Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 437 The Disadvantages of Precious Money
"It makes sense." Zhu Biao stroked his chin, his eyes glistening.

Zhu Su's words seemed to open a door to a new world for him.

"No matter how many gold and silver coins are piled up at home, if there is nothing to buy in the market, that is, yellow and white things that cannot be spent or eaten."

"Coin has value because people see it as a 'currency' that can be exchanged for almost any other kind of 'wealth'."

"While it can be used to exchange wealth, its value should also be considered comprehensively from the amount of wealth in the market and the amount of coins themselves. If the imperial court distributes coins indiscriminately, but the wealth remains unchanged, the same coins can There are fewer and fewer things in exchange.”

"Fifth brother, am I right?"

"Brother is so right!" Zhu Su praised.Zhu Biao seems to be gifted in economics, and he even clarified the concept of currency so quickly. "This is the two functions of 'currency', one is 'value measure', and the other is 'means of circulation'. It has no value in itself, but is only used as a measure to reflect the various 'wealths' in the market. It's all worth it."

"That's how I understand." Empress Ma also laughed. "For example, if you want to buy a piece of cloth in the palace, you used to ask for two taels or three taels. But if the imperial court distributes coins indiscriminately, the cloth will still be the same cloth, but the asking price will become seven or eight taels."

"At first glance, it seems that the imperial court has too much money, but there are still only so many things that can be bought."

"That's not right." Old Zhu, who had been in deep thought, said.

"Old Five, we understand what you mean by 'currency' and 'wealth'."

"This statement is indeed a good prescription for the ages. Thinking in this way, many things that we didn't understand before are also understood."

"However, we don't understand again. If this is the case, why can the Yuan court issue treasure banknotes twice before, but it can really enrich the country's use?"

"If this is the case, then there should be no difference between issuing banknotes and not issuing banknotes..."

"Issuing banknotes will definitely not increase the wealth of the whole society." Zhu Su straightened his body and looked at Lao Zhu seriously.

"However, Yuanting's issuance of banknotes has successfully enriched the national use, that is to say, it has obtained 'wealth'."

"Then dad, just think about it, where did this 'wealth' that seemed to appear out of nowhere actually come from?"

"Where..." Lao Zhu frowned, suddenly he remembered something, his pupils fluttered, "You mean, common people..."

"Of course!" Zhu Su nodded.

He let out a long sigh, sorted out his thoughts, and continued to explain under the solemn eyes of Lao Zhu and the others:

"It stands to reason that the more 'currency' there is, the more 'wealth' sold in the market should be at a higher price."

"But the problem is that the people can't immediately know that the 'currency' has become worthless. For a long time, people who don't know why will still sell their hard work at the original price. The 'wealth' obtained."

"And what about Yuan Court? You only need to write the amount on the banknotes, and you can exchange wealth from the ignorant people... Why not use such a convenient method? Anyway, the people dare not disobey the laws of Da Yuan, and they can It is naive to think that your labor has indeed paid off.”

"When the common people realize that the banknotes are becoming less and less valuable... what can I do except to sigh? Could it be possible to seek justice from those officials and the Mongolian emperor?"

Empress Ma's brows were deeply frowned, and Prince Zhu Biao was already dumbfounded: "This...isn't this a disguised search for the common people..."

"Bang!" Old Zhu slammed his fist on the table. "Li Shanchang! And those stupid officials in the household department, they should be killed! We asked them if there were any disadvantages in the banknote method, and they assured us that as long as they don't issue indiscriminately, there will be no problem."

"Murdering the people... is this okay? This is making the people suffer dumb..."

"When the common people can't stand it anymore...then the world will collapse!"

Old Zhu scolded angrily.

"Chongba, don't be so angry... Your grandson is scared by you!" Empress Ma patted Zhu Xiongying who was scared in her arms, comforting Lao Zhu's emotions. "The Duke of Korea and the officials in the court probably didn't think of this level. After all, for thousands of years, generations have thought that wealth is gold and silver. Who would have thought so deeply?"

"Besides, you didn't think about this level. If Su'er didn't make it clear, the Baochao Tijusi would have already been opened. You, Emperor Zhu, may not know that you have harmed the people in the end. So complacent!"

"...We are the emperor, not the accountant!" Old Zhu was stunned, and argued with his neck stuck, but the murderous anger had been dispelled by Empress Ma.After thinking about it, I still felt unhappy, and murmured: "Those big headscarves, you know it. We let them help manage this big country, and it almost made such a big mess!"

"It can be seen that the so-called 'half of the Analects governing the world' is all false." Zhu Biao also shook his head and sighed. "There are so many kinds of talents in the world. Only by reading the books of sages, you will not be able to master every aspect after all."

"Fifth brother, what you said before is to introduce the learning of a hundred schools of thought in the Imperial College... Brother, I only know your deep meaning now."

It seems that these court officials who are full of sages and classics are not as useful as inviting a few accountants.

Zhu Biao felt that the sacred filter of Confucianism in his heart was almost completely shattered.

"There are so many cheap things in the world. All the things that seem to be free often have the heaviest price to pay." Zhu Su concluded. "Precious banknotes seem to print money, but in fact, the price he needs is the people's trust in the court."

"The more people print, the more trust is overdrawn, and the people hate the court more and more. At this time, they are proud, but one day the world will turn against them. This is the reason for the so-called 'opening the river to change the root of the disaster'."

As he said that, Zhu Su recounted in detail the history of Lao Zhu issuing treasured banknotes, and finally the treasured banknotes turned into waste paper.Daming's luck was obviously better than Dayuan's. The period when the issue of Daming's treasure banknotes began to explode coincided with the period when Emperor Zhu Di was in power.

Because Zhu Di has extremely strong control over the whole country, the series of turmoil caused by the collapse of Baochao was also suppressed by the court one by one.Although the imperial court continued to issue banknotes later, the people did not recognize the precious banknotes directly, and the precious banknotes were basically withdrawn from circulation, and no major problems were caused.

But even so, the credibility of the Ming court was also riddled with holes because of the loss of precious banknotes.Many officials and petty officials used treasure banknotes to forcefully buy and sell them, and plundered the common people. The imperial court also used treasure banknotes to distribute official salaries and military household salaries in accordance with the old system of Hongwu. Earning "extra money" wantonly, the military households are also alienated from the court.

Until hundreds of years later, a post station military household surnamed Li chose to rise up because he could no longer survive...

"Oh!" Old Zhu sighed heavily. "This is another bad policy we have left for our children and grandchildren!"

"It seems that Baochao's method is absolutely impossible."

"But what should we do with the empty treasury of Daming...?"

(End of this chapter)