On April 2, many far-reaching events occurred in Chinese and foreign history. Mencius and Xunzi, two major thinkers during China's Warring States Period, were born sixty years apart on this day. On this day in 1513, the Spanish explorer Delaine finally set foot in Florida. The history of European colonization of North America begins. Of course, on this day, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang did a "stupid thing" that has always been ridiculed.
On April 2, 1375, the eighth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, who was in full swing of governance, issued a high-profile order to Zhongshu Sheng: an "artifact" carefully designed by the Ming Dynasty was ready. Next, we have to work overtime to build. As long as it is put into use, it will definitely revitalize the Ming Dynasty's economy quickly. What "fetish"? Original words: In order to make Bao Chao of Ming Dynasty, this is currency.
This "holy object" responsible for the great cause of governing the country is the banknote that was popular for a while after the founding of the Ming Dynasty: Ming Bao Chao.
In the Ming Dynasty, when money was commonly used in costume dramas, even banknotes were used? Not only used, but also used as a joke. From the perspective of lighting and even later generations, since this currency was launched, despite the great efforts of the Ming Dynasty, its value plummeted year after year in the following hundred years, falling to the 16th century, and was finally completely eliminated by silver in the market. Destroy and eventually disappear. Zhu Yuanzhang, who was shrewd throughout his life, rarely did stupid things!
But is it really that stupid?
At least, the premise for this is definitely not stupid: at this time in the Ming Dynasty, all walks of life were in decline, and it had reached the point where it was impossible to replace new banknotes.
When the Ming Dynasty was established, it was difficult to be famous in all aspects. Ruins were common in towns and wasteland in the countryside. There were shortages of food and labor, but the worst shortage was money. There is a real shortage of precious metals that can be used to make money. Although the previous Yuan Dynasty collapsed quickly, it also ran quickly. Before the defeat in Mobei, all valuable things were swept away, especially the gold and silver in the northern treasury, almost nothing was left. They had a great time running, but made Ming Chao very embarrassed.
At that time, the market in the Ming Dynasty was almost as short of money as thunder. Not to mention the scarcity of gold and silver, even copper for making copper coins was difficult to find. Therefore, many local bronzes were forcibly expropriated to make money. Isn’t there a copper mine? After a war in the late Yuan Dynasty, all decent mines were basically destroyed, and there was a shortage of manpower for farming in the early Ming Dynasty. How could anyone be mine? There are all kinds of money circulating in the market, and all kinds of late Yuan banknotes are in use. Even some people who are good at painting use fake money. It makes a mess all the time.
The most important thing is that the lack of money is so serious that the Ming Dynasty urgently needs money. The most important state governance strategy in the early Ming Dynasty was that the state invested heavily in construction, such as farmland water conservancy, and spent money all year round. The point is that the war has not stopped. The war with Beiyuan is constant all year round. Defense expenditures are huge every year, and everything is waiting for money. If money is not solved, the Ming Dynasty, when the new country is established, will either live in poverty or die in chaos.
The most urgent solution is to issue new banknotes. This is the iron pillar that stabilizes the Ming Dynasty's economy. In the eighth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang also made this determination: the Ming Dynasty Treasures came out with a high profile.
More importantly, it has to be said that it carries such great significance, and its emergence is by no means as simple and crude as some historical materials say. The "Banknote Withdrawal Department", the organization responsible for the Ming Dynasty banknotes, has long been established. The "banknote method" for managing Ming Dynasty banknotes and the design of Ming Dynasty banknotes concentrated the efforts of a group of economic talents in the Ming Dynasty at this time. This new official currency of the Ming Dynasty was advanced in many aspects.
How bright is it? The entire banknote is made of mulberry paper, with a cyan appearance and a special reverse seal. Matching it is the unprecedented strict banknote management method in the Ming Dynasty. Anyone who dares to forge a banknote will be immediately rewarded, even if one is beheaded. Private physical trading in gold and silver was once banned. Large-value exchange notes and copper coins for small-value transactions were once the mandatory rules of the Ming market. Under such strong measures, starting from the eighth year of Hongwu, Ming treasures like a scourge quickly swept the people of the Ming Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the chaos caused by the proliferation of money was suddenly swept away.
Moreover, even the most critical scholars of this banknote admit that the early Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes did bring a lot of sweetness to the entire Ming Dynasty.
The first person to breathe a sigh of relief was Zhu Yuanzhang himself. The production cost of paper banknotes is much lower, which means that the Ming Dynasty saved a lot of money by just issuing coins, and the pressure of year-round expenditure was greatly reduced.
The Ming Dynasty's self-confidence also expanded. Before the Ming Dynasty treasures appeared, the Ming Dynasty was worried about money almost every day. Salaries and military expenses for national construction were always troublesome. With treasure money, the pot will be boiled. Especially the largest military expenditure. During the most intense years of the Northern Yuan War, the Ming Dynasty's military expenditures, supplies of materials, money and food were almost all paid with treasure banknotes. The Ming Dynasty chased death and pursued the north, and finally created a peaceful environment. .
It is equally useful, and the agricultural engineering construction in Zhu Yuanzhang's era was even more important. Throughout the Hongwu period, the Ming Dynasty mobilized unprecedented manpower on many occasions to overhaul farmland, water conservancy and post roads. In the past 30 years, more than 5,000 water conservancy dams and more than 40,000 ponds have been built. This is how agricultural output soared in the early Ming Dynasty. Of course, it is also supported by precious money.
Of course, the problem is also recognized. Anyone who has studied economics knows that gold and silver reserves are insufficient. If paper money is issued forcefully, no matter how strict the laws, inflation is inevitable. Inadvertently, the face value of banknotes plummeted.
During the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang alone, the value of treasure banknotes depreciated several times. In Zhu Yuanzhang's later years, in many economically developed areas in the south, Rao was strictly prohibited, but gold and silver trading was still prohibited. Every time the Ming Dynasty found a problem, it rebounded strongly, and could always barely drag the price of treasure money back.
Because the Bao Chao model of the Ming Dynasty is rooted in Zhu Yuanzhang’s highly centralized economic system. In the early Ming Dynasty, farmers had to force the court to grow any crops. Although Bao Chao has problems, they are basically controllable. From the bleak scene of the Ming Dynasty to the rise of strength, it is indeed the strongest among the strongest.
But after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, the Ming Dynasty's economy also prospered, and the problem of treasure money was really overwhelming. With the development of the commodity economy, the precious banknotes that could be saved in the early Ming Dynasty could not be saved by their own depreciation. During the Yongle period, large-scale private economic transactions, especially the purchase of land and houses, were sometimes exchanged with rice and wheat silk between buyers and sellers. Such valuable paper currency, which accelerated depreciation, would never be used. Even if Ming Dynasty deals with it again and again, it will be of no use.
The reliability of the Bao Dynasty eventually went bankrupt along with the booming development of the commodity economy after the mid-Ming Dynasty. During the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, silver was widely circulated and became legal tender during the Jiajing period. Where is the treasure? Lu Rong, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, said: "What the people earn is useless." No matter how high-end the printing atmosphere is, it is basically used as paper.
However, when the devaluation of Baobao became a reality, the Ming Dynasty responded extremely slowly. Throughout the 15th century, it became clear that treasure notes were of no use, but they were allowed to circulate for a time. Even after the mid-term period, Bao banknotes were no longer used in the market, and many government expenditures in the Ming Dynasty were still paid with Bao banknotes. That year's shot in the arm ended up wearing me down.
Why did the highly developed commodity economy of the Ming Dynasty leave the court impoverished? What to look at