Ji Han Liu Zhang

In the sixth year of Jian’an, it was March in late spring.

Although the spring in Guanzhong does not have the scene of lush grass, growing flowers on trees, and flocks of warblers flying around as in the south of the Yangtze River, it is spring after all, and there are still spring scenes. Everywhere you look, everything is growing and full of vitality.

Chang'an, Qin Palace.

It was the spring planting season, and Liu Zhang had no intention of going against the farming season, so he did not make any big moves at the moment.

If there was any, it was that the Liangzhou Shaodang tribe showed signs of rebellion. At present, Gan Ning was the commander-in-chief, and the governors Meng Da, Li Xiu and others were going to quell the rebellion. The other generals only led their own troops, a total of 6,000 people, which was only a small fight and not a large-scale battle.

It is well known that the Qiang tribe rebelled.

In most cases, the reason for the Qiang tribe's rebellion was that they were not used to the customs of the Han area, which conflicted with the orders of the government. The two sides were talking at cross purposes, which often led to rifts.

Therefore, when there was disharmony between the Han and Qiang people, it only took one or two people who were happy to see trouble happen to take advantage of the situation and fan the flames, which would lead to chaos and war.

This time, the Shaodang tribe was planning a rebellion, which was very different from the usual Qiang rebellions. It could be called a rebellion of the people forced by the officials.

Earlier, after Liu Zhang marched into Liang Province and defeated Han Sui, Song Jian and other Han warlords, he took advantage of the military power gained from the great victory to launch an all-round targeted attack on several powerful Qiang tribes in Liang Province.

Among the Qiang tribe, those who surrendered had to pay taxes and provide soldiers.

Collecting taxes from the Qiang tribe can weaken its savings. Without sufficient food and fodder, the Qiang tribe's reproduction and growth will be curbed. In addition, since soldiers cannot survive without food, the Qiang tribe will have less capital to cause chaos.

Recruiting soldiers from the Qiang tribe and using them to fight on the battlefield was a blatant policy of reducing the population. If the Qiang people who were able to fight died or were injured, the Qiang tribe would no longer be able to achieve anything. This was the experience of the imperial rulers of later generations.

As for the tribes within the Qiang tribe that refused to submit, Liu Zhang adopted a fast-fighting rhythm and adopted Xiahou Yuan's tactics, sweeping across all the Qiang people in one wave. The strong men were killed, and the women and children were sent to the army, effectively eliminating and weakening the number of Qiang people in Liang Province.

As a final measure, Liu Zhang borrowed the methods used by the Qing Dynasty to train and rule the Mongols, winning over the upper class, dividing the middle class, and oppressing the lower class.

As for the nobles among the Qiang people, most of them were detained and lived in the residences of the barbarians in Chang'an, and the Qiang leaders were separated from their own people. At the same time, the Qiang tribe was divided, that is, the large tribe was divided into small tribes, and the tribe was scattered and handed over to the small leaders in the Qiang tribe to raise their status.

Afterwards, each small Qiang tribe was assigned a designated area to live in and was not allowed to migrate or relocate at will. Their every move was strictly controlled. In addition, the movements of the Qiang tribe were kept under tight control through caravans and spies.

With such a multi-pronged approach, the original large Qiang army was divided into small groups. Even if a small leader wanted to cause chaos, he could only gather a thousand Qiang soldiers at most, unlike in the past when there would often be tens of thousands of people causing chaos.

Moreover, the movements of the Qiang tribe were closely watched by the caravans and spies. If there was any disturbance, the officials of the prefectures and counties would get the news in advance and take precautions early.

Just like this time, Shaodang's tribe had not yet started a rebellion, but the undercurrent surging in the tribe had already been reported to Liu Zhang, so Liu Zhang ordered Gan Ning to go and quell the rebellion.

As a result, the Qiang tribe, which used to be as wild as wolves, became as obedient as a dog in Liu Zhang's hands. When they saw Liu Zhang, they wagged their tails wildly to express their utmost loyalty, in order to avoid angering Liu Zhang and ending up with the extermination of their clan and the death of their people.

No matter how ferocious a wolf is, with proper training, its loyal dog nature will eventually be revealed.

With Gan Ning on his way to conquer the Shaodang tribe, Liu Zhang put aside his worries about the Shaodang tribe. With Gan Ning around, the Shaodang tribe could not escape Gan Ning's Five Fingers Mountain even if they changed a thousand ways. At that moment, Liu Zhang focused his eyes and looked at a golden copper coin on the table in front of him.

The copper coin is round on the outside and square on the inside, and its specifications are roughly similar to those of the Wuzhu coin, except that the surface has clear lines and patterns. At first glance, it gives people the impression of being a well-made, high-quality coin.

As for the words written on the copper coin, they are the four characters "Jian'an Tong Bao".

Although it is just a small copper coin on the table, it represents Liu Zhang's determination to rectify the monetary system.

It should be noted that since Dong Zhuo minted small coins, Guanzhong has not used currency for a long time, and the currency for transactions is mostly grain and cloth. This is because grain and cloth have a long shelf life and are necessary materials for life, so grain and cloth have replaced the transaction attributes of currency.

However, there are many inconveniences in trading grain and cloth, because there are old and new grains, and the quality of cloth varies, some are thick and some are thin.

When trading grain or cloth, both buyers and sellers need to be careful and cautious. As a result, the transaction costs are high, which is greatly disadvantageous to business development.

Therefore, Liu Zhang planned to promote the currency transaction method to reduce transaction costs and promote commercial prosperity.

In order to promote currency, we need a currency that is recognized by both scholars and common people. It must be of superior quality, better than the old five-zhu coins, and have a clear style so that scholars and common people can identify it easily.

Therefore, the 'Jian'an Tong Bao' on the table in front of Liu Zhang was officially produced.

At the moment, there is only one copper coin placed in front of Liu Zhang, but there are millions of copper coins made during the same period.

However, compared with the number of coins required for private transactions, millions of copper coins are just like a hair on an ox, and are far from being able to replace grain and cloth and become the mainstream transaction currency.

"At least 10 billion." Liu Zhang pondered secretly and gave a number of copper coins required.

Hundreds of billions of copper coins require a huge amount of copper materials.

Fortunately, Liu Zhang now controls Bashu. Shu is rich in copper mines. Nanzhong is a virgin land rich in gold, silver, copper and iron. Since Liu Zhang settled Nanzhong, the mines in Nanzhong are being explored and developed in an orderly manner.

Liu Zhang certainly had no shortage of copper materials, but the speed of coin minting needed to be increased, otherwise it would not be able to meet the strong demand for currency among the people, and there would be a shortage of copper coins in the market.

Speaking of which, compared to copper coins, gold and silver, due to its scarcity, gold can only exist as a high-value currency and cannot and is unlikely to become a daily currency.

Silver is more valuable than copper coins and has a natural advantage in large transactions. Therefore, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, silver became the mainstream currency and copper coins became subsidiary currencies.

Therefore, when it comes to currency, silver should be given priority. Unfortunately, there are few silver mines in China. Most of the silver flowed in from overseas through trade during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. With the amount of silver Liu Zhang has now, it is far from enough for trading.

Therefore, Liu Zhang planned to promote copper coins as the main currency, while gold and silver were used as high-value subsidiary coins to reward officials and soldiers. After all, gold and silver, compared with copper coins, can inspire the morale and fighting power of officials. (End of this chapter)