jdhmnovel Chapter 403 Zhu Biao's Sense of Crisis
Chapter 403 Zhu Biao's Sense of Crisis
As they spoke, Yang Shaofeng and Zhu Biao walked over to the people who had come from Dengzhou Prefecture to work.
After the people stood up and bowed, Yang Shaofeng pointed to one of them and asked, "Have you all received your daily wages? Is it the full sixty coins?"
The commoner pointed out by Yang Shaofeng rubbed his hands together on the hem of his clothes as he answered, "Reporting to Your Excellency, the wages have been received, it's the full sixty coins, it's just... it's just..."
Yang Shaofeng asked, "What is it?"
The commoner pointed out by Yang Shaofeng chuckled twice and replied, "Even if we get paper money, we still have to ask our family members to go to that paper money exchange center to exchange it for copper coins. It would be easier to just give us copper coins directly."
Yang Shaofeng snorted coldly and said, "These rules were set by me. I originally thought I was giving you a chance to make money, but you are all too disappointing. You can't even seize the opportunity I gave you!"
Yang Shaofeng's words left the people present and Zhu Biao completely bewildered.
Yang Shaofeng was too lazy to pay attention to those idiots anymore.
In any case, the common people do not pay any fire loss when exchanging paper money for copper coins or vice versa; they are free to choose whether or not to exchange for copper coins.
Anyway, when they find that copper coins are not as useful as paper money when they buy things in the future, they will know to exchange copper coins for paper money.
Only after leading Zhu Biao a considerable distance from the construction site did Yang Shaofeng purse his lips and say, "According to the current rules of Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture, there is no fire loss charge when exchanging paper money for gold, silver, or copper coins, but there is a fire loss charge of five coins per string when exchanging gold and silver for paper money."
"If these fools hadn't exchanged the paper money for copper coins, merchants would surely have come to them to exchange gold and silver for paper money. It wouldn't have been difficult for them to make two or three coins from a string of cash."
"As for now... since they find it troublesome, I'll just watch them suffer."
After hearing Yang Shaofeng's words, Zhu Biao felt a mix of amusement and exasperation.
what is this?
Is the prefect arguing with the people under his jurisdiction?
The key point is that the ordinary people didn't earn an extra two or three coins, so they can't be considered to have suffered a loss!
Just as Zhu Biao was inwardly complaining, Yang Shaofeng suddenly changed the subject and said, "Fortunately, fortunately the Koreans' wages are settled between the Ministry of Revenue and the Korean household registration office."
Zhu Biao paused slightly and asked, "Bang... does the Goryeo Revenue Department accept gold, silver, or paper money?"
Yang Shaofeng curled his lip and said, "Naturally, it's precious paper money."
"This all started with the border market."
"In the border trade, our Great Ming mainly sells more goods, while Goryeo and other vassal states mostly buy more goods."
"Only paper money is accepted at the border market. If you exchange gold or silver for paper money, you will be charged a fire loss fee."
"But they spend a lot on buying things and earn little on selling things, so the money they earn will not be enough."
"Therefore, paper money was a necessity for Goryeo and other vassal states."
"Right now, we can say that we are forcing them to accept the precious notes to buy things, but in the future, they may hoard the precious notes on their own initiative."
Zhu Biao nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
After a long silence, Zhu Biao finally sighed and said, "Brother-in-law, my trip to Dengzhou this time has truly been worthwhile."
Yang Shaofeng was slightly taken aback, wondering what Zhu Biao was up to this time.
Zhu Biao continued, "Besides the matter of the blank seal, what touched me the most was the laborers outside the city."
“The people of Dengzhou Prefecture can work while chatting and laughing. Not only are their food and clothing taken care of, but they can also earn sixty coins a day.”
Sixty coins is no small sum.
Based on current prices in the Ming Dynasty, sixty coins could buy twenty eggs, two chickens, or more than eight catties of rice.
"But those Korean laborers only received fifteen coins a day."
"And the people in other parts of our Great Ming Dynasty..."
Zhu Biao stammered, "It's not necessarily any better than the lives of Korean laborers."
After Zhu Biao said that, Yang Shaofeng was at a loss for words.
The development of Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture is actually quite strange.
The biggest problem actually stems from my own cheating.
To put it bluntly, while other prefects and magistrates were still thinking about how to encourage agriculture and sericulture, he was already thinking about developing small-scale industries.
Besides the five small-scale industries, other industries such as aquaculture, animal husbandry, and the tertiary sector are also being pursued in the same way.
Compared to simply demanding revenue from the land, this is practically a complete game-changer.
The key issue is that my ability to outdo others is not entirely replicable.
To put it bluntly, how many copies can be made depends entirely on how much conscience those officials have and how much effort they are willing to put into figuring these things.
If you completely disregard the risks and create a one-to-one replica, there's even a possibility that problems might arise during the replication process.
After a long silence, Yang Shaofeng finally spoke: "The lives of people in other places will also gradually improve."
Pointing towards the market, Yang Shaofeng continued, "The reason why people's lives are so difficult is twofold: first, because of food, and second, because of money."
"With the border markets, the imperial court can not only make money, but also buy low-priced grain from the various vassal states in Southeast Asia."
“When the national treasury has money, it can use the money to conscript laborers or recruit people to work, and the people can earn wages.”
"The goods sold through the border markets always require production and transportation, and the people can make money in these two stages."
"In short, everything will get better slowly."
Zhu Biao hummed in agreement, then stared absently in the direction of the border market.
Yang Shaofeng was too lazy to try to figure out Zhu Biao's thoughts, so he ordered a maid to brew a pot of Xiaolongtuan (a type of rice dumpling) to relieve his boredom.
It wasn't until the maid finished preparing the glutinous rice balls that Zhu Biao came to his senses and laughed, "Brother-in-law is right. I was just being stubborn."
Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but purse his lips.
Zhu Biao's sense of crisis is commendable.
However, simply having a sense of crisis is not enough; at the very least, we need to find ways to solve the problems at hand.
To solve the problem and maintain long-term development, a sound system is also needed.
Is the current system of the Ming Dynasty considered good?
can.
After all, the current system of the Ming Dynasty is very much in line with the current needs of the Ming Dynasty.
However, it only meets the current needs.
As the Ming Dynasty gradually developed, a host of problems were exposed in the existing system.
For example, the garrison system.
The key point is that Zhu Chongba, that old tyrant, was quite proud of the garrison system he created.
For example, the national treasury does not need to allocate extra money to support the army, and even the food and fodder for fighting are obtained from the land cultivated by the garrisons.
Changing the garrison system is not so easy.
Or, how about giving that old Zhu Chongba some more amusement?
Just as Yang Shaofeng was pondering this, a yamen runner outside the government office ran up to report: "Your Excellency, the Assistant Prefect of Dengzhou and the Magistrate of Penglai request an audience."