Chapter 173 Silver as Backing
At night, Ma Linger pulled Wu Yuqi over to sleep on the same bed, saying that it was better to discuss matters closer. Zhao Yulin was happily dozing off between the two beauties.
Ma Ling asked him why he didn't open a money shop in Chang'an, but instead opened one in Fengxiang first?
That is the center of Guanzhong.
He said that although Cao supported it, he must have some doubts in his heart, otherwise why would he go to Hanzhong right after the meeting? Cao must not want to get involved in this mess.
Wu Yuqi pushed him with her butt and said that it was equivalent to minting private money. Isn't he afraid of being punished by the government?
Zhao Yulin muttered, if the government wants to get rid of the Shenwei Army, there are many reasons, even to kill people, the charges can be false, minting money is nothing. At present, we are only circulating in Guanzhong and Qin Gong, so we are not afraid.
Ma Linger's little hands moved around his body like a greedy snake, and she said happily that we have the silver as a backing, and those businessmen think that the issuance of new currency will definitely work. As long as we insist on exchanging it , the other various iron coins and paper coins will gradually no longer be used.
Zhao Yulin pinched her and said, "That's right."
His small steel coins come in denominations of one cent, ten cents, one hundred cents and five hundred cents. Two 500 cents make up one string of money, which can be directly exchanged for silver coins with a face value of one string of money. As long as the steel coins are issued by the Shenwei Army, they can be exchanged for silver coins at any time.
Those businessmen still don’t agree that the coins he issued are hard currency?
That doesn't make sense.
The cost of the steel coins he produced in Jiazhou was much lower, and he could produce as much as he wanted. It could also directly stop the problem of excessive issuance of paper money.
Zhao Yulin was irritated by Ma Ling, but he didn't dare to do anything to a pregnant mother like her. Ma Ling'er encouraged him to find Yuqi, and the two of them teamed up to make Wu Yuqi naked in a few minutes...
After a while, the room became quiet, and Wu Yuqi said weakly that the two of them had teamed up to bully her.
Ma Ling'er said with a smile that she was taking advantage of him and was not being ungrateful. She felt that her brother was definitely not lazy, but was serving her wholeheartedly.
Zhao Yulin was already exhausted. He was afraid that the two women would tease him again, so he pretended to be sleepy, yawned and shouted, "Go to sleep, go to sleep."
That night, Cao Youwen was drinking and talking with Gao Jia.
Lao Gao blamed him, saying that he shouldn't have agreed to let the young man Yulin issue new currency. He minted coins privately without the government's permission.
Lao Cao asked if there was any solution?
Yulin brother has decided on something, and he has to do it even if he disagrees. Besides, there are so many troops stationed in Guanzhong, how can they be supported without money?
Yulin is also difficult.
Gao Jia said worriedly that this matter was of great importance and had to be reported to Lin'an truthfully.
Right now the Central Plains and Lianghuai have been destroyed. The government can't collect money, and has to keep imposing taxes and setting restrictions on Sichuan and Shu. It's very difficult.
Lao Cao asked him, "Is it difficult? How difficult is it?"
Is it difficult for the Shenwei Army to find money to support its own army?
There are so many corrupt officials in Lin'an, you can catch any one of them with your eyes closed. Who can you blame for wasting so much money?
He watched the Shenwei Army grow up and win battles day by day, and what he saw and heard were all practical and good things. He already approved of Zhao Yulin's approach.
In the Lin'an Palace, the emperor had already reported to Jiading Prefecture that it had taken over Fengyuan Prison. Yibin had manufactured a rare machine, used the Gregorian calendar as a mark, and carefully carved a giant water-controlling Buddha as the background. A number of new small steel coins and silver coins had been produced and were ready to be used, but the Ministry of Production and Construction had not yet approved it.
Zheng Qingzhi and the son of the Minister of War Shi both came to report to him that Zhao Yulin had privately minted coins, a crime punishable by death, and they wanted him to send imperial envoys to Jiading and Guanzhong to arrest the man and put him in prison.
The emperor might have said that it has not yet been issued and circulated.
Besides, there were frequent reports of victory from Sichuan and Shaanxi. The Shenwei Army not only occupied Lanzhou, but also entered Wuwei, swept Hexi, entered the Hehuang Valley, and even took back Shazhou, Guazhou and Xiningzhou.
This is definitely a great achievement that surpasses that of any other meritorious official, and it is not an exaggeration to make him a king or a marquis.
On the street outside the palace, people were celebrating the victory. The brothels and restaurants were offering unprecedented discounts and entertaining guests. Every store was packed with people. Even the poorest people would buy a string of firecrackers set them off at their doorsteps to add to the festive mood.
At this time, he was asked to send an imperial envoy to behead someone? He couldn't do it.
Even if it really comes to the point where you have to kill, you have to wait.
If the common people knew that he arrested Zhao Yulin and put him in prison at this time, there would be no loyal ministers or generals to be loyal to the court.
At this time, his mother summoned him again.
The emperor went to the Changshou Palace happily, and the empress dowager asked him how to reward him.
He said he was still rewarding me? Minister Zheng and Minister Shi asked me to send an imperial envoy to Guanzhong to arrest Zhao Qier for the crime of privately minting coins.
The Queen Mother handed him an exquisite wooden box and said that she had seen it. The new currency of Fengyuanjian sent from Chengdu was indeed exquisite. The iron coins and silver coins were linked, and the decimal system was forcibly stipulated to be exchanged at equal value, which was quite interesting.
If he wants to make trouble for his abandoned child, let him do it in Guanzhong.
Anyway, he had just recovered those places, and they were still using the Jin people's currency. No one would use our waste paper.
The Queen Mother casually said that her own Guanzi was like waste paper, which was also an acknowledgement of the serious depreciation of Guanzi.
The emperor was still touching the exquisite coins. The uniform patterns and clear lines of the characters produced by the machine were sharp, and the water-suppressing Buddha was lifelike, which made people happy just by looking at it.
He was very curious, and his soul had left his body. He wanted to find out how Zhao Yulin made such exquisite and beautiful coins?
"Let's find a son-in-law and marry Lan'er to him." The Queen Mother felt that even conferring titles of kingship or nobility would not be enough to tie Zhao Yulin down, and the best way to control him was to recruit Zhao Qi'er as a son-in-law.
Holding it tightly in your hand, are you still afraid that he will make greater contributions?
Moreover, at the slightest sign of trouble, she could summon the prince consort into the palace and have the eunuch serve him a cup of poisoned wine and sentence him to death.
At this moment, the emperor's soul was still outside the nine heavens, staring blankly at the coins without any reaction.
The empress dowager coughed twice in displeasure. The emperor then came to his senses and asked anxiously what happened to his mother.
Where do you feel uncomfortable?
Is it because I didn’t cover myself with the quilt properly last night and caught a cold?
The Queen Mother knew that her literary student was not paying attention in class and was dozing off again. She didn't hear what she said, sighed, and said that she did catch a cold and would talk to her another day.
This was the Empress Dowager's intention to send the guest away. The Emperor didn't want to sit here any longer, so he immediately told his mother to take care of her health and turned around and ran away.
In the current Lin'an court, there are those who advocate going out to sea to make money to enrich the country and strengthen the military; there are also those who advocate mobilizing all the people to fight against the northern barbarians; the loudest voice comes from the peace faction headed by the historian Shi Zi's son.
In the past, when the Jin Kingdom was powerful, they extorted money from the people to pay tribute and silk to the Jin Kingdom. Now, the historians have sent envoys to negotiate peace, which is a great achievement. They can collect more silver from various places, and after obtaining the exclusive power of annual tribute, they can also buy silk and silk at a low price to make money.
Therefore, they had long been unhappy with the deadly feud between the Shenwei Army and the Mongolian Army. This situation was not conducive to their control of government affairs and making money.
Seeing the hungry wolves from the north coming in full force, these people had no idea how to resist. In addition, with the continuous infiltration and exploitation of Mongolian lobbyists, they were already planning how to kill Zhao Qi'er, cede land and pay compensation before negotiating again.
With such a corrupt government, no amount of money would be of any use.
This is why Zhao Yulin was willing to bear the death penalty and issue new currency.
In Fengxiang Prefecture, Zhao Yulin was taken care of by his two women for most of the night. He got up to take a bath and practice martial arts. After talking to Miao Gui for a while, he was ready to set off south, but was stopped by Ma Linger, who asked him to stay for half a day to talk to the officials in the government office about opening a money house and building a new city.
Ma Ling'er asked him to come forward to support Fengxiang Prefecture's new policy, so Zhao Yulin had to tie up his wife's hair.
In the afternoon, Zhao Yulin went to attend the Fengxiang Prefecture meeting tea party convened by Ma Ling.
He did not mince words. After a few simple opening remarks, he first emphasized the purpose of the newly opened government-run and privately-funded money house in Fengxiang Prefecture. Since the government held the majority of the money, it was the government's money house, so it was called Fengxiang Money House. He asked Ma Ling to arrange a Tongpan and a Mubin to attend the shareholders' meeting of the money house to represent the government in the operation and management, emphasizing that it was only to supervise the merchants to do legitimate business.
Next, we will talk about the construction of the new city. We will ask everyone to get moving and arrange corvée labor to build city walls, ditches and roads. We will ask the best craftsmen to plan the city, build resettlement courtyards on the streets, and settle the people in the new city first. Then we can build the blocks.
Zhao Yulin stressed the importance of saving land in building houses, and not building super-large houses, as not many people could afford them. Even in the General Street of the Shenwei Army, the houses should not be too large, and more drawings should be produced for comments, as long as they can accommodate people.
He has sent a letter to Yibin, mobilizing a group of craftsmen and new building materials to support the construction of the new city. He said that as long as our mansions are exquisite, practical and cheap, they will definitely be popular.
The key is to take into account the issues of shops and residences, with a shop in front and a yard in the back, and to combine the shops facing the street and the accommodation of the businessmen in the layout. Only such street shops will be easy to sell.
Then he changed the subject and said that it would not be okay to have no money to pay the craftsmen at the end of the year, and the craftsmen's wages must be guaranteed.
Therefore, don’t be impatient when starting a business. Make plans first before taking action.
Similarly, Zhao Yulin asked Ma Ling to appoint a judge with two knowledgeable assistants to lead the construction of the new city.
He warned everyone in the government office, telling them that they had invested so much money this year, and that they should not be blinded by the money and commit crimes. He would not let any bad guy go. After that, he adjourned the meeting.
When he got home, he asked Ma Ling: Is this okay?
Ma Linger said with a smile that since her husband would arrange it personally, of course it would be okay.
He told Ma Ling not to worry and to set up a money shop next to the treasury with great fanfare so that the people would see that they had the Shenwei Army as their backing and they would definitely be willing to use our coins.
The vault must be repaired to prevent the hard-earned money from disappearing.
The woman said cheerfully that he looked like an old woman and sat on his lap and asked for a kiss. Zhao Yulin was afraid that she would just add fuel to the fire, so he kissed her twice and then took her to admire the flowers and plants in the yard.
