The tactics Chongzhen used in his second plot were different from the first.
He first asked the inner court to prepare silver and pretended to exchange the silver for copper coins.
Not surprisingly, the news leaked out quickly.
After the nobles, gentry and wealthy families outside had prepared the copper coins, Chongzhen ordered them not to be exchanged.
Since the news was leaked through informal channels, they had no choice but to swallow it.
The huge amount of copper coins not only took up storage space, but also affected the flow of funds.
Many people started spending their copper coins.
Supply and demand determine commodity prices.
When the supply is greater than the demand, the price of a commodity will fall.
When the quantity supplied is less than the quantity demanded, the price of a commodity will rise.
When supply and demand are balanced, commodity prices tend to stabilize.
Copper coins are currency, and the essence of currency is general equivalent commodities.
Copper coins, which were despised by the rich and used in large quantities, inevitably depreciated.
Chongzhen ordered the Jinyiwei to purchase them secretly and store them temporarily.
After a few months of silence, Chongzhen came again.
Having learned their lesson from the last time, the nobles and gentry decided not to release the eagle until they saw the rabbit.
Chongzhen did not break his promise, but took out 800,000 taels of silver to exchange for copper coins.
When the nobles and gentry heard the news, they immediately went to the market to look for copper coins.
The value of copper coins has increased again.
Chongzhen took the opportunity to take out the copper coins he had hoarded last time and made a small profit by taking advantage of the price difference.
After several incidents, the wealthy people in the capital became frightened birds.
Because they find that no matter what they do, most people end up losing money or not making any money.
Unless you don't participate.
But I feel reluctant not to participate. After all, choice is more important than hard work. As long as I follow the right one once, I may make a lot of money.
The people of the capital were also affected.
Whenever someone exchanged silver for the copper coins in their hands, their first reaction was not to exchange them immediately, but to take the opportunity to raise the price of the copper coins!
The exchange of silver for copper coins produced a butterfly effect, and as the scope spread, the chain reaction expanded.
This is exactly the effect Chongzhen wanted.
The more chaotic the situation is, the less resistance new currencies will encounter in entering the market.
"Master, His Majesty is exchanging silver for copper coins again. Shall we join in?" Lady the Duke of England asked Zhang Shize softly.
Zhang Shize frowned and thought for a while: "Participate, notify the government to take out 20,000 taels of silver to exchange for copper coins in the market."
Just as Lady Yinggong was about to leave, Zhang Shize said, "After this change, change it again and save all the copper coins. We should remain unchanged in the face of all changes!"
"good."
Like most people, the Duke of England chose to hoard copper coins to prevent danger.
The trend of hoarding copper coins soon spread throughout the capital, causing the value of copper coins in the capital to appreciate.
Chongzhen did not move.
He will wait until the autumn harvest is collected before launching his big move.
There is still a lot of preparation to be done before launching the big move.
March 29, the 21st year of Chongzhen.
Fan Jingwen, the Minister of Works and Prime Minister of the Cabinet, came to the Palace of Heavenly Purity with a strange face.
After the greetings, Fan Jingwen pointed at the unfamiliar face and introduced him, "Your Majesty, this man is Li Jin, the craftsman in charge of minting coins at the Baoyuan Bureau of the Ministry of Industry."
Li Jin bowed again: "I, Li Jin, greet your majesty."
"Get up," Chongzhen waved his hand.
As Li Jin stood up, Fan Jingwen took out a brand new, snow-white silver coin from his arms: "This is the seventh trial minted silver coin by the Ministry of Industry. Your Majesty, please take a look."
Wang Chengen carefully took the silver coin in his hand, turned around and walked quickly to Chongzhen, and carefully placed it on the dragon desk.
Chongzhen picked it up and weighed it.
The silver coin is cool to the touch, has a round texture, and feels good to press.
Hold it in your hand and look at it carefully.
The silver coin has a soft luster and is white overall.
In the middle of the front of the silver coin are written the words "Da Ming Yuan Bao", and above it is a line of small characters reading "Made in the 21st year of Chongzhen".
The reason why "yuanbao" is used instead of "yuanbao" is mainly to avoid the name "yuan" in Zhu Yuanzhang's name.
In addition, the silver coin is round, so it was named Daming Yuanbao.
The back of the silver coin has "1 liang" written in the middle, and there are delicate and complex patterns around it, which can serve both as a decoration and as an anti-counterfeiting function.
After reading it, Chongzhen summed it up in three words: very exquisite.
"Your Majesty," Li Jin began to introduce, "Each silver coin weighs one tael, of which nine cents and one cent is silver, and nine cents is copper. There will be fluctuations in the actual casting process, but not much."
"Well," Chongzhen nodded and asked, "Why is it this ratio?"
"It's mainly to increase the difficulty of private casting," Li Jin explained: "The more silver a silver coin contains, the whiter its color and the softer its texture; the more copper it contains, the darker its color and the harder its texture."
"Today's silver coins are moderately hard and soft. If you bite them hard, you can leave marks with your teeth but they won't break."
"In order to make a profit, private minters would definitely reduce the proportion of silver during private minting and add copper, iron, white copper or lead."
"Adding copper, iron, or white copper will not only darken the silver coin, but also make it hard to chew."
"What about adding lead?" Chongzhen asked.
“Although adding lead can soften the silver coin, the color of the finished product is much darker than real money!”
"In addition, we can use the sound method and the fire method to distinguish the authenticity!"
In the following time, Li Jin introduced in detail the method of distinguishing the authenticity of silver coins.
Chongzhen listened very carefully.
Currency reform is not as easy as imagined.
What is currency?
The embodiment of national credit!
The most important reason why silver became the mainstream currency in the Ming Dynasty was that it had high value and was difficult to counterfeit.
Ordinary people can tell the authenticity of something by just biting it with their teeth.
Therefore, the first thing to consider when issuing silver coins is the problem of counterfeiting.
If counterfeiting is easy, the new currency will soon face a credibility crisis.
This ultimately led to the failure of currency reform.
In order to ensure that their assets do not shrink, conservatives who have large amounts of silver will use various methods to resist the new currency.
Such as private minting, counterfeiting and disrupting the market.
These are all challenges!
After hearing the method of distinguishing the authenticity, Chongzhen thought for a moment and said: "Let's mint coins according to this version! In addition to the two capitals of the north and south, we should also set up mints in all provinces."
"May I ask when will your Majesty start minting coins?"
"You can start now. Don't take out the coins you have minted yet. Put them in the treasury for future use."
"As you wish," Fan Jingwen wrote it down carefully and then asked, "I have another most important question."
"Minister Fan, please speak."
"According to the Ministry of Industry's calculations, the comprehensive cost of minting a silver coin is about nine cents and four cents. For every silver coin exchanged, the court makes a profit of six cents. May I ask how Your Majesty plans to deal with this money?"
"Half will be handed over to the court, and the other half will be given to local governments to use as regular expenses." Chongzhen answered after careful consideration.
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