strictlysupreme Chapter 912 Money moves people’s hearts
Chapter 912 Money moves people’s hearts
Chapter 912 Money moves people’s hearts
In the world's political and economic history, the listing of new money is usually introduced as a "life-saving policy". For example, during the Weimar Republic, because the First World War caused a serious economic crisis and vicious inflation, the government introduced the new mark and abolished the old mark.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia faced severe economic turmoil and also replaced the old ruble with the new ruble.
Even Argentina and Ukraine have implemented this policy due to hyperinflation.
The direct reason is that since the old currency is completely uncontrollable, why not just stop bothering with it and abolish it completely and use new ones?
Of course, the results later on were mostly failures.
The most fundamental factor is that the government has no way to stabilize the value of the new money.
In the above specific cases, the problem lies not with the currency but with the government itself.
In fact, India has also made the sudden move of abolishing banknotes. The feature of "suddenly" is actually more fatal in this matter, because it will definitely cause serious bank runs, but India can ensure that the economy returns to normal after a period of time.
Zhu Houzhao also understood.
This kind of currency reform has many supporting measures, including advance planning, strict laws, clear exchange policies, a smooth exit mechanism for the old currency, and even extensive publicity to launch such measures.
In fact, all these points revolve around one thing: stabilizing the value expectations of new money.
If we don’t build trust in the new money among the people, there will definitely be chaos. Even if one problem is solved, another will arise.
But how to stabilize the expected value of new money?
A strong and resilient central government is needed.
No matter what chaos we encounter during the process, we must firmly state: I accept the new currency!
He knew many methods in the modern financial and monetary system, but had no way to apply them fully. Only this one was absolutely without problem.
As long as the value of the new coin is guaranteed,
Even if there is a period of chaos, society will gradually stabilize.
Zai Hao came in and reported that people were rapidly discarding old coins. After listening carefully, Zhu Houzhao did not regard it as a sign of failure, but the beginning of success.
This means that people believe in the new currency.
This is actually very difficult.
In a sense, he has been laying the foundation for today since the first day he ascended the throne.
The Chinese people's trust in wise and powerful emperors is far greater than that of other nations. When a hero raises his arm and calls for help, the cohesive force is undeniable.
So the logic is very simple, because the good reputation that Emperor Zhengde had accumulated among the people over the past 21 years made the people willing to believe him.
If not, imagine that a foolish emperor was promoting this new currency. Before it was even launched, the common people would subconsciously think that the court was going to start making money again.
So he replied to Zai Yao: "As long as the people are willing to accept the new currency, other problems will not be a big deal. The biggest difficulty in currency reform is that the people do not accept the new currency at all, but stubbornly stick to the old currency.
Now the market is willing to use it, even if there is some confusion, it is not a big deal. I asked you to investigate the capital area to see if there are any merchants who refuse to accept the new money. If you find these people, you must deal with them one by one. "
Zai He was stunned and felt a little regretful. He was too anxious and rushed into the palace without much discussion. He didn't expect that he failed to scratch the emperor's itch.
"Is there such a person?" Zhu Houzhao asked again.
Zai Yao came back to his senses and responded a little unsmoothly, saying, "This... I haven't found it yet. I'd better go to a farther place and take a closer look."
Zhu Houzhao's brows drooped slightly, but he did not get angry. Instead, he continued to teach tirelessly, "Boss, the key to currency reform is to promote the new money and make the people willing to use it.
For the imperial court, if they want to gain the trust of the people, they have to produce something genuine, and they can’t just print it randomly like they did with the original treasure notes. Who would be willing to let people believe that something is genuine when it’s fake?
Zai Yao didn't know whether he understood or not, but he agreed anyway, "I understand, thank you for your teachings, father."
"Go." Zhu Houzhao prepared to send him away.
At this time, he didn't have much energy to say too much to him.
However, Zai Yao hesitated for a moment and asked another question, "Father, what if a store refuses to accept old coins?"
A row of ellipsis appeared in Zhu Houzhao's mind.
It seems that this guy doesn't fully understand either.
He did not sigh, and replied: "The currency reform of the court is not to force the new currency on people unreasonably. Currency itself is just a medium for transactions. The purpose of updating the currency is to end the chaos of the old currency. It is not to force people to use the new currency without any bottom line or consideration. There is a subtle difference between the two. Do you understand?"
Zai Yao thought for a moment and said, "Then I will get rid of this shop!"
"This kind of fine and warning is enough, don't ban it directly."
This additional sentence actually comes from the fact that I am a little worried about him, afraid that he might do something too extreme and add to the chaos at this time.
"My son understands!"
After Zai Yao left,
Zhang Cong also came in a hurry.
Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and said, "Come inside."
It was already summer, and the weather was extremely hot. Normally, the emperor would have set off to the summer palace. But now was the beginning of the currency update.
Zhu Houzhao's departure from the capital always brought some administrative inconveniences.
So he has not set off this year.
"I am here to see you, Your Majesty."
"Stand up, get closer."
There was ice next to the emperor and someone was fanning him, so asking him to get closer was a way of showing consideration for him.
"Your Majesty, except for Northern Zhili, the governors of Shanxi, Henan, Fengyang, Yingtian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian have submitted memorials respectively, reporting the matter of starting the exchange of new and old coins. Please review it."
Zhu Houzhao held the memorial in his hand and reminded, "The cabinet sent down the order, asking all places to make a small memorial every three days and a big memorial every five days, and to follow up on the situation among the people in a timely manner. In my estimation, most ordinary law-abiding people will not cause chaos, only the treacherous and greedy businessmen, corrupt officials and some ruffians will take the opportunity to profit."
At the end, his eyes flashed with coldness.
"Yes."
In fact, the market has a spontaneous function, which is to equate the actual value of one or two taels of silver with the ten silver dollars that are now exchanged. Because in a fair economy, both buyers and sellers are voluntary. If you sell it at a high price, the buyer is not a fool. What can you do if he is unwilling?
But the situation Zhu Houzhao was talking about was some "abnormal people" who had enough wisdom and ability to take special measures.
In Yangzhou,
Han Ziren encountered this incident when he got up early in the morning.
The busy streets are crowded with people queuing up to exchange money.
"Master Ti, the people have arrived."
Han Ziren turned around and said, "Ask him in."
Not long after, a strong man walked in with his head lowered, knelt on one knee, and said, "I am Ma Du, and I pay my respects to General Ti."
"Stand up and talk." Han Ziren knew this guy, and this might be one of the reasons why he stayed in Yangzhou. "I'm not going to Yangzhou to investigate any major cases this time, but just to take precautions. I want to ask you, there are several powerful wealthy businessmen in Yangzhou, and what are they doing recently?"
"I understand." The man replied, "The wealthy merchants in Yangzhou are mainly concentrated in two areas. The first is the salt merchants headed by Huiyanji, and the second is the traders headed by Zhangji. Yangzhou's business is prosperous and the atmosphere of traveling merchants is strong. When the sea trade started twenty years ago, they participated in it. After so many years, a small village with the surname Zhang has produced several big traders. The rest, even those who run larger restaurants, are only small rich."
"Are there any members of these merchants who have entered the government?"
"A scholar from the Zhang family is currently in the capital."
"Who do these people usually contact and how do they behave? Can you find out?"
Ma Du hesitated for a moment, "Okay, but please give me some time, General. Besides, these days are special."
Han Ziren didn't understand, "Why is it special?"
Ma Du still thought this question was strange. "Didn't the court order the new currency to be replaced? These merchants have assets worth millions, so it would be troublesome to exchange them. They are already preparing."
"I wonder if there's anything going on here..." Han Ziren frowned.
Ma Du was puzzled, "Ti Shuai...does he have a grudge against one of their families?"
"Tsk. Don't make wild guesses. Just treat it as a simple inspection. If they are fine, we are fine too. And vice versa..."
He didn't say much afterwards.
Ma Duze thought of one thing and took a deep breath. "There is one thing. I don't know if it counts. I heard about it from others."
"You are talking."
"General Ti, the court has replaced the new currency this time. In my opinion, in order to facilitate the majority of the people, most of the old currency will be recognized. However, this implementation is likely to cause major problems."
Han Ziren didn't understand, "Go on."
"General Ti, do you know that private copper coins can be minted by the people? If the government accepts all copper coins, regardless of their purity or size, and someone with ulterior motives melts down the old coins, reduces the copper content, and then mints new coins to exchange, wouldn't that make a fortune out of thin air?"
Han Ziren is an official, and he has been an official since he was in his early twenties. He has never been an official related to economics, so he was even stunned when Ma Du said this.
"Is it really possible?"
"Of course, if you just melt it and then refine it, you can get two or three times, or even three or four times the profit. Even if that's not the case, there are people who mint coins privately, and the exchange time is a year. Even if you don't produce anything, you can make a fortune just by minting coins."
In fact, during the Ming Dynasty, the phenomenon of private copper coins was very serious, and the motivation behind this was profit.
For example, if they got a five-zhu coin, they would melt it down and refine it into a coin weighing three zhu, and then use it as a counterfeit. This actually caused the coins in the Ming Dynasty to become smaller and smaller for a period of time.
Because there was no way to stop the private minting of coins, even the government joined in during the Jiajing period, causing chaos in the coin market.
Now that people have brought a small amount of money over, do you think the government should change it?
The circulation of private money is a fact. If you don’t acknowledge it, you will be in big trouble.
But if we have to change, then every household will melt the heavy coins into light coins, and the big coins into small coins.
The imperial court could create unlimited amounts of money to meet this demand, but the result would be severe inflation.
It's a pity that the imperial court issued new money just to end the chaos in the current currency market, but the wisdom of the people in making money is infinite. It's just the beginning, and they have already started to think about it.
Han Ziren immediately took it seriously. "This is already disrupting the market. Madu, you need to keep your eyes open. If anyone really engages in malicious exchange, report it immediately!"
"My subordinate understands!"
(End of this chapter)