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Text Chapter 721 Qing Silver Dollar

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    Dutch currency began to flow into the southeastern coastal areas in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. It was widely popular because of its high silver content and large size. At the same time, Spanish dollars were also widely circulated along the southeastern coast. As for other currencies, they were not in large circulation.  There are more than ten kinds of foreign silver.

    Without waiting for Zhenwu to ask any more questions, Zheng Shichang continued: "The Dutch big horse sword is worth eight cents and six cents, and the quality is ninety-four. The Daqing silver coin is seven cents and two cents, and the silver is nine cents and one copper. The weight and quality are not as good as those of the Netherlands."  The big horse sword is not much different from the Spanish dollar. The Spanish dollar is seven cents and three cents, and the color is ninety-three cents."

    Zhenwu nodded slightly. What he wanted was this effect. It was slightly worse, which was in line with the principle of 'bad money drives out good money', which facilitated the unification of the silver dollar market in the Qing Dynasty. After thinking for a while, he said: "Since they are almost the same,  It doesn¡¯t matter, with a large amount of casting to popularize the market, starting from next year, the Ministry of Treasury will collect taxes and cashier silver, and the measurement standards will be Yuan and Jiao.¡±

    Hearing this, Zheng Shichang couldn't help but be overjoyed. As a result, the promotion and popularization of silver coins will inevitably be greatly accelerated. The profit from casting silver coins is not a small number. If one hundred silver coins are cast, there will be a profit of five taels. The number of silver coins in the Qing Dynasty was at least  It costs hundreds of millions, and this alone is a profit of tens of millions.

    Zhenwu glanced at him and saw that his face was full of joy. He had guessed what he was thinking and said slowly: "The purpose of casting silver coins is not to make profits. I have been in the south of the Yangtze River for a long time and know the situation along the southeast coast very well.  The quality of European silver dollars is not as good as official silver, but it is more popular than official silver. The reason for this should be clear to the 'Four Constants', right?"

    As the shopkeeper of the "Four Dahengs" banknotes under the semicolon, Zheng Shichang naturally knew the circulation situation of silver in the Qing Dynasty. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, although silver has been officially recognized as legal tender, it has three major disadvantages, namely  The quality of silver ingots in various places varies, and the weight is easy to vary, making it difficult to circulate. It is extremely troublesome especially during travel or trade in different places. This is also the reason for the prosperity of bank banks in various places. One of the silver note exchange businesses of the 'Four Dahengs'  Therefore, it can be said that it is very popular because of this shortcoming.

    For example, if a businessman from Shanxi brings cash to Shanghai for business, the first problem he encounters is the exchange of cash in other places. The imperial court has a special appraisal agency for silver ingots in various places - the Public Assessment Bureau, which is from  The weight and quality of silver ingots are used to determine whether they meet the specifications, which is also the "approval treasure" in the mouth of merchants.

    The public assessment bureaus in various places have a strong sense of local protectionism and only recognize silver ingots that have been authenticated by themselves. If foreign silver ingots want to be traded in the local market, they need to pass them by. Therefore, the Shanxi silver ingots carried by Shanxi merchants first  It must be sent to the Shanghai Public Assessment Bureau for "approval".

    The Bureau of Public Assessment is more strict and will directly reject silver that is of poor quality or has too many stamps. Even if it is successfully approved and stamped on the silver ingot, it still cannot be used directly because the specifications are different, and you have to spend money to hire a local furnace to resmelt it.  It must be of local specifications before it can enter the market for trade. Otherwise, silver ingots from other places cannot be circulated locally at all.

    Neither treasure batching nor smelting is free. The handling fee for batching treasures is about two cents and four cents. The cost of melting treasures in a silver furnace is also not small. This is the so-called loss in the circulation of silver taels. If the silver taels are not used up, return to Shanxi  , what happened in Shanghai will happen again in Shanxi.

    Of course, there is a simpler way, which is to hand over the silver ingots to a local bank in Shuohai in exchange for the same amount of Shanghai silver taels. Naturally, the handling fee will not be lower than through legitimate channels.

    The reason why European silver dollars are so popular is that they have uniform standards and there is no exchange of local and foreign currencies, so there is no need for these cumbersome procedures. The reason why the 'Four Constants' silver notes are popular is that they are universal across the country.  No exchange required.

    Hearing Zhenwu¡¯s words, Zheng Shichang¡¯s heart sank. Zhenwu promoted the silver dollar not to make profits, but to unify the currency?  Then wouldn¡¯t the banknote business of the ¡®Four Dahengs¡¯ be hit hard?  The joy in his heart suddenly turned into uneasiness.

    After pondering for a while, Zheng Shichang bowed and said bluntly: "Your Majesty, the implementation of silver coins of uniform standards and appropriate sizes is actually beneficial to the country and the people, and is more conducive to the circulation of silver. However, in this way, the profits of the 'Four Constants' are bound to be  Big impact.¡±

    Seeing that Zheng Shichang was worried about the profits of the Four Great Constants, Zhenwu couldn't help but smile slightly and said: "You are a businessman, and you never forget to talk about profit. I am not only the major shareholder of the Four Great Constants, but also the Qing Dynasty."  Yaozi, Yaozi has no selfish interests, how can I only settle small accounts instead of big ones?

    The Spanish dollar and the Dutch ringgit were not only widely circulated in the Qing Dynasty, but also very popular. They even exceeded their actual value. I heard that a Spanish dollar with a silver content of less than six cents could be exchanged for up to one or two cents.  The use of silver coins will not only stimulate illegal traders in Europe to make illegal profits with silver coins, but will also stimulate European countries to follow suit. Have you ever thought about it?  What would be the consequences when a large amount of foreign silver coins circulated freely in the Qing Dynasty?

    ??The first thing we must face is the chaos of the currency system, followed closely by the inflow of a large amount of silver. This will not only destroy the money law of the Qing Dynasty, but also cause the value of silver coins. What is more worrying is that the large-scale circulation of foreign silver coins will  It has gradually become the legal currency both externally and internally. Think about it, what would happen if the Spanish dollar became the legal currency of the Qing Dynasty?  "

    Hearing this, Zheng Shichang couldn't help but be horrified. Zhenwu's words were not unfounded. The popularity of foreign silver coins was still higher than that of the "Four Constants" silver coins. After holding real gold and silver in his hands,  Competing with silver coins makes people more secure. As far as he knows, many people in Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and even the capital are proud to use foreign silver coins.

    Not only overseas trade is based on silver dollars, but also the daily usage on the southeastern coast is mostly in silver dollars. Betrothal ceremonies, funeral ceremonies, banquet expenses, rewards, and even filial piety to officials are all paid in silver dollars when opening academies. This is especially true for maritime merchants.  Not to mention, most of the cash silver is silver dollars.

    If the Qing Dynasty did not issue its own silver dollars, European silver dollars might be widely circulated in the Qing Dynasty within a few decades, deeply rooted in the people of the Qing Dynasty, and become the legal currency of silver. If this were to happen, it would be the same as a  A disaster.

    Thinking of this, Zheng Shichang hurriedly bowed and said: "The Emperor's holy concerns are far-reaching, and the humble minister is blind and short-sighted. I am really ashamed. However, the humble minister is worried that the popularity of silver coins will affect the issuance of banknotes."

    Zhenwu glanced at him with admiration, nodded, and said: "There must be some impact, but it is not very big. The amount of silver circulating and stored in the Qing Dynasty is huge, and if banknotes are forced to be introduced, there will definitely be extreme consequences.  Strong resistance, because the treasure banknotes of the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties have made the people lose confidence in paper banknotes. The reason why I let the "Four Constants" issue banknotes in equal amounts is for the credibility of the banknotes.

    The popularization of banknotes is only a matter of time, but it must be done step by step and cannot be done too hastily. Nowadays, those who use banknotes are all officials, gentry and merchants. Common people rarely use banknotes, and it is far from the point where it is a matter of course.  No need to rush.  Furthermore, the paper and anti-counterfeiting technology of banknotes are still not satisfactory. More investment in material research and continuous innovation is needed.

    The Qing Dynasty is now the commercial center of the world, but silver is not stable. There is a big price difference between Europe and the Qing Dynasty. It is far less stable than gold. Only gold can be called the world currency. The paper issued by the Qing Dynasty  Banknotes must be backed by gold in order to become the world's currency. There is no rush.  "

    Zheng Shichang couldn't help but be stunned when he heard that Qing Dynasty banknotes were going to become the world's currency?  The ambition of this master is really beyond words. No wonder he is not allowed to touch the huge gold compensation from the Japanese country and the gold turned over by the customs. It turns out that he wants to hoard gold. Think about it, it is disrespectful to come and go without reciprocating. Since Europe dares to issue silver coins  Come to the Qing Dynasty, why can't the Qing Dynasty issue banknotes to Europe?

    After a slight pause, General Zhen turned the topic back to the silver dollar, "The promotion of the silver dollar is of great significance. It not only unifies the currency of the Qing Dynasty, facilitates the circulation of silver, and is beneficial to the economy of the Qing Dynasty, it is also related to the national economy and people's livelihood of the Qing Dynasty.  Money laws are related to the dignity of the Qing Dynasty. How can the Qing Dynasty allow foreign silver coins to circulate freely?

    Baoquan Bureau of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Baoyuan Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, Baoguang Bureau of Guangzhou, Baoning Bureau of Jiangning, Baoyuan Bureau and Baotong Bureau of Shanxi Province fully assist the "Four Dahengs" in Beijing, Guangzhou, Jiangning and Taiyuan  Qing silver coins were minted in four places, quickly popularizing silver coins across the country, and driving out foreign silver coins. From next year, all foreign silver coins must be appraised by the Bureau of Public Assessment and resmelted before they can enter the market.  "

    "I obey the order." Zheng Shichang was completely relieved now. Zhenwu authorized the 'Four Great Hengs' to exclusively mint the Qing Dynasty silver coins. Even if it is calculated as 200 million coins, the profit would be tens of millions of taels, not to mention  The entire Qing Dynasty had more than just 200 million silver coins?  This can be regarded as losing something and gaining something new. For at least three years, there is no need to worry about the profits of the "Four Constants" being affected.

    "In addition." Zhenwu said, picking up a silver dollar and said: "This silver dollar has Manchu and Chinese characters on the front, but there is no Mongolian, Tibetan, or palindrome. On the back, these three characters are added around it¡ª¡ª  The Qing Dynasty Silver Coin. I want to integrate all ethnic groups, and the Qing Dynasty Silver Coin should also be reflected. Besides, there should be a lot of hidden symbols on it, right?"

    Hearing that the characters of the other three tribes were to be added on the back, Zheng Shichang couldn't help but secretly cursed, why didn't he mention it earlier in the design, and how many days of effort would have been wasted. Besides, this palindrome can be divided into east and west chapters.  , the slander was all he wanted, but he did not dare to reveal it, and hurriedly bowed and said: "Back to the emperor, in order to prevent forgery, there are indeed many secret marks on the silver coins, including graphic marks, dotted bead marks, inner tooth marks and curved light marks.  wait."

    After a short pause, he continued: "Your Majesty, the Hui people are very complicated. If we divide them by words, the Shaanxi Hui, Ganhui, Donghui and Hehui are in one category. Arabic and Persian are still used, and the Hui and Xinjiang are in the same category.  , please also ask your Majesty to tell me which kind of palindrome to use?"

    Zhenwu glanced at him and said: "The one from Shaanxi and GansuThe Hui people have long been culturally assimilated and use the palindrome of Hui Xinjiang, that is, Uyghur.  "

    "I obey the order." Zheng Shichang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly bowed.
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