I, the queen and the father, start with a deer as a horse

Chapter 348 Inflation
Undoubtedly, Han Congwen also has the same idea, otherwise he would not have asked him such a question.

The two were relatively speechless.

After a long silence.

Han Congwen said with a serious face: "Don't mention this matter to anyone, let alone make it public, understand?"

Steward Sun nodded his head hastily, and said, "I understand."

"Go down."

Han Congwen waved his hand and told Steward Sun to step down.

After Steward Sun left.

He picked up the two treasure notes and looked at them carefully.

After a full stick of incense, I didn't notice any difference!

"Is it really just a coincidence?"

Han Congwen thought for a long time, and finally decided to report the matter to Mr. Ge.

The Great Wu Bank and the Great Wu Banknotes are very involved. Once something goes wrong, he cannot bear the responsibility alone!

therefore.

Han Congwen came to Wenyuan Pavilion in the palace with the booklet recording the flow of Dawu Bank and the two identical banknotes.

"Old Hu Ge."

Han Congwen looked at Hu Song, who had white hair and an old face, with a respectful attitude.

Hu Song sat on the grand teacher's chair, like a statue, raised his eyes to look at Han Congwen, and said calmly, "Why are you so flustered?"

Han Congwen has always been prudent in his work, but this time he came to visit, his gestures were flustered, which shows that something big must have happened.

Han Congwen did not expect that Mr. Hu Ge could see his inner state at a glance. There was a touch of surprise on his face, followed by admiration, and he expressed his concerns.

"In the case of Huige Lao, the students discovered in the past two days that there may be counterfeit banknotes circulating in the market."

The voice fell.

Hu Song still looked like Mount Tai collapsed in front of him without changing his face, and said calmly, "What evidence is there?"

"For Mr. Huige, one is that someone found two identical banknotes, even with the same serial number, and the other is that the current flow of Dawu Bank is very different from usual in the past few days."

Han Congwen said, and handed the brochures and banknotes to Hu Song.

After Hu Song stretched out his hand to take it, he opened it for a few glances, and said leisurely: "The imperial court has clearly ordered that anyone who forges treasure banknotes will be executed everywhere. Since you think someone is forging, find out the person behind it and hand it over to the Ministry of Punishment. "

"This"

Han Congwen didn't expect Hu Song to give him such a perfunctory reply. He was startled for a while, and then hesitated.

He knew that Mr. Hu Ge said that because he didn't know enough about Baochao.

So, he explained: "Mr. Ge, if one of the two banknotes is a forgery, it means that the person who forged the banknotes is highly skilled, not inferior to the imperial court. People with such skills will never be ordinary people." People, and this person is hidden behind the scenes, it is really not easy to find.

Secondly, if this matter is true, even if the counterfeiter is to be arrested, it should be done in secret. Otherwise, if the common people know that there is someone in the world who can make exactly the same imitation as the treasure banknote, the people will no longer trust the treasure banknote. money.

In the end, based on the flow of the past few days, the amount of treasure banknotes forged by the forgers is huge, even no less than the number of treasure banknotes printed by workshops!
If according to the rules of the imperial court, one tael of treasure banknotes was exchanged for one tael of silver, and five taels of treasure bills were exchanged for one tael of gold, within two years, even the gold and silver in the treasury would not be enough to exchange. "

These words informed Hu Song of the seriousness of the counterfeiting of treasure notes.

To sum it up in one sentence, if you don't catch the counterfeiters earlier, or don't come up with a way to deal with it earlier, the court will soon fall into chaos!
When Hu Song heard Han Congwen's analysis, his expression finally changed.

With a serious expression, he said: "Since that's the case, let's handle the investigation quickly. The Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and Yamen of Gusu Prefecture will cooperate with you."

"Yes, Mr. Ge."

Han Congwen cupped his hands, and wanted to ask how the court should deal with the forgery of the banknotes if the person could not be caught.

However, after thinking about it, as the president of Dawu Bank, he should think about how to deal with it.

Now that this matter is directly handed over to Elder Ge, what will Elder Ge think of him?

Thinking of this.

He finally chose to remain silent, and after saluting, he turned and left.

the next few days.

Under careful attention.

Steward Sun found some abnormal banknotes and sent them all to Han Congwen.

And Han Congwen began to cooperate with the police from the Ministry of Punishment and the government to investigate the source of these treasures.

Undoubtedly, the result was nothing.

Most of these treasures have passed through the hands of several people, and the source cannot be found at all.

There are also some precious banknotes, which are used by merchants from other countries for transactions.

There are backers behind the objects of the transaction.

If you want to get to the bottom of it, you will inevitably be hindered.

therefore.

Been busy for half a month.

Instead of shrinking, the ratio of exchanging banknotes to gold and silver has been further expanded.

According to this ratio, even within two years, the gold and silver in the treasury will be completely exchanged!

The head office of Dawu Bank.

Han Congwen sat on the chair, closed his eyes and meditated, with the word haggard written all over his face.

In order to deal with the counterfeit banknotes, he almost lived in the yamen of the head office.

Even so, there is still no clue.

It's getting worse.

Let the situation continue, sooner or later, a crisis will erupt in Da Wu.

"What should I do?"

Han Congwen opened his eyes, with a hint of despair in his expression.

at this time.

There was a sudden knock on the door.

"Enter."

Han Congwenqiang cheered up, looked at the door, and said.

The door opened slowly.

Steward Sun appeared in front of Han Congwen.

Seeing Guanshi Sun, Han Congwen's eyes lit up, and he asked, "But there's been progress on the treasure banknote?"

When Steward Sun heard this question, a look of shame appeared on his face, and he shook his head lightly.

Seeing this, Han Congwen sighed in his heart, his expression returned to normal, and he asked, "What's the matter?"

Steward Sun walked up to Han Congwen, showing hesitation, hesitant to speak.

Seeing this, Han Congwen felt more and more irritable. He frowned and said, "Just say what you have. What happened?"

Guanshi Sun then said: "My lord, I want to ask my lord, can I ask the old man for instructions to give us officials of the Great Wu Bank a raise in salary."

As soon as this word comes out.

Han Congwen's eyes widened with disbelief.

For a moment, he thought he was hallucinating.

The people under him actually asked for a salary increase for no reason?
There is such a thing in the world?

"What did you say?"

Han Congwen looked at Guanshi Sun, wanting to make sure that he didn't have auditory hallucinations.

Guanshi Sun hesitated for a moment, but still made up his mind, and said, "My lord, this is not just the idea of ​​the lower official, but the idea of ​​everyone. They dare not tell the lord, so let the lower official say it."

Hearing this, Han Congwen took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

However, what happened during this period made him unable to calm down no matter what.

"If you can find out the person who forged the banknotes, let alone give you a salary increase, even if it is to give you all the official's salary! This official will not say a word!"

at last.

Han Congwen could no longer restrain his emotions, he stood up suddenly from his chair, slapped the table, and growled.

Steward Sun had already expected such a result.

Therefore, he was neither surprised nor terrified, but said with a face of embarrassment: "My lord, it's not that the lower officials are making trouble for no reason, it's really that the current salary is not enough to support the family."

Hearing this, Han Congwen became even more angry, and almost gritted his teeth: "What? How many concubines have you taken in recently? With the same salary, you could support them before, but now you can't?"

Guanshi Sun was taken aback when he heard what Han Congwen said, but then he seemed to realize something, and his expression became a little strange.

"Don't adults know?"

"Do not know what is this?"

Han Congwen frowned and asked.

Steward Sun was silent for a few seconds, and said, "Your Excellency, haven't you been to a restaurant in the past few days?"

Hearing this, Han Congwen got angry, patted the table again, and said angrily: "I am so busy with counterfeiting banknotes that I live in the yamen all day long. How can I look like you? Feel free to go to the restaurant!"

When Steward Sun heard this, he hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, I misunderstood. What I mean is that if you have been to a restaurant, you will know that the prices of many things are very different from before. If you don't say anything else, let's talk about the most basic rice. , the rice in our Gusu used to be priced at one tael of silver per stone, but now, in just one month, it has risen to two taels of silver per stone!"

As soon as this word comes out.

Han Congwen was stunned for a moment.

Two taels of silver and one stone of rice is almost higher than the price of grain in the three northern countries!

"How could this be?"

Han Congwen frowned and asked.

But I was guessing in my heart, could it be because there was going to be a war with Qianguo?

Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Guanshi Sun say:
"I don't know what the reason is, not only the price of food, but also the price of all items bought on the market have almost doubled!"

Speaking of this, Manager Sun couldn't help sighing, and said helplessly: "The price of things has doubled, but the salary has remained the same, which is equivalent to cutting the original salary in half.

The lower official is the seventh grade, the salary is not much, it is already difficult to support the family in this Gusu Mansion, there is no food at all, now the salary is reduced by half, it is really hard to even eat. "

"My lord, it's not that lower officials are unreasonable, it's just that there are children in the family to support, and the salary does not increase, and the whole family of lower officials will only be able to drink northwest wind next month."

When Steward Sun said this, thinking of the situation he was about to face, he almost burst into tears.

Han Congwen frowned when he heard this, and fell into a long silence.

As the president of Dawu Bank, before taking office, he went to Qianguo to inquire about it.

The president of the Royal Bank of China, what books do he like to read on weekdays.

He also spent a lot of money to buy a copy from Zhufengxuan in Chang'an, Qianguo.

This situation is exactly the same as the so-called "inflation" mentioned in that book!
There is no doubt that today's Dawu is facing very serious inflation!

Think about the possible consequences of inflation.

Han Congwen felt a chill sweeping through his whole body.

At this moment, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave!
"My lord, Guanshi Zhao, Guanshi Liu said that if their salaries are not increased, they will not be able to survive. When the time comes, they will have to do other things to subsidize their families. I hope your lord will allow it."

"Besides, my lord may not know that in Gusu Mansion, except for the officials in the yamen, most of the rest of the places have raised wages, not much, but better than nothing, that is, the odd jobs in the restaurant, the waiter , and wages have also been raised.”

Steward Sun's voice continued to ring out.

Han Congwen couldn't listen to a single word.

I was in a trance for a while.

He finally came back to his senses, looked at Steward Sun, and said with a serious face: "Hurry up and prepare the horse, I want to enter the palace to see the old man!"

When Steward Sun heard this, he thought that Han Congwen had finally agreed to the request for a salary increase, his face was beaming with joy, and he hurriedly said, "Your officer, let's go prepare now!"

Wu Kingdom Palace.

Wenyuan Pavilion.

Han Congwen told Hu Song exactly what happened during this period and what inflation is.

Hu Song sat on the grand teacher's chair, his expression still did not change much.

After a long silence, he asked, "How to solve it?"

Han Congwen also fell silent when he heard this question.

After a while, he gritted his teeth and plucked up his courage and said, "Old Huige said that the best way to solve my great Wu's inflation is to temporarily reduce the issuance of treasure notes, but the crux of the problem is that someone is forging money on a large scale. Treasure notes.

Even if the imperial court did not issue a single treasure note, a large amount of treasure notes flowed into the people, and whether it was gold, silver, grain, or other objects, they would all fall into the hands of those who forged the treasure notes. "

Speaking of this, he paused, took a deep breath, and continued:

"As for who is forging the banknotes, the lower officials, together with the police from the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple and the government office, have been investigating for more than half a month, but there is still no clue.

Therefore, the officials speculated that the counterfeit banknotes were printed by the Qian Kingdom court!
Because in the whole world, only the imperial court of Qian Kingdom has the ability to print treasure banknotes that can be faked, and only the imperial court of Qian State has the ability to eat so much gold, silver and supplies! "

The voice fell.

Hu Song fell silent again.

After a while, he slowly opened his eyes, glanced at the side room, and said, "What do you think about this matter?"

Han Congwen was startled, and looked subconsciously.

Then I saw a young man with a big belly coming out.

It is the result of Hu Song's old age and son, Hu Shifan.

When Hu Shifan was an envoy, he went on a mission to the country and caused a lot of trouble, and he himself became crazy, and from time to time he would say a sentence or two that people could not understand.

In a blink of an eye, three or four years passed.

Hu Shifan has returned to normal, and has been promoted from the original fifth rank to the third rank.

From Uwai Lang, a member of the Ministry of Rites, to a servant of the Ministry of Households.

It is not unpleasant to advance.

However, with the support of Hu Song, the chief assistant of the cabinet, no one dared to say anything.

In particular, the emperor of Wu State once praised Hu Shifan for his intelligence, the talent of the head of the household department, and the pillar of the court, so no one dared to say anything.

"Father, I think Master Han is right."

Hu Shifan walked to Han Congwen's side, gritted his teeth and said, "Forging banknotes must be done by the court of the Qian Kingdom! Such insidious and cunning, not to mention martial ethics, only the Prime Minister of the Qian Kingdom, Fang Xiu, can do it! "

(End of this chapter)