At the dinner table, Li You asked, "Lord Gao, Lord Du, what do you say, what is the biggest problem that is bothering your household now?" ”

As soon as he said this, Gao Jingming suddenly frowned, and he said: "Your Highness, the household department mints a large amount of money every year, and most of the copper collected by various copper mines is minted and used, but the money is getting less and less, which is really a headache."

Some of the annual tax revenues of the household department cannot be collected, and only physical goods can be collected, and the pricing of these things alone is very troublesome, and additional expenses are required for transportation and storage. ”

Du Xinyuan said: "There is another problem, that is, the private minting of coins is strictly prohibited by the imperial court, but it has little effect. ”

Wu Jue, who was accompanying him on the side, interjected and said: "Yes, Lord Wang, the Magpie Trading Company encounters such problems every day, first, there are not so many copper coins available, and the bulk of goods are basically bartered, which is very inconvenient. If there is no reciprocal exchange of goods, business may not even be done.

There is also counterfeit money, coins minted by the people, which look almost the same as the money minted by the household, and many people are using it, and if they don't collect it, it will be more difficult to do business. The money collected can be circulated, but if it is used to pay taxes, the government will definitely not collect it, and some customers will refuse to accept it, which is very troublesome. ”

Li You asked, "Do you know what the reason is?" ”

Du Xinyuan said: "Your Highness, the household department has done a special investigation, and the first is the living habits of the people. People like to save money, and after making money, in addition to the necessary expenses, the excess money is put into jars or boxes and stored, and as a result, the people have more money in their hands, and less money is circulating in the market.

There are only a limited number of coins minted by the household, so where can they withstand such storage? As a result, the number of coins in circulation in the market is decreasing. ”

Gao Jingming said: "There is another problem, the copper content in Kaiyuan Tongbao reaches sixty percent, and the value of these coppers is not lower than the face value of the coin. Some people buy coins, re-smelt them, extract copper, and process them into other products, selling them for much more than the face value of Kaiyuan Tongbao itself. ”

The metal composition of Kaiyuan Tongbao is: copper 59.24%, lead 26.95%, tin 12.1%, zinc 0.03%, iron 0.12%. The melting points of these metals are different, and separating them is not a difficult thing for those masters of the people.

Li You asked, "Do you have any solutions?" ”

Gao Jingming asked: "Your Highness, this problem is not just starting now, these problems existed in the Han Dynasty, and they have not been able to solve these problems for thousands of years. There was nothing the ministers could do. ”

After speaking, he looked at Li You hopefully and asked, "Your Highness, do you have a solution?" ”

Xiao Qian and Zhang Guigui, who were eating and drinking on the side, also listened, and they also looked at Li You to see what solution he could propose.

Li You smiled: "This matter is not difficult. ”

"What? Your Highness, do you really have a way? Gao Jingming said in surprise.

Li You said: "There is no money to use and the two problems of private coinage, let's talk about it separately, let's talk about the first problem first. ”

He shouted, "White Tiger, come in." ”

The white tiger hurriedly came in, and he asked, "Lord Wang, what do you command?" ”

Li You asked, "White Tiger, where do you usually put your family's money?" ”

Baihu is a rich man, he and the magpie have a fortune, the prince often rewards them, and the magpie also has the income from publishing "Li You's Poetry Collection", which can be regarded as a rich man in Chang'an.

The place where their family hid their money, for Bai Hu, was a secret and could not be revealed to the outside world casually. However, he believes in the prince, and people don't look down on his little money. He said, "Lord Wang, all the money in the little family has been packed up in jars, and a few secret passages have been dug in the courtyard and in the house, and they have all been hidden. In order to prevent leakage and theft by others, no one will tell anyone about the money hidden by the little one and my magpie, and in case one of the hidden money is stolen by others, half of it can be left at home. ”

"Hahahaha", everyone burst into laughter.

Li You asked Zhang Guigui again and said, "Precious, where is your family's money hidden?" ”

Zhang Guigui said: "It's similar to the White Tiger family, under the bed, on the roof, in the yard, in the stable, and some are hidden by Du Mei, I don't know." ”

Everyone laughed again, because it was Gao Jingming and Du Xinyuan's house, and it was almost the same.

Li You asked Wu Yu and said, "Tell me, how many people did the Magpie Trading Company employ in order to take care of the treasury?" ”

Wu Jue said: "In order to store coins, the trading company has built a lot of money vaults, and there are dozens of people in the nursing home who are responsible for taking care of the money vaults, and they have to spend a lot of money every month. That's it, and it's often worrying. ”

Li You said, "Okay, now I'll ask you. Suppose there is an infallible institution, such as the household department, and a large treasury is built. Anyone can deposit their own money, and if it is lost, the household department will compensate you for it.

You can always take it out when you need it. In addition, you will be paid a portion of interest based on the amount and time you have deposited. Will you put money in it? ”

The white tiger was the first to say: "Lord Wang, if there is such a good thing, of course the little one is willing." However, saving money for others, and giving interest to others, how can there be such a good thing in the world, is there such a stupid person?! ”

Speaking of this, he felt that he was pouting baldly, wasn't he saying that the prince was stupid? He hurriedly slapped his mouth and said, "Look at this stinky mouth! Lord Wang, the little one doesn't mean that, but I don't understand it. ”

"Lord Wang, you are so smart!" Wu Jue clapped her hands in surprise and exclaimed, she was very smart, and she immediately thought of the crux of the problem.

"This, this, oops, Your Highness, the minister is a pig's brain, why can't you think of it?!" Gao Jingming pondered these things all day long, and immediately understood. He stood up excitedly, arched his hand and said, "Your Highness is a great talent, and the five bodies that you admire are thrown to the ground!"

Zhang Guigui didn't figure it out, but when he saw that others understood, he didn't question it, didn't he seem stupid? ! So, he resisted his curiosity, picked up a chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth, blocking the question he wanted to ask.

Du Xinyuan quickly figured it out, and he also said excitedly: "Your Highness, if the household department establishes such an institution, with this institution, the people will be able to deposit their own money, so that the household department will have money to use." With this money, you can also lend out the money like private lending, charge a higher interest than the interest of the money you deposited, and make money, which is a big source of income. Your Highness is really a whimsical idea! ”

Wu Jue's head turned faster, and she was able to see farther.