Chongzhen Undergraduates

"You two lovers, are there any surpluses in each department?"

When Shi Kefa heard what Zhu Youjian said, he had a bitter face.He thought to himself: Your majesty is asking the question knowingly. He has launched several wars in a row. Where does the Ministry of War have extra money?

"The Household Department is not enough to last until the end of the year. I have estimated that the Household Department needs to owe the support for three months." Fang Yuegong also had a gloomy face. The Ming Dynasty now spends too much, and he is in a dilemma.

"So much difference?" Zhu Youjian was surprised, which means that the whole country will soon start to default on wages.If you have no money at all, you can't do anything.

Although Jiangnan is a tax-heavy place, there are many gentry in Jiangnan, and the money is moldy in the cellars of rich people. They will never run into the court's warehouses by themselves.

"How about increasing taxes?" Zhu Youjian muttered.

"It's absolutely impossible. Now that Jiangnan has just stabilized, the emperor's tax increase will inevitably cause uneasiness among the people." Shi Kefa jumped out quickly when he heard it. No matter how soft Zhu Youjian's voice was, what he said was still scary.

In Shi Kefa's heart, it was Zhu Youjian's idea to inspect the bank. Anyway, the emperor had plenty of silver.

The entire Chongzhen Dynasty had this habit. As long as there was no money, the ministers would automatically focus on the emperor's internal treasury.

In fact, Tianqi left a lot of silver to Chongzhen after his death, as much as 2000 million taels.After Li Zicheng invaded the palace, there were only 20 taels of silver in stock.

Over the years, Chongzhen spent little and was very frugal, and the inner government's money was probably wiped out by officials in this way.

Zhu Youjian smiled in his heart, how could he not know what Shi Kefa was up to.

If a person has wealth, he can't expose it, so that people will worry about it every day.Once a person meets a particularly rich friend, he always thinks about lending some money.

In the words of later generations: Tuhao, let's make friends?

"Why don't you donate?" Zhu Youjian pretended to be pitiful, and said while looking at the two of them.

"No, the imperial court is already in debt. How can all the officials make a living if they donate again?" Fang Yuegong immediately objected.In fact, he was also scolding Zhu Youjian for his unreliable idea. There is no reason to borrow other people's money to pay others.

It is even more impossible to count on donations. The country belongs to your Zhu family. It seems that they will not be willing to give money. The donation and loss in the capital crisis is a big joke.

Zhu Youjian took a look at the two of them, and saw that they were all looking at the ground fixedly, obviously waiting for Zhu Youjian to tell him about posting the money.

"Take it out." Zhu Youjian glanced at Wang Chengen, and Wang Chengen took a tray from the little eunuch on the side. The tray was still covered with a red cloth, showing a pile of things.

Fang Yuegong glanced at it and saw that it didn't look like a silver ingot. He couldn't figure out what Zhu Youjian wanted to do.

Wang Chengen lifted the red cloth, revealing a bunch of round objects, including gold and silver.

"This is the new Chongzhen Yuanbao made by the coin makers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Aiqing, look at it, is it beautiful?" Zhu Youjian took a few at random, and handed them to Fang Yuegong and Shi Kefa.

At first glance, the silver coin looks like a typical western eagle round, but the pattern inside is a profile portrait of the emperor himself, which is exquisite and meticulous.Gold coins are the same, only smaller than silver coins.

Fang Yuegong took it in his hand and weighed it. This silver coin weighs about six renminbi, and the gold coin is the same.

"I dare to ask the emperor, is this the new coin that the court will issue?" Fang Yuegong was overjoyed, the emperor seemed to be ready to take the silver, and it was such a beautiful new coin.

"That's right! I feel that the silver circulated among the people is too scattered, and the silver ingots are not easy to carry. Gu made new money, and I plan to distribute it to the people for use based on my avatar."

"Is the salary paid in new currency?" Since it is the emperor's own portrait, there is no reason to refuse the money.And this money is more beautiful than silver, so it should be a good thing.

What Fang Yuegong was most concerned about was whether Zhu Youjian was going to use this kind of money to pay his salary. If he paid it in new currency, he would definitely have face among all the officials.

"If you have any silver in your household, you can take it out. I will make it according to the new coin style, and I will never charge any fire consumption."

Zhu Youjian pretended to be deaf and stupid, as if he didn't understand what Fang Yuegong said.

What Zhu Youjian said was: If you want to use new money to pay your salary, then your household department will take the money out.

"Your Majesty, the Household Department has no money!" Fang Yuegong felt a chill in his heart, the emperor has become an iron rooster today.

"Do you want me to take money from the inner government to subsidize the household department?" Zhu Youjian smiled and looked at the two of them.

Shi Kefa and Fang Yuegong looked at each other and bowed their heads in silence.Everyone knows that Daming belongs to your Zhu family anyway, so you can take it or not.

"Since this is the case, I have decided that starting this month, the salary will be distributed in kind according to the conversion, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be responsible for the purchase and then transfer it to the Ministry of Household Affairs." Zhu Youjian said with a dark face.

Little boy, if you want to pick money out of my pocket, can I make you so happy?

Zhu Youjian's money is not equal to the money of the court. Since the officials of the court have made up his mind about his money, he has to use it before taking it out.

There is a difference between silver and real things. Although real things are troublesome, they will prosper the market in the short term, while silver in this era will only rot if handed over to officials.

Ming officials lived on their salaries?Don't be kidding, that little salary is only for a small number of people to support their families, and the income of most people is far greater than that little silver tael.

Zhu Youjian thought that if he started the currency reform from the officials' salaries, he might make as many silver coins as possible, and the money would continue to be buried in his backyard.

The entire market will be a huge gold-swallowing beast, and in the end it can only be a batch of exquisite works of art printed at a complete loss.

Money can only be truly circulated if it is handed over to the people, because the people have no extra money to store in the cellar.

"In addition, the tax payment at the end of the year must be settled in Singapore currency." Zhu Youjian added another sentence before the two of them came to their senses.

For a currency to become truly popular, official participation is necessary.Only when taxes and other means of payment are truly involved can the new money gain a firm foothold.

Many traversers carry out currency reform by expelling bad coins with good coins, but Zhu Youjian feels that in this era, good coins will only become hoards and will not be circulated.

Many ideas are just wishful thinking of the traversers. If you make a batch of exquisite works of art, see if those rich landlords will buy them back and hide them.

Not to mention that silver coins are more beautiful than silver, even certain wines of later generations will be buried in the ground.

In the era of the Ming Dynasty, it was not uncommon to distribute salaries in kind. If the court had money, it would give out money, and if it had grain, it would give out grain. Anyway, it was what was caught.

This can be regarded as promoting domestic demand and prospering the market.

"My Majesty, why didn't the court directly exchange silver for new coins?" Fang Yuegong wondered why the Emperor didn't directly exchange it, but went through all this trouble.

"It can be exchanged! I didn't say no. But the fire consumption and loss are not cheap. It takes a lot of effort to make my new money."

Zhu Youjian smiled, some people want to exchange the dark silver at home?Well, the wages will naturally be more expensive.

"Starting from this year, the Ministry of Households will collect all taxes in new currency, and the fire consumption will be returned to the public, so the people will no longer have to bear it. Because my new currency does not have the problem of fire consumption, the new currency is good, and the people don't need to worry about it."

Shi Kefa and Fang Yuegong were stunned. The new coins don't need fire consumption?Then the involvement is too great.Huowu is a big gray income for officials at all levels. Without Huowu, many people would have no income.

Zhu Youjian's idea is very simple. I buy the goods directly from the people with new currency, and then let the people pay taxes with new currency. There is no so-called fire consumption at all. Which people are not happy?

The core of the heavy taxation of the Ming Dynasty was not that the imperial court collected too much, but that the apportionment of fire consumption became a tool for private wealth.

Daming, it's time to address the issue of fire consumption.

Chapter 227: Kill the high and dive to make a warning

The problem of fire consumption in history was not solved until the Yongzheng Dynasty implemented the return of fire consumption to the public.The problem of fire loss is a big cancer of local officials' corruption. Yongzheng was opposed because of implementing these policies, and the opponents even made up various stories to damage his image.

Among them are unofficial histories such as Lv Siniang, Xuedizi, changing characters and usurping the throne, etc., which have been changed into countless film and television works by later generations.