The city of Beijing in June is already in the middle of summer. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoThe Forbidden City's Imperial Gardens are full of flowers and trees, and it is also the most beautiful time of the year.

In March and April, the emperor took his concubine to open up several vegetable fields here, which are now also green and full of life.

In later generations, common cereals and vegetables grew even more gratifyingly, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn.

The day after returning from Tongzhou, Emperor Chongzhen took the Empress Zhou, the imperial sister-in-law, that is, the Empress Zhang, as well as Concubine Tian, Concubine Yuan and others, to work in the imperial garden, while checking the growth of all kinds of fruits and vegetables, while directing the eunuchs and palace maids in charge of the imperial garden to loosen the soil and weed, water and fertilize the vegetable field, and were very busy.

Since entering the palace, the concubines, who have never seen the scene of folk farming, look at all kinds of green fruits and vegetables in the garden, they are all elated, and they are sweating profusely.

These melons, fruits and vegetables are not rare in the folk of Gyeonggi now, but they are much more precious than those antique calligraphy and paintings in the palace, whether it is the emperor's concubine or the eunuch palace maid, when they come to this vegetable garden to farm, they are very cheerful and relaxed.

And this is exactly what Emperor Chongzhen wants, he doesn't want the Forbidden City to just become a cold and gloomy center of power, he also wants the Forbidden City to become a home where he and his empress concubines, as well as their future children, and even the eunuchs and palace maids who serve the royal family, can live safely.

Everyone needs the warmth of the world, and the secular life composed of tea, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea, such as the emperor and concubine, and the eunuchs and palace maids.

In the original tall imperial garden, a piece of vegetable patches were opened up, so that the queens, concubines, and eunuchs and palace maids of the harem could spend their excess time here when they had nothing to do.

Since the sowing of the vegetable patch in the imperial garden, Queen Zhou, Queen Yi'an Zhang, as well as Concubine Li Tian and Concubine Jing Yuan, have more smiles on their faces, and people have become a lot more cheerful, especially Concubine Jing Yuan, who has changed her depressed appearance in the past, and found a point of interest in addition to qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, and the whole person's complexion has also improved.

In this regard, Emperor Chongzhen naturally saw it in his eyes and was happy in his heart. He didn't want to be like the emperors of the past, either he just used the concubines as a tool for fertility or to vent his desires, or he only knew how to hide the golden house and keep them firmly locked in the golden wire cage of the palace.

For him, the first queen and the second concubine are his closest family members in this life, and he needs to give them family-like warmth and create a homely atmosphere for them.

After a morning's work, everyone was sweating profusely, and after returning to the palace to bathe and change clothes, they were naturally refreshed and had a great appetite.

After a full meal, Emperor Chongzhen returned to the Qianqing Palace, because this afternoon he was going to summon Bi Ziyan and others to decide the style and issuance of Chongzhen's silver dollar.

The minting of Chongzhen silver dollars has been arranged for a long time, during which Bi Ziyan brought Liu Yiding, who was specifically in charge of coinage affairs, as well as the directors of the Baoyuan Bureau of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Baoquan Bureau of the Ministry of Industry, to report the progress of the minting of Chongzhen silver dollars, and presented the first version of the pattern design, as well as the various styles of coins produced.

Emperor Chongzhen was naturally very concerned about the minting of Chongzhen's silver dollar, and on the basis of the first edition, he personally drew a sketch for Bi Ziyan, Bi Maoliang, Liu Yiding, etc., and made a detailed distinction between the value of Chongzhen's silver dollar.

It is divided into seven types: one yuan, Wu angle, two corners, one corner, Wu points, two points, and one point.

One yuan is equivalent to one tael, one corner is equivalent to one penny, and one cent is calculated according to one cent of silver, one cent is below the text, one cent is equivalent to ten copper coins, and the currency circulation at that time can also correspond.

Now that half a month has passed, today Bi Ziyan took Bi Maoliang and Liu Yiding to report the latest progress.

Soon after Emperor Chongzhen arrived at the Qianqing Palace, Bi Ziyan and others came to the study of the East Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace under the guidance of Li Guowei, the first assistant on duty in the cabinet, and Xu Guangqi, the cabinet minister.

After Bi Ziyan and the others finished saluting, they presented the newly minted Chongzhen silver dollar.

Emperor Chongzhen took the box containing the silver dollar pattern from Wang Chengen's hand, put it on the table in front of him, opened it, and classified it according to the value of the currency, a total of seven kinds, two of each pattern.

Emperor Chongzhen picked up the silver dollar with a dollar value, and started with a heavy one, which looks well-crafted and has a very good texture, and the front side is written with Chongzhen silver dollar one yuan six yang fonts, and the back is a traditional dragon and phoenix auspicious pattern, which is both delicate and atmospheric.

Seeing this, Emperor Chongzhen nodded, and then motioned to Wang Chengen to take these patterns to Li Guoqi and Xu Guangqi respectively, and then said: "Bi Aiqing, Nan Aiqing, and Liu Aiqing have worked hard, I see that this Chongzhen silver dollar is well minted, the workmanship is exquisite, and the start is heavy, whether it is a pattern coin of one yuan or a dime and a penny, it is very good." ”

After saying this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Li Guoyi, the first assistant of the cabinet, and Xu Guangqi, the cabinet minister, and then said: "Li Aiqing, Xu Aiqing, what do you think? ”

Li Guoqi and Xu Guangqi glanced at each other, both smiling.

Li Guowei said: "The household department has indeed worked the minting of Chongzhen's silver dollar, and the planning is also very meticulous. Ministers can look at it, you can do the Baoquan Bureau, cast it as soon as possible, and then issue it to the world. ”

At this time, Xu Guangqi said: "Your Majesty, I don't know how much silver this Chongzhen silver dollar contains, and how good is the fineness?" The minister thought that the imperial court issued silver coins, which was indeed a move to benefit the country and the people, but if the fineness was insufficient and the silver content was too small, no matter how sophisticated the silver coin casting process was, I am afraid it would be difficult to really promote it. ”

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he smiled and said, "Xu Aiqing is worried about the country and the people, and her worries are naturally very reasonable. But this is something I have thought about for a long time. ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Chongzhen nodded at Bi Ziyan and motioned for him to explain.

Bi Ziyan understood at the moment, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, Lord Shoufu, Xu Ge Lao, Chongzhen silver dollars are calculated by weight, one yuan is one tael, and the actual silver contains eighty percent, which is also eight coins of silver in Kuping, and one in five corners is five coins of silver, and it actually contains four coins of silver in the treasury." The fineness is better than that of the copper coins minted in the past dynasties.

"In the past, the copper coins minted often contained about 70 percent, some were less than 70 percent, or even only three or four percent. It is to the ministers that the first and second batches of silver coins containing eighty percent of silver is enough, and after the Chongzhen silver dollar is popular, the credibility of the silver money is established, and it can be considered to mint silver containing seventy percent of five or even seventy percent of the silver coin, and there should be no problem with the circulation and use of merchants and people. ”

At this time, Liu Yiding, who was in charge of minting money, also bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, the micro-ministers look at the money law of the past dynasties, and there is no such thing as Chongzhen silver dollar, a silver dollar contains eighty percent of the bank's flat silver, and the weight is sufficient.

"What is really worrying about today is how to prohibit private manufacturing. If the silver content of the private silver dollar is higher than that of the silver dollar minted by the imperial court, there should be no big problem in its passage, but if the silver dollar minted by the private court is not in good condition and the silver content is lower than that of the silver dollar minted by the imperial court, the minister is afraid that the reputation of the silver dollar minted by the imperial court will be damaged and it will be difficult to last. ”

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Bi Maoliang, the household servant.

Bi Maoliang groaned slightly, got up from his seat, then knelt on the ground, and said solemnly: "Minister Bi Maoliang, I suggest that Your Majesty should issue an edict to return the Baoquan Bureau and Baoyuan Bureau in Yunnan, Lianghuai and other places, as well as the Mint Bureau of the Thirteen Provincial Political Divisions, to the imperial court, and to set up a silver coin minting factory by the household department, unify the right to mint coins in the world, and prohibit private minting at all provincial levels. In this way, it can prevent future troubles. ”

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he nodded in deep agreement, and then said, "What Qing and the others are worried about is reasonable. Chongzhen silver dollar contains eighty percent silver, in front of the law. ”

After saying this, the emperor paused, looked at Li Guoyan and Bi Ziyan, and then continued: "Li Aiqing, Bi Aiqing, what Liu Yiding said just now is extremely true. The cabinet can draw up a decree as soon as possible to bring the Baoyuan Bureau and the Baoquan Bureau into the household department, and the household department will set up the Baoyuan General Bureau, and set up the Huangming Mint General Factory in Beijing, with Bi Maoliang, the head of the household department, as the general superintendent of the Baoyuan General Bureau, and Liu Yiding as the general mint of the household department, so as to manage the world's silver coin minting affairs in a unified manner.

"According to the seventh-class silver coin pattern submitted by the household department, the minting of Chongzhen silver dollars will be started as soon as possible.

"I see, the household department first issued 1.6 million taels, and first minted 2 million Chongzhen silver dollars as one tael, which was used to distribute the civil and military hundred officials to fold the color. In addition, the issuance of imperial treasure banknotes will cease from now on, and those that have been issued can be gradually recovered at a discount. ”

At the same time, Emperor Chongzhen ordered the establishment of the Baoyuan branch under the household department in Nanjing, and set up the Huangming Nandu Minting Branch in Nanjing, and the Beijing household department sent officials and craftsmen to the southern capital, and at the same time opened the Chongzhen silver dollar, and the Nanjing household department also took out 1.6 million taels to mint 2 million silver dollars.

In the past, the households in the north and south had no money, but now after eight or nine months of accumulation, plus the share of the seizure of the house, the household department in Beijing should now have at least seven or eight million taels of savings, and the household department in Nanjing has also accumulated at least five million, so Emperor Chongzhen is not worried about the source of the silver needed to mint silver coins.

After all, since he arrived in the Ming Dynasty, he rarely moved the deposit of the user department, whether it was to reissue military salaries, recruit people to reclaim, organize and train new troops, purchase artillery, reopen iron smelting, and even the establishment and operation of the Imperial Academy, the Agricultural Academy, and the Armament Institute, the construction of the Deling Project, etc., before and after the consumption of nearly 10 million taels of silver, all of which were allocated from the internal transportation warehouse, so the North and South Household Department have been a lot easier during this time, and they have completely relieved their breath, and now it is time for them to contribute.