After much discussion, everyone found that the problem came back to money.
The reason why currency reform encounters resistance is money.
It costs money to address resistance.
But the court was short of money.
The problem has fallen into an unsolvable vicious circle!
After discussing for a while, Xie Sanbin decided to change his approach.
He said to Fan Jingwen: "Lord Fan, I have a new idea."
"Oh? What ideas?" Fan Jingwen asked without any expectations.
Through the discussion just now, Fan Jingwen understood Xie Sanbin a little better.
In his opinion, Xie Sanbin was just an ordinary official with nothing unique in his knowledge and insights.
After hesitating, Xie Sanbin said, "My solution is to solve the problem of people first, and then solve the problem of money!"
"Take Zhejiang, where the currency reform was not going smoothly, as an example. First, the court ordered officials from Zhejiang to write letters to the local gentry, urging them to actively cooperate with the currency reform promoted by the court."
"In the Ming Dynasty, officials and gentry were one. Officials worked for gentry to make profits, and gentry worked for officials to govern the people! With these letters, the resistance to currency reform will be much smaller!"
Seeing the disdain on everyone's faces, Xie Sanbin quickly said, "It's definitely not enough to just do this."
"We just solved the people problem, and now we need to solve the money problem."
"The court must give up a portion of its profits as bait to induce the gentry to take the initiative to promote currency reform."
"Wait a minute," Wang Jiayan interrupted Xie Sanbin again, "Why are you giving up profits again? Didn't I say before that the court needs these profits to fill the treasury? Giving up profits is a dead end!"
"The extent of the concession this time is small."
"How small?"
"The court only needs to take out one cent out of the three cents of profit. Although this will reduce the treasury revenue, the benefits it brings far outweigh the reduced revenue."
"Then what? Will the gentry compromise for this one cent of profit?" Wang Jiayan asked.
"Don't worry, Minister Wang. My solution is to make concessions in stages!"
"Phase-based concessions? What are the phases?"
Xie Sanbin smiled and said, "After the imperial court made concessions, the local government made a profit of four cents!"
“The following four stages will be divided into:
"The first phase will last for half a year! Anyone who exchanges silver for Ming Yuanbao during this period will be given a 3% profit as a refund by the government."
"The second phase will also last for half a year. During this period, anyone who exchanges silver for Ming Yuanbao will be given a 2 cent profit as a refund by the government."
"The third phase will also last for half a year, and the government will only return one cent of the profit."
"The fourth phase will last for one year. Not only will the government not return a single cent, but it will also punish those gentry who do not exchange money and force them to exchange their silver for Ming Yuanbao."
"Give me an example that is not quite right."
"Currency reform is like a table of food. Whoever gets to the table first can eat whatever they want. They can eat as much as they want and enjoy their meal!"
"The second group of people who came to the table could only pick some leftovers to eat. They were full but not well-fed."
"The third group of people who came to the table could only eat some leftovers. They were not full and the food was not good."
"The last group of people to arrive at the table not only get nothing to eat, but also have to clean the table and wash the dishes!"
Um?
After listening to Xie Sanbin's theory, Fan Jingwen suddenly raised his head, his eyes shining.
He walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked the others: "If you were the local gentry, what would you do if you encountered this situation?"
Qiu Yu thought for a moment and said, "In order to maximize the benefits, I will definitely be among the first group of people."
"No," Wang Jiayan shook his head, "It's not about maximizing benefits, it's about minimizing losses!"
"No matter whether it's profit or loss, I am definitely one of the first batch!" Qiu Yu affirmed.
"Where is Lord Huang?" Fan Jingwen asked the Minister of Rites Huang Jin.
"In reply to your question, I might wait and see for a while and then get involved before the end of the first phase." Huang Jin answered after thinking.
"Well," Fan Jingwen nodded and asked everyone else, "Do you have any additions or objections? If so, please speak up! If not, we will immediately draft a charter and present it to His Majesty."
"Sir, I have something to add." Xie Sanbin said.
"Hurry up and tell me!"
"I just thought about it again and I think the time for each stage should decrease instead of being fixed."
"What kind of reform?" Fan Jingwen asked.
Xie Sanbin replied: "The first phase lasted for half a year, the second phase lasted for three months, the third phase lasted for one month, and the fourth phase has been ongoing since its implementation."
"As long as the gentry know that the longer they delay, the greater the loss will be, they will naturally try to find a way to minimize the loss!"
"This is indeed a method!" Fan Jingwen affirmed Xie Sanbin's method, "Do you have anything else to add?"
Xie Sanbin shook his head, and the others followed suit.
"In that case, I would like to trouble Minister Xie to draft a charter and present it to Your Majesty." Fan Jingwen said in a negotiating tone.
"Yes, Lord."
Fan Jingwen let out a long sigh, then looked up and glanced at Wang Chengen in the distance.
"Go, take the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone to Lord Fan!" Wang Chengen ordered the eunuch beside him.
Fan Jingwen took the paper and pen and handed them to Xie Sanbin personally.
A quarter of an hour later, the charter was drafted.
Everyone circulated it through the document, and after confirming that it was correct, they handed it over to Wang Chengen.
In the back garden, Chongzhen suddenly became suspicious after reading the charter handed to him.
Although Xie Sanbin's method reduced the treasury revenue, the losses of the gentry were greater in comparison.
Is this something the Donglin Party could do?
"Wang Chengen, what do you think?" Chongzhen threw the regulations to Wang Chengen.
"I think... we can give it a try! If it works, that would be great. If not, we can find someone else!" Wang Chengen replied.
"That's all we can do!" Chongzhen sighed softly, "The four provinces in the south of the Yangtze River are a mess to begin with, it's better to have someone in charge than no one!"
"Let the cabinet draft the decree and follow what the charter says!"
"I will inform the cabinet right away!"
Not long after Wang Chengen left, he returned with a letter in his hand, "Your Majesty, the new Minister of Revenue, Xie Sanbin, has a memorial to submit!"
"What does he want to do?"
Wang Chengen flipped through the question book and quickly scanned it before answering, "Your Majesty, he recommended several officials to serve in the four provinces of Jiangnan, saying that they were going to promote currency reform!"
"It's all approved." Chongzhen replied without even looking at it.
"Your Majesty, you haven't seen it yet..."
"No need to look, the court's rules have always been like this! If you want to use someone, you have to use the person you want to use, otherwise this person will not be able to accomplish anything!"
"Yes," Wang Chengen took out a red pen and was about to write it down when he suddenly stopped. He pointed at two names and said, "Your Majesty, among the officials who were transferred, there are people recommended by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. If they are transferred from their original positions, the important positions in the four provinces of Jiangnan will probably fall into the hands of the Donglin Party."
"It doesn't matter," Chongzhen smiled coldly, "Fish like to test before taking the bait, let them do whatever they want."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
