Ancient money is not the same as modern money. The value of money in ancient times was not focused on the face value of the money, but on its weight. Therefore, the ancient emperors often deprived the people of their interests by minting money. And the people who privately minted copper coins also took a fancy to this, so they repeatedly banned it.

Before Li Yuan minted Kaiyuan Tongbao, the Tang Dynasty had always used the five-baht coin of the Sui Dynasty. But the five baht money of the Sui Dynasty was also very chaotic. This is related to the chaos in the world before the Sui unified the world. Before the unification of the Sui Dynasty, the Northern and Southern Dynasties coexisted. The Northern Dynasties went through five dynasties, the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi and the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and the Southern Dynasties also went through five dynasties, the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen. There are a total of ten countries in the North and South Dynasties, and you will sing and I will appear. There are very few good emperors, but many bad emperors.

Every emperor who ascends the throne will face Li Shimin's current problem, lack of money! What should I do if I am short of money? Like Li Shimin, the emperor who died poor and did not stretch out his hand to the people is a minority after all. Most emperors can't control themselves to exploit the people.

The usual method is to mint money. The standard five-baht coin weighs four grams and contains about 3.5 grams of copper. They recycled the money, melted it down, recast it, and added it to other 'cheap' metals, such as lead. It was originally four grams, but after recasting, it was still four grams, but the copper in it changed from 3.5 grams to two grams. The value of money naturally decreases. Folks call this method 'casting big money'.

This is not bad, but even worse is another method, which is called 'minting small money'. It's a bit of a face to cast a lot of money, after all, it's also doped with other metals. And casting a small amount of money is completely shameless. The same money is recycled, melted away, and recast. To mint a big coin is to add base metals, and to mint a small coin is to add nothing at all. The original five-baht coin weighed four grams, divided into two, each weighing two grams, and the tough regulations were exchanged for one to one with the original money, and the profits were plundered from the people.

Such an approach is naturally intended to arouse public indignation, which is why the Northern and Southern Dynasties have gone through ten countries in less than 200 years. Those who make a lot of money will hold up for a while. If you cast a small amount of money, ten or twenty years is considered too much.

After the Sui Dynasty unified the world, Emperor Wen of Sui also discovered this problem and tried to carry out currency reform. But the power of the gate valve at that time was much greater than that of the Tang Dynasty today. Especially the families that have been emperors in the north and south, although they are no longer royal families, their respective forces are still not small. Emperor Wen of Sui's monetary reform, as soon as it began, was violated by local yin and yang. Although they are all called Sui five baht, the value of the currency is still mixed, and the weight of the money is different in different places.

Therefore, after Li Yuan established the country, he began to carry out currency reform. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the power of the gate valve was further weakened. This is also one of the prerequisites for Kaiyuan Tongbao to be cast, but it is inevitable that yin and yang will be violated. Then the Xuanwumen Incident broke out, and Li Shimin ascended the throne as emperor. After Li Shimin ascended the throne, natural and man-made disasters and wars followed, and the economic situation of the imperial court was not as good as that of the Wude period, so it was unable to continue to mint money, and this currency reform was stopped halfway.

Nowadays, the most popular currency for private transactions is, of course, Kaiyuan Tongbao. But Sui five baht can also be used, but the value depends on the actual situation. No one is a fool, he knows it all. These people brought Sui five baht to Li Mu, just to fool the past, how could Li Mu let them succeed?

Kaiyuan Tongbao weighs one penny per text, one tael per ten wen, and weighs six catties and four taels per guan (that is, one thousand wen). Each piece weighs two baht and four wires, which is equivalent to about four grams. He has already arranged for the weighing of the money, and the money in the warehouse must not only be counted, but also weighed, so as to avoid the fake money minted privately from being mixed into it. In this way, it is slower, but it can ensure that the amount is sufficient.

As for the small number of people who paid the subscription money with less colored silver, Li Mu also had a way. Directly put the furnace on the shelf, melt the silver directly, remove the impurities, and pour it into a large ingot, how much comes out, and you can take the impurities back. Ingots in history began in the Yuan Dynasty, so they are called ingots. Although Li Mu didn't like this origin very much, he thought that it was the Tang Dynasty at this time, and the Yuan Dynasty was still hundreds of years later, so the diaphragm in his heart should be a lot smaller. Moreover, Kaiyuan Tongbao is among the people, and it is also called opening ingots. It is also logical to name ingots.

Sterling silver is very soft and easy to wear, so when casting ingots, Li Mu also added 'base metals' to the ingots to increase strength. He calculated the specific gravity, and after adding the 'base metal', the silver ingots were worth exactly the same amount of money. Originally, when the people exchanged, the silver with higher purity could be exchanged for one or two of the consistent Kaiyuan Tongbao. He also did this in order to form a standardized exchange rate to facilitate the implementation of his plan.

As for the rarer gold, it was cast into 'gold bars'. To Li Mu's surprise, there were many people who took gold to pay the subscription fee. Probably because they were in too much of a hurry, some shareholders had no choice but to take a lot of soft to make up for it.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed. In addition to the shares subscribed for with grain, copper coins, gold and silver worth 1,770,000 yuan have been put into the treasury. In order to protect the money, Li Mu invited a battalion of forbidden troops to be stationed here, guarding them day and night, all equipped with strong bows, and within a hundred steps of the ice cellar, those who trespassed would die.

Li Mu also took advantage of the three days of staring at the storage to urgently train a group of people. After the warehousing was completed, next to the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Industry, Datang Bank was established. Everyone was curious about what Li Mu's Datang Bank did. Literally, a bank is like a place where silver is stored. But people can't figure it out, whose silver is not placed in their own homes, but will be placed in Li Mu's hands, isn't this a fool's dream?

Some people also inquired with Li Mu, but he didn't explain, but it really seemed like the rumored that this Datang Bank was a warehouse for storing silver.

Near evening, after Li Mu finished telling the staff of Datang Bank about today's financial knowledge, it was also time for him to get off work. But Li Mu didn't leave in a hurry, but took Li Chongyi and Dugu Jiu to the ice cellar.

Within 100 steps of the entrance of the ice cellar, every 10 steps, there is a bluestone-paved 'cordon' on the ground to warn of the degree of danger. If you don't take the initiative to accept the interrogation, when you get fifty paces from the entrance, the arrows will fly.

Even Li Mu has to be verified. First show the fish charm, and then the code, the code will be changed every morning, and strive to be the safest.

So far, there is only one pair of fish talismans, which are in the hands of Li Mu and General Zhenwei who guards this place. Clearance has not yet been granted to the second person, and even if this Zhenwei general wants to guard and steal himself, it is impossible. Because he couldn't enter the ice cellar, only Li Mu knew the mechanism.

Li Mu entered the ice cellar alone, there was no ice in the ice cellar, not only was it not cold, but it was a little warm due to the earth's atmosphere. Li Mu lit the fuel lamp, and the ice cellar lit up. More than a million guan of money only occupies less than one-fifth of the ice cellar. When Li Mu designed this ice cellar, he arranged it with a storage capacity of 10 million yuan.

Li Mu has been coming here every day for the past few days. He's doing one thing, one thing that only he can do.

He's 'calibrating' the money.

Because of the existence of the system, as long as the money is 'recharged' into the system, Li Mu can exchange it freely. If he wanted to, he didn't even need to go to the trouble of casting, just put his hand on the money, 'recharge' it to the system, and then 'transform' it out. Of course, this is also to think that it is definitely not possible to do this, it is too shocking.

However, it's okay to calibrate it.

For example, the silver content of an ingots is slightly higher. He can put his hand on it and 'suck' a little bit of the silver from the ingot. There is a system, it is absolutely accurate, and there is no bullying for children. Similarly, if the silver content of any ingots is missing, he can also make up for it, and there is a system to sit in, and it will not be bad at all.

Most of the recast coins, whether copper or silver, were a little bit higher. In the past few days, Li Mu has already sucked out more than 2,000 pieces just by 'sucking'.

Li Mu looked at the money that was neatly stacked on the wooden shelves, like the goods placed on the shelves in a supermarket, and a thought kept surging in his heart. Pounce on it, 'recharge' all this money into the system, anyway, no one will believe that the money has disappeared out of thin air, causing a supernatural event, and nearly two million yuan of money will be in hand. With all this money, are you still worried about system upgrades? At least a few advanced skills can be upgraded!

But he held back, not that morality constrained him. But reason restrained him, now that he has a family and a business, it is impossible to give up everything he already has for the sake of this money. Without a wife and concubine, without brothers and friends, there is only one system, a few advanced skills, what can you do?

And the upgrade of the system is not just about money, but also requires a variety of materials. Therefore, intellectually speaking, it is not advisable to promote the growth of seedlings, and steady development is the right way.

Li Mu secretly converted a part of the silver into copper coins, and then came out of the ice cellar. He converts a little bit every day, because at present, copper coins are the main currency in circulation, and gold and silver, most of which appear in the form of utensils or jewelry, are not liquid enough to meet his needs.

But no, no, no, some large transactions, still need precious metals. It's just that this ratio is not yet known. But Li Mu is not worried, there is a system, as long as there is money, he can switch at any time.

Leaving the ice cellar, Li Mu and the three of them got on their horses and went home, just arriving at the Fangmen. Seeing a carriage waiting there, Li Chongyi and Dugu Jiu glanced at each other, and Qi Qi pulled the reins. Li Mu had no choice but to stop, his old face turned red, and he turned around and said, "What do you two mean, let's go!" ”

"Big brother, get in the car quickly. I'll help you lead the horse, and I'll teach you when you're almost home. After Li Chongyi finished speaking, he reached out and grabbed the reins of Li Mu's horse.

Dugu Jiu nodded, when he was outside, he still didn't like to talk.

"Alas, you guys!" Li Mu sighed, reluctantly got off his horse, and got into the carriage. Before he could sit down, a pair of soft wattles wrapped around his neck and shoulders like snakes, sending a gentle kiss.