The First Lackey Under The Empress

As the night deepened, the atmosphere within the Institute of Literary Excellence gradually reached a fever pitch.

If the morning's discussion was a group performance, then tonight's scene had become Zhao Du'an's solo act.

Grand Tutor Dong sat in his chair, leaning against the soft brocade cushion, his eyes fixed intently on the words appearing on the screen.

However, this time, even he was finding it difficult to understand.

"What does this mean?" No one spoke, but the same question was evident in everyone's eyes.

After writing these four words, Zhao Du'an turned around, met everyone's gaze, and smiled, saying:

"Earlier, I proposed converting all head taxes, such as the land tax and corvée labor, to be settled in 'silver.' This would certainly save the imperial court a lot of trouble, but at the same time, it would also have drawbacks."

At this moment, Guo Jiexuan, a scholar with a plain appearance but skilled in finance, spoke up from his seat:

"Silver reserves."

With a rustle, seeing everyone looking at him, Guo Jiexuan, whose name carried a hint of 'hoping your son becomes a dragon,' hesitated and said:

"Copper is far more abundant than silver. In the past, copper coins were the primary currency in various regions. Gold and silver were rarely used in actual transactions. But if the imperial court sets a precedent of using silver for taxes, then in the future... I fear the amount of usable money will decrease..."

Zhao Du'an was somewhat surprised that this unremarkable scholar had reacted so quickly.

Although the Great Yu Dynasty was extremely backward in the field of "economics," so Guo Jiexuan's description was not entirely accurate,

he had captured this change with his keen intuition.

"That's right, Scholar Guo has sharp eyes," Zhao Du'an praised.

Historically, after Zhang Juzheng's reforms, the Ming Dynasty transitioned from a bimetallic standard of copper and silver to a silver standard.

Because the Ming Dynasty lacked sufficient silver reserves, this greatly restricted economic development.

For the economy to prosper, there must be enough money in circulation, but if there isn't enough silver to serve as money... it would be very awkward.

Zhao Du'an had previously researched the situation in the Great Yu Dynasty.

He was pleasantly surprised to find that the silver reserves in this world were much larger than those in the Ming Dynasty.

This further strengthened his determination to adopt the following strategy.

Zhao Du'an first briefly explained the consequences of a silver standard to the other scholars who were unfamiliar with finance, giving them a general idea.

Then, he said:

"As far as I know, the Great Yu Dynasty actually has a lot of silver, but why does Scholar Guo say there is little?

It's simply because too much silver is not circulating as currency, but is being hoarded by gentry, powerful families, merchants, and even officials throughout the land...

They will bury silver in the ground of their own courtyards, hide it in their warehouses, and will not take it out unless absolutely necessary...

It's like a group of mice hiding silver, and then only using copper coins for daily expenses... This is the truth behind why there is little silver and a lot of copper coins."

Zhao Du'an spoke eloquently:

"Therefore, when I wrote the word 'silver,' what I wanted to say was, what method can be used to make these people willingly take out the silver hidden in their houses and spend it?

Only when it is spent can we find a way to get it into the national treasury. If it is only hidden, then the things Scholar Guo is worried about will happen."

As soon as these words came out, surprise appeared on everyone's faces.

Willingly?

To make that group of people spend their gold, silver, and treasures?

In their eyes, this proposal was like a fantasy.

"This is simply impossible," Han Zhou said:

"Hoarding gold, silver, treasures, and everything that can be hoarded is the way for people to survive. Only by hoarding can they resist famine years. You say without resorting to weapons, how can you make people offer it up with both hands?"

Wang You, Mo Zhaorong, and others also nodded.

Zhao Du'an sighed.

This is the result of a lack of economic theory. The wealth of feudal dynasties is completely a "zero-sum game." If you grab one more point, I will have one less...

Therefore, from top to bottom, everyone is hoarding money. This muscle memory has permeated their bones.

But will the people of the world really only hoard?

Zhao Du'an shook his head and said:

"At noon, I spoke with Scholar Han and pointed out that his ten strategies were to snatch money from the hands of the people.

I believe you all think the same way, that if a copper coin is not in your hands, it is in someone else's hands.

So if the imperial court needs money, it can only use various methods to snatch it from others. But if we change our thinking, is there a way for you and me to hold a copper coin at the same time?"

Hold it at the same time?

Mo Chou was stunned, with a strange look in her eyes.

She thought, besides getting married and becoming husband and wife, what other way could there be to hold it at the same time?

This guy, who was talking so logically before, why did he suddenly start talking strangely.

Seeing everyone confused, Zhao Du'an could only explain more clearly:

"Just now, Scholar Han said that the people of the world like to hoard money and don't like to spend it.

I have a different view. I want to ask, what about merchants? The merchants of the world are very willing to spend money. Sometimes, they don't hoard a single penny, but spend it all."

Wang You shook his head and said:

"Merchants spend money not to spend it, but to buy shops and hire shop assistants, which is to make money... How can we generalize?"

Zhao Du'an looked at him and smiled:

"That's right! Merchants spend money because they can earn more back after spending it.

Gentry also spend money to buy land, but they spend it happily, because they can earn more back by cultivating the land after they get it."

Suddenly, Guo Jiexuan slapped the table, as if he suddenly realized:

"That's it! The people of the world don't like to hoard money, but they don't have a way to make money with money! So they can only hoard it in their hands.

Zhao Envoy's meaning is that as long as the imperial court can let the gentry, merchants, and even officials of the world discover a place where they can earn back two copper coins for every copper coin they spend,

then they will inevitably take out all their family wealth and spend it without anyone forcing them..."

As he spoke, he shook his head again:

"But there are too few such good places. The existing ones, such as salt and iron, are already in the hands of the imperial court. We can't possibly open up the salt and iron business to those people in order to coax those gentry and merchants..."

Zhao Du'an was surprised, thinking that Old Guo was quite capable, his thinking was expanding so quickly.

As expected of a scholar specializing in finance, his reaction to the mention of money was the fastest among everyone.

And with Guo Jiefuan's explanation, the others also understood, frowning as they looked at Zhao Du'an.

They wondered what medicine he was selling in his gourd after going around in such a big circle.

Zhao Du'an, however, was not in a hurry, completely in control of the situation, and said:

"Guo Xue Shi is right, the existing businesses in the world have long been divided up. But who says that the businesses in the world are only these?"

As he said this, he felt a sense of感慨 in his heart.

In his previous life, he had studied some economic works, such as Schumpeter's theory of innovation profit, which stated that the economy itself does not develop.

For example, in the agricultural age, there was not much change for thousands of years, and wealth only flowed continuously in the hands of different people.

But in the industrial age, productivity soared, and the economy began to develop. Many "wealth" that did not exist originally were created out of thin air.

Therefore, if the current situation of the Great Yu Dynasty follows the principle of "game theory," allowing the imperial court and the people of the world to compete for money, it will be turbulent.

But if the method of "creating wealth" is used, not only will it not intensify conflicts, but it will also tie more and more people to the imperial court in terms of interests because the imperial court is the dealer.

Zhao Du'an said:

"As far as I know, the corridor from the Great Yu to the Western Regions used to only cost money when it was guarded by troops, but later, when some merchants were allowed to travel between the two places and do business, the imperial court earned a lot of money from taxes at the checkpoints.

Similarly, the capital was very dilapidated during the reign of the Taizu, but later, after it was designated as the capital, all the nobles came to the capital, which gave rise to a scene of thousands of sails competing in the docks, and the income from the city gate entry fees alone could support the expenses of the imperial palace…

May I ask, have these examples ever involved warfare?

No.

But why did money flock in on its own accord? Voluntarily handed over to the imperial court?"

Without waiting for everyone to answer, he uttered the word:

"Market."

"As long as the imperial court takes action, builds a market, gives certain privileges to a place, moves some important government offices to these places… and so on.

Merchants from all over the world will flock to it upon hearing the news, busying themselves for the imperial court, they earn a lot, but the imperial court earns even more.

And when the merchants earn money, those powerful families who open countless shops underneath, and even some wealthy gentry, will throw in the silver they have hoarded if they can.

Because only by throwing it in can they earn money, and if they don't, others will.

And if others earn money and they don't, the money in their hands will become worthless…"

"And as long as the scale of this market is large enough, or every place in the nine provinces and eighteen prefectures has such a market, then the money of the rich will all be invested and become 'assets'…

The imperial court doesn't need to worry about how to make everyone have money to earn, because those merchants will find ways to create money themselves…"

At this point, Mo Chou's eyes lit up and she said:

"Like the cheap ice sold by the Celestial Master's Mansion in the capital recently?

The sorcerers of the Celestial Master's Mansion created ice, which attracted many wealthy households to buy it, thereby taking the money that those wealthy households had hoarded into their hands, just like those merchants did."

"…" Zhao Du'an nodded with a strange expression and said:

"That's right, creating goods that everyone craves is a way to attract everyone to spend money.

As long as these merchants rack their brains to get people to spend money, the merchants will not hoard money, but will continue to spend money to earn more.

In this process, they will hire more and more shop assistants, so the people will also have ways to earn money, and the people, having money, will spend it again, buying things like ice…

In this way, it is like a wheel, and the imperial court gives it a gentle push, and it will spin quickly.

Compared to hoarding money, everyone spends money… in this way, the silver of the Great Yu Dynasty will increase.

And the imperial court can continuously collect taxes… endlessly.

Even, if the imperial court has more money, it can open banks and lend money to those merchants…"

Zhao Du'an spoke faster and faster.

The picture in everyone's mind became clearer and clearer.

Han Zhou was stunned in place.

At this moment, he once again imagined the future scene, where the gold and silver of the world flowed into the capital like a tide.

But this time, there were no longer hateful eyes, but countless pairs of excited, greedy eyes.

He raised his head, his gaze passing over Zhao Du'an, looking at the four words "silver," "merchant," "capital," and "market" on the screen behind him.

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that the academicians were getting up one after another.

Their hearts were surging because of the future depicted by Zhao Du'an.

Finally, Zhao Du'an dropped his brush, his mouth dry, and made a summary:

"Most importantly, in this way, even the rebel party and the eight princes cannot stop the people of the world from pursuing profit, and only the imperial court has the ability to do these things, and others cannot imitate them.

Even if the rebel party is unwilling, they can only watch the money flow into the national treasury.

And when the gentry and powerful families are also forced to get involved, and then the policy of 'spreading the Ding into the land' is implemented, if they want to resist again, they will have to consider whether they will be kicked out of this market by the imperial court…

Is it to offend the imperial court, or to please the imperial court in order to gain more? It is not difficult to choose.

In this way, the resistance to the implementation of the new policy will also be reduced."

Zhao Du'an said lightly:

"Thus, these three strategies run in parallel, if they can be successfully implemented, within ten years, the money in the national treasury can be used to plate a layer of gold on the capital."

"This is, the Golden Three Strategies."

Thanks to Maple Bridge Night Mooring 97 for rewarding 100 points, and Smooth Smooth Smooth for rewarding 100 points~