"What do you mean?"

Li Zhi looked at Han Yi in confusion.

Han Yi said solemnly: "After Weichen became the head of the household department, he has been observing the issuance of currency. It is found that there is a very big drawback, that is, the cost of producing money in the imperial court is higher than the value of the currency itself, for example, the cost of producing a bottle of perfume reaches ten yuan, but a bottle of perfume is only worth the same money in the market.

Currency issuance is also such a thing, from mining to the production of currency, the cost is so high, it is really jaw-dropping, in short, how much to produce will lose as much, although the currency is now more valuable, and it is still appreciating, but according to the minister's estimates, it is difficult to bring too much income to the imperial court, and when the amount of currency on the market is sufficient, the price will definitely fall, but then the imperial court will have to produce millions of dollars of currency every year, if you do this, the imperial court will not be able to maintain for a few years, this is by no means a long-term solution. ”

Li Zhi sighed: "I don't know how this is, but there is no way, this currency always has to be issued, and the people are used to five cents for a bucket of rice, and the court suddenly said that five cents can buy a stone of rice, and the people will not agree." ”

The biggest problem of money in the Tang Dynasty was that the cost of producing money was higher than the value of the currency itself, in the final analysis, the technology was extremely limited, requiring a lot of manpower and material resources, and there was still a lot of loss in the production process. Because currency is a special commodity, once the price rises, it means that there will be a big problem, because the price of currency is calculated according to the price of copper, if the price of currency is much higher than the price of copper, then the currency loses its own meaning, this is not a credit currency, it is originally the copper standard, you have to make people believe that this is gold, we play the gold standard, isn't this.

Han Yi said: "Your Majesty, now that the technology for producing vouchers is mature, the production cost is far lower than the value of the currency itself, and if you use vouchers, you can perfectly solve this problem." ”

Li Zhi said: "Isn't this the same thing? Vouchers can be exchanged for currency, if they can't be exchanged for currency, then who dares to use it, it can't be said that the court said that the voucher is valuable, it is worth it. ”

Han Yi said with a smile: "Then what if the Weichen method can make the people recognize the value of the voucher itself?" ”

Is that okay too? After that, the court has no money, just print the gold coupons, don't be too happy.

Li Zhi was surprised: "How is this possible? ”

Han Yi smiled: "According to the statistics of the Ministry of Households, by next year, the number of private currency shortages may reach three million." ”

Li Zhi exclaimed, "So many? ”

You must know that the annual currency issued by the Tang Dynasty is only a few hundred thousand, and the gap is several times the amount issued, which is too exaggerated.

Han Yi said with a smile: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten that the imperial court has not issued currency for four years, and before the crisis, the amount of currency issued has slowly increased from 290,000 to 480,000, and the accumulation of these four years alone is almost two million, plus the improvement of today's productivity, three million is a conservative estimate of the minister." ”

In the years of the crisis, the government was closed, the food on the market was the hard currency, and the currency had been forgotten.

Li Zhi wondered: "But in those years, the people didn't need so much currency. ”

Han Yi said: "But if it weren't for that crisis, the amount of currency issuance would have increased steadily, which was originally a process of accumulation, proving that the entire market is in demand for so much currency." However, because of that crisis, in recent years, many people took a large amount of currency and cast bronze mirrors to exchange grain with the landlords, because the currency was no longer worth at that time, so the currency in the market did not increase but decreased.

Now, after two years of stability, the scale of production has far exceeded that before the crisis, and at the same time, many farmers have come to work in the cities, and the number of people who need money has become more and more. However, because of His Majesty's copper hoarding plan, and the continuous improvement of coinage technology over the years, a whole new set of coinage production lines has been created. If it was really needed, the imperial court would still be able to issue so much currency, and if there were enough raw materials to produce it at full capacity, the production volume could reach up to five million guan. ”

Li Zhi breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, and said, "Then what else do you say." ”

"But only His Majesty and Weichen know about this!"

"What do you mean by that?"

Isn't that straightforward enough? Of course it's a lie, I don't know anything but cheating! Han Yi said: "Except for His Majesty and Wei Chen, all the ministers of the DPRK and China, including private businessmen, will believe that it is impossible to produce so much currency now that the finances are so difficult. But if there is not enough monetary support, merchants will face a currency crisis, and many private coin workshops will pop up, which will disrupt the market and bring incalculable losses.

But if there is enough money in the market, our Datang economy will soar. For example, if you have a bucket of rice in your hand, it is difficult for you to find someone who needs that bucket of rice, but if you have five cents in your hand, although the value of the two is equal, you can easily spend it, and now the merchants produce a lot of goods, and the people also have needs, but there is no currency, if there is enough currency, the whole market can be expanded, which is why the merchants are very eager for the imperial court to issue more currency, because it is very beneficial to them. ”

Li Zhi frowned and said, "You mean, hide this fact first?" ”

"Not bad."

Han Yi said: "On the one hand, the people's demand for currency is very large, even to the extreme, but on the other hand, the imperial court really can't issue so much currency, so the two sides have to stand together and make compromises, so that there can be a solution." ”

Li Zhidao: "Your so-called compromise is to issue vouchers? ”

Han Yi nodded.

Li Zhi frowned and said, "Will they agree?" I still don't believe it. ”

Han Yi said with a smile: "Your Majesty, what the minister emphasized is that the imperial court is not without raw materials, not only do we have enough copper, we also have a lot of copper mines, but we can't mint these copper into currency in a short period of time." In order to meet the needs of the people, in order to make the people live a better life, the imperial court issued those copper in the form of vouchers, and the meaning of the vouchers has not changed, but it is still some copper, which has not been minted into coins, with these coppers as a guarantee, plus the people's demand for currency, I think they will compromise.

In this way, the cost of issuing currency is greatly reduced. In addition, in order to reduce the risk, the imperial court can mint three million coins in advance, but only half of it will be issued, and half of it will be concealed. But if it goes well, that half can be saved for later, and over time, the voucher will become legal tender. ”

"That's a great idea!"

Li Zhi's eyes lit up.

He is not stupid, after Han Yi's analysis, it is definitely possible to achieve it.

Using copper reserves to issue vouchers, it has not changed the meaning of vouchers, nor has it changed the existing monetary system, it is just an expedient measure, but this can solve the urgent needs of the moment, as well as lay the foundation for the future issuance of banknotes, the key is that there is a guarantee, you are not afraid of chaos, this is just an experiment, if it doesn't work, then I will take out copper coins to make up for it.

This is actually a typical Han Yi plan, he usually calculates that there will be a crisis here, but he will never say it, because only when the crisis breaks out, or is coming, can he make the authorities and the people make compromises, and then he can get all the benefits he wants from it, this trick, he really tried it many times.

He has known about the currency for a long time, but he has never mentioned it, he is just secretly preparing, and when everyone is hungry and thirsty, let's sit down and talk slowly, and he will take the lead.

The whole copper hoarding plan was not to collect money for the imperial court or for Li Zhi, but to lay the foundation for the issuance of paper money.

Li Zhi said again: "This suggestion was made by you, and the voucher was originally from you, so I will leave this matter to your household department." ”

"Tobe?"

Han Yi was stunned for a moment and said, "The minister didn't say that he would let the household department issue it!" ”

Li Zhidao: "The imperial court issues vouchers, of course, they have to be issued by the household department!" ”

Han Yi hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this can't be done, if you let the imperial court issue it, the people won't agree to it at all." ”

Li Zhi wondered, "This currency has always been issued by the imperial court!" ”

Han Yi said: "Your Majesty, if it is the imperial court that issues vouchers, that day you know how much copper the imperial court has, and God knows how many vouchers the imperial court has issued, and the imperial court will not even need to collect taxes at that time, just print the vouchers directly, if this is the case, the finances of the entire country will collapse." The minister has always emphasized that the duty of the imperial court is to supervise and balance, not to compete with the people for profit. ”

Li Zhi asked, "Then how do you say it should be issued?" ”

Han Yi said: "Mortgage the copper to the gold bank and the yuan bank, and the gold bank and the yuan bank will issue vouchers on their behalf." ”

Li Zhi said cautiously: "Issued by Jin Bank and Yuan Bank? ”

Han Yi knew what Li Zhi meant by this, but he was not weak at all, and said very calmly: "Your Majesty, this is actually the same thing as issuing treasury bonds, why the issuance of treasury bonds was so successful in the first place, not only because Jinxing and Yuanxing had a very high reputation at that time, but also because the imperial court was supervising. The people thought very clearly, if the gold bank and the yuan bank issued treasury bonds indiscriminately, it would be the imperial court that would suffer losses, how could the imperial court allow it. However, the Jin Bank and the Yuan Bank were private and had strong financial resources, and if something went wrong, they could go directly to the Jin Bank and the Yuan Bank to ask for money, and the Jin Bank and the Yuan Bank would not secretly collude with the imperial court, so the treasury bonds could be sold so smoothly.

The same is true for the issuance of vouchers, which is equivalent to the imperial court mortgaging copper to the gold bank and the yuan bank, and setting out the vouchers. At that time, the production technology of vouchers can also be divided into three parts, and the imperial court, the gold bank, and the Yuan bank will each master a part of the technology, and after the imperial court decides to issue vouchers, the three parties will go to a place and take out their own technology together to print vouchers.

In addition, the imperial court also sent several departments to jointly supervise. In fact, the dominant power is always in the hands of the imperial court, how much to print, when to print, when to issue, are decided by the imperial court, but the most expensive production rights are handed over to the gold bank and the Yuan bank, but at the same time to improve the credibility of the vouchers, if you put it more bluntly, this is also to avoid the imperial court from overprinting vouchers, and officials from seeking personal interests. ”

Li Zhi nodded slightly, he can control himself, but he can't control the officials below, if the officials can print vouchers, then the officials will not care so much, just print them to death, in the final analysis, this is also the art of balance that he is best at, and said: "Will the gold bank and the Yuan bank produce vouchers for the imperial court for free?" ”

Han Yi said with a smile: "Your Majesty, as a businessman, the minister thinks that if Jin Xing and Yuan Xing ask the court for relevant fees again, it will be really shameless." ”

Li Zhi was surprised: "How do you say this? ”

Han Yi said: "Because once the imperial court agrees with the voucher, then it can also help the gold bank and the yuan bank to promote themselves in various places, and can improve the credit of the gold bank and the yuan bank. ”

"Yes!" Li Zhi smiled: "If you want to take advantage of you, a big profiteer, it is really more difficult than ascending to the sky!" ”

Han Yi said with a smile: "Your Majesty has won the award, but this has nothing to do with profiteers, because if one party makes and one party loses, then this can only be a one-shot deal, and it cannot last for a long time, only in the case of a win-win situation, can it last for a long time." ”

This kind of thing has to be admitted calmly, the more you deceive, the more suspicious Li Zhi will become, after all, Jinxing belongs to his family, and Yuanxing belongs to his wife's family.

Li Zhi nodded, and suddenly said, "You mean, take those vouchers and use them for Yan Shangshu's plan?" ”

Han Yi nodded and said: "Your Majesty, this voucher is just a piece of paper, you don't need to go out, and it has no meaning, and the main purpose of the imperial court issuing vouchers is to stimulate the economic development of the people, but it can't be given out in vain." Therefore, not only Yan Shangshu's plan, but also the officials' fortunes, should also be switched to vouchers, which can also make the people trust the vouchers more, and even encourage the people to use vouchers to pay taxes in the future, so that the credit of the vouchers will be higher. Once the credit of the voucher reaches a very high height, then the voucher may help us Datang to recover the wealth of neighboring countries. ”

Li Zhi was stunned again, why did he jump abroad all of a sudden, and asked curiously: "How do you say this?" ”

Han Yi said with a smile: "Your Majesty, since ancient times, the goods produced in my Central Plains have always been very needed by neighboring countries, and now my Datang manufacturing industry is on a higher level, with a significant increase in quantity and quality, which can further expand foreign trade and attract more foreign businessmen to buy." If the vouchers issued by my Datang can buy the goods produced by my Datang, then for other countries, the vouchers have actual value, and they will also use our vouchers, because it is convenient, which is equal to the vouchers issued by my Datang, and can buy all the goods in the world, so the wealth will not flow into my Datang. ”

Vouchers are not paper money, vouchers are directly equivalent to copper coins, and can be exchanged for copper coins with a face value at any time. At that time, Han Yi issued vouchers, in fact, it was regarded as the predecessor of paper money, how to change vouchers into paper money, the only way is to improve the credit of vouchers, paper money is actually credit currency, when the credit reaches a peak, then it will naturally become paper money, but this is a long-term plan, and it will have to be developed for several years before vouchers can become paper money.

If Li Zhi was still a little hesitant, but when he heard this, he no longer hesitated, and made a decision, so he did it.

To be able to achieve this effect, it is really the whole world, it is not the king's land, the shore of the land, and the king's ministers, because land and people can be bought with money.