The more he learned about this era, the more Wei Shuo felt that the Jin Dynasty was, and it was nonsense in all aspects, especially after learning that the Jin Dynasty did not have its own currency, he was completely speechless about the Jin Dynasty established by the Sima family, except for secretly discussing a few words to himself.

Wei Shuo did not know that the Jin Dynasty occupied a special place in the history of Chinese currency, and she was the only dynasty that did not have its own currency.

In the Jin Dynasty, the style of metaphysics was popular, and the mainstream ideas were very nihilistic, and most of the scholars and doctors were absurd. Whether the imperial court did not mint money, whether it was because it was lazy or because of the chaos of state affairs, it was not clear, anyway, it left a blank for more than 100 years in the history of Chinese currency.

The imperial court itself does not mint money, and the ordinary people generally use the currency of the previous dynasty or private coinage, and the Western Jin Dynasty uses the five-baht coin of the Wei State because it inherited Cao Wei.

However, it was also thanks to the imperial court's decentralization of coinage that Wei Shuo had the opportunity to mint his own currency.

On the day of rest, Wei Shuo hosted a banquet for Gao Zhan, Lu Chang, and Liu Han in the back garden of the mansion.

"Come, come, how about a few gentlemen try the tea I brewed myself?"

In the octagonal pavilion, a rectangular tea table was placed in the middle, and Wei Shuo sat around the four of them, each holding a cup of freshly brewed tea.

"Thank you, lord!"

Gao Zhan and Lu Chang picked up the tea cup at will, they were all old courtiers who followed Wei Shuo, and they usually got along very well with Wei Shuo, drinking the tea that Wei Shuo made for themselves, but they would not feel any restraint. Driven by the two of them, Liu Han, who was a little unaccustomed to it, gradually let go of his restraints.

After all, the four of them are the top people in charge of the power of Youzhou, and the external environment does not allow them to relax for a while, so they drank tea for a while and talked for a while. Gradually, we got down to business.

"I heard that the lord intends to unify the currency under his rule?"

"Well, there is indeed this idea, now that the sea trade is in full swing, a large amount of gold, silver, and brass continue to pour into Liaodong through the sea route, if you don't take the opportunity to mint it into currency, wouldn't it be a pity? Besides, through coinage, it can also ease the tight finances of Liaodong, so it kills two birds with one stone. Wouldn't it be foolish for me not to do it? ”

"Hehehe, the lord laughed! However, as the lord said, Liaodong has really come to mint coins! ”

Gao Zhan and Lu Chang agreed with Wei Shuo's suggestion to mint coins, but Liu Han had a sad face, originally from the imperial court after the coinage power was decentralized, and it was firmly in his hands by the clans from all over the world. Among them, the Liu family has a small coinage workshop, and now when he heard that Wei Shuo was going to mint coins in the name of the government, he was naturally worried about the damage to his own interests.

saw Liu Han's face ugly. Wei Shuo knew the reason, but he did not intend to compromise on the coinage rights. Coming from modern times, he knows better than anyone the importance of money, and a stable currency is an important foundation for the stability of a country and society.

"My lord, let's not talk about the coinage right, are you planning to remint the five-baht coin? Or will it be minted separately? ”

"Is there any difference between the two?"

"Each has its pros and cons! The five-baht coin was issued in the fifth year of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty and was used until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Western Han Dynasty is five baht coins, and the pieces weigh five baht. The shape is regular, and the weight is standard. It is well-cast and enjoys great prestige among the people. However, for hundreds of years, many private individuals have destroyed five-baht coins and minted inferior coins privately, resulting in the proliferation of all kinds of inferior five-baht coins, both in the previous and current dynasties. ”

"If the lord wants to recast the five-baht coin, it will circulate quickly as long as it is in good condition. Moreover, because the technical personnel, equipment, etc. for minting the five-baht coin are ready-made. The minting cost will not be very high, and the lord will be able to see the formed currency in a short time, the only thing to worry about is that the flood of bad coins around the country will have an impact on the new five-baht coin. ”

"What if I mint a new coin?"

"It's not impossible to mint new coins, but the risks are much greater, not to mention the challenges of cultivating new technologies. It is difficult to say whether the people recognize the new currency. The combination of various risks is likely to make the new currency carefully prepared by Liaodong die as a result. ”

Gao Zhan's words shocked Wei Shuo, this kind of thing is not impossible to happen, the issuance of any kind of currency is not smooth sailing, there are too many examples of currency issuance failures in history.

And the currency reform is by no means by administrative orders can be done, the early Ming Dynasty relied on administrative means to issue banknotes, but because of the poor management of the imperial court, the banknotes eventually failed, and gradually were forced out of the circulation market.

In addition to the issuance of currency to convert silver and other precious metals earned from maritime trade into substantial wealth, Wei Shuo also had the ambition to unify the Chinese currency. The current chaotic monetary system has given Weishuo the opportunity to unify its currency. The benefits of unifying a country's currency are simply incalculable.

"What Jing Qian said won my heart, I thought about it, and I thought it was appropriate to issue a good five-baht coin."

"The lord is wise, as long as the five-baht coins minted in Liaodong are of good quality, there is no need to worry about circulation. The subordinates are very aware that some families in order to make huge profits, doped various metals into the coins when minting, resulting in the copper content of the minted five-baht coins is only 30%, and it can be broken if it falls on the ground! It can be seen to what extent the current flood of bad money has become! ”

"Rest assured, the five-baht coin minted by me in Liaodong is naturally full of sincerity, and it will never damage the interests of the people! From next month, the two states will completely ban the circulation of bad coins in the market, and all bad coins will be used to recast and recast. In addition, the right to mint money by private individuals will be fully recovered by the government, and no one or family will have the right to mint currency in the future, except for the official. ”

Listening to Wei Shuo's categorical words, Liu Han's heart was like ashes, although he had expected this, but when this moment came, he still felt a pain in his flesh. Coinage is a very important source of wealth for the family, if it weren't for Wei Shuo to find a new way of wealth for the family, I really dare not guarantee that the family will make any noise.

"My lord, after the coinage rights are recovered, which Cao do you plan to manage? Money is a big profit, and the officials who were responsible for managing the coinage in the past dynasties would be greedy for ink, and some officials relied on adulteration of the coinage to obtain money. ”

"Hehehe, I plan to set up a new government-run money bank to be responsible for the minting and issuance of five-baht coins."

"Money? What is the Lord's Money? ”

"The main business of the money bank is to operate currency exchange, deposit and withdrawal, and loans! The government-run bank will be directly responsible for the minting and issuance of currency, so it will not engage in other businesses. The head of the Qian Zhuang will be appointed directly by the government and will be directly responsible to me and the county guard, and will not be subject to the jurisdiction of the other princes. ”

In view of the current shortage of gold and silver reserves, Wei Shuo only planned to issue five baht in the early stage, and when the time was ripe in the future, he would be able to launch two currencies, such as silver coins and gold coins, and completely establish a complete monetary system. As for paper money, unless the Jin Dynasty suddenly entered the modern society, he didn't even dare to think about it.

Although metal currency will also depreciate, it is better than a pile of waste paper anyway, right? He knows very well that when all the money in the hands of the people turns into waste paper, it is more terrible than the people have nothing to eat!

After listening to Wei Shuo's introduction to the functions of Qianzhuang, the three people present had to sigh that the director of Qianzhuang was definitely a fat and oily errand, not much worse than the director of the city department in Laoshan and Lushun. Gao and Lu, as members of the military, would never be greedy for this errand, but Liu Han is different, and now he does not have a formal official position, so he is naturally eager to take charge of Qianzhuang.

It's a pity that Liu Han didn't know that Wei Shuo had already had a candidate in his heart about the helmsman of Qian Zhuang, and yes, it was the one who Gao Zhan mentioned to him before. Mo Han is a business talent born and raised in this era, and it is a very urgently needed talent type for Wei Shuo. It's a pity that Mo Han still belongs to Liu Kun at the moment, and he hasn't found a chance to ask him for Mo Han.

"A few gentlemen, don't disclose what you are talking about today to the outside world for the time being, if you leak a trace of rumors, don't blame me for not remembering the old feelings!"

When it was over, Wei Shuo did not forget to tell Gao Zhan and the three of them that the issuance of currency is a major event, and they must be cautious, so they naturally don't want to make a fuss in the outside world. (To be continued.) )