Daming: The system rejected my request for salted fish

Chapter 1184

So after Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, Zhu Biao immediately looked towards Wei Wu.

"Don't worry, no officials will be missing from this railway operation. Li Shanchang, as the Duke of Ming, will definitely be present."

"That's good."

After receiving Zhu Biao's definite reply, Wei Wu's mouth corners naturally curled up and he did not continue the topic.

Instead, he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang again and asked:

"Uncle Zhu, the earth-shaking changes you mentioned shouldn't just be about the railways!"

Zhu Yuanzhang grinned on his old face, took out a stack of papers of different sizes from his arms and handed them to Wei Wu.

"You'll know just by looking at this."

Originally, Wei Wu was a little confused about what Zhu Yuanzhang meant by this action and why he had to keep it so mysterious.

Until he took the paper and took a look at it, the expression on his face instantly became the same as Zhu Yuanzhang's, and he grinned.

The papers in his hands were of different sizes, but each one had some words and very complex patterns printed on it.

Those patterns are somewhat similar to those on the Ming Dynasty treasure notes, but this is secondary. What is really important is the font.

The words printed on the paper will be different depending on the size of the paper, but they all have one thing in common: they are all from famous artists.

These words are ten taels, fifty taels, one hundred taels, five hundred taels and one thousand taels respectively. Yes, they are the silver notes belonging to the Ming Dynasty.

Because they use color-changing ink, the fonts will change into different colors when adjusting the angles.

The paper used is also specially made, so the possibility of private individuals making counterfeit banknotes is completely eliminated.

After turning the banknotes over and over in his hands for a long time, Wei Wu turned to Zhu Yuanzhang and asked.

"Uncle Zhu, could it be that the imperial court has already completed the construction of the bank?"

Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his beard and said with a smile:

"That's right. The implementation of the land-based tax system has been completed. Add to that the silver sent back by Lan Yu, and the national treasury is almost full."

"This is a good opportunity to popularize money shops. Now, all the major cities in Nanzhili have money shops run by the imperial court."

"Nowadays, many private merchants have already used silver bills as transaction vouchers. This is all thanks to your Sihai Chamber of Commerce!"

He had been away from the capital for too long. If Zhu Yuanzhang hadn't mentioned the Sihai Chamber of Commerce, Wei Wu would have almost forgotten that he even had such a chamber of commerce.

After hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's description, Wei Wu realized that the promotion of silver notes was actually led by the Sihai Chamber of Commerce.

The Sihai Chamber of Commerce today is completely different from what it was before. In the past year and a half, roads have been built all over the Ming Dynasty.

All the cement for road construction was purchased from the Sihai Chamber of Commerce, and the profits were so huge that it was hard to describe them.

Today, the members of the Sihai Chamber of Commerce can basically be described as national businessmen, who closely follow the footsteps of the Ming Dynasty.

They followed any policy issued by the court, and with Zhu Biao's care, they won many road sections through bidding.

The key is that these sections of road do not conflict with the future railway routes planned by the Ming Dynasty, and they will definitely make money in the future.

Therefore, after the money house was launched, the Sihai Chamber of Commerce supported it immediately and also brought in many partners.

In addition, silver bills are indeed more convenient. When going out to do business, you no longer have to carry large amounts of cash, which is not only troublesome but also dangerous.

Moreover, what the Ming Dynasty lacks the least now is silver, so they don’t have to worry about not being able to exchange their silver notes for cash.

Naturally, word spread from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred, and most merchants began to use silver bills as settlement vouchers.

It has to be admitted that the change in the financial system was indeed a revolutionary change for the Ming Dynasty.

Only then did Wei Wu understand the true meaning of Zhu Yuanzhang's words, "The national treasury is almost full."

Even without Lan Yu's continued inflow, the Ming Dynasty's implementation of the land-based tax system and the convenience that currency brought to merchants were still effective.

These two items alone are enough to bring huge profits to the national treasury. You know, the revenue from commercial taxes is much higher than that from agricultural taxes.

Not to mention that the railway has been built now. There is no doubt about the great benefits a railway will bring to business development.

But just when Wei Wu thought that was about it, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke again and dropped a piece of news.

"Half a year ago, we began rebuilding the Maritime Customs Office and formulating relevant laws and regulations to prepare for the lifting of the sea ban."

Wei Wu had mentioned the issue of lifting the sea ban to Zhu Yuanzhang a long time ago, but there had been no accurate progress on this matter.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang actually took the initiative to talk about this matter now, and had already started preparing half a year ago!

"Uncle Zhu, are you ready to open the sea ban?"

"Ok!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, but then he continued:

"But not now. We are just making preparations in advance. Everything will have to wait until we deal with the Northern Yuan Dynasty and those small countries."

Wei Wu also understood that the most important thing now was to resolve the external threat first, and then concentrate on development.

So after Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, Wei Wu said something in an expectant tone.

"I just don't know when they will take action. It would be better if they could do it sooner."

"No dynasty in history wants this kind of situation to happen, but you're hoping they'll join you in attacking the Ming Dynasty."

After hearing what Wei Wu said, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and cursed, and then prepared to say something else.

But at this moment, an urgent voice suddenly came from outside the hall.

"Your Majesty, things are not going well. Duke Wei's condition is getting worse..."