The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Early the next morning, after Wei Guangde arranged for his servants to deliver letters to Nanjing and Jiujiang, he hurried to Prince Yu's Mansion and waited for Xiyuan to return the memorial.

As expected, while waiting for others, Li Fang hurried into the room and handed the note copied from the cabinet to King Yu.

King Yu glanced at them and said expressionlessly: "My father ordered Lin Run to immediately arrest Yan Shifan and Luo Wenlong and come to Beijing for questioning."

When they heard that it was a question, even though it contained the word "arrest", the corners of Yin Shizhen's, Zhang Juzheng's and others' mouths twitched unconsciously.

Since it is a question, if the answer is not satisfactory, it will naturally become an interrogation and a new case. However, if Emperor Jiajing is satisfied, it seems that it will not be a problem.

It can be seen that yesterday Wei Guangde initially said that Yan Shifan's high-profile words and deeds in Jiangxi may not have deliberately tempted Censor Qingliu to impeach him.

Returning directly to the capital, without any intention, I wouldn't even dare to borrow a hundred courages from Yan Shifan.

But because of this decree, he could return to the capital in a dignified manner.

"It seems that Yan Donglou's move was really intentional."

Yin Shizhen finally spoke, breaking the silence in the room.

Yan Shifan is very powerful and difficult to deal with. This is the consensus of everyone in the room, otherwise Yan Song would not be able to seize the position of chief minister of the cabinet and survive at the age of eighty.

"I went to see the teacher last night. The teacher also regretted a little. He forgot that Yan Shifan was sent to Guangdong. This matter should be sent to Guangdong for inspection."

Zhang Juzheng also followed suit.

"Shandai, after Yan Shifan is taken to the capital, you should go to the Criminal Department more diligently and be sure to see his confession first. You must not leave him a chance."

King Yu spoke at this time and said to Wei Guangde, who had been silent.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Wei Guangde answered simply. Yan Shifan's survival was no longer included in his plan, so naturally he would not ignore this matter.

Moreover, according to Wei Guangde's vague impression, the final outcome of Yan Shifan's visit to the capital should be death, but he didn't know how Xu Jie and Gao Gong operated the matter at that time, and what charges were given to him.

At this point, apart from what Wei Guangde said at the beginning, taking it one step at a time, there seems to be no better way.

Even if he wants to be charged with various crimes, he can only move closer to the charges listed in Lin Run's memorial.

He would definitely not be able to escape from being exiled without authorization, but he would definitely talk about Yan Song's old age, and he would probably become less important to Emperor Jiajing.

As for slandering the imperial court, raising dead soldiers, gathering people to conspire, etc., after all, the incident happened in Jiangxi. At this time, we can only see what evidence Lin Run can bring back.

Even if they wanted to tamper with it, it would be too late.

"What else are you holding in your hand?"

At this time, King Yu saw that Li Fang still had a note in his hand and asked.

What could be sent together with this note is probably something that the cabinet considers important.

But these days, apart from the turmoil caused by Lin Run's impeachment memorial, there seems to be nothing else going on.

"This is His Majesty's decree to suspend the minting of coins by the Baoyuan Bureau."

Li Fang answered hurriedly, and at the same time raised her hands, handing the note to King Yu.

"Suspend minting?"

After hearing Li Fang's words, several people in the room turned their attention to the note, wondering why Emperor Jiajing issued such a decree.

Minting naturally refers to the casting of copper coins.

However, there is a big difference between the copper coins minted in the Ming Dynasty and other dynasties in the past. That is, the copper coins minted are not for circulation, but for palace rewards.

Although, these minted new money are actually used for circulation.

The root cause of this contradiction is actually that the "Money Law" enacted by the Ming Dynasty since the Zhu Yuanzhang period did not include copper coins. The Ming Dynasty implemented the "Cash Law" from beginning to end.

Although some people in later generations called the system related to copper coins in the Ming Dynasty the "Qian Fa" and the system related to treasure banknotes as the "Chao Fa", this and later generations of currency were already an era dominated by paper money, and coins did not exist due to various reasons. qiut the market.

However, what was not clear in the Ming Dynasty was that the issue of issuance and recycling of treasure banknotes, and the relationship between treasure banknotes and coins, often changed with changes in the market. The imperial court intervened in the middle and late stages, leading to the imbalance of the entire Ming Dynasty. Money and law are in a state of confusion.

Since Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty ordered the creation of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, the effect on the Ming court in resolving domestic financial pressure was obvious, but the circulation of treasure banknotes among the people was often not smooth.

The Ming Dynasty has also been committed to making active adjustments and management on the issue of banknotes, but in the end it could not escape the fate of depreciation and inflation of banknotes.

In fact, the issuance of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes was not a whim reaction of Zhu Yuanzhang, but an inheritance of the Yuan Dynasty system.

Our country is the first country in the world to invent the use of paper money. As early as the Tang Dynasty, "flying money" with the nature of modern money orders appeared.

The "Jiaozi" and "Huizi" of the Song Dynasty were relatively mature banknotes. The Jin Dynasty inherited the Song system and continued to use banknotes and developed.

By the Yuan Dynasty, it was more complete on the basis of the Song and Jin Dynasties, and a pure paper currency system was implemented, and neither gold, silver nor copper coins were allowed to circulate.

Although both the Song and Jin dynasties issued banknotes, they were used together with copper coins. As legal tender, in the late Jin Dynasty, banknotes were issued indiscriminately to solve financial difficulties, causing the banknotes to depreciate and lose their credibility.

Paper money replaces metal as a means of circulation, and there must be sufficient reserves.

The banknotes established by the Yuan Dynasty systematically avoided the phenomenon of indiscriminate issuance of banknotes. In the early days of the Yuan Dynasty, the reserve fund for banknotes was sufficient. To receive new banknotes, all localities must first pay gold and silver as the basis, and the national cash silver was concentrated in the national treasury to calm people's hearts.

In addition, the political situation of the country, the authority that enforces the implementation of banknotes, is relatively stable, which also makes the implementation of banknotes possible.

During this period, the paper currency of the Yuan Dynasty also experienced a period of chaos. The reason was that all gold and silver were shipped to the national treasury, resulting in gold and silver that had no paper currency in various places and became virtual banknotes without capital.

The Yuan Dynasty government immediately rectified the banknote laws and stopped transporting treasury silver, and the value of banknotes returned to stability.

However, since around the seventh year of Dade, the value of banknotes has depreciated again. After Wu Zong came to the throne, he abused rewards, spent a lot of money, and used banknotes at will, causing the value of banknotes to fall even further. Subsequent policies have failed to stabilize the value of banknotes.

After the outbreak of peasant uprisings in various places at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, military expenditures surged and they were unable to control the value of banknotes. In the end, the paper currency system of the Yuan Dynasty completely collapsed along with the political power.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who personally experienced the chaos of the banknote law at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, was well aware of the pain and disaster that the shortcomings of the banknote law at the end of the Yuan Dynasty brought to the people.

Therefore, in terms of the design content of the Ming Dynasty's Baochao system, he made another creation that was different from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, that is, he did not establish a reserve fund system, but used the authority of the government to force it forward. This was a powerful political power for the government. and a monetary system on which imperial power was highly dependent.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty's banknotes are highly similar to the current currency system, a system guaranteed by national credit.

In order to promote the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes among the people, the Ming court clearly prohibited the use of gold and silver transactions among the people, otherwise they would be punished by the government.

Common people can take gold and silver to the government to exchange for treasure banknotes, but they cannot exchange treasure banknotes to the government for gold and silver.

In terms of taxation, both money and banknotes are collected, with treasure banknotes accounting for seven-tenths of the total.

The one-way exchange system between treasure banknotes and precious metal currencies reflects the policy characteristics of the Ming government to forcefully control the national currency system, and it can plunder wealth from the people for the use of the court.

After the issuance of Baobao, the different usage status of the government and the private sector is the key reason why Baobao has many disadvantages and serious depreciation in the later period.

Relying on the powerful and unified government power in its hands, the imperial court ignored the laws of market circulation and blindly issued banknotes just to meet the imperial court's own needs.

Although it played a key role in military expenditures, bureaucracy's salaries, and rewards, due to flaws in the design system of the banknote itself, it was destined to be difficult for the banknote to circulate among the people.

From the late Hongwu period to the early Zhengtong period, treasure banknotes have been depreciating, and since the Zhengtong period, they have finally become almost useless paper.

Although the imperial court still prints treasure banknotes that can be used to offset officials' salaries and rewards, other than that, they are rarely circulated among the people, and the only ones they have are just to offset annual taxes.

This may also be the reason why the Ming Dynasty's treasure banknotes were still issued until the demise of the Ming Dynasty, because local officials could make huge profits from them.

That is, when taxes are levied, they are collected in kind and in cash, and when they are handed over, the part is offset with Ming Dynasty treasure notes. The price difference between the two is huge, and the profit far exceeds the subsequent fire consumption.

It can only be said that the officials of Ming Dynasty are really good at making money.

In Wei Guangde's view, in addition to the depreciation factors caused by the wanton issuance of the Ming Dynasty's banknotes, the failure of the Ming Dynasty's banknotes was also a very important link in the exchange between the banknotes and gold and silver, which was a very important way to ensure the value of the banknotes.

Let me ask, a considerable part of the banknotes issued by various sovereign countries in later generations did not have a margin system, but the currency at that time could still guarantee the currency value. Why is this?

Currency exchange rates have continued to change in later generations, but except for extreme circumstances, the currencies of various countries have remained relatively stable.

There were problems with the Ming Dynasty's Baochao system, and it would definitely not work if it were continued. However, Wei Guangde felt that by referring to the monetary policies of later generations, there would still be a chance to launch a new Ming Dynasty's Baochao system after appropriate modifications.

Under this new system, previously issued treasure banknotes would certainly not be recognized. However, this was too complicated and he had not fully thought about it. He just had such a concept.

But at this time, Li Fang's words about suspending the minting of money became interesting. Could it be that the inner court was going to stop giving rewards? It was the end of the year and it was about to receive the annual gifts.

Whether it is Yin Shizhen, Zhang Juzheng, or Wei Guangde, they are all very worried that Emperor Jiajing will have a seizure this year and change all the annual gifts to Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes. In that case, all officials in the capital will go on strike.

However, it was different from what they thought. After Wang Yu took the note and looked at it carefully, his brows gradually relaxed from the initial frown. Obviously, things did not develop in the direction he thought.

"You guys should take a look too."

While talking, King Yu handed the note to Yin Shizhen.

After Yin Shizhen read it, he quickly handed it to Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde lowered his head and looked down, "I am ordering the Ministry of Industry: The money law has been blocked recently. Due to the power of private enterprises, I ordered all the internal and external officials to strictly visit and manage according to the previous decree.

The money minted by the Baoyuan Bureau was tampered with by various craftsmen, servants, etc., so that it could not be used due to minor abuses. Each of them was sent to the Department of Justice for serious punishment, and the admiral and other officials were investigated.

After the official reputation was known, the bureau suspended casting. The Ministry of Household Affairs sent 10 million yuan collected by Nanjing, Yunnan and the Taxation Department to the Ministry every year, and transferred it to the Department's key treasury for rewards. "

After reading the content on the note, Wei Guangde exhaled. It turned out that he was dissatisfied with the Baoyuan Bureau for making too much bad money.

In fact, in the past few years, all the civil and military officials in Beijing have noticed that the year-end gifts received from the key storehouse are not good enough to be used. They are not only light and thin, but can even be broken with a little force. How can such coins be used? The private money on the market.

Passing the note to Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde could only find it funny.

Emperor Jiajing probably had never been to the market at all, so he didn't know that there was almost no good money to circulate in the capital city, not to mention other state capitals.

The good money in circulation will be put into the furnace to be refined into bad money after being taken away. After all, the Ming Dynasty is indeed short of copper.

The root cause of all this was Emperor Jiajing's intervention in currency value.

During the Jiajing period, the price ratio of copper coins to silver changed many times. In the third year of Jiajing period, Hongwu and others issued an edict to make money in the same dynasty as well as the old coins of the previous dynasties. Every seventy coins were converted into one coin of silver. Privately minted and counterfeit money were prohibited from circulation. .

In the eighteenth year of Jiajing, it was stipulated that no matter how much money was made, old money from all dynasties should be used as well. Seventy copper coins of good quality could be converted into one silver coin, and lower quality copper coins could be converted into one silver coin at 140 copper coins.

In the 32nd year of Jiajing, it was stipulated that only Jiajing Tongbao money was allowed to be converted into one cent of silver for seven cents, while other money made by Hongwu and others and miscellaneous money of the previous generation were required to be converted into one cent of silver for fourteen cents.

In the 33rd year of Jiajing, it was stipulated that Jiajing Tongbao money could be converted into one silver cent for seven cents. Hongwu and other high-quality coin makers also had seven cents for silver coins, and the remaining coins were divided into ten cents and fourteen cents depending on the quality of the money. , twenty-one coins were converted into one cent of silver, and soon the order was issued to use seven coins of Jiajing Tongbao money, Hongwu and other coins to make ten coins, and thirty coins of the previous generation's money to be converted into one cent of silver.

The root cause of the proliferation of private money among the people is actually that the exchange rate between Jiajing Tongbao money and ancient coins from past dynasties is too high, and people compete to mint this money privately to make profits.

Although the government has repeatedly banned private casting, the activities of private casting have not been effectively curbed. Nowadays, they are used in the capital market, and they are all out of the status of private casting.

"It is light and thin, and can be broken by the touch. Although the writing and writing are preserved, the stippling is indistinguishable. It does not use copper, but uses lead and iron. It is not cast, but cut. The thick tool has good meat. It is called money. Every three hundred Literary talent is as good as a penny. Those who make it have no scruples about using it, but when they make money, the old money will return to the past."

This is a true portrayal of the copper coins circulating in the capital during this period.

Wei Guangde still remembers that his family participated in the exchange of iron cannons for copper cannons, and all the copper materials obtained were used to cast "Jiajing Tongbao".

Last time, he received a letter from home, saying that all the health offices in Jiangnan are doing this now, and he will not be afraid of being discovered in the future, and the law will not punish everyone.

Wei Guangde didn't care how many people from the Ministry of Industry would be killed in this incident. However, although his family made profits from it, it also strengthened his intention to rebuild the Qian Law in the future.

The "banknote method" designed by Zhu Yuanzhang should not have been buried like this and misunderstood by future generations. The lack of a reserve system is not the fundamental reason for the failure of treasure banknotes.