Chapter 297 Solving the Problem (II)
"Your Majesty, I think you should send someone to assassinate Huo Ni."
"Yeah." Hong Zhou simply responded, seemingly not very interested.
Basai on the other side glanced at Sun Jiagan coldly. The Minister of Revenue, Naqin, who was standing next to him, was very interested and asked quickly, "Is it possible?"
Sun Jiagan continued with a straight face, "We need to send dozens of reliable people to find ways to infiltrate Huo Chong's group from all over. We need to do it step by step. If we want to succeed in one day, it's impossible."
After hearing this, Naqin immediately lost interest. Sun Jiagan ignored the cold eyes and disappointment and continued, "Your Majesty, Huo Chong has not yet married. In the past, his life was hanging by a thread, and having a child would be a burden. Now Huo Chong has some power. Many people who curry favor with the powerful even think that Huo Chong can achieve great things. If Huo Chong is killed now, the ambitions of those people will flourish, and the rebellion of Huo thieves can be quelled. Please don't give up because of the difficulties."
After hearing this, Hong Zhou said, "I'll leave this to Sun Qing. Can you complete it?"
Sun Jiagan quickly shook his head and said, "I can't do this. I need to hand it over to someone who knows people's hearts."
Hong Zhou nodded, but did not continue the topic. Instead, he talked about the current situation in the northwest.
The territory owned by the Beijing court at this time was not small, including the entire northwest, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Hanzhong, Kang, and Tibet. Huo Chong went south and captured Jiangning.
However, except for Jiangning, Hangzhou and Jiangsu, all other territories of Huo Chong still nominally belong to Hong Zhou.
The number of court officials who arrived in Xi'an was less than half of the number in the capital. Facing these sparsely populated officials, Hong Zhou made sure that all of them had a seat. Liu Tongxun stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I think it would be better to recruit assassins from Jiangsu and Zhejiang."
Hong Zhou didn't expect Liu Tongxun to suddenly bring up such a topic at this time, and asked in confusion: "Why?"
"People say that Yan and Zhao are full of generous and tragic people. However, the real assassins are more famous in Wu and Yue."
Hong Zhou was at a loss for words after hearing Liu Tongxun's words. According to the five great assassins mentioned in "Biographies of Assassins", the Yan and Zhao assassins had a great advantage, but Zhuan Zhu's assassination of Fu Chai was also a very famous one.
But thinking about it, Hong Zhou felt a chill on his back. Assassinations are not that simple, but they are also very simple. Not long ago, the Eight Banners assassinated Ortai and Yue Zhongqi. However, a few people suddenly rose up and killed two ministers. It's terrifying to think about it.
Just when Hong Zhou was about to refuse, Basai shouted, "Why look for assassins? Why not send someone? But can't we just fight it out on the battlefield? This kind of thing doesn't make people admire you."
Hong Zhou immediately backed down and said, "Let's stop here."
When Liu Tongxun and other Han officials heard this, they did not dare to say anything more. They saw that the search for the assassin was over.
After the court session, Sun Jiagan found Liu Tongxun and asked, "Why do you think we can't send assassins?"
Liu Tongxun had studied some history to deal with Huo Chong. Seeing that Sun Jiagan's idea was obviously too persistent, he couldn't help but sigh: "The emperor is afraid that Huo Chong will send assassins."
Sun Jiagan was stunned for a moment, then he understood. Liu Tongxun actually wanted to send an assassin, but he didn't agree because he knew what Hong Zhou was worried about. After a moment of silence, he couldn't help but analyze Huo Chong's weaknesses with Sun Jiagan.
The research on Huo Chong's weaknesses had been going on for a long time, but none of the previous research had been successful. At first, Yongzheng thought Huo Chong was just trying to win people's hearts, so he sent hundreds of troops to deal with Huo Chong. Unexpectedly, Huo Chong was so powerful that he annihilated hundreds of people in return.
Later, they thought that Huo Chong had just started a rebellion, so they sent a large army. However, they were still annihilated by Huo Chong. Now that Huo Chong had become powerful, the Qing Dynasty no longer believed that they could win by simple military struggle.
Liu Tongxun thought about it and still felt that Huo Chong's failure to get married was the biggest opportunity. Sun Jiagan also felt that this was the only opportunity at the moment. If Huo Chong died, the first reaction of Huo Chong's subordinates would naturally be to fight for Huo Chong's position immediately. At that time, there would be nothing to be afraid of.
After discussing for a while, Liu Tongxun suddenly had an idea, "Why not send some women to Huo Chong?"
"Ah?" Sun Jiagan didn't understand for a moment.
"If Huo Chong wants to fill his palace, he will need women. He doesn't have any daughters of meritorious officials, so he can only marry with various powerful people. What if we send some women to Huo Chong?"
Sun Jiagan was very disdainful, "What can a woman do? It's just foxy."
Liu Tongxun shook his head, "If there is someone like Xi Shi..."
Sun Jiagan was amused. "If it really exists, how can it be given away? Many people here will definitely stay."
Liu Tongxun had been daydreaming, but when he heard Sun Jiagan suddenly talk about reality, he was amused and shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Just as the Qing Dynasty was considering assassinating Huo Chong, Gong Yu also made a suggestion to Huo Chong, "My lord, if Hong Zhou is assassinated, the Qing Dynasty will probably be finished."
Huo Chong shook his head. "If Hong Zhou dies, Shengjing will probably swallow up the Beijing court. Let's just let those people fight each other."
Gong Yu insisted on his opinion, "Not necessarily. Hong Zhou is dead, I'm afraid that the Eighth Elder broke up with the son of the deposed crown prince."
Huo Chong was annoyed by this. "I have no interest in these things. Besides, the so-called conspiracy is to guess what the enemy is thinking. Compared with conspiracy, I still prefer open conspiracy. Open conspiracy is open and aboveboard, and both sides can talk openly. How simple and clear. Open conspiracy involves some very realistic things, such as the land revolution. Although everyone wants land for different purposes, it is still clear at a glance. Why bother to spend so much effort on those vague personal selfishness."
Gong Yu felt a little disappointed after hearing what Huo Chong said. Compared with the overt plot of land reform, Gong Yu preferred conspiracy.
But since Huo Chong had said so, Gong Yu could only obey. Gao Pang had already taken out a stack of papers and said, "Governor, we can be crowned emperor right now. But how should we determine the name of the country?"
"The name of the country is China." Huo Chong answered easily.
Gao Pang was stunned for a moment before he said, "I don't think so. All country names must be related to their origins. It is still unclear where Xia came from. But Zhou Ke has a clear origin. The Qin, Han, Wei and Jin dynasties were all like this. Even Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming Dynasty said that it was the Sun and Moon, which might be related to the Ming Cult. As for the Qing Dynasty, it was originally the Jin Dynasty, and later called itself Manchuria..."
After hearing what Gao Pang said, Weber, who felt that Gao Pang was making random connections, couldn't stand it and interrupted Gao Pang, "These are meaningless. I think what the lord said is correct, it means the Chinese Dynasty. We are explaining the children of China, so what's wrong with calling it China?"
Gao Pang immediately retorted: "The country's name is two characters, which is not in line with tradition."
Huo Chong couldn't bear to listen any more, so he asked everyone to stop. He looked at the others and saw that most of the senior officials were listening to these educated guys talking nonsense with a confused look on their faces. It seemed that these people who had mastered many specific professional skills did not have the corresponding cultural knowledge. He felt a little uncomfortable.
However, cultural learning is not something that can be done overnight, so Huo Chong can only express his ideas first.
"When you build a country, you must have an idea. I don't like to trap myself in a so-called circle. The court in the past found excuses to explain themselves. In fact, this explanation is nothing more than destiny. So among the many people in the world, a certain family and surname will become the emperor. Do you understand what I mean?"
Gao Pang and others nodded repeatedly, while those without relevant cultural knowledge continued to be confused. Fortunately, Huo Chong's explanation was relatively simple. When Huo Chong said, "If we follow the previous tradition, the world will belong to the Huo family in the future. You are my subjects, Huo Chong, and your descendants will be the subjects of the Huo family in the future. Do you understand what I mean?"
After hearing this, everyone understood. Not only did they understand, but they also expressed their loyalty to Huo Chong sincerely or not so sincerely. They even expressed their descendants' loyalty to the Huo family.
Huo Chong felt a little disappointed when he heard everyone agreeing with him. He waved his hand and everyone quieted down for a while.
"It has been like this for thousands of years, so dynasties have changed, and the people have lived miserably in each dynasty. What does this show? The feudal system is problematic, and this system cannot solve more problems. If I still follow the previous system, I can use the Lu Dynasty or the Qi Dynasty. However, this means that the country serves me, or I serve the country. Therefore, the country must have a political logic. What is the root of this logic? In my opinion, it is power and obligation. Only by using this logic to build a state machine can the country become stronger and the people be liberated for thousands of years. Otherwise, it will still be ruined in a few decades at least, or hundreds of years at most."
The educated were scared by this topic and dared not speak, while the uneducated were confused by this topic and did not know what to say. The hall fell silent again.
Huo Chong felt that he couldn't explain it clearly in a short time, and it was useless to explain it. So he returned to the previous topic, "It is called the Chinese Dynasty. Some people ask why, the reason is that this country is a court that serves the Chinese people."
"The imperial court serves the Chinese people? Isn't that tantamount to being a slave?" Gong Yu raised the key point.
"So we have to talk about equality. In the past, when people talked about service, they meant that people in lower positions could only survive by serving. In an equal world, everyone would only have different positions, and there would be no distinction between high and low. Our court is an organization that can provide the greatest public service to the people, so naturally the court holds the power."
Gong Yu was even more shocked. "My Lord, this is not appropriate. People will look down on you."
"Look down on them? I don't think so. In the past, Suiren, Youchao, and Shennong, they made fire, built houses, and planted crops. Which one of them was not for the service of the people? That's why they became ancient emperors. So the core is not whether the service is high or low, but whether or not we have the ability to serve everyone. Or to put it more theoretically, it is to develop productivity. Can we develop productivity and liberate those who have labor?"
The educated people were a little confused when they heard this. Hu Yue suddenly asked, "Governor, what you said is that we can live a good life by working hard."
"Right, right, right." Huo Chong was overjoyed. This uneducated person actually spoke the truth. This felt so good.
"Nonsense, you're talking nonsense again." Qian Qing finally spoke.
Hu Yue heard Qian Qing's voice which seemed to be mocking but was actually encouragement, and he immediately perked up, "Haha, I always like to talk nonsense. Even if the commander tells me to, I still have to talk nonsense. Commander, let's not talk about anything else for now. When will you become emperor? If you become emperor, I will feel that following you is not in vain."
With Hu Yue taking the lead, a group of uneducated people immediately followed suit and shouted, "The governor is the emperor, the governor is the emperor!"
Seeing the lively atmosphere, Huo Chong felt that it was a bit like a pyramid scheme. Although Huo Chong himself was not interested in becoming an emperor, he had to consider the feelings of his brothers. In particular, the idea of this group of people was actually very simple. After Huo Chong became the emperor, he would confer titles on his ministers, and everyone would be promoted. Even various rewards would be received.
Worried that he had made a mistake, Huo Chong said, "I have an idea for this matter. Why don't we first determine everyone's salary and benefits? What do you think?"
"Good! Great!"
"How can the governor be sure?"
Everyone was immediately attracted by their own practical interests, and the matter of Huo Chong becoming emperor was instantly forgotten.
Huo Chong had already started planning the salary system, and he took it out at this time. But before that, Huo Chong took out a few pieces of paper and handed them to everyone, "See if this thing is easy to imitate."
Everyone took it and saw that the paper was half a foot long and three inches wide. There were many colorful patterns printed on it. They didn't know what it was, so they asked, "What is this? Is it a New Year picture?"
"How can it be a New Year picture? It's obviously a picture album!"
As everyone was arguing, Huo Chong asked the secretary to distribute the things to everyone. It turned out to be a set of study materials.
When everyone opened it, they found that it was an explanation about banknotes.
Paper money is a mandatory value symbol issued by the state (or some regions) to replace metal currency as a means of circulation. People initially believed that only metal currency was currency. After the emergence of value symbols such as paper money and banknotes, people included them in the scope of currency. Later, people gradually realized that bank deposits also have the same properties as paper money, and they can be used to buy goods and pay for services. In addition, there is a frequent reciprocal conversion between bank deposits and metal currency and paper money. Metal currency, paper money, etc. are deposited in banks, which is bank deposits, and are withdrawn from banks as metal currency, paper money, and other currencies. This conversion of metal currency, paper money, etc. and bank deposits is not a conversion between currency and non-currency, but a conversion between two different forms of currency. After reading the introduction, everyone was shocked. Hu Yue didn't care whether he would be called "nonsense" or not, and quickly asked: "Use paper as money? Isn't this right?"
Huo Chong laughed, "Don't worry, it's nonsense. Anyone who dares to copy it will be beheaded! Look at the back, there is something on it ."
Hu Yue and others turned the banknote over and saw some words printed on the back, and began to read them.
No merchant may hold on to paper money.
Paper money cannot be counterfeited. Counterfeiters will be punished by the currency law. Counterfeiters will be beheaded.
The face value of a banknote is its corresponding monetary value and shall not be altered.
…
Huo Chong felt a little touched as he watched these guys reading. Although paper money is the main form of currency in this era, Huo Chong himself has not used it for many years.
There was not much paper money in the Qing Dynasty. In New China, mobile payments have replaced a large part of the currency, and people no longer use it.
However, it is better to call paper money "cloth money" than paper money. It is super funny to say that Huo Chong realized this point only after he stopped using paper money and suddenly remembered to study the production of paper money.
Paper is the main material for printing banknotes. The main component of RMB paper is short cotton linters. The banknote paper made of 95% cotton linters and 5% wood pulp adopts first-class cotton linters. No whitening agent is added to the banknote paper, and there will be no fluorescent reaction under ultraviolet light. RMB paper is made of special banknote paper. The paper is smooth, tough, fold-resistant, stiff, and has a certain degree of chemical resistance. It can be used for a long time without being easily damaged.
The RMB is very stiff. When it is shaken, it can make a crisp sound that counterfeit money does not have. When folded, the RMB will not break. If you roll the RMB into a ball and rub it in your palm, it will not break. In addition, anti-counterfeiting measures such as watermarks, colored fibers, and security threads are strengthened on the paper. In addition, there are also anti-counterfeiting measures in the ink and printing process of printing banknotes.
In 1731, the banknotes were not that stiff, but at least they made some noises when they were shaken. And they did feel very grainy, and the touch of the fingers was completely different from that of paper.
After everyone's doubts were resolved, Huo Chong continued, "Whether to be emperor or not, we will talk about it later. The RMB must be established. Otherwise, this paper currency will be useless. Look at the words on this paper currency."
Everyone read it carefully again and saw a line of small words on the front of the banknote: "People's Bank of China".
"I don't like money houses. They sound too tacky. So I use banks instead," Huo Chong explained.
Everyone nodded in praise, thinking that the name of the bank was really good.
Huo Chong sighed in his heart, this culture is unique. Although Chinese people like gold, gold is more regarded as a precious metal, and is more related to jewelry and decoration.
When it comes to silver, people naturally think of it as a currency. This is entirely because people have the opportunity to come into contact with silver, but less often with gold.
Then Huo Chong took out a purse and shook it in his hand. The rustling sound inside made Huo Chong feel very happy.
It's not that Huo Chong is a miser. The crisp sound of metal coins colliding just makes people feel good. It's just more pleasant to the ear.
He opened the purse and dumped a pile of minted silver and copper coins onto the table. Huo Chong pushed the pile to the center of the table, and many people immediately stood up to grab a few. It seemed that Huo Chong was not the only one who liked this thing.
Huo Chong explained: "The original Jiaozi was freely issued by merchants. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, there appeared 'Jiaozi shops' in Chengdu, Sichuan, which were dedicated to cash custody for merchants carrying large sums of money. Depositors handed over cash to the shops, who temporarily filled in the amount of cash deposited by the depositors on a roll made of mulberry paper and returned it to the depositors. When the depositors withdrew cash, they paid the shops 30 wen interest per guan, that is, a 3% custody fee. Guess how much custody fees our banks charge?"
