met free Chapter 192 The surnames in our Ningyang County are so tragic!
Chapter 192 The surnames in our Ningyang County are so tragic!
There are a few old sayings in the Zhongyuan Hall: "It's a big festival," "He's still a child," and "Since we're already here."
Now, Wang Qiong is in a "since I'm already here" situation with Magistrate Yang. Before Wang Qiong came to Ningyang County, the old magistrate didn't say whether or not he would set up an iron smelting workshop for Ningyang County. Now that Wang Qiong has come to Ningyang County, if the old magistrate doesn't give a clear answer, then wouldn't your trip have been in vain?
Therefore, not wanting Wang Qiong to have made a wasted trip, Magistrate Yang said directly to Wang Qiong, "Brother Wang, you may not know this, but the people of Ningyang County are suffering terribly..."
Wang Qiong paused slightly, then unconsciously asked, "Who is suffering?"
Damn it, every household has cattle and horses, and every family raises chickens and ducks. After harvesting sorghum and soybeans last year, every household had surplus grain. There are also all sorts of random workshops that allow people to make money. Now there are even schools. The children of Ningyang County can actually go to school to study. And then you say that the people of Ningyang County are living a hard life. What do you expect people in other prefectures and counties to think?
Just as Wang Qiong was secretly complaining, Magistrate Yang continued, "To be honest, Brother Wang, our Ningyang County looks quite glamorous on the surface, but what is it really like? It's all relying on the livestock and farm tools bestowed by His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince to stay afloat. If any family's plow, harrow, shovel, hoe, or other farm tools break down, there's not even a place that can repair them."
No, when you plow your field, do you specifically use the plowshare to hit the rocks? Do you also use your harrow plow specifically to harrow the rocks? And what about those farm tools like shovels and hoes, are they all specifically used to hit the rocks?
Otherwise, these things would break down after only a year of use, or even less.
How much do you hate the artisans in the artisan camp, you bastard!
"So," Magistrate Yang said with a sincere expression, "I was thinking, could we set up an ironworks in Ningyang County? But I don't know any master craftsmen, and iron and steel have always been a state monopoly. So I'll have to ask you, Brother Wang, for help. After we return to the capital, please put in a good word for us with His Highness the Crown Prince."
However, just after Magistrate Yang finished speaking, Wang Qiong smiled helplessly and said, "Actually, even if Brother Yang hadn't brought this up, I would have said it anyway—right now all the ironworks and artisan camps in our Great Ming are busy, and we can't spare any manpower for the time being. His Highness the Crown Prince asked me to tell Brother Yang that even if the court agrees to set up ironworks in Ningyang County, it will at least have to wait until Prime Minister Xu and Grand Secretary Chang return to the capital."
Well, after Wang Qiong said that, Yang Shaofeng immediately gave up his idea of building an iron smelting workshop.
There was no other way. All the ironworks and artisan camps in the Ming Dynasty were now serving Xu Da and Chang Yuchun's northern expedition. It would be unreasonable to cause trouble for Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yuanzhang at this critical juncture over the matter of the ironworks.
Just as Magistrate Yang was secretly lamenting, Wang Qiong continued, "By the way, the memorial submitted by Prime Minister Li and the Ministry of Revenue states that it is not suitable for our Great Ming to issue paper money with 'wen' as its face value at present. His Highness the Crown Prince asked me to ask Brother Yang for his opinion."
Yang Shaofeng frowned slightly and asked in return, "Is it that one or two wen denominations are not suitable, or are all wen-denominated denominations unsuitable? Five wen? Ten wen? Twenty wen?"
Wang Qiong was taken aback, and then asked in return, "Five coins? Ten coins? Twenty coins?"
Yang Shaofeng nodded and said, "If Brother Wang says that it's not suitable to issue one-coin notes, then I, Yang, will absolutely not argue with you. But why can't we issue notes of five, ten, twenty, or even fifty coins?"
After returning from the Confucian Temple to the main hall in the backyard of the county government office, Magistrate Yang had the tea set washed. Then, with a heavy heart, he took out a small dragon-shaped tea cake, pried off a corner, and began to brew tea.
"Brother Wang, please."
Wang Qiong stared blankly at Yang Shaofeng, the county magistrate, then looked down at the teacup in front of her and asked, "This... is it Xiaolongtuan?"
Yang Shaofeng nodded and said, "Brother Wang has a good eye. This is indeed the Little Dragon Group—let's take this Little Dragon Group as an example."
"As everyone knows, half a catty of small dragon dumplings is worth at least two taels of gold, and one cake is worth two taels of silver. The corner that I just pried off is worth at least two hundred coins. May I ask, Brother Wang, is it easier to buy this corner with two hundred-coin notes, or is it easier to carry two hundred copper coins?"
Wang Qiong answered without hesitation: "Of course, two hundred-cash notes would be more convenient."
Yang Shaofeng said with a smile, "That's right, two hundred-cash notes are more convenient. Besides, no one stipulates that the notes have to be the same size, right?"
“For example, a banknote worth one tael of silver can be made this big,” Yang Shaofeng gestured with his hand, “and a banknote worth one hundred coins can be made a size smaller than a banknote worth one tael of silver, and a banknote worth fifty coins can be made a size smaller than a banknote worth one hundred coins. Wouldn’t that be more convenient?”
"The real challenge is how to get the people to accept and use the paper money. This is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it will take at least a year to see results."
The first problem faced in issuing Hongwu Baochao (Hongwu Treasure Notes) was not whether the people would accept them, but rather that the officials of the Ming Dynasty probably had about the same level of economic knowledge as a few carpenters in Ningyang County. These officials likely had no idea how the Baochao should be issued or operated.
The second issue is the anti-counterfeiting of the banknotes.
A Mr. Ma once said that if there is a 20% profit, capital will be restless; if there is a 50% profit, capital will take risks; if there is a 100% profit, capital will dare to risk being hanged; and if there is a 300% profit, capital will dare to trample on all human laws.
The profit from counterfeiting Hongwu Baochao is far more than 300%.
The third and most important question is whether Emperor Zhu Chongba could resist the temptation of exchanging paper for money, or whether he would be misled into issuing paper money but not accepting its return, causing its credibility to plummet and the Ming Dynasty's reputation to be completely ruined.
Once these three issues are resolved, issuing the Hongwu Treasure Notes will be a logical next step.
Because it wasn't just Emperor Zhu Chongba who lacked money; the common people also lacked money, and most of the time they could only rely on barter transactions.
If Emperor Zhu Chongba and the Ming Dynasty could resolve the issue of the credibility of paper money, and initially implement a dual-track system where paper money and copper coins could be used simultaneously, allowing people to freely exchange paper money and copper coins, the credibility of paper money would naturally accumulate little by little.
Once the public's acceptance of the currency is higher, the issue of fire loss during the minting of Tongbao coins can be brought up. In order to save money, the public will naturally regard Tongbao coins as inferior currency and turn to Hongwu Baochao coins as superior currency.
There are many tricks to promoting paper money; it just depends on whether Zhu Yuanzhang knows how to play them.