Chapter 59 Paper money was played to pieces in the hands of the Zhu Dynasty
The father and son were just worried these past two days. The Ming Dynasty's taxation was so chaotic that people in many places were harassed.
Moreover, because of the inability to collect taxes uniformly, the taxes of the imperial court are now much less, which has also given rise to a lot of corrupt officials.
What's very troublesome is that these corrupt officials use taxes as a cover for corruption, but it is difficult to find out.
Wouldn't it be better if the Ming Dynasty could use a whip now? But why did Chen Han actually say that it was inappropriate in the early years of Hongwu? What exactly is going on?
After listening to this, Ling Han sighed, "If taxes can be collected together, it will be a good thing for the people if there is less exploitation by the government.
But why should it be merged into silver collection? Can't it be treasure banknotes? "
When Chen Han heard Bao Chao, he laughed loudly: "Village Chief, I have to praise you here. You said the correct answer right away. Why can't you combine the taxes and collect Bao Chao?"
After Chen Han finished saying this, Zhu Yuanzhang was very strange next to him.
Chen Han was still here just now saying that the treasure note has deteriorated like a piece of waste paper.
Is it possible that the imperial court should take back these abolitions?
Although it is a bit unethical to say this, if the imperial court uses such waste paper, how can the imperial court survive? Chen Han said slowly: "In fact, in ancient China, starting from the issuance of Jiaozi in the Song Dynasty, the paper currency issuance model using national credit has reached the most advanced model. Even in modern times hundreds of years later, this model is still advanced. .
It was only in the Song and Yuan Dynasties that in the later period, paper money collapsed because of the country's bankruptcy.
But the Ming Dynasty was different. The Ming Dynasty was ruined by the imperial court itself, and it collapsed as soon as it was issued. In the end, the backward silver standard gained the upper hand, and the entire nation was poisoned by silver! "
It's really uncomfortable to be slapped in front of someone. Chen Han's ridicule made Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor, look shameless.
Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang had good determination and self-awareness. The Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes have indeed depreciated to the point of depreciation.
Ling Han then asked: "Teacher Xiao Chen, what is the silver standard system, and what does it mean to abandon the advanced system of issuing currency based on national credit and switch to the backward silver standard system.
These things sound really advanced, and I can’t even understand them.
No one has told us this before, so you have to tell us carefully. "
Ling Han and the others knew that although these things sounded like heavenly books now, they seemed to be very useful for the future development of the Ming Dynasty.
So even Zhu Yuanzhang was particularly interested.
Chen Han cleared his throat: "Village Chief, if you want me to talk, then I will. However, the answers I am talking about now are based on my interpretation of history, which may not be correct.
We all treat it critically. If you think what I say is right, just listen. If you think it is wrong, treat it as nonsense. We are just chatting. I don’t have that much research data in my stomach. ,May I? "
Ling Han nodded: "We were just chatting. You are right, we need to treat it critically."
So Chen Han said: "Looking at our ancient history, from the time when the Qin Dynasty unified the world and established the first unified dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, only the Qing Dynasty came close, but over the past 1000 years, our Most of the time, the country ranks first in the world in terms of economy, culture, technology, territory, population, etc."
When it comes to being number one in the world, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang felt proud in his heart.
It looks better than Ming Dynasty! "But even with such a strong national power and strong productivity, our currency has experienced great chaos, which is very regrettable." Bao banknotes appeared in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, and they were also paper money. By the Song and Yuan Dynasties, At the end of the period, the people's credibility was lost due to excessive issuance. The Ming Dynasty issued Baobao according to the Baobao system of the Yuan Dynasty.
In terms of general historical trends, the Ming Dynasty was still at the forefront of the world in issuing banknotes backed by national credit.
But the bad thing is that the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes were played to pieces and destroyed in the hands of the Zhu Dynasty, who had no understanding of economics and finance. "
Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little embarrassed after hearing that Chen Han used two very heavy words to describe the current situation of Ming Dynasty Baochao.
Chen Han has mentioned many times that the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes are no longer enough.
Zhu Biao felt a little blushing.
The Ming Dynasty's treasure banknotes are indeed inferior to those of the Yuan Dynasty.
Not only were there big problems in the issuance process, but there were also huge problems in the entire circulation process.
It's just that sometimes, you can see the problem but you can't change it.
"Zhu Yuanzhang began to issue treasure banknotes in the eighth year of Hongwu. In the ninth year of Hongwu, the private use of gold and silver currency was prohibited, and only treasure banknotes could be used. This approach is correct to a certain extent.
Because once precious metals are mixed with banknotes, it will cause chaos in the currency.
However, the Ming court did not allow the issuance of banknotes to promote economic development. Instead, in order to pay for large military expenditures, maintain its rule, and other reasons, the court issued excessive amounts of treasure banknotes. As a result, the number of treasure banknotes issued in a short period of time was far greater. It was higher than the social production capacity at that time, causing huge inflation.
If the Ming Dynasty court at that time had opened the restriction on the exchange of treasure banknotes for gold and silver, perhaps the court at that time would have gone bankrupt.
Due to the excessive issuance of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, the people completely lost trust in the credibility of the court and turned to silver, a metal currency that was wear-resistant, easily divisible, and more valuable.
We Chinese have always had the habit of worshiping gold and silver. The reason for this is simply that things are rare and valuable.
Although the land we have lived on for generations is rich in products, gold and silver mines are scarce.
Because of the scarcity of silver and the fact that the age of world navigation has not yet arrived, the silver from South America and the huge amount of silver from Japan have not yet flowed into China stably in large quantities, so they have naturally become currencies trusted by the people.
The Ming Dynasty court was unable to stop this phenomenon, and in the end could only acquiesce in the slow monetization of silver.
But is having more silver really a good thing? "
Chen Han's expression became serious. This was an interesting question.
Ling Han gradually had a bad feeling.
Because once Chen Han said something like this, it definitely wasn't a good thing.
It's just that he couldn't figure it out. Since the imperial banknotes had lost their credibility among the people, wouldn't it be a better way for the people to use silver, which is more valuable, as currency?
……
Pursue reading
(End of this chapter)