Chapter 12 Epoch-making Changes (II)

Of course, any reform cannot be separated from money. Nothing can be done without money. If you start from scratch, it is a different matter. The key is that the keel has been built now. There is a layer of carrion on it. In addition to slowly rotting it, it also continues to corrode the keel. What Zhu Yinglong has to do is to hang off the carrion on the keel and repair the keel. It is best to apply a layer of anticorrosion paint on it, and then slowly replace it with new meat to revitalize the dragon.

All of this requires money, and it is astronomical money. One of the directions of the country's money is taxation, and the other is the income of large factories such as minerals operated by the state. Now it is added with customs taxation and maritime trade income. Taxation is no longer expected. The country's border troubles are constantly, and it is almost emptying the wealth of the people. Now it is the time for the people to rest and recuperate. Although the state operates a lot of minerals, it also requires large investment. It is undoubtedly a huge profit in the long run, but it cannot quench the near thirst. If the investment is large, it is slow to make money. There is only one way left. Customs taxation and maritime trade. This one is the most feasible.

, money is quite fast, investment is not small, risk is also great, but profit is also huge. A sailing can bring the court a profit of millions of taels, which is just to reach Japan in the east. If you go to Europe, it is not a fleet of ten or hundreds, and there are even a fleet of private private organizations. It takes about a year to go back and forth on the sea. As long as you don’t spend it, you can bring the court a income of at least 100 million taels of silver. Think about it, the total income of the court, including taxes, is only 20 million taels per year, and it can bring the court more than five times the income once a year. This is a conservative estimate.

Sun Shenxing was the first to stand up to support Zhu Yinglong's reform, because he saw that not only the treasury would not be able to hold on because of the amount of money, but more of it was that Zhu Yinglong decided to use the money where to build roads, bridges and schools. As long as he did everything that was beneficial to the country, he even found that even if he used the money every year, it would not be enough to break a penny of silver into two cents. There was too much money to use. In the past, the imperial court had no money, so he could only drag it down, owed it, and even used what was originally used for other purposes. Now that he had money, the money was not enough. Once the annual budget was good, the Ministry of Revenue was basically empty.

There are also coins that were minted. In the past three years, Chongzhen had minted 40 million coins. The market circulation was not enough. Sun Shenxing had already prepared to write a letter to Zhu Yinglong. This year, the plan to mint copper coins reached 100 million. It is the year with the largest amount of coins in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yinglong did not want to replace copper coins. However, he wanted to adjust his current monetary policy and prepare to build the Imperial Central Bank and issue new currencies. His name was all thought of. The descendants of the dragon were naturally named after the dragon, which was "Dragon Yuan".

The new monetary system adopts the gold standard system, with yuan as the basic unit and decimal system. According to the exchange rate of gold and silver circulation in the existing market, seven types of coins are minted, ten yuan gold coins, one yuan silver coins, fifty-money copper coins, twenty-money copper coins, ten-money copper coins and one-money copper coins. There are also a small number of ten yuan, fifty and one hundred yuan banknotes, which are issued in a relatively large number of ten yuan, fifty and one hundred yuan banknotes, which are circulated in parallel and gradually replace the ingots circulating on the market. Copper coins such as Tongbao also include silver ingots, broken silver and silver notes, and ordered that no one in the country shall refuse to accept newly issued coins and banknotes. The newly issued currency has used all the anti-counterfeiting technology that can be used in this time and space.

The first issuance of new currency is used to pay salaries to officials. Zhu Yinglong even issued an edict to order the whole country that officials' salaries and grains, including some of the salaries involved in officials, will be settled in the new currency "Long Yuan", and the salaries will not be handed over to the newly established Imperial Bank. Officials will automatically have their own account in the Imperial Bank. If the official cannot collect it on time, the salary will be automatically transferred to his account. If the official does not use it in a hurry, the salary will be deposited in the bank and will also be given a certain interest.

Of course, it is not easy to open the Imperial Bank to every county in the huge Ming Dynasty. The preliminary preparations were only taken in a few provinces in the north, and they could only be opened to provincial capitals, gradually setting up the south, prefectures and counties. This is probably difficult to complete without ten or eight years, especially in remote small counties, which may take longer.

As new institutions and new yamen continue to emerge, the administrative institutions of the court have reached a point where they cannot be changed. For example, the Ministry of Personnel, which is in charge of the assessment and promotion of officials. This was a powerful yamen in the past. Now, it has become the most purer yamen among the six ministries. On the contrary, the Ministry of Works, which originally thought it was the most pure and the least oil-free, was busy working. Today, build roads, dig canals tomorrow, and build the Yellow River embankment the day after tomorrow, busy going in and out. In the past, Huang Zunsu still envied Zhou Shunchang.

The most leisurely one among the seven ministers, now on the other hand, no one in the six ministers and the Lifan Academy is more busy than him. Zhu Yinglong came to his later generations and knew the importance of infrastructure. Therefore, he increased his attention to the Ministry of Works at the beginning of the reform. Especially in the Ming Dynasty, which had many disasters and difficulties, some large-scale projects that prevented problems before they happened should not be taken lightly. In particular, a flood control command center was affiliated with the Ministry of Works. The famous water conservancy expert Yuan Yingtai presided over the entire Ming flood prevention and flood control project construction.

The cabinet was reorganized, reformed the six ministries, and many government offices in the capital were changed all of a sudden. The cabinet should inherit the Government Council, and one Prime Minister, four Vice Premiers, Xu Guangqi, Vice Premiers: Huang Zunsu, Sun Shenxing, Yang He, Zhou Shunchang, and the Lifan Academy was renamed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Liu Hongxun was called the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Among the six ministries, the Ministry of Revenue was renamed the Ministry of Finance, with several tax departments under it, the Imperial Central Bank, the Minister of Finance was still Sun Shenxing, and the Ministry of Work was demolished. One was the Ministry of Water Resources, Yuan Yingtai was the Minister of the Secretariat and the other was the Ministry of Transportation and Construction. The Minister of the Secretariat was appointed Zhou Shunchang, and the Ministry of Justice was not moved, but one was added to the Inspection Department, which led all the inspection departments of the entire Ming Dynasty (take the Ministry of Public Security). The Ministry of Personnel was not moved for the time being, and the Ministry of Rites was renamed the Ministry of Education, which was in charge of national education and

The selection of imperial examination talents has been added to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Science and Technology and Agriculture on the basis of these seven departments. These ten departments are under the newly established Government Affairs Council, and the Censorate, Tongzhengsi, Taipu Temple, Dali Temple, etc. have some changes, but they have not been renamed for the time being. Take Dali Temple for example, its functions are equivalent to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Military Court. However, due to the separation of military and political affairs, Dali Temple has actually become two different interrogation institutions, divided into two left and right ministers. However, the military system reform has not been completed, and the two interrogation institutions of the military and civilians have not been separated yet. There is also Tongzhengsi. His functions are basically completely replaced by the Post Office. However, he has temporarily shouldered the important task of the people directly reaching the heavens, so he stayed. Taking the functions of later generations as an example, this yamen should be called the petition department to be more accurate.

As for the Prince's East Palace Zhanshi Mansion, there are also government offices like Jiaofangsi that can be streamlined if they can be streamlined. If they cannot be streamlined, they will leave a blank space for the time being and send an old and without any talent to watch.

In the fourth year of Chongzhen, Zhu Yinglong's series of military and political reforms shocked the world. Once these reforms are completed, they will bid farewell to an old era, and the Ming Empire will be reborn in the new era.

There is no resistance. First, when the resistance is not formed, it will be extinguished immediately. This work will naturally be done by the shadows and the eagle guards walking in the dark. Second, killing one to warn a hundred. Zhu Yinglong has never been afraid of killing people. He himself has also killed people lightly. Anyone who hinders his reform, whether it is an official or a civilian, has only one way to disappear from this world.

As long as the initial pain period of reform is over, I believe everything will be fine, provided that civil unrest cannot occur in the country.
Chapter completed!