The imperial court did not know about Ma Dong's brilliant victory in Tangnu Ulianghai. To be honest, Zhu Yijun didn't care very much. In his opinion, even if all the 6,500 people led by Ma Dong were marching westward and northward,
Even if the army is annihilated, it will not affect the overall situation. Yes, today's Ming Dynasty's national strength can withstand dozens or even hundreds of such defeats. As long as the Oirat tribe fails once, it will fall into the bottomless abyss like it is now.
In the end, it left no trace in the history of human civilization.
As primary industrialization took root in the Ming Dynasty, tens of millions of square kilometers of land gradually burst out with energy that was terrifying in the history of human development. The production efficiency provided by machine production was destroying all old forces at a frightening speed.
The huge amounts of capital accumulated by the former clans, nobles, big landowners and even smugglers have been invested in new industries. The capital that could only be used to purchase land and intensify the intensity of land mergers has now been used to pursue profits and expand production.
Continuing the endless cycle of pursuing profits, they will turn a trickle into a lake and gradually evolve into a surging torrent.
This torrent washed away the turbid foam, eroded the order of agricultural society for thousands of years, distorted, and shattered the shackles that stood in front of it. In the center of the world, the first thunder of human civilization was about to surge forward.
Of course, due to the emperor's precautions, the "imperial economy" with the Ministry of Internal Affairs as the main body still controls the largest funds - and technology. Zhu Yijun can also judge that this first noise is unconscious, it is just the instinct to pursue profits
Driven by this, he extended his claws to the emperor and the court he represented. The person who did this did not know that he represented capital - but Zhu Yijun clearly saw the essence of it.
In August of the thirteenth year of Wanli, when Ma Dong led the army to intimidate various tribes and attack Oirat, Wang Guoguang reported that after four months of investigation, it was found that banknotes had been issued from banks in Suzhou, Taicang, Fuzhou, Linqing and other places.
Just return immediately.
Underground banks, large-denomination banknotes! Seeing these two words, Zhu Yijun took a breath of cold air. Out of a cautious attitude towards the development of the financial industry, the essence of Zhengshitang's issuance of small-denomination banknotes in various places is just to increase the money supply.
A piece of Longyang is equivalent to half a tael of silver, both are equal to half a tael of silver - that is to say, when the imperial court minted Longyang, there was no minting profit. Instead, it had to pay for fire consumption, and only a small amount was exceeded after establishing credit.
It aims to recover the cost of minting coins and at the same time solve the problem of "money shortage" in the market.
This situation was immediately discovered by someone who was interested. Wang Guoguang had previously received reports that some people in some cities used a large number of cashier's notes at a premium, and took advantage of the policy of equivalence between silver notes and silver dollars to exchange a large amount of dragon yuan at state-owned banks - paid for by the imperial court.
Fire consumption becomes their first profit.
Immediately, these people will lend the silver dollars they receive to small and medium-sized business owners in these relatively developed cities to expand their operations. The investigation team under the leadership of the Du Branch found that the "banks" that lend money will carefully examine the growth of these loan companies.
sex, and collect land and property mortgages that far exceed the loan amount to earn interest. This is the second line of profit.
What's even more incredible is that these people did not lend directly silver dollars, but large-denomination bills issued by banks. The minimum amount was two hundred taels. This was mainly to limit the circulation scope of these bills - this thing was only used in the business world.
flow.
Merchants holding these large bills can go to the banks that issue loans and exchange the bills for silver coins of equivalent value, which is exactly the same as the imperial banks. At the same time, these banks have figured out the principle of currency over-issuance, that is to say, they have
Prior to the imperial court's over-issuance of currency, as long as there was no run, these banks could easily obtain capital several times the amount of reserve funds and use it to make profits. This was the third level of profit.
At the beginning of the twelfth year of Wanli, due to the impact of primary industry on handicrafts, popular uprisings began in Hangzhou, Huzhou and other places. In April, there was even a riot in the capital city of Zhangzhou, causing the capital city to be occupied by rioters. In order to alleviate the imminent crisis, the imperial court took a series of measures at the speed of light.
——Establishing a bank and putting money on the market is an important part of it.
Because the court had been preparing for this matter for a long time, banks were spread across the country in a short period of time, and a large amount of money was put into the market. While alleviating deflation, it was conducive to accelerating market circulation, thereby promoting the expansion of production and employment.
The stimulus to the market is immediate.
However, less than a year after investing in Long Yuan and small-value banknotes, "shadow banking" emerged. While Zhu Yijun was stunned, he also secretly applauded the people of the Ming Dynasty for their understanding of the commodity economy.
Who said that our ancestors did not understand the market economy? Facts have proved that the Chinese people are born with business acumen. As long as the policy allows, they will overcome obstacles in the market and find a prosperous road - later generations of China have fully proved this.
Applause is applause, but how to deal with this new thing has become a difficult problem before the court.
When the imperial court issued banknotes, it was accompanied by severe punishments - private minting and printing of more than one hundred taels of money would be punished by beheading. In order to prevent the people who were illiterate in the law or ignorant young people from inexplicably losing their heads out of curiosity to imitate, this
This law is still a bit warm - those under one hundred taels are sentenced to exile and hard labor.
Because the issuance of banknotes is one of the most important financial activities in the country, the technological content of small-denomination banknotes at this time is very high - the paper formula is strictly confidential, plus multi-color overprinting, watermarks, dense lines and other anti-counterfeiting technologies, private
It is absolutely difficult to imitate.
However, the crime of counterfeiting currency cannot be placed on the banks that issued the loans. They did not issue banknotes, nor did they mint dragon coins. They only took advantage of the court's policy loopholes in the exchange of small-denomination banknotes and silver in equal amounts, and issued new ones.
Just the receipt.
To be fair, if these "banks" did not use "Long Yuan" as the principal to earn money from the court, they would use pure silver as the principal to issue bills, and their lending was completely upright. The small-amount silver bills issued by the court were only
But it inspired these private bankers to further develop the "bank notes" that existed in the Song Dynasty and combine them with the loan business.
At the imperial meeting of Wenying Hall, Wang Guoguang said: "If the imperial court prohibits the issuance of such bills indiscriminately, it will not be able to stand up legally and rationally; if on the contrary, it prohibits the exchange of silver bills and dragon yuan, it will also fear that the people will
Since I am not willing to use banknotes, I am faced with a dilemma. I think that if the lesser of two evils is to be chosen, it would be more reasonable to prohibit the return of banknotes."
Why do we have to "choose the lesser of two evils" again? A wry smile appeared at the corner of Zhu Yijun's mouth. In recent years, the reform has been quite annoying among the courtiers. This is because the deeper the reform goes, the more such things happen, and they are complicated and often complicated.
Move your whole body.
When the reform first started, it was the interests of conservative forces such as big landowners that were affected. Zhu Yijun opened the situation with a butcher's knife in his hand. If the reform has to be carried out with a knife in the future, it would be better not to change, which will lead to the collapse of the government. Therefore, it is more and more serious.
The knot is difficult to untie, and the government's governance becomes increasingly difficult to control.
Wang Guoguang continued: "Your Majesty, I thought that the imperial court's bank might also start lending. As long as the interest rate is lower than that of the bank, they can't compete with us."
Zhu Yijun smiled and nodded when he heard this. Seeing that all the ministers were waiting for him to express his position, he spoke again: "Let's all brainstorm and discuss."
Hearing what the emperor said, Luo Wanhua, who had returned to China and entered the political hall, pondered: "Your Majesty, there are Portuguese trading companies in Bago and Yangon, doing the same business as banks in Linqing, Hangzhou and other places - only they don't have banknotes.
At this stage, I heard that bankers in Europe were lending money to the king. There were many nobles in Europe, but they did not have a national bank. Therefore, I thought there was no need to make a fuss about this matter, and there was no point in letting them fend for themselves.
No."
After Luo Wanhua spoke, Wang Zongmu, the left minister of the Du branch, took over the topic and said: "I think that what Wang Xiang and Luo Xiang said is true. But I am worried that the banks of the imperial court may not be able to conduct such detailed inspections as these banks - this
After all, it is not a self-owned business, so it is inferior to one level. Even if there is a mortgage, there are still subordinates who can take care of it. If the capital is lost, it will not be good."
Everyone laughed after hearing this. Zhang Siwei commented: "Jing Suo's ability to settle accounts has come to prominence since he was the governor of water transportation. Now he is more and more good at doing it in the Du branch." Yang Wei, the Shangshu of the Du branch, reported illness today and will not attend the meeting. Although Wang Zongmu will
He is Zuo Shilang, but he is a member of the Holy Family Youlong, so he is not afraid of the stage in front of a room full of bosses and can talk eloquently.
Liang Menglong had been listening in before, and when he saw that everyone was talking about the same thing, he put down the teacup in his hand and interjected: "Your Majesty, now the national bank and private banks are doing business of "bank note shops". People need to exchange money in different places."
Pay storage money; when merchants exchange loose gold and silver for dragon yuan, they also have to pay for fire and money. Why not change the idea, since the national bank also lends money and private people deposit gold and silver, we can avoid the money for fire and exchange for dragon yuan for free.
Woolen cloth?"
"In this way, all the money in the world will be in the hands of the imperial court. No matter how many banknotes are issued, there will be no fear of runs, and the imperial court can issue more banknotes. Both of them, based on the world's gold and silver, the imperial court can lend at low interest rates, which is difficult for private banks to
Competing also solves the problems faced at this time."
Zhang Siwei saw Luo Wanhua and Liang Menglong kept silent when they were discussing in the political hall. At this moment, they seemed to be having trouble in the Wenhua Hall. He said distressedly in his heart: "He is still not as good as Zhang Juzheng. If he was in power, who would be better?"