On the Science going upstream.

Lin Run subconsciously pinched a piece of white and tender nougat and put it in his mouth to taste it. Wow, it tastes much better than those on the market.

Lin Zhongcheng, who loves sweets, resisted the urge to have another piece.

Then he asked, "What is this Jiangnan Bank that you want to open?"

"Zhongcheng can regard it as an upgraded version of the bank. We will optimize and improve all the functions of Wuji Bank to make it a more powerful one..." Mr. Zhao thought for a moment, but still couldn't find a suitable word to replace it, so he had to smile bitterly:

"Money house."

"Hey," Lin Runbai wasted some emotion, pointed at Zhao Hao and said with a smile: "Old wine in a new bottle."

"This name sounds better. Silver is more valuable than money, and a bank is bigger than a bank." Jiang Xueying tried to smooth things over for Zhao Hao, "Brother, you want our Jiangnan Bank to surpass all the banks in the world." She glanced at Lin Run and said, "This is inseparable from the support of the Zhongcheng and Laogongzu."

"We just said that if you give me a papaya, I will repay you with a jade pendant." Lin Run nodded calmly and said, "You have made such a great sacrifice for the mansion, so of course we must repay you with all our heart."

After saying this, he sat up straight and said seriously:

"But Jiangnan Company proposed that from now on, all the silver that the people of Suzhou Prefecture give to the government must first be deposited in Jiangnan Bank, and then the Jiangnan Bank will issue silver certificates. The government will only accept silver certificates issued by Jiangnan Bank and will no longer directly collect cash from the people... This silver certificate is the bill, right?"

"Almost the same, the only difference is that the silver voucher is bearer." Young Master Zhao smiled and replied, "Zhongcheng can also call it a silver voucher."

"This will save a lot of trouble." Lin Zhongcheng tapped his fingers on the table and thought, "It can also solve the problem of corruption among clerks, which is not a bad idea."

After a pause, he looked at the boy and girl in front of him and said, "But the government can only accept silver bills from Jiangnan Bank, not from other money houses. Isn't this a bit overbearing?"

Zhao Hao and Jiang Xueying looked at each other, and the former slowly shook his head and said, "As the Minister said, this is a matter that benefits the country and the people. It may be a little overbearing, but it is also to prevent people from taking advantage of loopholes and causing good things to turn into bad things."

"What do you mean?" Lin Zhongcheng asked softly.

"In fact, silver bills are not rare. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there were special 'silver bill shops' in Sichuan." Mr. Zhao laughed loudly while refilling Lin Run's tea:

"Unlike the banknotes issued by the imperial court, silver notes have always been freely issued by merchants. But how can the credit of merchants compare with that of the state? Therefore, silver notes must be 'payable on demand'. To put it bluntly, it is just a voucher for deposits and withdrawals, not real banknotes."

Lin Run nodded and listened very carefully. The biggest weakness of the Ming Dynasty was finance, which was far inferior to the Mongols.

At least the Yuan Dynasty knew to set up a reserve fund before it was destroyed. Zhu Yuanzhang dared to use a piece of printed paper as money without any guarantee.

But Emperor Taizu had made great contributions and was admired by all the people. If he said that the Ming Baochao was money, then the people of the whole country would treat it as money.

Of course, the main reason is that no one dares to take the money...

Therefore, throughout the Hongwu period, the value of Baochao sometimes appreciated and sometimes depreciated, but overall it was still valuable.

However, after the serious damage to the country caused by the Jingnan Campaign, and Zhu Di's love of ostentation was comparable to Yang Guang's, the financially exhausted Ming Dynasty finally started the mode of unlimited banknote issuance.

Then the waterfall drops three thousand feet.

At the end of the Hongwu period, one string of Baochao paper money could be exchanged for 500 copper coins. It depreciated to the point that in the second year of the Yongle period, one string of Baochao paper money could only be exchanged for 100 copper coins.

In the fifth year of Yongle, one string of banknotes was exchanged for sixty coins.

At the end of the Yongle reign, one string of banknotes was exchanged for ten coins.

In the seventh year of Xuande, one string of banknotes was only worth five copper coins.

In the seventh year of Zhengtong, one string of banknotes was worth one penny.

After the Battle of Tumu, the treasure notes reached the point where a hundred strings of coins were worthless, and were piled up in the market, but no one cared about them.

By the Zhengde period, Baochao had actually been abolished.

After that, the Ming Dynasty no longer issued paper money, nor could it lend money to the public like it did in the late Qing Dynasty.

In fact, after the Longwan period of the Ming Dynasty, the country made a fortune through overseas trade. More than one-third of the world's silver flowed into China, and there were too many wealthy people among the people.

But no one would lend money to the court.

There is no other reason, because the national credit is completely bankrupt. No one will be fooled anymore.

It can even be said that all the difficulties that the Ming Dynasty court encountered later were due to this vicious overdraft that was like drinking poison to quench thirst.

Being an official in such a credit-bankrupt and extremely poor court, even if you are the governor of Yingtian, you can still do nothing.

So Lin Run wanted to hear if Zhao Hao had any brilliant ideas that could inspire him to improve his predicament.

"Since the silver bill shops strictly abide by their credit and allow customers to pick up the bills at any time, the printed 'silver bills' are carefully designed with hidden marks, black and red interlaced, and handwritten signatures, which are difficult for others to forge. Therefore, the silver bills have won a high reputation."

Unfortunately, Mr. Zhao had ulterior motives in his explanation, which was to lead him astray.

"So merchants no longer used heavy coins and cash when conducting large transactions, but instead used silver notes. This greatly promoted the economic prosperity of the Song Dynasty. The reason why the Song Dynasty was much richer than the Ming Dynasty, with only half the population and territory of our dynasty, was largely due to these small silver notes."

"Really..." Lin Run's heart couldn't help but beat fast, as if he saw a glimmer of hope.

"But not all silver bill shops are law-abiding and trustworthy. Some profit-seeking and greedy shops maliciously defraud and abscond with the money after issuing silver bills indiscriminately; or they embezzle deposits, fail in other businesses and go bankrupt, making the silver bills they issued impossible to cash."

"When depositors were unable to withdraw their money, this often led to trouble and lawsuits. Therefore, during the Jingde period of the Song Dynasty, Zhang Yong, the governor of Yizhou, rectified the silver note shops, eliminated the lawless ones, and allowed sixteen wealthy merchants to run them. From then on, the issuance of 'silver notes' was recognized by the government."

After saying this, Zhao Hao said to the thoughtful governor:

"The banks of the Ming Dynasty learned from the lessons of the Song Dynasty and went to the other extreme. In order to prevent counterfeiting, over-issuance and misappropriation, they switched to registered bills, and every transaction had to be settled at the bank counter. This greatly hindered the development of industry and commerce in the Ming Dynasty, became a shackle on our economy, and also dried up the tax revenue of the court."

"So we hope to re-introduce bearer silver notes, but we must also learn from the lessons of the Song Dynasty. Therefore, we believe that the issuance of silver notes must achieve three points in order to benefit the country and the people, and do no harm!"

Then he raised three fingers and said in a deep voice:

"First, convenient and free circulation and exchange. Second, perfect anti-counterfeiting. Third, strict supervision to prevent over-issuance!"

ps. Fourth update, please give me your monthly vote!