My life skills in Daming Liver

Zhang Juzheng said:

"The Liu and Song Dynasties in the Southern Dynasties all the way to Xiao Liang have been troubled by currency problems like the Ming Dynasty today."

"On the one hand, there is a need for a large amount of currency in the market, because market transactions require currency, and the demand for currency is urgent."

"On the one hand, the currency issued by the Ming Dynasty was far less sophisticated than the currency in the southeast, which also led to the currency value of the currency issued by the Ming Dynasty becoming increasingly cheap."

"The 'iron coins' issued by Liu Song at that time were actually similar to the several silver coins issued by the Ming Dynasty. They were all inferior silver coins."

Zhang Juzheng paused for a moment before mentioning that this policy had been implemented since he was in office. He presided over the issuance of silver coins back then.

However, at that time, Zhang Juzheng's money still alleviated the money shortage in the market, which still had a certain positive significance.

"But if there are too many bad coins issued, the bad coins will drive out the good coins, and those who get the good coins will not give them back, because the good coins will always appreciate in value."

"And bad currency will continue to depreciate, and prices in markets settled with bad currency will skyrocket."

"In this case, big businessmen and powerful people who hold good money have an advantage. They can hoard good money. But ordinary people need to eat, drink, pay taxes and pay rent. They have to spend their money. They get good money. The coins cannot be saved, and eventually the money in hand will be exchanged for bad coins, and they will become victims of the indiscriminate issuance of bad coins.”

"The situation in the Ming Dynasty today is similar to that in the Southern Dynasties, except that the good currency now is currency issued by the enemy, so the result is even worse."

Wang Shizhen quickly wrote it down, and he was going to write it in a report and report it to the governor.

In fact, Su Ze had already discussed the problems encountered by the capital of the Ming Dynasty very clearly in "Finance".

Zhang Juzheng was not very concerned about this issue. He said: "In fact, the seeds of the Ming court's currency reform were planted in the era of Gao Suqing. Using monetary policy to solve fiscal problems is a temptation that no one in power can bear."

He paused and said, "It was no exception when I was in power."

"It must be easier to solve problems by sending money than by collecting taxes from the powerful, right? This is a simple and easy-to-understand truth, but the excessive issuance of money leads to skyrocketing prices, and it is ordinary people who bear the burden in the end."

Wang Shizhen sighed and said: "It's hard to prosper the people, and it's hard to destroy the people!"

Zhang Juzheng said: "Actually, the Southeast also has the same currency problem."

"What?"

Wang Shizhen was a little surprised. He asked: "Su Rulin is a master of finance. He proposed all the theories of finance. Moreover, the Southeast Silver Dollar maintains its value so well and prices in the Southeast are stable. How can there be financial problems?"

Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said: "The financial issue I am talking about is not entirely a silver dollar issue."

"ah?"

"Credit."

"What's this?"

Zhang Juzheng said:

"Bank, bill number, there are already several postal banks in Dagu, right?"

It turns out to be this! Wang Shizhen nodded quickly.

Nowadays, postal banks have opened in all major cities, and their postal services have expanded from the original ports to almost the entire southeast.

Originally, the bank was a settlement system established by the post system to cover losses and for merchants to trade.

But soon the station system discovered that the bank was making too much money!

A large amount of funds were deposited in bank accounts. Postal Bank's first investment was relatively conservative and it purchased railway bonds.

The subsequent profits surprised everyone. From this time on, the bank began to transform from a department that facilitated remote settlement for merchants to an institution specializing in "money" business.

On the one hand, banks will purchase sound financial products such as government bonds to obtain fixed income.

On the other hand, banks will also use the funds in their accounts to lend and invest to earn interest income.

Now there are many banks in the Tianjin Autonomous Region, and many businessmen have begun to use banks for settlement. People will also deposit money in banks, and businessmen will also borrow money from banks.

Zhang Juzheng said:

"I did research a few days ago and found that prices in the southeast have been declining in recent years."

“Isn’t falling prices a good thing?”

Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said: "A good harvest is a good thing for agriculture, but low prices also hurt farmers. Price inflation is a bad thing, but falling prices is also a bad thing."

"Falling prices mean that there is insufficient silver dollars on the market. Although there were a lot of coins minted in the Southeast last year, now the Ming Dynasty, North Korea, Japan, Nanyang, and even Western merchants are using Southeast silver coins for transactions. No matter how Su Rulin mints coins, the currency on the market will be In short supply.”

"With currency shortages, money becomes more valuable. In this case, ordinary people and businessmen tend to save. Money will appreciate if it is not used. If you can't afford it, don't buy it."

"But if you don't consume, there will be more goods on the market and the prices will be lower. This is another problem."

Wang Shizhen took a breath, and he finally realized how complicated the financial problem was.

Zhang Juzheng said: "Of course, the price deflation in the Southeast has not reached a serious level, but it has already affected economic development."

"This also raises another issue I mentioned earlier."

Wang Shizhen was completely stunned: "What?"

"Bank credit."

Zhang Juzheng said: "When saving money means making money, the institutions in the market that are best able to lend money are banks. If you can borrow money from banks, you can buy high-quality assets at low prices."

Wang Shizhen nodded, it seemed to be the truth.

When prices fall, those who can hold cash to buy are welcome.

Zhang Juzheng said: "But when it comes to credit, the richer you are, the easier it is to borrow money, and the poorer you are, the harder it is to borrow money."

Isn't this inevitable? People who lend money always consider the borrower's ability to repay.

Zhang Juzheng said: "But who can borrow money? Those wealthy businessmen, powerful, powerful people, state-owned institutions, these people who can borrow money expand like crazy, while those who cannot borrow money can only sell their properties .”

"Isn't the result just like the Ming Dynasty, where powerful people used good money to buy properties, while powerless people used bad money to survive."

Wang Shizhen finally understood that with his political ability, it was better to be a literary master honestly.

He made up his mind that when he returned to the southeast in the future, he would find a clean job and retire well. Politics was too complicated for him to handle.

Zhang Juzheng sighed and said: "The strong will always be strong, and the weak will always be weak. There are few who provide help in times of need, and there are many who are the icing on the cake. This is human nature."

"But the rich will always be rich, and the weak will always be poor. This is a problem that has been accumulated in all dynasties. Once it exceeds a certain limit, it will lead to a dynasty change."