"Master, Master, what did you say to that dead fat man yesterday?"

Chang'an, the young eunuch, and the soon-to-be-seventeen-year-old King of Jianning, Li Qi, followed Xiao Quai's illness and asked as he walked.

Li Qi admired Master Xiao's ability to get sick more and more, not only was he superior in martial arts and bravely crowned the three armies, but he also ranked first in the world in military training and management industry, and this time he suppressed An Lushan, who has always been arrogant and domineering, into obedience.

That afternoon and evening, when he was training a thousand flying dragon forbidden troops and preparing to give An Lushan a dismount the next day, Li Qi was a little puzzled, this An Lushan has been favored for many years, will he really be so easy to deal with and so obedient? What if he strongly resists and takes the lawsuit to His Majesty?

At that time, the master just smiled and said that no matter how he reacted, I could subdue him, but I didn't expect it to be like this later. After Master's words, Na An Fat Man and more than 300 Hebei troops were really frightened and silent, and then Master only whispered something in his ear, and An Lushan immediately turned pale with fright and trembled.

As a result, in front of His Majesty Huaqing Palace, the dead fat man really didn't even dare to say a word that was unfavorable to the master. was called by the master one by one by a good nephew, and he didn't dare not accompany the smiling face.

At that time, Yang Guozhong, Li Linfu, Chen Xilie, Ji Wen and other ministers were stunned, and their jaws dropped to the ground. What's going on? What's wrong with An Lushan, Your Majesty's first favorite minister, how can he be as docile as a kitten in front of General Xiao? Well, it's not like a fat cat!

"You want to know?" Xiao Quzhi said: "Yes, when you complete all the courses of arithmetic in the fourth grade of primary school, I will tell you." ”

"Ah, that's going to be a long time." Li Qi pursed his lips.

Xiao Quzhi laughed: "That's because you don't have to learn, these are all things that Master learned before he was ten years old, you are seventeen years old now, as long as you are willing to study seriously, it will be a matter of a few days." Okay, for the sake of your good performance in the past two days, Master will take you to see something new and interesting. ”

"What's fun?" Li Qi was immediately so happy that he almost jumped up.

"I'll find out soon." While speaking, the two of them had already come to a coinage prison directly under the Shaofu Supervisor.

Cao Jinshui, the coin supervisor, and two deputy supervisors, Gan Fengyuan and Jian Yuxing, hurriedly greeted them: "Supervisor Xiao, why don't you send someone to spread the word before you come, we can also do a good job of reception in advance." ”

"I don't have time for all this nonsense." Xiao Quzhi waved his hand and said, "How about it, has the kind of silver coin I said been made?" ”

Cao Jinshui said: "Back to the palace, the kind of silver coin weighing five coins you said has been minted, and the effect is very good; But if you want to achieve the effect you say, you have to do it one or two.

We also minted the kind of silver and gold coins that Xiao Fujian said, which were very beautiful, but after hundreds of tests, they could not meet the requirements of the government supervisor. ”

Xiao Quzhi was slightly disappointed, and thought about it, maybe it wasn't that they had a problem with their skills, maybe this was an impossible task.

Xiao Quzhi tapped his fingers on the table and said, "Show them all to me." ”

Cao Jinshui quickly ordered someone to take out more than a dozen gold and silver coins from a tray and put them in front of Xiao Quai. Li Qi's eyes suddenly lit up, and the large and small on the tray were full of gold and silver coins.

These gold and silver coins are different from the usual Kaiyuan Tongbao, they are all solid, and the workmanship is very beautiful. In the middle of the obverse is the head of the emperor's grandfather wearing a crown, and above the head are four larger characters of "Datang Silver Coins" or "Datang Gold Coins", and below are five smaller words of "Tianbao Eleventh Year".

With the back of several coins facing up, you can see that the large silver coin is "500 Dang Qian", the large gold coin is "10,000 Dang Qian" four large characters, and below it are the four small characters "Shaofu Supervision Minting". This is the gold and silver coins that Master is going to mint in Datang? Five hundred coins for a silver coin? 10,000 gold coins?

Xiao Quzhi picked up a large silver coin, gently pinched the center of the silver coin with the tips of his thumb and index finger, and violently blew the vertical edge of the silver coin, and sure enough, he heard a long and clear trill, which lasted for four or five seconds.

Xiao Quzhi laughed, handed the silver coin to Li Qi and said, "Xiao Qi, blow it as I did just now, and then put it to your ear to listen." ”

Li Qi did so, his eyes lit up again, and he smiled: "Master, there is a very nice voice, long and clear." ”

"Of course, I made it specifically to prevent counterfeiting." Xiao Quzhi smiled, picked up another gold coin of one or two weights and blew it, which also had a nice clear and long trill; But when he picked up a few silver and gold coins weighing a penny and blew them again, he couldn't blow them at all.

The monetary policy before the Tang Dynasty was money and silk, and money refers to the Kaiyuan Tongbao copper coin, of course, large transactions can also be paid with gold collars (popular science, Tang Dynasty silver is too scarce, not allowed as currency.) In addition, the official stipulates that the weight of each ten Kaiyuan Tongbao is one tael, and the weight of each wen is called one coin, and the weight unit of "money" comes from this, and one money is equal to four grams).

But the later it was, the more the Tang Dynasty had no money. There are many reasons, such as many people like to hide their money, such as the economy is developed, there are more places to use money, but the output of copper cannot keep up.

But there are actually only two fundamental reasons, one is that some people use copper coins to cast copper for profit, and the other is the so-called bad money.

Each Kaiyuan Tongbao cast by the Shaofu Supervisor can be called a handicraft, delicate and beautiful, with a good formula and sufficient weight. Then some powerful and rich people melted Kaiyuan Tongbao and added a large amount of lead, tin, or something, so that when they tossed, one coin became five or six coins, so as to make huge profits.

As a result, there is more and more bad money in the world, and it will be flooded every two or three years, and these powerful people who have minted copper coins privately have made huge profits, but they have harmed the interests of the market and the majority of ordinary people.

In addition, it has caused great damage to the entire economic system of Datang, making the money law chaotic and inconvenient for everyone to use money. In the end, it made the silk silk the main currency, but the silk became the currency more inconvenient, the volume is large and inconvenient to carry, not to mention, every time you use it, you have to argue about how much the silk is worth.

Xiao Quai, he didn't want to be sick when the gold and silver coins came out, and it didn't take long for them to become the same fate as Kaiyuan Tongbao. The rich and powerful also melted down the gold and silver coins they had minted, turning one into several. When the time came, these powerful moths were fattened, but the credit of gold and silver coins collapsed.

Xiao Quzhi also wanted to use these gold and silver coins to make more money, and then control the economy of Datang. However, in order to do this, it is necessary to establish the credibility of gold and silver coins, so that the people can believe that they can use them with confidence, and we must not allow counterfeit money to overflow. Otherwise, it will be difficult for Datang's economy to prosper, and many things will not be able to be done by itself.

Therefore, Xiao Qubing thought of the characteristics of silver dollars and gold dollars at the beginning, and designed an anti-counterfeiting mark for the gold and silver coins he minted.

Cao Jinshui asked, "Supervisor Xiao, through the continuous testing in the past few days, we have found that this coin must reach a certain size and thickness before it can be blown. A silver coin is too thin if it is made as big as a five-dollar coin, and it is too small if it is as thick as a five-dollar coin. ”

"I see, you're doing a great job." Xiao Quzhi praised loudly, and then asked, "Then have you tested if there is a case of artificial fake, insufficient amount, or copper or lead?" ”

Gan Fengyuan, the deputy supervisor, said: "Rest assured, the subordinates have done experiments, and the amount of silver coins is less than half a penny, although there is a voice, but the long-distance Qingyue is far inferior." If copper is added, the sound is completely different, and the more you add, the greater the difference. If lead is added, there is no sound, so there is no need to worry about someone cheating. ”

"Do you have a sample?"

Gan Fengyuan took out a few silver coins from the bag and handed them to Xiao Quai, Xiao Qubing tested it, and sure enough, it was as he said. For example, if copper is added to it, there is little difference between adding less sound, but the profit is very small, and it is not enough for manual money; The sound of adding more is completely changed, and others can hear it as soon as they hear it.

Seeing that Xiao Qubing was very satisfied, Cao Jinshui asked again: "Supervisor Xiao, if you can't blow a penny, do you need to make a mold?" ”

Xiao Quzhi thought for a while and said, "In this way, from now on, we will start to improve the five-dollar silver coin mold and the one-tael gold coin mold." Your Majesty's head is made more elaborate and beautiful, and then I add a circle of gears to the inside of the outer ring of the coin, according to the drawings I gave you earlier. As for the silver coin mold of a penny......"

Xiao Quzhi chose a small silver coin of the appropriate size and thickness from the tray, and said: "Just follow this, start making molds according to the drawings I gave you, prepare first, and make a few fewer to see if you can cast it or not."

The gold and silver of the Anxi Army are about to arrive, and you still have to hurry up and prepare. Don't be afraid of hard work, if you do a good job, you will be counted as a great merit, and when the time comes, you will be indispensable to report to Your Majesty for the examination and reward. ”

The three of them immediately said that they would do their best, and Xiao Qu asked the three of them to write a list of meritorious personnel, and then went to the mint to inspect it. He encouraged and comforted these craftsmen, telling them that each of them would have a reward, and that someone would bring silk silk in the afternoon. He and Li Qi left the Shaofu Prison with a few gold and silver patterns.

Xiao Qubing received information that the Anxi army's team would arrive in Chang'an in four days, and Li Longji would return to Chang'an from Huaqing Palace tomorrow to prepare for the Anxi army.

During this time, all the civil and military officials were busy, especially the local officials in Longyou and Jingzhao Mansion, just supplying more than 10,000 camels and nearly 20,000 war horses with fodder, which was enough for them to have a headache.

But the busiest thing is Xiao Quai, the stall is too big, there are too many things to manage, and many times I have to take some time to accompany Li Longji and Yang Guifei. In the past few days, Xiao Qu's illness has been like a spinning top, and he has no time to be with He Keer.

But fortunately, Ma Sui and Li Sheng helped in the training of soldiers, and Li Sheng also arrived in Chang'an, which also arrived from Longyou Shibao City on the day he picked up An Fatzi; He Keer and Wang Yuanbao helped take care of the affairs of the trading company; The work of confiscating Wang Jie's family property was almost over, and Du Fu and Wang Changling were staring at it.

Now Xiao Qubing is preparing to rush to a shop in Pingkangfang, which will be the first supermarket opened by the Four Seas Trading Company. Li Qi rode a flying dragon horse and walked beside Xiao Quai, frowning, looking thoughtful and puzzled.

Xiao Qu glanced at him: "If you have a question, you can quickly ask it." ”

Li Qi smiled and said, "Master, I know that you are afraid that some profiteers will melt your minted gold and silver coins into fakes, but can you stop them in this way?" ”

Xiao Quzhi smiled and said, "Xiao Qi, why are you so naïve? How can a profiteer have the courage to do such a thing, there must be a powerful person behind him. ”

Li Qi said, "Wouldn't it be more difficult for Master to stop them?" ”

Xiao Quzhi said: "Just creating silver coins and gold coins that can blow naturally cannot prevent people from melting gold and silver coins and then minting fake money, and the imperial court also needs to use harsh punishment methods, and those who catch and melt the gold and silver coins of the Tang Dynasty will be directly beheaded or confiscated from their family property, or imprisoned and exiled." ”

Li Qi's eyes widened: "How is this possible?" For more than 100 years, evil money has been repeatedly banned, and the imperial court has not dared to really punish and suppress the law. Even Song Jing, the virtuous minister of Kaiyuan, was dismissed because he wanted to ban evil money. ”