Chapter 1040 Currency
Throughout the late winter months, Suyu Palace was bustling with people coming and going.
Even before the talks began, wealthy families from Xiangcheng, Yingchuan, Henan, Hongnong, Hanoi, Nanyang, Shunyang and other counties who had not received the invitation rushed to Liang County to visit relatives and friends while inquiring about news.
After the conversation started, the other courtyard of the former Jin Dynasty, where the old and young were left on the northern edge of Guangchengze, was filled with people.
Relatives who were beyond reach came to the house with gifts and said they would stay for ten and a half days.
As for the post station housing the disabled and old soldiers of the Silver Spear Army, it was even more overcrowded.
The livestock that the family had worked hard to raise for a year were eaten up by a group of wealthy people from other places within a few days, so they went to the village to buy more. Business was booming.
At this time, the news was revealed bit by bit and spread among more people.
On the twenty-seventh day of the winter lunar month, Dufu Fu'an and Sima Biantao under the command of Lieutenant Gao Ming of the Du Branch of Bianliang escorted a batch of cloth and livestock to Guangchengze. After the delivery was completed, they rested for two days.
While wandering around, I met Sima Pi, whom I had met several times.
Pei, the wife of Bian Tao's uncle Bian Yi, is Pei Guibi's sister, so he and Sima Pi met several times, but their friendship was so-so.
There were two other people beside Sima Pi. After introducing each other, Bian Tao found out that the older man was called Wang Bing. He was from the Wang family of Donghai. He had served as a general of the East China Sea Kingdom Army and a general of the Forbidden Army, but he didn't know if he had any official position now. Anyway, He refused to say.
The younger man's name was Sima Li, the son of Sima Mo, the king of Nanyang in Jin Dynasty. He said he came to Guangchengze to visit his sister.
Asked again who his sister was, she turned out to be Shao Fu, Princess Jingfu of Daliang.
Bian Tao suddenly looked at Sima Li with strange eyes.
Sima Pi and Sima Li have many brothers and sisters, but unfortunately they all have the surname Shao.
Wang Bing mainly inspected the scenery in Nanyang counties, and occasionally entered Xiangyang, where he was robbed of property once, but overall he was safe. After all, Tao Kan was a man of rules and did not take pleasure in robbing and doing business, and even in a certain To a certain extent, it protects businessmen.
This time he imported a batch of Gebu from the south and brought it back to the north. He sold it around the Chinese New Year. The buyer transported it back and cut it down before distributing it everywhere. In summer, this cloth can be made into cool skirts, which are very popular.
"Speaking of doing business, the Yongjia Tongbao I brought here this time is being fought for." Wang Bing said: "The Wu people said they didn't want the Kaiping Tongbao from the puppet dynasty, but they still took it in private. The quality is so good, compared to me The 'Shen Lang's money' received was more than satisfactory.”
After that, Wang Bing took out a few thin copper coins and distributed them to everyone to watch.
Bian Tao picked one up, but he didn't dare to use force for fear of breaking it directly.
The so-called "Shen Lang's money" refers to the money that Wang Dun made privately when he was in Jingzhou. In order to solve the lack of financial resources, he ordered his subordinates to join the army and make money for himself.
After Wang Dun's death, Shen Chong returned to his hometown and started casting money again. Therefore, money can be traced in Jingzhou and Sanwu areas.
"Shen Lang Qian" is a small coin, with a protruding part that is light, thin, of poor quality, and the hole in the middle is horribly large, so it is not very valuable.
But don’t tell me, everything depends on comparison.
The Eastern Jin Dynasty - because of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, the northern region often called Sima Rui's court the "Eastern Jin Dynasty" - like the previous Jin Dynasty, no new money was minted, and old money circulating in the market was still used.
In the past, the old Soochow money was mainly mixed with Shu money, Han five-baht money, etc. Now there are some Yongjia Tongbao and even Kaiping Tongbao - in ancient times, coins were called "treasure goods", and Tongbao means Tongbao goods.
However, the casting of Yongjia Tongbao has stopped, and there will not be many surviving ones. As time goes by, the world will be dominated by Kaiping Tongbao from now on.
"Why did you bring Shen Lang's money back to the North? Why don't you buy some light things and come back." Bian Tao asked after reading the money and returning it.
"I can't buy it anymore." Wang Bing said, "I only brought back a few thousand Shen Lang's money. If I go to Luoyang, Bianliang, Yecheng, and Dongyuan to give it to the Shaofu, I can exchange it for a Ping Tong Bao."
When Bian Tao heard this, he subconsciously asked: "If I collect money from Wudi and exchange it for Pingtong Bao, will I make a profit?"
"The imperial court should be profitable." After pondering for a long time, Wang Bing said: "Jin coins are inferior, and Wu people also hate them. However, Liang coins are exquisite in shape and full of quality, especially Kaiping Tongbao. Wu people don't say it. I collect it faster than anyone else in private.”
To put it simply, if a currency is of poor quality and has different types, it will depreciate, and vice versa.
At this time, the market will chase good money and abandon bad money. There are often irrational factors involved. For example, purely based on the copper content, ten good coins can only be worth fifteen bad coins. In actual transactions, You can often exchange for seventeen or eighteen pieces, or even more.
The bad money is recovered, and fifteen of them are melted into new money. If losses are not considered, the rest is purely earned.
When your currency invades other people's markets on a large scale, you may collect seigniorage.
"It's a pity that there are too few copper coins, otherwise this alone would be a huge gain." Bian Tao was knowledgeable and said immediately.
"I am also troubled by this matter." Wang Bing sighed: "When I went to Jiangxia in the past, I brought a lot of Qinghe silk. I thought it was expensive and could buy many goods. But the Wu people said that the heat in Jiangxia was so hot that the natives had to use light silk instead of silk. My love for dense Qinghe silk makes me angry. ”
Different places have different standards for measuring the value of silk.
Qinghe silk is produced in Hebei, with high warp and weft density, sufficient material, and thick thickness. This is its advantage. Because it is wear-resistant and warm, it is relatively famous in the north and has a high premium.
But in Jiangnan, because of the hot weather, the locals like silk with low warp and weft density, which is light, breathable and comfortable to wear, so Qinghe silk cannot be sold at a high price.
If you don't understand this, you will suffer big losses in business and you won't be able to make back your capital.
Therefore, the North and the South lack a general equivalent that everyone can agree on, and even the South and the North lack this kind of thing, which greatly hinders the development of commerce - copper coins are okay, but there are too few and they are completely insufficient.
"I heard that there is a copper pit in Longxi, and the Shaofu has sent people to look at it." Sima Pi, who had been silent for the whole time, said.
"How do you know?" Bian Tao asked curiously.
Sima Pi looked gloomy and said: "I went to the palace to see my mother and said that I wanted to do business, and I heard about it by chance."
Bian Tao suddenly realized.
If it weren't for Yu Wenjun, Pei Guibin would have become the queen, and she would indeed know.
"It's not enough." Wang Bing said from the side: "A transaction can easily cost millions, how can it be enough?"
Everyone looked at each other.
******
In Bixiao Palace, Wang Yan held something in his hand and said, "I have this thing."
Everyone looked for the reputation, but no one knew where it was.
The currency issue was also being discussed in the palace at this time. If this roadblock is not solved, although it is not impossible to do business, there are too many troubles and obstacles, and many businesses will be lost because merchants are not sure about the hundreds of kinds of silk in the world. Of actual value, I would rather not do it.
Not to mention, many people really want to buy things, but they only have food and no money. What should they do?
A merchant has come a long way, and it is impossible for him to bring back several ships of grain. He is not specialized in grain trading. If he has no connections, he will not be able to sell, and he may lose money. Wang Yan looked at everyone at this moment and said: "This was made by the emperor's order, called the 'Daliang Dragon Coin'. It weighs four taels, nine silver and tin, which is worth ten thousand coins."
When everyone heard this, they were surprised at first, and then a little confused.
I had no choice but to be shocked when I heard "Dragon Coin".
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's third-grade platinum "Pearl and Jade First", are you here to steal money again?
But when I heard Zhong Siliang, I felt a little at ease.
Some people even took out tooth chips and did calculations on the spot. After finishing the calculation, I breathed a sigh of relief. The court had robbed money, but only a few hundred coins for one dragon coin. It was much better than Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty grabbing eight taels of lead (the dragon coin of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty weighed eight taels). .
But is it enough?
Zhu Ti Silver was mined in the Pre-Han Dynasty. During Wang Mang's reform, Zhu Ti Silver coins were forcibly promoted. By the time Zhuge Liang governed the Shu Han Dynasty, the Zhu Ti Silver Pit had been slowly exhausted.
The little silver brought by Hu merchants from the Western Regions to the Central Plains was simply not enough.
There are still some small silver pits in the world, which produce very little silver.
Where do you get so much silver to do business? Might as well use copper coins.
Among the crowd, Hua Yingzhi received the signal, stood up, bowed first, and asked: "May I ask, Prime Minister, how many Dalianglong coins have been minted by the Shaofu?"
"Thousands."
Please...you...collect 6...9...books...!
"That's only 10,000 yuan." Hua Yingzhi said: "It can be said that it is rich for one person, but it is quite insufficient for everyone in the world. What can I do?"
Wang Yan glanced at him approvingly and clapped his hands.
After a while, a sergeant came in carrying a tray, and each person was handed a dragon coin.
Wang Yan picked up the tea bowl and drank tea quietly, waiting for everyone to view the coins.
After a long time, he put down the tea bowl and coughed lightly, attracting everyone's attention.
"Do you think there are many mansions and shops in the manor?" Wang Yan asked.
As soon as this was said, some nodded and some shook their heads.
Dishe or Didian is actually a store within the manor, but it usually needs to be opened on a certain scale. After all, if there are few people, it cannot support an internal trading market. It is called "a market behind closed doors".
The sale is by consignment.
For example, someone is good at weaving bamboo utensils. He makes a few bamboo baskets and takes them to Dishe for consignment.
If someone in the manor needs a bamboo basket, they will buy it, usually giving some grain, cloth, or even eggs, onions, leeks and other agricultural products.
After the item is sold, the store will notify the consignor and ask him to collect the reward, thus completing a transaction.
This way of completing transactions internally with almost no entanglements with the outside world is a typical feature of the manorial economy.
Wang Yan gave Di Dian as an example, which was easy for everyone to understand.
So he added: "The imperial court wants to set up 'di shops' called 'Fangshi'. You can bring your goods to the Fangshi. There will be an order in the city and a number of assistant officials to register all kinds of goods and advertise them widely."
"Businessmen who enter the market have a book to record the 'out' and 'in' of goods. How much goes out is recorded; how much is entered is recorded."
"This is a closed-door transaction, limited to ten days or half a month. In the last two or three days, we gather together to clear the accounts and offset each other's entries and exits. The accounts are calculated in 'dragon coins'."
"After the accounts have been settled, it should be replenished and collected. If you really owe money, you can make your own decision."
After saying that, he looked at everyone.
After everyone heard this, they were stunned at first, and then overjoyed.
They are all old businessmen. If you think about it carefully, who doesn’t know the benefits of doing this?
With the unified pricing of dragon coins, you no longer have to argue over various silks and copper coins of different colors, shapes, new and old. All you have to do is set a price for your goods. As for whether it is worth it, others will judge it themselves.
Moreover, those who trade in the market are usually wealthy businessmen, who often spend millions or tens of millions of dollars. Where can you usually get so many copper coins for you to use?
Now there is no need to directly record the number of dragon coins on paper or wooden slips.
You sold medicinal materials for one hundred dragon coins, and then bought ironware for ninety dragon coins. You just need to write it down on paper. There is no need to actually spend so much money, but the two transactions are really completed. .
In the last two days, everyone sat together and made unified calculations.
Within half a month, everyone combined may have made transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars. As a result, after the transfer, there was only a few changes left to pay. You can do whatever you want.
Of course, it is not ruled out that there are people who only sell goods without buying anything, but these are not qualified businessmen. They only make money once, which is a huge loss.
However, even if there is such a person, the worst thing is to go back to the past.
The entire transaction process in Fangshi still provides great convenience, reduces countless hassles, and reduces the demand for copper coins and silk to a minimum.
When merchants no longer need to carry large amounts of copper coins and silks with them, these coins can enter the private sector, allowing small traders and even ordinary people to have money to spend, which greatly alleviates the money shortage among the people. After all, most of the copper coins in the past were actually It was occupied by merchants - there is a saying that it is dangerous to go out with a lot of money and silk.
In addition, centralized trading in the market is also beneficial.
It’s easier to find products you’re interested in, and you can even shop around, which are real benefits.
As for whether there are any dragon coins minted by the Shaofu, it doesn't actually matter.
You don’t need to take out physical objects, everyone just knows that there is such a thing - in later generations, this is called "(virtual) accounting currency".
In fact, some people have already drawn inferences, and it seems that it doesn't matter if others really "pay too much" and owe a lot of dragon coins.
Register the merchant's genealogy. If their family is a prestigious family and has a good reputation, it is not impossible to settle the accounts next time.
"This is what the emperor thought of, and I really care about you." Wang Yan said with emotion: "Since ancient times, no emperor has been so anxious about the concerns of merchants."
"Long live my emperor!" Some dumbfounded young man blurted out.
"Long live my emperor!" In an instant, everyone shouted.
(End of chapter)