Chapter 953 1042 Qian Gai

"The reason why you three are here is that the cabinet wants to know the deposits of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue."

In the duty room of the cabinet's chief minister, Wei Guangde spoke first after the clerk served tea.

When the three ministers heard the cabinet asking about the deposits of the three ministries, they were surprised but explained the situation one after another.

The Ministry of Revenue was the simplest, and it directly reported the amount of silver deposited in the Taicang warehouse.

That is, the silver deposited in the Taicang warehouse would be reported to the cabinet every month, so that Zhang Juzheng could grasp the true financial situation of the court.

As for the small warehouse behind the Ministry of Revenue, Wang Guoguang was cunning and did not report it, because he did not understand the purpose of the cabinet's inquiry.

The silver in the small warehouse was the private warehouse of the Ministry of Revenue, and it was used for some internal accounts. Although the cabinet knew a little bit, it was not clear about the specific situation.

After that, Zhu Heng briefly talked about the financial situation of the Ministry of Works.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Ministry of Works "was in charge of the government orders for all kinds of work, mountain and lake hunting, kilns and smelting, garrison cultivation, taxation, rivers and canals, and weaving". Its functions were quite extensive, and it had four departments under its jurisdiction: the Ministry of Works "was in charge of business and construction", the Ministry of Water Resources "was in charge of mountain and lake hunting and pottery", the Ministry of Water Resources "was in charge of rivers and lakes, ponds, bridges, roads, boats and vehicles, weaving, certificates and contracts, and weights", and the Ministry of Farmland "was in charge of garrison cultivation, distribution, firewood, labor, and tombs".

In order to complete various construction and construction projects, the Ministry of Works needed to consume a large amount of manpower and materials every year.

In the early Ming Dynasty, various craftsmen and materials were basically provided to the Ministry of Works in the form of labor and physical objects. Later, with the transition from physical finance to monetary finance, shift workers gradually paid silver instead of labor, and various materials were gradually converted into silver.

The main income "material silver" was shared by the four departments, and other items were different due to the different responsibilities of the four departments.

The so-called material silver, also known as material price, refers to both the silver taels of the original materials collected by the government and the silver taels directly collected by the government in the name of purchasing materials.

Roughly summarized, it can be divided into two categories: the first category has relatively fixed varieties, quantities and payment times. Of course, there are those that need to be paid every year, and there are those that are paid every two or three years. The amount, annual payment, annual dispatch, etc. mentioned in the literature basically belong to this category;

The second category is temporarily dispatched according to needs. The varieties, quantities and payment times are not fixed. The dispatch, sitting, sitting, miscellaneous, miscellaneous dispatch, etc. mentioned in the literature basically belong to this category.

Among them, although the first category has changed before and after, it is relatively fixed; the second category has increased from a small amount to a large amount, and some varieties are even paid every year, showing a trend of fixation.

In addition to the material silver of the four departments, other external payments of the Construction Department are classified under the "miscellaneous materials" item, including material silver, labor silver, and rent and tax silver.

Among them, the largest amount and the most widely used sources are silver for craftsmen and brick materials, followed by silver for ramie. In addition, Shuntian and Baoding Prefectures also have silver for reed taxes, silver for reed laborers, silver for imperial wood carts, and silver for river piles, grains, and rent.

The other external reliefs of the Yuhengsi are divided into two categories: "military uniforms" and "miscellaneous materials". The former includes military weapons, fat coats, bows, arrows, strings, and scattered bags, and the latter includes feathers, tiger skins, leopard tendons, and ox horns.

In addition, Shuntian and Yongping Prefectures have silver for mountain rent, silver for thin land, silver for iron smelting civilians, and silver for craftsmen. Zhending Prefecture has silver for discounts on jars and jars. Anqing Prefecture, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Huguang have various kinds of list papers. Fujian and Zhejiang have iron taxes and iron materials.

Other external payments from the Dushuisi include three categories: one is "River and Lake Tax", including jute, white hemp, ramie, copper, iron, tung oil, ox horn, ox tendon, etc.;

The second is "Miscellaneous Tax", which is very detailed, including cotinus, mulberry, rouge, rosewood, southern jujube, purple elm, coke, paper for banners, book paper, copper wire, iron wire and iron bar, Sichuan two beads, Guangdong glue, as well as porters' silver, gatekeepers' silver, Chinese toon grass silver, official house rent silver, river beach grain leasing silver, etc. Each provincial government and Zhili prefecture only pays a few of them;

The third is "Weaving Tax", including ramie silk, raw silk, yarn, gauze, silk, silk, etc.

The other external payments from the Tuntiansi are the simplest, with only one item "firewood discount".

It was so complicated that Zhu Heng spent a long time estimating and explaining it, and finally roughly sorted out the actual silver deposit situation.

After all, it is no longer the early Ming Dynasty, and many things have been converted into silver and handed over to the Ministry of Works.

It can be said that if we really want to be serious, although the income of the Ministry of Works is not as much as that of the Ministry of Households, it is more complicated than that of the Ministry of Revenue.

As for the Ministry of War, it seems to be a military rather than a financial management agency, but in fact, the Ministry of War in the Ming Dynasty also participated in financial management. The income it managed mainly included the silver converted from horse service, the silver converted from the pile and the army, the silver converted from the police, and the silver converted from the post.

When Wei Guangde asked about his income in the Hanlin Academy, in fact, Lu Bu was paid from the Ministry of War at that time, which was a revenue and expenditure item of the Ministry of War.

Of course, the main income of the Ministry of War is actually concentrated in its subordinate institutions, the Imperial Household Department and the Changying Treasury.

It can only be said that the horse policy of the Ming Dynasty really made money quickly, and the amount was huge.

Although the research on the post, firewood, police, and firewood supply has also involved these incomes of the Ministry of War, its focus is on the collection of taxes and labor service, not on government financial management.

The Wukusi was the first of the four departments of the Ministry of War to have large-scale silver income, and it was also the department with the most silver income.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the Wukusi was mainly responsible for "military administration, martial arts, weapons, ceremonial weapons, distinguishing the amount of income and expenditure, and various miscellaneous and redundant affairs". Because the financial system at that time was mainly based on physical labor, the Ministry of War had no silver income.

By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Zaoli war under his charge had realized the conversion of silver. Among the Zaoli silver, Chaixin Zaoli and Zhitang Zaoli were the earliest types of corvee items to be converted into silver. The conversion of silver probably started in the Xuande period.

The reason for this is naturally that officials want to increase their personal income.

For example, for sedan bearers, the court should have arranged for the bearers to perform corvee service, but after the silver was exchanged, it was up to the officials themselves to arrange it.

It is estimated that the amount of Chaixinzaoli silver alone in the Xuande period could reach 2.56 million taels. With the increase in the number of officials, the amount of silver in the middle and late Ming Dynasty must be even more.

It can be seen that although the nominal taxes in the Ming Dynasty were very low, the miscellaneous taxes were extremely huge.

However, although Zaoli's broken silver was under the control of the Arsenal Department of the Ministry of War, it did not mean that all firewood and Zhitang Zaoli's broken silver had to be sent to the capital's Ministry of War for storage and unified distribution.

The Arsenal Department of the Ministry of War is mainly responsible for distributing firewood and Zhitang soap and silver to civil and military officials in the two capitals. Officials who serve in local areas, such as the Chief Secretary and the Inspector General, are centrally stored and distributed by the Chief Secretary. Prefecture and county officials are responsible for the distribution Storage and distribution.

During the Xuande period, there were 4,363 officials in the two capitals. In the eight years of Hongzhi, the average per capita allocation was 2.67 firewood servants, each of whom was rated at 12 taels of silver, approximately 139,791 taels.

By the Wanli period, there were 3.57 firewood and civil servants per capita, so the estimated total could be even more, about 190,000 taels.

The income from the Cheqijia Department's bank treasury is also a major component of the Ministry of War's silver income. The Cheqijiasi bank treasury includes its subordinate institution, Taipusi Changying Treasury, and the Cheqijiasi's own bank.

Taipu Temple was originally the yamen that supervised horse administration in the Ming Dynasty. The silver in Changying's inventory was actually the price of horses at a discount to silver.

Because the horses released in the southern Zhili area "are too short to be trained and trained, from now on the horses in Jiangnan will be released, and there will be more than enough. Each horse will be collected for ten taels of silver, and the horses will be collected and stored. The officials will buy them at any time and foster them for training."

The Yizhuanzhan silver is a relatively large amount of silver income of the Chariot and Driving Department, except for the horse-priced silver in the Changying Treasury of Taipu Temple.

It comes from the silver earned from the Battle of the Post, specifically including the silver needed for the horses, carriages, boats, grooms, watermen, and layouts required by the post. As long as a post station is set up, this tax will be levied on the surrounding area.

"So, not counting Taipu Temple's ever-increasing treasury, the imperial court can now take out three million taels of silver?"

Wei Guangde calculated the deposits reported by the three yamen and said.

The Ministry of Household Affairs is in charge of finance and has the most silver, nearly one and a half million taels, followed by the Ministry of Industry and War, which also have more than one million taels of silver in deposits.

Zhu Heng, Wan Guoguang and Tan Lun looked at each other, and it was Wang Guoguang who asked: "Mr. Wei Ge, I wonder if the cabinet has any advice on this matter?"

Upon entering the cabinet, Wei Guangde got to know the ins and outs of the three yamen, but the cabinet did not reveal its purpose for a long time.

If Zhang Juzheng wasn't there, he wouldn't have said anything.

"I will talk about this later. I still have a question here, that is, the Changying Treasury of Taipus Temple is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. How much silver is the current horse price every year? How much silver is there in Changying's inventory?"

Wei Guangde did not answer Wang Guangguang's words, but looked at Tan Lun and asked.

Tan Lun just frowned slightly, but he could only say: "The price of horse silver during the Longqing period reached a maximum of more than 780,000 taels. In the past two years, due to the decrease in war in the North, the collection has also been reduced to more than 400,000 taels.

As for Changying's silver inventory, it should be more than 12 million taels. "

Although Tan Lun could not easily touch Chang Yingku's money, he still knew the amount of money deposited.

"With fifteen million taels of silver, the court can profit from approximately one and a half to two million taels of silver."

Hearing this, Wei Guangde looked at Zhang Juzheng and Lu Tiaoyang and said.

When the two of them heard this, they both nodded slightly.

When the three people below heard Wei Guangde's words, they couldn't help but widen their eyes.

The imperial court made a profit of two million taels of silver. What does this mean?

Wei Guangde did not hide it, he took out the money bag directly from his arms, took out three silver coins and three Longqing Tongbao, which were gifts from the palace, and handed them to the three of them, and then gave them what they discussed last night. The son explained it in detail.

Holding the Spanish silver coins in their hands, the three of them looked at them repeatedly. Zhu Heng finally said, "It's really shoddy."

"There is an overflow of private money among the people. It is feasible for the imperial court to rebuild the money law. However, the people may not accept the casting of silver coins."

Wang Guoguang glanced at Zhang Juzheng, and when he saw that he was as stable as a rock, he knew that Zhang Shoufu should have a supportive opinion.

"The imperial court forcibly promoted this matter and made regulations on the fineness of the silver issued by the imperial court. Isn't it convenient to not have to mince silver among the people?

Moreover, this time the Ministry of Industry minted silver coins, in addition to one-tael silver coins, it also minted one-yuan small silver coins to facilitate private transactions.

The imperial court also strictly banned the private minting of copper coins among the people. Money making must be in the hands of the imperial court. Anyone who dared to mint coins privately would have his or her home confiscated and be given a lowly status. "

Of course Wei Guangde knew that there were many hoards of silver in the homes of the private gentry.

If the money law was promulgated this time without the imperial court's monopoly system of issuing silver coins three times and five times, and if these people minted silver coins privately, the court would suffer a lot of losses.

The introduction of money making was not only to unify the money laws, but also to increase the revenue of the court. It was also to pave the way for a whip law that would be implemented nationwide later. Big loopholes must not be left.

“This time the cabinet wants to implement the money law, the purpose is better than anyone can think of.

The imperial court issued a decree to make copper coins and silver treasures in accordance with unified specifications, not only to expand the imperial court's financial resources and alleviate financial difficulties, but also to promote a whip in the future."

Next, Zhang Juzheng began to speak, explaining in detail the importance of money production to the Ming Dynasty, especially the fire consumption and miscellaneous taxes levied by local governments on the people.

The imperial court's money making can fundamentally solve the existence of this miscellaneous tax.

After the new currency is implemented across the country, people will no longer be exploited by this tax.

Of course, the six people here actually know that the fire consumption is gone, but the local government will still find new ways to introduce new taxes to make up for this loss.

In fact, reducing taxes is just a nice thing to say, but the effect is extremely limited.

"According to the results of our discussion, the Ministry of Industry must determine the specifications for making money as soon as possible, mint the sample coins as soon as possible, and at the same time measure the fineness of gold, silver, and copper. The Ming Dynasty Money Law will be promulgated by law.

Roughly speaking, one tael of silver is fixedly exchanged for a thousand pieces of Xiaoping coins. In addition to Xiaoping coins, large coins worth five or ten coins are also minted. Silver treasures are minted with one tael or one coin, and the fineness of the silver treasure is about 80%."

Zhang Juzheng explained everything they had discussed last night, and the three ministers listened quietly, not daring to be careless at all.

Since the money law of the Ming Dynasty has existed in name only, the imperial court has basically not interfered, and it has been done in accordance with folk rules.

This is also the main reason for the proliferation of private money among the people. Although the court also mints money, these good money will often be exchanged by large local households as soon as they are issued, and then used to mint private money, and the court can do nothing about the shortage.

In the final analysis, it was because the imperial court did not enact a new money law after the banknote law collapsed.

During the Zhengtong and Jingtai years, there were twists and turns of "the banknote method was blocked and the money ban was repeated", but the collapse of the banknote method was an irreversible trend. After Chenghua, the banknote method completely collapsed.

The banknote method was completely abandoned during the Hongzhi and Zhengde years. By the beginning of the Jiajing period, it was even more so that "the banknotes had not been used for a long time, the money had been greatly blocked, and it was better to use special silver".

"The Ministry of Household Affairs also needs to re-formulate the exchange of Ming money and old money from past dynasties. In principle, we believe that the original regulations should be retained. The real large old money from past dynasties will still be used together with Ming money, and the remaining small money will be used at a 20% discount. ”

Zhang Juzheng continued.

"But how to calculate the discount of silver money?"

At this time, Wang Guoguang, the Minister of Household Affairs, asked, "According to the current laws of the imperial court, one coin of silver can be converted into 70 copper coins, and one tael of silver can be converted into 1,120 coins.

If it were changed to one tael of silver or one thousand coins, it would probably cause confusion. "

Neither Wei Guangde nor Zhang Juzheng paid much attention to the conversion of silver coins. After all, they rarely used copper coins.

However, when Wang Guangguang reminded him, Wei Guangde also remembered that this seemed to be the case.

According to the silver discount set by the Jiajing Dynasty, 1120 Wen is equal to one tael of silver, and one tael is equal to sixteen qian.

In fact, this is also the silver coin discount determined after one coin of silver is exchanged for seventy pence.

After a short discussion, the three finally agreed, in order to maintain continuity, that one penny of silver should be equal to seventy penny in accordance with the previous law.

"In the 33rd year of Jiajing, Emperor Shizong adopted He Tingyu's advice and allowed the people to use small coins with sixty pence as one cent of silver. This custom must be abolished. This time, the Ministry of Household Affairs also needs to carefully plan whether to issue small coins under the Xiaoping coin. ”

Wei Guangde said.