Early in the morning, in the side hall of Xi'an government office.
Cao Huachun, the manager of the Xi'an branch of Daming Money House, and Lu Daqi, the governor of the three borders of Shaanxi, sat opposite each other.
"Lord Lu," Cao Huachun put down the teacup in his hand, "This currency reform is of great importance. Lord Lu, do you have any plans?"
"Yes!" Lu Daqi did not hide it. "Since the tax collection this time allows the people to pay copper coins, the key is to spread the information widely to prevent people from taking advantage of this to engage in corruption."
Cao Huachun nodded in agreement.
The method of corruption is very simple.
The imperial court allowed the people to pay taxes with copper coins, but the officials below, the tax collectors, and the village heads deliberately concealed the fact and continued to ask the people to pay with silver.
After the people paid the silver, they exchanged the silver into copper coins and handed them over, making a profit from the difference.
The silver-to-copper exchange rate stipulated by the imperial court was one to one thousand.
The actual exchange rate can reach 1:1,500.
These people can make a fortune just by reselling the products.
Some people may ask, aren’t they afraid of being exposed?
I'm not afraid of anything.
Anyone who dares to disclose this matter will be beaten. If he fails to do anything, he will be beaten twice.
Sooner or later, the day of defeat will come!
Even if the truth is revealed, the subordinates can use money to appease their superiors.
He coveted ten thousand taels, gave away eight thousand taels as gifts, and made a net profit of two thousand taels!
Even if they gave away 10,000 taels, it would only mean they didn't make any money, not that they lost money.
It is worth doing a capital-guaranteed transaction no matter how risky it is!
Seeing that Cao Huachun did not object, Lu Daqi continued, "My idea is to first notify the government offices, land offices, inspectors, and village heads of all prefectures and counties, and have them unify their statements and tell the people that they can pay taxes with either silver or copper coins this year."
"Then we will ask the court to mobilize the garrisons in various places, and send two people to the countryside to deliver the news, so that everyone will know."
"Mobilize the garrison?" Cao Huachun's eyebrows twitched.
Lu Daqi was indeed courageous and actually sent out the garrison troops to the countryside to carry out propaganda.
"Wait," Cao Huachun was a little confused, "It's okay to go to the countryside and villages, but I definitely can't tell all the people."
"There is a way to deal with it," Lu Daqi smiled slightly, "I printed a large number of notices in advance, and the soldiers will post the notices in each village they arrive in. There are more or less one or two scholars in each village, and they will spread the news."
"If nothing unexpected happens, everyone in Shaanxi will know about it within a month."
"It's great, really great!" Cao Huachun flattered.
Facing Cao Huachun's flattery, Lü Daqi did not show any sign of being happy. Instead, he frowned and said, "As for asking the people to pay taxes with copper coins, even a dog can accomplish the task, not to mention me, Lü Daqi."
Cao Huachun wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, so he could only suppress his laughter and advise: "Master Lu, don't be like this."
"Alas," Lu Daqi sighed, "The difficulty lies in promoting the Ming Yuanbao!"
"The essence of currency reform is to plunder private wealth, but this time the targets of plunder are not ordinary people, but gentry, landlords and merchants who control a large amount of silver."
"They are not stupid and will not be indifferent to this."
Cao Huachun nodded again and asked, "Master Lu, do you have any countermeasures?"
"Yes!" Lu Daqi paused, "There are currently two strategies."
"The first strategy is to target the local gentry, landlords and merchants in Shaanxi, who have a large amount of cash. I set a deadline for them, and those who can exchange silver for silver coins in batches within the deadline will be rewarded."
"How much is the reward?" asked Cao Huachun.
"The profit of each silver coin is about six cents. The court leaves three cents of profit to the local government, and I take one cent out of the three cents as a reward."
Cao Huachun did not express his opinion, but urged: "Master Lu, please continue!"
"Not only will those who exceed the deadline not be rewarded, but they will also be punished accordingly, mainly in the form of fines."
"If you don't repent after being punished, or still refuse to redeem, you will be held accountable."
Hearing this, Cao Huachun frowned.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?" Lu Daqi keenly caught the signal and asked hurriedly.
"Master Lu, please continue. I will talk to you later."
"Okay," Lu Daqi nodded, "The second strategy is mainly aimed at ordinary people. Although ordinary people don't have much money, they still have some."
"I have also left them a reward of one cent. Those who exchange on time can exchange one ounce of silver for one silver coin plus thirty coins."
"That's all for now!" After saying this, Lu Daqi picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip.
After drinking the tea, he looked at Cao Huachun, only to see that the other person had a sad face.
"What's wrong?" Lu Daqi asked.
"Lord Lu's two strategies can be said to be complete failures!"
"How is that possible?" Lu Daqi stood up with the help of the table and said stubbornly, "I have rewards and punishments for this move. Not only do I give enough face to the gentry, but I also take into account the interests of the people. Although it is not a perfect plan, it will not fail, right?"
"Let's talk about the first countermeasure first," Cao Huachun drank the tea in his cup, "Currently, Shaanxi is the only province that has implemented currency reform, and other places have not made any moves!"
"If we force merchants to exchange all their silver into silver coins, what will happen if people in other provinces don't recognize silver coins? Then they won't even have any business to do!"
"Shaanxi's commerce is already in a slump, and this move will only make Shaanxi's commerce worse!"
"Then... let the merchant take out half of the silver to exchange for silver coins, and leave the rest alone!" said Lu Daqi.
"Master Lu said it well. Here comes a new problem..." Cao Huachun picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea. "How much is half? Many small vendors spend all their money every time they sell goods in order to make more money. Asking them to take out half of the money and leave it alone, isn't that the same as asking for their lives?"
"Besides, Lord Lu has given merchants the privilege of not exchanging silver coins. The gentry and landlords also want privileges. Will Lord Lu give them to them?"
"If we give it, the currency reform will be a failure. If we don't give it, we will have evidence of colluding with merchants!"
hiss--
Lu Daqi, who had seen countless big scenes, took a breath of cold air.
The seemingly impeccable strategy turned out to be so vulnerable in front of Cao Huachun.
This former commander of the East Depot is indeed quite capable!
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