Dashun Yongchang

Therefore, Zhu Cihong may feel that he is living a good life now, and whether he should go to Nanjing to compete with his uncle for the position of emperor is a question that can be considered.But for the Fushe members like Chen Mingxia, there is no way out.Only by completely overthrowing Emperor Hongguang and letting the prince sit in that position, can they preserve their reputation and family.

The king of Lu who was sitting next to him was silent until Li Zicheng asked him, and he said vaguely: "There is really no reason for Fufan's ascension to the throne, but the prince is right. The most important thing right now is to determine the location of Emperor Daxing's mountain tomb." Xiao Fan feels that His Majesty should decide what to do."

Li Zicheng took one more look at King Lu, and then said to the three of them: "I see, let Nandu decide whether we want to talk or not. Let's send people to pass these two items to Nandu and see how they react. What do you think?" Sample?"

The three of them had no opinion on Li Zicheng's throwing stones to ask for directions. However, when Li Zicheng asked who should be sent to Nandu to inform the Hongguang court, Chen Mingxia suggested that Li Shichun should go, but Zhu Cihong objected. Immediately said that Yasukuni Lieutenant Zhu Shuaicui gave it with eloquence, and he was very suitable to be this envoy.

Therefore, it was finally decided to let Zhu Shuaicui go to Nanjing as the envoy to spread the word.While Li Zicheng was talking with Zhu Cihong and others, Wang Fan was also having a private conversation with Lu Zhenfei, and he said to Lu Zhenfei worriedly: "The city construction management committee has been established for less than three days, and people's hearts have already begun. Turning to Dashun. If this continues, even if the crown prince sits in Huai'an, the local people will probably no longer fall into the arms of Daming."

Lu Zhenfei didn't doubt what Wang Fan was worried about, because he knew very well what happened in the past three days. Immediately after the establishment of the Urban Construction Management Committee, he raised several livelihood issues that the citizens were concerned about, such as dredging the rivers in the city, repairing The streets and roads in the city and the stabilization of food prices in Huai'an, etc. These projects are closely related to the lives of the citizens and have won the support of the citizens.

The main reason why the people of Huai'an got close to Dashun was the speech made by Emperor Yongchang about making Huai'an city prosperous in the council meeting.Although some foreign trade remarks were deleted from the published speech content, the various reform proposals proposed by Li Zicheng are closely related to the future of Huai'an. In addition, the urban construction projects brought about by the establishment of the Urban Construction Management Committee made the people of Huai'an think that these reforms The content may be able to fulfill the expectations.

If it is said that Dashun used Jiannu to plunder and massacre in the customs before, it aroused the people of Huai'an to feel the same hatred and hatred, then this idea of ​​making Huai'an prosperous now made the people of Huai'an truly accept Dashun's local rule, because this Let them start to look forward to a better life in the future, and feel that life has begun to look forward to.

Lu Zhenfei could feel the changes in the people of Huai'an. As an official who had been in charge of Huai'an, he knew very well that the people in Huai'an were not aggressive. People actually like to live a comfortable life.

Although he once used the peasant army to confiscate the property of the gentry to intimidate the local gentry, so that these gentry had to pay to set up a militia, but the real combat effectiveness of these militias was the Yanding and Cao soldiers. As for the local Farmers are actually easily intimidated by rebels.A few rebels ran into the village, came to collect food under the name of a certain soldier, and then took the opportunity to rape the woman, but none of the villagers dared to stop them. It was only when the militia was called that dozens of villagers had the courage to follow. Chase and intercept these rebels from behind.

After Li Zicheng arrived in Huai'an, he was not in a hurry to collect food from the local people. Instead, he discussed with the local gentry how to rebuild the social order of Huai'an City. This alone has dispelled the vigilance of the Huai'an people against the peasant army.And the prosperity plan proposed now has further attracted the people of Huai'an, making them feel that the long-standing war seems to be coming to an end soon.

Under the atmosphere of peace of mind, the ruling order of Dashun naturally took root in Huai'an.Therefore, facing Wang Yu's worries, Lu Zhenfei could only reply with a wry smile: "This is the way people think, we should not act rashly, otherwise we will only implicate the prince."

After a few breaths of silence, Wang Yu said: "I didn't mean that. I was thinking that we should reveal the true face of Emperor Yongchang in front of the people of Huai'an. I never believe that a thief leader can become a saint."

Standing under the shade of the tree, Lu Zhenfei raised his eyebrows, and said to Wang Fan, "How do you plan to reveal the true face of Emperor Yongchang?"

Wang Yu said calmly: "No matter how much Emperor Yongchang conceals it, he came to Huai'an to raise money and food for the army. Even if he spit out the money that Huxin Temple extorted from the gentry, he still clearly marked the price and demanded Are those business gentry willing to donate less than 1000 taels to make up their debts before they are willing to discredit their names from the newspapers? Just this supplementary fee is more than 10 taels. This money really falls into the The Marshal's Mansion never came out."

Lu Zhenfei was also quite speechless when he heard this, although Li Zicheng gave up the policy of chasing stolen goods and subsidizing wages, but he became more and more clever in the way of asking gentry for money.The people in Huai'an want to know who are the gentry salt merchants who were fined by Dashun, but the gentry salt merchants who paid the fine did not want to ruin their reputation at all, especially after the names of more than 1000 taels were erased, those who paid the fine The gentry salt merchants with less than 1000 taels immediately became the target of public criticism.

In a place like Huai'an where business travelers gather, those gentry businessmen who run the salt industry and other industries cherish their reputation very much.In such an era, once the reputation is ruined, not only will the business suffer, but even the marriage of the children will be affected.A family that survives locally without word of mouth and mutual help from in-laws will soon decline.

Therefore, after the news was released in the Marshal's Mansion, everyone had no choice but to obediently pay the money.Because the Marshal's Mansion publishes their names in the newspaper and erases the names of people who have been fined more than a thousand taels, from a certain point of view, the people who are published in the newspaper are not only targeted by the Marshal's Mansion, but also seem to have a poor family background. How can other people do business and marry him?What's more, everyone is still waiting to invest in the salt company. Offending the Marshal's Mansion at this time is obviously not a good choice.

While Lu Zhenfei was thinking, Wang Fan went on to say: "For the people of Huai'an, the most urgent problem they want to solve is the flooding of the Huang, Huai and Yun rivers. I have calculated, and I want to solve the problem. The dams and gates of Hongze Lake are completely repaired to alleviate the flooding of the Yellow River and Huaihe River in spring and summer every year, so at least 10 taels must be counted.

As long as this question is raised to Emperor Yongchang in public at the meeting, he will definitely shrink back.The total amount of money and food confiscated by Emperor Yongchang from Liu Zeqing and the treasury would not exceed 200 million taels. Now that the war is imminent, how could he use half of it to repair the water conservancy?In this way, the common people would naturally know that Emperor Yongchang was just exaggerating and not really caring about them. "

Lu Zhenfei was silent for a long time, and then slowly said to Wang Fan: "If Emperor Yongchang accepts your suggestion, what should we do?"

Wang Yu pondered for a long time before replying: "There is no such possibility, unless Emperor Yongchang no longer wants the army, how could it be possible to invest money and food in water conservancy projects at this time..."

After Li Zicheng sent Zhu Cihong and others away, he saw Wei Xuelian commanding a group of soldiers to carry some utensils into his yard.He immediately went down the steps to look at these instruments, and Wei Xuelian introduced and reported by his side: "According to our calculations, one 4000 millionth of the circumference of the equator and the length of five feet divided by three are indeed quite close.

So we took the length of five feet divided by three, set it as one meter in His Majesty's mouth, divided one meter by 100 to 1 centimeter, and divided it by 1000 to 1 millimeter, and finally poured these three original gold, silver and copper alloys. .

Then a bronze tripod with an inner clearance of one meter square was poured in units of meters. When the water is equal to this line, this one-meter-square water cube should be the mass of one ton in the mouth of His Majesty, and then divided into 1000 parts , each serving is 1 kilogram set by His Majesty, and each kilogram is equal to 1000 grams. The catty we use now should be around 600 grams..."

Li Zicheng carefully looked at the standard prototypes made by the Academy of Sciences and craftsmen one by one, and then he said to himself: "The mass, length, area, volume, the next step is to measure the density and time."

He straightened up, stroked the bronze tripod in front of him with satisfaction, and said to Wei Xuelian: "Although we can't let the public accept these measuring tools at once, we can use these standard measuring tools to measure measuring instruments on the market now. Replace the old measuring tools. After measuring the standards of measuring instruments, all unsuitable measuring instruments will be eliminated, and those who dare to deceive the people with unsuitable measuring instruments will be punished as the crime of disrupting the market."

After thinking for a few breaths, Wei Xuelian said, "The autumn grain collection is coming soon. If we recruit craftsmen to make standard measuring instruments, we may not be able to catch up."

Li Zicheng thought for a while and said: "We can ask Qingjiang Shipyard to assist, first ensure that each county has a set of official standard measuring instruments, and then sell them to the people..."

Chapter 158

Li Zicheng did not immediately give an answer to Wang Fan's suggestion on treating Huang and Huai, who had been silent at the meeting, but asked Li Laiheng to bring a long scroll.

After finding two guards to open the scroll, the people standing near the scroll discovered that it was a half-finished map of the Huanghuai water system.Li Zicheng walked to the side of the water system map and said to the councilors on the other side of the courtyard: "Wang Leichen proposed a very constructive proposal. And I also believe that the people of Huai'an, located at the junction of the Yellow River, Huaihe River and the Canal, are most concerned about this water control. motion, because it is closely related to their daily life.

When I was still in Xuzhou, I had already considered the problem of harnessing the Yellow River, because the diversion of the Yellow River to the south also brought considerable suffering to the people of Xuzhou.Therefore, I believe that whether it is the management of the Yellow River or the Huaihe River, it is not a matter of one province and one province, but a matter of all the people in the area covered by the entire water system.

For example, the Yellow River originates from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, then passes through Lanzhou and Ningxia, goes around Shaanxi and enters Henan, then turns from Kaifeng to Xuzhou, Suqian, and Huaiyin, and enters the sea from Yuntiguan.If Huai'an is allowed to govern by itself, it will only manage a small section of the river from Sanhekou to Yuntiguan, but no matter how well the river is governed, it will not be able to control the floods in the Yellow River and Huaihe River.

Because this river was originally the estuary of the Huaihe River, but was taken away by the Yellow River going south, so the Huaihe River can only turn from Hongze Lake to the Yangtze River to enter the sea.In other words, even without considering other factors, the water volume of the Yellow River and Huaihe River exceeds the discharge volume of this channel, not to mention that the large amount of sediment brought by the Yellow River from the upper reaches continues to raise the channel, making the inland water system more difficult. Through this estuary it enters the sea.

Therefore, the people of Huai'an need to control not only the Yellow River, canals and Hongze Lake around them, but also the water system management of the two Huaihe Rivers and the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River and Huaihe River.

For example, Shaanxi and Henan need to store water in branch systems, which can not only slow down the sediment from being washed into the river, but also provide water for local agriculture; the middle and upper reaches of the Huaihe River need to store water, but also consider the unobstructed drainage, so as to solve the problem of water pollution. If there is less, there will be drought, and if there is too much water, it will be a disaster.

Then there are the lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Huaihe River. We should not only consider the issue of drainage, but also the issue of water sources for agricultural irrigation.For example, turning Hongze Lake into a large reservoir, and then digging a canal between the south end of Hongze Lake and the sea can not only solve the problem of drainage, but also solve the problem of water for agricultural irrigation in this area..."

What Li Zicheng said was of course not his own opinion, but a practical solution to the Huaihe River flood in history.Of course, in his time, the Yellow River had been diverted back to the North Road, so the lower reaches of the Huaihe River were only facing the Huaihe River problem, but now there is an extra Yellow River.However, there are still many lakes in the upper reaches of the Huaihe River at this time, and the Jianghan area has not yet been fully developed. Therefore, the Huaihe River can also use these lakes to disperse the water in the rainy season, thereby reducing the drainage pressure downstream.

When Wang Fan proposed water control proposals, although the members present were happy to see the results, they did not think that the Yellow River and the Huaihe River could be managed well, because the Yellow River was governed from the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and it was not until Pan Jixun that the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River were fixed. It is still unavoidable to avoid the problem of flooding downstream every year.

The actual situation is just like what Li Zicheng said, the channel that used to be the Huaihe River flowing into the sea alone is now occupied by the Yellow River. Not to mention the Huaihe River blocked by the Yellow River, the upper reaches are slightly heavier, and the lower reaches of the Yellow River begin to overflow into Hongze Lake. The lake cannot accommodate the water volume of the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, so it can only discharge the flood towards the Lixia River.

It is said that the water is discharged towards the Lixia River and returned to the sea. In essence, the low-lying coastal area east of the canal is regarded as a flood discharge area. Among them, the people of Yancheng suffer the most, because Yancheng has the lowest terrain. Yancheng will be flooded.Therefore, the people of Huai'an really want to improve the water conservancy of the Yellow River and Huai River, but the officials and gentry feel that it is impossible, because the flood water with no way out will submerge Huai'an City if it does not return to the sea.

The people outside of Huai'an City hoped for water control but were afraid of water control. They hoped for water control to eliminate the flood, and feared that the government would take it as an opportunity to exploit the common people.

But now Li Zicheng's idea of ​​water control has given an overall direction to solve the flood in the Yellow River and Huaihe River. attention.Especially those councilors from Yancheng, although they didn't leave with Song Lu and others, they also felt that the Huai'an council meeting was actually very boring, because those councilors from Huai'an only cared about the interests of the people of Huai'an, and they almost always mentioned the interests of the people of Yancheng incidentally. There were not enough of them to pass a motion, so they were left with the function of raising their hands.

But now Li Zicheng's idea of ​​water control will benefit the people of Yancheng a lot, so they can't help but not care about it, otherwise it will spread back to Yancheng.

So, after Li Zicheng finished speaking, the councilors in Yancheng got up and asked to come forward to take a look at the drawings. Li Zicheng readily agreed to his request, which led to more requests from councilors. The dispute between these MPs was resolved.

However, in this way, Wang Fan, who proposed water control, was pushed aside by the congressmen who came up to look at the water system map.For a while, everyone focused on how to manage the entire Huanghuai Waterway system, rather than simply building a few dams or gates.

After all the members had seen the water system map, Li Zicheng said to the members: "I heard that if a worker wants to do a good job, he must first sharpen his tools. To manage the water system of the Huanghuai River, there is no one person, and there is no group of people who have the ability to control water. Knowledgeable people are even more unable to carry on.

Therefore, in order to control water, we need to cultivate such a group of water control talents, and then let them explore and measure various water systems, so as to formulate an overall control plan.It just happened that the Huxin Temple violated the law, and I think that place is big enough to use the buildings in the temple to open a water conservancy school to teach water control knowledge.What do Members think? "

Li Zicheng's proposal was approved by the congressmen. After all, it was only the monks who suffered. Their beliefs were not enough for them to stand up and defend the Huxin Temple.

Li Zicheng then put forward a second suggestion: "Whether a reservoir is built in the upper reaches to store water, or trees are planted to preserve water and soil, or the middle and lower reaches are cut to straighten the river, some people's interests will inevitably be damaged, but water control is a must. In order to protect the interests of the majority. Therefore, I believe that the interests of the minority cannot override the interests of the majority, but the interests of the minority should also be protected.”

Many councilors could not understand this suggestion, so they asked Li Zicheng, and Li Zicheng explained: "What I mean is that the law should support the expropriation of private land for water control. But the state can't expropriate it in vain." private land and should therefore be properly compensated.”

This question is actually more difficult for those congressmen who have land to choose. Water control is naturally a benefit to the people of Huai'an, but if they suffer losses, they also have to think carefully.But for those young scholars from Yancheng, Li Zicheng's proposition is not a problem at all. If the flood control cannot expropriate private land, then it is useless to control the water.

What's more, in the past, the Ming court's flood control was just to discharge the water towards Yancheng.Looking at it this way, it couldn’t be more correct to expropriate part of private land to keep another part of private land, and it was not supplemented. They naturally raised their hands in favor.With the leadership of these Yancheng scholars, the undecided councilors soon became a minority, and in the end they raised their hands in favor under the watchful eyes of others.

Li Zicheng then put forward a third proposition, "It is obviously a huge project to control the Yellow River, Huaihe River, and canal water systems. The state can allocate part of the funds, but compared to the scale of the entire water control project, it is obviously far away. not enough.

Therefore, I think that the cultivated land that has benefited from water control should bear part of the cost of water control.Not to mention other things, just build a waterway from the south end of Hongze Lake, which will benefit millions of acres of farmland on both sides of the river. Shouldn't the owners of these farmlands spend part of the proceeds to support water conservancy construction?The beneficiary should contribute. Is this a fair thing? "

Since the second article was passed just now, there will naturally be no objection to the third article.However, Lu Zhenfei, who was standing by the side, changed his expression slightly. He thought more deeply than the others. After listening to Li Zicheng's third suggestion, he immediately remembered the policy that the Marshal's Mansion is promoting. In fact, the biggest obstacle in the implementation of Dingbumu is the calculation of the number of mu allocated to Dingyin.

But now, in the name of water conservancy repairs, Li Zicheng has obtained the right to re-measure the acres.Profitable fields share the cost of watering, so it is naturally difficult for them to escape the policy of dividing the land into acres.He subconsciously glanced at Wang Fan who was standing beside him in a daze, and he couldn't help thinking that this man's tentative move had instead become an excuse for Li Zicheng to further control Huai'an. He must have never expected this situation in his heart.

At this time, Li Zicheng suddenly turned his head and said to Wang Fan: "Wang Leichen, since you are the first to propose water control, the task of setting up the Huanghuaiyun Water Conservancy Bureau and Huai'an Water Conservancy School is entrusted to you. Do you have any questions? "

Silently staring at Li Zicheng for a long time, Wang Fan finally bowed his head to Li Zicheng and said, "If your Majesty can allocate some money and food to the minister, then I am willing to encourage you to give it a try."

Li Zicheng thought for a while and said: "When the school starts, 5 taels should be enough at the beginning. In addition to field investigations and surveys, I will give you 10 taels for the time being. But I hope that the school and the water conservancy bureau can be established before the end of the year. This any questions?"

Wang Fan replied briefly but forcefully: "No."

Li Zicheng then turned his head and said to the council members: "The issue of water control is over here, let's talk about the second issue. Yangzhou City sent an envoy willing to belong to Dashun, so I will go south soon. Before heading south, I would like to resolve some issues, or talk to Cihong..."

Chapter 159

When the meeting was over, Zhu Cihong, who followed Li Zicheng, entered the second gate, and finally said to Li Zicheng boldly: "Your Majesty, is it inappropriate for Yu to preside over the meeting? I can't even understand what they are discussing. If they Come to ask Yu about his attitude, but Yu doesn't know who to turn to?"

Li Zicheng stopped in his tracks, turned his head to look at Zhu Cihong, saw him lower his head, and said solemnly just now: "It's not difficult to preside over the meeting, as long as we respect each other."

Zhu Cihong replied with some doubts: "Mutual respect?"

Li Zicheng nodded and said: "It doesn't matter what they are arguing about, what matters is whether the conclusion meets the needs of the people. After grasping this point, as long as you and the congressmen maintain mutual respect. Simply put, if the views of both sides If you agree, then you should respect the opinions of the MPs, and if the views of the two sides disagree, then let the MPs respect your decision. This is mutual respect."

Zhu Cihong, who listened carefully, nodded his head, but soon he felt that something was wrong, he looked up at Li Zicheng and asked hesitantly, "Is this mutual respect?"

Li Zicheng reached out and patted him on the shoulder, and said meaningfully: "First of all, you must find your own way forward, and don't let others dictate the direction you want to go. As for now, you just need to listen to their arguments , and then just choose to vote at the right time, don’t express your opinions easily, it’s still too early for you now.”

After Li Zicheng and Zhu Cihong explained a few words, they turned and left. Zhu Cihong watched Li Zicheng's back disappear, and then went back to his yard with a complicated mood.Li Shichun, who was writing something, saw Zhu Cihong who was preoccupied, so he couldn't help but stop writing, and asked him.

After hearing Zhu Cihong repeat Li Zicheng's words, Li Shichun was silent for a few breaths before nodding and said: "Your Majesty's words are well intentioned, Your Highness, it is really not suitable for you to make any remarks to the outside world.

Fufan has now joined the Datong, His Highness has taken shelter of Emperor Yongchang, and Emperor Daxing has not been buried. Anything His Highness says now may be distorted by others, and thus become a dagger to attack His Highness.Your Highness is the only way to protect yourself by keeping silent and yearning for the past of Emperor Daxing. "

Zhu Cihong saluted the teacher respectfully and accepted the opinion, but just when he wanted to go back to his room to change, he stopped involuntarily and asked the teacher hesitantly: "Teacher, are we really going to Nandu?" ?”

Li Shichun was stunned for a moment, and asked cautiously: "Did Emperor Yongchang say something to you?"

Zhu Cihong shook his head and replied in a depressed mood: "Your Majesty didn't say anything, but I was a little confused. After crossing the river, the teacher will not be able to enter the palace with me. Then I will be surrounded by strangers. I'm a little scared."

Li Shichun was silent for a while, the prince's worry actually showed that he had matured a bit.If it was a few months ago, the prince would not only not be worried, but would be impatient to go to the palace in Nandu.After all, the life inside the palace city was the life he was most familiar with, and the life outside the palace walls was full of surprises.

But on the way south, the prince, who has seen life outside the palace walls, should start to understand that the safety inside the palace walls is actually illusory, and only outside the palace walls can he control his own destiny.Naturally, this kind of consciousness did not arise out of thin air, but Li Zicheng's unconscious precepts and deeds.

This is really a wonderful situation. The character who was supposed to be the prince's enemy has now become the prince's life mentor.However, Li Shichun also had to admit that Li Zicheng did teach the prince a lot, instead of treating the prince as a rare commodity to live in.This also made the prince's feelings for Li Zicheng rather entangled, with both resentment and a sense of dependence.

And he was really not sure. After Emperor Hongguang abdicated and returned to the vassal, all the people in Nanjing became loyal ministers who supported the prince.To put it bluntly, it is an unforgivable political mistake made by the Minister of the Southern Metropolis and the Nanjing garrison eunuch to support Fufan's entry into the reunification.Thinking about the change of seizing the door, Yu Qian's head was still beheaded despite his great achievements, wasn't it because he intervened in the issue of the succession of the throne.

This is what happened to Yu Qian who had no selfish intentions. Those ministers and eunuchs in Southern Metropolis who are full of private schemes, don't they really worry that the crown prince will settle with them when he becomes an adult?The crown prince is worried, which only shows that the crown prince is mature, and he will not blindly think that the subjects of Ming Dynasty will be unconditionally loyal to him, just because he is the crown prince.

After pondering for a long time, Li Shichun said: "Your Highness, don't worry too much. We will not let you live in Nandu Palace alone, Your Highness..."

On the other end, Li Zicheng, who had returned to his office, quickly recruited Jiang Chen, Zhang Jiayu, Zhou Zhikui, and Xi Benzhen.These four people are currently in charge of civil affairs in the Huai'an area. Since he is going to take the army south, he naturally wants to discuss some government affairs with these assistants after he leaves.

"I'm going to go south on September 9rd. The four of you are here to sort out a few things after I go south. The first thing is the establishment of the central bank and the currency recasting plan that Jiang Chen is in charge of. Now the bank's reserve silver Already, with the recruitment of shares in the salt companies, there will soon be large sums of money deposited in the central bank.

I am going to issue an order in the name of the Marshal's Mansion: in the future, more than 100 taels of commercial transactions will be traded through bank accounts; 25% export tax will be imposed on the export of gold and goldware; and mandatory insurance measures will be implemented for ships going to sea; to keep reserves in the bank.

其次就是货币重铸计划，目前市场上的金银铜比例是1：10：640；但是天启前800文制钱的含铜量是72.8两，超过了1:64的银铜比例市价。所以，现在天启之前的好钱市场上很难看到，最为流行的还是崇祯钱和私铸钱，大致1两白银换60-62两铜之间。

However, due to the war, the price of silver continued to rise, and the current price of 1 tael of silver in Jiangnan for 2400 Wen has exceeded 3000 Wen.The ratio between silver and copper has been out of balance. The Marshal's Mansion does not have so much copper to mint new money, and it is not willing to let those business gentry who stock up on silver profit.Therefore, only currency can be changed.

From the current point of view, using copper coins to represent the value of copper is easily disturbed by market fluctuations in the ratio of copper to silver, which is very unfavorable to the common people.So we have to give up copper coin pricing, but if we use silver pricing, although the Marshal's Mansion now reserves a certain amount of silver, the origin of the silver is overseas and not in China, which means that we cannot stabilize the value of silver.

Therefore, the value of currency can only be anchored in gold.However, the amount of gold in our hands is not enough, so we need to purchase enough gold within a certain period of time. During this period of time, we need to temporarily use silver as legal tender. I hope that this certain period of time should not exceed three years. "

When Xi Benzhen heard this, he immediately responded: "I have received a letter from my family, and the bank's recruitment of shares has gone smoothly. This time, His Majesty will go south, and Suzhou will send several representatives across the river to discuss the establishment of the bank." Ask Your Majesty, don’t you know Your Majesty?”

Li Zicheng nodded and said, "Yes, I am waiting for them in Yangzhou. So, does the Ministry of Finance have any conclusions on the issue of currency reform?"

Only then did Jiang Chen say aloud: "The ministers and others use the full grain as the standard silver ingot, and each tael is set as ten coins, or one hundred cents, or one thousand cents, and three types of copper and silver coins are minted, one coin, two coins, and five coins. There are four kinds of copper coins: 10 points, 5 points, 2 points, and 1 point; the raw materials of copper coins can be obtained by destroying private money. Judging from the current market value of copper coins, exchanging silver for copper coins is more cost-effective than buying copper materials directly. However, For the long term, we still need a stable source of copper. At present, there are not many copper producing areas in China, but I heard that Japanese copper is relatively cheap, and can be exchanged for raw silk, tea, and porcelain in our country."

Li Zicheng thought for a while and said: "This time I will go south and negotiate with Nandu properly, and I will arrange a trading fleet to Japan. Japanese copper imports will not be a big problem, but now I still mainly buy copper coins. Not only need For currency reform, I also need to allocate copper materials to cast cannons, and this matter should be started as soon as possible.”

Jiang Chen responded, and then said: "As for the printing of banknotes, after getting the support of Huai'an craftsmen, the problem is not too big now. It is the anti-counterfeiting of banknotes, which has not made much progress now. If someone forgery If paper money is used, the bank will lose a lot.”

Li Zicheng put his hand on his temple and thought for a few seconds before saying: "Then the scope of use of banknotes will not be expanded for the time being. Except for Huai'an, Xuzhou, and Yangzhou, other places will not promote banknotes for the time being. You continue to study how to better prevent counterfeiting Technology. I will send you another team to track down the people or groups who mint counterfeit coins. Anyone who counterfeit coins exceeds 100 taels will be sentenced to death.

In addition, I plan to use part of the banknotes in this autumn grain collection, so that the common people can get acquainted with the banknotes first.In the past, the collection of autumn grain was carried by the grain chief. In addition to the regular grain, there was also the payment of loss and freight.This time, I hope that the Grain Bureau can go to the countryside to buy grain with banknotes, and let the grain chief pay taxes with banknotes.This can not only fix the land tax and additional tax, but also let the people know the benefits of using paper money.What do you think of Zhang Shenzheng? "

Zhang Jiayu thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty's idea is good, but it's best to give them a chance to choose. Those who are willing to use the old method to pay taxes should use the old method, and those who are willing to try the new method should try the new method. If I find a few big households to set an example, then the people will not be so resistant to using banknotes. Under the current situation, the people probably prefer things as usual for the best. If we rashly promote the New Deal, we will only be suspicious of the people. "

Li Zicheng nodded slightly, and then said to Xi Benzhen: "The temperature is dropping very fast now. It was late summer a few days ago, but now it feels like late autumn. The army's autumn clothes must be prepared, Su Song What is the price of a generation of cloth this year?"

Chapter 160 A Few Things Part Two

Xi Benzhen carefully explained to Li Zicheng: "At the end of the Wanli period, the output of cotton cloth in the eight prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River was about 5000 million pieces, 6-7% of which were consumed locally, and 1500-2000 million pieces were shipped to other places.

After the apocalypse, this number could still be maintained, but three years after Chongzhen, the export sales of cotton cloth in Jiangnan began to decline, and the number of cloth and cotton fields also declined.

There was a severe drought in the south of the Yangtze River last year, and the amount of cotton planted by the people this year is even less. However, the war this year has completely blocked the passages to the north and west of the south of the Yangtze River. Therefore, although the number of cotton cloth has dropped sharply, because there are no foreign merchants to buy cotton cloth. The price is always going down.

This year, the price of flowers is 2000 renminbi per 80 jin, 20 renminbi per jin without seeds, and a piece of 320 taels of cotton cloth is worth 300 renminbi, but some farmers are willing to sell it for 310 to 3 renminbi.If it is converted into silver taels, it is about 320% cheaper than in previous years.The cotton cloth store opened by my elder brother in Songjiang accepts ordinary goods at 600 cash and high-quality goods at [-] cash, and the weavers who come to the door are already crowded.

Therefore, according to Chen's judgment, it is certain that the price of cloth will fall below 300 ren by the time the cloth of Xinmian Textile comes into the market this year.It should be able to save a lot of money by releasing it after September. "

Li Zicheng glanced at the others, and then asked Zhang Jiayu, "Zhang Shenzheng, what do you think?"

Zhang Jiayu was silent for a few breaths and then opened his mouth and said: "Although it is beneficial to me at the moment, I am afraid that the people in the south of the Yangtze River will complain about me in the future. I feel that the gain outweighs the loss."

After thinking for a while, Li Zicheng said: "Zhang's idea of ​​participating in politics is in line with my wishes. It is not a wise move to damage the strength of the people in the south of the Yangtze River at this time. After all, cotton cloth is a major pillar industry in the south of the Yangtze River. If it is too suppressed, no one will be willing to plant it next year. What about cotton and cotton weaving? With the current food production in the north, there is no land to grow cotton, and the people in the north are not good at weaving, which suppresses the production of cotton cloth in the south of the Yangtze River. In the end, we have to pay a higher price to buy cotton cloth.

Counselor Xi, if you order cloth from Su Song’s cloth merchants in the name of the Marshal’s Mansion, you will determine the price of middle-grade and top-grade cotton cloth at 320 Wen and 600 Wen. The quantity is not limited, but they must accept the deadline issued by the Marshal’s House Tickets, we will not be able to settle orders in cash for a short period of time.However, in return, all businessmen who accepted the promissory note issued by the Marshal's Mansion can accept the protection of my Dashun. They can enter Shaanxi via the Yangtze River and Han River waterways, and go to the grasslands and Western Regions for trade.Dashun accepts their promissory notes to pay the customs duties along the road..."

Xi Benzhen did not speak, but both Zhang Jiayu and Zhou Zhikui immediately raised objections to Li Zicheng, believing that allowing merchants to trade outside the border would lead to the strengthening of the various ethnic groups in the grassland, and they learned about the reality of the interior from the merchants. Another curse for the future.

Li Zicheng said disapprovingly: "Today, the Mongolian ethnic groups' understanding of the reality of the interior is still stronger than that of the Yuan Dynasty? How can the Mongols who understand the reality of the interior be unable to invade the interior during the Ming Taizu and Ming Chengzu periods, and then strictly guard against the barbarians?" The emperors of the Ming Dynasty were troubled by the border bandits? It was because the inside of the tree was rotten that it attracted the woodpeckers from the outside, not that the tree broke because of the outside woodpeckers first.

Allowing merchants to sell the products in the interior to the grasslands and further afield can not only feed the small people in the interior, but also draw in the relationship between the various ethnic groups in the frontier and the interior. This is the way to unify the country.Forcibly separating the frontier and the inland will only make the frontier peoples more hostile to the people in the inland, and in the end it will only benefit those ambitious people.

If Daming hadn't given up Sanwei and Hetao, how could the Mongols return to Monan?It’s not that the Northeast is empty and uninhabited, so how could Jiannu occupy China’s land to multiply and rebel against us?Forcibly building a wall on the frontier, and then keeping the people at home as farmers, is just thinking about the inheritance of the country for thousands of years, and I will not do anything to destroy the careers of the people with the selfishness of one family. "

Zhang Jiayu and Zhou Zhikui were left speechless by Li Zicheng's words, while Jiang Chen and Xi Benzhen came out together to praise the emperor's wisdom.The former support is to use this opportunity to promote banks and banknotes, while the latter is for the future of Dongting merchants.

Given this year's situation, Dongting merchants have no business to do, which means that they have to raise a large number of people for nothing.Rather than raising so many people for nothing, it would be better to cooperate with the Marshal's Mansion. Although they can't get cash for the time being, if they can reopen the commercial roads between Shaanxi, the grasslands, and the Western Regions, then this will be a long-term business.