Chapter 277 The Internal Causes of the Crisis of the Dynasty's Collapse - Elimination...

The paper was filled with detailed records of daily market prices in Luoyang.

Whether it was buying and selling with silver, copper coins, banknotes, or by bartering or selling cloth, all sorts of prices were available, from grain and salt to firewood and clothing, to drinking water and tolls. The prices at roadside breakfast stalls and teahouses and taverns were scattered throughout the area.

"These are what I sent people to gather information on." Qi Chengming pointed to the parentheses below the characters. Although punctuation wasn't openly promoted, he and his trusted subordinates had been using it for a long time, and it had already spread on a small scale. Now, he didn't need to say it; others could understand the function of the parentheses.

Below the price list, in parentheses, were numerous calculations.

The final conclusion is—

Ordinary people could exchange 1,500 taels of silver notes for one tael of Thai currency at a money exchange, for a period of one year. After one year, the exchange would require 2,000 taels of silver notes to exchange for one tael of Thai currency, and so on.

Qin Liusong silently calculated for a while and was surprised to find that the price offered by His Majesty was even higher than the market price. If the people went to exchange their money, they would even make a small profit. The people would not suffer losses from gaining Thai Yuan coins, nor from losing their old silver notes.

"Your Majesty is merciful!" The Minister of Revenue, his worried expression gone, couldn't help but blurt out.

Brilliant!

In this way, people will definitely rush to exchange their banknotes for the new Thai Yuan! Regardless of whether they have confidence in the Thai Yuan, if they exchange it, they might still see silver; if they don't, the banknotes will just sit in their hands and become less and less valuable.

The Minister of Revenue was sometimes exasperated – the people were so ignorant, sometimes even having to be coaxed and rushed to give them money, it was truly unreasonable.

Qi Chengming gave a weary smile, remaining silent: "..."

Praising him is the right thing to do.

To clean up the mess left by the retired emperor's silver notes and to ensure a smooth transition to the new currency, he toiled for so long, calculating until his head was spinning. Was it easy for him?

"Your Majesty, I believe we must also address the problem of those who recklessly squander the Emperor Emeritus's grace on private funds." Qin Liusong, observing the new emperor's expression, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect and offered his suggestion with righteous indignation.

Qi Chengming liked this step very much, a slight smile appeared on his lips, and he secretly looked at Mr. Qin with admiration: "They are ungrateful and have harmed the people so much, they have failed the Emperor Emeritus's benevolence. I will leave this matter to Mr. Qin to take charge of - arrest and severely punish those who dare to mint inferior coins, General Yang will accompany you."

Qin Liusong understood immediately: "Yes."

The new ruler's intention is not to simply and bluntly announce the "abolition of all private currency," but rather to subtly use the pretext of "for the good of the people and to eliminate inferior currency" to first target the major, unscrupulous entities, whether members of the royal family or wealthy merchants, and destroy their workshops. Once the show of force has been established and the momentum has been built, the final step will be for the new ruler to then legitimately announce the abolition of private minting rights.

The reason is flawless—the Emperor Emeritus granted you permission to mint your own coins, but did he allow you to mint inferior currency? It's all inferior currency, oppressing the people. Then you should all quit!

However, Qin Liusong remained seated, patiently waiting.

The Minister of Revenue was about to ask His Majesty with some doubt: what should be done about the people in various places who held private currencies? Abolishing private currencies rashly would only cause them to lose everything.

"What are you looking at me for? Look down." Qi Chengming pointed to the papers Qin Liusong was holding. He said irritably.

—The next page describes the resettlement of people who redeemed their private currency.

Nowadays, various currencies circulate in Dingguo. Those in charge, in order to amass wealth, produce private currencies that are all inferior coins with a drastically reduced silver content. Only the aristocratic families are clever; they followed Qi Chengming and produced "Wang's Coins" made entirely of paper money.

The document clearly stated that, for a period of one year, the Thai Yuan Money Exchange would redeem the privately held currency from the people. The purity of the currency would be determined using a silver-testing stone, and then it would be exchanged for Thai Yuan. However, this could hardly compensate for the heavy losses suffered by the people, because the silver content in those inferior coins was kept as low as possible. Therefore, for those willing to exchange their privately held currency, the money exchange would compensate them with double the amount of silver they were entitled to.

"Wait a minute." The Minister of Revenue, who was most astute about money, couldn't sit still after reading this. He thought for a moment, then his five fingers, which were resting on his knees, clenched excitedly. "Your Majesty, where did this money come from? Could it be... from destroying those workshops?"

Qi Chengming looked at him tacitly.

The imperial family of Chang'an, the powerful families of the Central Plains, and the wealthy merchants of Sichuan and Chongqing—the rampant private currency in various regions over the past few years has been swallowed up, and now it's stable in the hands of a few large and small forces. Qi Chengming is going to wipe them all out; they're all incredibly wealthy. Surely he can compensate the victimized people? He might even enrich the national treasury.

Once these ringleaders are removed, the remaining small and medium-sized workshops can be recruited and moved away—Taiyuan Money Shop is in dire need of everything.

With the greater good in his hands, Qi Chengming decided to lead the army to prevent the country from descending into chaos if he took any drastic action.

Having received the answer, the Minister of Revenue sat down, his mind racing and his face beaming.

On the next page, the most crucial information is written—

Regarding how to settle Wang Ji's voucher in Liuzhou.

This is much simpler.

After all, the vouchers were originally exchanged for pure silver at the same rate, and now they can be directly exchanged for Thai Yuan coins at a 1:1 ratio. After the workshops ceased production, the personnel were directly incorporated into the Thai Yuan Money Shop. The military pay and salaries in Liuzhou and other southern places were also all paid in Thai Yuan coins, but for the past five years, taxes have continued to be collected in both vouchers and Thai Yuan coins.

In the next paragraph... His Majesty added a heavy annotation in vermilion ink: "My dear ministers, you must make sure that the people of Liuzhou understand that the ration coupons are the result of Emperor Taiyuan's hard work, and the Taiyuan currency is merely a further step in advancing the ration coupons; the two are one."

Qi Chengming raised his eyelids, looking at the silent side hall where two ministers were carefully reading with furrowed brows. He waited a while, and when the passage came to a conclusion, he added, "Regardless of what kind of private currency it is, in the future there will only be one type of currency: the Thai Yuan. Therefore, anyone who voluntarily exchanges their vouchers for Thai Yuan within five years will receive a finished product from a shop or factory under my jurisdiction."

This was another huge expense, which was borne by the great new emperor.

"Your Majesty is wise!" the Minister of Revenue exclaimed from the bottom of his heart. He was filled with nothing but admiration and had no other complaints.

With these three major decisions implemented together, how could the people still fear the government's lack of integrity? How could they still worry and resist, stubbornly refusing to switch to Thai Won banknotes? They would realize... how different the new ruler is!

"Your Majesty, I will certainly handle this matter well!" Qin Liusong felt a heavy burden on his shoulders, but he only sensed the new emperor's high expectations and regard for him.

He looked up and gazed deeply at the new emperor, his promise resounding, brimming with energy and surging with emotion:

Having witnessed firsthand how painstakingly the new emperor of the previous life managed to tread the treacherous waters of the vast kingdom, painstakingly patching up the mess like spinning silk threads, and finally turning the tide, Song Gu believed that this time, the implementation of these strategies would not be as intense as in the previous life.

As for why...

The only difference was that the ration coupons in Liuzhou were preserved at all costs.

The existence of a new monarch who has established a "paper currency" that has not yet lost the hearts of the people is of paramount importance...

The raging storms of dynastic collapse he experienced in his past life will be replaced by calm and tranquility in this one. How many reborn officials will find it just as unbelievable as he will be then?

Upon closer reflection, it all seems to be the fault of the retired emperor!

Tsk.

With a gloomy face, Song Gu left with the precious document in his pocket. He wanted to go and talk to Grand Scholar Mu so that everyone would be as surprised as he was!

...

End of June.

The much-anticipated Taiyuan Money Exchange was finally established, comprising twelve branches from Luoyang and the surrounding five prefectures. The day of its opening was bustling with activity and noise. Garrisons from various regions arrived early to stand guard, their armored formations impressive, weapons fully equipped, ready for battle.

Because of the new currency system, officials received their salaries again at this time of year, finally receiving real money in cash. Many poor officials almost wept with joy.

Editor Dong clutched the money bag tightly to his chest, his clothes disheveled as he squeezed his way out of Taiyuan Money Shop. His face was flushed, and he was drenched in sweat. His legs were numb from waiting in line, but he laughed heartily: "Heavy, really heavy!"

He stopped at a secluded spot, took out a Thai coin from his purse, and squinted at it in the light to examine it closely.

The round coin features a relief portrait of the current emperor, with the inscription "Da Ding Tai Yuan" on the reverse. It is surrounded by dragon patterns and ears of wheat, with the dragon's scales and whiskers appearing to tremble and breathe, the details meticulously sculpted with remarkable realism. At the bottom of the coin are small, square, recessed characters: "Contains 93% pure silver."

Dong Bianzhuan gently tapped the two silver coins together, producing a unique and pleasant crisp "bang" sound.

"How is this made?" he murmured to himself, deep in thought. The sound of silver he usually encountered wasn't like this; it must be from those small amounts of silver mixed in with pure silver.

Several unfamiliar officials walked towards us, their faces showing some unease, and in their hands were Thai won banknotes.

The salaries of officials issued by the Ministry of Revenue were in Thai Yuan paper money. If they were not comfortable with it, they could simply go to a Thai Yuan bank to exchange it for real Thai Yuan. However, paper money came in different denominations, and silver dollars were often difficult to obtain change for spending outside.

Even so, Editor Dong still rushed over to replace it immediately.

"My lord," the officials with sharp eyes noticed that Compiler Dong hadn't changed out of his official robes and came over to ask, "Did you really exchange them for silver?"

Their purpose was the same as Dong's compilation.

"Look!" Editor Dong grinned as he held the silver coin in his hand to show them. "Look at its heavy weight, it's reassuring!"

Even if Thai Won banknotes run into trouble in the future, these real silver dollars are still in the bag and will be fine!

"Your Majesty is wise!" After carefully studying the coins that Dong had compiled and displayed for a while, the officials were relieved and praised him with smiles on their faces.

"Are you all going to exchange money here too?" Editor Dong stroked his beard with concern, advising them in the experienced tone of someone who had been through it all. "Go to the line on the east side. The money exchange has set up a separate line for those of us with official titles to collect our salaries. But... there are too many people. You'll probably have to wait for an hour. Go now—go!"

The men exchanged glances, then smiled and bowed to him, saying, "Sir, it's not easy to spend the silver dollars we've exchanged. Seeing your money puts our minds at ease!"

They turned and walked away laughing, nodding in thanks from afar as they went.

"..." Editor Dong choked for a few seconds in astonishment, then burst out laughing, "These slippery fellows!"

Taking his money puts their minds at ease!

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Author's Note: This chapter was incredibly difficult to write. I tried my best to make it work! If there were any strategic oversights, I'm not a professional (looks up at the sky).