plumnovel Chapter 27 The Central Bank of the Ming Dynasty
Chapter 27 The Central Bank of the Ming Dynasty
In late May of the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, on a certain day before dawn.
Since the June 6th military parade and the Wanggongchang explosion at the beginning of this month shook half of Shuntian Prefecture, the gossip among the people of the capital had barely subsided a few days ago.
Following Wang Tiqian's return from his voyage to Southeast Asia, he brought back many envoys from tributary states and Westerners, allowing the common people and officials to experience the grandeur of China.
Fortunately, these major events have passed. The houses that needed repairing are being repaired, the corpses that needed burial have been buried, and the imperial court's relief funds have been distributed quite promptly.
The publication of the Tianqi Daily caused another uproar in the capital.
The claim that "the Tianqi Explosion was caused by the Later Jin Jurchens" in particular has aroused great public outrage!
What followed was even more outrageous: several episodes in a row exposed the numerous crimes Nurhaci committed in Liaodong.
In the 44th year of the Wanli reign, Nurhaci rebelled against the Ming Dynasty and declared himself emperor. In the following years, he launched a surprise attack and captured important towns in Liaodong.
In the first year of the Tianqi reign, Nurhaci seized land in Liaodong, violently plundered the property of Han people, and forcibly implemented the shaving of heads and changing of clothing.
In the third year of the Tianqi reign, Nurhaci sent 20,000 troops to massacre the city of Fuzhou.
In the fourth and fifth years of the Tianqi reign, Nurhaci only created the "people without grain" tragedy!
From the 47th year of the Wanli reign to the 5th year of the Tianqi reign, Nurhaci carried out multiple massacres in Zhenjiang, Kaiyuan, and Liaoyang.
...Zhu Ming published all the atrocities he knew from his previous life in the "Great Tianqi Daily," with the help of Yang Lian and others.
The people of the Ming Dynasty now yearn to immediately join the army, rush to Liaodong, kill the Jurchens, and avenge their blood feud.
Of course, Zhu Ming knew that the Jurchen forces had already taken hold, and the Eight Banners' fighting strength was not to be underestimated. The court and the people inside and outside the court had not yet truly united as one, so he had to proceed slowly and methodically.
That's why he directed the flames of the Tianqi Explosion towards the Later Jin Jiannu!
Of course, it is true that the Jurchens coveted the Ming Dynasty's military industry and firearms manufacturing.
The joint investigation by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Secret Guard did indeed uncover many spies, further enhancing the credibility of the investigation.
So, the next issue is the military pay for the Liaodong army.
Ten years after the Wanli era, Zhang Juzheng's reforms came to an abrupt end, causing the monetary and fiscal system based on silver to become ineffective.
The Ming Dynasty relinquished its control over the minting and regulation of the nation's core currency, leaving the country's economic lifeline completely exposed to market fluctuations. This can be seen as a major setback in monetary sovereignty.
Therefore, the first thing Zhu Ming thought of when he took power last year was to control the economic lifeline, which is the right to mint coins.
Knowing history well, he understood that to mint and print currency that was difficult to imitate in this era, he had to create something similar to "US dollars".
With the knowledge and physique of a modern level eight fitter and a level nine carpenter, building a gravure printing machine would be a piece of cake.
So, after taking control of the Forbidden City and the Ministry of Works, Zhu Ming immediately launched a "ten-round draw," recruiting all sorts of talented people from the Ming Dynasty into his ranks.
Wang Zheng, Song Yingxing, Xu Guangqi, Wu Quchen... talents from various fields were thus assigned to spend the rest of their lives working hard for Zhu Ming.
We have gravure printing presses, engraving plates, and improved inks; we also need to set up production lines!
Thus, the Daming Science and Technology Research Institute was established.
The most difficult part in the early stages was the color-changing ink, which led to Wang Tiqian's two trips to Southeast Asia each year.
These are all money-burning gadgets.
Where does the money come from?
Thugs have their ways. Wei Zhongxian was quite the expert at making money!
Wouldn't that mean we'd get all the money from those wealthy merchants and the taxes from Jiangnan? Plus, Zhu Ming had some great ideas like modern handicrafts, so the money would just keep pouring in!
The Tianqi Daily of the Great Ming Dynasty also started up, taking the opportunity to expose all the sordid affairs of Nurhaci in Liaodong, since the matter could not be blamed on Zhu Ming.
After all, the content was written by those Donglin Party members imprisoned in the imperial prison, and it was signed "Fan Shiqi of Liaodong".
All is ready except for the opportunity.
Zhu Ming waved his hand and announced directly to the cabinet the establishment of the Central Bank of the Great Ming Dynasty, and at the same time issued the latest Great Ming version of "US dollars" - the New Great Ming Treasure Note.
At this moment, the morning light had not yet reached the rooftops of the imperial city, and the sky was still a pale blue.
The lights were still on in the main hall of an unassuming mansion.
Gao Panlong sat in the main seat, with the newly delivered "Tianqi Daily" spread out on the table in front of him.
The front page headline prominently displayed eight large characters—
"The Central Bank of the Great Ming Dynasty shall be established immediately."
The subtitle was even more eye-catching: "The new Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes will be issued, based on silver, and available for exchange within a limited time."
Also included are the three versions of the largest denomination of the new Ming Dynasty banknotes:
Ten strings of cash, the Ming Dynasty's Hongwu Emperor.
Five strings of cash, Empress Xiaoci Gao, née Ma.
Consistent face value, Kaiping King Chang Yuchun.
Gao Panlong stared at it for a long time, the sound of his index finger tapping on the table becoming more and more rapid.
"Has everyone seen it?"
There were seven or eight people sitting in the hall: Han Kuang, Zhou Qiyuan, Huang Zunsu, Li Yingsheng... all with solemn expressions.
Everyone had the same newspaper in front of them, and the air was as heavy as an afternoon before a storm.
"I've seen it," Zhou Qiyuan said in a hoarse voice. "The Central Bank of the Great Ming? The New Great Ming Treasure Notes? What is His Majesty trying to do? The Ministry of Revenue of the Imperial Court is in charge of the nation's finances. What's with this 'Central Bank'? Isn't this just setting up another Ministry of Revenue? Moreover, this newspaper says that the Central Bank is directly under the inner court and not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue. It's utterly absurd!"
"During the Hongwu reign, paper money was introduced, initially touted with great fanfare, but what was the result?" Huang Zunsu said coldly. "In less than thirty years, it became worthless paper. The people preferred bartering to accepting a single piece of paper. Now Your Majesty is about to repeat the same mistake. If we do not speak out, how can we face the world?"
Gao Panlong raised his hand to quell the commotion in the hall.
"There are five things that must be made clear at today's grand court assembly."
He held up one finger.
"Firstly, there are the drawbacks of the new banknotes. The Ming Dynasty's banknotes have been in circulation since the eighth year of the Hongwu reign, and their credibility has long been ruined. How can the people trust the new banknotes that are suddenly issued? If they are forcibly implemented, merchants will close their shops, and ordinary people will live in fear. The consequences will be unimaginable."
The second finger.
"Secondly, reserves are insufficient. The Ministry of Revenue has only four million taels of silver in its coffers this year, and the silver brought in from Southeast Asia is 1.2 million taels. Adding the accumulated reserves in the Imperial Treasury over the years, the total amount is no more than six million taels."
"But as far as I know, the first batch of new banknotes His Majesty is about to issue will be twenty million taels. Six million taels of silver to support twenty million taels of banknotes—the Emperor is competing with the people for profit; he's selling paper as gold!"
The third finger.
"Thirdly, the failure to heed advice," Gao Panlong's voice deepened. "During this grand military parade, His Majesty mobilized 60,000 soldiers from three major camps without court deliberation, consuming countless provisions; after the Wanggongchang explosion, His Majesty again unilaterally allocated funds for relief, and even instructed the eunuch faction to cleverly devise pretexts to fraudulently collect donations from the officials."
He paused, then continued, "Recently, the cabinet's drafting of government decrees is merely a formality; whatever His Majesty says goes."
Silence fell over the hall.
Han Kuang then said, "We submitted a memorial urging His Majesty to humbly accept advice, and His Majesty replied in court, 'I am very humble, but you must also have some sincerity.' What does that mean? Does it mean we lack sincerity?"
Gao Panlong nodded, then raised his fourth finger.
Fourthly, the Tianqi Daily of the Great Ming Dynasty. Since its inception, this newspaper has published only what the court and His Majesty want to publish.
"Without review by the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy, the entire process is handled by the palace. If we cannot stop its printing, at least our learned scholars from the Donglin Academy and students from the Imperial Academy should participate in writing and reviewing it to set the record straight."
Finally, he opened his palms and continued to speak righteously and sternly.
Fifth, Wei Zhongxian.
When Gao Panlong uttered the name, his tone remained unchanged, but everyone sensed the chill in his voice: "Since this eunuch took control of the Eastern Depot, his henchmen have spread throughout the court and the countryside. During this grand military review, he actually stood beside His Majesty, as the Grand Secretary of the Directorate of Ceremonial, directing the troops!"
"What right does a eunuch have? If we don't impeach him, he'll wipe us all out sooner or later."
He slowly closed his five fingers, clenching them into a fist.
Zhou Qiyuan took a deep breath: "Five songs playing simultaneously?"
"We will submit all five memorials at once." Gao Panlong nodded. "Today, at the grand court assembly, we will each submit our own memorials separately."
"What if His Majesty is furious?" someone asked in a low voice.
Gao Panlong remained silent for a moment, then slowly stood up.
"Throughout history, emperors have always governed the world together with scholars and officials." His voice was soft, but his tone was heavy. "If we remain silent out of fear of disaster, we will have failed the world and, more importantly, betrayed the principles we hold in our hearts."
At 3:45 AM, in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
The grand court assembly was as elaborate as ever: the floor was paved with gold bricks, dragons coiled around the pillars, and civil and military officials lined up on the east and west sides, filling the hall with officials in red and purple robes.
But the atmosphere today is clearly off.
Zhu Ming sat on his throne and lazily glanced down at the people below.
The Donglin group all had stern faces, their sleeves bulging with folded paper, and their gazes sharp as knives.
Wei Zhongxian stood on the left with a group of eunuchs, hands at his sides, expressionless, but with a faint smile on his lips.
"Speak up if you have something to say, otherwise the court is adjourned," Gao Yongshou shouted at the top of his lungs.
Before he finished speaking, Gao Panlong stepped forward.
"Your subject, Gao Panlong, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, has a memorial to present."