Su Ce's ancestral grave was buried in the countryside of Shuntian Prefecture.
Su Ce squatted on the grass and respectfully burned the gold ingots and paper money. He also placed roasted chicken and fruits in front of the tombstone.
After everything was done, he got up and slowly walked in the spring scenery of the countryside.
Zhu Houzhao followed behind, and there were many 'old farmers' with poor acting skills around him.
These were the imperial guards responsible for Zhu Houzhao's safety, so Su Ce didn't care.
"Brother Ce, do you think we can forge Tong Bao now and change the economic status of silver?" Zhu Houzhao asked Su Ce curiously.”
Ever since the Ming Dynasty issued Hongwu Tongbao during the Hongwu and Yongle periods, it had been nearly sixty-eight years since the Xuande period.
Since the credit value of the banknotes had collapsed, in Zhu Houzhao's view, continuing to issue new small coins to save the credibility of the Ming Dynasty banknotes was not a solution.
Su Ce shook his head slightly. Occasionally, he would squat down and step on some wild vegetables in the basket.
He explained to Zhu Houzhao,"There are many reasons why the issuing of new small coins still cannot restore the credibility of the banknotes.”
From the historical point of view, in the 16th year of Hongzhi, which was more than half a year after Emperor Hongzhi prepared, he issued two kinds of Hongzhi small coins, Lianshui Zhi and Fenshui Zhi.
However, in the second year of Zhengde, which was more than four years after Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne, the Hongzhi New Coin collapsed.
The amount of Hongzhi New Coins was very small, and their collection value was extremely high in later generations. However, in the Ming Dynasty, it still could not save the situation of the collapse of the credit of the treasure notes. Even the people did not recognize Hongzhi Small Ping Coins.
The biggest reason was that the people of the Ming Dynasty no longer believed in the intrinsic value of other coins other than gold and silver.
The reason was very simple. The Ming government could indiscriminately issue banknotes this year, but if they were short of money next year, they would still indiscriminately issue Hongzhi Tongbao small notes. At that time, prices would still rise. The previous Hongzhi Tongbao might depreciate to worthless in five years.
Under such an economic environment, who would dare to exchange for Hongzhi Tongbao? After hoarding 10,000 yuan, after a few years, the hard-earned 10,000 yuan would be reduced to only a penny. No one would dare to take such a big risk.
The Ming Dynasty's Silver Empire was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Su Ce explained these principles to Zhu Houzhao one by one. He knew that the current Emperor Hongzhi, the cabinet, and the Ministry of Revenue might already be preparing to mint new coins.
However, the result would be a waste of manpower, energy, financial resources, and national strength.
Now, if they could stop Emperor Hongzhi and the Ministry of Revenue from coining coins, they could also save a sum of money for the Ming court.
"Of course, words are useless. You might not believe me even if I say this. After all, who knows what will happen in the future?”
Su Ce did not wait for Zhu Houzhao to speak and said,""If the imperial court is really determined to mint new coins, we might as well first investigate the people's hearts and issue a small number of new coins. Then, we can investigate whether the people know how to use them.”
Zhu Houzhao listened carefully to Su Ce's analysis, then nodded and said,""I understand."
"Yes." Su Ce said," If you don't want to waste money on these meaningless things, then try not to waste money. The country's money should be used in key areas.”
"Yes, yes." Zhu Houzhao nodded heavily.
He liked to chat with Su Ce because Su Ce knew everything and could tell him the truth.
Su Ce was different from his friends in the capital. Those people only knew how to fight cocks and walk dogs with him all day long. They had no real talent at all.
Of course, the bigger reason was that it was comfortable to chat with Su Ce, because Su Ce didn't teach him as a teacher.
Many of the comments were approachable and did not have any purpose. When the Crown Prince asked, he would explain it very clearly.
He would not be like the great Confucians of the Imperial Court, who would reply that it was useless to learn these things and that the Confucian classics were the most important. This was the true way of governing the country, and everything else was crooked.
Bullsh * t!
They clearly didn't understand, but they refused to admit it.
The spring sun was very warm, and the air in the countryside was very fragrant. Aside from the hustle and bustle of the city, there was a sense of comfort in the heart.
In a short while, Su Ce had already picked up a lot of wild vegetables in his small basket.
Many people were gathered in the fields not far away.
Looking out, the two groups seemed to be fighting.
"Do you know them?"
Su Ce saw that Zhu Houzhao's expression was not right, so he asked.
Zhu Houzhao blushed and said,"How embarrassing!" Both sides were relatives of the royal family. They were more than a hundred years old in total, but they actually came out to fight for land!”
On one side were Empress Zhang's two younger brothers, the Marquis of Shouning, Zhang Heling, and the Earl of Jianchang, Zhang Yanling.
On the other side were the Empress Dowager's younger brothers, Marquis Qingyun Zhou Shou and Duke Changning Zhou Yu.
After two and a half years of development, the benefits of the land granted by the Ming court to the imperial relatives were already countless and had long flooded.
Every year, the country had to spend a lot of money to feed them. This was not all. On this basis, they occupied fertile fields and monopolized salt profits. They were lawless.
Emperor Hongzhi was good in everything, but he was soft-hearted.
Empress Zhang was his only true love, and the Grand Empress Dowager was his closest relative who had protected his life and protected his growth when he was young.
The development over the years had made the members of these two families arrogant and despotic.
The Imperial Censorate had impeached the Zhou and Zhang families for committing crimes countless times, but Emperor Hongzhi was always stirring up trouble and rarely dealt with the relatives of the two families.
Looking over, the two families at the front had already begun to fight.
The Zhang brothers were in their thirties this year, and the Zhou brothers were also in their fifties. However, the Zhang brothers were pressed to the ground by the Zhou brothers and beaten up fiercely.
What a shame! Two middle-aged men couldn't defeat two Zhou brothers at the age of Knowing Destiny.
"Tian Zi is going to be troubled again."
Su Ce shook his head and smiled.
Emperor Hongzhi was already tired enough, yet he still had to put his energy on these useless relatives. These people could really find trouble for Emperor Hongzhi.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have exhausted Emperor Hongzhi to death at such a young age.
It was difficult for an upright official to settle family matters, let alone the emperor. The emperor had to deal with all kinds of family matters. If it was handled unfairly, the empress dowager and the empress would complain.
"Brother Ce, how do you think we should deal with these two groups of people fighting?" Zhu Houzhao asked Su Ce hurriedly.”
Zhu Houzhao felt more and more that Emperor Hongzhi was in trouble. He also wanted to share his father's worries.
"Get someone to beat up the Zhou brothers again," Su Ce said.”
"Ah?"
Zhu Houzhao thought Su Ce was joking, but he didn't see any signs of it.
"Really, really fight? They are the younger brothers of the Empress Dowager. Our Emperor respects the Empress Dowager very much. Who dares to beat up the Zhou brothers?”
Su Ce glanced at Zhu Houzhao and said,""Hai, we can't care about this matter either unless the Crown Prince sends someone to fight. Unfortunately, we don't know the Crown Prince.”
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