Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 463 Currency Reform
"The power is really good!"

Zhao Xing turned around and looked at Cao Mian and said, "You did a good job this time."

"I didn't do anything. It was all done by the craftsmen, especially Chen Kui, who were often so busy that they forgot to eat and sleep." Cao Mian said.

"No need to be modest."

Zhao Xing waved his hand and smiled, "I heard that you have been staying in the Firearms Bureau for a long time and have not returned home to visit your parents, wife and children. I am sorry. Go back and have a good rest for a few days. There is no need to do this in the future. My uncle must have gone to my mother to complain about me."

Ever since the last mistake, the Firearms Prison moved to a farther place. Cao Mian has been staying in the Firearms Prison and has not even returned home.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Cao Mian knew that what happened last time was over.

Zhao Xing looked at Chen Kui and said, "You have made a great contribution this time. Is there anything you want?"

"These are the ideas provided by Your Majesty. I dare not take credit for them." Chen Kui bowed.

"Even if there is no merit, there will be a hard prison."

Zhao Xing waved his hand and said, "How about this, I will reward you with a thousand acres of good farmland, and the participants will be rewarded with 100 to 10 acres according to their contributions. Cao Mian, you will draft the specifics."

"Yes!" Cao Mian responded quickly.

Zhao Xing looked at Chen Kui, who was delighted, and said, "If you can build a cannon for me, I will make you an official."

"Your Majesty, don't worry. I will definitely build the cannon!" Chen Kui said firmly.

No matter what kind of official position it is, it is a huge temptation for people like Chen Kui who come from the lower class.

"Okay, you go back."

Zhao Xing looked at the bronze tube in Chen Kui's hand, shook his head, and gave up the idea of ​​staying to play.

Although the muskets at that time were a bit crude, most men had no resistance to them.

But a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Zhao Xing now controls the world, and it would be troublesome if anything went wrong.

"Your Majesty, urgent news has arrived from the north."

Sanshui hurried over with an unopened letter in his hand.

Zhao Xing took it and started reading. When he saw the contents of the letter, his face darkened.

"Gu Tingyu actually guessed it right. What a waste of such a talented person." Zhao Xing sighed.

This letter was sent back by Li Ge, saying that Yelu Chongyuan seemed to have been in secret contact with Empress Dowager Xiao recently, which was why he had not agreed to the conditions of the Song Dynasty.

In order to increase credibility, Li Ge also stated the source of the information in the letter.

Both Yelu Chongyuan and Zhao Xing had actually guessed that Li Ge was able to get along with both of them.

However, the two of them needed such a person, so they didn't reveal it.

Normally, Li Ge would not have known this kind of news unless the news had already spread.

But if that were the case, the news would be of little value.

The reason why Li Ge knew this was because he learned it through Yelu Chongyuan’s son Nerugu.

Years ago, Nerugu was sent as an envoy to the Song Dynasty. He said in front of Zhao Xing that if the roads were smooth, 200,000 war horses would not be a problem.

Zhao Xing deliberately took it seriously, and later Li Ge met with Zhao Xing and negotiated the number to 50,000.

Although Yelu Chongyuan never agreed after returning, Li Ge also helped Nerugu a lot.

In addition, Li Ge deliberately tried to curry favor with him, so Nerugu trusted him more.

Li Ge only learned the news after Nerugu let it slip after drinking.

Before this, Zhao Xing had never thought about the possibility of cooperation between Empress Dowager Xiao and Yelu Chongyuan, but Gu Tingyu had mentioned this possibility in his analysis of the situation in Western Xia and Liao before his death.

In fact, Zhao Xing had thought of this possibility after hearing the news coming from the Liao Kingdom after the New Year.

Years later, Empress Dowager Xiao appointed Yelu Yixin as regent and allowed him to share government affairs with her.

After Yelu Yixin became the regent, he did not get along well with Empress Dowager Xiao. Instead, he placed his own cronies in the court.

Although Empress Xiao was unwilling, Yelu Yixin was too powerful and she had to give in again and again. But this was not a solution either. Once Yelu Yixin completely controlled the court, Empress Xiao and her son would become puppets.

For Empress Dowager Xiao, the choice was either to accept her fate or to seek external help.

But when Gu Tingyu died, none of these things had happened yet, but he had calculated all of this, which shows his talent.

But from this point of view, Gu Tingyu's talent is enough to become a general or a prime minister.

However, this matter is a good thing for the Song Dynasty. Yelu Chongyuan and Empress Dowager Xiao have joined forces. There will be more unrest in the Liao Kingdom in the future, so whether Yelu Chongyuan provides war horses or not is secondary.

……

On March 18th of the first year of Xuanwu, Zhao Xing offered sacrifices at the Taimiao and officially conferred the title of eldest son Zhao Yong, who had only been his eldest son for over a month, as the eldest son.

After enthroning the crown prince, Zhao Xing sent Duke Ying to the north to take charge.

Now that the weather has warmed up and after the spring plowing, the construction of the Great Wall in the north will continue. Someone must be there to prevent attacks from the Liao State.

After the Duke of Ying left, Zhao Xing set about rectifying the administration of officials and reforming the currency.

Although a large amount of silver flowed into the Song Dynasty due to the prosperity of business, silver was also one of the important currencies of the Song Dynasty.

However, silver is not particularly convenient in actual use.

This is because of the color and weight issues.

In some TV dramas, silver is cast into silver ingots of a certain weight, and you can tell how much it is by weighing it.

However, in actual use in ancient times, the quality had to be checked and weighed.

In the Song Dynasty, silver was used as currency only in large transactions.

Ordinary people not only don’t know how to use it, they don’t even know how to collect it.

Because ordinary people cannot tell the quality of the goods, they are easily deceived.

Regardless of whether you are making cannons or not, a lot of copper is needed to make muskets.

Moreover, copper coin transactions were very inconvenient, not to mention large-scale transactions. A string of copper coins weighed several kilograms, which was not only heavy but also inconvenient to carry.

It's not just a matter of silver. Zhao Xing asked Yin Hanzhang to carefully investigate the monetary situation of the Song Dynasty, and it's hard to describe.

Although copper coins were minted after the founding of the Song Dynasty, the copper coins of the Tang Dynasty were not abolished.

There are even copper coins circulating among the people dating back to before the Tang Dynasty.

These are nothing, there is a more serious problem, that is, the private minting of copper coins.

Although the copper coins used in ancient times were made of copper, the value of copper and copper coins were not equal.

Otherwise, there would be no need for the imperial court to mint coins. It would be better to just use copper as currency by weight.

It is precisely because of the variety of currencies that some people have room to exploit loopholes.

Currency reform is very necessary.

Not only does the circulation of silver need to be made more convenient, but the existing copper coins of the Song Dynasty also need to be recycled and re-cast.

Currency reform can bring huge income to the court.

Apart from anything else, recycling and exchanging new currency can definitely increase the fire consumption.

For example, only 90% of the new currency can be exchanged. As long as the previous currency is prohibited from circulation, everyone in the world must exchange it.

The loss to the people is not that great by doing this, because most ordinary people have almost no money.

But it's different for those rich people.

Copper coins are just a small profit, the important thing is silver.

Zhao Xing planned to have people try to mint silver coins for future generations, unify the quality, and turn silver into a common currency.

It is forbidden to circulate small pieces of silver in the market, and more money can be collected by exchanging silver for fire consumption.

(End of this chapter)