Chapter 274: Stamping Coins

If you want to count the richest people in Ningyuan City, if Li Huaitang doesn't count, then it must be Kang Shalai. As the richest man and a hardcore supporter, Kang Shalai was fortunate to witness the demeanor of Ning Yuan Iron Cavalry, and after seeing the strength of Ning Yuan Iron Cavalry, Kang Shalai had already integrated himself into one of the parts of Ningyuan City. On the contrary, the prosperity of the Kang family and Li Huaitang are also closely related to each other, so to speak, without the support of the Kang family, Li Huaitang's strength could not have expanded so quickly. While Kang Shalai was concerned about the strength of Ning Yuan's iron cavalry, Li Huaitang also paid attention to the development of the Kang family.

After the military parade ceremony, Li Huaitang's figure appeared for the first time in the industrial and commercial area that began to operate, and an unexpected quarrel put a problem in front of Li Huaitang's eyes.

In front of the Kangjia shop, there was a group of people around, and it seemed that there was a fierce dispute going on in the shop.

“…… In the end, don't pull it down. As I told you, we don't have any money to spare. ”

The person who spoke was the housekeeper of the Kang family, and his tone was strong and domineering. The person who quarreled with him was a businessman from the Bone Country, who was obviously very angry, and was insisting on his principles every step of the way: "You Kang family can't be so unreasonable!" I don't need leather, either give it to me for silk tea, or make porcelain, or pay me dirhams, or my ironware can't be sold to you. ”

The housekeeper sneered: "We have an agreement in advance, we will lend you horses and camels for transportation, and the goods you bring must be sold to our Kang family, do you want to regret it?" ”

The merchant was anxious: "You bully! You exchange the leather for my ironware, to whom shall I sell the leather to? In short, I don't want leather, I just want Tang goods, or gold and silver coins from the Great Food Country. ”

"You are making trouble, I have told you, we don't have dinars and dirhams, and the Tang goods have not been shipped back, if you don't want leather, then you can wait slowly."

The housekeeper was not in a hurry at all, and did not have the slightest intention of backing down.

"You?" Seeing that there was no room for negotiation, the Bone Merchant angrily tried to recapture his goods. And where were the people of the Kang family willing to let him get his wish, and the dispute evolved into a physical conflict.

"What the hell is going on?"

The soldiers cleared a passage for Li Huaitang, and Li Huaitang entered the Kang family's shop with a 'gloomy' face. He was faintly worried that the Kang family's position in business was too strong, and what they did was contrary to his vision, and bullying and dominating the market would only bury the future of Ning Yuan City.

Among the old residents of Ningyuan City, there was no one who didn't recognize Li Huaitang, and when the housekeeper saw that it was the shopkeeper's shopkeeper who came, he hurriedly greeted him, and he didn't dare to hide anything, and told Li Huaitang the ins and outs of the matter.

Things are indeed a bit tricky, it's not anyone's fault, but Ning Yuancheng is too short of money! To be precise, there is a lack of currency for 'trading'. When a large number of goods poured into Ningyuan City, Li Huaitang once felt that the dirhams in the warehouse, which were almost as high as a mountain, were soon overstretched, and there was a shortage of goods in the market, so the merchants had to resort to the ancient way of 'bartering': bartering goods.

Practice has proved that bartering is only suitable for playing a role in relatively backward market conditions or in some special trade, and once the market 'trades' are frequent, all kinds of problems and contradictions will become prominent. After all, the goods that can be exchanged can meet the needs of every merchant, and this merchant from the country of Gulu is dissatisfied with the Kang family's forced shoehorn of leather that he doesn't need, and has a conflict with the Kang family.

At this time, Kang Shalai rushed to hear the news, and complained to Li Huaitang with a look of embarrassment: "Alas, there is no way, General, I don't have many big food coins on hand, as for Datang's copper coins, it is even worse, even Datang itself is not enough, the Anxi market is full of all kinds of inferior 'private' copper coins, and we dare not accept them, and Datang and Da Shiguo do not agree with each other's coins, so they can only barter," The scale of the trade was naturally limited, so the Tang goods we exchanged were far from meeting the needs of the merchants in the Western Regions. ”

"How much gold and bronze do we have? Why don't we mint the coins we need? ”

Li Huaitang turned to the Wu'meng' who came with him, and felt very strange in his heart, the most important thing in Ningyuan City now is gold and bronze, in the Alai Mountain Range in the north, there is a huge gold and bronze associated mine, in the past few months, the production is amazing, as long as you imitate those dirhams, Kaiyuan Tongbao, don't you want as many as you want, and there are many experienced gold and silversmiths in Ningyuan City.

Wu 'Meng' said: "In the past few months, the mines of Alai Mountain have obtained more than 20,000 taels of gold and more than 100,000 taels of bronze. I've considered minting money, but it's ......"

"But what?" Li Huaitang was even more suspicious, as long as there were raw materials, it was not difficult to mint currency according to his understanding, especially imitation.

Wu 'Meng' sorted out his thoughts a little and said: "It is very easy to mint coins, first make a coin, inject molten copper, and get the shape of a coin. But the problem is that first of all, we have to abandon the rule of bartering and promote the "barter" of coins. ”

"Of course, what's wrong?" Li Huaitang's face was suspicious.

"Actually, this issue has been discussed in the House of Representatives, but to no avail. The crux of the question is, how do we discern the bad money that is flooding the market? Take Datang as an example, at least half of its Kaiyuan Tongbao is 'private' minting, the copper content is insufficient, it is difficult to distinguish the real from the fake, if a large number of such coins pour into our Ningyuan City, then our businessmen are likely to be run bankrupt, the value of copper coins is low, the harm is nothing, if even the gold and silver coins are also minted into bad coins by people with intentions, then, the situation will be very bad. ”

"The use of coins is a big problem, we can use them to buy supplies, but if we are allowed to circulate, U'mong suggests using a coin that we have minted ourselves and is difficult to imitate. However, U'Mong had limited knowledge of how such a coin could be made, so the minting of the coin has been delayed to this day. Please also ask the general to punish him. ”

Li Huaitang's head is big, and he is still reliable when he fights in the war, and it is difficult to ask him for instructions on such a thing. Datang is full of talents, and they can't solve this problem, let alone him?

"What about coinage, I don't think ......., wait!"

Inadvertently, Li Huaitang saw a circle on the piece of iron transported by the merchants of the Gulu Kingdom, and this circle embedded in the piece of iron gave Li Huaitang a revelation, and a spiritual light flashed through his mind.

"What if instead of fire, water was used to mint coins?"

Wu 'Meng' and Kang Sarai's eyes widened, and they looked at Li Huaitang incredulously, this concept was beyond their imagination: "No fire? Water use? ”

The more Li Huaitang thought about it, the more excited he became, patted his 'legs' and stood up, and said, "This matter is settled, we will mint our own currency!" Now the money that the Kang family lacks will go to the treasury to receive an emergency, and then pay it back later. ”

Consalai inexplicably watched Li Huaitang disappear into the crowd, and the problem of coinage was solved?

Yes, Li Huaitang thinks it has been resolved. In the upper reaches of the Yeki River, ingenious craftsmen have built several large waterwheels, all of which are used as machines for crushing stones. In the summer, when the water is abundant, the powerful currents push the waterwheels, which drive the hammers and repeatedly strike the large stones that are placed in the stone troughs.

"That's it! When the winter is over, we can try how. ”

Li Huaitang pulled Wu 'Meng' to the waterwheel site in the upper reaches of the Yeji River, and excitedly pointed at the waterwheel that was frozen and immovable.

"Stamping with the impulse of a waterwheel?"

The summoned craftsmen looked at each other, some thought it was an earth-shattering idea, others thought it was whimsical, and the general's idea was that the power generated by the water wheel could directly stamp copper coins from a solid copper cake, and it was formed all at once. This is an unheard of and unseen method of minting coins, and it is conceivable how 'fine' and meticulous the coins minted by such a method cannot be imitated by the sand turning method based on the fire melting technology.

In fact, hundreds of years later, Europe is still using the way of manual pressing to make coins, compared with a stamping and forming, the coins obtained by manual pressing are the effect of countless times of overlapping pressure, the numbers on the currency are very rough, and the image is even more blurry, in front of a formed coin, the authenticity of the good and the bad can be distinguished at a glance.

The craftsmen can see the mystery and the key to the technique. Lou Fei, the head of the craftsman, accepted Li Huaitang's idea of treachery in shock, and thought: "If the momentum of the waterwheel is enough, there should be no problem." ”

There are no technical barriers to making Qian Fan, the only and most important problem is the waterwheel, and how to make a more impactful waterwheel is the key.

Some craftsmen shook their heads in disagreement: "But can the waterwheel produce such a big impact?" ”

How much force does it take to punch a copper coin out of a copper plate? That's something they can't imagine, and they can't imagine.

In Li Huaitang's view, the waterwheel is not a problem, as long as the bounty is enough, people's creativity can be unlimited.

"I'm afraid I can't think of it, I can't do it! No matter who it is, it can be an individual or a collaboration, as long as I make the waterwheel I need, I will be knighted and rewarded! ”

Li Huaitang generously threw out the fragrant "flatbread", causing a 'commotion' among the craftsmen on the scene, this is an opportunity, an unprecedented opportunity, once they succeed, they will become a master, and the glory and wealth are inexhaustible.

For the general's reward thorn 'excited', the craftsman's head beard was the most excited, at that moment, as if possessed by infinite power and creativity, he was very confident.

"General, I suggest that the front of our Ningyuan City coins be the pattern of the general's head, and the reverse side is a number."

What Lou said was suspicious of sycophancy, but Li Huaitang was very useful and nodded in approval.

"However, all the technologies during this period, whether they are good or bad, whether they succeed or fail, will be kept secret, this will involve the interests of our Ningyuan City, and there will be no forgiveness for those who leak secrets or explore secrets! The 5,000 U-Meng' households took the lead in this matter. ”

A dispute caused by merchants indirectly contributed to the birth of Ningyuan City coins, which will have an immeasurable positive impact on the world's trade...... Please keep in mind the URL, if you like "War Owl in Tang" written by the wolf under the moon