[{"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-644":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},1205933,1561,"Chapter 644: Ministry of Revenue Response (Part 2)","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-644",644,"\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor sighed. The silver coins in his hand, though slightly inferior in purity to the government’s commuted silver, were so convenient and standardized that the common folk would surely not mind that small difference — one silver coin could certainly circulate at the value of one tael of commuted silver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not to mention that the silver circulating among the people was far worse in purity than commuted silver, ranging from as high as ninety percent down to seventy or eighty percent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou was making moves again, and the Chongzhen Emperor did not know what to feel. Unlike elsewhere in the Great Ming, ever since Wang Dou was enfeoffed as Marquis, the Embroidered Uniform Guard — who had not left the capital since the early Chongzhen years — had begun operating in Xuanfu Garrison, so the Chongzhen Emperor could learn of Wang Dou’s movements with the greatest speed, and had even found ways to obtain some of the silver coins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Dou had openly declared that the imperial court’s standard coinage was the fine coin he himself had issued in the first year of Chongzhen, each piece weighing one qian two fen five li, and that all others were private or debased coins, henceforth banned from circulation within the garrison. For some reason, the Emperor felt a sense of schadenfreude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of the flood of private coinage, the Ministry of Revenue’s annual copper coin issuances had grown weaker and weaker. Most of what now circulated in the Great Ming came from local mints and private coin merchants. Soon, the ones in Xuanfu Garrison who would suffer were precisely the private coin merchants the Emperor detested — this he was happy to see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Wang Dou’s recognition of only the first-year Chongzhen coinage, aside from giving the Emperor a sliver of satisfaction, also stung him with a certain shame and anger. Was Wang Dou implying that all the coins the court had issued in the years since were debased and rotten, unworthy even to circulate in Xuanfu Garrison?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And if he himself had been able to issue fine coinage back then, why could he not do so thereafter? Was he to let Wang Dou win the people’s hearts while he himself did nothing?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glanced at Wang Dehua. The eunuch was gleefully fiddling with the silver coin in his hand. Perhaps all eunuchs shared one common trait — a love of money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor admitted it: the silver coin in his hand was gleaming white, dazzling to the eye, and holding a stack of them produced a strange sense of satisfaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment’s thought, the Chongzhen Emperor said, “Summon the Minister of Revenue, Ni Yuanlu.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shortly, Ni Yuanlu arrived in haste. Before he could finish his obeisance, the Chongzhen Emperor cut him off directly: “The Marquis of Yongning has issued silver coins in Xuan Garrison. What are Minister Ni’s thoughts?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taking the silver coin passed to him by the attendant eunuch, Ni Yuanlu’s mind raced. He knew about the silver coins issued in Xuan Garrison and had also found ways to obtain a few. Moreover, the matter had already stirred heated debate in the capital, with every kind of opinion voiced, and the coins’ appearance and denominations were widely discussed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These Xuanfu Garrison silver coins, aside from the “fen” denomination, bore other denominations like “yuan” and “jiao” that people found hard to understand. Even the silver coins that had flowed in from foreign barbarians over the dynasties, though somewhat similar in appearance to Xuanfu Garrison’s coins, did not carry denominations like yuan or jiao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, “yuan” was easier to explain — a silver yuan was, after all, a round thing, and since it was cast from silver, calling it a silver yuan made sense. As for “jiao,” no one knew what that was about. The outside world’s speculation was that the Marquis of Yongning perhaps wanted to show that his coinage was unique and leave a deep impression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first sight of the silver coins, with their uniform purity and appearance, Ni Yuanlu knew in his heart that their convenience meant they would, in the future, circulate widely throughout the realm — if the Marquis of Yongning had the financial resources for it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Ni Yuanlu knew that after seeing the silver coins, His Majesty was growing anxious. How did it feel that the majestic imperial court was outdone by a mere local Regional Commander? No doubt the entire court and country shared the same sentiment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He bowed in trepidation: “Your subject is guilty. Your subject beseeches Your Majesty…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor frowned. “We did not summon you to punish you. We only wish to ask Our Minister: is there any good policy?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rubbing the silver coin in his hand, he said urgently, “Can the Ministry of Revenue’s mints imitate this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meeting the Emperor’s expectant gaze, Ni Yuanlu pondered for a long while and finally sighed: “Difficult.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor was both disappointed and displeased. “Why? Is the august Ministry of Revenue inferior to a local mint?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ni Yuanlu uttered a few words: “Private coinage. Smelting surcharge.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor was instantly speechless. Yes — the four words “private coinage” and “smelting surcharge” immediately turned the court’s promotion of silver coins and the like into a bubble. A bleak sorrow rose in his heart. Why was it always so difficult to accomplish anything?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ni Yuanlu read the Emperor’s expression. Cautiously, he said, “However, although it is temporarily unfeasible for the court to mint silver coins, copper coins are possible. Your subject requests the restoration of the first-year Chongzhen system, to begin minting fine standard coins, in order to relieve the court’s desperate coin shortage.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ever since the news from Xuanfu Garrison had arrived, Ni Yuanlu had been pondering how the Ministry of Revenue should respond. The dignified imperial court naturally could not let a local warlord outshine it, so it had to take some action regarding the coinage system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of the smelting surcharge problem, silver coins were temporarily unfeasible, but copper coins — and small face-value one-wen coins — were still possible, provided they could obtain the Emperor’s strong support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The “Chongzhen Tongbao” of the first year of Chongzhen was the pride of the entire Ministry of Revenue. Even now, in the extremely fastidious Xuanfu Garrison, it was the only court coinage permitted to circulate — a testament to the exquisite quality of the first-year Chongzhen coins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is it feasible?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor, however, was somewhat hesitant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the first year of Chongzhen, he had decreed that every wen of coin cast must use two qian of copper. But not long after, due to financial problems, rampant over-minting by local mints everywhere, and the flood of private coinage, that fine coinage had been issued for only a short time before it could no longer continue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ni Yuanlu said fiercely, “The debasement of standard coins is largely due to the excessive mixing-in of private coins. If the court wishes to mint new coins, it must first strike down those private coin merchants who mint and traffic counterfeits!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He continued, “In many places today, minting coins yields enormous profits. One hundred jin of copper material, once sold, can bring several times its cost in profit. That is why private minters are numerous — and even many court officials and ministers engage in it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your subject is a man of Jiangnan. In Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Huguang, white lead is abundantly produced. The local white lead sells for only two taels of silver per picul, yet when merchants transport it to Guangdong, they can obtain six taels of silver per picul. Sea traders then ship the white lead to the Wa country, where each picul of white lead can be smelted to extract eighteen taels of silver.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The leftover white lead after smelting is shipped back to our country, where each picul can again be sold for six taels of silver. Local officials, generals, and powerful gentry are all deeply involved. The profits that belong to the court all fall into the hands of others.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke of this, Ni Yuanlu was pained and indignant. In the Chongzhen Emperor’s eyes, too, a look of bitter hatred appeared. Judging from Wang Dou’s house confiscations, it was not that the Great Ming’s common people lacked money — so why was the court growing poorer and poorer?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Therefore, to mint new coins, we must first strike down the private coin merchants and traffickers!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ni Yuanlu kowtowed repeatedly to the Chongzhen Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew that once this measure was launched, he himself would surely face an unimaginable wave of attacks. But since men of his generation had steeped themselves in the sages’ books, why should they begrudge their own persons?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor looked at Ni Yuanlu. Since assuming the post of Minister of Revenue, he had grown much more haggard. Some time ago, when he had promoted several cost-saving and expenditure-cutting measures, he had offended many people and met with great resistance — especially from the many military men who fed on empty payrolls and drank their soldiers’ blood, who were extremely dissatisfied with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the treasury’s funds and grain were exhausted, he had temporarily shelved the proposal to train new armies everywhere, which likewise drew complaints from many. The impeachment memorials against him were piling higher and higher, already resembling the situation when Li Banghua had been ordered to reorganize the Capital Training Corps — full of confidence at first, yet within less than a year, because he had offended too many people, he had no choice but to resign his cap and belt and live in idle retirement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor rose and paced, then finally said, “Minister, what strategy do you have?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ni Yuanlu had long since prepared a detailed memorial on the matter. He submitted it and explained alongside, “To strike down private coinage, your subject’s strategy is to specially appoint nine censors at the Nine Gates to supervise the matter. For every money table on every street and thoroughfare, anyone found with one private coin shall be flogged; two coins, penal labor; three coins, banishment; four coins or more, beheading!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The exchange rate shall be fixed at six hundred wen per tael. One wen more shall also be beheading. Stone mortars and iron pestles shall also be set up — the moment a private coin is seen, it shall be immediately pounded to pieces to eliminate its trace. Anyone caught bringing them in through the gates shall, upon discovery, be beheaded. Any leftover coins from commoners’ trade may be sent for delivery to the censorate, with rewards given. In this way, private coinage can be prohibited!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor pondered. Ni Yuanlu added, “At the foot of the imperial throne, the foremost place of virtue — this method can first be implemented in the capital. Once it proves effective, it can then be extended nationwide.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Chongzhen Emperor reflected at length, then said, “Approved.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1828,"2026-06-03T14:06:10.567Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","cf153b1cb6f6d7a5d0a28b96c6d9ba87fa3ab0401b86d92581eb420a8712f9cb","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-645","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-643",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]