Prime Minister's Mansion, in the secret room, an important meeting related to the rise and fall of the country is being held, sitting there are Prime Minister Cao Cao, Metropolitan Governor Xiao Yi, Military Priest Sacrificial Wine Guo Jia, Military Division Zhonglang General Cheng Yu, Shangshu Ling Xun Yu, Yu Shi Cheng Xun You, clan generals Xiahou Xuan, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, ......, in addition, Cao Pi, Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi brothers attended the hearing, such a lineup can be called luxurious, all of them are important ministers of the court who hold real power, to put it mildly, if they work together, it is enough to depose an emperor!

It was said that it was a meeting, but everyone did not say a word, their eyes were all fixed on the table, where there were scattered more than a dozen copper coins, different sizes, different from the old and the new, some were new and shiny, some were rusty, and some were missing edges and few corners, but one thing was the same, they were all 'five baht coins!' ’

This time, the Cao Ying Group held a high-level meeting, the reason is also very simple, the treasury ......has no money, the army has been fighting for many years, the cost is huge, and an overwhelming locust plague is even worse, don't look at the infinite scenery of the imperial court on the surface, the finances are on the verge of collapse, and the military salaries are very difficult to raise.

The importance of money, those in power all understand, if the government is a person, the military is the body, politics is the soul, money and food is the blood, once the blood is dry and the nutrient delivery is insufficient, the body will slowly die, and the soul will disappear!

"The treasury is empty, the money and food are exhausted, the foreign enemy is eyeing each other, the soldiers dare not take off their armor for a day, in the midst of internal and external troubles, what are your good strategies, and please consult me?" Cao Cao, as the prime minister, coordinates the overall situation, and knows the current crisis best, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is dangerous!

"After years of war, the people are tired, and if they have to increase taxes, I am afraid that the people will rise up!" Guo Jia is the first strategist of Cao Ying, and has always been known for his 'whimsical and unpredictable', and he also sighed and shook his head at this time, but one thing is clear, the people have reached the limit of what they can bear, and the road to continue to collect taxes will not work!

"When soldiers eat food, it is justified, and the soldiers fight bloodily, for the sake of glory and wealth, if there is a shortage of money and food, I am afraid that the army will be in chaos!" Xiao Yi is a representative figure of the military, so he naturally has to speak for hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and the reason is also very clear...... No money, no war!

Guo Jia, Xiao Yi, one writer and one martial arts, the right-hand man of the Prime Minister, are all resourceful figures, but there is no way in front of 'Brother Kong Fang', and the atmosphere of the meeting suddenly became tense!

But after thinking about it a little, everyone was relieved, no one is perfect, Guo Jia's strength is military strategy, Xiao Yi's skill is to fight on the battlefield, as for collecting taxes and mobilizing money and food, it's really not their strength!

To use an analogy, the tiger is the king of beasts, a roar, coercing the Quartet, killing and hunting must be invincible in the world, but if you want to let the tiger put on the iron plough to plough the land, I am afraid it will not be as good as an old ox, which is called a specialization in the art industry!

The world's wizard and ghost-faced Xiao Lang are gone, and everyone's eyes turned to Shang Shuling-Xun Yu, this is the big housekeeper of the Cao Ying Group, who has been dealing with military supplies, and is proficient in financial management, if you want to resolve the crisis, you have to look at him!

Xun Yu is only thirty-three years old, it is the prime of life, but his expression is tired, his eyes are vicissitudes, and there is even a little gray hair between his sideburns.

"The treasury is empty, the money and food are insufficient, one is the continuous war, the cost is amazing, the second is the chaos of coins, the shortage of quantity, the third is that some people speculate and profit from it, and the harm of the latter two is far greater than the former!" Most of the people sitting here are longer than military strategy and shorter than internal affairs, Xun Yu first started with the ins and outs of the currency, and gave everyone a literacy lesson!

"In ancient times, the folk customs were simple, people bartered, never fraud, and then the number of goods increased, in order to facilitate the transaction, began to use the 'tooth shell' as the currency, for exchange, and because the number of real shellfish is insufficient, the Shang and Zhou periods, there was a copper tooth shell, this is the source of copper coins!

In the Eastern Weekend Year, the princes competed for hegemony, and each country minted its own copper coins, the sword coins of the Qi State, the Yongquan coins of the Jin Kingdom, the grimace money ...... of the Chu State, and the cloth coins used by the people, all of which were miscellaneous, each in its own way, and the transaction was extremely inconvenient!

In order to pursue the pattern of unification of the world, the first emperor swept through the six countries, and unified the writing, the degree, the measure, the weight, and the currency, and also unified the currency, and the original messy currency was all deposed, and the currency of the Qin State was all used, which was the kind of copper coin with a round circle and a square inside, which was known as 'half a tael!' ’

Qin and Han are one, while inheriting the political system of the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty also inherited the currency style of Qin, but the heavy 'half two coins' were changed to three baht and four baht currencies!

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was a generation of heroes, Wenzhi and martial arts, carried out standard reform of the domestic currency, and unified the minting of five-bead coins, and then for hundreds of years, it has been endless!

While speaking, Xun Yu picked up a rusty copper coin from the table, round on the outside and square on the inside, old, but the shape is still intact, and there are two articles engraved on it~~ Five baht!

Baht is a unit of weight, one baht is one or two of the twenty-fourth, five baht money weight is appropriate, easy to carry, has been welcomed by the people, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty created a prosperous era, and the currency value is stable, commercial prosperity has a lot to do with it!

The reason why the Chinese people use copper coins is that there is a last resort, the mountains and rivers are ...... Gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, among which gold is the most valuable, silver is second, these two metals are beautiful in appearance, easy to preserve, immortal for thousands of years, is the best choice for minting currency, the Chinese people have always been smart, why put gold, silver do not use, but choose the third place copper, the reason is very simple~~ no gold, silver!

China is rich in land and resources, but it is the lack of gold, silver two precious metals, occasionally find some veins, the number is scarce, it is difficult to collect, the annual output can barely create a little jewelry for the nobles, it is not enough for currency circulation, the ancients have a tradition of thick burial, like to bring valuable things to the ground, the result is finally mined out of gold and silver, and back to the ground, can circulate in the world, very few!

In desperation, I used copper as a coin, and gave copper a nice name - 'US dollars', as for iron, it is mostly used to build blades, killing too much, and there is also a name - 'evil gold!' ’

The Han family decreed that the minting of five baht coins, eight points of copper, two points of tin, so that the bronze coins minted are beautiful, wear-resistant, and long-lasting!

But the loopholes also come out, among the metals, copper is expensive and tin, many lawbreakers, in order to make profits, melt the copper coins issued by the state, change the proportion, and re-mint, a little conscience is copper, tin five, and the heart is black is copper four tin six, or even copper three tin seven, such a currency, the quality is extremely poor, crisp and easy to break, the wear is even more serious, it will not take long to destroy!

As he spoke, Xun Yu pulled out the sword on his waist, and found two copper coins, cushioned the weight, and cut them respectively, the copper coins that were originally the same in appearance immediately saw the difference, one fracture was neat and bright, emitting a deep copper color, and the other fracture was uneven, all white and gray inside, and there were many impurities!

"It's just that the ratio of copper and tin is changed, at least the coins are still there, barely able to circulate, and even pure copper is directly extracted from the coins, used to cast utensils, and stored at home, resulting in fewer and fewer coins circulating in the market, and the treasury just wants to collect taxes, and there is nothing to collect!"

Antiques in prosperous times, gold in troubled times, people in crisis, always want to save some money, so that the heart is steady, especially in the family of officials, who does not have a treasure trove, gold, silver, jewelry, copper coins, all do not let go, which has caused a very bad result...... 'money shortage!' ’

If the value of the currency is unstable, it will lead to unstable prices, the people will not be able to trade, they will suffer, even the state will not be able to collect taxes, the treasury will be empty, the court will not be able to operate, the soldiers will not be paid, and it is no wonder that the world is not chaotic!

In fact, the 'money shortage' thing, in the period of Huan and Ling, in order to solve the problem, the eunuchs came up with a bad idea, the copper money dug out the heart, one became two, there was 'boundless money' and 'heartless money', the number is more, but the currency value is more unstable, so that the people complained, and even rose up!

During Dong Zhuo's reign, he also encountered this problem, and his method was even better, and he paid attention to the twelve golden people!

Qin Shi Huang ruled the world, collected weapons, cast twelve gold people, each weighing 240,000 catties, standing at the gate of Xianyang Palace, in order to demonstrate martial arts, Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang'an, at a glance saw twelve gold people, 'gold' is copper, copper is money, this hero gave an order, smashed ten bronze people, used to mint money, to solve the 'money shortage! ’

Destroying copper people and minting currency is a bit barbaric, and there are merits, but Dong Zhuo is too greedy, and the coins he ordered to mint are only five cents in weight, called 'small money', but they should be used as 'five baht coins', and the difference in the value of the currency is one to ten, which makes people's hearts lose and the country is even more turbulent!

It can be said that the chaos in the world is the confusion of the people's hearts, and the reason for the confusion of the people's hearts is that the coins in their pockets are disordered.

"If we want to solve the money shortage, we must prohibit private minting and hide gold and silver, but ......"

Xun Yu's face was discouraged, he didn't dare to say some things, but everyone also understood in their hearts that the thing of 'minting coins, shoddy, and plundering brass' was by no means done by ordinary people, only high-ranking officials and dignitaries had such ability and financial resources, and even the people sitting there were not very clean!

There is a treasure trove in Xiao Yi's mansion, and there is a mountain of money in it, but it's all the spoils of his victories, and it's hard for others to say anything!

However, among the civil and military officials, there are many people who are exploiting the loopholes of the country, if the currency system is reformed and private manufacturing is prohibited, I am afraid that it will offend a large number of people, cut off people's financial routes, such as killing parents, it will trigger strong revenge, Xun Yu is still a scholar, and he does not have the ability and guts, he is a minister who holds heavy troops and is in charge of the government!

Reform the currency system may lead to a rebellion among the courtiers, and if you don't change it, the world will be in chaos, how is it good?