"When I left Beijing, I heard that you went to Changxing Island. Why did you come to Shandong again? Li Xiao is used to Ai Husheng running around. Although this guy is the head of the household, he is often not in the capital. One trip to the east, one trip to the west, I don't know what I'm busy with.

"There's something I want to report to the marshal." Ai Husheng respectfully saluted Li Xiao.

"Why are you so polite? What's the matter? ”

"I want to do currency reform!"

"What?"

Later generations did not know much about it, and the so-called trading currencies in the Ming Dynasty were mainly silver and copper coins. The copper coins were all black and full of greasy dirt. As for the silver, it was full of all kinds of scratches and saliva, and the shapes were cut into various shapes. Beautiful copper coins, as well as shiny silver, existed only in the treasury of the government. The amount of silver spent on fire consumption every year is a large amount, and there is no way to control fire consumption.

Gradually, fire consumption has become an important source of gray income for officials.

"Nowadays, my Ming currency is mainly copper coins and silver. I have been short of copper since ancient times, and the only copper resources are mostly consumed in the casting of copper coins. Therefore, when the coins are minted, some lead is added to the copper coins.

However, if there is too much lead, the copper coin is not resistant to wear and tear. After using it for a while, it will be blurry. Therefore, for a long time, the ratio of copper to lead in copper coins has been half to half. This guarantees both wear resistance and cost.

But when it came to the Apocalypse Dynasty, the Donglin Party wanted to fill their pockets. actually used the method of minting coins with copper seven lead three, so that the money is good-looking. But more copper was consumed, and those profiteers in Jiangnan collected copper coins to refine copper. There are not enough copper coins on the market, so the government naturally needs to mint more copper coins. So these profiteers then sold the copper to the government, and this entry and exit had a benefit of 20%.

Every year, the state spends more than 10% of the expenditure on copper coins.

As for the disadvantages of silver, there are even more, and the official silver minted is all silver ingots. It can be circulated to the people, and large pieces of silver ingots are inconvenient to circulate, so they will be sandwiched down piece by piece and used scattered. These are scattered silver taels!

The people pay taxes to the government, and most of them use this kind of scattered silver taels. The government needs to recast the broken silver into official silver, which produces fire consumption. Officials who are more honest will receive a little more than 10% of the fire. Those who have black hearts, and those who dare to receive thirty percent. The annual fire consumption of the household accounts for about 20% of the income.

These are monetary malpractices! The money consumed in this alone accounts for more than 30% of the income of the household. If we want to get rid of the accumulated shortcomings, we have to start with monetary reform. ”

Ai Husheng spoke transparently, and Li Xiao also nodded, he had heard about it. But it's okay for Li Xiao to fight, but it's okay to play the economy. In the past, when he went to the bank to withdraw money, the currency was just a string of numbers on his salary card.

"The imperial court also thought about reform, and the main way was to issue treasure money. But the treasure money has reached the people, but the people are not willing to use it. First, the imperial court issued treasure money indiscriminately, which caused the people to distrust treasure money.

Again! There are nobles of the imperial court, who secretly print treasure money in private. Even more, the issuance of treasure banknotes was not controlled, and many treasure banknotes finally became a pile of waste paper, leaving the people with no return. Because of the matter of treasure money, it is heard that he committed suicide by hanging beams, and even the whole family committed suicide from time to time. ”

Li Xiao knows this thing that the treasure banknote is the currency of the next year. There are still professional counterfeiters of money in later generations, and it is reasonable that the treasure banknotes of this year can have any anti-counterfeiting measures, and they are pirated. What's more, there are also nobles involved. Even if he is caught, he can only push out a few unlucky eggs in the end.

With three times the profit, people dare to take risks and kill people. The profit in this is more than three times, which is enough to make people crazy. The appearance of counterfeit banknotes is inevitable, and the absence of counterfeit banknotes is wrong.

"What are you going to do?" Li Xiao knows that this is a fundamental issue that has a bearing on the national economy. The stakes are very high, and if you are not completely sure, Ai Husheng will not come to discuss with him.

"Handsome! The subordinates had just been to Changxing Island and had a long talk with the fisherman. The fisherman can guarantee that now our ironworks can produce a steel that does not rust easily. Moreover, there is also a hydraulic press on Changxing Island, which can water pressure the steel.

In this way, we will no longer use copper to cast copper coins. Steel money is also more resistant to wear and tear, and the cost is lower than that of copper money. What's more important is that our steel money is stamped, which is completely different from minted money. This ensures that it will be difficult for those chaebols in Jiangnan to forge in the future.

Steel money can be stamped into different sizes, in denominations of one, two, five, and ten. In other words, in the future, if you buy something, you will only use 10 big characters. You don't have to take out ten coins, you just need to take out a coin with a denomination of ten coins.

As for the silver, it can also be stamped into one, two, five, one, two, five, and ten taels. In this way, the loss of silver will be reduced as much as possible, and the government will no longer have to collect fire. The previous waste on fire consumption has naturally disappeared.

In the early days of currency issuance, in order to ensure the trust of the people. The court still had to take the silver out and stamp it into coins, but the people would get used to it in the future. Let's use steel money instead of silver coins, which can further save costs.

The main thing is that the coins are stamped, which can effectively curb counterfeiting. ”

Li Xiao was a little embarrassed, and he actually asked Ai Husheng to bring up this matter. If there is a crack in the ground now, Li Xiao would like to get into it. I have to say that Ai Husheng can think of this layer, and he is indeed a financial genius.

"I think this matter is very good, you go to the capital and talk to Mr. Sun. Currency is fundamental to the national economy and people's livelihood, and it needs to be implemented as soon as possible. Regarding Ai Husheng's monetary reform plan, Li Xiao raised his hands in favor of such a good thing and needed to be implemented as soon as possible. However, this kind of thing, Li Xiao thinks that it is better to discuss it with Sun Chengzong, the old fox. After all, Sun Chengzong and Li Xiao are not on the same level in government affairs.

"Now the cheap shop has spread all over the cities in Shandong and Hebei, and the exchange business is also extending in all directions. The subordinates wondered if they should separate the exchange business from the bargain. ”

In the space of two years, the business model of the bargain shop was quickly replicated. Now, in addition to Beijing and Tianjinwei, Liaodong, Shandong, and Hebei have been widely spread. In almost every city, the most prominent and largest shops are cheap shops.

The cheap shop is now a half-official and half-private existence, and Xie Youcai is now bullish in the market. Everywhere I went, I was received by the local government. Those officials such as the prefecture and county respected were clinging to each other one by one. No one could have imagined that the big teapot at sunset would have such a dignitary day.

"Hmmm! Independent, and the cheap shop should no longer be controlled by us. We can sell the shares of the bargain shop, and in the future, this kind of behavior of officials and businessmen must be stopped. A merchant is both the maker and the beneficiary of the rules. In the long run, corruption breeds there. What is even more worrying is that such an officialdom will use strong capital. Unequal rules compete to kill those small trades.

The government does not use much labor in the business, and if we want to provide more employment opportunities, we must encourage small private traders. It's just that the exchange business is related to the foundation of the state, and this cannot be controlled by private individuals, but needs to be controlled by the household department. Since it is a business of tinkering with money, it is better to call it a bank. Although Li Xiao does not understand the economy, he understands the disadvantages of state-owned enterprises in later generations. While the bargain shop has not yet grown into a towering giant tree, it will be sold as soon as possible. Private capital will naturally carry forward this business model, after all, the essence of capital is to seek more benefits.

"No! The subordinates felt that it was appropriate to call the bank. The subordinates went to the capital and reported these things to Mr. Sun. After Ai Husheng finished speaking, he wanted to leave.

"That's right! You go and find Xie Youcai, I'm going to find him a new errand." Let him go directly to Changxing Island and wait for me. ”

"Put him in charge of the bank?" Ai Husheng wanted to speak and stopped.

"It's not appropriate for him to be in charge of a bank. It is better for the bank to be in your hands, and in the future, taxes and so on can be exchanged through the bank. Local government treasury and official banks can all be deposited in banks. In the future, banks will become the most important department of the household department. ”

"No!"

To carry out such an important project, Li Xiao felt that he should go back to Changxing Island. But before he could return to Changxing Island, he had to get a person.

It's very simple to get Ao Ye, you only need a meal of wine. If you can't do it, then two!

Brothers drink alcohol and don't need any dishes. Whole roasted whole lamb, half-foot-long prawns, and a plate of fresh ginseng dipping sauce to eat!

"I heard you gave birth to a son?" Ao Canghai didn't drink, but asked thoughtlessly.

"Ahh What's wrong? ”

"Hey......! It's a pity, how can I be a girl. Ao Canghai sullenly smoked a glass.

"The girl is Daddy's little padded jacket, and having a girl is not enough for your stinky fart." Li Xiao was very curious about the ginseng dipping sauce, so he took the root of ginseng and dipped it in his mouth and ate it, it tasted really good.

"Yes! It's a pity that she was born by a concubine, and her status is one level lower. Otherwise, we can be in-laws. ”

"There is no problem with identity, if the two children look at each other in the future, I will not object. Let it be! ”

"I met Lao Yuan yesterday, and you brought us all to Shandong. But Cao Wenzhao was released, and our two divisions stayed in Shandong to be idle. ”

"Many veterans of the first and second divisions are from Shandong, and you arrange for them to go home to see during this time. The family divided the land so that they knew that the family was doing well. I don't let you fight south, that's because Shandong now has tens of thousands of troops in Shandong who are being reorganized.

That's tens of thousands of people, how can you do it without letting your two divisions watch it? Don't talk about you, Man Ye will be back in a few days.

Wu Sangui's bastard destroyed Phi Island, and the output of the gunpowder workshop rebuilt on Changxing Island could not be increased for the time being. The supply of materials is limited, so we can only let the third division go to fight a dozen Yangzhou. The Third Division has not fought any battles since its formation, and they should be allowed to go to the battlefield to see blood.

In the future, our battlefield is so vast, how can we do it just by relying on you and Lao Yuan. Stay in Shandong for a few months, and after the reorganization, we will have enough troops to go south. When the time comes, some of the battles will be fought by you, and they will hit you until you are disgusting. ”

"Shi Kefa's bastard is not bad, when he arrives in Jinan. Get him a drink! "Shi Kefa once lived in Ao Canghai's division, and it is rare for a scholar to have a temper with Ao Ye. Ao Ye attaches great importance to this friend!

"It's coming! It should be there in a few days. Two days ago, it was said that the people had been taken to sea. Count the days, and it's just a matter of the next few days. Li Xiao also remembered Shi Kefa, this guy was taken to the sea by the green beads. In a few days, I will disembark and take the overland route to Jinan. Shandong also has a large number of his subordinates, and he needs his help to reorganize.

For historical reasons, the establishment of the Nanjing Forbidden Army and the Liao Army was very similar. Even the drill rules are pretty much the same, and these soldiers have been trained for several years. In the future, if we want to march into Jiangnan, how can we achieve it with only four divisions.

The Southern Ming still occupy half of the country south of the Yangtze River, although their soldiers are all guards. Hundreds of thousands of people are piles of meat for the Liao army. But to really fight such a big place, you have to have soldiers stationed there.

Sprinkle the four divisions of the Liao Army like pepper noodles to the south of the Yangtze River, so that Li Xiao will not do that kind of stupid thing.

"Am I in trouble for you!" Headless and brainless, Ao Canghai suddenly said this.

"It's not troublesome, the soldier doesn't have some temper, so it's still called a soldier? As long as it doesn't violate the regulations, it's not a big deal. Li Xiao took a sip of wine after speaking.

"Sometimes I want to be polite with those sours. But damn it, these sour people don't know how to lift. You speak to him politely, as if you were afraid of him. In the end, I still look down on us big guys.

If it's a university like Mr. Sun, forget it, a bastard who doesn't understand how to study in a private school for a few years dares to talk about Lao Tzu behind his back. This is not bad, some of the sour Ding deliberately withheld our grain.

I went to see Ai Husheng, and his grain was fully allocated. But it's better to be held by those sour dings, and I beat a few times. I heard that Lao Yuan is not having a good time over there, he is not so able to toss, and he is embarrassed to tell you if he suffers a secret loss. ”

"Is there such a thing?" Li Xiaoyi frowned, many officials at the grassroots level still have to use Ming officials. There is no way to do it, there are too few literate people. There are many people who want to be officials, but there are really not many people who have the ability to be officials. Damn, Li Xiao can't wait for the children in those schools in Liaodong to become young men overnight. All of them replaced these disciples and grandchildren of the Donglin Party!

Not really! There are not so many people now, and the hostility of these Liao troops comes from the bones.

In these years, there are few poor students. Most people who read books have two dollars at home.

Some of their families had their land divided, while others had their families wiped out for resisting the division of land. This kind of control of some seemingly small, but deadly rights, is indeed somewhat dangerous. It looks like it's time for a review of the current officials. Otherwise, we don't know what will happen when we really start a war.