"Kangxi treasure, Qing Dynasty silver dollar...... One dollar! ”

Picking up a beautifully made silver coin from the tray held by Li Dequan, Kangxi looked left and right, playing with it, and was reluctant to put it down for a while.

"What is this?" Seeing that Kangxi picked up a smaller silver coin in the tray and looked at it carefully, as if he was particularly interested, Tong Guowei couldn't help but ask Zhang Tingyu who was standing beside him.

"Silver coins, also known as silver dollars!" Zhang Tingyu replied simply with two words, felt that it was inappropriate, and whispered to him: "Ma De sent someone to present it." ”

"Mader again?" Tong Guowei squinted his eyes, his slightly crooked mouth squeezed his nose along the way, and his strange expression made Zhang Tingyu can't help but chuckle a little.

In fact, it is no wonder that Tong Guowei has this expression. During this time, Ma De did a few more annoying things. Some time ago, Kangxi suddenly appointed him as the governor of Jiangnan, so that many ministers did not have time to react, and after these ministers woke up, Ma De's promotion was already a fait accompli. Originally, since Ma De couldn't be moved, this matter would be forgotten, there would be no eternal enemies in the court! However, although the people in the court can make a move, it does not mean that some others can forget their bad feelings for Mader...... The most important thing under the Governor of Jiangnan is not Anhui and Jiangxi, but Jiangsu! However, Ma De just had a feud with many people in Jiangsu, and Ma De was not a member of Anfen, so he wanted to rebuild the three official roads from Anhui to Jiangsu as soon as he took office, which attracted the opposition of many officials and gentry in Jiangsu, and took the opportunity to charge him with "working the people and hurting money", and this kind of voice has a wave of momentum. However, it seems that messing with Mader will never end well. After the sound of rebuilding the official road, the news of "cleaning up the deficit of the feudal treasury" and "rectifying the rule of officials" came out from the governor's palace of Ma De, and then Xu Wenyuan, a scholar in Jiangsu, was impeached and dismissed by him for accepting bribes and selling qualifications. As a result, after this incident, it didn't take long for all the voices of opposition to road construction in Jiangsu to disappear cleanly. …… Xu Wenyuan is Xu Qianxue's younger brother and Tong Guowei's person! Even the subordinates of the first minister of power in the current dynasty dare to use them as "chickens" to kill, how can those "monkey cubs" who bully the soft and fear the hard dare to mess around again?

"This silver dollar is beautifully minted!" Zhang Tingyu was still thinking about what to do with Ma De's Jiangsu officials when Kangxi suddenly spoke.

"Your Majesty, what is the use of Ma De offering this silver coin?" Hearing Kangxi's words, Tong Guowei came forward and asked.

What does Mader mean...... It seems that I want to use this silver coin to replace the scattered silver taels on the market today! Ma Qi said a little crookedly. This time, Ma De sent someone to deliver the silver coin to him again and asked him to forward it to Kangxi. As a result, this reminded him of the old things that Ma De had trouble with the two Huai salt merchants two years ago, and he was tired and tired with just one urgent document, and he hadn't finished up yet!

"Replace the scattered silver taels? Hmph, he's too whimsical, isn't he? …… How many years has silver been in circulation? Which dynasty and which generation does not use it? Aren't they all minted into silver ingots? And why bother to mint any silver coins? Tong Guowei snorted disdainfully.

"Tong Xiang, although there are silver ingots in the scattered silver on the market, there are more scattered silver taels, which often need to be weighed when used, which is very inconvenient!" Gao Shiqi said.

"So what? It's been used for many years, and the people haven't seen any disputes over this kind of thing, so why bother yourself? Tong Guowei is still not interested in this matter.

Ma De said in the recital that since the Qing Dynasty opened the sea ban, due to a large surplus in foreign trade, foreign silver dollars have entered China in large quantities. However, the fineness of those foreign silver dollars is generally below ninety, and the fineness of China's ingots and scattered silver can reach about ninety percent and eight! That is to say, when we exchange our country's silver for foreign silver dollars, we often have to discount the silver dollars by five cents to one percent, so that our country loses one or two million taels of silver every year! And it has been nearly 20 years since China opened the sea, and the losses have reached 20 or 30 million taels! So, the minting of silver dollars is already imminent! Marzie repeated what Mader had said on the recital.

"Surplus? What do you mean? Tong Guowei asked a few colleagues.

"The surplus, it seems to mean that our country in general is earning foreign silver!" Seeing that Ma Qi was a little embarrassed, Zhang Tingyu explained simply. When Mo Jing was interrogated that time, Tong Guowei was still leading the Yamen troops in the infantry army, and Ma Qi didn't know where he was, so of course it was impossible to know what this "surplus" meant.

"Okay, let's not say goodbye just yet...... What do you think of Mader's invitation to mint the coin? Should the imperial court take the right shot? Kangxi asked again.

"Your Majesty, the slave thinks it's impossible! Since the use of gold and silver has been established and the people have become accustomed to it, why bother to mint any silver dollars? What's more, this silver dollar is not big, at most one or two, if you make more, won't the loss be more? In that case, who will add this fire to? …… Therefore, the minions objected to Mader's invitation to mint coins! Tong Guowei said first.

"What about you?" Kangxi turned to the other three ministers of the upper study.

"Your Majesty, the slave thinks that what Tong Xiang just said is not unreasonable, the silver coin is small and the ingots are large, if the silver coin is minted, the loss will inevitably increase, if these fire consumption is spread to the people, the officials below take the opportunity to extort, and it is bound to become a burdensome government. However, the minions also thought that Mader's twists and turns were not wrong. The foreign silver dollar slave sent someone to check, and its fineness is indeed not as high as the silver of my Qing Dynasty, so our country will lose a lot every year in trade with foreign countries! Although Ma De's account is a bit exaggerated, it does tell the truth, and these tens of millions of taels of silver are really a bit unjust. Mazzi said.

"You said so much, do you think I should approve Mader's book?" Kangxi looked at Ma Qi with some amusement and asked.

"Slaves think that they can be cast, but they must be cautious!" Ma Qi replied with a bow.

"Hmm!" Kangxi nodded.

"Your Majesty, the minister is against coinage!" Gao Shiqi didn't wait for Kangxi's gaze to turn to his side, and immediately spoke.

"Oh? Why? Kangxi Qi said.

"Your Majesty, coinage is a great move, and I am afraid that once you approve Ma De's book, the world will be troubled!" Gao Shiqi said seriously.

"How eventful is the world? Hehe, Gao Shiqi, you're talking to me again, aren't you? Kangxi asked with a smile.

"Your Majesty, the ministers don't dare to be alarmist!" Gao Shiqi clenched his fists and said: "The minister wants to ask, what is the fineness of the silver coin offered by Ma De?" ”

"Silver accounts for eight or nine, copper is one and one, this one-dollar silver coin weighs seven coins and two cents, and the rest of the small coins are decreasing according to their discretion!" Hearing Gao Shiqi ask, Ma Qi replied.

"Seven cents and two cents? …… According to Mader, can this silver coin be used with the same weight of silver? Gao Shiqi asked again.

That's exactly what Mader meant. That's how foreign silver coins seem to be used! Mazzie replied.

"Sure enough!" Gao Shiqi nodded, turned to Kangxi and bowed and said, "Your Majesty, you must have understood what the minister meant...... Mint silver coins, and there will be a surplus of silver stripes! In other words, the minter will get more than one percent! If the whole country begins to mint coins, I am afraid that the profit will be more than 10 million taels. With such a huge profit, there must be countless people rushing to it......"

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty, Gao Shiqi's words are to the point. However, the slave thought that there were still many troubles in this coinage, and Gao Shiqi had not yet said it completely! Tong Guowei heard Gao Shiqi's remarks, and immediately followed along.

"Not quite? What do you think of again? Kangxi looked at Tong Guowei and asked.

"Your Majesty, if you allow the Mader coinage, you can't favor other provinces! As a result, the provinces flocked to the top, and the form, weight, and fineness were bound to differ, and if the gap was large, the market price of various silver coins would rise and fall, resist each other, and the circulation would not be smooth. Who will be held accountable? Tong Guowei said.

"This is simple, as long as the imperial court promulgates regulations and uniformly customizes, won't it be solved?" Ma Qi looked at Tong Guowei with some surprise and said, didn't the first minister of power think of such a simple thing?

"Easy to say! Since this silver coin has such a huge profit, it is not something that can be managed by a mere piece of law! At that time, if there are outlaws who make bad money in exchange for the money made by the imperial court, what will the imperial court do? Tong Guowei said with a raised face.

"This ......" Ma Qi was made into deep thought by Tong Guowei's words. He knew that Tong Guowei was already light, minting silver coins in less than ninety percent fineness, and under the huge profits, I am afraid that not only are lawbreakers, but I am afraid that the people in the government will also collude with these people at that time, and at that time, bad money will be flooded in the streets, and it is not only the people who receive this money that will be lost, but the court will be the biggest loss!

"Tong Xiang is right. If there are many kinds of silver coins and different fineness, it will inevitably make its market price high and low, and if there are rich merchants who manipulate it to obtain huge profits, the people will inevitably suffer from it, and the court will also suffer huge losses! Zhang Tingyu also said slowly.

"Since there are so many drawbacks, let's return this letter to Mader! …… Tell him that I can't do it! Kangxi pondered for a while and said.

"The emperor is wise!"

……

Coming out of the upper study, Ma Qi said goodbye to deal with Ma De's twists and turns, and Tong Guowei, Gao Shiqi and Zhang Tingyu went to the duty room together. Tong Guowei is the happiest person, and after returning to the duty room, he is still smiling, and occasionally laughs proudly. However, he was so happy not because he succeeded in letting Made's letter requesting minting be "killed" in the study, but because it was a rare time for him to receive more than two people in the study, and he rarely had the feeling of being the first auxiliary minister of the court. It's rare!

"Tong Xiang, don't be happy too early, Ma De is ahead of us again this time." Gao Shiqi saw that Tong Guowei's excitement was quite high, and secretly felt funny, and couldn't help but hit this guy with words.

"What about walking in the head, isn't it being dragged back again? Haha......" Tong Guowei laughed. His hostility towards Ma De is no secret, not only in front of Gao Shiqi and others, but also in front of Kangxi.

"Hehe, Tong Xiang, don't you understand? The emperor liked the silver coins offered by Ma De! Gao Shiqi said.

"What's wrong with liking? I think the silver coin is really beautiful, but so what? Tong Guowei said.

"One side of that silver coin is cast into the dragon, and the other side is cast the territory of my Qing Dynasty!" Gao Shiqi stared at Tong Guowei's eyes, and continued: "Moreover, Ma De's invitation to mint coins has not yet been announced to the world, if the emperor does not ask us but asks hundreds of officials, I dare to say that there will probably be no fewer people who support it!" Even if the courtiers don't support much, more than half of the governors of the eighteen provinces of the Qing Dynasty will support this proposal! ”

"Oh? Why? Tong Guowei asked casually.

"Of course, because you can save money and make money at the same time! Hahaha......" Gao Shiqi laughed twice, turned around and walked out of the duty room...... Today he was just called for questioning, just like Ma Qi, he was not on duty!

"Inexplicable! Tingyu, what does Gao Shiqi mean by this? Tong Guowei looked at Gao Shiqi's back, turned his head and looked at Zhang Tingyu again! Others may not know, but he knows that the youngest boy in the study and Gao Shiqi have the same opinion many times, and they have many similarities.

"What Gao Xiang means, probably means that the imperial court is short of money!" Zhang Tingyu saw Tong Guowei staring at him, so he had no choice but to say a simple word, and then lowered his head and did his own thing.

"The court is short of money?" Tong Guowei was stunned at first, and then his heart couldn't help sinking!

********

Not to mention Beijing, when Yu Zhong returned to Vladivostok, he was warmly welcomed! …… It's not just the soldiers who come forward to welcome it, and now Vladivostok is not as good as before. The families of all the officers and soldiers of the Navy Division have also been sent by Kangxi, and there are also many scattered Daur, Hezhe, Korean, Manchu, and Oroqen people who have also been attracted to it, that is to say, Vladivostok is already a large city in Manchuria with a population of more than 100,000, and now it can be compared with the scale, only Fengtian and Dalian, which is being built step by step. In addition to these three cities, Ningguta has also become a city with a population of tens of thousands under the deliberate development of Isan Ah and Shar Huda, and is expanding step by step; There is also Nebuchu, since Russia and the Netherlands withdrew from the "War for the Spanish Throne", they still did not forget to make war money, and many of their war money was exchanged for tea, silk, porcelain and other luxury goods in Nebuchu. In addition, due to its proximity to Lake Baikal and the abundance of aquatic products, more and more people went north to Nebuchu, and in addition to the "Zhangku Avenue" (Zhangjiakou to Kulun, that is, present-day Ulaanbaatar, an important trade route in the north of the Qing Dynasty), a new "Zhangni Avenue" triggered a large number of business opportunities from Zhangjiakou to the Hulunbuir grassland and then to Nebuchu.

"Why don't you stay in Japan for a little longer?" Mo Jing naturally wouldn't be excited to see the loot that Yu Zhong ordered people to carry from the boat, but she still couldn't help but laugh when she saw that Yu Zhong didn't shout with the cheering crowd, but quietly walked in front of her.

"Originally, I really wanted to take a hot spring in Japan, and then find a few chicks to play with the escort...... But then I thought about it, it wouldn't be nice if I ran into an assassin, a ninja or something, and I just grazed a wolf there, so I should be enough for them, so I'll come back first! Yu Zhong said with a smile.

"Grazing a wolf?" Mo Jing didn't seem to hear the first half of Yu Zhong's words, but was more interested in the "wolf" mentioned later.

"Yes! You say, is Nian Qianyao qualified to be this wolf? Yu Zhong then laughed.

"Hehe, you can figure it out! However, the wolf is not about 'strips', but 'only'. Mo Jing also smiled.

"It's all the same! It's all biting goods anyway! It's better to leave it at home! Yu Zhong waved his hand nonchalantly, and pulled Mo Jing into the carriage waiting on the side.

……

"Good news for you. The breech gun developed by Fei Lao is already a bit eyebrow-raising! On the carriage, Mo Jing said a new message to Zhong.

"Really?" Yu Zhong couldn't help but shout. The breech gun was more than a little more complicated than the breech gun, and it was no wonder he was so surprised.

"Fei Lao and they have already made sulfuric acid and nitric acid, and they are about to think of making nitrocellulose; Larger tonnage hydraulic presses are also being made for forging artillery barrel blanks! I don't know the specifics. …… Still, it should be enough to keep you waiting. After all, Fei Lao still has a lot of things to do! Mo Jing said again.

"It's better to wait than to wait! Alas......" Yu Zhong sighed and said, "Why didn't you say that we didn't see that Fei Lao was actually a quick temper before?" He persuades us all day long to do this, care about us that, why does he always want to eat one bite to become fat? Is he still working on his steam engine? ”

"Of course! Even if everything is stopped, this can't be stopped! Mo Jing replied.

"Understood!" Yu Zhong shook his head, thought about it and said with some amusement: "You said too, if you can get any gasoline now, will his old man go directly to build the engine?" ”

"Possibly! If it weren't really impossible, maybe his old man had already started to build intercontinental guided missiles, don't you say? Mo Jing also smiled.

"That's right! …… Still, I hope he can get the breech gun out soon. At least, don't make it so troublesome like building a mine, only to find out that you only need to change the ignition so simply! Yu Zhong said again.

"You can talk cool things, you have the ability to go by yourself!" Mo Jing slapped him and said.

"Gotcha! Am I scared? Let me do research, it's better to kill me directly! Yu Zhong said.