and asked sullenly: "What else do you have to say?"
"Your Majesty, I also want to ask you a question."
"what is the problem?"
"Why is our Ming Dynasty short of money?"
Zhu Di didn't need to answer this question, so Xiaopangdun answered it for Zhu Di: "It goes without saying that our Ming Dynasty is short of copper, as well as gold and silver."
"Of course."
Chen Kan snapped his fingers: "There is another problem. A large part of the wealth of the Central Plains was taken away when Beiyuan returned to the grassland. This is the reason why Emperor Taizu issued treasure banknotes."
Zhu Di frowned and said, "So, what does this have to do with treasure money?"
"Your Majesty should know that our Ming Dynasty's copper coins are exquisitely cast. Not only Ming Dynasty, but also the small countries surrounding our Ming Dynasty also use our Ming Dynasty's copper coins."
"What if, I mean, what if our newly minted treasure banknotes can replace the Ming Dynasty copper coins in the neighboring countries?"
