The most arrogant in history

Chapter 603 The Court’s Credit.

Ma Zhao was unhappy, but he could only carry out Ye Kun's imperial edict and the resolution of the nine ministries. He nodded and said, "Everyone says it's feasible, so I'll do it. In the future, each county will develop two or three lawyers to fight lawsuits for the people."

The existence of lawyers seriously restricts the power of grassroots judges.

Ma Zhao was worried that law enforcement would become more difficult in the future, so he was unhappy.

Ye Kun knew what Ma Zhao was thinking and said:

"Master Ma, when Dayu was controlling floods, dredging was better than blocking. I think the same is true for governing the people. Giving the people a channel to appeal for their grievances is much better than forcing them to rebel.

In a civilized society, the power of judges and officials must be supervised and restricted. It is easy to deal with you nine ministries, just keep an eye on me all day and restrict my imperial power. If there are no nine ministries, I will be arbitrary and easily become a tyrant. "

Everyone bowed and smiled, "Your Majesty is wise and will never become a tyrant."

After staying at the dock for two hours, Ye Kun ordered to set out overnight to inspect the night navigation conditions.

Jiang Yourong and others were all interested and enjoyed the night view on both sides of the canal from the bow of the boat.

Ye Kun returned to his ship and said to Jiang Yourong and others, "In one or two years, the two banks of the canal will be more prosperous, and there will be bright lights and busy figures at night."

Jiang Yourong smiled and said, "It seems that there are not enough lighthouses on both sides. The night looks dark."

Ye Kun nodded: "I have already instructed Ye Qingyang to add more lighthouses, milestones, and warning signs in the future. We will also add small docks on both sides of the canal to facilitate nearby people to do small businesses or come to the canal to help.

Judging from the development potential, it won’t be long before the Grand Canal can support one million river transport workers.”

During the Qing Dynasty, there were millions of canal workers on the Grand Canal.

Ye Kun believed that the Grand Canal he opened would one day be as prosperous as this one.

Wen Axiu was very surprised: "One river feeds one million river transport workers? Your Majesty, you are not wrong, are you?"

"You are right. In the future, the number of canal service personnel will increase several times."

Ye Kun nodded and smiled, "I asked Ye Qingyang, and now there are more than 30,000 river transport workers, dock workers, river patrol personnel, and maintenance personnel. In addition, the economy on both sides of the canal has been boosted, supporting many people."

Wen Axiu sighed: "When we built the canal, I didn't expect that there would be such high tax profits. I saw the announcement of the Ministry of Finance and Taxation, and the tax revenue from the canal has accounted for one-third of the country's commercial tax revenue."

The two main sources of tax revenue today are the canal and the Silk Road.

The two account for one third each.

The remaining scattered enterprises, railways, local official roads, and small vendors contributed one third.

Ye Kun smiled and said, "The tax revenue from the Silk Road seems to have reached a point of subversion. However, the tax revenue from the canal still has a lot of room for growth. From now on, the tax revenue from the canal will account for more than half of the national commercial tax revenue."

Canal taxes in the Qing Dynasty accounted for 90% of commercial taxes.

It can be said that it was the Grand Canal that supported the Qing Dynasty.

Ye Kun simultaneously developed railways and canals, and the tax rate would probably be lower.

As the night deepened, Ye Kun asked Jiang Yourong and others to go to the cabin to sleep.

I stood at the bow and continued to enjoy the night view.

Tan Bamao also accompanied the emperor on the river patrol and whispered, "Godfather, it's getting late, you should rest too."

"I can not sleep."

Ye Kun asked Tan Bamao to sit down next to him and suddenly asked, "Bamao, in an empire, which is more important, money or food and clothing?"

Tan Bamao thought about it and said with a smile:

"Money is a circulating commodity, used to facilitate the circulation of goods. If there is no money in a small area, people can still barter. But without food and clothes, people will freeze to death or starve to death. Therefore, food is more important than money."

Ye Kun nodded and asked again: "Then what do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of the paper money I promote?"

It has been a year since Ye Kun promoted paper currency.

To be on the safe side, Ye Kun only issued the smallest denomination banknote - a one-cent note.

One-cent paper note is equivalent to one-cent copper coin, and it is stipulated that no one, whether official or civilian, can refuse to accept it.

The printing of banknotes adopts woodblock color printing technology, which also represents the best printing and papermaking technology of the Han Dynasty.

Although there is no anti-counterfeiting feature and no coin numbers, there is no need to worry about someone making counterfeit coins these days.

There is no such technology among the people!

Tan Bamao pondered and said, "The paper money issued by godfather is still very convenient. According to my observation, ordinary people have no objection to the one-cent paper money. One-cent paper money is also widely circulated in the market. But I heard that the printing cost of paper money is almost the same as that of a copper coin. So some people say that the one-cent paper money issued by godfather is a waste of effort and does not make money."

Due to technical limitations, the cost of papermaking and printing is relatively high, so the cost of making one-cent banknote is not cheap.

Ye Kun did not make any money by exchanging one penny of paper money for one copper coin in the hands of ordinary people.

Ye Kun nodded and smiled: "If I continue to issue five-cent notes and ten-cent notes, will I make money?"

Tan Bamao suddenly understood and said with a smile:

"Godfather, if the five-cent and ten-cent notes are issued, we will make a lot of money. We can slowly collect the copper coins from the people. We can then use those copper coins to cast tools, wires, and machinery, saving a lot of money on mining!

The fear is that ordinary people will not buy into our banknotes and will not recognize them.”

Ye Kun smiled and said, "I promoted the one-cent note to test the reaction of the people. At present, the opportunity to issue the five-cent note and the ten-cent note is ripe."

It was not Ye Kun's first idea to exchange paper money for real gold and silver in the hands of the people.

During the reign of Emperor Wu, the imperial court was extremely short of money due to the war against the Xiongnu, so they issued "cloth coins", stipulating that the cloth coins issued by the imperial court were worth one thousand coins. They also issued "deerskin coins", where a square foot of deerskin was worth four thousand coins.

Unfortunately, Emperor Wu of Han exploited the economy too harshly and ended up ruining the situation.

The people did not recognize the agreement and many cases of bartering occurred.

Ye Kun adopted a gentle approach, proceeding step by step, starting with the smallest denomination, while continuing to keep the one-cent copper coin in circulation, building national credit and endorsing paper money.

In this case, the people will have no reason to object. If they like to use paper money, they can use paper money. If they like to use copper coins, they can use copper coins.

Tan Bamao understood what Ye Kun meant and said with a smile: "Godfather, can you issue a batch of five-cent and ten-cent notes and give it a try? If people don't like it, we can think of other ways."

Ye Kun said: "In fact, as long as the court is trustworthy, the people can still accept paper money. Because the use of paper money is much more convenient than copper coins."

The smallest bronze coin now weighs about 3.5 grams.

One thousand copper coins weighs 3,500 grams, or seven kilograms, which is not easy to carry around.

When merchants go out to do business, they carry tens of thousands of dollars with them, which requires them to use a cart to push it around, which is very tiring.

In times of chaos, there was no place to store copper coins and they were easily stolen or robbed.

Changing to paper money is much easier, convenient to carry and not tiring.

Tan Bamao asked, "Godfather, what do you mean by the court's credit?"