I am the king of the dead

The law of corporate governance has always seemed petty.

And Daming has always been a magnificent Daming.

Yu Qian's question is to ask, in this cold winter, can the court named Daming just watch helplessly?

"This question is a good question. If you look at the fire from the other side, you will end up getting caught up in the fire." Zhu Qiyu knocked on the table, positively affirming Qian's point of view.

"Then what should we do in terms of the court?" Zhu Qiyu asked guidingly.

The director of the Driving Division said excitedly: "Last year, we hardened the road from Shijingchang to Meishikou, and the price of charcoal per catty in Jingshi was reduced from eight yuan to six yuan."

"It's been reduced by two points!"

"And whether it's raining or snowing, the price of coal in the capital hasn't changed much, just like today's heavy snowfall, but the price of coal for ordinary people fluctuates by no more than one penny."

"Although I don't know what the meaning is, but it must have done something good?" the director of the Driving Department asked a little confused.

Zhu Qiyu showed a smile, it seemed that it was only two pennies, but the capital needed 5000 million catties of coal for just one year of government office.

Zhu Qiyu looked at the host of the driving department, he was a craftsman who was not good at speaking, and he had seen it many times.

Zhu Qiyu gave a very positive answer and said: "It is very meaningful and a great thing! The driving department has done a good job, Xing'an, and the Shijingchang driving department has two silver coins per person."

The rest of the ministries all showed envious expressions, and the head of the driving department was in full bloom.

In the past, the fluctuation of coal prices in Daming was easily affected by the weather. The roads were muddy in summer and slippery in winter, which was finally reflected in the price of coal. The price of Jingshi coal was like a roller coaster, soaring and plummeting.

It is said: [Daily trading coal is the business. Whenever rain and snow continue, the coal road is blocked, and the coal from Xishan cannot come, you can get several times the profit with one book. 】

There is another situation where coal channels are blocked, and that is military disasters.

During the battle of the capital, Yu Qian once wrote a letter requesting to store coal for [-] days, saying: [Shuntian Mansion should secretly know that the families of the aborigines and overseas Chinese living in Beijing, regardless of high or low, rich or poor, should store coal for [-] days in advance to prepare for emergencies. needs. 】

The speech of the driving department caused extensive discussion, and Zhu Qiyu watched them without saying a word, discussing what the court could do in the Winter Preface.

When it comes to the rhythm of the meeting, His Majesty the Great Ming Emperor has always been very careful.

Yu Qian smiled without saying a word, looking at His Majesty who was in the first place. He was in a critical situation at the time, and he only thought that His Majesty could sit in that position, even if he didn't sit on anything, to sit firmly. This is Yu Qian's greatest expectation.

As long as His Majesty can sit down, Yu Qian can guarantee that the Ming Dynasty will be safe. It is obvious that His Majesty has done better than expected.

The discussion gradually died down, Zhu Qiyu sat up straight, and said conclusively: "I have finished listening to your discussion."

"This Winter Preface is caused by insufficient money supply. First of all, we need to issue more currency, whether it is imperial silver coins or Jingtai Tongbao, we need to issue additional currency to meet the people's demand for currency."

Shen Yi, Minister of the Household Department, immediately echoed and said: "Your Majesty, then the matter of the law..."

Up to now, the right to issue currency has always been in the hands of the Baoyuan Bureau of the Ministry of Industry. Jin Lian and Zhang Feng have done great things to withdraw the right to issue currency. The household department is getting further and further away.

Zhu Qiyu shook his head and said: "It's not the time, the law of money is still in place."

This is the fourth time that Zhu Qiyu disagrees with the courtiers on the matter of money law and banknote law. explained.

The banknote law is not good, no one says it is useless, and the courtiers have nothing to do.

Zhu Qiyu took a sip of tea, and he continued to say: "Secondly, we should reduce the cost of workshops, increase and protect the employment of craftsmen, then we need the court to intervene in financial affairs. In fact, we have been doing this all the time. of."

The imperial court intervened in the financial affairs and improved the financial affairs of the Ming Dynasty. This is the official duty of the imperial court that Zhu Qiyu has been unswervingly promoting since the war of the capital—Lishan.

The Ming Dynasty is strong, and in all aspects, only the financial affairs are really the shortcomings of the shortcomings.

Before Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne, the Ming court, which didn't even print and issue money, finally died of poverty.

During the reign of Chongzhen, Sun Chuanting went out of Beijing to suppress the rebellion. Emperor Chongzhen gave Sun Chuanting 7000 taels of silver to Sun Chuanting to go to Yulin to form the famous Qin army. Xiongjun, that is to prepare their own dry food.

In the Battle of Songjin, Hong Chengchou fought for two years, and spent less than 300 million taels of silver in the army's food and grass, and nearly killed Hou Jin in the Battle of Songjin. Who will win or lose is still unknown.

If the food and salary are enough, the gods will be broken.

It is a true portrayal of the Ming Army.

But the Ming court was really too poor. The fundamental reason was that Ming never had a complete and executable economic taxation system in line with the national conditions of Ming Dynasty, and the poor became poorer.

Zhu Qiyu is not a money worshiper, nor does he think that all problems are economic problems, but he still understands that it is difficult to move without money, and a penny is difficult for a hero.

Zhu Qiyu doesn't ask for more, but only asks that while he is alive, he will continue to improve Daming's financial affairs and add a glimmer of hope to Daming's future.

"Then how did the imperial court interfere with Daming's financial affairs?"

"The Driving Department proposed to repair bridges, repair roads, harden roads, dredge waterways, build water conservancy, expand official roads and post roads, etc. These industries are all labor-intensive industries. Then after the Ministry of Industry discusses, come up with a specific plan. The method of labor relief will be decided by the court after discussion."

"The Department of Cherishing Salaries believes that labor remuneration should be strictly guaranteed to prevent the lack of private consumption desires, resulting in insufficient demand. This is very good. Guaranteeing labor remuneration is to ensure the fundamentals of Daming's financial affairs."

"The Ministry of Criminal Affairs and Dali Siqing just put forward the idea of ​​restricting malicious competition. I think this point is extremely well thought out. Appropriate competition is conducive to the transformation of Ming Dynasty into a commodity economy, but excessive malicious competition will only result in excess products and lower profit margins. , deterioration of the general environment, monopoly and a series of evil consequences.”

"The Ministry of Household Affairs and the Department of General Administration proposed to expand the scale of the farm law and establish more farms to prevent large-scale famine. On this point, I will make a decision after communicating with Yu Shaobao."

"Okay, this is my way."

After Zhu Qiyu finished speaking, he closed the question book, looked at the officials and asked, "Is there anything else to add?"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Zhu Qiyu nodded very satisfied. He was very satisfied that no one in the current Salt and Iron Conference held the rhetoric of competing with the people to make the court refuse to perform its duties and interfere in financial affairs.

"The meeting is over." Zhu Qiyu stood up and ended the salt and iron meeting.

Many ministers and workers quickly stood up, bowed their heads and shouted together: "Respectfully send off Your Majesty."

Zhu Qiyu thought of competing for profit with the people, and then thought of Wang Fu who was far away in Samarkand. This fellow was obviously talented, but after reforming himself, he refused to return to the imperial court!

Talents, especially talented ones, Daming is also in short supply!

It was the first time that Deng Shun, a Jinshi in the second year of Jingtai and Hanlin of the Hanlin Academy, who participated in this kind of salt and iron conference was a little dazed when he walked out of Juxian Pavilion. The heavy snow was blowing into Deng Shun's neck continuously under the cold wind. , like a handful of files.

But this kind of cold and pain was not as big as the impact of attending the meeting today. He walked towards the Imperial Academy step by step, thinking about what he had done in the past five years in the Imperial Academy.

Before Deng Shun participated in the meeting, he firmly opposed His Majesty the Ming Dynasty to compete for profit with the court and the people.Where is the majesty of the court? !

Doesn't His Majesty feel ashamed to openly discuss things that smell like money?

However, after attending the Salt and Iron Conference, I felt that "competing for profit with the people" was the court's duty, because only by competing for profit with the people could the rules be formulated in accordance with the times, and financial affairs could develop in an orderly manner.

Not competing for profit with the people is a kind of indulgence.

Deng Shun stood still a little dizzy. The conflict between the two concepts made Deng Shun a little confused. For the first time, he reflected on whether the views he had learned and those instilled in him by others were correct.

Once people start to doubt, they will start to think. This is the change from being me to having me. Of course, I can’t get the answer, that is, I can’t change it in my life. When I practice it, it is the change from having me to not having me.

"Teacher." Seeing the man standing in front of him, Deng Shun hurriedly bowed his head and saluted as a disciple.

Chen Xun stood motionless in front of the lecture hall, with a finger-deep snow piled up on his shoulders, he saw Deng Shun nodded and said, "Excuse me."

Chen Xun saw Deng Shun's confusion, and said a little absent-mindedly: "Deng Shun, if you don't know whether it is right or wrong, then let me tell you, Your Majesty is right."

"Okay, I'm going to face the saint."

Chen Xun patted Deng Shun on the shoulder, and walked towards Juxian Pavilion.

"Thank you for teaching me, Teacher." Deng Shun bowed to see him off.

Chapter 626 Natural Selection, Survival of the Fittest

Relief with work is a kind of disaster relief method that benefits and costs nothing in all dynasties of the Central Plains.

For example, in "The Spring and Autumn Annals of Yanzi", during the time of Qi Jinggong, Yanzi built a platform for sleeping on the road;

In the Tang Dynasty, Li Pinren's martial arts order frequently sent officials to dredge the canals;

When Ouyang Xiu knew Yingzhou, he recruited hungry people to overhaul the irrigation ponds, and built farmland water conservancy while relieving the hunger;

When Zhao Ni learned about Yuezhou, he used construction projects to provide relief;

When Fan Zhongyan knew Hangzhou, he built temples and built warehouses and other activities to provide employment opportunities for the hungry people, so as to achieve the purpose of relieving the hungry people.

In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the concept of the imperial court funding public facilities, the corvee system was still popular. With the development of society and economy, the method of forced labor to build roads, bridges, and water conservancy through corvee methods has increasingly shown its disadvantages.

Because of large-scale corvée, it is easy to cause [killing more people, exhausting people's wealth, wasting the world, and displaced people], which means more risks for the Central Plains dynasty under the small-scale peasant economic system.

The financial affairs system of the Song Dynasty was highly developed, and the method of disaster relief, which was beneficial but not costly, was gradually accepted by the court and the people.

Similar to: [Use surplus money to benefit the poor, raise people for profit, and since the hunger is already relieved, so as to achieve people's benefit] Viewpoints commonly appear.

Prospering according to the needs of the rich and the poor became the most commonly used means of relief in the Song Dynasty, rather than simply opening warehouses to release grain.

So Zhu Qiyu asked the Ministry of Industry to give a specific charter at the Salt and Iron Conference. This kind of economic theory that is very similar to "Keynesianism" was not created by Zhu Qiyu. To a certain extent, it is also the law of the ancestors, and there is no Nothing is acceptable.

Not to mention the need to use a sharp scrubbing tool like Hu Wei to scrub the floor.

Why is there no case of large-scale work-for-relief in Ming Dynasty?

Because the Ming court was so poor that they couldn’t support themselves, and the landlord’s family didn’t have any food left, so how could they carry out work-for-relief?

Now the Ming Dynasty is rich and arrogant!

"Your Majesty, the root of this Winter Preface is still the shortage of money." Yu Qian expressed his opinion quite seriously in the imperial study.

The current Winter Preface of the Ming Dynasty is that the money supply is less than the demand, and the Ming court still owes money debts for 80 years. Yu Qian has already noticed that deflation has appeared in many places.

The solution has long been placed on the long table in the imperial study room, the comprehensive collection of Japanese and banknotes.

It is unrealistic to fully levy the Japanese.

The emperor was not happy with the currency law.

In fact, Yu Qian wanted to share with His Majesty about the issue of banknotes again, but seeing His Majesty's lack of interest, he chose to keep silent.

It is the duty of a courtier to speak bluntly, but when and how to advise is a technical task.

Sometimes, courtiers and emperors will not work hard on things like admonishment, and they will eventually become twisted, which will eventually lead to disharmony between the monarch and his ministers.

In the 25th year of Hongwu, after the death of Zhu Biao, the prince of Yiwen, the matter of who would be the prince was put on the agenda.

The courtiers were actually dissatisfied with Zhu Yunwen, the grandson of the emperor, but the white-haired man sent the black-haired man away, and Emperor Gao, the great ancestor who had experienced the pain of bereavement, wrestled with the courtiers, and finally the Sapphire case broke out.

In the 19th year of Yongle, the Ming Dynasty moved its capital to Shuntian Mansion, and Emperor Wen and his courtiers got into trouble again, and finally got into trouble.

In July of the 14th year of Zhengtong, Zhu Qizhen, the king of Jili, insisted on his own conquest. The minister of the Ministry of War, Kuang Ye, and the British Duke Zhang Fu, etc., made a statement and opposed the personal conquest. Yu.

In fact, Yu Qian really wanted to say that Daming could use money to get through this Winter Preface, but he was afraid that if he, the head of the officials, said something wrong, the emperor and courtiers would twist it again.

In the fourth year of Jingtai, when the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Industry were arguing about the banknote law and the money law, His Majesty asked for advice, and Yu Qian once said that everything is fine.

Because His Majesty is in the prime of his life and has a concubine under his knees, no one dares to make trouble under His Majesty's nose.

For a while, Yu Qian didn't know how to speak, so he sat in front of the case and drank tea, waiting for His Majesty's decision.

After being silent for a long time, Zhu Qiyu finally opened his mouth to talk about the money shortage. This is a fundamental problem and cannot be forgiven at all.

Zhu Qiyu said with a rather heavy expression: "Actually, Yu Shaobao knows it well, and I know it too. Only relying on Japan's silver mountain can only alleviate the money shortage in Ming Dynasty."

"Your Majesty is wise." Yu Qian knew that what His Majesty said was the truth.

Daming is like a bottomless pit, no matter how much gold and silver is thrown into it, it will be like a stone sinking into the sea.

The Ming Dynasty, or the Central Plains Dynasty, was still unable to break through from a small peasant economy to a commodity economy. The root cause was that the money supply of this land could not satisfy the gluttonous stomach of this land.

Without sufficient general equivalents, it was impossible for the Ming Dynasty to transform from a small peasant economy to a commodity economy.

Daming is still short of copper and silver, which makes the barren financial affairs of Daming worse.

Zhu Qiyu stood up, paced back and forth, and said as he walked: "In a general sense, currency is equivalent to wealth. This is true for the common people, and it is also true for the imperial court."

"Among the three types of assets, fixed, liquid, and reserved, currency has three attributes. There is even a view in Nanya and Songjiang Prefecture that there is no kind of asset that is as reliable as gold and silver."

"Households wear out and lose value over time; livestock get sick and die if left uncared for; stored food spoils and rots."

"Only gold and silver are forever!"

Yu Qian was a little puzzled. He thought for a while before he said: "Your Majesty said at the Salt and Iron Conference last year that national strength and national wealth are the total output of Ming Dynasty and the annual income from land, labor and consumable assets. On this point, I think Your Majesty's words are very kind."

"I think that it cannot be summed up in one word. Gold and silver are wealth."

Yu Qian and His Majesty agree that national wealth should not be just general equivalents such as gold, silver, copper and iron.

What Zhu Qiyu and Yu Qian said was the first principle of mercantilism: wealth is made of gold and silver.

"On a land without large-scale gold and silver mines, gold and silver can only be brought if the export value is higher than the import value, such as our Ming Dynasty." Zhu Qiyu mentioned a concept, which has a more familiar name, called trade surplus.

The second principle of mercantilism is primitive accumulation through trade surplus.

Yu Qian immediately understood the meaning of His Majesty's two paragraphs, and said with a frown: "So, Songjiang Mansion's ethos of admiring luxury, competing for luxury, pursuing wealth, and fighting for wealth comes from this, because it is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River. The thoroughfare is half the world, the place where the world's department stores are distributed."

Yu Qian finally understood the reason why His Majesty was so wary of the extravagance in Songjiang Mansion from the very beginning, because His Majesty knew that it would definitely appear.

Sure enough, it is His Majesty, who has never failed in financial affairs.