Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 466: Embarrassed Father
When the news spread, many ministers in the court wrote letters of opposition.

There has never been such a precedent since the founding of the Song Dynasty for so many people to be admitted into the military examination.

The most important thing is that Zhao Xing expressed his importance to military generals, which made the civil officials feel uneasy.

However, Zhao Xing rejected all of these memorials.

Originally, Zhao Xing thought that these officials would continue to make reports at the morning court, but he did not expect that these people were very honest and did not continue to make trouble.

Zhao Xing understood after a little thought that it must be the last incident that left a shadow on them.

This also made Zhao Xing realize that these people still needed to be disciplined before they could behave themselves.

Once the news spread that so many people were admitted to the martial arts examination, many people who had hesitated and did not sign up regretted it.

Although the Song Dynasty valued civil officials over military officials, those who passed the military examinations in previous years would be awarded at least the rank of eighth-rank captain.

After all, he is an official, it is impossible that no one is involved.

The reason why so few people participated was not only because the imperial court did not attach importance to it, but also because there were few places available and they were monopolized by the noble families.

Although those noble families can join the army through the influence of their titles, passing the military examination is at least a qualification.

What's more, there are some families with military merits who have many descendants, and some of them cannot get any title at all.

In this case, the martial arts examination is a good way out.

The monopoly of the military examination by families with military merits also made those who wanted to participate in the examination completely lose confidence in it.

Even though Zhao Xing ordered local governments to conduct preliminary selections and provide food and lodging, showing the importance he attached to the military examination, many people still did not sign up.

After all, if you are not accepted, you will not be granted an official position, which is a complete waste of time.

But when they learned that the court was going to admit so many people this time, they regretted it.

No matter how much the military honors are monopolized, it is impossible to monopolize so many places, so there must be a glimmer of hope.

Zhao Xing didn't know all this. At this moment, he was holding a few silver coins and looking at them carefully.

He asked people to study and make silver coins. After nearly two months, he finally made one that satisfied him.

The silver coin in Zhao Xing's hand was similar to the silver dollars of later generations, but slightly larger and thicker. He could feel its heavy weight when holding it in his hand.

The outer ring of the silver coin has a serrated edge, with the two big characters "一两" printed on one side and "制" (made in the first year of Xuanwu in the Great Song Dynasty) printed in a circle of small characters underneath.

On the other side is a bust of the emperor wearing a crown. The head is very clear and it is exactly the appearance of my father.

This silver coin was completely imitated from the silver dollars of later generations and is much heavier.

Zhao Xing withdrew his gaze and nodded with satisfaction.

In fact, he originally wanted to use his own portrait, but filial piety was emphasized in ancient times, and printing one's portrait on a silver coin was also considered an alternative way to leave one's name in history.

After all, the quality of silver coins is uniform, which makes it convenient to use silver. Even if the Song Dynasty perishes, it will still be used.

"How much does this silver coin cost?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Return to your majesty!"

The official from the Ministry of Works bowed and said, "The silver coins plus silver and some other metals weigh less than one ounce, and the cost is about eight coins of silver."

Zhao Xing weighed the silver coin in his hand. No wonder it felt so heavy.

In ancient times, one catty was sixteen taels, while one catty in the Song Dynasty was equivalent to more than six hundred grams in later generations, and one tael was about forty grams.

Eight cents weighs more than 30 grams, which is much heavier than the silver dollars of later generations, so it naturally has some weight.

If silver coins were to be widely used, a fire consumption fee would need to be added when exchanging them, and in fact the cost of silver coins would be less than one or two taels of silver.

This in and out, not to say doubled, but still half. The Song Dynasty has a lot of silver reserves among the people. If all the silver in the world is converted into silver coins, the imperial treasury can be filled immediately.

Not only that, many of the countries that conducted maritime trade with the Song Dynasty used the Song Dynasty's currency.

Because the currency of the Song Dynasty was more exquisite and easy to use than the currency of their country, this led to the outflow of private currency of the Song Dynasty, and there was not enough money among the people.

Once silver coins become popular, those countries will also transport silver here in exchange for silver coins, and then they will make more money.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xing sent away the officials from the Ministry of Works and went to Xingmin Palace with a few silver coins.

"Father, you're fishing again."

Zhao Xing walked into the pavilion, bowed and smiled to his father who was fishing.

"I have nothing to do, so what else can I do but go fishing? I asked you to send Yong'er to Xingming Palace to be raised, but you refused." The emperor said without turning his head.

"I heard that your Majesty favored a palace maid a few days ago. Maybe she will give me a younger brother or sister. Then your Majesty won't be so free." Zhao Xing said with a smile.

I don’t know what my father was thinking. After he appointed Zhao Yong as the crown prince, my father proposed to send Zhao Yong to Xingming Palace to be raised by him and Empress Dowager Cao.

Zhang Guifen was so scared that she cried when she heard about it. Although they were all in the palace, she was raised here and she couldn't stay here every day.

In the end, it took Zhao Xing's persuasion for his father to give up the idea.

Putting aside other things, if I were really raised by my father and influenced by him when I grow up, I might become as soft-hearted as him in the future.

Of course, Zhao Xing didn't dare to say this directly. He only said that Zhang Guifen was reluctant to part with her son, and that the child was young and often cried, which would easily disturb his father's rest.

The retired emperor was actually just bored, and since Zhao Yong had a legitimate grandson whom he loved very much, he proposed the idea on a whim.

After Zhao Xing's persuasion, he calmed down and gave up the idea, but he still had some resentment towards Zhao Xing.

Hearing what Zhao Xing said, the old emperor blushed and said angrily, "Get out of here! You scared the fish away."

He is only in his fifties now. Some people in their sixties and seventies still have concubines. Favoring a palace maid is nothing.

But I felt a little embarrassed when my son said that.

"hey-hey."

Zhao Xing quickly apologized with a smile: "This time I came here to bring good things to the emperor."

The emperor's expression softened when he heard this. He handed the fishing rod to Eunuch Liu and turned around to ask, "What is it?"

Zhao Xing took out the silver coin, handed it to his father, and said with a smile, "Take a look."

The emperor took the silver coin with a puzzled look on his face. When he saw the portrait on it, he was surprised and asked, "Why did you print my portrait on this?"

"Father!"

Zhao Xing smiled and said, "Ordinary people mostly use copper coins. Silver coins are not used by common people because they have to be weighed for their purity. However, copper coins are heavy, and it is inconvenient to carry a little bit of money, and it is also troublesome to count them. This silver coin was made by me using refined silver mixed with some other metals. The purity will not change, and I plan to promote its circulation."

The retired emperor was delighted to hear this. He naturally knew that the copper coins circulating among the people in the Song Dynasty included not only those from the Tang Dynasty, but also those before the Tang Dynasty.

The reason why it was not taken back was because it was too troublesome, but it could not be denied. Otherwise, when a dynasty was established, the coins were re-minted and the coins of the previous dynasty were abolished, what would happen to the money in the hands of the people?
If silver coins are introduced, this situation will also occur in the future.

Although he also wanted the Song Dynasty to last forever, he knew in his heart that this was unrealistic.

In other words, his portrait is printed on it, and even if the Song Dynasty perishes, his appearance will be remembered by future generations.

This is more attractive than leaving a name in history.

However, the retired emperor quickly recovered and scolded: "Nonsense! I have no achievements, and printing my portrait will make people laugh. If you want to print it, print the portrait of Emperor Taizu. There is a portrait in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, you can have someone print it according to the portrait."

(End of this chapter)