Chapter 170: Gold Foil for the Capital
As the night deepened, the atmosphere in Xiuwen Hall gradually reached its climax.
If the discussion in the morning was a group performance, then tonight's scene became Zhao Duan's one-man show.
Master Dong sat in a chair, leaning against a soft brocade cushion, his eyes fixed on the words that appeared on the screen.
However, this time, even he couldn't understand it.
"What does this mean?" No one said anything, but everyone's eyes showed the same meaning.
After Zhao Duan finished writing these four words, he turned around, faced everyone's gaze, and said with a smile:
"Just now, I proposed that all poll taxes, including corvée and labor service, be settled in silver. This will certainly save the court a lot of trouble, but it also has its drawbacks."
At this time, Guo Jieyuan, who was ordinary in appearance but good at finance, suddenly spoke up:
"Silver reserves."
brush--
Seeing everyone looking at him, Guo Jieyuan, whose name seemed to imply a wish for his son to become a successful person, hesitated and said:
"Copper is much more abundant than silver. In the past, copper coins were the primary currency throughout the country. Gold and silver were rarely used in external transactions. But if the imperial court were to set a precedent for using silver as a tax, then in the future... I'm afraid the available money will become even less..."
Zhao Duan was a little surprised that this unremarkable scholar reacted so quickly.
Although Dayu was extremely backward in "economics", Guo Jieyuan's description was not accurate.
But with his keen intuition, he captured the change.
"That's right, Master Guo has a sharp eye." Zhao Duan exclaimed in admiration.
Historically, after Zhang Juzheng's reforms, the Ming Dynasty transitioned from a dual standard of copper and silver to a silver standard.
However, the Ming Dynasty had a shortage of silver reserves, which greatly restricted economic development.
For the economy to prosper, there must be enough money to circulate, but if there is not enough silver as money... it will be embarrassing.
Before this, Zhao Duan had looked up the situation of the Dayu Dynasty.
I was surprised to find that the world's silver reserves are much greater than those of the Ming Dynasty.
This made him more confident in choosing the next strategy.
Zhao Duan first briefly explained to the other scholars who were not familiar with finance the consequences of lowering the silver standard so that they could have a general idea.
Then he said:
“As far as I know, the Great Yu Dynasty actually has quite a bit of silver, but why did Scholar Guo say it was too little?
This is simply because too much silver was not circulated as currency, but was hoarded by gentry, aristocratic families, merchants, and even officials everywhere.
They would bury the silver in the ground in their own yards or hide it in their warehouses, and would not take it out unless absolutely necessary...
Just like a group of rats, they hid their silver and only used copper coins for daily expenses... This is the truth behind the lack of silver and the abundance of copper coins."
Zhao Duan talked freely:
“So, when I wrote down the word ‘silver’, I was trying to figure out how to get these people to willingly take out the silver hidden in the mansion and spend it.
Only by spending it can we find a way to get it into the national treasury. If we just hide it, then what Scholar Guo is worried about will happen."
As soon as these words were spoken, surprise appeared on everyone's faces.
Willingly?
Let that group of people spend the gold, silver and treasures?
In their eyes, this proposal was like a fantasy.
"This is simply impossible," Han Zhou said:
"Hoarding gold, silver, and treasures, even everything that can be hoarded, is the way for people to survive. Only by hoarding can we resist the years of disaster. If you say you won't fight, how can you expect people to hand it over with both hands?"
Wang You, Mo Zhaorong and others also nodded.
Zhao Duan sighed.
This is the result of a lack of economic theory. The wealth of the feudal dynasty is completely a "zero-sum game." If you grab one more point, I will have one less point...
So from top to bottom, everyone is hoarding money. This muscle memory permeates the bones.
But is it true that everyone in the world only knows how to hoard?
Zhao Duan shook his head and said:
"At noon, I was talking with Scholar Han and pointed out that his ten strategies were to seize money from the hands of the people.
I believe you all think the same way, feeling that if a copper coin is not in your hands, it is in someone else's hands.
So when the imperial court needed money, it could only use various methods to rob others. But let's change our thinking. Is there a way for you and I to hold a copper coin at the same time?"
Hold at the same time?
Mo Chou was stunned for a moment, with a strange look in her eyes.
I thought, apart from getting married, what other ways are there for the two of them to become husband and wife, and hold it at the same time?
This guy was speaking so clearly before, why did he suddenly start talking so weirdly?
Seeing that everyone was confused, Zhao Duan could only explain it more clearly:
"Just now, Scholar Han said that people all over the world like to hoard money and don't like to spend it.
I have a different opinion. I want to ask, what about merchants? Merchants all over the world are very willing to spend money, sometimes even spending everything without hoarding a penny.
Wang You shook his head and said:
"Merchants don't spend money just to buy it; they use it to buy shops and hire employees. It's all about making money... How can we generalize?"
Zhao Duan looked at him and said with a smile:
"That's right! Businessmen spend money because they can earn more money back.
The gentry also had to spend money to buy land, but they spent it happily because they could earn more money by cultivating the land.
Suddenly, Guo Jieyuan slammed the table, as if he suddenly realized:
"That's right! It's not that people in the world like to hoard money, but they don't have any way to make money! So they can only hoard it.
What Envoy Zhao meant was that as long as the imperial court could make the gentry, merchants, and even officials of the world discover a place where they could spend one copper coin and earn two in return.
Then they will definitely take out all their wealth and spend it without anyone forcing them..."
He said, but shook his head:
"But there are too few good places like this. The ones that exist, such as salt and iron, have long been in the hands of the imperial court. We can't open up the salt and iron business to those people just to deceive those gentry and merchants..."
Zhao Duan was surprised and thought to himself, Lao Guo is really good, his ideas are expanding very quickly.
As expected of a scholar who is good at finance, his reaction is the fastest among everyone when the word money is mentioned.
As Guo Jieyuan explained, the others also understood and looked at Zhao Duan with frowns.
I don't know what he is up to after all this going around in circles.
Zhao Duan was neither hurried nor slow, completely mastering the rhythm of the game, and said:
"Master Guo is right. All existing businesses in the world have long been divided up. But who says these are the only businesses in the world?"
When he said this, he felt emotional.
In his previous life, he had studied some economic works, such as Schumpeter's Principle of Innovation Profit, which said that the economy itself will not develop.
For example, in the agricultural era, there were not many changes for thousands of years, and wealth just kept flowing among different people.
It was not until the Industrial Age, when productivity rose and the economy began to develop, that a lot of "wealth" that did not exist before was created out of thin air.
Therefore, if the current situation of the Dayu Dynasty follows the "game" and lets the court and the people of the world compete for money, it will become turbulent.
However, if the method of "creating wealth" is used, it will not only not intensify the contradictions, but because the court is in control, more and more people will be tied to the court in terms of interests.
Zhao Duan said:
“As far as I know, the pass corridor from Dayu to the Western Regions used to only cost money every year when it was only guarded by soldiers. But later, it gave some merchants the opportunity to travel between the two places and do business. The court collected taxes from the pass and made a lot of money.
Similarly, during the reign of Emperor Taizu, the capital was also dilapidated. However, after it was designated as the capital, all the powerful and influential people flocked to the capital, giving rise to the phenomenon of thousands of boats racing at the docks. The city gate entrance fee alone could support the expenses of the imperial palace...
May I ask, have any weapons been used in these examples?
Never.
But why did the money just pour in on its own? And why did it come to the court on its own initiative?
Without waiting for anyone to answer, he spoke:
"market."
"As long as the imperial court takes action, it can build a market, grant certain privileges to a place, move some important government offices to these places... and so on.
Merchants from all over the world would hear the news and flock to the court, working for it on their own initiative. They made a lot of money, but the court made even more.
And when the merchants made money, the powerful families who opened countless shops under them, and even some wealthy gentry, would throw their hoarded silver to them if they could.
Because only by throwing it over can you make money, but if you don’t take it, someone else will make money.
If others make money and they don’t, the money in their hands will be worthless…”
"As long as the market is large enough, or if there's a market like this in every one of the nine provinces and eighteen prefectures, the rich will invest their money in it, turning it into 'assets'...
The imperial court doesn't need to worry about how to make money for everyone, because the merchants will find ways to create money on their own..."
When Zhao Duan said this, Mochou's eyes lit up and said:
“Like the cheap ice sold at the Tianshi Mansion in the capital recently?
The sorcerers of the Tianshi Mansion created ice and invited many wealthy people to buy it, thus taking the money that the wealthy people had hoarded, just like the merchants did.
"..." Zhao Duan nodded with a strange look in his eyes and said:
"That's right, creating something everyone wants is the way to get everyone to spend money.
As long as these merchants rack their brains to get people to spend their money, they will not hoard money, but will continue to spend money to get more.
In this process, more and more people will be hired, so the people will have a way to make money. When they have money, they will spend it on things like ice...
Just like a wheel, if the court gives it a slight push, it will start to turn rapidly.
Instead of hoarding money, everyone should spend it... This way, the Dayu Dynasty will have more silver.
The imperial court could collect taxes continuously... endlessly.
Even more, if the court has more money, it can open a bank and lend the money to merchants..."
Zhao Duan spoke faster and faster.
In everyone's mind, the scene became clearer and clearer.
Han Zhou stood there in a daze.
At this moment, he once again imagined the scene of the future in his mind, where all the gold and silver in the world would flow into the capital like a tide.
But this time, there were no more hateful gazes, but countless pairs of excited and greedy eyes.
He raised his head, looking past Zhao Duan, and looked at the four words "silver", "merchant", "capital" and "market" on the screen behind him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the scholars were getting up and standing one after another.
My heart is filled with emotion because of the future described by Zhao Duan.
Finally, Zhao Duan dropped his brush and concluded with a dry mouth:
"The most important thing is that, in this way, even the rebels and the Eight Princes will be unable to stop the people's pursuit of profit. Only the imperial court has the ability to do this, and no one else can imitate it.
No matter how unwilling the rebels were, they could only watch the money flow into the national treasury.
Once the gentry and powerful families were forced into the fray and the land tax system was implemented, if they tried to resist, they would have to worry about being kicked out of the market by the imperial court...
Should he offend the imperial court or curry favor with it to gain more? The decision was not difficult.
In this way, the resistance to the implementation of the new policy will be reduced.”
Zhao Duan said calmly:
"So, if these three strategies are implemented successfully, within ten years, the money in the national treasury will be enough to cover the capital with a layer of gold foil."
"This is the Three Golden Strategies."
Thanks: Fengqiaoyebo97 for the tip of 100 coins, Shun Shun Shun for the tip of 100 coins~
(End of this chapter)
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