A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 41 Confessing the King
My heart is entrusted to the bright moon, and the bright moon shines on the ditch.

Zhao Chongguo, the commander of the Crown Prince's personal guards, retreated into the darkness, silently observing the hunting grounds of the Yuhe River Valley plain along with the other eight hundred men.

Huangmen Suwen and several eunuchs arrived at the banks of the Yu River. "Your Highness, your servant has brought you money."

Liu Ju didn't turn around, gazing at the bright moon reflected in the water and the shimmering light on the river's surface. "Oh?"

"Your Highness, please look, this is one hundred White Deer coins." Su Wen felt immense pressure and lifted the red silk covering the items held by the eunuchs.

This is a square leather coin made from the white deer hide of Shanglin Garden. It is nearly a foot long on each side and is embroidered with various patterns. It is worth 400,000 coins.

One hundred sheets would amount to forty million coins.

Therefore, one could say that they do not oppose the reward of White Deer Coins, or that it is compensation for the hunting venue.

"Hmm," Liu Ju said calmly.

My father is always stingy. When the crown prince establishes his own residence and builds his own palace, the Minister of the Imperial Household should be responsible for the construction of the crown prince's palace, the salaries of the palace officials, the military pay of the personal guards, and so on. But my father won't even give him a piece of land.

As for white deer hides, let's call it a business. It would sweep through the entire elite class of the Han Dynasty, from the tributes of princes, marquises, and imperial ministers to the ransoms of military nobles. The income would be at least millions of coins, but the emperor only gave him forty million coins.

"in addition……"

Despite the cold wind and water, Su Wen broke out in a sweat. Under pressure, he managed to say, "Your Highness, His Majesty requests that you present the white deer that were hunted over the past two days."

"Ah."

Liu Ju smiled.

They had overestimated their father's bottom line.

These one hundred White Deer Coins are not a reward or compensation; they are clearly for the white deer that have been hunted, or rather, for their hides.

To prevent the circulation of counterfeit white deer hides from the Crown Prince's palace, which could disrupt his money-making scheme.

"take it."

Liu Ju's voice was like a pardon to Su Wen and the others. After receiving the order, they hurriedly asked General Zhao Ponu to retrieve the white deer, including the deer skins that had been skinned.

Liu Ju took another step and said without turning his head, "Let's break up."

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, Gongsun Ao and his generals knew it referred to them, and they were slightly tempted by the white deerskin.

According to the Han Dynasty's ritual system, feudal lords were required to send envoys to Chang'an every year to offer sacrifices, pay homage, and present tribute of wine and jade discs.

Every year, the marquises were required to personally travel to Chang'an to offer sacrifices, pay homage, and present tribute of wine and gold.

Members of the imperial clan and ministers were treated the same as marquises.

Therefore, the feudal lords offered jade as tribute, and the marquises offered gold.

The feudal lords and marquises were required to contribute jade and gold to the sacrifices according to the population of their fiefdoms. For every thousand people, the contribution was four taels of jade or four taels of gold. For any population exceeding five hundred, the contribution was also four taels of gold, and the Shaofu (Minister of the Imperial Household Department) would inspect and verify the contributions.

This is the system of "Zhu Jin" (酎金).

When feudal lords presented jade as tribute, the emperor personally received the jade, but marquises did not. If it was found that the weight or purity of the jade or gold was insufficient, they would be punished. Feudal lords would have their counties reduced, and marquises would have their kingdoms abolished.

This is known as the "Zhu Jin Law".

From this day forward, His Majesty decrees that all tribute jade and gold must include white deer hides. The military commanders, including Gongsun Ao, had originally planned to purchase these from Sang Hongyang, Dongguo Xianyang, and Kong Jin at great expense for their fiefdoms. Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince gave them another pleasant surprise. One hundred white deer hides were given to them without hesitation. The Grand Marshal and the Colonel of the Piao Yao Army present wouldn't argue with them; so many white deer hides would be enough for ten years' worth of tribute gold.

With a crown prince like this, what more could one ask for?

Wei Qing and Huo Qubing frowned slightly, then relaxed. Under the current system of military merit rewards, even they would not receive more than a thousand gold coins for a great victory in a campaign. Four thousand gold coins would require the uncle and nephew to win two great victories together. They were somewhat reluctant to part with it, but seeing the resolute faces and surging loyalty of Gongsun Ao and the other generals, they said nothing.

As a commander and general, one can clearly distinguish between the importance of saving people and saving resources.

"According to my brother, if I were to spend this White Deer Coin, for example, to buy one coin of salt, the salt merchant would have to give me 399,999.5 taels of change. How can he possibly make change?" Huo Qubing suddenly asked.

Those wealthy merchants are just rich, not stupid. The court may accept such a large amount of currency, but the merchants are unlikely to accept it either. If the merchants say they can't make change, wouldn't the court be dumbfounded?

"Several months ago, I heard that the Imperial Household Department was recruiting experts in making coins and even counterfeits throughout the Han Dynasty. If nothing unexpected happens, new large-denomination coins will be introduced soon," Liu Ju said as he thought.

Platinum coins are very famous in the coin collecting world. They are made of silver and tin alloy and come in three types: large coin with dragon design, round, with a face value of 3,000 coins; medium coin with horse design, square, with a face value of 500 coins; and small coin with tortoise design, oval, with a face value of 300 coins.

With these three types of platinum coins, what denomination of leather coin can't be made change?

"What if I were to use the White Deer Coins in return for the imperial court?"

"Are you willing to do so?"

Liu Ju smiled and said, "The princes, marquises, imperial ministers, and military nobles all need to use it. Instead of using it for the court, it's better to resell it to the marquises and nobles. This White Deer Coin will only cause the money of the marquises and nobles to flow to merchants, and then from the merchants to the court."

Controlling the white deer in Shanglin Garden eliminated the possibility of counterfeiting leather currency. Circulating it within a limited circle meant that all losses would inevitably be borne by the nobles and relatives.

"Then why don't I counterfeit leather coins, but instead counterfeit the high-denomination coins that are about to be issued?"

"According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, counterfeiting currency is punishable by death."

Liu Ju looked at Huo Qubing and said, "Given Father's personality, it might not be difficult to forge those large sums of money."

"According to my brother, it's because His Majesty knows how to fish..." Huo Qubing didn't finish his sentence.

His Majesty's character is too wicked. He doesn't care about counterfeiting coins at all, since there are laws that punish counterfeiters with death. He even deliberately issues new currencies that are easy to counterfeit, so that his cruel officials can control them at will. If wealthy people are found to be counterfeiting, their property will be confiscated and they will be executed.

Liu Ju didn't actually finish his sentence. In his pursuit of wealth, his father had almost gone mad. If he wasn't mistaken, his father never intended for the White Deer Coin and the Platinum Coin to serve as permanent currencies.

Once the White Deer Coin and the Platinum Coin have completely disrupted the market, the Banliang Coin will be abolished and new coins will be minted.

Once the new currency is issued, no matter how wealthy you were in the past, it will no longer be effective. The half-ounce coin will become worthless, and powerful and wealthy merchants will have no choice but to exchange their privately hoarded gold for the new currency.

Harvest the entire Han Dynasty.

That's too ruthless.

Liu Ju didn't know how to evaluate such methods, nor did he know if such methods were the actions of a wise ruler, but he had the power to stop his father's plans before the White Deer Coin and Platinum Coin affected ordinary people.

Of course, Liu Ju could also see that his father's frantic accumulation of wealth was for the sake of unparalleled martial prowess and the supreme reputation that could quell the war in the world with a single word.

Whether for the sake of justice at hand or for his future position, Liu Ju could no longer ignore it. "Elder brother."

"I'm here."

"I submitted a memorial to the outer court, stating that now that the Crown Prince has been established, I request Your Majesty to appoint Prince Hong, Prince Dan, and Prince Xu as princes!"

(End of this chapter)