Chapter 91: Making a Fortune
Of the ten million strings of treasure notes, only less than five million taels of silver would be used as reserves, and the remaining wealth of more than five million strings would all belong to the court. Even Zhu Yuanzhang was tempted by this lucrative method!
Seeing that Crown Prince Zhu Biao was determined to get to the bottom of the matter, Zhu Chong didn't waste any words and looked at Old Zhu with a gloomy face.
"Your Majesty, if someone really used a large amount of treasure notes to exchange for the court's reserve funds, then it is necessary to have the Jinyiwei investigate this person thoroughly!"
"If it were a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, they wouldn't normally need large amounts of gold, silver, or copper coins for transactions. If they did, then that person must have ulterior motives and a rebellious heart, and they deserve to be killed!"
"Good, a good one that deserves death, good! Hahaha..." Old Zhu's eyes became brighter.
There is nothing wrong with what Zhu Chong said just now. If someone really does that, he is against the Ming Dynasty. Why should such a person be kept alive without being killed? Confiscating his property and exterminating his family are the least punishment he can receive!
Crown Prince Zhu Biao was dumbfounded when he heard this. He had never thought that the problem could be solved in this way.
"However, Your Majesty, what I just said is just a suggestion. It is best not to act rashly before verifying it."
Unexpectedly, Zhu Chong added another sentence, which surprised both Zhu Biao and Zhu Biao.
"What I'm saying comes from an old saying: 'Take from the people, use it for the people.' The best source of wealth for the people is still the people. If the imperial court rashly takes away all the wealth of the people, it would be tantamount to draining the pond to catch all the fish. The very thing Your Highness the Crown Prince worried about would really happen!"
"Forgive my audacity, but compared to the wealth of the people of the Ming Dynasty, Your Majesty and Your Highness the Crown Prince should focus on other areas. After all, there are wealth outside of the Ming Dynasty that is countless times greater than the wealth of the people of the Ming Dynasty."
"Those riches are inexhaustible, and there won't be any trouble left!"
"Hmm?" Old Zhu and Zhu Biao's eyes lit up at the same time.
Old Zhu actually doesn't care about draining the pond to catch all the fish. As long as there is a way that can make him rich, it is a good way. Other things can be dealt with later.
However, Crown Prince Zhu Biao did not want to use extraordinary means. He was more worried that using extraordinary means to drain away the wealth of the people would cause instability in the Ming Dynasty.
Now Zhu Chong said that there are alternatives and that wealth seems to have no side effects. Of course he is happy, and Old Zhu is willing to listen attentively.
"Before I speak, I would like to ask Your Majesty and the Crown Prince a question." Zhu Chong smiled and kept the question in suspense.
"I believe that Your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince are both aware that the Ming Dynasty is in need of something, which has forced Your Majesty to issue treasure notes to meet the needs of the court's finances and private transactions, right?"
Old Zhu and Crown Prince Zhu Biao looked at each other. It was not that this question was difficult, in fact, this question was very simple, but they just didn't understand it. Zhu Chong asked what its purpose was.
However, the prince did not care about those details. Anyway, there were only family members in the imperial study now, so there was no need to hide anything.
"Our Ming Dynasty has always been short of copper. In fact, it's not just our Ming Dynasty. Every dynasty in the past has been short of copper. This is because our Central Plains has always been short of copper mines. Add to that a number of other factors, and not only copper, but also gold and silver are in short supply."
"That's right." Zhu Chong clapped his hands and nodded. "Your Highness, the Crown Prince is right, but besides these, are there any other reasons?"
"Anything else? What else?" Zhu Biao was a little stunned by the question. Old Zhu was also a little confused. Apart from the scarcity of gold, silver and copper mines, he could not think of any other reasons.
"Throughout the dynasties, the casting technology of our Central Plains copper coins has been excellent. Many of the copper coins, gold and silver ingots we minted were directly taken back by neighboring vassal states and circulated as their own currencies."
"So now is an opportunity, Your Majesty. We can use the treasure notes to make those vassal states become the gold and silver vaults of our Ming Dynasty. We can take whatever we want from them, and they will happily accept it!"
"Hmm?" Both Old Zhu and Zhu Biao were in high spirits. How could Zhu Chong make those vassal states open their treasuries and allow the Ming Dynasty to take whatever it wanted, and still be happy with it?
"As long as we make the treasure notes more exquisite and beautiful, once the vassal states that come to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty discover that these treasure notes can be used as gold, silver, and copper coins in our Ming Dynasty, they will definitely find ways to transport them back to their countries and use them as the new circulating currency."
"As long as the treasure notes are widely circulated in those vassal states, our Ming Dynasty can directly use the treasure notes to purchase gold, silver and copper coins from the vassal states in the future."
"Or tell the vassal states that only if they store an equal amount of gold, silver, and copper coins in the Ming Dynasty will the Ming Dynasty issue them an equal amount of treasure notes..."
"Brilliant, brilliant!" Old Zhu immediately realized, "Second Brother, what you're doing is just like the Ming Dynasty using only treasure notes to exchange for countless gold and silver treasures from vassal states. Brilliant!"
To be honest, Zhu Yuanzhang was a little fed up with those vassal states. They couldn't pay much as tribute every year, but because of his reputation as the Celestial Empire, he gave those vassal states gifts in return that were far more valuable than the tribute they paid.
So Zhu Yuanzhang had long been thinking about how to make a fortune from the treasuries of those vassal states.
However, the Ming Dynasty was now facing internal and external troubles. There was the small Northern Yuan Dynasty outside and natural disasters and man-made disasters inside. It had no time to think about how to deal with those vassal states. But after hearing what Zhu Chong said, Zhu suddenly realized that he could make a lot of wealth without spending a single soldier!
"Our Ming Dynasty is the Celestial Empire. Your Majesty can issue an order to those vassal states. From now on, all transactions between the Ming Dynasty and the vassal states will be completed using treasure notes."
"From what I understand, the vassal states surrounding the Ming Dynasty, after paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty every year, would purchase large quantities of goods from the Ming people and take them back to their own countries. They usually used gold, silver, and copper coins."
"So we can completely ask them to exchange those gold, silver, and copper coins for the same amount of treasure notes. I believe the envoys from the vassal states will definitely not refuse."
"Once our Ming Dynasty's treasure notes circulate in those vassal states, because the amount of treasure notes cannot meet all transactions, the value of our Ming Dynasty's treasure notes in the vassal states will definitely be higher than the face value of the treasure notes."
"At that time, the rulers of the vassal states would have believed that treasure notes were profitable, so they would have been willing to exchange them for more treasure notes from the Ming Dynasty."
Anyone with a little common sense could understand what Zhu Chong said.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao only thought about it for a moment before they confirmed Zhu Chong's statement. At the same time, they also had enough confidence to make the vassal states recognize the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes.
Because the printing technology of the Ming Dynasty can be called the best in the world, there is no need to worry about imitation and counterfeiting.
With such confidence, they naturally had no objection to achieving the situation described by Zhu Chong.
After Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao figured out the key, they immediately became excited...
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