Chapter 154 Gold and silver pass through the market

On August 2 of the first year of Baoqing of the Great Song Dynasty, the golden autumn came, and there was the osmanthus with an eager temperament, and he couldn't help but poke his head out, and spread the fragrant smell all over the streets and alleys of Lin'an City.

In the past, at this time, it should be crowded, but today the alleys are empty, and most of the people in the city have arrived in the area around the wharf, because today is the day when the lord of the flow of prayer and the Yang family of the Zixian Concubine arrives in Beijing.

Su Sui received the news, so he dressed up early, booked a private room upstairs facing the port, leaned against the window and looked out, waiting for the legendary Concubine Yang. If her guess was right, that Concubine Yang should be an acquaintance of hers.

Deng Ruoshui was in the crowd, the errand officers of Lin'an Mansion, the guards of the Guard Division, and the forbidden army had already cleared the road, and after the royal street was sprinkled and washed, it was not as messy and dirty as before. It was close to the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the weather was gradually cooling, but because of the crowd, he still squeezed out a sweat.

"You are careful, if there is something, report it immediately, and there must be no mistake."

Huo Chongcheng was in a room, and he commanded to the crowd in front of him in a deep voice, these people are the city fox society rats of Lin'an City, Huo Chongcheng had friends with them because of his boldness, and now he is even more high-spirited, directing these originally chickens and dogs to make a group of thieves. But this is not disgusted by these humble people, on the contrary, they are only afraid that Huo Chongcheng will not use them, because now they are doing things for the current official family, and they can also get a lot of money from Huo Chongcheng every month.

After giving the order, Huo Chongcheng pushed open the door, glanced upstairs, and waved his hand at the window over there, he knew that Su Sui was there, but he didn't have time to meet her today.

"When this matter is over, I have to ask Ah Ju - the official family to think of ideas for me, or simply ask him to send a will to let Ah Sui marry me." Huo Chongcheng grinned: "The official family is younger than me, and they are already married, and I am not married again, I am afraid that I will be laughed at." ”

"The capital is in a prosperous place, and sure enough, there are so many characters." A scholar who traveled here from the countryside fanned his fan desperately, and said to his companion with a smile: "The so-called early is not as good as the coincidence, this time, although we did not catch up with the bustle of the official family to clear the history of the party, but we saw the grand pomp of marrying a virtuous concubine, real luck, real luck!" ”

"Chen Yisheng, don't lie about it, the official family is happy, how can you be allowed to talk about it!" His companion shouted.

"Originally, you Li Ziyu didn't understand the amorous feelings." The one known as Chen Yisheng said with a smile: "If I, Chen Anping, have a straight face like you Li Ziyu all day long, it will not be me." ”

That Li Ziyu snorted, and when he was about to refute, he suddenly heard a "boom", and the human voice was originally loud, but at this moment, it was like thunder. The two of them stood together, but they could not hear each other's voices, and after a long time, the voices did not fade, but came closer and closer.

Then they saw a scene that stunned them.

Twenty carts—four-wheeled, heavy-duty carts, each drawn by four horses, passed in front of them. This is not surprising, but the car is open and everyone can see the items placed on it.

Copper ingots were piled up like small cars.

This is almost twenty copper mountains passing in front of everyone, and after the copper mountains, there are ten silver mountains and five gold mountains.

Thirty-five carts of copper, silver, and gold ingots passed in front of the Lin'an people in a grand manner under the protection of thousands of palace commanders, guard divisions, and four hundred people seeking to protect the guards. Many years later, the old man of Lin'an still remembered this scene, and mentioned it to his children and grandchildren with great embarrassment.

Thirty-five carts were followed by two carts, but this cart was not carrying gold, silver, and copper ingots, but people. There were six men standing in each cart, and they stooped down and grabbed a handful of copper dollars from the cart and scattered them to the sides.

Su Sui in the restaurant snorted, such a violent act, but it is not the style of today's official family and the Yang family sister he knows. Although the people below scrambled for the copper yuan that was scattered, Su Sui frowned and thought hard.

"No decency, no decency!"

In another private room, Zhen Dexiu also saw this scene, he stomped his feet angrily, and then yelled at Cheng Jue: "Cheng Huaigu, you are the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, so you can't let this virtuous concubine mess around?" ”

These important ministers, the Son of Heaven and Concubine Naxian, were supposed to be courteous, but because they didn't like it in their hearts, they all took sick leave, but they ran upstairs to look lively.

"The official family said that Concubine Xian is his beloved concubine, and it is not impossible to lead the troops into battle, not to mention this?" Cheng Jue sneered: "Zhen Jingxi, you don't know it, how can you and I be allowed to ignore this matter?" If you don't like it, you can go to your own house to admonish it! ”

"I'll go and admonish!" Jin Deok-so snorted angrily.

Strictly speaking, Zhen Dexiu is not treacherous, let alone incompetent, but he is too Taoist and too keen on promoting science, which makes Zhao Youju very displeased. His antipathy to science, especially the dogmatic tendencies of Confucianism, was almost identical to his dislike to later religious fundamentalists. But Zhen Dexiu can't easily indulge in the countryside, his reputation is too great, if he goes back, it will inevitably be ridiculed by the court.

"Zhen Jingxi, don't be impatient." Yue Ke said lightly, he didn't like Zhu Xi, so he didn't like Zhen Dexiu: "When the history thief is in power, you and I are helpless, and we can't do anything if we are not the Son of Heaven." Although today's officials are young, their plans are far away, so with such fanfare, doesn't An Zhi have another deep meaning? ”

"What Yue Suzhi said is extremely true." Wei Liaoweng stood on Yue Ke's side this time, he nodded and pondered, and after a while, his face showed joy: "I know!" ”

"The lower officials also know." Another person also said, but it was Qiao Xingjian, he is now the secretary of the Guozi and the National History Academy of editing, and the review of the Records Academy, only on the job, it was not possible to be here, but he has always been friendly with Ge Hong and others, and he is also among the important ministers.

"But why?" I don't know who asked.

"Coins." Wei Liaoweng and Qiao Xingjian spoke in unison, and then the ministers all suddenly realized.

There is a very important article in the edict of the Son of Heaven in the country, that is, to stabilize the coin, but to stabilize the coin, the imperial court must come up with enough copper coins, but now the entire Great Song Dynasty is a money shortage, that is, the imperial court, and it can't take out these many copper coins for a while. Even if you can get it, it is impossible to put it all on the market, otherwise it will be exchanged for those unscrupulous profiteers, and it will be cast into bronze without permission, and then sold at a high price.

Now among the dowries of the virtuous concubines from Liuqiu, there are many copper ingots, as well as a large amount of silver and gold, if they are cast into copper coins, at least they can solve the urgent need.

"Father Wei Hua, this is the official family to relieve your worries." Yue Ke said with a smile.

"Yes, yes!" Wei Liaoweng's face was full of joy, it was Zhen Dexiu, and his originally tense face was also relaxed: "If this is the case, the official family has no intentions." ”

They discussed a few words, and they all avoided the accusations they began to make against the Son of Heaven, and only began to think about what the money could do for the imperial court.

After the succession of treasure carts passed, there were eighteen loads, and on each of them were all kinds of strange things, such as nine-foot-high red coral. In the Great Song Dynasty, this is a rare thing and extremely precious, but in Zhongshan, Beishan, and Nanshan, although this kind of thing is rare, it is not rare.

Eighteen were followed by six more carriages, but they were all drawn by two horses. In the first carriage, someone lifted the corner of the curtain, quietly looked outside, and then said with a smile: "Bohan, if these people know, those mountains of gold, silver, and copper are only bright on the outside, but they are actually empty inside, I don't know if they will eat us alive." ”

"It's not all tricks that you Li Jingwen came up with." Chen Zicheng snorted.

"Haha......" Li Yunrui lowered his voice and laughed: "It's just a pretense to let the people of the Great Song Dynasty know that the official family is not short of copper, why take out our real money!" I dare to say that after today, it won't take more than a month, and the entire Great Song Dynasty will know that Liuqiu has gold, silver and copper, and with the copper dollars we scattered, replace the coins with gold dollar coupons, and it can be slowly implemented - Speaking of which, isn't this your Chen Bohan's idea, how did it become my Li Jingwen's trick? ”

"I didn't say that I wanted to cheat, and if it weren't for the inconvenience of transporting, I would have been eager to transport half of the gold, silver and copper stored in the Liuqiu vault!" Chen Zicheng also smiled.

In addition to the gold, silver and copper ingots, the clothing of the Liuqiu escort team also attracted the attention of the people of Lin'an. This kind of clothing, which resembles the military uniforms of later generations, is not only straight and neat, but also extremely beautiful, with wide belts and cowhide boots, although the Liuqiu guards have never worn iron armor, they also look heroic. The Song people were originally very tolerant, but they only said that this was an exotic style, so they didn't care, but some young prodigal children thought about getting a set of such clothes, and they wore them majestic.

Behind the car of Li Yunrui and others, there were several camel beasts with treasure chests, this beast was extremely strange, like a sheep and a camel but not a sheep or a camel, but its face looked like a living "embarrassment". The Song people saw that they were all overwhelmed, and Wei Liaoweng and Zhen Dexiu boasted of their full learning, but they didn't know why this beast was.

"Isn't this beast a special product for the sake of flow, so I haven't seen it in the Great Song Dynasty?" Yue Keqi said.

"It's a pity that Zhao Rushi, the envoy of Quanzhou City, is not here, he has seen and heard a lot, and he should know about it." Ge Hong said.

"When Xia Guan was in Quanzhou, he had never heard of this thing...... It's just that I vaguely heard people mention that there are beasts overseas, called lying groove mud horses, could it be this thing? Zhen Dexiu pondered for a while, and shook his head after a while: "I don't know, I really don't know, I know what I know, I don't know what I don't know, I don't know ......."

Hearing him drop his bookbag, everyone turned their heads away. Suddenly, I heard another sound in the crowd, and then I finally saw a sedan chair, carried by sixteen people, surrounded by dozens of people, coming from the dock. The one sitting in the sedan chair is the so-called virtuous concubine.

Originally, when the imperial concubine went out on patrol, or the Son of Heaven married, the people along the street should burn incense and bow down to the ground. It's just that the hundreds of officials in the court are extremely dissatisfied with Zhao and Ju who want to marry Yang Miaozhen as a virtuous concubine, so there are no important ministers to handle this matter, and among the people who are begging to come, Yelu Chucai is busy doing a very important thing, Chen Zhaohua is busy spraying each other with Zhen Dexiu, and the rest of the people don't know this etiquette, and it is Fang Youcai, a good person who is in charge of the overall situation, that will turn the good concubine of the Son of Heaven into a farce.

But it was in this farce that the news of gold, silver and bronze was quickly spread all over the world together with the "Great Song Times Weekly", which reported on the grand occasion. Even in the Jin country of Kaifeng, for a long time, the focus of discussion was also about the gold, silver and copper mountains of Liuqiu.

This not only strengthened the confidence of the people of the Great Song Dynasty in preserving the value of the banknotes, but also had another consequence, that is, some bold people thought of seeking to find gold and silver. Every month, some people secretly go to the upper reaches by boat to beg, and the result is naturally to send some labor to Liuqiu - according to the edict of the Son of Heaven, Liuqiu is a "special zone", and the same is related to the roads.

More often than not, they gathered in Qingyuan, Quanzhou and Guangzhou, where they all had agency offices, and those who wanted to move to Liuqiu had to hold a document stamped with the official seal of their place of origin, and then they would be transported to Liuqiu by the Liuqiu Agency Office. In fact, many people don't have papers, but they also go to the island like this, but after they go to the island, they realize that it is not because they are smart, but because the charge d'affaires of the office deliberately connived.

After Yang Miaozhen's sedan chair, there was another lifting of valuables, all of which were special products, counting before and after, there were as many as one hundred and twenty-eight lifts.

Seeing these people disappear from sight, Wei Liaoweng couldn't sit still, he got up and was about to go out: "I'm going to see the official's house." ”

Everyone knew that he was restless for the gold, silver, and bronze ingots, and they all laughed. Instead, Yue Ke said: "Brother Hua, the Son of Heaven and Concubine Xian, I'm afraid that I haven't seen each other for some years, and it's too bad for you to run like this!" ”

"How can the affairs of the state be delayed because of the meeting with women and women?" Zhen Dexiu said solemnly: "Brother Hua, the next official will accompany you." ”

Originally, after listening to Yue Ke's words, Wei Liaoweng hesitated a little, but as soon as Zhen Dexiu said it, it was not good to retreat: "In this way, you and I will take the first step." ”

The two of them paid no attention to the rest of the people, and left the private room. Yue Qi and Qiao Xingjian glanced at each other, Qiao Xingjian hesitated slightly, and then arched his hand and said, "Xia Guan will also go, and I will leave first." ”

When they went downstairs, in the sedan chair carried by sixteen people, Yang Miaozhen was trembling all over.

At last, she was about to meet, just as the man had said that night, and the big red palanquin greeted her. Although she was sitting in this sedan chair, she could also hear the sound of explosions everywhere she went.

In the sedan chair, her face was as red as fire.

"Haven't seen each other in years? Is it three years, or five years? She thought to herself.

Whether it's three years or five years, they haven't seen each other for a long time, and when they first separated, he was as tall as his own, and now he ...... I heard Han Ping say that he was already half a head taller than himself.

An inexplicable emotion made Yang Miaozhen feel a little sad again. She hadn't seen her for such a long time, and the Zhao Heju in her memory was still the half-old boy she was a few years ago, not the Son of Heaven who was now in the supreme position of the Ninety-Five. At the beginning, he was cold-faced and hot-hearted, knew how to prepare some things for women to use for his family, knew how to take care of people, and was a confidant who knew cold and heat. But now, is he the same as ever?

When he became the Son of Heaven, he naturally had to have seventy-two concubines in three palaces and six courts, and there were 3,000 beauties in the harem...... I heard that he gave himself a virtuous concubine, could it be one of the countless women raised in his harem?

"Don't be like this, if that's the case, it's better for me to go back and beg! Or stab all those foxes in the harem to death one by one - except for Sister Ayu, who knew him before I knew him! ”

Biting her lip gently, Yang Miaozhen habitually touched her silver gun, but when her hand stretched out, she immediately thought that she was sitting in the sedan chair where she was married, and the silver gun was not by her side.