When Zhang Manager Zhang smiled when he heard Qin Bai's question, he began to introduce the situation in detail:

First of all, a misunderstanding was explained. There was only one official currency in the Ming Dynasty - copper coins. Precious metals such as gold and silver were only used as large-scale transactions and equivalent exchanges. They did play a role in currency in one aspect, but they were by no means official currency that the court clearly confirmed.

In fact, similar situations have been happening throughout the dynasties. The reason is very simple. The ancient Chinese imperial court has been issuing copper coins, right? Has anyone heard of issuing gold coins and silver coins? It is because gold and silver are not recognized.

But...but!

However, silver has been widely circulated among the people, and even the imperial court has used silver as a unit of valuation for taxes and expenses. Therefore, the entire society has actually made accusation that silver is one of the circulating currencies.

Of course, one is officially recognized and the other is just a default. It is obvious that the court will not formulate it at all, nor will it set the official exchange rate. So they basically follow the market, and the exchange rate differences between different places are relatively large.

For example, in Jiangnan, one tael of silver can be exchanged for seven or eight hundred coins; in the capital, one tael of silver can be exchanged for so much as one thousand three or four hundred coins. And along the canal, the northward, the higher the exchange rate. Jingjiazhuang basically refers to the Linqing price, and one tael of silver can be exchanged for 1,100 coins.

Why is the difference so big? The main reason is that Jiangnanhai has developed trade, and a large amount of silver poured in from overseas, causing the private silver to be cheap. Some people may still have questions, but no one has discovered this price difference? Can you earn nearly twice by replacing the transaction?

There are yes, but not much, mainly because the profit is too low and the risk is too high. It is easy to understand that it is not safe to carry so much cash with you. Even if you don’t encounter bandits and get caught by each of the inspected soldiers when crossing the canal tax customs, you can’t stand it?

And low profits... it really means low profits. In this era, merchants who traveled to the north and south of the canal often needed a price difference of three or four times, otherwise it would be difficult to cope with the exploitation and taxes along the way. Therefore, the price difference is nearly double? That is really a very low number.

Specifically for Fenglong Coin Store, the current price is 1:1080, and one tael of silver is exchanged for 1080 citrus copper coins. If you want to exchange copper coins for silver, then add 50 citrus water coins, which will become a 1130:1 exchange rate. Although the handling fee in the middle does not seem to be high, if the total amount per month is astonishing, Fenglong Coin Store will not make a lot of money.

At the end, while talking about it, Zhang Manager Zhang also popularized a new knowledge - in fact, there was another official currency in the Ming Dynasty court, that is, the Ming Baochao, which is a paper banknote.

Seeing that Qin Bai was very interested, Zhang Manager asked his servant to bring a few pieces of Daming Baochao. Since the court did not have precious metals as the principal of the treasury, and because of excessive printing, Daming Baochao had long been withdrawn from circulation due to inflation. What is particularly ridiculous is that when paying taxes, local governments also did not recognize the Daming Baochao. You said that even the court did not believe in this banknote, how could the people believe it?

But it is not necessarily worth it. For example, the Fenglong Money Store is willing to spend more than 30 cents to recycle the Ming Baochao with a consistent face value.

The origin of the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes is basically that when the imperial court distributed official salary and military salary, it was generally 20% or 30%. Nominally, it was already paid in full. In fact, officials did not care. Ming Dynasty officials never rely on their mere salary to support their families. As for those Qiu Ba, isn’t there still some cash silver? It’s almost the same if you can’t starve to death.

Another big head is to buy it in the palace. Asking a eunuch to buy things with thousands of taels of silver and tens of thousands of Daming treasure banknotes. In other words, if you encounter someone with background, you will pay cash in the silver, and if you don’t have background, you will pay Daming treasure banknotes, which is equivalent to Ming robbing. However, the circulating Daming treasure banknotes have another function. The big money houses in the capital are willing to recycle it at a price of about fifty cents per stake, and then repurchase it in disguise through the imperial court’s Ministry of Revenue, thus forming another underground industry.

After hearing this, Qin Bai couldn't help laughing. He didn't expect that the Ming Dynasty's currency would be so chaotic. He really met a time traveler who was familiar with modern finance and was very bold, and most importantly, he was so lucky that he would meet bird shit when walking. Maybe he could have published a book "I am a great financier in the Ming Dynasty".

When he found that he had already had a similar chat, Zhang Manager Zhang picked up the teacup: "Mr. Bai Er, you can use these treasure bills to play with. Oh, there is still a pound of tea here. Although it is the old tea from last year, it is also the best in Jiangnan. I just want to say no, please do not refuse."

...

I can only say that I feel about that shopkeeper Zhang is very kind, but I can’t say that I’m despised myself. I should be said to be indifferent. I am a standard businessman.

When he returned to his Dongerfang, he saw the two shops moving from afar. The shopkeeper Zhou quickly led his convoy away, but he just bowed to Qin Bai casually, saying hello. However, the shopkeeper Sun, accompanied by Cheng Niang, was waiting to say goodbye to Qin Bai.

With an unnatural smile on his face, Manager Sun bowed and gave a big gift: "Master Bai Er, it's really a small business, I really don't dare to get involved with you. Please forgive me if you offend me. There are more than 100 kilograms of dates left in the store, and I can't take them away. I'll give it to you, Master Bai, as a plea."

"It's okay, it's okay." Qin Bai still smiled.

"Then I won't disturb you. Mr. Bai and Mother Cheng, say goodbye! If you meet again tomorrow, I'll just drink and apologize."

"You're welcome, you're welcome."

When the shopkeeper Sun left, Cheng Niang laughed and said, "Brother Bai, don't blame Lao Sun. He is also in a dilemma, which is different from Lao Zhou, a grocery store."

Then, Cheng Niang briefly introduced the two people. The shopkeeper Sun was the owner himself. His dried fruit shop mainly sold jujubes. The consumption of jujubes in Shandong is very high, and even a few of them like to put on many pasta. But despite this, it is a low-priced and low-profit product after all, so the profit of the shop is not very large. Just as this time, he simply gave up the store and focused on being a businessman selling dried fruits.
Chapter completed!