Chongzhen put down the copper coin in his hand, stared at Fang Yuegong and said, "Minister Fang, have you considered minting silver coins (hereinafter referred to as silver coins)?"

There were two government offices that minted coins in the Ming Dynasty.

One is the Baoyuan Bureau of the Ministry of Works, and the other is the Baoquan Bureau of the Ministry of Revenue.

In addition, each province set up a branch to mint coins.

"Silver coins?" Fang Yuegong was stunned.

"Yes, I heard that foreigners in Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang use silver coins for transactions, and local people call them foreign coins. Each silver coin weighs seven cents and three cents and five cents, and there are patterns such as horse swords, foreign ships, double candles, and water grass patterns."

"Because it doesn't need to be weighed, as long as it's not too worn out it can be used as seven cents and three cents of silver, and it's well received by local merchants."

Fang Yuegong asked doubtfully: "I want to know what is the purpose of your majesty's minting of silver coins."

Chongzhen did not answer his question, but continued: "When there are enough silver coins on the market, I will prohibit the use of silver to pay taxes, and only accept silver coins and copper coins."

"Currency is the lifeblood of the Ming Dynasty. I want to control this lifeblood in my own hands, not those wealthy merchants!"

Fang Yuegong stood there thinking about the feasibility of this matter.

Not only would this work in theory, it would also make transactions between merchants more convenient.

The quality of silver on the market varies greatly, some are mixed with lead or copper (zinc was called white copper in the Ming Dynasty).

The same ingot of silver may contain as much as 90% silver in some cases and only 70% silver in others.

The measuring instruments used to weigh silver vary from place to place, with more or less tolerance.

Silver was the standard currency of the Ming Dynasty, and various signs indicate that the imperial court had almost no control over currency.

This is a terrible thing.

Behind the currency is national credit.

When currency gets out of control, a country not only loses its credibility, but also loses the trust of the people.

This is a microcosm of how economics influences politics.

Therefore, the precursor to the demise of dynasties in history was economic collapse, followed by political crisis.

For example, Tang and Song dynasties.

After the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, local warlords became independent and the taxes collected locally were not turned over to the court, which led to a financial crisis for the central court.

Minting coins?

Great idea!

The central court thought so, and the local governors thought so too.

Everyone was working at full capacity to mint coins, which completely brought the Tang Dynasty's economy to a complete collapse.

The Song Dynasty also encountered a lot of trouble.

Due to population growth and the development of handicrafts, the demand for currency in the market has increased sharply.

The Song Dynasty wanted to mint coins like the Tang Dynasty, but...

The Song Dynasty is short of copper!

In order to mint more money, alternatives must be found.

But substitutes are harder to find than copper.

At that time, the gold and silver production of the Song Dynasty was pitifully small. Apart from gold, silver and copper, the only metal that could be used as currency was iron.

But the precious metal properties of iron are too weak!

In addition, it is easy to rust, so the Song Dynasty came up with Jiaozi (paper money).

The result is predictable. In the end, the value of Jiaozi was as cheap as toilet paper.

The reason why Chongzhen did not issue paper money was due to this concern.

He may be able to avoid over-issuing currency.

But...what about the next emperor?

Can he resist this temptation?

Obviously not, because paper money is a lucrative business.

It will be different if it is cast into silver coins, and the above problems will be solved.

Moreover, Ming Dynasty currently has sufficient reserves of silver and brass.

However, Fang Yuegong still had a question: "Your Majesty, what should we do with the silver on the market?"

"Merchants can exchange silver for silver coins of equal value from the imperial court for use in transactions."

"To cast a silver coin with one tael of silver, the court had to spend the cost of labor and molds in vain. It was a completely unprofitable business for the court." As the Minister of Revenue, Fang Yuegong considered costs and benefits in everything he did.

"Who said it was a loss?"

"What does your majesty mean?"

"The ratio of silver to white copper in silver coins is 9:1. If the cost of white copper is not taken into account, merchants can only exchange one ounce of silver for nine coins, and the court earns one coin."

"You can adjust the specific ratio according to the quality of the silver coins you mint. The court doesn't rely on this to make money, as long as it doesn't lose money."

"But..." Fang Yuegong said with a worried look on his face, "I am afraid that those merchants will refuse to exchange silver coins, resulting in a lack of silver to make silver coins. There are not enough silver coins on the market, and the people and merchants can only use the original silver to meet their trading needs, which will lead to the failure of the issuance of the new currency."

Chongzhen smiled slightly: "Has Minister Fang forgotten what I said? If I announce that next year's taxes will only be accepted in silver and copper coins, what will you do?"

"I will hand over the copper coins." Fang Yuegong answered without hesitation.

One tael of silver can be exchanged for 1,500 coins. As long as you are not a fool, you will exchange the silver into copper coins to pay taxes even if you have silver in your hand.

etc...

It seems that doing this can recover some of the money.

"Well, what will happen if there are fewer copper coins in the market?" Chongzhen continued to ask.

"The copper coin... has increased in value?"

"What's the corresponding one?"

"Silver is depreciating!!!" Fang Yuegong thought of this, but he hasn't figured out what's going on.

Chongzhen smiled slightly: "Yes, as the value of silver depreciates more and more, those who have silver must be panicking. They have two choices: one, exchange the silver for copper coins to preserve its value; two, spend the silver as soon as possible, whether to pay taxes or buy things. As long as they spend it, the depreciation of silver has nothing to do with them."

"If you want to pay taxes, you can only exchange silver for silver coins. When there are enough silver coins on the market, the exchange rate between copper coins and silver coins will return to normal levels."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!