A "stupid order" by Zhu Yuanzhang solved the big problem of the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

On April 2, many far-reaching events took place in Chinese and foreign history. Mencius and Xunzi, two great thinkers in China during the Warring States Period, were born 60 years ago. 15 13 on this day, the Spanish explorer Dylan finally set foot in Florida. The history of European colonization of North America began. Of course, on this day, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang did a "stupid thing" that has always been laughed at.

1April 2, 375, in the eighth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, the great ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, gave a high-profile order to Zhongshu: an "artifact" carefully designed by the Ming Dynasty had been completed and should be built overtime. As long as it is put into use, it will definitely revitalize the economy of the Ming Dynasty. What "sacred object"? In order to keep Daming safe, this is money.

This sacred object, which is responsible for the great cause of governing the country, is the paper money that was popular for a period of time after the founding of the Ming Dynasty: Daming Treasure Money.

In the Ming dynasty, when money was widely used in costume dramas, even paper money was used? Not only for use, but also for fun. From the point of view of lighting and even later generations, although the Ming Dynasty made great efforts, the value of this currency plummeted year after year in the next hundred years, falling to16th century, and finally it was completely eliminated by silver in the market and finally disappeared. Zhu Yuanzhang, smart all his life, rarely does stupid things!

But is this really so stupid?

At least, the premise of doing this is absolutely not stupid: at this time, all walks of life are declining, and it is impossible to change new banknotes.

When the Ming Dynasty was founded, it was difficult to be famous in all aspects, with common ruins in towns and wasteland in villages. Both food and labor are in short supply, but the most serious shortage is money. There is a real shortage of precious metals that can be used to make money. Although the Yuan Dynasty collapsed quickly, it also ran fast. Before the defeat of Mobei, all valuable things were swept away, especially the gold and silver in the northern treasury, which was almost left. They ran away happily, but embarrassed the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, the market in Ming dynasty was almost short of money, not to mention the scarcity of gold and silver, and even the copper for making copper coins was hard to find. So many local bronzes were forcibly requisitioned to cast 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 people to farm in the early Ming Dynasty. How can anyone be mine? The currency circulating in the market is even more varied, and all kinds of paper money at the end of the yuan dynasty are swaggering in use. Even some people who are good at painting will use fake money. It's a mess all year round

Most importantly, the lack of money was so serious that the Ming Dynasty needed money badly. The most important strategy of governing the country in the early Ming Dynasty was that the state invested heavily in construction, such as farmland water conservancy, and spent money all the year round. The point is that the war has not stopped. The war with the North Yuan was perennial. Every year, the defense expenditure is very high, and everything is waiting for money. If the money is not solved, the Ming Dynasty established by the new country will either be born in poverty or die in chaos.

The most urgent solution is to issue new banknotes. This is an iron pillar to stabilize Daming's economy. In the eighth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang also made this determination: Daming treasure came out in high profile.

More importantly, it has to be said that it bears such great significance, and its appearance is by no means as simple and rude as some historical materials say. The institution responsible for Daming banknotes, the "Banknote Withdrawal Department", has long been established. The "banknote law" and the design of Daming banknote concentrated the painstaking efforts of a group of economic talents in the Ming Dynasty. This new official currency of Daming is advanced in many ways.

How bright? The whole banknote is made of mulberry paper, with a cyan appearance and special reverse printing.

Matching it, it is an unprecedented strict paper money management method in the Ming Dynasty. Anyone who dares to forge banknotes, even if one of them is beheaded, will be rewarded immediately. Private physical trading of gold and silver was once banned. It was once a rigid rule in the Ming Dynasty that large banknotes were easily exchanged and small copper coins were used for trading. Under such strong measures, from the eighth year of Hongwu, the treasures of Daming, like a scourge, quickly swept the people of Ming Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the chaotic situation of currency flooding was immediately swept away.

Moreover, even the most critical scholars admit that the treasure banknotes in the early Ming Dynasty really made the whole Ming Dynasty taste a lot of sweetness.

The first person to breathe a sigh of relief was Zhu Yuanzhang himself. The production cost of paper money is much lower, that is to say, only issuing coins in the Ming Dynasty saved a lot of expenses, and the annual expenditure pressure was greatly reduced.

The self-confidence of the Ming Dynasty also expanded. Before the treasures of the Ming dynasty appeared, the Ming dynasty worried about money almost every day, and the salary and military expenses of national construction were always troublesome. With precious money, the pot is easy to boil. Especially the biggest military expenditure, in the years when the Northern Yuan War was the fiercest, the military expenditure, materials, money and grain supply of the Ming Dynasty were almost paid with precious paper money, and the Ming Dynasty pursued troops northward, finally creating a peaceful environment.

It is also useful, and the agricultural engineering construction in Zhu Yuanzhang's era is even more important. Throughout the Hongwu period, the Ming Dynasty launched unprecedented manpower for many times to overhaul farmland water conservancy and post roads. In the past 30 years, more than 5000 dams and 40000 ponds have been built. This is how the agricultural output value soared in the early Ming Dynasty. Of course, it is also supported by valuable money.

Of course, the problem is also recognized. After studying economics, you will know that gold and silver reserves are insufficient. If paper money is issued by force, no matter how severe the law is, inflation is always inevitable. Inadvertently, the face value of paper money plummeted. It was only during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang that paper money depreciated several times. In Zhu Yuanzhang's later years, many economically developed areas in the south were forbidden to forgive, but gold and silver trading was still prohibited. Every time the Ming dynasty found a problem, it was a strong rebound, which always dragged back the precious money price.

Because the Daming Baochao model 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 Baochao has problems, it is basically controllable. From the bleak scene of the Ming dynasty to the rise of the strong, it is indeed the strong of the strong.

However, after the death of Zhu Yuanzhang, the economy of the Ming Dynasty also flourished, and the problem of treasure money was really overwhelming. With the development of commodity economy, the precious paper money that can be saved in the early Ming Dynasty cannot be saved by its own depreciation. During the Yongle period, large-scale economic transactions among the people, especially the purchase of land and houses, were sometimes exchanged by buyers and sellers with rice and wheat silk, and this kind of valuable paper money that accelerated the depreciation would never be used. Even if the Ming dynasty dealt with it again and again, it was useless.

The reliability of Baochao, with the vigorous development of commodity economy after the middle of Ming Dynasty, eventually went bankrupt. During Zhengde period in Ming Dynasty, silver was widely circulated and became legal tender in Jiajing period. Where is the treasure? Lu Rong, a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, said: "What people get is useless." The high-end printing atmosphere is basically used as paper.

However, when the devaluation of paper money became a reality, the response of the Ming Dynasty was extremely slow. Throughout the15th century, it was obvious that paper money was useless, but it was once allowed to circulate. Even after the middle period, precious paper money was no longer used in the market, and many government expenditures in the Ming Dynasty were still paid by precious paper money. That year's shot in the arm finally dragged me down. Why did the highly developed commodity economy in Ming Dynasty make the imperial court poor? What to see