On March 27 of the third year of Chongzhen, shortly after the yellow wolf led troops to withdraw from the customs to digest and enjoy the fruits of the victory of entering the customs and fighting the grass valley, Chen Yaoyan was sparse in the Nanjing Household Branch: Nanjing Household Department has a new and old second factory. The old factory minted money to put up military rations and support officials, the new factory minted money from the first year of Taichang (1620), the original south drum cast south money, in order to support the lack of the old factory, in addition to the military grain commercial price between the age of one year, still with surplus profits to help Liao. In the second year of the Apocalypse (1622), the north was used to recast the north money, which was the casting bureau in the south and the minting from the north. However, the north casting has stopped, and the southern casting should be restored, and it has to be stopped. If you can set up a place to cast tens of thousands of gold, you can take the benefits of the year, and you can benefit from a lot of benefits, so please restore the factory to the south, and the Chongzhen Emperor ordered the division to discuss and hear.

The news was sent to Hue by a fast boat by Lin Wen Bing, who was stationed in Nanjing, and arrived on the same ship, as well as a box of coins from Chongzhen Tongbao, but not only minted in the first year of Chongzhen, but also minted in the second year and the new money that was recently released.

These coins were neatly placed on several long tables by the people of the Finance Bureau of the Household Division for Shouhan and Li Peilin to see.

Judging from the appearance and feel, the "Chongzhen Tongbao" that was cast in the first year of Chongzhen, each article weighs one penny and two cents and five cents, the ratio of copper, lead and tin is more reasonable, easy to be accepted by the market, and the casting is excellent, and the surface of the coin is very exquisite. After two years, however, the weight and condition of the coin were greatly reduced. Among them, the recast Beijing money is a penny weight, the Nanjing money is eight cents heavy, a piece of small flat money with the words "Chongzhen Tongbao" on it, and there are two folds. When five, when the ten and so on the many tricks of big money. The fonts on the small flat money are all real books to read directly, and they are also divided into two categories: back without text and back with text.

"Can you use this kind of money?" Shouhan weighed the coins in his hand, and he held a coin with a galloping horse pattern on his back, which was known as "Running Horse Chongzhen" among the people, and left a mark in the history of Chinese coins. However, it is a similar sum to the Golden Dollar Bill. Moreover, there were many legends about Running Horse Chongzhen later. Such as a horse to enter the chaos of the Central Plains and the like.

"The politics of the country are bad. It starts with the degree of financial endowment! ”

Now the de facto head of the cabinet, Li Peilin, the chief of the public office, looked at this pile of currencies of very different qualities with pain.

For more than a year, there has been a variety of news coming from the north. He felt more and more that he was assigned to Qiongzhou that year. And because of the shipwreck, he arrived at Shouhan, which is really caused by the accumulation of virtue by the ancestors. Now. He was in charge of the civil affairs of more than 10 million people, and millions of dollars of coins came in and out of the pen and ink, from east to west. From south to north, tens of thousands of miles of mountains and rivers are unimpeded, and sometimes in his dreams, he will ask his ancestor Cheng Lianggong, "When you were at your peak, did my Li family have such a momentum?" ”

The more power you wield, the more you must cherish the power in front of you. Especially like him, after experiencing the huge gap from having rights to almost losing his life, he feels more and more precious to the position and trust that Shouhan gave him.

"We must do something that can be passed down through the ages!" This is a sentence and a goal that he often secretly admonishes and encourages himself.

"Brother Zong, I think we're going to start a furnace to mint money."

With a little force, the Chongzhen Tongbao in his hand was broken in half, and the running horse Chongzhen in his hand was dropped, and Shouhan wiped his hands in disgust, "Such bad coins are circulating in the market, which is simply an insult to the wisdom of the people!" ”

With the gradual spread of various constructions, the economic and trade between various regions has gradually been restored and developed, and at present, the merchants from all over the country who come to trade in the south and China are like carp crossing the river, but people can use gold coins and silver dollars as the settlement unit for large trade, and it is not very convenient to use silver dollars for small sporadic trade and daily expenses.

"That's right! We're going to start 'minting money' too! ”

Shouhan and Pei Lin looked at each other and smiled, both of them knew what each other's mouths meant by "minting money".

The "coinage" of the Nanzhong Army is not so much coinage as coinage. When coining, for example, silver dollars, all kinds of silver ingots and ingots are melted in crucibles, and after purification, almost 99% of pure silver is obtained, and then these pure silver are processed into silver plates suitable for stamping. After that, it is put into the stamping frame with hydraulic power as the driving force, and the silver plate on the high-manganese steel die in the stamping frame is stamped and formed through guò hydraulics. The stamping machine can stamp out 1,000 silver dollars every time it rises and falls, which is much more efficient and costly than the open furnace smelting and casting that is used in the interior.

"Let the money skewer in Jinchuan of the Coin Mint Bureau find someone to make the money mold of the copper coin, and before August 15, our new money will be listed."

In the mainland, this is a fat shortage that can make an oil rain when you sneeze, but in Nanzhong, it is a slightly stronger position than other positions, because of the reason for raising incorruptible silver.

"How much money do we mint?"

"A billion!"

"Billion?! Lord, isn't this number too big? One billion pieces, each of which weighs one coin according to the unit of measurement in Nanzhong, is cast according to the ratio of copper, six leads, and four, so it is ......"

"Stop! It's not copper, six, lead, four, it's copper, six, lead, three, tin, and one. Shouhan corrected Li Peilin's statement, and then motioned for him to continue.

"Each piece weighs one penny, which is about one penny and two in the mainland. Every 100 pieces is a catty, and a billion pieces is 10 million catties! Copper, lead, tin, so many materials, how to prepare, how to transport? ”

Shouhan laughed, and his laughter made Pei Lin a little confused.

"Big brother, you are really smart and confused for a while, although these coppers sound a lot, are they more than the copper bottoms we use for ships?"

Since the beginning of the use of copper for all kinds of ships to wrap the bottom, the cost of the ship has increased a lot, at first some people slandered the Han this move is to use the wallet ship, but later found that the maintenance cost of the ship is reduced, the running time increases, the inside and outside is still greatly cost-effective, so not only the public ships with copper bottom. That is, as long as the ships of each family have a little more money, they will take advantage of the maintenance time to go to the shipyard and ask for the bottom of the ship.

"Nowadays, our copper sources are mainly from these places, copper from Luzon, copper from the Bodhisattva, and red copper from Fuso. So much copper, if we don't use it, isn't it piled up in the warehouse for nothing? We don't want so much patina when we make gunpowder, right? ”

The Annando River, one by one, provides abundant water resources for the South China Army, in addition to being used for drinking water for people and livestock, and irrigation of farmland, it can provide a relatively reliable power for industry.

As with gold and silver coins, copper, lead, and tin are smelted in a ratio of six to three. After being made into a copper alloy. It is placed under the mould and subjected to the pressure of the water force, after which the clear imprint is permanently left on the copper plate. The originally neat copper plates were also turned into honeycomb-shaped objects due to the huge punching force, and they were sent back to the furnace again. Re-melting.

Such a process. The water cone head with the mold rises and falls. It is possible to "cast" a thousand Tongbao, and what if it is multiplied by two hundred times on the basis of a hydraulic stamping cone?

Listening to the sound of the rising and falling of the cones in my ears, I watched the copper coins being taken off the copper plates by the officials and slaves. Shouhan and Pei Lin couldn't help but feel a burst of joy.

On a whim, Pei Lin took out a Yongle Tongbao and a Jiajing Tongbao from the purse hanging on his body, asked Jinchuan for a running horse Chongzhen, took a new Nanzhong Tongbao, held these four coins in his hand, and called an official slave, "Four coins, you choose two, it is considered a reward for you." ”

The official slave was carrying a large basket of copper materials in the corners, with doubts and panic in his eyes, I don't know if the noble man in front of him wants to make fun of himself, he doesn't know anyone else, and Chengxuan Jinchuan of the Mint Bureau knows that this is his big boss, and he is separated from him by seventeen or eighteen floors. At that moment, he looked at Jin Chuan with inquiring eyes.

"Your Excellency wants to reward you, don't you want to thank you?"

The official slave put down the basket, and his bony eyes kept looking back and forth among the four copper coins in Li Peilin's hand, and soon, he slowly stretched out his hand and firmly grabbed the Yongle Tongbao and Nanzhong Tongbao in Peilin's hand.

This action made Pei Lin laugh, took out a gold coin from his purse, and stuffed it into the official slave's hand, "I will reward you too!" ”

The monthly income of the official slave was five yuan per month, and since the use of silver coins, it has become an income of one silver dollar every two months. This gold coin could be exchanged for thirty silver coins, and in this way, the official slave suddenly had almost five years' salary, and he was so frightened that he hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, lest something bad might befall him.

This move caused everyone on the side to laugh, and after Jin Chuan laughed a few times, he called the official slave, "If the lord rewards you, you can take it yourself, don't cause trouble." ”

On August 16, the third year of Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan, the former governor of Jiliao, was sentenced to "treason" for "arguing for peace and killing the marshal", and was escorted to the vegetable market and ate 3,600 knives. And Qian Longxi, the bachelor who founded Yuan Chonghuan to kill Mao Wenlong, was also imprisoned at first on charges of advocating Yuan Chonghuan to kill Wenlong, proposing peace, and betraying the country and bullying the monarch, but in the end, because of the intricate party disputes within the court, he escaped and was sentenced to be sentenced to Haiwei after being released from prison. Note that his hometown is Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture, and he can be regarded as returning home. After living in Dinghai for 12 years, when King Fu ascended the throne, he returned to his hometown in Huating County, and finally died at home.

"Erosion of a cannon, turtle guard for two days, repair three cities to block four gates without moving like a mountain, big talk about Pingliao for five years, ask for money to die of six departments, go to aid to dismiss the seventh army, and finally end up with the first eight directions and nine sides, originally very eye-catching.

Ten days of soldiers, forced money nine times, lost eight souls and lost seven spirits turned into the wind, privately beheaded the commander and deceived the six palaces, the enemy crossed the city for five miles, and the city rice was robbed from all directions. ”

After reading this couplet written by Peilin, Shouhan was speechless. From one to ten, and from ten to one, the life of Inspector Yuan is vividly described. It's just a little mean and not kind enough. If it is on the Internet, this couplet by Li Peilin is definitely listed as Yuan Hei's work.

"Brother Zong, this?!"

Pei Lin dropped the large grabbing pen in his hand, and the ink on the pen quickly turned the fine rice paper into a black ball.

"Yang Hao was beheaded, Yuan was sent to the vegetable market, and the two old people of my Li family in Liaodong have already sacrificed to the national law, and since then they have no distractions, and they will concentrate on serving the lord!"

A steamed fish, two dishes of side dishes are nothing more than peanuts, rice and dried tofu, and there is a jar of rice wine next to it, which is the wine and food that Peilin left behind to drink.

"Brother Zong, you and Pei Ting can be described as two people with two styles of acting, if it is Pei Ting's treat, then it is really the abbot before the meal, and you have to say a few polite words. You don't even have a dish fried in oil, so you use these to send me away? ”

"It's just drinking and talking, what do you want to do with those eyesores?" Peilin was very unimpressed.

"In the past few years, there have been many disasters in the north, the people have swarmed, and the political situation between the DPRK and China is turbulent, so I plan to send people to Beijing."

Hearing Shouhan's words, Pei Lin didn't raise his head, just picked up a boiled peanut and put it in his mouth and chewed it slowly, "Go to Beijing?" ”

"Not bad! It is Beijing. ”

"Who is the right person to go to the current few people in the mainland? Virtuous do not avoid relatives, how is Peiting? He is more familiar with the affairs of officialdom and is easy to open up the situation. ”

"It's not good, first, the two of you are in the mainland officialdom, but they are both in the status of the army, and it is easier to do it in Liangguang, once you arrive in the capital, there are many people, and you are recognized, how to get out? Moreover, once the second brother goes north to the capital, who will the affairs of Liangguang be handed over? ”

"Then who do you think is appropriate?"

"Ye Qi's deputy, I transferred Lin Wenbing from Nanjing to Beijing. Just right to go north along the canal. ”

"Good!" (To be continued......)