In the seventh year of Hongwu, the legitimate eldest grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, the great ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, was born.
He who resides as the legitimate heir will surely ascend to t...
The much-rumored bank is about to officially open for business, and many people are naturally curious. Many also want to give it a try, since although the Ming Dynasty had gradually begun to allow the exchange of silver notes for silver, the amount exchanged had always been limited.
Furthermore, exchanging silver notes at the government office was a daunting task for many ordinary people, as it was not an easy thing to do.
The so-called bank was rumored to be very convenient for exchanging silver, and there seemed to be few restrictions on the amount of silver that could be exchanged. This made many people eager to try it out, especially big merchants.
However, many people are simply observing from the sidelines, eager to be the first to try something new – and there's no shortage of such people. But even more people choose to remain on the sidelines, unwilling to take on greater risks.
This elite team naturally attracted a lot of attention, and they were also carrying a special mission at this time.
Although banks do have their own silver vaults, according to regulations, the bank's silver needs to be counted and deposited into the vault, and then promptly returned to the national treasury.
Suddenly, a carriage overturned, and a white object tumbled out of the box. The guards from the Five Cities Garrison and the Embroidered Uniform Guard immediately went on high alert, while the yamen runners of Yingtian Prefecture drove away any civilians who tried to approach.
This one carriage carried several thousand taels of silver, and this convoy of more than ten carriages must have carried tens of thousands of taels of silver. It is said that many such convoys went to the bank in the past two days, and there were also many convoys going back and forth today.
The silver reserves of the Ming Dynasty seemed truly inexhaustible; the national treasury appeared to be overflowing with silver, no wonder the court was unafraid of a run on the reserves. It was said that the Maritime Trade Office brought back numerous treasures from overseas, and that the current emperor had casually pointed to an inexhaustible silver mine in Japan.
These all seem true. The Ming Dynasty was indeed that wealthy. The Ming Dynasty's treasury must have contained even more silver, and perhaps countless gold and silver treasures!
He hurriedly packed the scattered silver into a box, though this performance seemed somewhat deliberate. It wasn't that the national treasury was empty, so he needed to stage this "empty city ruse" to stabilize public sentiment and confuse those who couldn't see the bigger picture.
Such acting skills might give some hesitant people more confidence and a little more faith in the imperial court.
This was unavoidable, even though the imperial treasury had ample silver. However, after the banks were opened up, virtually no one came to deposit money; most people came to exchange their silver notes for silver.
Gold and silver flowed out of the national treasury in droves, not enough to empty the imperial coffers. But this constant outflow without inflow was still unsettling.
Therefore, it's not a problem for there to be some deliberate performance at such times.
Even though such a performance might not fool everyone—some intelligent and discerning individuals might not be easily fooled by such a deliberate act—it could perhaps deceive some less perceptive people.
Such matters are quite necessary, and in fact, these were not Zhu Yunying's ideas. There are indeed some intelligent people in the imperial court and the Ministry of Revenue, and they can be trusted to carry out specific tasks.
Although Yu Xin wasn't stationed at the bank's headquarters, he was constantly monitoring its affairs. He was naturally somewhat concerned about the rate at which silver was flowing out of the national treasury, but he didn't think it was a major problem.
Furthermore, according to analyses from numerous officials in the Ministry of Revenue and banking sectors, while the return of silver will be relatively slow and the volume will be small, there is not much to worry about, as the national treasury is fully capable of handling the situation.
At this time, there was no shortage of people trying to curry favor. If it weren't for the current emperor's foresight in establishing regulations early on and having sufficient control over the amount of paper money currently in circulation, the situation might be out of control now.
Just look at what happened during the reign of the retired emperor; if it weren't for the current emperor constantly taking measures to regulate the economy, banks wouldn't be able to exchange silver like this.
The flattery was genuine, and the admiration might be real as well. But none of that is necessarily the most important thing, because many people know the current emperor's temperament: he doesn't like people who talk big, he prefers people who get things done.
This naturally disappointed many people. For example, those who considered themselves to be exceptionally talented and learned had their poems, songs, and elegant writings not valued by the emperor, and they generally had little chance of getting ahead.
Some more pragmatic people, however, felt this was an excellent opportunity to realize their ambitions. As long as they worked diligently and conscientiously, they might rise rapidly in rank and become important officials in the court.
Zhu Yunying probably had a good idea of what these people were thinking, but he didn't need to care too much about it.
Since he was the emperor, there was no need for him to concern himself with the thoughts and opinions of others at this time. For Zhu Yunying, it wasn't just about the outcome; he could often ignore the process altogether.
Having enough real money in hand, one naturally doesn't care much about many things.
This wasn't just Zhu Yunying's idea; those familiar with banking affairs naturally knew something about it. However, there were actually quite a few people who weren't aware of the intricacies involved.
"My lord, I've sent someone to keep an eye on things," Madam Sang said with a hint of pride. "Our steward knows people, and if any of the mansions dare to run on the bank to withdraw silver today, we'll write down every single one of them."
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