It seemed that Meton did not notice the sinister intentions of Yu Zhining and others. He continued to expose his family's dirty laundry, "What's more terrible is that the Mo's Village has opened a bank and obtained a large amount of cash in a short time, which will certainly make countless people very tempted. If the world scrambles to imitate and issue banknotes, the banknotes will be rampant like a piece of waste paper. That will be a real disaster."
The ministers could not help but be in an uproar. They did not expect that Mo Jiazi would expose another big loophole. Since ancient times, people died for wealth and birds died for food. The Mo's Village had obtained such a large amount of profit in a short time, which must have made countless people very tempted. In the future, countless people would definitely imitate it. However, the bank had only been established for a short time, and the world had not had the time to do so.
Hearing this, Yu Zhining was overjoyed and immediately scolded in high spirits, "Mo Jiazi, you are really bold. The Tang dynasty is simple and honest, and the people live and work in peace and contentment. However, you have established a bank, which puts the wealth of the people under risk. If you are careless, the trust of the people will be destroyed, the etiquette will collapse, and the thousand-year education of Kong Sheng will become empty words. Do you know your crime?"
Yu Zhining's accusation was not light. The ancients ruled the country with etiquette, but the issue of banknotes in the bank was a sign of turmoil. If they were not careful, it would lead to a disaster, which was not something the Mo's Village could bear.
The other ministers also echoed and accused Meton of making a decision without authorization and becoming a sign of turmoil.
Seeing Meton being condemned, Qin Qiong could not help but show a worried look. However, he was very confident in Meton's past achievements, so he did not come forward.
"Meton, what do you have to say?" Li Shimin said helplessly. According to the ministers, the bank had become the root of all evil.
In an instant, the ministers were ready for battle. According to the past practice, this should be the time for Mo Jiazi to fight back.
As expected, Merton said, "Your Majesty, the Minister has already predicted all the concerns of the ministers when he opened the bank. However, the Minister still chose to open the bank in the end because the bank is a double-edged sword. It can hurt others and hurt oneself. However, if we use it properly, it will be a peerless weapon."
"A peerless weapon!" The ministers could not help but be stunned. They did not expect that Mo Jiazi would value the bank so much. Yu Zhining and others could not help but look at each other. The more important something was to Mo Jiazi, the more they could not let Mo get what he wanted.
"Yes. "Meton said proudly," First of all, the people have been suffering for a long time. There is no need to mention the bill of exchange business. Silver notes have incomparable advantages over silver and copper coins. First of all, the heavy copper coins can be replaced by paper notes as thin as cicada's wings, which is greatly convenient for the people.
Everyone could not help but nod. In this regard, silver notes did have a great advantage. Moreover, Mo Jiazi divided the silver notes into one tael, one coin, and one cent, so that people could carry it around easily. It was so convenient to be able to cash out money. In addition, the reputation of Mo Jiazi and the Village of Mo Jiazi was also the reason why silver notes could be promoted so quickly.
"Secondly, silver notes can also reduce the loss of silver and copper coins. Many people, once they have money, are afraid that it will be stolen, so they will bury it deep in the ground. After a long time, copper rust will be everywhere, and silver will be soft. There is a lot of loss in daily use. Silver notes can perfectly avoid this problem."
The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Dai Zhou, could not help but nod. He was in charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, so he was naturally aware of these drawbacks. The Tang dynasty had a lot of losses every year because of this.
"Lastly, the biggest use of silver notes is to solve the problem of copper desolation." Meton finally threw out a deep water bomb.
"Copper desolation!" Suddenly, the ministers were in an uproar. The problem of copper desolation was a huge headache for the Tang dynasty. It should be known that the Tang dynasty had a shortage of copper coins every year, causing the price of copper to rise. The economy of the Tang dynasty was constantly growing, so the demand for copper was almost unlimited. However, the mining technology of copper mines in this era was backward and could not meet the demand at all. If they could solve the problem of copper desolation in the Tang dynasty, it would be a great achievement.
"Your Majesty, as you can imagine, a silver note worth one copper coin can replace a hundred copper coins, and a silver note can replace ten copper coins. The people only need a stack of banknotes and a few copper coins to settle accounts, unlike today, when everyone carries a bag full of copper coins on their backs. If the daily silver notes are popularized throughout the world, the Tang dynasty's demand for copper coins will only need ten percent. This is the best way to solve the problem of copper desolation in the Tang dynasty," Meton said proudly.
"Ten percent of copper coins will be enough!" Li Shimin's eyes suddenly flashed with a trace of shrewdness. According to what Morton had said, the use of banknotes was not something that could be ignored.
"Mo Jiazi, how dare you! Not only did you bring disaster to the Mo Family Village, but you also dare to popularize these harmful banknotes throughout the world. This is simply heinous," the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue exclaimed.
In fact, the ministers were also in an uproar. They were so shocked by Mo Jiazi's bold idea that they broke out in a cold sweat.
Meton laughed and said, "Why not? You all avoid banknotes like they are poisonous snakes and scorpions, but I think banknotes are the third generation of currency. They are the trend of the future and have great potential."
"The third generation of currency? What do you mean?" Dai Zhou, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke.
Meton looked around and said proudly, "It's a long story. This is the Mo family's secret. Since it has come to this, the Mo family will naturally not hide it anymore."
"The Mo family's secret!"
Suddenly, everyone cheered up and listened attentively. Although the Mo family had been silent for thousands of years, after Meton's continuous propaganda, no one dared to look down on the Mo family.
"Currency is also commonly known as money. Before the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, there was no money in the world. At that time, the way our ancestors traded was through barter. An axe for a sheep, two sheep for a cow. This kind of trade was very unstable. If I took a bag of grains and went to the market to trade, I might not be able to get anything even after running around for a day. At that time, money was born. That was the shell, which was the first generation of currency."
Li Shimin and Dai Ren nodded. Moton had already explained the reason why shells were used as currency in the Great Tang's silk system by using the word 'shell'.
The other ministers were all scholars. After thinking for a while, they immediately understood the reason. It was indisputable that shells were the first generation of currency. After all, the ancestors had already decided it in writing.
Meton continued, "However, shells have a big disadvantage. They are fragile, have little value, and are not easy to carry around. As the ancients continued to trade and explore, they finally found two kinds of metals that are not easy to break, have great value, and are easy to cut."
"Gold, silver!"
This time, the answer emerged in everyone's mind. Meton was talking about the gold and silver that they were familiar with.
"Yes, gold and silver are the second generation of currency." Merton said, "And it is worthy of being the world's recognized currency. Copper is just an auxiliary currency. The ancestors of the Mo family have traveled all over the world and found that almost all civilized countries use gold and silver as their currency. Of course, there are many ignorant nations that are still in the first generation of currency or the stage of bartering."
The officials of the Ministry of Rites could not help but nod slightly. This was very consistent with the situation they knew.
"Here, I can tell you a piece of good news to make a fortune. Because the gold, silver, and copper mines of different countries are different, the exchange rate of the three is also different. In the Tang dynasty, one tael of gold can be exchanged for ten taels of silver. In some countries, one tael of gold can be exchanged for at least twenty taels of silver. This is a huge business."
"Hiss!"
Almost everyone sucked in a breath of cold air. If what Moton said was true, using this method would be enough to plunder the wealth of an entire country. It would not be an exaggeration to call it a huge business deal. In an instant, many people were tempted. They could not help but look at the officials of the Ministry of Rites. In terms of information about other countries, the Ministry of Rites was probably the most knowledgeable after the son of the Mo family.
Even Li Shimin felt a rush of excitement. If there was really such a price difference, they could obtain a huge profit without spending a single soldier. This was an irresistible temptation for the imperial court.
"The dignified House of Mo stinks of money. Why would they give up such a huge profit and publicize it to the world?" Yu Zhining snorted coldly.
Meton sneered back, "The House of Mo makes money by using the secret techniques of the House of Mo. It benefits the country, the people, and themselves. It has never hoarded goods, jacked up prices, or disobeyed the law. If the House of Mo wants to make money, it will only use the goods produced by the Village of Mo. Every penny it earns is pure. It will never use a second method. "
Li Shimin also suppressed the desire in his heart. He could not help but wave his hand and said, "Okay, I naturally know that the House of Mo is a model of craftsmen, not a crafty businessman. But don't change the topic. For the time being, tell me about the third generation of currency."
Meton then returned to the topic, "However, although gold and silver are natural currencies, they are not without shortcomings. They are too heavy, easy to wear, and extremely rare. Therefore, most of the Chinese use gold, silver, and copper as currencies. But with the continuous development of society, the problem of shortage of money has become more and more serious. In addition to people's love of burying gold, silver, and copper coins in the ground, another fundamental reason is the scarcity of gold, silver, and copper.
All the ministers in the court nodded.
"It is conceivable that with the continuous development of the Tang dynasty, the problem of shortage of money will certainly be further aggravated. Therefore, the third type of currency will inevitably come into being. That is, banknotes represented by banknotes. The Minister calls it the credit currency." Meton took a deep breath and said.
"Credit currency!"
All the ministers in the court suddenly realized that the most important reason why Meton's three types of banknotes could be smoothly implemented was probably the credit of the House of Mo and Mo Jiazi.
More ministers looked at Meton with more dignified eyes. They had never heard of the knowledge that Meton mentioned, but it had always been around them.
The problem of shortage of money in the Tang dynasty had always existed, but no one paid attention to it. Mo Jiazi seized the opportunity and issued banknotes. It could be said that he was at the forefront of the era for once.
Meton looked around and said, "The credit currency can be implemented because of its great advantages. The banknotes are easy to make, easy to keep, carry and transport, and can avoid the loss of gold and silver in circulation."
All the ministers nodded. The reason why the banknote business was popular in Village Mo was that they saw the inconvenience of carrying money.
However, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs said disapprovingly, "Mr. Mo, are you just defending your own wealth? You only talk about the advantages, not the disadvantages. If the whole world imitates Village Mo to set up banks and issue banknotes indiscriminately, you can't bear the consequences alone once it causes chaos."
Meton nodded and said, "Then what do you think we should do, Mr. Mo? If we directly forbid the issuance of banknotes, we will just give up eating for fear of choking. The shortage of money in the Tang dynasty will never be solved."
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs snorted and said, "It's easy to solve it. The bank in Village Mo only needs to hand over the cash exchanged by issuing banknotes to the national treasury. Even if the banknotes of Village Mo become a piece of waste paper one day, the people can still take the banknotes to the imperial court to exchange. In this way, the people will not suffer any loss."
Many ministers quieted down at once. If Mo Jiazi agreed to this condition, there would be no chance for them to turn the situation around.
After thinking carefully for a long time, Meton nodded slowly and said, "This is a way. But the bank needs to prepare gold and silver at all times to deal with the people exchanging cash. The main reason why the credit currency can be promoted is that the banknotes can be exchanged for cash or used to buy things at any time. If the bank in Village Mo can't exchange banknotes at any time, let alone the workers of Village Mo, even the villagers will not agree. The bank will definitely go bankrupt within three days. "
The assistant minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs blushed at once. All his plans were revealed by Mo Jiazi. Seeing the emperor and the ministers looking at him, he felt ashamed.
However, Meton changed his words and said, "However, although the bank can't hand over all the cash to the imperial court, it can hand over 30% of the cash to the imperial court for safekeeping."
"30% cash!" The ministers couldn't help being stunned. They didn't expect that Meton would take the initiative to hand it over.
Meton nodded and said, "The 30% cash will be used as the deposit for the banknotes. In this way, even if Village Mo goes bankrupt in the future, the imperial court can compensate for 30% of the capital of the banknotes in the hands of the people."
Yu Zhining raised his eyebrows and said, "30% of the capital? What about 70%? Do the people have to bear 70% of the loss? "
Meton suddenly turned around and said to Yu Zhining, "At any time, only Village Mo has the most banknotes. It can be said that Village Mo is at the greatest risk. I can promise that if Village Mo goes bankrupt one day, we will not exchange the banknotes, and the rest of the money can be exchanged for the people. In this way, the loss of the people can be reduced by at least 50%. Coupled with the inherent assets of Village Mo, I believe that the loss of the people will be minimized. Of course, Village Mo will not let this day come."
"50%!" Many ministers fell into hesitation.
"Do you know why we have to hand over 30% cash? Firstly, Village Mo needs to keep 70% of the cash to deal with the exchange. Secondly, the bank account opened by Village Mo must have 30% of the deposit. The people believe in the credit of Village Mo, and Village Mo also believes in the credit of the imperial court. This is the essence of the credit currency." Meton said with great emotion.
"Credit!" The ministers fell silent at once. The Tang Dynasty valued credit the most and believed that a promise was worth a thousand gold. The credit currency represented by banknotes would certainly challenge the credit system of the Tang Dynasty. However, if it was used well, the benefits would be immeasurable.
"And do you know how much the 30% cash is?" Meton's eyes flashed with a trace of pain.
"300,000 strings of cash!"
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