In the fifteenth century, the Ming dynasty transitioned from paper currency to silver-based taxation. While historians have long attributed this shift solely to domestic fiscal mismanagement and subsequent paper currency inflation, climatological data suggests a more complex causal chain. A series of volcanic eruptions in the mid-1400s led to a prolonged cooling period, drastically reducing agricultural yields across East Asia. Because the Ming state backed its paper currency with grain quotas, this agricultural shortfall severely undermined the currency's value, prompting merchants to reject paper notes in favor of silver, which remained stable regardless of harvest quality. Which choice most logically completes the text?
- Athe Ming dynasty would have successfully avoided the transition to silver if they had adjusted grain quotas in response to the volcanic cooling.
- Bmerchants' insistence on silver transactions was primarily intended to force the Ming state to abandon agricultural backing of its currency.
- the transition to silver was at least partially driven by climate-induced agricultural failures that compromised the commodity foundation of the state's paper currency.Cevap
- Dmonetary systems backed by agricultural commodities are inherently less stable over the long term than those based on precious metals.
Cevap
the transition to silver was at least partially driven by climate-induced agricultural failures that compromised the commodity foundation of the state's paper currency.
The correct option logically completes the text because the passage establishes a direct link between the agricultural yields (compromised by volcanic cooling) and the value of the paper currency (which was backed by grain quotas). Because the grain shortfall undermined the currency's value, merchants rejected it in favor of silver, demonstrating that the transition was partially driven by these climate-induced agricultural failures.
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Logical Inferences
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