Zhu Mo, recalling the tragic scenes from movies and remembering Wang Shizhen supporting the funeral palanquin that day, thought: "We are all scholars, what kind of person is he? What kind of person am I?"
In that instant, he became truly enraged but immediately calmed down and rebuked:
"Wait? How can we wait? Mr. Gao, if you hadn't eaten for three days, could you still wait? Could you wait? Could your wife and children wait? A starving person, how can they contend with others?
I dare to assert that if your strategy is implemented, countless common people will go bankrupt overnight! Their land will be undervalued to an outrageous price! From then on, these common people will lose their land and become dependent slaves!"
"And this is the good deed done by a bookworm like you who lives in an ivory tower!"
"People like you are simply eating the state's salary in vain, purely shameless scoundrels!"
"Did you read all your books to the dogs?!"
"..."
Gao Hanwen was bewildered by the scolding. Although furious, he felt the words were serious and, suddenly seeming to gain a bit of clarity, asked in bewilderment:
"I, I didn't mean that. My intention was to resolve the dilemma..."
"Resolve what crap!"
Zhu Mo finally swore!
"You are trying to坑 the common people to death!"
"Everyone, I do not intend to make things difficult for Mr. Gao, but everyone, please think: if those silk magnates are allowed to buy the disaster victims' land during the disaster, wouldn't they suppress the prices to death? The disaster victims, to make a living, would agree to any conditions. Even if it's sold at a two or three-fold discount, they would still sell it!"
"The reason I disagree with Mr. Gao is precisely this."
...
Hmm,
That makes sense!
It's really like that...
Everyone whispered, feeling that the strategies they had previously considered so brilliant by Gao Hanwen were also deceptive. It was precisely because Yan Shifan bragged about them that they hadn't thought deeply. Now, reminded by Zhu Mo, they all felt it was inappropriate, but due to the prestige of the Yan family, they remained silent.
Yan Shifan heard this and was furious. He whispered to Yan Song: "Father, who exactly is this person from the Zhu family? He has ruined my great undertaking! I will have Old Luo write a memorial to impeach him to death!"
Yan Song grunted and whispered: "Calm down, let's listen a bit more..."
After all, Yan Song was a man of deep cunning. He knew very well that this public discussion was the Emperor's will, and this Zhu Mo was a card played by Xu Jie and others. The depth of his knowledge was still unknown, so he couldn't act rashly. He needed to see the Emperor's true intentions clearly.
Yan Shifan immediately suppressed his anger and grunted: "Since Young Master Zhu says so, he must have a better strategy?"
Zhu Mo chuckled and said with a smile: "Of course, hehe, and my strategy is the fundamental way..."
Wow!
As soon as these words were spoken,
Even the two old drivers, Yan Song and Xu Jie, were stunned.
The fundamental way?
What is it?
The two old men exchanged glances, their faces showing genuine anticipation – the Great Ming was in deep trouble, was there really a fundamental solution?
Yan Shifan, however, thought: "It would have been fine if you hadn't spoken up, but since you have, and with such an arrogant posture, once you say something with a loophole, it will be perfect to seize your words and deal with you to death. Then we can act under your banner, which is much better than using Gao Hanwen!"
Thinking of this, his heart turned to joy, but he said with a snort: "Heh, then we several mediocre officials in the Grand Secretariat would truly have our eyes opened. Please, Young Master Zhu, enlighten us?"
Zhu Mo had not stood out before, but now that he had, his past regrets about the Great Ming had fermented. Recalling the cruelty of the end times and the deaths of tens of millions of common people, he was filled with passion. At this moment, where could he find the time to beat around the bush with them?
He cleared his throat and asked back:
"Everyone, before I propose my strategy, I want to ask everyone a question... Are the things we are discussing here, in the final analysis, about money? And speaking of money, I want to ask, have you heard of 'public debt'?"
...
Hiss,
Wow!
Dozens of learned scholars in the entire hall were instantly bewildered. Looking at each other, none of them had ever heard of it.
What is that?
Is it "donation"...?
Are you talking about this now?
Borrowing money?
Yan Shifan pondered, then saw Zhu Mo's smug look, and his anger surged. Just as he was about to retort, Yan Song tugged his sleeve and smiled at Zhu Mo instead: "This old man is ignorant. Please, Young Master Zhu, enlighten us..."
Yan Shifan immediately understood his father's meaning: this thing sounds very new, but the newer it is, the more likely it is to cause trouble and the more likely it is to offend taboos. As long as he is willing to say it, a flaw will surely be found... With this thought, he instantly quieted down and listened carefully to every word Zhu Mo said.
And everyone did not know—
Since the activation of the system, Zhu Mo had already comprehensively considered the economic problems of the Great Ming.
Moreover,
The Dynasty Civilization System is very scientific, integrating information from the entire era background, and can provide suggestions based on actual situations, truly a super AI strategist. These people who have read the Four Books and Five Classics their entire lives, how could they understand data analysis, hence appearing so low-class...
For the Jiangnan flood event, the system's assessment was:
【Attribute: Social Ecological Collapse Event;】
【Level: Medium Disaster; Population: 320,000; Loss: Equivalent to 2.54 million taels of silver; ...】
【Cause: Political Struggle Conspiracy; Key Suspect: Late Hangzhou Prefect Ma Mingyu; ...】
【Outlook: In 41 days, the population death toll will increase by 30%;】
【Relief: Bottom line of 10 taels of silver per person, totaling 3.2 million taels;】
【Estimate: Due to interference from political struggles, the probability of effective relief is 35%;】
【Suggestion: ...】
These data analyses, to be honest, Zhu Mo felt were quite accurate, but the system did not provide any suggestions, which was a rare occurrence. Perhaps it was because any suggestion was not very feasible?
But Zhu Mo thought of a more stable and reliable method—
Financing disaster relief.
Because of his understanding of the Great Ming, there were many wealthy households in Jiangnan, and the people were very rich, so they should have the conditions for financing disaster relief...
So he checked the system again,
He actually found that the data of Jiangnan had already met the conditions for implementing "credit currency." Moreover, he had previously browsed the Ming History bar and read great gods discussing the Yuan Dynasty's central banking system and currency issuance. Combining these, he suddenly thought of a comprehensive plan—
Issue a batch of public debt in Jiangnan, entice the wealthy households in Jiangnan to subscribe, and then use this as capital to establish a state-owned bank. Subsequently, the bank's function would be positioned as a weaving bank, an industrial and policy-oriented bank, investing in the upgrading of Jiangnan's textile industry, and obtaining investment returns and taxes.
In this way, the fiscal crisis of the Great Ming could be alleviated, and the Yan family's influence would be weakened. When the matter was accomplished, it would force the court to accept it, and then discuss the establishment of a central bank, which was the former Yuan Dynasty's Directorate of Precious Bills, to issue the Great Ming Precious Bills again and implement credit currency.
Thus, according to the system's assessment, there was a 78% probability of entering the credit currency era; credit currency would inevitably lead to the explosion of all industries; ten years later, the Great Ming had more than a 50% chance of entering the modern industrial and trade economic stage. And during this process, the common people would continuously benefit, public support would be consolidated, and the conditions would be met to vigorously rectify the Confucian official group...
Last night, Zhu Mo was excited all night for this invention. But as his thoughts turned, the cruel reality of the Great Ming immediately extinguished his enthusiasm—
The Great Ming was so conservative, and the officials were so corrupt. Not to mention the Yan faction, even the clear stream officials like Xu Jie would definitely not accept it. If it were proposed directly tomorrow, it would basically be rejected.
He consulted the system again and found many financial innovations from the former Yuan Dynasty. Thus, he thought—
If he brought out the various financial innovations of the former Yuan Dynasty to speak, hiding his true intentions, he could buffer the situation, and at the same time pretend not to see through the Yan family's conspiracy, play along with their plan, deliberately expose a flaw to lure them in, and make them think he was a bookworm. As long as Yan Song nodded and the Grand Secretariat passed it, everything would be fine. When he arrived in Jiangnan, he could act boldly, and they wouldn't be able to interfere. Once it became a fait accompli, he could force the court to accept it...
Just now,
He proposed "public debt" to test everyone's reaction. And from observing their expressions, not everyone knew about some of the former Yuan Dynasty's practices. Moreover, from the situation, the Yan father and son's original doubts had somewhat dissipated? Thus, he could cross the sea by the sky...
Therefore,
He continued to say: "Public debt, simply put, is for the imperial court to borrow some money from the people. The former Yuan Dynasty also engaged in it several times, such as repairing embankments and rivers. My name for it is the public debt for resisting the Japanese..."