People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

Wow, my Hime is amazing!

……

Chapter 400 Daily Life: Zhao Ji

Ying Zheng smiled and asked, "Are you satisfied, sir?"

"……satisfy."

Cao Ze, with a grand vision of stabilizing the Qin state and benefiting its people, agreed.

Zhao Ji, that wicked woman...

There's no escaping it in the end, so I'll just treat it as part of my daily work.

Seeing that Cao Ze had agreed, Ying Zheng turned to Cao Ze and asked, "Sir, you said there's good news. What is it? Is it about Lü Buwei?"

Cao Ze shook his head slightly and said, "It's not about Lü Buwei, but about the future of the Qin state."

Ying Zheng was immediately intrigued.

"Why do you say that?"

Cao Ze pondered for a moment and said, "Does Your Majesty know the power of 'money,' or rather, 'commerce'?"

Ying Zheng pondered for a long time, "Sir, are you suggesting that I be wary of merchants to prevent a repeat of the incident involving Lü Buwei?"

...Cao Ze remained silent. It was clear that Ying Zheng was determined to bring down Lü Buwei.

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again,” Cao Ze said. “Your Majesty can guard against the next Lü Buwei, but who knows if a Zhao Buwei or a Qian Buwei might appear…”

"Therefore, Your Majesty need not worry too much about these things. A prosperous country, wealthy people, clean and honest government, and a sound legal system are the fundamental things."

Both Ying Zheng and Gai Nie fell into deep thought.

After a long while, Ying Zheng said, "I have learned a lot. Please explain the matter of 'money merchants'."

Cao Ze asked, "Does Your Majesty know Guan Zhong?"

"In the thirty-third year of Duke Xi of Qi, in order to destroy the State of Lu, Qi's prime minister Guan Zhong ordered all officials to change their clothing to Lu's white silk and prohibited the people of Qi from weaving white silk, and only allowed them to trade white silk with Lu. In a short time, the price of Lu's white silk soared and it became extremely scarce, leading to the saying that 'a piece of cloth is worth one gold coin, and Qi people wear Lu's clothes.'"

Ying Zheng paused for a moment, "What you mean is the Hengshan Plan recorded in Guanzi."

“Indeed,” Cao Ze said, “It is precisely the strategy of Hengshan. Guanzi destroyed a country with a white robe, and what was hidden behind it was the power of ‘money merchants’, which I named the Way of Economy.”

Ying Zheng asked, "What is the way of economics?"

"Governing the country and benefiting the people is the way of economics."

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng sat up straight and solemnly asked, "Please enlighten me, sir."

Cao Ze didn't launch into a long-winded explanation because it involved too many technical terms and concepts, such as production, distribution, and the creation, transformation, and realization of value...

If this were explained from beginning to end, it would probably take at least a month before Ying Zheng understood it or not.

He then asked, "If Your Majesty were to face Guan Zhong's scheme, how would you respond?"

Without hesitation, Ying Zheng replied, "Forbidden."

Cao Ze shook his head slightly: "How could the ancient Yu the Great, who controlled the floods, have known the principle that dredging is worse than blocking? Your Majesty can ban it, but can you ban everything?"

"Rather than being led by the nose by the enemy, we should emulate the flood control of Yu the Great and establish a stabilizing force for the sea."

Ying Zheng had no understanding of economics and no concept of economics.

"Please explain more clearly, sir."

Cao Ze pondered for a moment and asked, "Does Your Majesty know how many copper coins one gold coin can be exchanged for in the seven kingdoms? And how many copper coins can be exchanged for one gold coin?"

Ying Zheng shook his head. He had hardly ever carried or spent money, so naturally he wouldn't care about that.

"Gai Nie, do you know?"

Gai Nie said methodically, "This year alone, in the Qin market, one gold coin can be exchanged for 1,200 coins, with a 0.5% interest deduction. However, there's little market for it, and few nobles or wealthy merchants exchange them. In the black market, the price rises to 1,500 coins, but a 0.1% interest deduction is applied. The advantage is that there's a sufficient supply of gold coins. Conversely, exchanging copper coins for gold coins is basically the same price. As for the other six states, I don't know much about them."

Ying Zheng was not proficient in mathematics, but he knew the enormous profits involved. With just a few transactions, one could amass a huge fortune, not to mention the influence of those operating in the black market.

"So there are ways to make money like this..." Ying Zheng sighed slightly.

Cao Ze said, "Does Your Majesty know why there is such a large difference between gold coins and copper coins, and why the exchange rate is so uncertain even though there are laws stipulating the amount?"

"Please speak, sir."

"Because gold coins are not purely currency, but more like a collectible, a visiting card to enter the homes of nobles, circulating only among nobles and not among the common people."

"I see..." Ying Zheng hadn't thought of it before, but now he understood immediately.

He knew that Cao Ze wasn't talking about gold coins, but about the principles of economics.

"Please continue, sir. I want to hear it clearly today."

Cao Ze thought to himself, he was really going all out to build a silver cage.

Of course, this was just a side effect. If he had asked directly, Ying Zheng would have definitely gotten it for him, but that would have meant asking for a favor.

His actions were a win-win situation, and he might even become the head of the central bank of the Qin state in the future.

So Cao Ze continued racking his brains. Fortunately, he had prepared a draft the night before and the night before, otherwise it would have been hard to say.

"What I mean by all this is that a country not only needs a strong military and a clean government, but also economic stability. And the core of economic stability lies in the stability of its currency."

"Gold coins, as a scarce and high-value commodity, are difficult to use as a form of currency."

“Copper coins, on the other hand, already had a basis for circulation. However, the currencies of the seven countries were different, and when they were exchanged abroad, apart from gold coins, they were mainly salt, cloth, tea and the like.”

"It's good that Qin hasn't unified the country yet, but once it sweeps across the other six states, we urgently need to devise an effective method to stabilize the currency and ensure unimpeded trade among the people of the seven states, so that the people of Qin can accept it first, and then the people of the other seven states can accept it."

Ying Zheng nodded slightly, "That makes sense, but this matter has far-reaching implications..."

Cao Ze offered timely advice: "We can first choose a pilot area... that is, try it in one city or one place. If it works well, then we can extend it to a prefecture. We can proceed gradually, and even if there are mistakes, we can correct them."

Ying Zheng asked, "Then how does the gentleman intend to attempt this?"

Cao Ze smiled and took two large bamboo slips from his sleeve and handed them over.

"Your Majesty, I have finished writing it. Please take a look."

When Ying Zheng looked at the scroll, he saw that one scroll was titled "The Silver Standard and Inflation" and the other scroll was titled "On Economics".

Cao Ze said, "These two volumes are the general introduction, and I also brought more than twenty volumes of explanatory texts, which are placed in the carriage."

He heard all of this casually from his beautiful boss while he was working overtime at her house.

As a capitalist and an economics master's and doctoral graduate, the beautiful boss ultimately understands economics better than him.

Unfortunately, he didn't understand the King of Chu, and almost went bankrupt. I dragged him to the rooftop to get some fresh air.

Well, that's good now, he doesn't have to go up to the rooftop anymore.

I wonder if the beautiful boss has gone bankrupt yet...

After reading the general treatise, Ying Zheng seemed to have gained some insight, vaguely glimpsing a great principle of governing the country.

"Sir, quickly bring me the remaining books and scrolls. I intend to study the principles of economics all night long."

After leaving Zhangtai Palace, Cao Ze took out a lacquered wooden box from Brother Donkey's carriage.

Before he had taken two steps, he felt a soft, feminine aura.

He turned his head and saw Zhao Gao rushing over.

"Sir, please wait, please wait..."

Zhao Gao was very skilled in light-footed movement; he arrived in front of Cao Ze as soon as he finished speaking.

"By imperial decree of the Empress Dowager, you are required to go to Ganquan Palace today to serve as a Doctor of Ceremonies."

Zhao Gao added, "The Empress Dowager is very concerned, and the King has already promised. Please do not delay, sir."

Cao Ze's eyes twitched slightly, and he said listlessly, "I understand. I'll send a letter to the King first."

Seeing Cao Ze's lack of interest, Zhao Gao said, "Sir, the Empress Dowager has been missing you very much these past few days. Please don't break your promise."

Cao Ze coughed lightly and said earnestly, "Brother Zhao, rest assured, the Empress Dowager will not be disappointed."

All I wanted was for him to burn mugwort.

Just assume he's a plumber.

Cao Ze carried the book box back into Zhangtai Palace, went to the Imperial Study, and handed the remaining books to Gai Nie.

As Ying Zheng's personal steward, Gai Nie quickly sorted and arranged everything, placing it on the large table in front of Ying Zheng.

Ying Zheng eagerly read through the scrolls one by one.

He was momentarily captivated.

Cao Ze couldn't very well go ahead to Ganquan Palace to report for duty and conduct his daily communication with Zhao Ji.

That said, Ying Zheng's mother was really difficult to please.

No wonder it was able to create such a huge hole and became famous in history.

Seeing that Ying Zheng was determined to finish reading, Cao Ze had no choice but to inform Gai Nie and leave Zhangtai Palace.

"Oh, Brother Zhao?"

Zhao Gao hurriedly said with a smile, "Sir, you've finally come out. Please get in the carriage."

The Empress Dowager issued a strict order: if Cao Ze does not come to Ganquan Palace, he will not be allowed to return to Ganquan Palace in the future.

It is evident that the Empress Dowager is currently emotionally unstable and very irritable.

Cao Ze waved his hand, "No, I have a car."

Now he's used to driving the donkey-drawn cart. When he drives other horse-drawn carriages, he always feels something is missing, and he feels uneasy.

He drove the donkey cart to Zhao Gao's side, "Brother Zhao, why don't you get on quickly?"

"This……"

"What an ugly blue donkey..." Zhao Gao hesitated for a moment, then said, "Sir, you are about to go to the palace to serve as a Fengchang Doctor. This carriage is a gift to you for your use."

He was still reluctant to part with it. As the chief steward of Ganquan Palace, he had Zhao Cheng specially commission a disciple of the Gongshu family to build a luxurious carriage worth tens of gold coins.

But if the Empress Dowager found out that Cao Ze had driven a donkey there, given her temperament, he would probably be punished for not making proper arrangements.