Chapter 277 Silver ingots are not currency, silver coins are
Confucianism has many methods, and they always achieve their goals through some small tricks.
For example, to sow discord, and to sow discord with the truth, one thing has three factors, A, B, and C. However, cheap Confucianism often selectively only talks about A, and then covers up B and C. This means It is indeed true, but if you ignore the two conditions B and C, you will definitely come to a wrong conclusion, which will trigger public opinion, sow discord, and achieve your own goals.
Suppressing the two good news for a day or two, especially only sending out the good news from Quaning, and delaying the good news from Yingchang for a day or two, highlighted Qi Jiguang's recklessness and greed for success when he marched into Yingchang, and Completely ignoring factors such as the Ming Dynasty's need for the Daxian Bei Mountain Road, a strategic location, the cost of capturing the strategic location, the right time, place, people, and other factors, Qi Jiguang's great victory was ruined.
Fortunately, Liang Menglong and Liu Yingjie are both members of the Zhang Party. Now that Zhang Juzheng is the ancestor of Shenyin in Xishan Mountain, Zhang Party should now be considered an imperial party.
This year, the lights of Aoshan arrived three days earlier than usual. Soon, the news of the great victory spread throughout the capital as if it had wings. People were extremely excited and everyone was happy.
For the people in the capital, they can sympathize with the victory beyond the Great Wall. Daningwei, Quaningwei, Daxianbei Mountain Road, Yingchang, etc. are all very far away and strange places for people in the capital, but this does not prevent them from empathizing with Qi Jiguang's victory.
The north is suffering from the harm caused by the Huru, which is a painful experience for the people of Gyeonggi. After the two invasions, many people involved are still living in the present. Although they don’t know where they are or what they have won, the emperor celebrated with such great fanfare. , that was the good news. When Li Chengliang left Sekpinggule Village, people in the capital set off firecrackers to celebrate.
Zhu Yijun entered a busy December. He was really busy before the New Year. From the first day of the Lunar New Year to the New Year's Eve, there was not a single day free, and he had an extremely tight schedule. The schedule does not include those sacrifices that do not require the emperor's attendance. After all, the Ming Dynasty has three high priests in charge of the dynasty: Xu Wenbi, Duke of Ding, Zhang Rong, Duke of England, and Zhu Yingzhen, Duke of Cheng.
The emperor’s main tasks were to inspect Yongding, Yongsheng Woolen Factory, Xishan Coal Bureau, Ming Dynasty Imperial Academy, Ming Martial Arts School, Ming Maritime School, Beiya Weaving Bureau, Baoyuan Bureau, and Baochao Bureau , the Third Bureau of the Military War Bureau, Nanhaizi in Daxing County, Yangjiyuan and other places.
The Baoyuan Baochao Bingzhan Bureau was responsible for the printing of the money law of the Ming Dynasty. The Bingzhan Bureau was subordinate to the Internal Affairs Bureau, while the Baochao Bureau was the yamen of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Baoyuan Bureau was the yamen of the Ministry of Industry. They turned the silver of the Ming Dynasty into silver coins and issued them all over the world. .
Zhu Yijun will also go to Nanhaizi, Daxing County, twenty miles south of the capital. This is the gathering area for the family members of Duntai Yuanhou who died in the battle. From the first establishment of Duntai Yuanhou in the Jingtai period to the present, the deceased Duntai Yuanhou has been All their family members were resettled here, which was a concrete manifestation of the Ming Dynasty's pension policy. It was also the South Camp of the Ming Dynasty's capital to express condolences to the family members. This was why Zhu Yijun had to go to investigate in person after reviewing the military horses.
After the inspection, he met with foreign officials, including governors, governors, county magistrates, county magistrates, county captains, elders, common people, craftsmen from various places, etc. This year, the foreign official Zhu Yijun met was from Liaodong Governor Zhang Xueyan and Liaodong Governor Hou Yu Zhao, the county magistrates were the magistrates and county magistrates of the three newly established counties in Luopang, Guangdong. The elders came from Jiangxi and Guangdong this time. The people were still concentrated in Henan, and the craftsmen were mainly Nanya, Songjiangfu Shipyard.
After Ling Yunyi put down the rebellion of the Yao people in Luopang Mountain, he changed his position and banned all the local chieftains, replacing them with magistrates dispatched by the imperial court. This was the first magistrate in the three counties of Luopang. Zhu Yijun explained to them carefully, mainly to prevent the Yao people from causing chaos again, to find hope for the Yao people, to pacify the land and herdsmen, etc.
The elders from Guangdong, Guangxi and Jiangxi came to Beijing to express their gratitude. Jiangxi thanked the court for its support during the locust plague at the beginning of the year, while Guangdong and Guangxi thanked the court for its outstanding achievements in quelling the Japanese bandits since the Wanli Year.
The elders of Jiangxi and Guangdong and Guangxi should replace the powerful right-wingers and wealthy gentry of the two regions to jointly express their sincere gratitude to the emperor for transferring the two murderous gods Ling Yunyi and Pan Jixun away! Even Yin Zhengmao who demolished the door and moved the bed is not unacceptable, and it is far better than these two murderers.
The people of Henan had many grievances, and Zhang Juzheng was not in court. The Ministry of Rites Ming Gong Ma Ziqiang still implemented the old rules and still selected the people of Henan to come to Beijing to see their grievances.
The craftsmen from Nanya and Songjiangfu shipyards came to Beijing with demands. They are firm supporters of opening up the sea and they hope to expand production.
With the prosperity of maritime trade, the scale of the original shipyards can no longer meet the market demand, and part of the demand has been transferred to private workshops. This has caused problems. The private workshops have limited technology, uneven products, and low prices. Without any rules or reference, the risks of maritime trade began to expand. Governor Songjiang, Governor Yingtian, and Songjiang Commander-in-Chief Chen Lin had the same attitude.
The three major shipyards of Nanya, Songjiang and Fujian were greatly affected by the imperial policies and needed to expand their production capacity to meet the increasing market demand. The most important thing was to reduce the risks of maritime trade. Now the Ming Dynasty Maritime trade is still in its infancy and needs careful care.
Before Zhu Yijun's Chinese New Year, he was very busy. He was so busy that he didn't see Wang Yaozhuo a few times a month. Wang Yaozhuo still lived in Xiyuan. Wang Yaozhuo, the quasi-empress of the middle palace, had to lament that even with the harem, It’s hard to say that there is competition for favor. To compete for favor, there must be an emperor. You want to see him, and so do I. But where can there be an emperor in this harem?
Hou Yuzhao, who is loyal to the monarch and the country, has entered Beijing. Zhu Yijun once said that he should return to Beijing to resign during the New Year. During Hou Yuzhao's absence, the performance of officials in the court was not even clear. Zhu Yijun asked Hou Yuzhao to return to the capital, mainly regarding the farming of Daningwei and Quaningwei. The land here is barren and the hydrology is complex, so Hou Yuzhao needs to explain the plan to the emperor in detail.
Hou Yuzhao, Zhang Xueyan, and Wang Guoguang were waiting for the announcement in the Guanghan Hall of Baoqisi.
"Isn't His Majesty's palace repaired? Are you not satisfied with the new palace built by Da Sikou?" Hou Yuzhao expressed his doubts.
What is the situation like living in Xiyuan, Your Majesty? Wang Chonggu was so exhausted that the news spread that the dignified second assistant was sleeping in the Huangji Palace. However, the emperor was stunned by Hou Yuzhao. Wang Chonggu was under too much pressure and finally made it before December. , the palace was completed without delaying the emperor's wedding.
According to the Ministry of Rites, the wedding date was previously set in December of the fifth year of Wanli. However, the emperor was fifteen and under sixteen, which was not in compliance with the ancestral law, so it was finally set as March of the sixth year of Wanli.
Wang Chonggu tried his best to prevent the emperor from getting married on the foundation, but in the end the emperor still lived in Baoqisi.
"That's not true. Your Majesty thinks Xiyuan has good feng shui." Wang Guoguang said with mixed feelings.
The emperor refused to move to the palace. When he returned to Qianqing Palace from Guanghan Palace, Wang Chonggu panicked and asked for the reason. The emperor gave a good reason for Feng Shui.
Xiyuan Feng Shui is so bad!
Ever since Emperor Jiajing moved into Xiyuan, everything in Ming Dynasty has not gone smoothly.
“Ah this!” Hou Yuzhao knew that the emperor was just finding a reason to deal with it. The biggest advantage of living in Xiyuan is safety.
"Zhang Siwei is an idiot." Zhang Xueyan chose to be straightforward and scolded Zhang Siwei for being stupid.
The emperor lives in Xiyuan. Didn’t it mean that after the fire destroyed the palace, His Majesty had to live in Xiyuan? Your Majesty cannot live in Cining Palace, because Empress Dowager Li moved out of Qianqing Palace to return to power. If the emperor lives in Cining Palace, then Empress Dowager Li's return to power will be in vain.
Forcing the fifteen-year-old emperor to this point is an act of stupidity. The game between monarchy and ministerial power has existed since ancient times. Things like Zhang Siwei’s assassination of the king and the burning of the palace are not the same. It is rare. This is a stupid act that completely intensifies the conflict. Those who have done this in the past have completely controlled the government. For example, Cao Cao killed Empress Fu, the queen of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. The cause of the matter was that Empress Fu wanted to help Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty kill Cao Cao.
If Zhang Juzheng thinks that it is okay for the little emperor to burn down the palace, then it is a conflict between the emperor and his ministers. Who do you Zhang Siwei think? A moth attached to the Jin Party.
"Xuange minister Wang Guoguang, household minister Zhang Xueyan, and Liaodong patrol magistrate met in Zhao." Xiaohuangmen raised his voice and reminded the three emperors in a high-pitched voice to invite them into the palace.
"I have come to see Your Majesty, is Your Majesty bowing well?" The three of them bowed respectfully.
"I'm safe, sit down." Zhu Yijun waved his hand, motioning for the three of them to sit down and talk.
Zhang Xueyan is already the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Wang Guoguang will also be in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs when he joins the cabinet, so that Zhang Xueyan can take control of the ministry. Zhang Xueyan is a Jin Party member, and Wang Guoguang is also a Jin Party member, but they are both Jin Party members. Traitor, in history, was identified as a traitor to the Jin Party by Zhang Siwei and others.
"Your Majesty, I have the "Articles for the Return of the Elder to the Land and the Settlement of the Land". I would like to ask your Majesty to issue an edict to establish the regulations for the emperor's return to the land. He will honor Qi Hao and the land of Jin Shen Zhuang, check for overflows, omissions, and deceitful borrowings. It will be used throughout the world and the palace expenses will be reduced. Extravagance, many expeditions, and changes in the sky are warnings from heaven and man. Your Majesty should build provinces to respond to the warnings from heaven." As soon as Zhang Xueyan sat down, he presented a memorial. As a Ming Gong and a court official, he could bypass the cabinet. The memorial was given because I could see the emperor and present the secrets.
“Zhang Shangshu must be careful, there is no need to talk about this matter of building a province in the palace since Zhang Shangshu is not in the capital!” Wang Guoguang coughed and reminded Zhang Xueyan in front of the emperor, no Know better and don’t talk nonsense!
The last person who advised the emperor to build a province is now extremely upset at the Yicheng Prefecture in Xishan!
The emperor still needs to persuade the province to build a province? It is better to advise against extravagance.
It was also customary for Zhang Xueyan to persuade the emperor to establish a province, because His Majesty the Emperor was about to get married and was suspected of spending huge sums of money. He just followed the usual routine, but he did not expect to be reprimanded by Wang Guoguang in front of his face.
Wang Guoguang couldn't say it in front of the emperor. If he tried to persuade the government to build a province, the palace would be backfilled with construction waste, and even the pillars would be filled with construction waste. Where would the dignity of the country be? In order to save money, the emperor did not even look at the lights of Aoshan, just to save the reward for the artists. This money is really a lot of money. The lights of Aoshan each year are usually more than 100,000 taels.
If you practice frugality and practice frugality again, the court will lose face. If envoys from foreign vassals such as Ligasi and Sanniangzi find out, wouldn’t it be a surprise to the friendly countries?
The Ming Emperor’s home actually cut corners to this extent? Even Wang Guoguang, the Minister of Household Affairs, felt ashamed. He, the Great Situ, had done so well and the country was rich!
For this wedding, the emperor ordered a province to be built, but the Ministry of Rites refuted it. The reason was that there was no province to save. The emperor's wedding was already frugal enough. The palace had purchased 70,000 taels of pearls and jade. It was reduced to ten thousand taels, and the reward band was reduced from sixty thousand silver to five thousand taels. Taking the wedding banquet as an example, the previous standard was five taels per table. As a result, the emperor directly gave the banquet to Forget it, how can this be done?
The Ministry of Rites complained directly to the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces! If you study further, whoever likes to do this, the Minister of Rites, will do it!
Zhu Yijun carefully checked the memorial. The main content of Zhang Xueyan's memorial is to establish the regulations for clearing the land. That is to say, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yungui, Guangxi, Liaodong, Jiangxi and other places that had not cleared the land before have fully implemented the clearing of land. make.
This is the signal to launch a general attack on the fields.
“The last time I saw my husband, I specifically talked with him about clearing the father-in-law and returning the land. What he meant was that there is no rush. We will still focus on Nanya and Zhejiang, and the rest of the places will be taken care of slowly. He is too big to act too hastily." Zhu Yijun read Zhang Xueyan's memorial. Zhang Juzheng was much more cautious than Zhu Yijun when it came to the national policy of returning the land to the emperor.
In the original timeline, Zhang Xueyan’s nationwide campaign to seize land began in the sixth year of Wanli, because Zhang Juzheng at that time had already noticed that as Emperor Wanli grew up, the New Deal must be implemented more quickly. , the opposition forces in the DPRK were extremely strong, and Emperor Wanli himself had a dispensable attitude towards the New Deal.
The New Deal lost the support of the emperor and was bound to fail. In the original historical line, Zhang Juzheng’s eagerness for quick success and excessive boasting was simply to have a done deal and let the influence of the New Deal penetrate into every corner of the Ming Dynasty. Preserve the gains of the New Deal.
Zhang Juzheng's New Deal was relatively mild in the first five years, but in the last five years, there was always a sense of urgency. A decree was hurriedly implemented without being fully tested in the local area, and the whole country was cleared and returned to its land. This is the case with official administration, and the same is true with a whip, because if it is not implemented, it will not be implemented.
There is no doubt that in an empire, in a country with an emperor as the center for system design, without the support of the emperor, Zhang Juzheng's new law in history, the final result was short-lived and failed.
Now Zhang Juzheng is very opposed to seeking quick success and seeking too much, and feels that the emperor is being radical.
According to his expectation, after completing these things in fifty years, the Ming Dynasty will be able to achieve ZTE and form a stable long-term strategy. The results achieved overnight will not be as good as those planned slowly.
The emperor was only ten years old when he ascended the throne, and after fifty years he would only be sixty. He was fully capable of getting things done. Zhang Juzheng knew that he would probably not see the day when the New Deal was completed, but His Majesty would definitely be able to see it. That's totally enough.
Take Yunnan as an example. Now Yunnan has to face the rise of Mang Yinglong of the Toungoo dynasty. At this time, it is time to go to Yunnan to clear out the abbot and return the land, especially the acres of the Duke of Guizhou. How should the local government of Yunnan deal with Mang Yinglong? The Duke of Guizhou has occupied a large amount of land for a long time. During the Jiajing period, it was estimated that the area exceeded 20,000 hectares, which is more than two million acres. All grain and grass in Yunnan were supported by the Duke of Guizhou.
Take Guizhou as an example. The land in Guizhou is completely controlled by the descendant chieftains. It makes no sense to return the land to the chieftains without clearing the heads of these chieftains. Regional development is uneven. Whether a policy meets the conditions for implementation requires detailed analysis of specific matters. Both Guangxi and Guangxi are Lingnan, and the development situation of Guangxi and Guangdong are completely different. Guangxi is so poor that it eats dirt, while Guangdong is so rich that it bleeds oil. There are chieftains everywhere, and Guangdong is full of officials from counties and counties.
"Sir, do you object?" Zhang Xueyan felt disappointed. The last time he wrote a letter to Zhang Juzheng was in the fourth year of Wanli. At that time, Zhang Juzheng's plan was to clear the husband as soon as possible.
"Zhang Shangshu, Beiya, Shandong, Henan, Nanya, Zhejiang, Huguang, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong are also determined to clear the country and are already doing it. Only Liaodong, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi will not implement it for the time being. This scope is already very large." Zhu Yijun once again reiterated Zhang Juzheng's objection. What he opposed was that the contradiction between people and land was quite abrupt, the annexation had already reached the point where there was no annexation, and the court had to provide a mediator. Ground contradiction.
“The three most difficult places here are Shandong, Henan, and Jiangxi.” Wang Guoguang further explained the difficulties of clearing the land now.
In fact, Nanya is the most difficult, just because Nanya has been tossed for several rounds, Qingzhang’s decree has finally been implemented, and the main industry has also changed from land to sea. The whole process takes a long time to implement. , The current practice is effective. If Haoyou is willing to listen to the court and transform in time, he can still make more money. The living signs of the Songjiang Sun family, Sun Kehong and Sun Keyi brothers have given Nanya Qingzhang a lot of relief. Less resistance.
Now it is Shandong’s turn to become the biggest problem.
There is a Duke Yansheng in Shandong and many vassal kings in Henan. These two places have difficulty in clearing their heads. Why is Jiangxi also on the list?
Because there are many academies in Jiangxi, more precisely, there are many academies.
The imperial court is a place that regulates social conflicts. In underdeveloped areas where the contradiction between man and land is not so sharp, you need to be cautious and cautious, because these places are really too fragile, unlike Nanya, where those who want to be powerful are like leeks. The stubble is the same, cut round after round, inexhaustible.
Zhang Xueyan originally wanted to do something big when he entered the court. He communicated with Zhang Juzheng, and originally thought that the nationwide Qingzhang would be his first political achievement after becoming a court official of the Ming Dynasty. However, it turned out that this was not the case at all. The husband denied it, and the emperor was persuaded .
Zhang Xueyan is a little disappointed, but these places where the contradiction between people and land are sharp are also difficult to crack. It is a great achievement to do it well. The emperor made it clear that these places are very difficult, Shandong There have been two governor changes, Ling Yunyi has gone, Zhang Xueyan is very busy, and it will be difficult.
Take Shandong as an example. If the three thousand guest soldiers brought by Ling Yunyi are unable to attack, then the emperor will issue an order to suppress the rebellion, send troops to Yanzhou, and personally ask Yan Shenggong what he means. Give Yan Shenggong a physical nod.
"Your Majesty, what I did in Liaodong is actually not complicated. It was a military garrison in the early days of the Kingdom." Hou Yuzhao began to talk about the reclamation of wasteland in Liaodong.
If you want to tell the little emperor about the world, you should give him a specific case that he can refer to, instead of just drawing a pie with empty words. If the pie is too big, if you can't make it, you will die.
What Hou Yuzhao said is also true. In fact, the farming he implemented was not a new tactic, but a military garrison that integrated farming and warfare.
Liaodong is a vast and sparsely populated place. It would take half a day to see anyone on horseback there, and there might be horse bandits or traders, but Liaodong is by no means a barren place. Land can be cultivated and one can survive. The territory of Ming Dynasty is the territory of farming. The places where fields can be cultivated are the territory of Ming Dynasty.
Now that the land in Liaodong is more fertile than in the Central Plains, farming has become easier.
"There will definitely be a place to escape." Zhu Yijun said with a little worry. The cultivated fields would be annexed. Zhu Yijun was extremely worried about farming.
"Your Majesty, there are very few people who escape from the military garrison on the border because there are foreign invaders, so they have to report to the group to keep warm. There are fewer escapees in the garrison of the Nine Border Army because the meat eaters on the border don't dare to be too harsh. Otherwise, when the bandits come, who will help them guard those real estate acres?" Hou Yuzhao put forward a very novel point of view.
He does not think that escaping is a bad thing. The soldiers and civilians of the military garrison in Liaodong really escaped, which either means that the Ming Dynasty can no longer defend this place, or that this place has become stable.
If it cannot be defended, it will lead to comprehensive contraction. That is the general trend. It is not the conflict between the border soldiers and civilians and the carnivores, but the decline in the overall national power of the Ming Dynasty, and the local area has become stable, which shows that the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the northern barbarians The conflict between them has been approaching a state of resolution.
The soldiers and civilians of the Jiubian Army garrison did not flee. The reason is very simple. This place is not stable and if there is foreign aggression, they must unite.
The phenomenon of military desertion from the garrison in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty was very serious. During the Jiajing period, the military garrison was newly built to prevent the Japanese invasion. As the Japanese invasion gradually subsided, it began to deteriorate again. The system of the garrison garrison was ruined again. It is a state of emergency military control that destabilizes the country and the country, and does not mean long-term peace and stability.
Zhu Yijun listened to Hou Yuzhao's speech in detail. He found that Hou Yuzhao's knowledge of contradictions was very profound, and his view of the problem was not one-sided.
"Well, very good." Zhu Yijun thought that what Hou Yuzhao said made sense.
Bianfang does not have the conditions for annexation by the gentry, and has a very keen sense of power. They will subconsciously avoid unstable assets. For example, sea trade is not as stable as land. Even sea trade is not as stable as land. To make more money, the imperial court used whips to chase them away, used huge profits as bait, and used a group of emerging wealthy merchants such as the Sun family of Songjiang as examples, but if they had the choice, they would still choose to collect rent from land.
Wang Guoguang took out a memorial and handed it to Feng Bao, who handed it to His Majesty.
"Qian Fa?" Zhu Yijun opened the memorial and read Wang Guoguang's memorial.
"Your Majesty, I thought that the meat-eaters of the Ming Dynasty buried their silver in pig pens and refused to spend it. It's not that they are necessarily short-sighted, but that the silver in their hands cannot actually perform the function of currency." Wang Guangguang began to explain in detail his Memorial, he started talking about the silver in the pigsty.
"Tell me more about it." Zhu Yijun said with great interest. Wang Guoguang has entered the cabinet and there is no political declaration yet. Obviously, he will now start to make promises and fulfill them.
"I have two things to show your Majesty." After Wang Guoguang asked for his order, Little Huang Meng presented the props that Wang Guangguang had prepared to the emperor.
"Two silver coins." Zhu Yijun looked at the two silver coins on the plate and was very convinced that these were the silver coins minted by the Ming Dynasty Military Battle Bureau. They were very beautiful.
"Your Majesty, one of the pieces here is fake. It is a lead-tin-copper alloy that is gilded with silver. It contains silver, but not much." Wang Guoguang solved the mystery.
Zhu Yijun picked up two silver coins and said in great surprise: "Fake?!"
He blew on the two silver coins hard, and they all made a sound, and he also knocked. After distinguishing for a long time, he couldn't identify which one was fake. He said in confusion: "Feng Daban, which one of these is fake?"
"This one." Feng Bao slightly said After distinguishing it, he took out one and placed it in front of His Majesty.
"How did Feng Dajue know?" This time it was Wang Guoguang's turn to be shocked, because the one Feng Bao picked out was fake without any doubt.
Feng Bao said with a smile: "The two silver coins weigh the same and can be blown, but our family can still distinguish the sound of the silver coins. There is a pleasant sound after being blown. , cannot be expressed in words, but very pleasant.”
"Feng Dajue is awesome, Wang admires him!" Wang Guangguang said in amazement.
Zhu Yijun blew it again, differentiated it, and immediately noticed the difference. Indeed, the real piece had a pleasant sound.
He randomly shuffled the two silver coins again. He didn't even know which one was true and which one was false. After blowing it again, he confirmed the true and false ones. The sound of real gold and silver was indeed pleasant.
Wang Guoguang was speechless and choked, wanting to cry without tears.
What kind of evil did Zhang Juzheng do? His Majesty, a born nobleman and the supreme emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was so keen on silver.
The moment the genuine and counterfeit silver coins were minted, even the senior officials of Baoyuan Bureau had to distinguish them for a long time. Finally, they determined from the sound of knocking and the quality. His Majesty the Emperor played with it a little, and after Feng Bao With the reminder, Wang Guoguang can be keenly aware of the truth. This kind of sensitivity to silver makes Wang Guoguang amazed!
Wang Guoguang then had a doubt. Perhaps His Majesty’s stingy endowment was not Zhang Juzheng’s excessive demands, but innate?
"Your Majesty, the silver in the hands of the meat-eaters of the Ming Dynasty cannot correctly perform the duties of currency. I also have two silver ingots. Their proportions are the same, both fifty taels. There is no difference at all. "Wang Guoguang continued to explain his reasons.
Specific gravity, Zhang Juzheng’s invention, indicates density, the multiple of which is heavier or lighter than water under the same volume. For example, the specific gravity of silver is 10.5, the specific gravity of lead is 11.3, and the specific gravity of copper is 8.9. After lead and copper are mixed and cast in proportion, and then plated with silver, the effect will be achieved to resemble the real thing.
This is why Wang Guoguang said that silver cannot fulfill its monetary duties, because in large transactions, silver ingots are easily counterfeited.
"This piece is fake." Zhu Yijun weighed the two silver ingots, carefully distinguished them, and said with great certainty.
“Huh?” Wang Guoguang’s eyes widened again.
That piece was indeed fake, because there was a tiny flaw on the fake piece. Even the honeycomb at the bottom of this fake silver ingot was exactly the same, but His Majesty still recognized the authenticity at a glance.
“This piece is real, and there is a pleasant feeling when you hold it in your hand. It can’t be expressed in words, it’s just joy.” Zhu Yijun is very sure. Judging authenticity depends entirely on intuition. As for why, he can’t explain. .
Wang Guoguang saw that he couldn't trouble the emperor at all, so he directly asked someone to serve him a large plate of fake silver ingots. The emperor relied on intuition to tell the difference, which was due to his natural sensitivity to gold and silver. However, the phenomenon of counterfeiting of silver ingots was extremely serious. Wang Guoguang He made a large plate and presented it to the emperor.
Wang Guoguang said with great confidence: "This one is made by the embedded method. During casting, the copper block is solidified inside the silver ingot, and the outside is coated with silver. The appearance is the same as a real silver ingot, except that the specific gravity of copper and silver is different. , it feels much lighter in the hand, but if there is a copper-lead core inside and the proportions are right, it will be difficult to judge by the feeling of falling into the hand."
"This one is filled with lead, and it is cast. It is cast entirely in copper, with a wax core, and is filled with lead and covered with silver. It can also be fake. "
"This one is made of copper-lead method, and the surface shows a greenish black color, which is very easy to identify."< br>
“There are so many fake silver ingots, which seriously hinder the circulation of commodities.”
“Therefore, silver, or more specifically silver ingots, cannot perform its monetary function and needs to be stamped. Only for silver coins.”
Despite the fact that the emperor was naturally keen on gold and silver, Wang Guoguang still announced his political commitment.
He wants to turn Ming's silver into currency and make Ming's currency flow. Only when currency flows can commodities flow. Only then can Ming's stagnant water release its vitality!
Please give me a monthly ticket, wow! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
(End of this chapter)