On the wharf of Huating County, four tall and majestic ships with a dark metallic sheen slowly docked. A few seagulls flew in the port, chirping from time to time.
The news that Yang Fan was going to dock at the pier had already been sent back, and all the ships at the pier had been cleared.
Such a big movement naturally attracted crowds of people to watch.
In particular, Pei Xingjian, Di Renjie and others came to greet them with officials who were not on duty.
After hearing the news that Yang Fan had discovered Ishimi Yinshan and was carrying a large amount of silver and copper, the news came back.
Pei Xingjian and others were excited at first, but then they became worried.
Naturally, they know what such a large amount of wealth means.
Moreover, there are too many unknown things on the sea, and they are really afraid of any accidents.
When they saw Yang Fan's four warships slowly approaching the shore, they put their worries back in their stomachs.
Although we don't know how powerful these battleships are, as long as the pirates and Jiangnan families are not fools, they will not dare to rob them easily.
"Congratulations to the Governor on the successful trial voyage!"
Seeing that the ship was completely stationary, Pei Xingjian and a group of officials congratulated him in unison.
Yang Fan first walked off the ship's bridge, waved his hands and said with a smile: "I've kept you waiting for so long. Hurry up and get people on the ship to move everything down!"
"Let's go, colleagues, come with me!" Pei Xingjian couldn't wait to see how much more than one million taels of silver was.
As boxes of silver and copper were moved down, almost the entire dock was filled.
In the meantime, two officials accidentally tripped while carrying the silver, and the white silver spilled on the ground, almost blinding the eyes of the onlookers.
If they hadn't looked at the densely guarded guards, these people might have started robbing him long ago.
However, this does not prevent everyone from whispering and discussing.
"I heard that the Governor brought back more than 1 million taels of silver from his trip to sea. Do you think it is true?"
"Of course it's true. If you look at so many boxes, they may cost more than 1 million taels. It would be great if I had so much money!"
"Haha, don't think about it. That's the Governor's money. Do you dare to worry about it? But to be honest, the Governor is really the God of Wealth. He can get so much money back from just one trip. It's so awesome."
"Humph, what are these? I heard that the Governor bought a silver mine in Fusang Kingdom, which can produce tens of thousands of taels of silver a day. I believe that with this money, our Huating County will get better and better!"
Although many people were prepared, they were still shocked by this astronomical figure.
According to ten thousand taels a day, that is more than three million taels a year. You must know that this is a long-term output like running water.
The entire Tang Dynasty could not produce so much silver in a year.
Besides, this is just the initial production, if in the future...
The onlookers felt that their breathing was much heavier.
Wealth touches people's hearts. Who doesn't want to have endless wealth?
After a long silence, someone spoke again: "Okay, don't be envious. Anyway, most of the money will be invested in various projects in Huating County. As long as you are willing to contribute, the money will eventually fall into our hands."
pocket."
"Not bad!"
This statement was approved by everyone.
Huating County's drastic reforms during this period have given the people here the most tangible benefits and are full of beautiful aspirations for the future.
Yang Fan just smiled at everyone's comments.
When all the boxes were unloaded, Yang Fan took the lead, wandering along the cement road towards the Governor's Office.
Such a large group of people and so many boxes attracted countless people to watch along the way, making the wide road somewhat congested.
But Yang Fan was not angry, instead the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
The news that he had brought back the silver and discovered the mine was spread deliberately, in order to carry out the next step of the plan smoothly.
He wished that more people knew about it!
…
In the government office, officials at all levels gathered together, making it very lively.
"Quan Zhangshi, you have been at sea for nearly a month. Fortunately, you are back now. Otherwise, my subordinates would not know what to do!"
After returning to the county government office, everyone's mood calmed down, and Pei Xingjian said with a sad look on his face.
Quan Wanji frowned and asked, "Oh, what happened? Is someone causing trouble again?"
"No one is making trouble, but we have no money!" Pei Xingjian smiled awkwardly and said quickly.
No money?
Quan Wanji looked surprised and a little unbelievable.
I only made more than 5 million yuan from selling the house a month ago. Is this money all used up?
Although the comprehensive construction of Huating County requires money, it is impossible to spend so much money in one month, right?
If calculated based on Datang's annual tax of 30 million, 5 million guan is equivalent to 1/6.
How could such a huge sum of money be used up in a place as big as Huating County?
The only possibility is that someone is corrupt.
Thinking of this, Quan Wanji's face turned cold and he shouted solemnly: "Did someone take money that they shouldn't have? The Governor has given us a salary that is more generous than that of the imperial court, but we cannot let these people act like moths. Let's get to the bottom of it."
Anyone?"
"Quan Changshi misunderstood!" Pei Xingjian smiled bitterly and hurriedly explained.
It turns out that because various construction projects in Huating County are in full swing, the wages paid to workers every month are a large sum of money.
Although the "funds" in the accounts are sufficient, most of them are food, brocade, silk and other items.
But paying workers’ wages requires copper coins!
Now there are not enough copper coins circulating in Huating County, so it is said that there is no money.
Hearing this, Quan Wanji fell silent. There was nothing he could do!
After thinking about it, Quan Wanji put forward his own suggestion.
"I think it's better to ask the Grand Governor if he can use brocade, silk and grain to replace the workers' wages, or if the Grand Governor has any other ideas?"
Although several ships of copper were brought from Fusang Kingdom this time, the Governor's Office did not have the power to mint coins.
Besides, Yang Fan's various ideas may be able to solve the problem of copper coin shortage.
This trial voyage not only bought a silver mine with amazing reserves, but also brought back so much silver that it was like the reincarnation of the God of Wealth.
Hearing this, Pei Xingjian couldn't help but patted his head and complained: "That's right! The Governor is wise and powerful. Maybe there is a solution. How can I be so stupid!"
In fact, it’s not surprising that people like Pei Xingjian are like this.
On weekdays, Yang Fan only focuses on the general direction and rarely interferes in specific affairs, so it is understandable that he did not expect Yang Fan at the first time.
Everyone present had great confidence in Yang Fan and immediately agreed.
"Then let's go to the Governor's Mansion together to ask for advice!"
When they arrived at the Grand Governor, they found that in addition to Yang Fan, there was also Song Guogong Xiao Yu. Everyone hurriedly saluted: "I have seen the Grand Governor, Song Guogong..."
Yang Fan waved his hand: "No need to be polite, just sit over there. Is there anything you want to do here this time?"
After sitting down, Quan Wanji turned to Pei Xingjian and said, "County Magistrate Pei, please report the situation to the Governor in detail."
Pei Xingjian quickly introduced the current situation facing Huating County, especially the shortage of copper coins, and then quietly waited for Yang Fan to see if there was a solution.
After listening, Yang Fan understood what happened.
Throughout the dynasties, every dynasty would have such a crisis when it was strong. This was caused by insufficient copper mine production during economic prosperity.
Because the output of copper mines directly affects the number of coins produced.
Nowadays, unlike in later generations, there is not enough banknotes, so just turn on the money printing press.
What's more, people in China like to save money the most.
As a result, people hid their wages at home and rarely used them.
This has also led to fewer and fewer copper coins circulating in the market, and the shortage of copper coins has naturally become more and more serious.
Although Yang Fan could foresee that there would be a shortage of copper coins in Huating County, he just didn't expect it to happen so quickly.
It seems that the pace of paper currency reform will be accelerated.
Thinking of this, Yang Fan smiled and said: "It is inevitable that the copper coins will become increasingly scarce. There is no need to worry."
Quan Wanji looked confused: "Oh? How do you say this? Why is it an inevitable phenomenon?"
Not only Quan Wanji, but everyone did not understand the reason.
Yang Fan chuckled and explained: "It's very simple, people's labor will produce value, and if there are not enough copper coins printed to offset the value generated, then the value of these labor values will depreciate, resulting in insufficient circulation of copper coins; in addition,
On the one hand, after receiving copper coins, people like to store them just in case, which exacerbates the shortage of copper coins."
Regarding the economic issues of later generations, Yang Fan can only explain them with this simple principle.
Although it is a bit inappropriate, it is still a very vivid metaphor.
Indeed, a good economic environment requires continuous circulation.
If value is created but not reflected, it will inevitably lead to currency tension.
This is why later countries will issue corresponding coins every year when calculating GDP.
This novel explanation made everyone think deeply.
After pondering for a moment, Quan Wanji asked: "Grand Governor, your description is quite appropriate. Is there any way to change this situation?"
Yang Fan nodded affirmatively: "Of course there is a way, just transfer copper coins from other places, or mint copper coins of the same value."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Yu on the side said: "Grand Governor, with all due respect, this method is not feasible. As far as I know, the copper coins in the Guanzhong area are also very tight now. In addition, the imperial court does not have enough copper to make copper coins.
.”
Xiao Yu had served as prime minister twice and was very clear about the current situation of the Tang Dynasty.
Yang Fan chuckled and continued:
"Since the imperial court does not have enough copper to mint coins, it can only use other coins instead."
Before the Tang Dynasty, almost all dynasties used copper coins as transaction currency.
This also led to the formation of inertial thinking, so no one thought of using other coins instead.
"Other coins, are you talking about silver or gold?"
When Xiao Yu heard that Yang Fan said that other coins could be used to solve the shortage of copper coins, he immediately thought of gold and silver.
Although gold and silver are not often used in ordinary transactions, they are indeed included in the scope of currency transactions.
Unfortunately, the value of gold and silver is too high and is inconvenient in daily transactions, so it is difficult to implement it.
"No, what I mean is to promote a brand new currency, which will replace copper coins one to one, or in multiples."
Yang Fan's answer made everyone even more confused.
In everyone's opinion, Yang Fan's method is not feasible.
Seeing everyone's confused look, Yang Fan certainly knew what everyone was thinking, and said again: "Everyone, why do we have to limit ourselves to casting copper coins? Now that the imperial court has mastered movable type printing and can also mass-produce paper, why?
Why can’t we use banknotes instead?”
As far as Yang Fan knows, paper currency was produced in the Song Dynasty, which is the so-called silver note.
Because in the original history, the Song Dynasty had gradually mastered the mass production of paper and movable type printing.
Now that I have dedicated these two things to His Majesty Li Er, Datang has the prerequisites for minting banknotes.
Since there is an easier way, why hang yourself on the tree of copper coins?
Is it really feasible to use paper money instead of copper coins as currency?
Everyone present had question marks on their faces!
In the eyes of everyone, who would use precious metals such as gold, silver, and copper to exchange for worthless banknotes?
This is probably the inertia of thinking.
"Grand Governor, if we use paper money, wouldn't it cause chaos in the world? After all, anyone can imitate it?"
Quan Wanji was a little confused and expressed his doubts.
Others were also puzzled and agreed: "Yes, Governor, instead of minting copper coins, we will use paper money. Although the money shortage has been solved, won't it lead to the proliferation of coins?"
Yang Fan explained with a smile: "If you want to replace copper coins with banknotes, these banknotes must meet several characteristics. First, they must be easy to carry and difficult to copy. Second, they must be able to be mass-produced. Third, they must have gold coins, silver coins or other coins of considerable value. Copper coins and other precious metal reserves.”
"Of course, what is more important is to issue corresponding banknotes based on the estimated gross national product. At the same time, it needs to be guaranteed by the credit of the empire and no random printing is carried out. This will not cause inflation."
Although we don't know the principle of inflation, we are all smart people and can still understand what Yang Fan means.
The more I think about it, the more I think Yang Fan's words make sense, if that's really the case.
In the future, paper currency will replace copper coins, which not only solves the problem of inconvenient transportation of copper coins, but also reduces the manpower and material resources required to mint copper coins.
Moreover, banknotes are more convenient for merchants to trade. At least when they are not doing business, they can bring in more copper coins than goods.
If portable banknotes were introduced, merchants everywhere would quickly accept them.
As long as the imperial court carries out unified implementation, it will definitely be able to replace the shortage of copper coins in the short term.
"This seems to be a good idea, but it only requires the consent of the court. This will not solve the problem of coin shortage in Huating County."
Xiao Yu is indeed a person who has served as prime minister. After thinking about it for a while, he realized that Yang Fan's proposal was very good?
If it can be implemented, it will definitely be welcomed by all parties, and it is extremely operable. It is really possible to alleviate the money shortage in the market in a short time.
Unfortunately, the prerequisite for all this is that the emperor and the court must fully support it.
Seeing Xiao Yu's move, Yang Fan smiled.
The reason why I invited him here today was because I wanted to unite the Jiangnan nobles to set up banks in the Jiangnan area.
Unexpectedly, Pei Xingjian raised the issue of money shortage today, so Yang Fan decided to merge the two into one, planning to establish a bank and promote banknotes at the same time.
To put it bluntly, 99% of the world's wealth is actually in the hands of the powerful.
The same goes for Jiangnan!
Therefore, only with the support of these Jiangnan nobles can this policy proceed smoothly.
After all, if they want to exchange the banknotes, these aristocratic families need to exchange all the gold, silver and copper coins they have hidden.
Without the participation of these people, the Jiangnan Aristocratic Family would certainly not be willing to exchange the metals they considered valuable for these banknotes of unpredictable value.
This is also the reason why Yang Fan plans to recruit these people into his group.