Regarding Tang Hongwen's views, Chu Fan felt that he needed to do some ideological work on the Minister of Works.
Chu Fan slammed the table hard and said to Tang Hongwen in a serious tone, "Tang Hongwen, didn't you listen carefully to what I said?"
Seeing His Majesty's anger, although Tang Hongwen was confused about what he had said wrong and didn't understand how he had angered His Majesty, he quickly knelt on the ground and waited for His Majesty's decision.
Chu Fan rubbed his hand, which was sore from slamming the table, and continued pointing at Tang Hongwen, "I issued these banknotes for circulation within the villa. The fundamental reason why we built the villa is to attract the wealth of those powerful and wealthy businessmen.
Our goal is to get those powerful and wealthy merchants to willingly hand over their gold and silver treasures to our royal family and the court. If this paper currency is widely used by everyone, how can those powerful and wealthy merchants maintain their cherished sense of superiority and special status?
Tang Hongwen was filled with doubts and confusion. He found it unbelievable that His Majesty was a ruler who only cared about personal interests and ignored the suffering of ordinary people.
However, after careful consideration, he realized that things might not be as simple as they seemed on the surface, and that there must be some deep-seated reasons behind His Majesty that he was not aware of.
Tang Hongwen therefore hurriedly defended himself, saying respectfully, "Your Majesty, I am foolish and have not fully understood your profound intention. However, I believe that if the circulation of paper money can be properly controlled, it has the potential to become a vital support point in the national financial system."
Tang Hongwen believed that his point of view was correct, so he continued: "The use of paper money can significantly reduce the risks of gold and silver in transportation. At the same time, it can greatly improve the convenience of transactions, which has an immeasurable positive impact on promoting the prosperity and development of commercial activities.
If a series of reasonable policies can be formulated to ensure the stable value of paper money, then even if the powerful and wealthy merchants use paper money, it will not have a negative impact on its value. On the contrary, over time, these powerful and wealthy merchants will even begin to compete with each other on the amount of paper money they hold.
Tang Hongwen concluded: "Paper money may also become a new symbol of wealth, not only enhancing the prestige of the royal family and the court, but potentially even elevating their status."
Chu Fan seemed a little excited at this moment. He directly smashed the vernacular novel that he usually loved to read on the head of Tang Hongwen who was kneeling on the ground. After all, Chu Fan felt that his hands were too painful if he slapped the table.
Chu Fan said to Tang Hongwen with a tone of dismay, "As the Minister of Works, can't you use your brain? You actually want to promote such a new currency directly in the name of the court. Do you really think the people will accept you?"
Chu Fan's voice trembled. After all, Chu Fan was an emperor, and most of the time he considered things from the perspective of a commoner. If he were a commoner of Wei, and someone asked him to exchange his deposited silver for some nice-looking paper, he would definitely not be willing to do so.
Chu Fan continued, pointing at Tang Hongwen, "The tens of taels of silver that the common people saved with great difficulty could be the betrothal gifts they saved for their sons to marry, or the dowries they prepared for their daughters to marry.
If you tell them at this moment that they have to exchange their hard-earned savings for such a thin piece of paper, how many people do you think will be willing to accept this?"
Chu Fan picked up another storybook and angrily threw it at Tang Hongwen. He then said, "Do you really think that even if the royal family and the imperial court intervened, how many people would be willing to exchange their real money for this kind of paper money that doesn't provide any sense of security?"
Chu Fan then raised another question: "Another point is, do you think people in other countries will recognize this kind of banknotes? As long as other countries do not recognize this kind of banknotes, then these banknotes will just be useless pieces of waste paper in the hands of the people traveling between countries."
Tang Hongwen felt backed into a corner by Chu Fan's repeated questioning. He understood that Chu Fan's doubts were not without basis. After careful consideration, he finally spoke slowly, his tone tinged with helplessness and self-blame. "Your Majesty, I have indeed failed to consider this matter thoroughly. I beg your chastisement."
Chu Fan sighed and said, "Alright, I called you here today just to confirm whether your Ministry of Industry can produce such counterfeit banknotes. The issues we are discussing now are not important. Tomorrow, you will go to the palace with Chu Anping from the Royal Government Affairs Office, Chang Sun Dechong, and several other partners of the villa. I have something important to announce."
Tang Hongwen was full of doubts. He didn't understand where he had angered His Majesty. He thought that the views he put forward were all for the benefit of the people, so why was His Majesty so angry?
He decided to find a free time to personally visit the Minister of Revenue Qian Dai and ask where he had gone wrong. He knew that if he did not find out the problem in time, he might be excluded from the circle of the most trusted ministers of the emperor.
Chu Fan watched Tang Hongwen's retreating figure, his heart simmering with rage. He knew that if he allowed the people to widely use paper money, then if his rule was overthrown and the new ruler refused to recognize his paper money, the people's life savings could be wiped out. Such a situation would surely cause chaos in the State of Wei.
Almost all the people who consume in the villa are nobles of prominent status and wealthy people.
If he truly completed the system's mission, successfully forced the people to revolt, and returned to Blue Star, then even if they lost these treasures, it would not cause them any fundamental harm. Their lives would not be fatally affected, and they would not be in danger of their lives.
Now that the villa's internal currency was in place, it was time to officially enter the construction phase. The villa's official name should also be determined. Chu Fan believed that people like Chang Sun Dechong had already prepared detailed construction drawings for the villa.
As a time traveler, Chu Fan planned to play the role of a plagiarist. He wanted to use the knowledge and culture he learned from Blue Star to leave his mark on this ancient world, letting the people of this world know that he had been there.
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