I studied in modern times

Chapter 677: Exchange of Old for New
In the following two days, Liang Ziqing, on behalf of Liang Yibu, had close exchanges and negotiations with the Xihe side at the foot of Huichuan City.

Finally, the two sides reached an agreement and each took a step back.

For every two people, Xihe gave an extra dou of rice and a bundle of hay.

Immediately, Liang Yibu could not wait to send people to transfer the first batch of Qiang people to Xihe Road in the direction of Huichuan.

They were all selected women and children, and basically, they were either injured or sick, or over 30 years old.

However, Xihe accepted everything.

And according to the agreement, they paid the required iron money, grain and hay.

When Liang Yibu saw the hundreds of strings of coins made of fine iron that were placed in front of him, he was immediately overjoyed.

Immediately, he announced that all the Tangut militiamen who lost livestock in this battle could receive due compensation in accordance with the laws of Emperor Jingzong.

At the same time, those killed and wounded in battle will also receive compensation.

Moreover, he immediately paid the first batch of compensation.

More than a dozen small Dangxiang tribes that lost livestock in this war received the prescribed compensation.

Of course, he paid with iron money.

The iron money just sent by Xihe.

Those small tribes were overjoyed when they received the compensation.

Although the actual value of this iron coin in Western Xia was far lower than the official value.

But after all, I got compensation and at least I can spend it.

At the same time, Liang Yibu ordered craftsmen in the military camp to melt about ten strings of fine iron coins.

The result is - it is indeed made of fine iron, and the quality is quite high, basically meeting the requirements of wart armor!
Liang Yibu was overjoyed!
Without caring about much else, he started the transaction with Xihe at the foot of Maxian Mountain.

……

South Gate Fort.

Wang Dafu led his guards and finally returned to the fortress they had not visited for a long time.

His immediate superior, Xiang Zongji, the military commander of Nanguan Fort, and officials from Nanguan Fort came to greet him on the official road in front of Nanguan Fort.

Wang Dafu dismounted when he saw Xiang Zongji, and stepped forward to kowtow. “I am General Wang Dafu, and I have been ordered to lead the army back to my prefecture. I have come to surrender the order to you!”

"Big Axe!" As soon as they met, Xiang Zongji patted the lucky general's shoulder vigorously, then pulled him up, looked him up and down, and praised: "You really made me proud this time!"

"Even the king's uncle asked me about your background and origins!"

This time, Nanguanbao sent out a group of baojia soldiers to rush to the aid of Guzhou.

This Du Bao beheaded forty enemies and captured more than a hundred enemies.

More importantly, Wang Dafu led his troops to attack Gui Zhang's troops on the battlefield.

The iron mace in his hand makes him look so powerful and majestic, leaving a deep impression on people!

The Western Army has always valued iron maces and liked hand-to-hand combat.

Naturally, we value such brave generals and warriors very much.

If Xiang Zongji had not firmly rejected the requests of several people who wanted to transfer Wang Dafu to their side.

Wang Dafu should have received the transfer order by now.

When Wang Dafu heard Xiang Zongji's praise, he said quickly, "It was all thanks to the promotion and cultivation of the imperial guard. Without the imperial guard, how could I be where I am today?"

This is the truth!

Among the imperial guards of Bianjing, there were more warriors who were good at using iron maces and heavy axes, including Wang Da Axe.

But those people were not as lucky as Wang Dafu, who met Xiang Zongji, a member of the Xiang family who was willing to appreciate and promote him.

Xiang Zongji burst into laughter after hearing what Wang Dafu said.

This is exactly why he favors Wang Dafu.

Know everything about him, be honest and loyal, be simple and have a clean background.

He is the most suitable person for promotion and appointment.

So, Xiang Zongji took Wang Dafu's hand and said, "Dafu, there is no need to be modest. This time, Dafu led the army to help Kuzhou and made great military achievements. I have already reported it to the Jinglüe Division. I believe that Dafu's name will appear in the hands of the officials in the right selection of Bianjing soon..."

"I have already asked someone to help Dafu at the Ministry of Personnel. Once the documents from the Ministry of Military Affairs arrive, the officials in charge of the Ministry of Personnel will use the seal. Then, Dafu should prepare and return to Beijing to attend the selection next year!"

Wang Dafu listened and was immediately grateful.

The Right Selection of the Ministry of Personnel was reformed from the former Sanbanyuan.

As a native of Bian Jing, how could Wang Dafu not know about the procrastination and corruption of the Sanbanyuan?

In the past, people in Bian Jing used to say: The herdsmen eat excrement, and the three shifts eat incense.

The meaning is very clear - the Qunmusi makes money by selling manure, and the Sanbanyuan makes money by selling incense!
The so-called selling incense refers to the cost of incense, candles and lamp oil.

This is because, during festivals, the Sanbanyuan needed to give alms to monks in the capital and pray for the officials.

The expenses for donations and prayers could not be paid by the officials of the Sanbanyuan themselves; instead, they were borne by the middle and low-level military officials who were waiting for selection or guarding the palace in the capital.

That’s it. Most people don’t even have the chance to donate money to the Third Class Courtyard!

Today, although the Sanbanyuan has been abolished, the Right Selection Office of the Ministry of Personnel is almost a replica of the Sanbanyuan.

If Xiang Zongji doesn't help him, he will probably have to stay in the capital for the next three to five years.

Listening to Wang Dafu's words of thanks and seeing his sincere expression, Xiang Zongji was extremely satisfied and said, "Dafu has made me proud this time, and I am also honored to have one year less of probation! I will not treat Dafu unfairly!"

As the military commander of Nanguan Fort, Xiang Zongji has never been on the battlefield, but he has always been in Nanguan Fort.

But he can still share part of the credit, and at least he can reduce his trial by one year!
Of course, this is actually a subsection.

He was asking his family to reduce his probation by one year, which was nothing!
For Xiang Zongji, the real key is to seize the time and promote the official status of Wang Dafu, his confidant.

Wang Dafu is currently serving as a temporary envoy in the third shift, the lowest rank among minor envoys.

But he rose to the top through military merit. Even if he made more military achievements and made some efforts now, he would not be able to become an ambassador.

But there is still a chance to be promoted three levels in a row, and to jump directly from the third shift to the left shift palace guard.

If this is the case, Xiang Zongji feels that before he leaves office, he still has a chance to train this personal soldier who has followed him from Bian Jing to Hebei and then to Xihe into the future military commander of Nanguanbao.

In this way, he could follow Xiang Zong back to the court and go to the three yamen in Bian Jing to drink tea.

The cotton farm interests in Nanguanbao, which belong to him, are still stable.

Maybe it can develop further!

It's just a pity -

Xiang Zongji sighed in his heart: "Dafu has a wife!"

"Otherwise I must choose a wife for him from among the tribe."

The nobles always use marriages to win over and retain the lower classes.

The relationship between relatives by marriage is the most stable and reliable of all relationships.

However, it doesn't matter.

Wang Dafu has a wife, but his two sons can still be trained.

The Xiang family doesn't have much else, but there are many daughters in the collateral relatives' families.

Thinking of this, Xiang Zongji took Wang Dafu, the officials of Nanguan Fort, and the victorious militia soldiers and entered Nanguan Fort.

Afterwards, there was a banquet and celebration which lasted until the night.

That night, Xiang Zongji deliberately took Wang Dafu to stay in his house in Nanguanbao. After the guests left, Xiang Zongji took out a palm-sized piece of Chupi paper from his arms and handed it to Wang Dafu: "Dafu, your 100 acres of cotton field have been harvested."

"We picked about 1,500 kilograms of cotton bolls in total. The Border Defense Finance Department's cotton collection station bought each kilogram of cotton boll at a price of 100 coins, so we made a total of 150,000 yuan!"

"This is a withdrawal slip issued by the Finance Department. Dafu can go to the Xizhou government office to collect the money at any time!"

Wang Dafu took the brown paper handed to Zongji. This kind of paper was standard official paper with words written on it, which meant that the cotton collection office of the Border Finance Department had received 1,500 kilograms of cotton bolls from Wang Dafu, the third shift's borrowed official in Didao, worth 150,000 yuan. Wang Dafu, the third shift's borrowed official in Didao, could take this document and official token to any government office in Xihe Road to collect the cotton bolls.

Wang Dafu stroked the smooth brown paper in his hand excitedly.

One hundred and fifty thousand! ?
This is about two hundred strings of coins.

And he only planted one hundred acres of cotton fields this year!
One hundred acres of land, with an average income of nearly two strings of cash per acre of cotton!
There was only one place in the Song Dynasty that had such high land output - the vegetable garden in Bianjing City.

And he now has a total of 600 acres of land, if he plants cotton on all of it next year.

That’s one thousand two hundred strings of cash a year!

One thousand two hundred strings of cash!
Even in the city of Bianjing, it was a huge sum of money!

"I remember that my brother dreamed of marrying a county lady..."

"In the capital nowadays, the bride price for a county lady is about 2,000 strings of cash..."

"In about two years, I can earn enough money to marry a county lady!"

Unfortunately, there was no news of his younger brother Wang Daqiang.

I don’t know what’s going on with him in Guangxi.
Are you still happy?
Thinking of this, Wang Dafu suddenly became melancholy.

He has only one younger brother, but fate has played such a trick on him that they are now separated from each other and he doesn't even know whether he is alive or dead.

Wang Dafu was feeling melancholy, so Xiang Zongji lowered his voice and said to him, "Oh, Dafu!"

"Xiang and Gao, the two uncles-in-law, will order all states to post notices to let the people know that the old iron coins will be replaced with new ones!"

"In the past, the states of Xihe had iron coins, which could be exchanged at the government offices."

"Our Nanguanbao can also be considered a place for exchange..."

"After Dafu returns, he can use new iron coins to buy old iron coins from the public. After the government announces it, he can transport them to Nanguanbao..."

As he spoke, Xiang Zongji took out a brand new iron coin and put it into Wang Dafu's hand.

Wang Dafu knew as soon as he touched it that this was the iron coin that was issued in Xihe Road this year.

The weight and size of this iron coin are exactly the same as the old coins.

There is only one difference - it is free of impurities and can be directly melted into iron, and then cast into farm tools, weapons, etc.

Therefore, this new iron coin became widely popular as soon as it appeared.

Officials, common people and employees were all willing to accept and use it.

Not to mention the Tibetans and Qiang people.

Wang Dafu touched the iron coin in his hand and looked at Xiang Zongji with an expression of disbelief.

This is something the government has never done before.

Having grown up in Bianjing, he was very familiar with the ways of the Song government—it was OK for the government to take advantage of the people, but it was not OK for the people to take advantage of the government!
Not to mention other things, how many times has the tea-making method been changed?
Each time a reform was introduced, it was either because the tea merchants and tea growers complained and refused to grow or buy tea, or because the imperial court felt that all the huge copper coins were being made by the merchants and tea growers, and thus felt unbalanced and turned the table.

When will the government be willing to suffer losses and give benefits to the people?

Xiang Zongji looked at Wang Dafu's expression and smiled, saying, "This is the benevolent policy of the current government!"

"The emperor of this world follows the teachings of benevolence, righteousness, loyalty and forgiveness, and comforts the people of the four seas and extends his kindness to the world. He can be said to be the most holy and benevolent!"

As a member of the Xiang family, Xiang Zongji certainly knew the inside story.

The minor officials in Bianjing City value reputation the most.

Especially on coins!

Therefore, when the new iron coins came out this year, His Majesty had already intended to exchange the old ones for new ones in Xihe.

Use new iron coins to buy back old iron coins from the public.

However, due to various reasons, it could not be implemented at that time, so the only option was to use both new and old iron coins.

Now, the time is finally ripe!
The iron coins minted in the various states of Xihe Road over the past few decades amount to at least tens of millions of strings!

The government has already ordered a buyback of all of them!
They also used the iron coins to redeem the Qiang people who had been forcibly conscripted and abducted by the Dangxiang people.

In this way, the court's iron coins will have credibility and the people will be happy to use them.

The old iron coins will not be wasted. They will flow into the Western bandits' country and push up domestic prices.

The most important thing is that these old iron coins can also bring a large amount of labor to Xihe.

At the same time, it can also declare to the Qiang tribes that the Emperor of the Song Dynasty has not forgotten their kindness and grace!
It’s a win-win situation for all parties!
However, Xiang Zongji would not tell Wang Dafu about these things.

Wang Dafu listened and nodded with relief.

The government officials of Bian Jing?

That is indeed a good official!

I heard that he loved the people like his own children, and put the people's food and clothing first! Even in Xizhou, he had heard of the official's reputation for benevolence and holiness.

So Wang Dafu said, "I understand! I will collect the money when I get back."

This is to give him money.

Wang Dafu remembered that before he led his troops to leave Nanguanbao, the exchange rate between new and old money in Nanguanbao was already three to one.

It takes three old coins to exchange for one new coin.

But now the imperial court wants to buy back old money from the people, and the exchange rate is one to one.

The arbitrage space here is unimaginable!

but……

Wang Dafu thought for a moment and said to Xiang Zongji: "Qianxia, ​​I am a bit stupid... so I have a stupid idea... I am afraid of polluting Qinxia's ears..."

"Ok?"

"I want to use the new money to exchange for money with the hired workers on my farm according to the court's laws..."

"This way, they will be more diligent..."

"Besides, these people don't have much old money..."

Wang Dafu remembered his younger brother Daqiang. When he was working as a porter at the stacking yard in Bianjing City, his catchphrase was often: I will do as much work as you are paid!

Those employers who suppress or deduct wages.

People like his brother will immediately make the employer realize how dangerous the world is.

After all, they were also in danger of losing their lives, so they were not afraid of fighting with those merchants in silk clothes.

Xiang Zongji listened and his eyes gradually brightened.

Then he looked at Wang Dafu and said, "Dafu, you are really my lucky general!"

"If I didn't have the axe, I would have almost lost the big picture!"

"I must report this to my uncle immediately!"

The cotton farms in Xihe are, after all, covered with a layer of hired labor.

If you have this piece of skin, you have to be polite and make appropriate concessions to increase the enthusiasm and sense of belonging of your employees.

(End of this chapter)