Late Ming Dynasty: Conquering the world starting from riding and cutting

[Recite the URL silently three times. Do you remember it? If you don’t remember, I’ll ask again in the next chapter. It’s best to share it on Facebook for me]

"drive!"

After receiving the document, Qin Hao galloped back to the mansion. As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw Zhuge Xuan and others going out.

Walking to the stone steps, he got off his horse and handed the whip to the guard who came forward, and asked him to lead the horse to the stable.

Then he walked straight towards the mansion and asked, "Is Amorim's news true?"

Although the letter was written, there was still an extra sentence.

Zhuge Xuan dismissed a few people, followed Qin Hao into the inner hall, and said in a deep voice: "The message just sent by Saint Salvador cannot be wrong."

"good!"

After receiving the affirmation, Qin Hao was overjoyed and suggested: "Why don't we go and take a look now."

He really couldn't hold it in any longer. Everything was good in Taiwan, but it was just too comfortable. If he was happy with it before, he definitely couldn't stay here now.

When you come here, how can you not see the Ming Dynasty!

At this time, the fire clouds in the west of the sky had already occupied a large area, and the glow was red. The Xuan Yue in the east also quietly hung on, revealing a small half of the night, with one left and one right, clearly distinguishable.

Zhuge Xuan glanced outside the door and said, "It's getting late now, so we'd better go tomorrow."

"I'm impatient, so I'll go tomorrow." Qin Hao said with a smile, feeling less anxious than he had been in the past few days.

Entering the inner hall with Zhuge Xuan, he suddenly saw four boxes, three large and one small, placed on the wooden desk that should have been filled with documents.

"Why is there a box on the table?" Qin Hao glanced at Zhuge Xuan curiously and asked. There were not many things that Zhuge Xuan could put on official documents.

I walked closer and picked up a small one on the table. I felt it had some weight, so I decided to check it out.

When he opened the wooden box and took a look, there was actually an ingot of silver inside, arranged neatly.

Qin Hao picked up the silver in the box and looked at it carefully. After coming here for so long, this was the first time he saw such a bright and bright silver. The silver he saw before was not only gray in color, but also in pieces and pieces. Not as beautiful as the batch before me.

"Who made this silver? How can it be so exquisite?" Qin Hao asked this first without asking about the purpose of this batch of silver.

"Sir, do you still remember Luanping?"

Zhuge Xuan reminded with a smile while opening the remaining three boxes on the table one by one.

"Luanping, isn't he farming in the mountains?"

Qin Hao was suspicious that this person was appointed by him personally and asked: "How can he, a blacksmith, have such skills?"

"Sir, I submitted a document earlier and mentioned this. In addition to farming, there is now a small iron furnace on the mountain to smelt iron and make farm tools for reclamation."

"How come I didn't know about this?"

When Zhuge Xuan heard this, he had a look of disdain on his face. You didn't even read the documents I submitted. You just left them on the desk to gather dust. You know that. Then he took out a submission from his desk and handed it to Qin Hao.

After receiving the submission, Qin Hao saw that the date on it was more than a month ago.

At that time, he was still fighting against Shanfan in San Salvador. In the middle of the war, he remembered that Zhuge Xuan sent a lot of letters. He didn't read most of them and left them in the drawer of the conference room.

"I was negligent in my duty. You did a good job." Qin Hao smiled and revealed the matter.

Then he looked at the other three boxes. One box was the same as the one in his hand, containing silver. The other two boxes were one containing small ingots of gold, and the other was filled with a box full of copper coins.

Putting the silver back into the box, Qin Hao asked, "Is this the travel expenses?"

"Um."

Zhuge Xuan presented the four boxes in front of Qin Hao one by one and said, "The two silver boxes each contain 100 taels. The gold box also contains 100 taels. As for the one containing copper coins, there are 50 taels."

"Are these enough?" With so little money, Qin Hao couldn't help but feel worried.

"The silver and copper coins are a little less, but they are basically enough." Zhuge Xuan said.

He also knew that there was a lack of money, but even this money was squeezed out through his teeth.

What is circulating in the territory is all captured and leftover before. There are not many reserves at all, and there are no sources of harvest. There is a huge shortage. There is a gold mine that can be mined, but what's the use? Gold is a currency that is too valuable. Ordinary people don't even use silver. Whatever it is, gold is basically not circulated among the people.

The main currency in circulation in the Ming Dynasty is silver. In addition, it is estimated that there is also a treasure banknote that was once officially recognized.

Since the Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty in the eighth year of Hongwu ordered the people to popularize this kind of money in the "Edict of the Province to Make Ming Dynasty Treasure Banknotes", this kind of material is made of mulberry, and its square shape is one foot high and six inches wide. The "Daming Tongbao Banknotes" are constantly depreciating.

It stands to reason that during the Ming Dynasty, the sprouts of capitalism had already emerged, and there was also soil for the growth of banknotes.

As for why the Ming Dynasty's banknotes were so unpopular with scholars, peasants, and merchants in the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the corruption in the production of the banknotes and the prevalence of counterfeiting among the people, the greatest credit must be attributed to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Relying on his own efforts, he got rid of the standardized money printing system that started in the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty was relatively peaceful, but it had developed maritime transportation, popular business ideas, and a high level of understanding of banknotes.

But Lao Zhu is a rough man who doesn’t understand the working mechanism of the financial system at all. He only knows that treasure money is easy to use. Whenever there is a war, he will start using it. He is just a piece of paper. Compared with its value, it should not be too good and the royal majesty Put it here. If the emperor takes it to buy something with you, don't you dare not give it face.

The fate of Shen Wansan during the Hongwu Dynasty still made businessmen of all sizes in Jinling City tremble with fear.

Attack Yuanting, if you have no money, start brushing;

If you don’t have enough money to attack the grassland tribes, continue to do so;

After winning the battle, the soldiers' pensions and rewards were gone. Without saying anything else, Lao Zhu directly asked the Baochao Department to swipe until the money was enough, bringing the printing technology, one of my country's four great inventions, to its extreme.

Of course, it is not that there are knowledgeable people to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the 23rd year of Hongwu's reign, Zhao Mian, then the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, wrote to Zhu Yuanzhang that "I heard that there are citizens in Zhejiang and Zhejiang who consistently use banknotes to convert two hundred and fifty coins into coins." On this basis, he persuaded Zhu Yuanzhang to issue less banknotes and increase his banknotes. feasibility.

Zhao Mian's meaning is very clear. One or two treasure notes can't be exchanged for 250 Wen. Please take it easy.

But Lao Zhu would stop when he tasted the sweetness. By the 27th year of Hongwu, "the people of Zhejiang and Zhejiang valued money more than banknotes, and they did a lot of business, and there were even people who consistently exchanged money for 160 coins." Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi , This is the case everywhere in Jiangxi, so prices are rising and money is not profitable. "

Private banknotes have completely lost their feasibility and can be regarded as a piece of waste paper.

Zhu Yuanzhang printed too much and used too much. In one year, he printed 5.15 million banknotes worth. In addition to daily use, there were also banknotes for the ambassadors who came to China, as well as for ministers. Later, I didn’t feel comfortable printing it like this, so I went straight to the big denominations.

King Zhu Di of Yan was rewarded with the largest denomination ever: forty thousand taels.

You must know that the previous largest denomination was just consistent.

Moreover, the imperial court did not recycle it, and all taxes required were real gold and silver, such as grain. This kind of passed-on harm was unbearable to ordinary merchants and people, who would rather carry heavy copper coins than accept convenient treasure notes.

When the treasure banknotes were first introduced in history, the banknotes could always buy rice and one stone. In the fifth year of Yongle, one stone of rice was worth thirty guan. One hundred banknotes.

The result can be imagined. The value of Baobao during the Hongwu Dynasty could depreciate by three-quarters. By the time of other famous monarchs in the Ming Dynasty, Baobao could not last long. Twenty or thirty years after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, It gradually withdrew from the market and completely collapsed during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong.

The market is driven by profit and disadvantage, and feudal society is no exception.

Of course, it cannot be said that the form of banknotes is not conducive to the market. It can only be said that Zhu Yuanzhang was not very knowledgeable. Although the treasure banknotes have died, the form of the banknotes has been passed down.

The signatures issued by private banks have replaced part of the functions of treasure banknotes, which are equivalent to checks in later generations. Large banks can exchange money in all provinces across the country and have a good reputation.

[At the beginning of the chapter, I asked you to read it silently three times. Do you remember? Share on Facebook and there may be surprises]