Chapter 544: The Whetstone of the Ming Dynasty Sword
"Can such a complicated matter really be solved so easily?" Zhu Yijun said with some uncertainty. This is a major event that has led to widespread deficits in local government treasuries across the country and is a major problem of systemic corruption.
How can it be solved so simply?
Wang Chonggu said with a smile: "Your Majesty, this is not simple at all. The emptying of the treasury is complicated. In fact, everything is based on concealment. The most important thing is to find the ultimate beneficiary, which is the end of the silver. Whose hands does it fall into? ”
If the ultimate beneficiary can be found using only simple means, then the treasury being emptied means that it can also be held accountable, and whoever benefits will bear the responsibility. , and finally alleviate this chaos.
Use Dingjian Dagong to create debts that should not exist, use debts to divert the ever-confused attention, and create a fog to hide it. An ultimate beneficiary hidden underwater can pressure the local government to admit these debts. existence, and finally achieve the goal of eating two things with one fish.
The debt that should not exist is caused by layers of buying and subcontracting. It has already been eaten once at this time.
The debt is eventually transferred to a certain beneficiary. At this time, it is the second time to eat, and the diners who eat one fish and two are often the same people. To be very clear, most of the time It's the same person.
Wang Chonggu actually did not explain his words clearly and thoroughly. In fact, this is the inevitable result of the teacher system. Just like the case of the 700,000 acres of official land in Baoding Prefecture being occupied, Fan Yingqi was the one who took the big hit. , Jin people who had high hopes for the Ming Dynasty Jin Party.
As long as the simple claim cannot be transferred, the ultimate beneficiary will no longer be able to hide under the water, which means that he must take the risk of exposure to take this bite. Once the incident occurs, he will be punished by the court. noticed, and then the Great Ming Sword will arrive.
"Your Majesty, this seems very simple, but in fact it is really difficult, because before this, there was no possibility of doing this." Wang Chonggu corrected His Majesty's simplicity twice. In the context of the eleventh year of Wanli, this It was a simple matter, but during the Jiajing and Longqing years, this matter would never have started.
Because the people responsible for decision-making are the diners who eat two fish and eat two fish, do you do this to fight corruption?
Are you letting him turn against himself? Even Gao Gong can only ensure that he is clean. He can't even counter the corruption of the Jin Party. Hai Rui is invincible in some cases and useless in other cases. He is an invincible magic sword, especially It was in the matter of anti-corruption and corruption, but the previous general environment destined that Hai Rui's magic sword could not be unsheathed.
The situation is absolutely clear enough for Hai Rui to emerge from the sheath. At least anti-corruption is a topic that can be mentioned and implemented.
Many of the big problems that seem overwhelming now were not important or urgent more than ten years ago because there were more important problems that needed to be solved urgently.
"Then add a restriction on the transfer of debts in Hai Zongxian's memorial. Yamen's debts cannot be bought or sold." Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and agreed with Wang Chonggu's statement. This is Silver will cause reasonable losses every time it passes through hands, and registered debts, if transferred, will bear the risk of being defrauded.
Some time ago, during the imperial examination in the capital, the Ming Dynasty Jingtang arrested a lot of brokers. Ninety-nine percent of these brokers were big swindlers. When the registered debts could not be bought, sold or transferred, the swindlers They seem to have found a new business growth path, and that is guarantees.
Scammers deceive, the main thing is that one dares to say something and the other dares to believe it. It is true that it goes both ways.
In this way, the front end reduces local debts that should not exist by prohibiting layer upon layer of purchases, and the back end prohibits debt trading and prevents the realization of debts. The two aspects exert force to keep local treasuries away. The encroachment of demons and monsters.
In the past, Zhu Yijun felt that the main reason for the emptying of the treasury was due to carding and expropriation. For example, subordinate officials filled their own pockets and secretly moved things in the treasury. During the investigation by the superiors, a fire dragon cleared the warehouse and wiped out the old accounts. But Zhu Yijun learned from Wang Chonggu that this was how the Ming treasury was emptied.
"Actually, the most critical thing is the engineering battalion. If the imperial court does not have a large construction team, this kind of thing will happen. It is obvious that the imperial court bought Yi to take charge of the case, but in the end, after going round and round, Guilai was responsible. One or two It is possible that Gui spent only 200,000 yuan on the construction of a huge construction project worth millions, so it would be surprising if nothing happened." Wang Chonggu still strongly promoted and sold his engineering regiment and battalion system.
In Wang Chonggu's view, maintaining the quality of the Dingjian project and providing labor remuneration to the poor coolies are the two most urgent things.
Wang Chonggu further explained: "There is no need to worry too much if there is no beginning. It is true that the engineering regiment camp is by no means a panacea that has been tried and tested, and there is no such thing, but it is better than nothing."
It is not a panacea that works all the time, but it can be used as an extremely important tool in the conflict resolution toolbox.
"Good." Of course Zhu Yijun knew this.
After finishing the duel with Wang Chonggu, Zhu Yijun thought about it carefully and brought over many corruption files from the Metropolitan Procuratorate. After carefully reviewing them, Zhu Yijun really discovered something fishy, as Wang Chonggu said. The phenomenon is real. Some major construction projects, such as the cost of building a city on three sides, are obviously abnormal. The court gave 10,000 taels of silver, but a fortress actually cost 100,000 taels of silver to repair, and then the place began to suffer a deficit. .
It is impossible to find out whose hands the deficit fell into. It is not that the Tiqi people did not do their best, but the amount of inspections was too large, and the resistance was greater when handling cases at local levels. The officials of the Ming Dynasty were considered good. He taught the Ming Emperor a lesson about what it means to enrich one's own pockets and what it means to harm the public and enrich one's private interests.
Zhu Yijun started his day of grinding, opened the memorial and began to review it.
A Ke Dao official came to the meeting and asked a question, that is, the overall direction of the Ming Dynasty's current decrees made him unable to understand. The overall direction of the Ming Dynasty was to settle down the poor people as coolies and harshly criticize the rural gentry and the gentry. They are mainly right-wing, and to put it more harshly, they kill the rich and give to the poor. It is true that meat-eaters do have many problems, but what is the reason for this choice?
What is the difference between this and killing the chicken to obtain the eggs? Without the leadership of the rural gentry and powerful right-wingers, the poor coolies would not have enough wealth to invest in various projects to allow the Ming Dynasty to complete the reform and implementation of the New Deal.
Zhu Yijun thought for a while and replied in the memorial: "To boil water, you must start from the bottom. If you start boiling water from the top, it will definitely not boil. The heat will dissipate in the form of water vapor. If you have nothing to do, read the Ge Wu Bao to understand the infinite nature of all things." reason. ]
Zhang Juzheng’s one-yuan autocracy won’t work, because Zhu Yijun is really already very busy. Emperor Taizu Gao’s method, Zhu Yijun really can’t work, that thing is fatal.
The memorials written by the courtiers were varied, but on the whole they were mainly about talking about things. The memorials that had nothing to do and greetings gradually decreased after being severely warned by Zhu Yijun. From the memorials that were read without sentences at the beginning, they became Most of the memorials are punctuation marks, and there are more and more memorials with popular characters. This is the emperor's request.
The sentence reading is to prevent ambiguity, the vulgar characters are to make it easy for the emperor to read, and everything is to make administration more efficient.
The Ministry of Revenue received Xu Wei’s memorial. It was really an eye-opener on the impact of overseas currency notes on the Japanese country. The restricted treasure notes can actually be successfully implemented overseas, and there is a certain positive effect. The meaning is really unexpected by Hu Bu, and on the other hand, it supports a point of view, that is, the Ming Dynasty is really too free.
The proliferation of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, in addition to the excessive issuance of treasure banknotes by the court, the biggest hidden danger is the private seals of the emperor's relatives and military ministers. During the Hongwu period, cases of private issuance of treasure banknotes were often investigated. I couldn't find anything, because it involved someone the emperor didn't want to blame. Tiqi, who was completely obedient to the emperor, had to stop.
Therefore, in the early days of the People's Republic of China, the carnivores who secretly printed banknotes or secretly cast Tongbao often took shelter from the emperor's relatives and military ministers.
Privately minted copper coins are widespread among the people. The Ming Dynasty was so free that even privately minted copper coins and privately printed treasure banknotes were not beheaded. What is this but freedom?
"Da Situ!" Zhang Xueyan walked in excitedly, hurriedly walked to Wang Guoguang, placed a handful of flax in front of Wang Guangguang, and said extremely excitedly: "I found a Good thing!"
"Calm down, you are a young Situ, a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Finance, how can you behave so recklessly? It is inappropriate for me, a dignified second-rank official of the Ming Dynasty, to be so happy." Wang Guoguang taught him a lesson, picked up the hemp silk in his hand and asked, "What is this?"
"Abaca." Zhang Xueyan said with a smile: "It is often used to weave cloth, and is mostly used to make ship's cables and anchor ropes. Of course, for the household department, its most important role is to make paper. Paper is very wear-resistant. , it is more difficult to break and can also play an anti-counterfeiting role."
"Anti-counterfeiting role?" Wang Guangguang asked with a frown.
Zhang Xueyan said extremely excitedly: "Because now only the imperial court can make abaca paper, and only the imperial court can obtain large quantities of abaca! Abaca paper is the best anti-counterfeiting."
Abaca is called Manila hemp. This plant is not everywhere in Manila. The living conditions are not harsh. However, it is currently only grown in some areas of Luzon. It is mainly used for ship production, while abaca is used for shipbuilding. In papermaking, it is the result of the Ministry of Revenue's exploration of banknote methods.
The Ministry of Revenue has been looking for a hard-to-obtain, high-strength, corrosion-resistant, anti-fungal, and anti-wrinkle linen material to make paper and print banknotes, and now it has been found by the Ministry of Revenue. Abaca is used to make paper. , which is the maximum threshold for privately printing treasure banknotes.
First of all, the raw materials are hard to come by.
Abaca is divided into green stems and red stems. Among them, green stems have the highest yield and the best quality, but they are difficult to introduce. In the second year of Wanli, when the Luzon Governor's Palace was first established, attention was paid to After realizing the special nature of this raw material and the need to use this kind of linen material for cable ropes, Yin Zhengmao began to introduce it to Guangzhou and Qiongzhou, Hainan.
In the third year of Wanli, there were 200 acres of land. The introduction of red-stem abaca was successful, but the green-stem abaca failed. Green-stem abaca is mainly intolerant to insect pests and is not acclimated to the local soil and water. It is always prone to diseases and prone to disease. Extensive dieback.
So abaca can only rely on importing it from Luzon to the hinterland. This is the first difficulty. If you want to obtain abaca, you must open up all the joints from Luzon to Daming to buy abaca. Hemp, this is the threshold for increasing private seals, and the cultivation of green-stem abaca is mainly concentrated near Manila, and all abaca gardens are in the hands of the Governor-General.
The second is the formula. If you want to make abaca paper smooth and white, you need to work hard. There are usually fibers exposed on hemp paper. The Ming Dynasty household improved the technique, such as using soda ash instead. Plant ash, white clay is used instead of sunlight bleaching, limestone increases the adsorption of ink, and flying bottom knife beater is used instead of traditional pounding and grinding. Each step of the improvement of these techniques is a very confidential formula.
It's technically extremely difficult for me to make hemp paper. Coupled with anti-counterfeiting inks, etc., the production cost after research and development may be more expensive than the banknotes produced. head risk.
"Good stuff! Good stuff!" Wang Guoguang looked at the ball of abaca thread in his hand, and then looked at the abaca paper that had been made. There were some slightly yellow and green papers, which were very smooth. , not as rough as traditional hemp paper, and the trial-produced Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, which made Wang Guangguang express his emotions with joy. Wang Guangguang, who had just calmed down Zhang Xueyan, became less calm.
Zhang Xueyan looked around and whispered: "This is abaca paper made of 10% abaca. This is abaca paper made of 30% abaca. Da Situ, shake it."
< br>The 10% abaca paper is crisper, but after a few shakes, there are obvious creases, while the 30% abaca paper has a less obvious sound when shaken, but there are no creases.
“The paper of Tongxingbao banknotes contains 20% abaca.” Zhang Xueyan picked up the trial-produced banknotes in his hand and whispered: “The sound is clear and crisp, and it is resistant to folding.”
Anti-counterfeiting It will also become simpler. You can hear it as soon as you shake it. The sound is crisp and resistant to folding. The 20% abaca is the result of continuous experiments.
"Go and find His Majesty!" Wang Guoguang picked up the treasure box on the table and headed to Tonghe Palace impatiently. He was more anxious than Zhang Xueyan, self-restraint? What is that? Is it that important?
When Zhu Yijun was approached by Wang Guoguang, he was also very surprised. Regarding the upgrade of banknotes from cotton paper to abaca paper, Zhu Yijun himself affirmed the efforts of the Ministry of Revenue.
"The Ming Dynasty was not suitable for the implementation of treasure banknotes, and there was insufficient reserve funds." Zhu Yijun said: "The anchors in the "Notes on Banknote Law Anchors" on the Ministry of Household Affairs are not sufficient."
" Just promote it overseas." Wang Guangguang said with great confidence: "The technology will become more mature and the industrial chain will become richer." "Does Japan also use abaca banknotes? Paper for wiping your butt would be good." Zhu Yijun said very unhappily, Japan is not worthy of it, and asking it for silver is to give it face and let it fulfill its filial piety! Give it a chance to be filial and it must learn to be grateful!
"It's not for the Japanese country, it's for Luzon. It's still a treasure banknote that can be used overseas." Wang Guangguang said quickly. The banknotes given to the Japanese country were ten million guan and could be used for a long, long time.
“Oh, that’s about the same.” Zhu Yijun heard that the Ministry of Revenue was planning to expand the pilot project of treasure banknotes, and then he seriously considered it. It was really a waste of good money to be used by the Japanese country. Yes, but it is just right for Luzon.
Luzon is also short of money.
Luzon has copper, and there are 11 large copper mountains, but Luzon is still short of copper, because all the copper in Luzon was given to the Ming Dynasty. The siphon effect of the Ming Dynasty on gold, silver and copper is really It was so strong that even two teeth far away in Taixi were absorbed by the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty was short of money. With the advantage of commodities, precious metals from Luzon would flow into the Ming Dynasty. Even Great Britain, which had completed the first industrial revolution, and its trade with the Qing Dynasty had been in a state of trade deficit for a long time. Tatars flowed in.
"Big bills are harmful to the people, and the face value should not be about 100 Wen." Zhu Yijun gave specific instructions on Luzon's banknote law. The face value should not be too large. A large face value means more tax revenue from minting. Luzon is working on this To develop in the direction of county-level development, excessive seigniorage is just a form of expropriation, and it is breaking the bones and sucking out the marrow.
Zhu Yijun gave a face value of 100 Wen, rather than always. A small amount of good currency banknotes that are difficult to copy is conducive to economic development. This is a principle that has been practiced in the Japanese country, but a large number of disorderly banknotes , shoddy and bad currency, which is fatal to the economy.
"To have a reserve fund, Luzon's banknotes must be cashable currencies, preferably silver and red copper." Zhu Yijun further restricted it, and it could not become as rotten as the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes. , otherwise it would be extremely difficult for Ming Dynasty to implement treasure currency in the hinterland.
The political status and treatment of Luzon and Japan in the Ming Dynasty were completely different, even worlds apart. The Ming Dynasty could use non-redeemable currency to brutally exploit Japan, but doing so to Luzon would push Luzon further and further away.
As for anchors, there is no shortage of anchors in Luzon. The Guangzhou Shipping Department and the Yuegang Shipping Department receive a large number of merchant ships every year, and the goods are extremely abundant.
Previously, copper materials from Luzon entered the Ming Dynasty and were converted into Tongbao and imperial silver coins. Luzon did not take these currencies away but exchanged them for goods at the Shipping Department and returned to Luzon.
Now there is an additional option, that is, you can exchange it for Ming Dynasty Overseas Pass Banknotes and return to Luzon.
Different from the bad currency of the Japanese country, the treasure banknotes given by the imperial court to the Governor-General of Nagasaki were in units of tens of millions. They did not care at all whether the Japanese country could accept such a large amount of treasure banknotes, and they did not care about the life or death of the Japanese. regardless of.
However, there is a reserve fund and an anchor for Luzon's banknote exchange. The court must not say that the treasure banknotes are not currency, otherwise Luzon will inevitably become disloyal and will also limit the number of banknotes in circulation in Luzon. Grab the source.
If the Luzon Governor's Office can print money independently, doesn't that mean that the Governor's Office is plotting rebellion? The right to issue banknotes must be in Jingtang.
After Zhu Yijun had an extremely in-depth and effective communication with the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Zhu Yijun decided to write a letter to ask the surnamed master for his opinion first, so that the Ming Dynasty could make preparations first.
"Your Majesty, I am worried that...the treasure banknotes will return to the Ming Dynasty. The Japanese treasure banknotes are not too worried. Everyone knows that the Japanese currency has no reserve, but the Luzon treasure banknotes are likely to return to the Ming Dynasty." Light said very worriedly.
Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "The treasure banknotes of the Ming Dynasty are not recognized. Who will spend the treasure coins when they are returned?"
Zhu Yijun certainly knows how serious the money shortage is in the Ming Dynasty, and of course he also knows Wang Guoguang Why are we so worried about the return of treasure banknotes? Once a large-scale return occurs, the Luzon Governor's Office will actually have the function of issuing banknotes. This is a loss of power of the Ministry of Revenue, and it is also a destruction of the Ming Dynasty's monetary policy.
Luzon Governor's Mansion: That's bad, I have become the Central Bank of the Ming Dynasty!
However, the Ming Dynasty Baochao has no credibility at all and is generally disapproved of. Even the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty turned his eyes at the corruption of the Baochao and spread his hands, unable to do anything.
"Salt can be used as money. Once the treasure banknotes are circulated in Luzon, there are reserves and anchors, I am afraid that the treasure banknotes will really flow back to the Ming Dynasty, and it will be a very large-scale return." Kingdom. Just argue based on reason.
Things are different now. The Ming court now has credibility.
Not only is there, but because of His Majesty’s extremely strong credibility, the credibility of the imperial court is now rising with the tide.
Not only among the people, but also in the officialdom, foreign officials serving in local areas usually regard the court and the emperor as a whole, so the emperor's credibility is equal to the credibility of the court in the eyes of most people.
The treasure banknotes circulating in Luzon will inevitably return. This is Wang Guoguang’s judgment as the Great Situ. The Ming Dynasty is really short of currency. Starting from the Northern Song Dynasty, the banknote method has been tried and failed, but every time it is issued , can hold up for a while.
The essence of Ming Dynasty's siphoning of precious metals is its siphoning of currency. Wang Guoguang, as Da Situ, is very clear about this, and he is reminding His Majesty. To prevent the return of treasure money.
"Indeed." Zhu Yijun was stunned and said: "We cannot prohibit the entry of Luzon's treasure banknotes, otherwise it means that Ming Dynasty has abandoned Luzon and is using the treasure banknotes to make the last profit from Luzon."
"Let me think for a while." Zhu Yijun frowned. Everything in the world seems to be like this. After finally solving one problem, these two problems pop up.
The security and durability of banknotes have finally been partially solved, and issuance has become a problem again.
The return of Baochao is an issue that the court has to think about.
Zhu Yijun thought for a long time before shaking his head and saying: "That's why it is a pilot project. If the return of treasure banknotes really has a very bad impact, then the imperial court will come forward to redeem all the treasure banknotes."
< br>Zhang Xueyan said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, who cannot be redeemed, the more he redeems, the higher the price will be, unless the court takes it back at an equivalent price or a high price. Paper money has its convenience. In large transactions, a transaction may be tens of thousands to ten thousand." Between tens of thousands of taels of silver, it is not convenient to have too heavy silver, which is why banknotes such as the Minsheng Bureau and Jiulong Post Office can carry out acceptance and exchange business. "
The more precious banknotes the imperial court redeemed. , the more it proves the value of treasure banknotes, the more convenient treasure banknotes will become the priority currency to hoard. This is not the love of Goulan Washe. You can buy when you want to buy and sell when you want to sell.
It is impossible to redeem the money, you can only make a show of exchanging banknotes.
"That makes sense." Zhu Yijun was silenced.
Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said: "Issuing banknotes is a brand new challenge for the Ministry of Revenue. However, in the face of this challenge, we have to find the most critical issue, the most important thing for the court, It is to ensure that the number of banknotes will not be over-issued, and secondly, to ensure that the treasured banknotes will not be stolen and printed privately. If these two points are done well, the return of the treasured banknotes will not be a problem. The Ming Dynasty will eventually implement the banknote law. "< br>
The more silver flows in, the less silver there is. This absurd logic was true when the Ming Dynasty was developing rapidly.
Silver is limited after all, and money cannot be supplied stably and adequately, so department stores lack channels to circulate. Even if it occupies the Great Silver Mountain in Peru, for the rapid development of the Ming Dynasty, which requires countless currencies , is also not enough.
After all, we have to reach the step of currency law, which requires more silver, more goods, stronger national strength, and a healthier society.
"Wang Cifu said about the deficit in the treasury. What do the two ministers of the Ministry of Revenue think of what Wang Cifu said." Zhu Yijun took out Hai Rui's memorial and Wang Chonggu's additional opinions.
After Wang Guoguang and Zhang Xueyan finished reading, they both frowned, and after discussing with each other, they said: "It turns out that the treasury is so depleted. I only had guesses before, and I never expected it. That’s how it works.”
Even the officials of the Ministry of Household’s deficit in the treasury remained at the level of eating and drinking, and the fire dragon burned the warehouse. I didn’t expect that the Ming Dynasty was so corrupted by the treasury. , This is not their fault. They have no experience in being corrupt officials. Wang Guoguang was originally a member of the Jin Party. He was originally a cautious and independent person. He was a maverick and never collaborated with the Jin people, so he did not know the details.
This kind of gameplay is really difficult to understand unless the parties involved explain it. The key is especially the concealment of multiple transfers of creditor's rights.
"This solution is feasible." Wang Guoguang could only say that Wang Chonggu really wanted to leave a lasting legacy, instead of being written in the biography of a traitor and being scolded in the spine whenever he talked about it.
"Calculating the time, Captain Liu Ji and the fleet of the Ming Ocean Trading Company should have arrived in the Mughal Kingdom by now. They will return to the Ming Dynasty in three months." Zhu Yijun talked about the Ming Ocean Trading Company According to the progress of the trading fleet of the trading company, it should return to Songjiang Prefecture in June.
If this succeeds, the five major ocean-going trading houses will finally deserve their names and become real ocean-going trading houses. Thanks to the good relationship between the Ming Dynasty and Spain and Portugal, the ships of the Ming Dynasty can trade around the world instead of traveling to and from certain places. land.
In the spring of the eleventh year of Wanli, with fireworks in March, the entire North China Plain was shrouded in the splendor of spring, and the much-anticipated Beijing Kaichi Road finally began to break ground. In the direction of the capital, the imperial court established two The engineering regiment battalion was constructed in multiple sections from north to south, while four engineering regiment battalions were allocated to the Henan direction to construct multiple sections from south to north.
When the project was in full swing, the anti-corruption and anti-corruption rules for Dingjian Dachang, led by Hai Rui, came out and were published on the front page of Di Daily. They were preparing to launch the Dingjian project on Chi Road in Beijing. , some bureaucrats who showed off their talents just cursed after reading the detailed rules! Break the defense directly.
How did Hai Rui, a tough-minded official with thick eyebrows and big eyes, know so much about the dirty tricks in Dingjian Daggong! Moreover, he made so many targeted regulations and even sensed something was wrong while cursing loudly. Is this what Hai Rui could do?
Hai Rui didn't avoid anyone when he visited Wang Chonggu, so it soon became clear that Wang Chonggu was the sharpening stone for the Ming Dynasty Sword!
Hai Rui's divine sword is already sharp enough. After it was unsheathed, it has been killing corrupt officials. Now Wang Chonggu still feels that this divine sword is not sharp enough, so he polished it!
The cheap Confucians cannot scold Hai Rui, so they can only find a new target, and that is Chonggu, the second assistant king of the Ming Dynasty!
This trend had just started to gain momentum, but it immediately came to an abrupt end. The demon book called "The Love Affair of Famous Confucians of Qingliu" once again set off a huge storm in the capital!
(End of this chapter)