Three days later, Xiong Huai summoned the ministers to discuss the candidate for the Great Si Nong.

in the main hall.

Xiong Huai took out a cloth coin (a kind of copper coin) from his sleeve and motioned to the ministers: "Do you know what is in the hands of the widow?" ”

The ministers looked at the copper coin in the hand of the king of Chu and looked at each other, not knowing what the king of Chu had to do when he was discussing the election of the great Si Nong, what was the purpose of taking out an ordinary copper coin.

Among the doubts, Zhao Ju was the first to speak: "King, this is the money used by the people every day. ”

Xiong Huai nodded, then looked at Zhao Ju, and said in surprise: "This is actually a copper coin used by the people every day, this is simply unreasonable, so that Yin Ke knows who made this copper coin?" The widow seems to remember that my Chu State has never minted a copper coin of this way. ”

Zhao Ju was stunned, thinking that the king of Chu was dissatisfied with the use of cloth coins by the people of Chu State, and immediately responded: "Back to the king, this cloth coin was made by Wei and Han, because there are many caravans between our Chu State and Wei and Han countries, so the copper coins of Wei and Han have many circulation in our Chu State." ”

"It turned out to be from Wei and Han to my Chu country." Xiong Huai showed a look of sudden realization, and then asked again: "Since this copper coin is from Wei and Han, then this copper coin must also have a price, I don't know how much this Wei and Han copper coin is worth my Chu money?" ”

Zhao Ju worked as a laborer Yin Zhuguo, and also sent envoys to Wei and Han, so he naturally knew the price of Wei and Han copper coins.

Although he still doesn't know what the king of Chu means, he still responds: "Back to the king, the Wei and Han copper coins that flow into my Chu country have two sizes, of which one big coin can be exchanged for seven copper coins of my Chu country, and one small coin can be exchanged for four copper coins of my Chu country." ”

"It turns out that Ling Yin also knows the price of this copper coin!" When Xiong Huai heard this, his tone sank, and he immediately asked: "Then Ling Yin knows how much this Wei Han small coin weighs, and how much does a copper coin in my Chu Kingdom weigh?" ”

When Zhao Ju heard this, he already vaguely knew what the King of Chu was talking about.

He once served as Gongyin, so he naturally knew the copper coins of the Chu State well, and he also knew a little about the weight of the copper coins of Wei and Han.

A copper coin in the state of Chu weighed about four or five baht, while the copper coin of Wei and Han weighed about twenty baht for the large one and about fourteen baht for the small one.

Even if all the Chu coins are calculated according to four baht, the four Chu coins weigh sixteen baht, so a comparison is to exchange the sixteen baht copper coins of the Chu State for the fourteen baht copper coins of Wei and Han, which is a loss.

And if you use five baht copper coins, it is a big loss to exchange twenty baht for fourteen baht.

This is still a small amount of money for four, if it is a big money for seven, then the Chu State will suffer even more, and the blood will be lost.

For two hundred years, the caravan exchanges between Chu and Wei and Han have always been like this, and everyone is not surprised, so they don't think there is anything wrong with this.

However, now that the king of Chu has repeatedly made it public in the court, Zhao Ju immediately found that there was something very wrong with it.

Thinking about it, Zhao Ju immediately got up, hurriedly walked to the hall, and bowed for a long time: "Great King, as Ling Yin, I have never found out that my Chu State was deceived by Wei and Han, capital crime, capital crime!" ”

As soon as Zhao Ju asked for sin, Yin Jin Juntong and Gong Yin Gong, who were related to the coin, also got up and came behind Zhao Ju and bowed: "The minister is guilty, please give the king the sin." ”

When the ministers saw it, their hearts sank, and they all pleaded guilty: "The ministers are guilty." ”

"Humph!" Xiong Huai snorted coldly and said: "Guilty, you are guilty, such an obvious thing, you are all important ministers of my Chu State, but no one has found the problem."

However, the widow heard that the merchants of Wei and Han had already discovered the business opportunities, and transported a large number of copper coins from Wei and Han to our Chu country, and after exchanging them for our Chu money, they were transported back to Wei and Han, and the copper coins of our Chu country were melted and cast into copper coins of Wei and Han and then transported to our Chu country.

One trip down, you can make a tenfold profit.

So repeatedly, so that for more than 100 years, the land of Hanbei and Huaibei in our Chu State, as well as most areas of Jiangbei, can no longer see the copper coins of my Chu State. And the copper coins used by the people in their daily lives have all become copper coins of Wei and Han.

Moreover, the widow also heard that the merchants of Wei and Han had already built a coinage workshop in our Chu country.

This is a problem that Wei and Han merchants can discover, but no one has discovered it in my Chu State, even in the past two hundred years.

Shame, this is a great shame for my Chu State. ”

Speaking of this, Xiong Huai snorted coldly again.

What he didn't say was that the reason why this situation occurred in the Chu State also had a lot to do with the nobles of the Chu State, because at least more than half of the copper coins of Wei and Han were secretly minted by the nobles of the Chu State.

That's what he hates the most.

However, because ordinary people use copper coins less, most of the people will use grain and cloth as currency most of the time, but fortunately, the problem is not serious to the extreme.

Otherwise, according to the practice of the nobles, most of the wealth of the Chu State would be intercepted by the Wei and Han countries and the nobles. And the court of Chu and all the people of Chu, and even most of the nobles who did not participate in the coinage, will be reduced to those coinage nobles and the leeks of Wei and Han.

On the other side, after the cold voice of the king of Chu fell, the ministers did not dare to refute, so they had to plead again: "The ministers are guilty." ”

At this time, Xiong Huai looked at the ministers in the hall who bowed their heads and pleaded guilty, was silent for a while, and then said: "Forget it, this matter has been going on for a long time, and it can't be blamed on the widow or the head of Zhu Qing." ”

As he spoke, Xiong Huai looked at Zhao Ju and the others, and said sharply: "However, the three of you, Ling Yin, Taifu Yin, and Gong Yin, are closely related to this matter, but they have not been taken seriously, this is your negligence."

The widow decided to punish you and the other three for half a year as a punishment, and you can accept it. ”

When the three of Zhao Ju heard this, they saw that the angry King of Chu did not punish them heavily for what happened one or two hundred years ago, but was only fined half a year, and their hearts were slightly relieved.

So, the three of them saluted together and said, "The ministers confess!" ”

After the three of Zhaoju returned to their seats and sat down, Xiong Huai spoke again: "In the past two hundred years, the copper coins of Wei and Han have flooded all parts of our Chu State and intercepted a large amount of wealth from our Chu State.

I don't know if the ministers can have a countermeasure to prevent Wei and Han from intercepting the wealth of our Chu State. ”

As soon as Xiong Huai's voice fell, Taifu Yin Jinjuntong immediately spoke: "King, this matter is also simple, as long as the king issues an edict to prohibit the use of Wei and Han copper coins in the Chu State, and enforce the copper coins of my Chu State." ”

When Xiong Huai heard this, he immediately looked at Jin Juntong expressionlessly and said: "Good idea, it's just that what does Xianqing plan to do with the Wei Han copper coins in the hands of the people in the country?" ”

Jin Juntong responded: "King, you just need to forcibly take it back." ”

When Xiong Huai heard this, he smiled and said, "At what price does Xianqing plan to take back the Wei Han copper coins from the people and collect them at the current price?" Or half price? ”

Jin Juntong's whole body suddenly stiffened.

If he dares to say that he will collect it at the current price, then the king of Chu will definitely kill him, and if he dares to say that he will collect it at half price, the angry countrymen will definitely destroy his entire clan.

Thinking about it, Jin Juntong opened his mouth slightly, and then immediately bowed and said: "The king, the minister lost his words, please forgive the king." ”

"Humph!" Xiong Huai snorted coldly, and then asked the ministers, "Do you have any other ways?" ”

When the ministers heard this, they did not dare to speak easily in the face of this issue that concerned everyone in the Chu State, the court of the King of Chu, the nobles, and even the vital interests of all the people.

Of course, this is also a moment when no countermeasures have been come up with.

After all, this is a stubborn disease that has lasted for almost 200 years.