Chapter 87 The Advantages and Disadvantages of Baochao

Old Zhu had mixed feelings when he saw Zhu Chong again, otherwise he would not have asked Zhu Biao to bring Zhu Chong into the palace at night.

Zhu Chong actually didn't have any feelings about the palace, but entering the palace at night was really the first time in his life.

In his eyes, the Yingtianfu Palace at night looked like a ferocious beast ready to devour anyone at any time, lying quietly in front of him, so Zhu Chong just focused on hurrying on his way.

Because he was no longer a prince, Zhu Biao could not show up in person to pick up Zhu Chong and bring him into the palace, so Zhu Chong entered the palace with the eunuchs.

When he entered the imperial study, Zhu Chong prostrated himself on the ground, "I, the humble servant Zhu Chong, kowtow to the emperor, long live the emperor, long, long live the emperor!"

After a long time, Zhu Chong did not receive any response. He thought to himself, what does this mean? He invited me into the palace but did not say anything. There is no need to do this to intimidate me!

Just as he was thinking about it, Lao Zhu's majestic voice rang out, "Stand up, and take a seat."

Hearing this long-lost voice, Zhu Chong gritted his teeth, supported his knees which were numb from kneeling, stood up to express his gratitude, and sat down without any hesitation on the soft chair brought by the eunuchs.

When he raised his head, he saw Lao Zhu in casual clothes sitting behind the dragon table, staring at him with sharp eyes.

"You little brat, did you tell your elder brother about the Japanese affairs?" Old Zhu went straight to the point.

"But why do I feel that what you want to talk to your brother about is not just about Japan?"

"Your Majesty is wise!" Zhu Chong was unceremonious. "I have recently been living among the people and have discovered that there are many problems with the imperial court's issuance of treasure notes. I have also heard that many trivial matters in the court are closely related to the treasure notes, so I came to you to discuss this in detail."

"Second brother!" Zhu Biao became anxious upon hearing this, and finally realized what had made him so nervous before.

He didn't expect that when Zhu Yuanzhang asked Zhu Chong to come to the palace, he didn't want to ask about the war against Japan, but instead brought the topic to the treasure notes. And his second son was so stupid as to say that there was a problem with the treasure notes. Isn't this asking for trouble?

Baochao was Zhu Yuanzhang's most proud masterpiece. Zhu Chong was so rude and pointed out that there were problems with Baochao, and from his tone it seemed that the problems were serious. Zhu Biao was afraid that Zhu Chong would anger Zhu Yuanzhang, but when he was about to dissuade him, he was interrupted by Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Prince, don't say anything." Old Zhu waved his hand, pointing at Zhu Chong with a sullen face, "Go on!"

"I'm afraid it's difficult for Your Majesty to understand this matter. I dare to ask Your Majesty, the Crown Prince, and I to play a game. I believe that after Your Majesty and the Crown Prince play once, you will understand what I mean."

After hearing what Zhu Chong said, Old Zhu, who was about to lose his temper at any time, was stunned. The prince was also surprised. He did not expect Zhu Chong to make such a proposal.

"Okay, I'll play with you and see what tricks you can perform!" Old Zhu called the prince and came to Zhu Chong together.

Zhu Chong also came prepared. He took out a handful of banknotes and silver from his purse, and then said to Lao Zhu.

"Your Majesty, I believe you are aware that the people of the world are divided into four different classes: scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. This game of Common People is related to these four classes."

"I would like to invite Your Majesty to represent the court, Your Highness the Crown Prince to represent the farmers and workers, and I to represent the scholars and merchants."

After hearing Zhu Chong's distribution, Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao became even more interested. This was the first time they had encountered this kind of game, but they didn't know what Zhu Chong was up to.

Zhu Chong then distributed the banknotes and silver to Old Zhu and Crown Prince Zhu Biao, and then said, "Your Majesty, this is the rule of the game."

"Your Majesty, on behalf of the imperial court, will temporarily suspend the issuance of banknotes. The common people, representing the scholars and merchants, will conduct various transactions with the Crown Prince, representing the farmers and workers. In this way, the common people and the Crown Prince will represent all current trading methods among the people."

Old Zhu understood what Zhu Chong said, so he gestured for him to continue.

Zhu Chong continued, "The silver in His Royal Highness's hand represents goods made by workers and farmers, such as grain, silks and satins, and the silver in the hands of ordinary people is exchanged for goods worth one tael of silver from His Royal Highness."

As he spoke, Zhu Chong placed one or two ounces of silver in his hand into the prince's empty hand, and then took one or two ounces of silver from the prince's hand.

"Then now, Your Majesty, the court you represent will begin distributing treasure notes."

"Your Majesty should be able to see that when the treasure notes were first distributed to the people, they didn't have much of an impact on the scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans represented by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the common people. In fact, in some ways, it even facilitated the trade of goods."

"After all, copper coins and gold and silver all have various drawbacks. The emergence of treasure notes at this time has greatly promoted the trade of private goods. It is very beneficial to both the country and the people."

After hearing what Zhu Chong said, Zhu Biao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid of Zhu Chong, fearing that this guy would give Zhu Chong some fierce information right from the start. As a result, after this praise, Zhu Biao's complexion looked better.

It is true that Zhu Chong’s flattery was quite good. It was because of this that Zhu Yuanzhang first saw the point and thought of issuing treasure notes.

"However," Zhu Chong changed the subject, "as the amount of treasure notes issued by Your Majesty increases among the people, drawbacks are slowly beginning to emerge."

Hearing this, Lao Zhu's expression suddenly turned from bright to gloomy, but before he could say anything, Zhu Chong continued to speak.

"This amount is most obvious when the amount of treasure notes issued is almost equal to the amount of silver, money, and goods distributed to the people."

"Your Majesty, please give one string of treasure notes to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and one string of treasure notes to me." Zhu Chong instructed Old Zhu to distribute the treasure notes, then held one tael of silver and one string of treasure notes in his hand and continued.

"As I just said, when the amount of treasure notes issued by Your Majesty, the goods represented by the Crown Prince, and the silver and money in the hands of the common people reach the same amount, perhaps no one will notice that there is anything wrong with the treasure notes."

"However, the amount of silver, money and goods in the private sector is limited, while the amount of banknotes will continue to increase significantly."

"I believe that Your Majesty and the Crown Prince both understand that Treasure Notes are simply pieces of paper with patterns printed on them. They are not of much value in themselves. However, as the court continues to issue Treasure Notes, the situation will deteriorate. Your Majesty, you can continue to issue Treasure Notes to the Crown Prince and the common people."

Then, Zhu Chong and Zhu Biao had another string of coins in their hands.

"Your Majesty, you should be able to understand now that I have one tael of silver and two strings of coins worth of treasure notes in my hand." Zhu Chong held up the silver and treasure notes in his hand and began to explain seriously.

"Before, when ordinary people only had one tael of silver and one string of treasure notes, speaking out didn't have any impact, because one tael of silver was equivalent to one string of treasure notes, and there would be no problem exchanging them."

"But now, how many treasure notes do I need to exchange for one ounce of silver? Is it two strings of treasure notes?"

Old Zhu and Zhu Biao didn't quite understand at first, but after thinking about it carefully, their expressions changed drastically.