In the early spring of February of the 11th year of Wanli, the Tongzhou River had not yet completely melted, but business travelers from all over the country had already begun to travel on horses and led mules.
In this year's official life, a "green man" would pass by every now and then - the Ming Dynasty's postman. They would ride horses or drive cars to deliver letters and goods to all parts of the world according to the different levels of remuneration paid by customers.
Of course, this reward was not paid to them personally, but was paid to the post offices in various places through the "stamps" purchased by the person who sent the things, and the post offices distributed them according to the regulations set by the post office department.
In the capital, there is a beautifully printed ink orchid stamp with a white background, with a minimum value of 30 yuan, which shows that sending letters is still a pleasure for the rich. Of course, depending on the distance of the journey, the face value of various stamps issued by the Post Office Department
There are also high and low, which is convenient for people to pay. The one sent to Bago, Myanmar is amazing. A large gold-backed four-clawed dragon ticket is worth ten taels of silver.
Once small-denomination stamps are issued, some people treat them as general equivalents and use them in the market - the face value of this thing is innocent, because you can buy this stamp at any post office for thirty cents.
At first, the Post Administration Department did not discover that small-denomination stamps were being circulated as copper coins. It was only when the Jin Yiwei reported the situation to the emperor that he was surprised when the Emperor asked about it. After some research, the Post Administration Department reported to the Zhengshitang that - it doesn't matter, the amount is very large.
Small.
Comrade Wang Guoguang, the second assistant, saw the title book of the post administration department and said: The merchant collected a lot of stamps, so he had to find a way to exchange the stamps for money, and the stamp collector could not pay according to the face value of the stamps, usually one hundred and fourteen.
Buy four for fourteen cents, and buy one for twenty-eight cents and a half. After these stamp collectors buy the stamps, they will be sold to those who come to buy stamps and send letters at the price of twenty-nine cents at the post office - one stamp.
Earn half a penny of your hard-earned money and save a penny by buying scalper stamps.
Therefore, the entire stamp trading market is very small. After all, there are only so many people who buy stamps and send letters. And there are very few people who use stamps as money. Merchants treat thirty-cent stamps as twenty-eight-and-a-half. No one eats them for no reason.
This loss should be due to the lack of money and the reason for using the stamps, so - please rest assured, Your Majesty.
The emperor can rest assured! You are a disgrace! Wang Guoguang withdrew the memorial and called Wang Zhigao, the minister of the post office, to the political hall. He was laughed at.
"Brother, this memorial from your post government department is a typical example of illiteracy: the government charges one and three cents for exchanging silver, and silver shops and gold shops generally charge six cents. This year, one tael of official silver in the capital is exchanged for 750 cents.
, I took the scraps of silver and copper coins to your post office to exchange them for stamps. I first saved forty-five cents of fire money. Then I spent it with twenty-five stamps, and lost thirty-seven and a half cents - a net profit of seven cents for one tael of silver.
Wenban! Your memorial says that the trading volume is small, but that means not many people know the news!"
When Wang Zhigao heard Wang Guangguang's account, his eyes were full of circles. He cupped his hands and smiled bitterly: "Mr. Shu'an laughed, but we still sold stamps for thirty cents each. Who did he earn these seven and a half cents?"
money?"
Wang Guoguang stared at Wang Zhigao with wide eyes and said to himself that if you were not the Prime Minister's relative, I would have laughed out loud. After drinking tea for a long time, he replied: "Brother Gaoruo, you have been fighting in various places for half your life."
, it’s normal to not understand the economic accounts: the seven and a half cents spent was borne by the imperial court, and the broken silver collected by your Post Office Department will not be converted into official silver in the future?"
Wang Zhigao suddenly got on the line and said: "The imperial court is still making a lot of money. Although I don't know the printing cost of this stamp, it is definitely cheaper than copper coins. If they are willing to exchange money for stamps, then let's exchange it."
Wang Guoguang couldn't laugh or cry after hearing this, and pointed at Wang Zhigao and said: "Oh, I can't explain it to you." Seeing the eager expression on Wang Zhigao's face, he had to continue to explain: "If you sell stamps openly, the person who wrote the letter will
There are so many, who does the stamp dealer go to in exchange for money? If he also uses stamps as money, wouldn't the stamps be the same as the precious banknotes? Haha, eh? eh?"
At the end of the explanation, Wang Guoguang was also confused. These stamps are not treasure banknotes. There are really equivalent silver and copper coins in the post office. They were all spent by ordinary people who wanted to save fire and money when they bought stamps -
—If the Post Office Ministry agrees with the stamp dealers to change the stamps into silver and copper coins, what is this? New treasure banknotes?
When he thought of this section, Wang Guoguang immediately became energetic as if he had been anointed with magic oil. He said to Wang Zhigao: "Brother Gaoruo, please take this memorial back first. This matter is too big. I have to talk to the Prime Minister immediately."
He said, I guess I’m going to have another meeting in front of the imperial court.”
Seeing that Wang Guoguang was also half jealous, Wang Zhigao curled his lips and asked: "Shu'an Gong, how can I correct this question book? I have to give the emperor a reply."
At this time, Wang Guoguang's mind was full of various calculations. Hearing this, he said: "No rush, no rush. I am in charge of your department, and the emperor must ask me first - this matter is big, big." As he said,
As he stood up, he went to find Zhang Juzheng.
Wang Zhigao agreed and left the political hall to return to the Post Office. Wang Guoguang trotted to look for Zhang Juzheng in his office. As soon as he entered the door, he saw the Wei Dynasty. When the Wei Dynasty saw Wang Guoguang arriving, he hurriedly bowed and saluted: "Please wait a moment, Assistant Minister."
Later, I will go and report this."
There was absolutely no reason for the emperor not to see Wang Guoguang. Before Wei Chao came out, Wang Guoguang heard the emperor calling him from inside the house.
Wang Guoguang hurriedly went in to pay homage. After getting up, he immediately said: "I didn't expect that the emperor was here. But just in time, I thought of a good way to solve the money shortage!"
...
When the emperor returned to the inner palace from the Political Affairs Hall, the Kunning Palace was brightly lit again. Because Zhu Yijun became ruthless one day a year ago, Empress Zhuang became pregnant again. In order to put her in a good mood, Zhu Yijun also deliberately spent more time with her recently.
Empress Zhuang continued to be in a good mood. When Zhu Yijun came back, she handed over a letter and said: "This is a letter to you from a king of Europe. It was sent through the Christian Mission. Princess Leping is visiting the empress today and I will give it to you by the way."
.”
Zhu Yijun opened it and asked, "Has this letter been translated?"
Empress Zhuang nodded and said: "Xu Guangqi found someone to translate it. It is said that it is not Latin."
When Zhu Yijun opened the letter, he smiled and said: "Jia'er, the decoration of the palace in Tangshan has been completed - let's go to the hot springs in two days?"
Zhuang Jingjia was overjoyed. Although she had been married for more than five years, she still kissed Zhu Yijun on the cheek shyly. After the kiss, she had nothing to say and asked, "Who is this letter from?"
Zhu Yijun first looked at the inscription and was surprised. Then he said to Queen Zhuang, "It's a letter from the King of England."
"Elizabeth, Queen of England, France and Ireland, Guardian of the Faith, by Divine Providence, pays homage to the great, mighty and invincible Emperor of the Ming Dynasty: This letter is presented to you, with my permission, by John Newbury, a loyal subject of our country.
And travel to various parts of your country.
He was able to do this difficult thing because he fully believed in Your Majesty's magnanimity and kindness. He believed that after experiencing some dangers, he would be able to receive Your Majesty's lenient reception. Moreover, this trip would not cause any harm to your country and would be beneficial to your people. Since he
I have no doubts about this, and I am more than happy to prepare for this trip that will be beneficial to us.
We believe that the benefits that the kings of our Western countries gain from mutual trade can be obtained by your Majesty and all those who are subject to your Majesty. This benefit lies in exporting what we have in abundance and importing what we need. We believe that we are born
We must help each other out of mutual need. We hope that your Majesty will agree to this, and my subjects cannot help but make such an attempt.
If your Majesty can facilitate this, and grant us safe passage, and grant us such other privileges as we may need in the trade of your subjects, your Majesty will do what a most noble and merciful King can do, and we shall never forget your Majesty's deeds.
. We very much hope that our request will be granted by Your Majesty's great kindness, and when Your Majesty's kindness extends to us and our neighbors, we will try our best to repay Your Majesty. May God bless Your Majesty.
Written at Greenwich Palace in the year 1583 after the birth of Jesus, in the twenty-fifth year of our reign.”