Chapter 1040 Currency

Chapter 1040 Currency

Chapter 1040 Currency
Throughout the late winter month, the Suyu Palace was bustling with people coming and going.

Even before the Qingtan meeting began, wealthy families from Xiangcheng, Yingchuan, Henan, Hongnong, Hanoi, Nanyang, Shunyang and other counties who had not received an invitation rushed to Liang County to visit relatives and friends and to gather information.

After the discussion began, the villas and mansions of the old people and young people of the Former Jin Dynasty on the northern edge of Guangcheng Lake were filled with people.

A distant relative came with gifts and said he wanted to stay for ten days or half a month.

As for the post station that housed the disabled and old soldiers of the Silver Spear Army, it was overcrowded.

The livestock that people had worked hard to raise for a year were eaten up by a group of wealthy scion from other places in just a few days, so they went to the village to buy them, and their business was booming.

At this time, the news was revealed little by little and spread among more people.

On the twenty-seventh day of the winter month, Fu An and Bian Tao, commanders of the Duzhi Commandery of Bianliang, arrived at Guangcheng Lake with a shipment of cloth and livestock. After the transaction was completed, they rested for two days.

While strolling around the area, I ran into Sima Pi, whom I had met several times before.

Bian Tao's cousin Bian Xu's wife, Ms. Pei, was the sister of Concubine Pei. Therefore, he and Sima Pi had met several times and their relationship was only superficial.

There were two other people beside Sima Pi. After they introduced each other, Bian Tao learned that the older man was called Wang Bing. He was from the Wang family of Donghai and had served as a general of the Donghai Kingdom Army and a general of the Imperial Guard. However, he did not know whether he held any official position now. Anyway, he refused to say.

The younger man was named Sima Li, the son of Sima Mo, King of Nanyang in Jin Dynasty. He said he came to Guangchengze to visit his sister.

When asked who his sister was, it turned out to be Princess Jingfu Shao Fu of Daliang.

Bian Tao immediately looked at Sima Li with strange eyes.

Sima Pi and Sima Li had quite a few brothers and sisters, but unfortunately they all had the surname Shao.

Wang Bing mainly investigated the customs and customs in the Nanyang counties, and occasionally entered Xiangyang. He was robbed of his property once, but he was generally safe. After all, Tao Kan was a law-abiding person and did not take pleasure in robbing traveling merchants. He even protected the merchants to some extent.

This time he brought a batch of ramie cloth from the south to the north and sold it around the New Year. The buyers took it back and cut it up before distributing it to various places. In the summer, this cloth could be used to make cool skirts and shirts, which were very popular.

"Speaking of business, the Yongjia Tongbao I brought with me this time was fought over by others." Wang Bing said, "The people of Wu said they didn't want the Kaiping Tongbao of the pseudo dynasty, but they still accepted it privately. The quality is too good, much better than the 'Shen Lang money' I received."

After saying this, Wang Bing took out a few thin copper coins and distributed them to everyone to see.

Bian Tao picked up one, but didn't dare to use force for fear of breaking it.

The so-called "Shen Lang Money" was the money that Wang Dun ordered his subordinate Shen Chong to privately mint in order to solve the financial shortage when he was stationed in Jingzhou.

After Wang Dun's death, Shen Chong returned to his hometown and started minting coins again. Therefore, traces of these coins can be found in Jingzhou and the Three Wu regions.

"Shen Lang Qian" is a small coin, which is light, thin, and of poor quality. The hole in the middle is frighteningly large, so it is not very valuable.

But don’t say that everything depends on comparison.

The Eastern Jin Dynasty - because of the Eastern Wu, many people in the north called Sima Rui's court the "Eastern Jin Dynasty" - like the Former Jin Dynasty, it did not mint new coins, but still used old coins circulating in the market.

In the past, it was mainly old coins from Eastern Wu, mixed with some Shu coins, Han Wuzhu coins, etc. Now, some Yongjia Tong Bao and even Kaiping Tong Bao have flooded in. In ancient times, coins were called "Baohuo", and Tong Bao means circulating treasure goods.

However, the Yongjia Tong Bao has stopped being minted, and there won’t be too many of them left in the world. As time goes by, Kaiping Tong Bao will dominate the market in the future.

"Why did you take Shen Lang's money back to the north? It would be better to buy some light items." After looking at it, Bian Tao returned the money and asked.

"I can't buy it." Wang Bing said, "Besides, 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 Kaiping Tongbao."

Bian Tao subconsciously asked, "If I collect money from Wu and exchange it for Kaiping Tongbao, will it be profitable?"

"The court should have made a profit." After pondering for a long time, Wang Bing said, "Jin coins are inferior, and the people of Wu are also tired of them. However, Liang coins are exquisitely made and of high quality, especially Kaiping Tongbao. Although the people of Wu do not say it, they collect them privately faster than anyone else."

Simply put, if a currency is of poor quality or inconsistent in shape, it will depreciate, otherwise it will appreciate.

At this time, the market will pursue good money and abandon bad money. Irrational factors are often involved. For example, if ten good coins can only be exchanged for fifteen bad coins based on the copper content alone, in actual transactions they can often be exchanged for seventeen or eighteen coins, or even more.

Collect the bad coins and melt fifteen of them into new coins. If you don't consider the loss, the rest are pure profit.

When your currency invades other people's markets in a large scale, you may collect seigniorage.

"It's a pity that there are too few copper coins, otherwise this alone would have brought considerable profits." Bian Tao was knowledgeable and said immediately.

"I am also annoyed by this." Wang Bing sighed, "When I went to Jiangxia in the past, I brought a lot of Qinghe silk. I thought that it was expensive and I could buy a lot of goods. But the people of Wu said that Jiangxia was hot in summer, so the locals had to use thin silk cloth instead of dense Qinghe silk. I was very angry."

There are different standards for measuring the value of silk in different places.

Qinghe silk is produced in Hebei Province. It has a high density of warp and weft and is made of sufficient and thick material, which are its advantages. Because it is wear-resistant and warm, it is more famous in the north and has a high premium.

But in Jiangnan, due to the hot weather, locals prefer 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 huge losses in business and won’t be able to make back your capital.

Therefore, the North and the South lacked a general equivalent that everyone could agree on, and even the South and the North lacked such a thing, which greatly hindered the development of commerce - copper coins were fine, but there were too few of them and they were totally insufficient.

"I heard that there is a copper mine in Longxi. The Shaofu has sent people to check it out." Sima Pi, who had been silent, said.

"How do you know?" Bian Tao asked curiously.

Sima Pi looked depressed and said, "I went to the palace to see my mother and said I wanted to do business. I heard about this incident by chance."

Bian Tao suddenly realized.

If it weren't for Yu Wenjun, Concubine Pei would have become the queen, and she would have known for sure.

"It's not enough." Wang Bing said, "A business deal can easily cost millions of dollars, how can it be enough?"

Everyone looked at each other.

******
In the Bixiao Palace, Wang Yan held something in his hand and said, "I have this thing."

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, but no one knew what it was.

The currency issue was also being discussed in the hall at this time. Although it was not impossible to do business until this obstacle was resolved, there would be too much trouble and obstacles, and many businesses would fail. This was because merchants were unsure of the actual value of the hundreds of kinds of silk in the world and would rather not do business.

Not to mention, many people really want to buy things, but they only have food and no money. What should they do?
The merchant came from afar, it is impossible for him to bring back a few ships of grain. He is not specialized in grain trading, and he cannot sell it without a way. He might lose money. Wang Yan looked at everyone and said, "This is the coin made by the emperor's order to the Shaofu, called 'Daliang Dragon Coin'. It weighs four taels, nine silver and one tin, and is worth ten thousand coins."

When everyone heard this, they were shocked at first, and then became confused.

There's no way, I was shocked when I heard the word "Dragon Coin".

Emperor Wu of Han has three levels of platinum and gold, and there are so many pearls and jades before him. Are you here to steal my money again?
However, when I heard that it weighed only four taels, I felt a little relieved.

Some people even took out their coins and calculated the amount on the spot. After the calculation, they breathed a sigh of relief. The court did rob money, but only a few hundred coins were robbed for one dragon coin, which was much better than the Han Wu Emperor who took eight taels of lead (the Han Wu Emperor's dragon coin weighed eight taels).

But is it enough?
Zhuti silver was mined in the Western Han Dynasty. When Wang Mang carried out reforms, he pushed for the promotion of Zhuti silver coins. By the time Zhuge Liang ruled Shu Han, the Zhuti silver mines had gradually dried up.

The little silver that the Western Regions Hu merchants brought to the Central Plains was not enough.

There are still some small silver mines in the world, but they produce very little silver.

Where can I get so much silver to do business? It would be better to use copper coins.

In the crowd, Hua Yingzhi received the signal, stood up, bowed first, and asked: "May I ask the Prime Minister, how many Daliang dragon coins did the Shaofu cast?"

"A thousand."

"That's only 10,000 strings of cash." Hua Yingzhi said, "I am rich, but it is not enough for all the people in the world. What can I do?"

Wang Yan looked at him approvingly and clapped his hands.

A moment later, a soldier came in with a tray and handed out a dragon coin to each person.

Wang Yan picked up the tea bowl, sipped the tea quietly, and waited for everyone to appreciate the coins.

After a long time, he put down the tea bowl and coughed lightly, attracting everyone's attention.

"There must be many mansions and inns in your manor, right?" Wang Yan asked.

When these words were spoken, some people nodded and some shook their heads.

A mansion or store is actually a store inside a manor, but it will usually only be opened if it is of a certain scale. After all, if there are not enough people, it cannot support an internal trading market, the so-called "closed-door market".

The selling method is consignment.

For example, if someone is good at weaving bamboo products and makes a few bamboo baskets, he can take them to the mansion to consign them for sale.

If someone in the manor needed a bamboo basket, they would go and buy it, usually giving some food, cloth, or even agricultural products such as eggs, onions, and leeks.

After the item is sold, the store will notify the consignor and ask him to collect the payment, thus completing the transaction.

This way of completing internal transactions with almost no interference with the outside world is a typical feature of the manor economy.

Wang Yan used the example of Didian, which everyone could understand.

Then he said, "The court wants to set up many 'stores', called 'fangshi'. You can bring your goods to the fangshi. There will be a magistrate and several assistants in the market to register all kinds of goods and make them known."

"Merchants in the market have a book that records the goods they bring in and out. They record the amount they bring out and the amount they bring in."

"This is a closed-door transaction, limited to ten days or half a month. We will gather together for the last two or three days to settle the accounts and offset each other's income and expenditure. The accounts will be calculated in 'Dragon Coins'."

"The accounts have been settled. You should make up for what you owe and collect what you owe. If you really owe anything, it's up to you all."

After saying that, he looked at everyone.

After hearing this, everyone was stunned at first, and then overjoyed.

We are all experienced businessmen. If we think about it carefully, who doesn’t know the benefits of doing this?

With the unified pricing of Dragon Coins, there is no need to haggle over various silks and copper coins of different qualities, shapes, and newness. You only need to set a price for your goods, and others will judge for themselves whether they are worth it or not.

Moreover, those who trade in the market are generally wealthy merchants, with millions or even tens of millions of coins. Where would they get so many copper coins for you to use?
Now it is not necessary, just record the number of dragon coins on paper or wooden slips.

You sold medicinal herbs for 100 dragon coins, and then bought ironware for 90 dragon coins. You only need to record it on paper. You don't need to actually take out so much money, but the two transactions are actually completed.

In the last two days, everyone sat together and settled the bills together.

In a full half month, all the people combined may have conducted transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but after the transfer, only a small amount was left to be paid, which was optional.

Of course, it is not ruled out that some people only sell goods but do not buy at all, but this is not a qualified businessman. It would be a big loss to make money only once.

However, even if there really are such people, the worst that can happen is that we can go back to the past.

The entire transaction process in the market still provided great convenience, reduced countless disputes, and reduced the demand for copper coins and silk to the lowest level.

When merchants no longer needed to carry large amounts of copper coins and silk when going out, these coins and silk could flow into the hands of the people, allowing small vendors and even ordinary people to have money to use, which greatly alleviated the shortage of money among the people. After all, most of the copper coins had actually been occupied by merchants before - to be honest, it was very dangerous to carry a lot of money and silk when going out.

In addition, centralized trading in the market also has advantages.

It is easy to find products that interest you, and you can even compare prices from different stores, which are all practical benefits.

As for the dragon coins minted by the Shaofu, it doesn’t really matter whether they exist or not.

You don’t even need to take out the physical object, it’s enough for everyone to know that such a thing exists - in later generations, this is called "(virtual) accounting currency."

Some people have even learned from this experience and thought that it doesn't seem to be a big deal if others have made too many contributions and lost a lot of dragon coins.

After registering the merchant's genealogy, if their family is a reputable and large family with good reputation, it is not impossible to settle the account next time.

"This is what the emperor wanted. He really cares deeply about you." Wang Yan said with emotion: "Since ancient times, no emperor has been so concerned about the needs of merchants."

"Long live the emperor!" Some young man blurted out.

"Long live our emperor!" In an instant, everyone followed suit and shouted.

(End of this chapter)