Chapter 170 Plating the capital with a layer of gold foil
As the night gets darker, the atmosphere in the Xiuwen Museum gradually reaches a high point.
If the discussion in the morning was a group show, then tonight's scene became Zhao Duan's one-man show.
Master Dong sat in the chair, leaning against the soft brocade cushions, staring at the writing on the screen.
However, this time, even he couldn't understand it.
"What does this mean?" No one said a word, but everyone had the same meaning in their eyes.
After Zhao Duan finished writing these four words, he turned around, faced everyone's gaze, and said with a smile: "Just now, I proposed to settle the head taxes such as the shareholding, corvee service, etc. in silver. Although this saves the court a lot of hard work, it also has disadvantages.”
At this time, in the seat, Guo Jieyuan, who was mediocre in appearance and good at finance, suddenly said:
"Silver reserve."
brush--
Seeing everyone looking at him, Guo Jieyuan, whose name was a bit like hoping for a son to become a dragon, hesitated and said: "There is much more copper than silver. In the past, copper coins were the main currency in various places. In real business, gold and silver were used a lot. Less. But if the imperial court adopts the example of using silver as tax, in the future... I'm afraid there will be less money available..."
Zhao Duan was a little surprised that this humble bachelor reacted so quickly.
Although Dayu is extremely backward in terms of "economics", so Guo Jieyuan's description is not accurate.
But with his keen intuition, he captured this change.
"That's right, Academician Guo has a vicious eye." Zhao Duan praised.
Historically, after Zhang Juzheng's reforms, the Ming Dynasty transitioned from the dual standard of copper and silver to the silver standard.
And because of the lack of silver reserves in the Ming Dynasty, this greatly restricted economic development.
If the economy wants to prosper, there must be enough money to circulate, but if the silver as money is not enough... it will be embarrassing.
Zhao Duan checked the situation of the Yu Dynasty before.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the silver reserves in this world were much greater than those in the Ming Dynasty.
This made him more determined to adopt the next strategy.
Zhao Duan first briefly explained the consequences of moving to the silver standard for other bachelors who were unfamiliar with finance, so that they could have an idea.
Then he said:
"As far as I know, our Yu Dynasty actually has a lot of silver, but why did Academician Guo say it was less?
Simply because too much silver is not circulated as currency, but is hoarded by gentry, wealthy families, merchants, and even officials... all over the place.
They will bury the silver in the ground in their own yards and hide it in the warehouse, and will not take it out unless they have to...
Just like a group of mice, hiding silver, and then only using copper coins for daily expenses... This is the truth about the lack of silver and the abundance of copper coins. "
Zhao Duan talked eloquently:
"So, when I wrote the word silver, what I wanted to say was how to make these people willingly take out the silver hidden in the house and spend it.
Only when the money is spent can we find a way to get it into the treasury. If it is just hidden, what Guo Xueshi is worried about will happen. "
As soon as these words came out, surprise appeared on everyone's faces.
Willingly?
Let those people spend their gold and silver?
In their eyes, this proposal seemed like a fantasy.
"This is simply not possible," Han Zhou said: "Hoarding gold and silver treasures, and even hoarding everything you can, is the way for people to survive in the world. Only hoarding can withstand the years of disaster. You can't say it How can one offer swords and weapons with both hands?"
Wang You, Mo Zhaorong and others also nodded.
Zhao Duan sighed.
This is the result of the lack of economic theory. The wealth of the feudal dynasty is completely a "zero-sum game". If you grab more points, I will lose one point...
So from top to bottom, everyone is hoarding money. This muscle memory penetrates the bone marrow.
But do people in the world really only know how to hoard?
Zhao Duan shook his head and said:
"At noon, I was talking with Scholar Han and pointed out that his ten strategies were to snatch money from people in the world.
I believe you all think the same way. You feel that if a copper is not in your own hands, it is in the hands of others.
Therefore, when the court needs money, it can only use various methods to steal it from others. But if we change our thinking, is there a way for you and me to hold a copper at the same time? "
Hold both?
Mochou was stunned for a moment, his eyes strange.
I thought other than getting married, what other way could the two of them become husband and wife and hold them together at the same time?
This guy, who spoke so eloquently before, suddenly started talking strange things.
Seeing that everyone was confused, Zhao Duan could only speak more clearly:
"Just now, Bachelor Han said that people in the world like to hoard money and don't like to spend it.
I have a different opinion. I want to ask, where are the businessmen? Businessmen all over the world are very willing to spend money. Sometimes, they even spend everything without hoarding a penny. "
Wang You shook his head and said: "Businessmen spend money, not just to spend it, but to buy shops and hire workers to make money... How can we generalize it?"
Zhao Duan looked at him and said with a smile: "That's right! Businessmen spend money because they can earn more when they spend it.
The gentry also had to spend money to buy land, but they spent it happily because after getting the land in their hands, they could earn more from farming in the end. "
Suddenly, Guo Jieyuan slapped the table, as if he suddenly realized:
"That's right! People in the world don't like to hoard money, but they don't have any way to make money! So they can only hoard it in their hands.
What Zhao Shijun meant was that as long as the court could make the world's gentry, businessmen, and even officials discover that there was a place where one copper coin could be spent and two coins could be earned back.
Then they don't need anyone to force them, they will definitely take out all their wealth and spend it..." He said, but then shook his head: "But there are too few good places like this. What we have is like salt and iron. It has been in the hands of the imperial court for a long time. We cannot open the salt and iron business to those people in order to deceive those gentry and merchants..."
Zhao Duan was surprised and thought that Lao Guo could do it. This idea could be expanded very quickly.
As expected of a scholar who is good at finance, when the word money is mentioned, his reaction is the quickest of all.
Following Guo Jieyuan's explanation, the others also understood and looked at Zhao Duan with a frown.
I wonder what kind of medicine is sold in the gourd after he has gone around in a big circle.
However, Zhao Duan was not in a hurry, and completely grasped the rhythm of the field, saying: "What Academician Guo said is true, the existing business in the world has been divided up long ago. But who said that this is the only business in the world? "
When he said this, he sighed in his heart.
In his previous life, he had studied some economic works, such as Schumpeter's Innovation Profit Principle, which said that the economy itself would not develop.
For example, in the agricultural era, there was not much change for thousands of years, and wealth just continued to flow in the hands of different people.
In the industrial age, productivity increased and the economy began to develop. A lot of "wealth" that didn't originally exist has been created out of thin air.
Therefore, if the current situation of the Yu Dynasty follows the "game" and allows the court and the people of the world to grab money, it will be turbulent.
And if the method of "creating wealth" is used, not only will conflicts not be intensified, but more and more people will be tied to the imperial court in terms of interests because the imperial court is in charge.
Zhao Duan said:
As far as I know, when the corridor from Dayu to the Western Regions was only guarded by troops, it would only cost money every year. But later, it was given to some businessmen to travel between the two places and do business. When the opportunity came, the imperial court collected taxes from the pass and made a lot of money.
In the same way, the capital city was also very dilapidated during Taizu's time, but later, after it was designated as the capital, all the nobles came to the capital city, which gave rise to the Thousand Sail Boat Race at the pier. Only the city gate entrance fee was charged, which could support the expenses of the palace...
Dare I ask, have weapons been used in these examples?
No.
But why does money come to you on its own? Take the initiative to hand it over to the court? "
Without waiting for anyone to answer, he spoke:
"market."
"As long as the imperial court takes action, it builds a market, gives certain privileges to a place, moves some important yamen to these places... and other means.
Businessmen all over the world would catch wind of this and swarm in, taking the initiative to work for the imperial court. They made a lot, but the imperial court earned even more.
And when the merchants made money, those who had opened countless shops, and even some wealthy gentry, if they could, would throw away the silver they had hoarded.
Because you can only make money by throwing it away, and if you don’t take it, someone else will make it.
But if others make money, if they don’t, the money in their hands will be worthless..."
"And as long as the scale of this market is large enough, or there is such a market in every place in the Nine Routes and Eighteen Prefectures, all the money of the rich will be invested and turned into 'assets'..."
The court does not need to worry about how to make money for everyone, because those merchants will find ways to create money on their own..."
When Zhao Duan said this, Mochou's eyes lit up and he said:
"Like the cheap ice recently sold by Tianshi Mansion in the capital?
The warlocks of Tianshi Mansion made ice and asked many wealthy households to buy it, thereby hoarding the money of those wealthy households. Got it in hand, just like those merchants did."
"..." Zhao Duan nodded with strange eyes and said:
“Yes, creating products that everyone desires is a way to attract everyone to spend money.
As long as these businessmen rack their brains to get people to spend their money, the businessmen will not hoard money, but will continue to spend it to get more.
In this process, more and more clerks will be hired, so the common people will have a way to make money. When the common people have money, they will spend it to buy things like ice cubes...
In this way, just like a wheel, if the court gives it a gentle push, it will spin quickly.
Instead of hoarding money, everyone spends it... In this way, the Yu Dynasty will have more money.
And the imperial court can keep collecting taxes... in a steady stream.
Even if the court has more money, it can open a bank and lend money to those merchants..."
Zhao Duan spoke faster and faster.
The scene became clearer and clearer in everyone's minds.
Han Zhou was stunned on the spot.
At this moment, he once again imagined a picture of the future, where the same gold and silver from the world flowed into the capital like a tide.
But this time, there were no longer hateful eyes, but countless pairs of excited and greedy eyes.
He raised his head and looked past Zhao Duan to the four words "silver", "businessman", "capital" and "market" on the screen behind him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the bachelors were getting up one after another and stood up.
His heart was filled with excitement because of the future described by Zhao Duan.
At the end, Zhao Duan dropped his brush and concluded with a dry mouth:
"The most important thing is that in this way, even the rebels and the Eight Kings cannot stop the people of the world from pursuing profit. Only the imperial court has the ability to do this, and no one else can imitate it.
No matter how unwilling the rebels are, they can only watch the money flow into the national treasury.
And when the gentry are also forced to get involved, and they start to share their land, if they want to resist, they will have to worry about whether they will be kicked out of this market by the court...
Should he offend the court or please the court in order to gain more? It's not hard to decide.
In this way, the resistance to the implementation of the New Deal will be reduced. "
Zhao Duan said calmly:
"In this way, these three strategies are implemented in parallel. If they can be successfully implemented, within ten years, the money in the national treasury will be able to coat the capital with a layer of gold foil."
"This is the three golden strategies."
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(End of this chapter)