Chapter 311

"From this day forth, our Great Qing strictly forbids the circulation of Great Ming treasure notes; anyone dealing in them shall be charged as a collaborator with the enemy!"

"All treasure notes in hand may be exchanged for silver and coin at the Treasure Note Exchange Office."

"Three guan exchanges for two taels of silver; one guan exchanges for six hundred coins!"

"Yes, sir!"

The Great Ming's aim was nothing more than to make the common folk beyond the pass use treasure notes just like the Great Ming's own people.

Since that was the case.

Fan Wencheng's first step was to ban Great Ming treasure notes outright.

Beyond that, he would also use Bai Yin to buy up the notes at a low price, driving down the note's value and pushing up the price of silver!

Just after Fan Wencheng's decree was issued.

The common folk of Shengjing immediately took to the streets, cursing up a storm.

These were treasure notes they had worked themselves to the bone to earn, trading them for goods worth a full tael of silver.

Yet the court had simply seized them back at a forced price of six hundred coins.

It was no different from outright robbery.

They only had to look at the weapons in the hands of those Eight Banner soldiers.

Even if some of them had a mind to cause trouble.

They could only swallow it down.

And obediently line up outside the Qing court's Treasure Note Exchange Office.

After all, exchanging still got them six hundred coins.

If they didn't exchange.

And got caught, that would be a capital offense!

Outside the Exchange Office.

The line of common folk stretched on without end.

Watching these common folk.

Fan Wencheng could not help but feel a chill of dread in his heart!

If he had not discovered the Great Ming treasure notes.

It would not have taken long for the wealth Great Qing had accumulated over decades to be sucked dry and squeezed clean by the Great Ming!

"Now, how many treasure notes do we have on the books?"

The clerk beside him said softly,

"Mr. Fan, over these past few days, we already have close to twenty million guan."

Even though he had long prepared himself mentally.

When Fan Wencheng actually heard the number, he could not help but draw in a sharp breath.

After a long while, Fan Wencheng, having collected himself, clicked his tongue and said slowly,

"Draw out three million guan of Great Ming treasure notes."

"Mr., we're drawing out so many treasure notes for...?"

"Take them out to the grasslands, to find the herders there, and the merchants of Gao Li."

"Tell them that the treasure notes in our hands can be had for just nine hundred and ninety coins per guan!"

Hearing this.

The clerk's brain clearly could not keep up.

"Mr., this..."

"Don't ask, just do it!"

"Yes, sir!"

Fan Wencheng knew.

Doing this was tantamount to forcibly extracting wealth from the people.

If it went on for long, it would breed resentment among the populace.

Even though the price of Great Ming treasure notes had been hammered down, it had only been forcibly suppressed within Eight Banner territory.

As long as the price of treasure notes in the surrounding areas did not fall.

Eventually, the fools willing to sell treasure notes to the Qing court at such a price would grow fewer and fewer.

As squads of Eight Banner secret agents galloped off in all directions.

The price of treasure notes across all the lands beyond the pass.

Fell into utter chaos.

Though the extent of the depreciation varied from place to place.

Overall, it was on the decline.

And as a result of this.

The most direct consequence was that the daily amount of silver paid out by each Treasure Note Exchange Office surged.

At one point, the payout ratio even approached one to one!

The Nine Border garrison trading posts and the Maritime Trade Offices immediately sent fast riders to the capital with the news.

Du Du Yinxi was also stunned by this tide of urgent reports.

"That can't be right, this can't be right."

"Why have these merchants all suddenly started exchanging for silver at once?"

Before Du Du Yinxi could sort out the connections within all this.

Hong Chengchou stormed into the cabinet duty quarters in a huff, and looking at Du Yinxi, complained,

"Grand Secretary Du, what on earth has happened? The silver reserves at the Dagu and Deng-Lai Maritime Trade Offices are exhausted, and even the silver reserves at the two trading posts in Liaodong and Xuanfu are all in dire straits, petitioning the court to allocate silver."

Upon hearing the news that the silver reserves were exhausted,

Du Yinxi abruptly stood up.

Even a fool could see it by now.

Someone beyond the pass was deliberately short-selling Great Ming treasure notes!

Du Yinxi dared not delay in the slightest.

He immediately tucked the memorial under his arm and hurried toward the direction of the Forbidden City.

"Grand Secretary Hong, please wait a moment, allow this subordinate to enter the palace to report to the Son of Heaven!"

With that, Du Yinxi left Hong Chengchou behind and hurried toward the direction of the Forbidden City.

When Du Yinxi found Zhu Youjian,

Zhu Youjian was at the Armory Bureau, looking utterly bewildered as he watched Su Qiao take a few sheets of cowhide and sew something together.

"Your Majesty, my lord Su, terrible news."

Zhu Youjian was immediately startled.

"Is there another battle report from Ningyuan?"

Du Yinxi sighed and said,

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it is not Ningyuan, it is the treasure notes."

"Treasure notes? What has happened with the treasure notes?"

Du Yinxi sighed, holding the memorial in his hand,

"Beyond the pass, at the nine major trading posts and the Dagu and Deng-Lai Maritime Trade Offices, the price of notes has plummeted."

"The Jianzhou Jurchens in Liaodong are disrupting our Great Ming paper currency law!"

Zhu Youjian still had not realized the gravity of the situation.

"Mm... so what if it's disrupted?"

Upon hearing Zhu Youjian's words,

Du Yinxi could not help but smile bitterly.

"Your Majesty, right now the common folk and merchants north of the Yangtze are all using treasure notes to exchange for ready silver."

"In just a few days, nearly ten million taels of silver have been exchanged out."

"If this continues, I'm afraid the common folk will empty out our Great Ming's national treasury."

When it came to other matters, Zhu Youjian might not have been so sharp.

But when Du Yinxi mentioned silver,