[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army":3,"chapter-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-642":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","A Little Soldier of the Late Ming Border Army",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1205931,1561,"Chapter 642: Silver Dollars","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-642",642,"\u003Cp>Wang Dou looked at the gleaming white, round object in his hand — it was a silver dollar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Overall, it was exquisitely made, with naturally clear patterns and rich, delicate luster. On the top it read \"Minted by Xuanfu Garrison of the Imperial Ming,\" on the bottom \"Equivalent to One Tael of Gold-Flower Silver,\" and in the center were the characters \"Chongzhen Tongbao,\" the coin script elegant and the strokes dignified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the reverse, two large characters read \"One Dollar,\" followed by a sun, moon, and wave pattern, and along the edge were the small characters \"Silver Content Ninety-Five Percent.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou gently stroked it with his fingertip, feeling the raised patterns and the reeded edge. He then grabbed a handful from a nearby silver chest and let them fall, producing a crisp, pleasing clinking sound. Inside the chest, the dazzling white luster blinded the eye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With no hole in the center, these silver dollars that had arrived early in the Great Ming were nearly identical in shape, fineness, and weight, each one usable as one. This was also Wang Dou's way of preventing the loss of the silver dollar's circulating significance due to discrepancies in fineness and weight, or even being valued only by weight rather than by piece during circulation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the silver content of these silver dollars was all ninety-five percent, similar to the Great Ming's commuted silver, making them of very high quality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although machine pressing could not be used at this time, resulting in slight differences between some silver dollars, achieving such refinement and standardization was already very impressive, and popular acceptance and spread among the people would not be a problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Clink!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Clink…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou looked over at Du Xun and Zhu Zhifeng beside him; the two were also fondling the coins, unable to put them down. Du Xun held a handful of silver dollars, sometimes dropping them from his left hand to his right, sometimes from right to left, listening intoxicated to the pleasant sound of the coins clinking against each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Zhifeng held a few silver dollars, examining them from every angle, repeatedly feeling their weight in his hand, and occasionally imitating Wang Dou by blowing on the edge and listening to the sound that reached his ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the silver dollars in his hand were the same size, each had a different denomination, with four face values in total: one dollar, fifty cents, ten cents, and one cent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first three denominations were silver dollars, distinguished by fineness with varying silver content, each marked on the reverse. The last denomination, however, was a copper coin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The copper was purplish-red. Its size, patterns, and characters were similar to a silver dollar, except at the bottom of the obverse were the large characters \"Each Coin Worth Ten Standard Cash,\" and on the reverse were the two large characters \"One Cent,\" equally minted with exquisite quality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Zhifeng stroked the copper coin, looked at the words \"Each Coin Worth Ten Standard Cash,\" felt its weight, and sighed, \"Such fine coinage — even if each were worth twenty standard cash instead of ten, the common folk would still be willing to exchange for it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Du Xun nodded and said, \"In the capital, a copper coin like this could be exchanged for at least twenty-five to thirty small flat cash.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the Great Ming first minted coins, in the early reign of Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, the task was assigned solely to the Baoyuan Mint under the Ministry of Works. At that time, few coins were minted annually, and the government vigorously promoted the treasure note policy, strictly controlling copper cash, repeatedly halting minting and banning its use. Therefore, although private minting was rampant among the people then, overall, copper cash was very valuable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, by the Wanli reign of Emperor Shenzong, due to the war in Korea, the Ministry of Revenue, which had gained minting authority, vigorously set up coin furnaces, and regions across the country followed suit. In the end, the number of coin furnaces in the entire Great Ming could not be counted. Especially large quantities of private coinage and inferior coins were mixed into official coinage to make up the numbers, causing many official furnaces to close down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During the Tianqi and Chongzhen reigns, private coinage was similarly rampant, with provincial mints producing excessive and debased coins to reap profits. In the first year of Chongzhen, the minting of Chongzhen Tongbao began, each coin weighing one qian, two fen, and five li, with excellent workmanship. However, because the imperial court's finances were nearly collapsing, this standard was not maintained for long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The various official coins minted later were all small in diameter, light, and thin, derisively called \"galloping horse coins.\" The coinage system at this time was at its most chaotic, with local mints wantonly overproducing, plus the nationwide flood of private coinage, resulting in over a hundred different types.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As in previous dynasties, Chongzhen Tongbao consisted mainly of small flat cash, that is, small coins with a face value of one wen. Of course, there were also large coins like the two-cash, three-cash, five-cash, and ten-cash pieces, used as two-wen, five-wen, ten-wen coins, and so on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Ming stipulated that large coins worth ten cash should weigh at least one tael and contain a specified amount of copper, but this was rarely achieved. During the Tianqi reign, the minting of ten-cash coins was initiated, but because both official and private mints produced them in excess, an order was soon issued to stop minting, and the imperial court used its own silver to recall the ten-cash coins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The copper coin in each person's hand had good fineness, a beautiful appearance, high copper content, and full weight. As Du Xun said, a one-cent face value copper coin could easily be exchanged for twenty-five wen of cash outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for silver being made into this shape, Zhu Zhifeng and others did not find it strange. In the Great Ming, silver was always calculated solely by fineness and weight; shape was irrelevant. Take broken silver, for instance — it was simply cut from an ingot. What shape did a snip of the shears produce?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Ming's official silver, commuted silver, was cast into the shape of sycee ingots merely for the convenience of accounting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the contrary, they felt that having them piece by piece like this was convenient to use, eliminating the need to weigh them or assess fineness, which was a convenience for the people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lord Zhu, the current Great Ming standard cash is excessive and inferior, and the common people suffer deeply from it. What harm is there in letting them gain a little advantage?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou said with a serious expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Zhifeng nodded. Xuanfu Garrison also had a mint, and minting coins was not against regulations. Moreover, the silver and copper dollars Wang Dou had created were exquisite and full-weight, greatly benefiting the common people — a matter beneficial to the nation and the people. Unusually, without any argument, they received Zhu Zhifeng's strong support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew that once the silver dollars and the like were issued, some people would likely curse Wang Dou again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They would curse him for currying favor and buying popular support, for plotting rebellion, and so on. In any case, they would find fault even in an egg. Thinking of this, he also felt indignant on Wang Dou's behalf, feeling that many in the Great Ming had become hysterical, which was of no benefit to the dynasty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Zhu Zhifeng had no clear idea how many silver and copper dollars should be minted. Currently, mints everywhere in the Great Ming were all operating at full speed, with no overall planning to speak of.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Zhu Zhifeng's mind, the more coins minted, the better, so that more common people could enjoy the benefits of fine coinage. Ultimately, he would find a way to deliver the Xuanfu Garrison mint into the hands of the imperial court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only Wang Dou knew that issuing currency was not a simple matter; too much or too little were both bad, especially too much — the Great Ming treasure notes were a lesson from the past. Therefore, just like the issuance of grain tickets, the personnel of the Silver Currency Division had also conducted careful calculations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time, the newly appointed Commissioner of the Silver Currency Division was Tian Changguo, the former Commercial Section Head of the Civil Affairs Division. Because of his outstanding performance, he had been entrusted with this important post by Wang Dou. Many military officers of the Great Ming were poor at fighting, but when it came to farming and commerce, they were highly skilled, and Tian Changguo was a representative among them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone in the hall was optimistic about the prospects of the silver and copper dollars. Of course, there would be problems after issuance, such as melting loss and the private coinage that had flooded Xuanfu Garrison and the outside. For Wang Dou, the melting loss problem within his jurisdiction was easy to solve, but private coinage, and the counterfeit coins that would inevitably appear, would need to be dealt with harshly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within the Great Ming, profiting enormously from minting coins was a common phenomenon. At this time, for every hundred catties of copper material used in minting, at least over sixteen thousand cash could be obtained after sale. Yet the cost of a hundred catties of copper material was less than half that, yielding a profit margin of nearly triple. If the minter's intentions were even more crooked and they minted inferior copper coins, the profit obtained would be even higher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, from the time of Ming Taizu onward, the number of people privately minting coins among the populace grew ever larger. Despite daily reports of death sentences, it could not be stopped. By now, it had become increasingly rampant, with military officers, powerful gentry, eunuchs, and others all controlling and participating, and the power of the private coinage merchants growing ever greater.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although to somewhat reduce resistance, and also because the denominations were large and required vast amounts of copper material, and to take the opportunity to pave the way for the circulation of small-denomination grain tickets, Xuanfu Garrison currently did not issue small flat cash with a face value of one wen. However, the high-quality silver and copper dollars would inevitably harm the interests of these private coinage merchants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faced with the temptation of enormous profits, many people would likely start counterfeiting again, issuing fake silver dollars and fake copper dollars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was on the large scale. Even on the small scale, those who sold silver scales and silver shears might harbor resentment because silver dollars did not need to be cut, weighed, and calculated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To combat counterfeit coins and the like in Xuanfu and Datong, besides Wang Dou coordinating with Wang Pu, Shanxi Provincial Governor Cai Maode, Datong Provincial Governor Wei Jingyuan, and others, more importantly, the newly established Sanjin Commercial Firm was enlisted to participate in the crackdown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under their commercial firm, they had dedicated armed forces. Although there were inevitably people with ulterior motives within the firm, the majority stood with Wang Dou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the powerful gentry and military officers in Xuanfu Garrison, especially around the garrison city, Wang Dou asked Du Xun to handle them. The issuance of the silver dollars and the like was not without the contribution of the mint, and with prior discussions, Du Xun and others would receive a certain share of the profits from the issuance of the silver and copper dollars, so Du Xun was quite enthusiastic at heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clinking the silver dollars in his hand, upon hearing Wang Dou's words, Du Xun made a subtle movement. When one looked again at his hand, those silver dollars were gone, vanished to who knows where.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said in a shrill voice, \"The Marquis of Yongning need not say more. For the nation and the people, I am duty-bound! If anyone dares to make a racket or counterfeit, let them beware — I'll have their skin flayed off!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Recently, with the rectification of the city's appearance and official roads, although many great households and official gentry resented Du Xun, he had also made a considerable amount of money from it. For money, Du Xun believed he could even give up his life; what was mere resentment?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhu Zhifeng lowered his head, stroking the silver dollar in his hand, and thought, \"If one day the Ministry of Revenue also issues silver dollars and promotes them throughout the Great Ming, then the court's currency system would have no worries.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three days later, inside the Silver Currency Division warehouse beside the Regional Commander's residence in Xuanfu Garrison City, the tall and thin Tian Changguo looked at the silver chests within the vault. He took a deep breath and said, \"Open the vault and move the silver dollars out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chest after chest of gleaming white silver dollars were continuously transported out and began to be exchanged throughout the entire garrison, causing a sensation. The benefits of the silver dollars had long been heard of, and upon seeing them, it was indeed as expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even on the Eastern Route, many soldiers and civilians exchanged for silver and copper dollars. Although grain tickets were generally accepted, generations of ingrained concepts meant that silver still held great weight in everyone's hearts. Exchanging a few to keep at home was never wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially if one traveled outside the garrison, the use of silver and copper dollars became even more important.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, these silver and copper dollars were one piece per unit, convenient to use, clear and straightforward, and of excellent quality. Why not exchange a few to keep at home?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the first day of the third month, in the Eastern Route's Baoan Department city, the changes here had become even greater over the past few years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside a street-facing residence in the Huimin Ward, a gentleman with a thick three-part beard, a square face, about fifty years old, wearing a round-collared robe, and exuding a sharp, aggressive aura as he looked around, was quietly watching the department residents queuing below to exchange for silver dollars. In his hand, he also held a few silver dollars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several men dressed as scholars also stood beside him, looking around. (To be continued.)\u003C\u002Fp>",2394,"2026-06-03T14:06:10.567Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","a0b51ec06fb2a5d402b1859226c8c6b32c250b6f614d2a601f163a58069583a8","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-643","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-641",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]