Xu Jingchang sent Zhu Gaochi to Jiangxi. He hoped that Zhu Gaochi could feel the dangers of the place and exercise his abilities before he ascended the throne. After all, there was only one Duke of Dingguo.
Xu Jingchang had another very important thing to do. He invited Xia Yuanji over.
Compared with his previous warmth, Xia Yuanji now seemed very cold, even a little contemptuous.
"Dong Guo Ding, I am just a chess piece in your hand. You can slander me at will and deliberately try to take away my power...Ding Guo Gong, how did I, Xia Yuanji, feel sorry for you? Tell me, how have you cheated me all these years?"
Do I have enough things to do?"
Lao Xia was really angry and asked questions, as if he was condemning a heartless man and a complete scumbag!
Faced with the questioning, Xu Jingchang felt a little bit embarrassed. It seemed that he really felt sorry for Lao Xia...it was true that he had gone too far in tricking him, but Xu Jingchang quickly put his conscience aside.
"I said, Xia Shangshu, don't be anxious first. We are discussing a very important matter. If this matter is completed, it will definitely leave your name in history, which will be of great benefit to you. I have absolutely no intention of deceiving you.
.”
Xia Yuanji snorted coldly, "Mr. Dingguo, you don't need to guarantee me. I, Xia Yuanji, am not a fool. You just talk and I just listen. If you agree, stay. If you don't agree, I'm sorry and I won't waste my time."
All in all, people feel chilled and unwilling to talk nonsense.
Xu Jingchang had no choice but to sigh.
"Xia Shangshu, what I want to find out is how much money our Ming Dynasty has, and can it be enough to complete the layout of industry and commerce?"
Xia Yuanji looked at Xu Jingchang with confusion, "What do you want to say?"
Xu Jingchang sighed: "Since ancient times, we Chinese people, the people of the Central Plains, have been the most industrious and willing to endure hardships. After Zhang Qian's passage to the Western Regions, trade goods traveled far and wide. We relied on trade goods in exchange for countless real gold and silver
.Although after wars and wealth consumption, these gold and silver will not disappear for no reason. Except for those properties that were buried underground and served as burials, most of the money still stayed in the Central Plains."
Xia Yuanji nodded, "That's what it is. Even if you bury it, you will be dug up. Emperor Wu of Wei is just like this...Ding Guogong, you don't want to dig up graves, do you?"
"
Xu Jingchang waved his hands repeatedly, "I'm not that boring, and how much money can I make from digging graves? What I mean is that if the wealth accumulated in the Central Plains is enough, we should think about how to revitalize the wealth and force the money into
Market circulation made Ming Dynasty truly wealthy."
Hearing that he could enrich the country, Xia Yuanji cheered up. Xu Jingchang was unreliable in other matters, but Xia Yuanji was convinced by his ability to manage money.
It’s okay not to accept it. He made Peiping so lively!
This time Xia Yuanji also took advantage of Xu Jingchang and picked his peaches.
When he thought of this, Lao Xia's tone softened a lot, and he actually started chatting with Xu Jingchang.
Xu Jingchang talked about a very important issue, that is, in the long history, the Central Plains dynasty relied on hard work and its own commodities in exchange for wealth, and it took two thousand years to accumulate.
This is quite an amazing property.
Xu Jingchang has always had a dream in his heart. He hopes to establish a system with the Ming Dynasty as the center, covering all vassal states and known areas.
Within this scope, goods are flowing smoothly and trade is prosperous. All use the currency of the Ming Dynasty and respect the rules of the Ming Dynasty... At this point, it is worthy of the title of being called the Celestial Kingdom.
But with Ming’s terrifying ability to make money, can it really be deduced?
Doesn’t it mean that you need a trade deficit to allow outsiders to earn your money and then use it for trading?
But gradually, as he ascended to the position of General Secretary, Xu Jingchang discovered the huge loopholes in this. Who said that you can't trade with foreign countries if you have a surplus?
Da Ming does not make money through financial tricks, but relies on real goods... Once you get Da Ming's money, you can buy things from Da Ming.
As a production center, Daming also needs to purchase goods from outside to meet its own needs. It also needs to purchase grain, mines, meat, and wood.
If Ming makes more money by doing business with foreign countries, then he should find a way to get them to sell more things to Ming, or provide land, mines, forests, and various resources for Ming to invest. In this way,
Wouldn't the trade between the two parties be balanced?
Currency is just a pricing tool. Once trade is basically balanced, the amount of currency required is not actually that large...
After thinking about this, Xu Jingchang solved a huge myth... In fact, it is not necessary to obtain huge amounts of gold and silver, nor to fish everywhere. Ming Dynasty has a way to embark on the road of industrialization.
Europe's great voyages and their various practices are rooted in their civilized habits and may not be the truth.
There is only one problem now, which is to revitalize the wealth of the Ming Dynasty, let the currencies that have been withdrawn from circulation re-emerge, and allow industry and commerce to receive investment... The Ming Dynasty produces more goods, and then trades with other countries in exchange for more resources.
Xu Jingchang's talk was a bit general and rough. In fact, it boiled down to the question, could the Ming Dynasty use its own advantages to develop industrial civilization?
Is it necessary to go on a big voyage and plunder everywhere?
Xu Jingchang thinks it is not necessary.
This is not what Xia Yuanji cares about. He reads history books and often hears about money shortages.
However, after the founding of the Yuan Dynasty and until the Ming Dynasty, trade with overseas countries was very frequent, and a large amount of gold and silver poured in. By the early Ming Dynasty, although the currency gap was still quite large, there was no money shortage.
This shows that there is still a considerable amount of gold and silver in the entire Central Plains.
But where are all the gold and silver?
It is obvious that the imperial court only has a very small part... there are too many wealthy gentry households. They not only store grain, but also hold large amounts of gold and silver coins in their hands.
When Xia Yuanji thought of this, he couldn't help but look at Xu Jingchang, "I said, Duke Ding, what are you planning? Are you saying that you are not satisfied with robbing the land, and you want to directly rob the money? If you want to die, go and do it yourself. Don't get involved with me.
I would rather die than obey!"
Xu Jingchang chuckled and said, "You agree without dying?"
Xia Yuanji was startled and shook his head vigorously, "Xu Jingchang, I can tell you that I will not agree to it no matter what. Don't have any wishful thinking. Once you do this kind of thing, you may not survive tonight!"
Xu Jingchang nodded, "Lao Xia, you are really right this time. I won't do it even if you beat me to death. But now there is a problem. If we block this piece of land, the local gentry and large households will not be able to do it."
The law uses land and food to make steady profits, what do you think they will do?"
"This..." Xia Yuanji was speechless for a moment... He also understood the article inside.
Why do the wealthy gentry families like to annex land so much and never tire of it?
The land is really fragrant!
As long as you get the land and do nothing but rent it out, you will get half of the land rent on average.
For a thousand catties of harvest, I will give you five hundred catties!
And these five hundred kilograms of grain are hard currency and can be borrowed. In less than a year, you can get back several hundred kilograms in interest.
With more food in hand, you can use it to purchase land, continue to annex, and expand farmland... Under the premise that there are more people and less land, and the price of land continues to rise, this method of playing is a sure-fire way to avoid losing money.
After analyzing the matter to this point, it becomes clear why mergers and acquisitions have not been suppressed in the past. This is going against everyone in the world and blocking other people's financial paths. Can there be a good end?
Now that you think about Xu Jingchang’s recent propositions, do you feel suddenly enlightened?
Landlords who hoard grain must pay fines; if grain rots, they must pay double the fine.
It’s even worse to abandon it!
In short, all grain must be sold to grain companies and controlled by the court.
Not only was it now impossible to exploit farmers, but the possibility of huge profits from borrowing was also lost.
To put it more simply, Xu Jingchang made something that was a sure way to make a fortune unprofitable. Whoever continued to annex land would not only not be able to make a fortune, but would also face various means from the court, which would lead to bankruptcy.
"Dong Guogong is really a good tactic, but doing this is more fierce than the suppression of annexation in previous generations. I'm afraid all the gentry in the world will fight against you!"
Xu Jingchang nodded vigorously, "You are right, this is my worry. So I hope that Xia Shangshu can join forces with me to suppress mergers and at the same time encourage the development of industry and commerce, and strive to get the money in the hands of the gentry from land to industry and commerce
Above. As long as this money can be put to use, our industry and commerce in Ming Dynasty will be able to survive, and the future will definitely be promising."
Xia Yuanji nodded, "That makes sense, and so do I..." Xia Yuanji suddenly closed his mouth, looked at Xu Jingchang angrily, and said no more!
I was almost fooled by this bastard!
This is something you have done to offend someone. I will definitely stay away from you in the future, so as not to splatter my blood when I kill you!
"Mr. Dingguo, you spoke so well. I'm sorry and I'm leaving!"
Xia Yuanji stood up and left, but as soon as he got outside, he bumped into Hu Yan. This man's face was ugly and unnatural.
"Senior Hu, is there something wrong?"
Hu Yan sighed in a low voice, "Xia Shangshu, His Highness the Crown Prince was beaten."
"What?"
Xia Yuanji was shocked. The crown prince of the Ming Dynasty was attacked, something big was going to happen!
He didn't dare to leave and followed Hu Yan in.
When Xu Jingchang heard this, he was also shocked. How is Zhu Gaochi? Is something going to happen?
If he died in Jiangxi, this matter would be very troublesome.
Hu Yan said: "His Royal Highness heard that some officials were besieged by the people and could not check the grain of the big gentry households. He decided to go and see for himself. He wanted to tell the people that this matter was beneficial to everyone, so don't misunderstand the court."
Xu Jingchang's face was ashen and he hummed: "Then he was attacked by the common people? Why didn't anyone stop him? How can we be careless about this kind of thing?"
Hu Yan said bitterly: "His Royal Highness is determined to do it, but there is nothing to stop him! It's just that although His Highness' forehead was broken, he has no intention of blaming the people. On the contrary, he pardoned the criminals and invited the people to talk freely."
Xia Yuanji's eyes widened and he couldn't help but exclaimed, "The truly merciful Lord!"
Xu Jingchang was even more stunned. He pondered for a long time before saying, "What about Jiangxi now?"
Hu Yan said: "It is said that the situation is good. They say that His Royal Highness is kind and treats the people sincerely."
