Chapter 113: The Flow of Gold and Silver in the Ming Dynasty

Wang Yue said: "Since the nobles value the villain so much, the villain will also be presumptuous. ”

Wang Yue pondered for a moment and said: "In fact, the silver shortage has been happening for a few years, but the situation in Beijing is far better than in other places. Because Beijing is at the foot of the Son of Heaven, the place where the north and the south rush, the world's gold and silver are gathered here. ”

"The imperial court paid more than 10 million taxes a year, and gathered in Beijing from all over the country, and these taxes generally came from the south and were used in the north, and most of them were used for funds in the previous war with the tile thorns. Nowadays, it is also mostly used for water conservancy in the north. ”

"Generally speaking, in the past ten years, it has always been sent from the south to the north."

"There are hundreds of thousands of troops in the capital, hundreds of thousands under the Shaofu, and even officials and officials, there are countless of them, and I estimate that the silver taels issued by the imperial court to Beijing in a year are nearly 10 million."

"Therefore, Beijing's silver, in the whole world, is already the most."

"This year's silver shortage in Beijing is actually a silver shortage in the south that has spread to the north."

When Zhu Qizhen heard this, his heart shook very much. Chew it carefully, but it makes sense.

Although the circulation of goods in the north and south of the Ming Dynasty has never been small, through canals, sea, and ordinary land transportation. The economic circle near Beijing and the most developed economic circle in the Ming Dynasty in the south of the Yangtze River are not without intersection.

But on the whole, there is no problem with what Wang Yue said.

In terms of appropriations from the imperial court, except for a few previous wars in the south, they were all used in the north.

This is also Zhu Qizhen's policy of deliberately balancing the north and the south.

But he ignored it.

That is, today's China cannot actually be regarded as a complete market as a whole.

The transportation and geographical disparities between the north and the south have divided the whole of China into different parts. The Ming government, on the other hand, is the most powerful economy among them.

The government's actions and tendencies naturally determine the direction in which silver is concentrated.

Of course, this natural commercial trade will also be corrected, for example, the north sells a large number of goods, cloth and so on from the south.

This would also allow silver to flow back.

But this reflux is not completely balanced.

It is precisely because Wang Yue's money shop is very large. The communication between various outlets can make Wang Yue have such an understanding. However, in the Ming court, there are few people who have such a meaning.

This also made Zhu Qizhen believe in Wang Yue's assertion even more.

That is the phenomenon of silver shortage, in fact, it has long been manifested in the south, but it has only affected the north and the basic plate of Shaofu.

That's when it was discovered.

And the governments at all levels of the Ming Dynasty, from the county level, the government level, the provincial level, to the central level, have no such idea at all, unless something big happens.

will find out.

After all, the Ming system established by Emperor Taizu itself wanted to establish the Ming Dynasty into a big countryside

Some delicate fluctuations in finance are not under the control of the imperial court at all.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Mr. thinks it should be dealt with like this? ”

Wang Yue said: "The minister thinks that first of all, I will reiterate the prohibition of gold and silver outflow. Increasing the amount of coinage, the minister heard that Japan has a lot of gold and silver, and today it was decided to increase trade and get gold and silver from Japan. ”

Zhu Qizhen said: "These two things have been done. ”

Needless to say, there is no need to talk about Japan, and now the order to prohibit the outflow of gold, silver and copper coins was in the Song Dynasty, and in the early Ming Dynasty, even the sea was banned, which is naturally also prohibited.

And the signs of a silver famine were discovered.

This is the first order issued by the Cabinet.

Actually, I really have to talk about it.

Whether gold and silver, as currency, flow in more or outflow is also an unclear topic, after all, the statistical quantity in this era is always insufficient.

But generally speaking, the foreign trade goods of the Ming Dynasty were mainly salt, iron, cloth, silk, porcelain, and some other luxury goods.

Including gold and silverware.

However, in all dynasties, once there was a shortage of money, the first thing was this order.

Wang Yue pondered for a moment, gritted his teeth, saluted first, took a few steps back, came to the counter, found a note, and presented it to Zhu Qizhen with both hands.

Zhu Qizhen saw that this was a pawn ticket, but a live pawn.

When it was a silver kettle, the price was three hundred taels, and the discount was one hundred and fifty taels.

Zhu Qizhen didn't know what Wang Yue meant.

Wang Yue said: "This kind of pawn ticket has always been in duplicate, one for the money shop and one for the main family. But in many cases, this pawn ticket can be used directly as one hundred and fifty taels of silver. Although I am no longer the shopkeeper, I can also see that this house has changed hands at least five times. ”

"It's all about taking a pawn ticket for silver."

Zhu Qizhen couldn't hear it, the meaning of his words, Zhu Qizhen said coldly: "Bold, the matter of treasure money, it's only been a few years, you dare to talk about this matter?" ”

Wang Yue fell to his knees with a thud and said, "My lord Mingjian, this matter is not a treasure banknote, but a few banknotes can be sent out in the store to replace gold and silver." ”

How could Zhu Qizhen not know that what Wang Yue meant was not to use a penny of capital to issue a few copies of the bank's bills, and only if it was properly managed, there would be no problems.

In fact, Zhu Qizhen may not have this idea in his heart.

But he couldn't find anyone to do the work.

And looking at Wang Yue, he can start from scratch and have such a big industry. is a suitable talent.

He pondered for a moment and said, "There is an errand for you." Shaofu wants to be a bank. You're the right fit after all. ”

The Chinese language is broad and profound, even if the word bank in Zhu Qizhen's mouth was moved from later generations, but there is no need to explain more, Wang Yue will understand it in seconds when he hears it.

Silver, money also

。 Walkers, guilds also. This name is even more atmospheric than the money shop and the money bank.

Wang Yue was overjoyed and said, "Lord Xie." ”

Wang Yue is essentially unable to study, so he is in business, and he claims to be a Confucian businessman, but from another point of view, he is an official fan.

His current family property is enough for his Wang family to eat and wear for several generations. No matter how much it is, it is useless, and even because of wealth, this is also the reason why he traveled thousands of miles to give gifts to Xian Jing.

And in Shaofu, no matter how big or small the official position is, he is an official of the imperial court.

Since he started, the Wang family is not a merchant family, but a eunuch family, which is a first-class good thing for the Wang family.

Because there is no social status, money is often the only thing that can bring disaster.

Zhu Qizhen said: "It's just that what this bank does, you can also hear it, your family's industry?" ”

Wang Yue gritted his teeth slightly, and said, "Please give me half a year, and within half a year, I will sell all the properties of the Wang family." ”

Wang Yue naturally knew. It is impossible for him to run his family's money shop while doing things for Shaofu.

This is Wang Yue's industry all over the country, and if you want to deal with it all, half a year is already very tight.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Okay, since you have such courage. The court will not treat you badly. In this way, you bring your Wang family's people over, and the imperial court will give you a share of shares, which may not be smaller than your Wang family's current industry in the future. ”

Wang Yue was overjoyed. said, "Lord Xie." ”

In the ancient share system, it can be said that it is a technology stock, which does not need to contribute capital, but it must participate in management.

Zhu Qizhen said that the body stock given to Wang Yue is comparable to Wang Yue's net worth. But it's not fake.

Although Wang Yue's family property also has hundreds of thousands of taels, most of them are real estate. However, as soon as the bank that Zhu Qizhen wanted came out, it was decided to cover all the prefectures and counties of Daming.

How can it be compared with the current industry of the Wang family?

Zhu Qizhen's decision also made another group appear on the stage of history, that is, the Shaofu family.

It is the people who have controlled the royal industry for generations and served the royal family in the Shaofu and among the various industries derived from the Shaofu.

In different periods, there are different appearances, but in the beginning, it is the main force that pushes the Shaofu industry to the extreme.

Wang Yue was the first, but definitely not the last.

Even in the future, many businessmen, their greatest achievement, felt that they were favored by the emperor, and they were included in the small mansion, and they became the emperor's private ministers from the merchants' families. Thus changing the court.

That's an afterword.

Zhu Qizhen's establishment of a bank in Shaofu was also quiet at the beginning of its establishment. By the time the taxes and silver paid by the northern and southern prefectures and counties had to go back and forth through the banking system, it was already many years later.

Today is just a seed.