Chapter Eighty-Seven: The War (Part II)

"Then, that's a bit of trouble..."Huang Lao didn't expect that Jin Yuan's condition was too good, but it became a big problem. Stunned, he hesitated and said: "No copper is produced in all places under the rule of our Great Governor's Mansion except for Taiping Road, and Taiping Road has just been laid down not long ago, and the copper and iron mines have just recovered, and the output is far from being able to supply consumption. At present, the source of copper mainly depends on the purchase of four places, and a large amount of copper is also used to make cannons and guns."

"Why don't you just bring some gold ingots? Anyway, you can be a money envoy..."Hu Dahai, the commander of the Second Army, was obviously a layman, and he mentioned a reckless Jian Yì as soon as he opened his mouth.

Reminded by him, the military bureau and the generals who stayed in Yangzhou spoke one after another, "Yes, it's hard to take some gold." Why let outsiders take advantage of us..."

"Gold is easy to carry and easy to use. It doesn't have to be a gold dollar, it's a waste of effort..."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh..." Li Mubai, the deputy director of the Household Bureau, coughed loudly, interrupting everyone's clamoring. Then he secretly glanced at the case of the commander, and then cautiously reminded: "The generals don't know, the original intention of the chief manager is to let the people in all parts of the river get used to using us and our money..."

In fact, like Hu Dahai and others, he couldn't figure out the difference between the use of gold coins and gold ingots. But that didn't stop him from standing up and reiterating his father-in-law's thinking. Because in the years under Zhao Junyong's command, figuring out Shangyi was the first of the necessary skills to be an official, and he couldn't help but not put more effort into this aspect.

"Hmm..." Hu Dahai also glanced at Zhu Chongjiu behind the handsome case, and sat down with a deep groan. This time, he led the Third Army back to Yangzhou to rest, and he found that he had become more and more uncomfortable with many places in the Grand Governor's Mansion. Not only is he always confused when discussing with his colleagues, but the relationship with his own lord seems to be much more estranged, and it is difficult to always find opportunities to sit together and say some crazy things as he used to.

"I want to give it a try, can I do my best to establish our monetary credit system..."Sensing Hu Dahai's confusion, Zhu Chongjiu put down the coins in his hand and explained with a smile. To put it simply, in the past, the common people thought that we were anti-thieves, and the court was Zhengshuo. But our money is good, one top and one flower, even if the imperial court strictly prohibits circulation, but the common people still feel more practical than the imperial court's banknotes and small flat money in their pockets, and they will still use it secretly. On the contrary, the money of the imperial court is minted more and more, banknotes are not as good as paper, and there are fewer and fewer things that can be bought with a small flat penny. It won't be long before the common people will feel that our Huaiyang is more credible than the imperial court and more worthy of their trust. In that case, even if our army does not fight, the local people will have a good impression of us, and think that we must be stronger than the imperial court. Slowly, some people feel that the change of dynasty must be a good thing for everyone! At the very least, they can still spend the money in their hands, and they won't be able to buy a sheep one day, and only a handful of wool the next day..."

The analogy of "hahaha" was so apt that many people in the chamber burst into laughter.

Before the uprising, almost everyone had suffered the loss of Meng Yuan's bad money, and they all remembered the various evil deeds they had committed. In particular, paper money is officially stipulated to be exchanged for 1,000 copper coins per banknote. In fact, 500 banknotes can't be exchanged for a bucket of rice. And because the copper content is getting lower and lower, the small flat money minted by the government has an extremely poor reputation among the people, and is usually called black money, black heart money, and it is accepted that Cheng dù is not as good as the Xianchun ingots in the late Song Dynasty.

"It turns out that the chief manager wants the people of the whole world to distinguish for themselves, who is the official and who is the thief..." Although Hu Dahai still didn't understand what the monetary credit system was, he immediately understood the purpose of Zhu Chongjiu's move.

"What General Hu said is very true..."Zhu Chongjiu smiled and nodded proudly. Some time ago, Zhu also vaguely heard some comments on us outside. Zhu couldn't write such a good article, and he didn't have the time to fight a lawsuit with others. So just take out some dry goods and let the people choose for themselves. It's up to them to believe in some people's words, or to believe what they get their hands on..."

"Hahaha" The officials of the Household Bureau, the Industrial Bureau, the Military Intelligence Department, and the Internal Security Department couldn't help but laugh out loud when they heard this.

Because in the "Jingzhou Covenant", the Grand Governor's Office openly supported the Huaiyang merchants. provoked a wave of scolding in all directions. Not only did the rogue literati who were loyal to Meng Yuan criticize Huaiyang, but even some celebrities and Confucians who claimed to live in seclusion in the mountains and forests and devoted themselves to their studies also jumped out one after another. or go into battle barearmed, or mobilize his protégés to pour dirty water on the Huai'an Governor's Mansion.

For a time, the hearts of the chief managers fluctuated. Many officials thought that they were too eager for quick success and should not have expressed support for Wu Liangmou, Yu Changlin and others. What's more, he also tried to persuade Zhu Chongjiu to break the covenant and hold several leaders responsible.

Who would have expected that Zhu Chongjiu, who has always been admonished, has rarely acted arbitrarily this time. Not only did he reject the mention of breaking the contract, but he immediately announced that the Governor had ceased to debate the matter and left it to the outside world. Immediately, all the forces of the Grand Governor's Office and the Huaiyang Firm were mobilized to provide full support to the Fifth Army.

And one way to support it is to throw money at various states near Jingzhou. With the four new coins of gold, silver, copper and iron newly minted in Huaiyang, they purchased grain and various special products from various places, and at the same time sold cotton cloth, silk, agricultural tools and various daily necessities produced in Huaiyang to the above-mentioned areas at low prices.

Because some of the people present were resistant at the time, and the preparations were hasty, this trick was extremely simple and rude. It was almost a cargo ship of the Huaiyang Firm, loaded with four kinds of money that went up the river, and the merchants who were connected to the local area, as well as the meticulous work of the Military Intelligence Bureau, smashed at the local area. The smell of copper made the gentry and celebrities on both sides of the river cover their noses.

However, after more than a dozen boats of 'Ah Block' were smashed, the effect was not ordinarily good. Not only did the impression of the people near Jingzhou quickly reverse Huaiyang, but even in other areas along the river, the image of the Huaiyang Grand Governor's Office was also greatly improved.

In the midst of lively laughter, the figure of Liu Bowen, a Chinese soldier joining the army, looked particularly lonely. When Wu Liangmou concocted "The League of Jingzhou" and used the army to endorse the merchants, his opposition was the most resolute. After the rain was about to come, he was also the general source of urging the Great Governor's Office to withdraw the covenant and punish Wu Liangmou. Now the facts have proved that the verbal and written criticism of the scholars and gentry is powerless in the face of the real money of the Grand Governor's Mansion. How can he, who prides himself on being far-sighted, be embarrassed?

"If it really doesn't work, the Bureau of Industry can mix more copper in the gold yuan to reduce its fineness..."

His mention was quickly swallowed up by a burst of rebuttal. "No, what the general manager said is, reputation, reputation first."

"Yes, we'd rather never make gold dollars in the future than ruin our reputation..."

"The price of gold and silver is always changing, and who knows when it will fall back to one for ten..."

"When you say one for ten, one for eight, I've met..."

It's no wonder that everyone was overly excited, before that, they had never thought that there was a way to strike at the enemy without troops. This is too much in line with the image of "strategizing and winning thousands of miles away" in the legend, making everyone feel as if Sun Wu is alive and Zhuge is reborn.

"Right now, how many taels of silver can a tael of gold be exchanged for on the market? Has it always been like this? How often does it change? Zhu Chongjiu listened sideways for a while, knocked on the table, and brought the conversation back to the point.

"Not necessarily..."Zhang Song, the head of the Internal Affairs Department, studied this, stood up from his seat, and arched his hands in response, "At the moment, our Huaiyang is almost exactly one to eleven, and Huguang is probably one to twelve." However, in places such as Guangzhou Road and Quanzhou Road, because of the concentration of maritime merchants, the price of gold is much lower. One for ten, one for nine is possible. ”

"Then why didn't anyone go to Guangzhou and Quanzhou to exchange silver for gold?" Zhu Chongjiu heard it strangely, and couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

He remembered that at the beginning of preparing for the minting of coins, Zhang Song reminded himself of the fluctuation of silver prices. The reason why he minted a gold dollar on top of the silver dollar was also to stabilize the currency. Unexpectedly, in practice, the problem could not be completely solved, at least the trick of buying the gold coins back and returning to the furnace made everyone unexpected.

"Lord Qi, Weichen thinks that there are at least three reasons..."Although Zhang Song used to be a big corrupt official on Meng Yuan's side, he was at the first-class level in terms of intelligence and reaction speed. After a little consideration, he gave a clear answer, "First, the price of gold and silver fluctuates, and unless there is preparation in advance, it may not be in time. Second, because of the unsafe road, the government and the green forest have to be taken care of, and the gains outweigh the losses. Third, the trade in Quanzhou and Guangzhou is in fact controlled by the local big households. If outsiders plunge into it, they will lose all their lives at best, or lose their lives..."

"You mean the Pu family in Quanzhou and the Ma family in Guangzhou?" Zhu Chongjiu's brows jumped, and a cold light quickly flashed in his eyes.

"Exactly..."Zhang Song arched his hand again and responded loudly. In fact, both of these families are Semu people, not my race. The Mengyuan court only let them pay taxes, and never cared about how they behaved in the local area. ”

"Uh-huh......!" Zhu Chongjiu nodded and groaned in a low voice. Regarding the monopoly of maritime trade by the Pu family in Quanzhou and the Ma family in Guangzhou, he had heard about it from Shen Wansan many times. The reason why the Great Governor's Mansion took the risk of selling the rifled cannon to Shen Wansan was also the idea of letting the Shen family contain the Pu Shougeng family in Quanzhou. But judging from the current results, the focus of the Shen family's development is obviously not to compete with the Pu family for maritime trade routes, but to go all out to manage Sriwijaya and try to establish a country on the sea. Therefore, in the future, the matter of dealing with the Pu and Ma families will still have to be done by the Huaiyang Governor's Mansion himself.

was groaning, but saw Lu Luzeng stand up and said loudly: "Lord, the old minister thinks that even if someone buys gold yuan on a large scale, I Huaiyang still can't stop casting. First, the lord's move is very far-reaching, and he can't give up halfway. Second, with the current ratio of gold and silver to huàn, our Great Governor's Mansion will suffer some losses. But the price of silver can't be so low forever, as long as it slowly rises, it will be able to break even..."

"What the good man said is very much..."Zhu Chongjiu smiled and waved his hand, signaling Lu Lu to sit and speak. However, "

Quickly turning his gaze to Yu Changlin, he asked in a low voice, "How much gold ingots are still stored in the household bureau?" If the minting of gold dollars has been like the current loss method, how long can it be supported? ”

"This?" Yu Changlin lowered his head and thought for a while before giving an answer, "The lord of Qiqi has a lot of money in the household. If the gold-silver ratio remains unchanged, it can last for at least three or five months or even a whole year. However, in this way, I am afraid that other areas of spending will be affected. After all, only in the second half of this year, Huaiyang did not use troops in a big way, but in previous years, there was not a day when I did not hear the sound of war drums..."

"Uh-huh........." everyone heard this, and almost at the same time muttered in a low voice.

The strength of the Huai'an army is unparalleled in the world. But the expenses of the Huai'an army when fighting are probably also the first in the world. Therefore, everyone must be prepared for danger in times of peace and save enough money and food to prepare for war. Instead of spending all the old books elsewhere in a daze.

"Hmm..."Liu Bowen, a soldier who joined the army, also muttered in a low voice. But looking up at the complexion of the crowd, he gritted his teeth again and swallowed the words that had reached his lips back into his stomach. The Tao is not the same, I didn't hold back for a while last year, and the pearl was secretly invested. Although it is too late to withdraw again, at least you can learn from Xu Shu back then, and never sacrifice another plan for Cao Apu.

"Berwyn, do you have a good plan for me?" Zhu Chongjiu keenly saw the change in Liu Bowen's expression and took the initiative to consult him.

"Weichen, Weichen doesn't, Weichen doesn't know this, so he doesn't dare to speak falsely and mislead the country..." Liu Bowen's face changed instantly, but in the end he decided not to continue to "join the same stream" with everyone.

"Okay, we here, we have never been sinners because of our words..."Zhu Chongjiu waved his hand, and explained with a pleasant face. You slowly think about when you have a way, and you can say it at any time. Even if it is wrong, no one will pursue it. ”

When Liu Bowen heard this, his heart was turbulent again. To be honest, Zhu Chongjiu is indeed not thin on him. Even if he refused the recruitment of the Grand Governor's Office back then, the other party still treated him politely, and even took the initiative to take out money to fund him to open a academy in Yangzhou to spread the learning of the sages.

And after he decided to join the Grand Governor's Mansion, Zhu Chongjiu treated him even more kindly. In a very short period of time, he was promoted to the second highest position in the staff headquarters, only lower than the old man Lu Luzeng.

It's just that personal favors are personal favors, but Zhu Chongjiu's concept of governing the country is incompatible with his ideas. At the beginning, he still wishfully thought that he could join forces with Zhang Yi and others to bring the lord back to the right path. Unexpectedly, everyone underestimated Zhu Chongjiu's stubbornness. Although on the surface he seemed to be following advice, in reality, this man had been speeding up on the evil path he had chosen, and it was impossible for everyone to deviate from him even if they were exhausted and even shattered.

This book was first published from 17K Novel Network, the first time to see the genuine content! R405