The shopkeeper standing inside the counter glanced at the piece of fine silk on the table, and then looked up at the white-faced young man outside the counter. He was very puzzled: "Mr. Liu, this piece of cloth is really difficult to calculate. Otherwise,
Do you still pay coins?"
The white-faced young man also looked depressed and said: "If I had coins, I wouldn't be carrying this batch of cloth to eat. My grandfather has recently regarded the coins as more important than life, but I don't even have a copper plate on me.
"
"Hurry up and settle the bill with me, Brother Liu."
Fan Zheng was seen walking over, and he raised his hand to Mr. Liu and said, "This servant is not sensible. Brother Liu, please don't be the same as him."
Mr. Liu cheered, "Da Lang, I don't want to either, but I really can't get the coins."
Fan Zheng smiled and nodded: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. If it's convenient for Brother Liu, you can store the cloth in the shop first, and we can do it together later."
Mr. Liu's eyes suddenly lit up, "This is a good idea. It saves me going out with the cloth every day. Then put it here first. It's almost used up. Send someone to tell me."
"yes."
"Farewell!"
"Brother Liu, walk slowly."
After Mr. Liu left, Fan Zheng said to the shopkeeper: "Try to let them keep the cloth in the store from now on. This cloth can also be exchanged for money, but the shorter it is, the less valuable it is."
"Hey! I know."
The shopkeeper nodded and sighed again: "This court does not talk about Yin Jiaozi, but there are people who come out with coins. Today, I haven't even seen a copper plate."
As soon as this Jiaozi came out, all kinds of gossip came out. Many of them believed that the reason why the imperial court wanted to issue Jiaozi was because it had no copper coins at all, and it was just a mystery.
Therefore, the monetary policy promulgated by the imperial court not only failed to make the people take out money, but also further aggravated the money shortage.
Boom, boom, boom!
I heard footsteps and saw a team of royal police entering the door.
"Ya Nei?"
Fan Zheng walked over immediately and saw that there were three or five people following Cao Dongdong. He couldn't help but ask: "Do you want to treat a guest in the Yamen today?"
Cao Dongdong glanced at him with disdain: "I don't have that much money to treat you."
He often entertains guests, but never goes to Baifanlou.
Fan Zheng glanced at Cao Dongdong depressedly, and then asked: "I wonder why you come to the shop in Yameni?"
Cao Dongdong said: "We are here to check the salt."
"Check the salt?"
Fan Zheng was stunned.
Cao Dongdong nodded. Fan Zheng was his brother after all, and he did not hide it from him. He said in a low voice: "It is the duty of our royal police to investigate illegal salt. Last time, the tax department took it away. This is not okay.
."
After Fan Zheng heard this, everyone was stunned, "Yameni, the price of salt is rising every day. You need to check it, I'm afraid it will rise even more."
Cao Dongdong immediately said: "In other words, you let us secretly let in private money?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what do you mean?"
Cao Dongdong hummed: "Now that the price of salt is rising continuously, illegal salt may take advantage of it. If the tax police catch it first, it will be very embarrassing for our Royal Police."
Fan Zheng didn't even know what to say.
Because what Cao Dongdong said makes sense. The key point is that if the Royal Police does not investigate, the tax police may also investigate. Moreover, the tax police are so elusive that one does not know whether they are investigating or not, and the police department does not want to cede power.
The price of salt had already increased slightly because of the lawsuit, but then the powerful and powerful people fanned the flames behind the scenes, adding fuel to the flames, causing the price of salt to rise even further, and now the police department is getting involved.
Everyone can't understand this magical plot.
I can't say who is at fault yet.
However, the price of coins has risen, and the price of salt has also risen, which is really terrible, and other goods have become bastards.
There are also complaints everywhere.
If these two things are not in the hands of the people, of course the people will suffer a loss of blood.
They directly pointed their finger at the court. The official salt was expensive, private salt was not allowed to be sold, and the price of coins was rising. So buying salt with coins was as uncomfortable as eating shit.
But it’s impossible not to buy it.
It’s uncomfortable or not.
And this is happening right at the feet of the emperor, and the emperor cannot just sit idly by and ignore it.
Zhao Xu immediately held an important meeting in Chui Gong Hall to discuss how to deal with the situation.
"Your Majesty, I think this matter is caused by private salt dealers who deliberately spread rumors and drive up the price of salt, thereby forcing the court to turn a blind eye to private salt. The court will never let them succeed."
When this came up, Wang Anshi immediately stood up and said aggressively.
Lu Gongzhu said sarcastically: "But according to the investigation of our Third Division, the supply of official salt in Kaifeng Prefecture is indeed insufficient."
Wang Anshi immediately said: "This is also caused by illegal salt. It is precisely because illegal salt was so prevalent in the past that legal salt merchants did not dare to buy more official salt. But now, under the threat of the tax department, illegal salt dealers have gone into hiding.
A shortage of supply occurs.
If the court cannot hold on, illegal salt sales will only become more rampant. But if the court can survive this crisis, it will definitely be able to crack down on the arrogance of illegal salt traders. Officials should also urge the police to continue to strictly investigate illegal salt dealers.
."
Zhao Xu nodded and said, "What Scholar Wang said makes sense!"
Wen Yanbo asked: "How can we survive this crisis?"
Wang Anshi said: "Currently there are 70% official salt, and only 30% is in the hands of the court. Merchants are seeking profits. Now that the supply of salt is insufficient, they will inevitably raise prices. This is understandable. The court can spend money to buy the salt in their hands.
, and then sell it to the people at a low price."
As soon as these words came out, Sima Guang was stunned. This was not like what Wang Anshi did. With Wang Anshi's character, the most he could do was buy salt from the merchants at the previous price, and then add a few cents to sell it to the people. Anyway,
It just needs to be lower than it is now. This is the win-win situation that Wang Anshi often advocates.
"At what price do you plan to buy salt from the salt merchant?" Sima Guang asked.
Wang Anshi said: "At first, the price of salt was around forty-five cents, but now it has risen to sixty cents. The court can buy the salt from the salt merchants for fifty cents, and then buy it at the original price. Sold to the people."
Sima Guang was shocked and said: "This is going to cost a lot of money?"
Wang Anshi said calmly: "But if we can curb the arrogance of private individuals, we can still make money back in the future."
Lu Gongzhu suddenly asked: "Xueshi Wang, do you plan to use Jiaozi to buy salt from the salt merchant?"
Wang Anshi shook his head and said: "If Jiaozi is handed over to the salt merchants, how much can they use it? There is still no money in the market. Jiaozi will still pay it to the Royal Police with salary. I will allocate this money from Sinong Temple." come out."
Nothing wrong!
There’s really nothing wrong with that!
Could it be that this guy has changed his gender?
Sima Guang immediately offered his hand to Zhao Xu and said, "I support Bachelor Wang's suggestion."
This suggestion is very consistent with Sima Guang's governing philosophy. The court should bear some responsibilities, and it is enough to collect taxes. It cannot always think about making money.
Wen Yanbo asked again: "But I heard that people are very opposed to the imperial court issuing Jiaozi."
Wang Anshi wrote lightly: "That is because they misunderstood the imperial court. The imperial court has sufficient reserves. When they see that Jiaozi can exchange coins at any time, they will naturally let go of their prejudice against coins."
Zhao Xu glanced at Wen Yanbo and others and saw that they had nothing to say, so he nodded and said: "Okay, according to what Wang Xueshi said, Sinong Temple is solely responsible for this matter."
Coming out of Chui Gong Hall, Sima Guang looked at the backs of Wang Anshi and Han Jiang and murmured to himself: "This really doesn't look like his style. Could it be that this guy has changed his gender?"
Mr. Lu next to him smiled and said: "Is it possible that you have a prejudice against Junshi? Now the tax department has finally managed to deter those private salt dealers. If it can be maintained, even if the court makes a loss-making business at the moment, in the long run It seems that the imperial court still has something to gain, and Jiefu's suggestion is reasonable."
Wen Yanbo, who was standing beside him, also nodded slightly.
Sima Guang smiled and said: "I have worked with him for so many years, and I know very well what kind of temper he is. If there is nothing fishy in this, then I will apologize to him in front of you."
Mr. Lu smiled and said, "You have to keep your word."
The imperial court wants to spend its own money to bail out the market, and no one has anything to say about this.
All I can say is that you are cruel.
On the one hand, Zhao Xu ordered the police station to continue to strictly investigate illegal salt. On the other hand, Wang Anshi also went to find those big salt merchants and bought all the salt in their hands at a price of fifty cents per catty.
Although the market price has reached 60 cents, there are very few people buying it. How can ordinary people afford it?
Moreover, the initial price was forty-five cents, which was already very high. Fifty cents was also a high price, and the salt merchants could also make a lot of money from it. The key point was that Sinong Temple said that it would pay the coins, and it still refused the court. So you I can't continue to be a salt merchant.
Basically no one had any doubts and all were sold to the court.
Zhang family!
"All the big private salt dealers have been contacted."
Li Bao said to Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Are they willing to sell the salt in their hands?"
Li Bao said: "Before, they were hesitant, thinking that the imperial court would not be able to support them for long, but now that the imperial court is buying official salt, and on the other hand, it is asking the police station to investigate strictly, they cannot hold on any longer. Under such circumstances, they
It is definitely impossible to sell the salt, because all legal salt merchants do not have salt in their hands. Except for the imperial court, anyone selling salt in Kaifeng Prefecture must be doing so privately.
They are willing to sell their private salt for eighteen cents, but if we want to buy all the salt they have, we will have to spend three hundred thousand cents."
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "This is a sure-profit business. If the officials are not willing to pay for it, I can pay for it."
Li Bao chuckled: "The officials have already prepared the money."
Zhang Fei laughed and said: "Find more people and buy all the salt in their hands in batches."
Li Bao nodded.
Zhang Fei asked again: "What actions are being taken by Xiangguo Temple?"
"They didn't do anything." Li Bao shook his head and said, "They mainly want to use money to fight against the tax exemption. This salt price is just used by them to create trouble for the court. The previous increase in salt price has not affected them much.
relationship, but they later added fuel to the fire."
Having said this, he paused for a moment and said, "Speaking of which, not many people understand the court's policy."
Zhang Fei smiled coldly and said: "Even if they can see clearly, there is nothing they can do. After all, the salt is no longer under their control, unless the coins can lick out the salty taste. This time I will beat them completely."
Get off, TMD.”
Ma family.
"Brother Lu, can you still eat so deliciously now?"
Ma Tianhao was speechless as he looked at Lu Bin, who was feasting on his elbow.
Lu Bin wiped his mouth and said vaguely: "Recently, the temple has strict control. It is not easy to have a good meal. I have to come to your place to eat."
Ma Tianhao smiled bitterly and said: "That's not what I'm referring to. The imperial court buys salt at high prices and sells it at low prices. There must be something wrong with it."
"I know." Lu Bin nodded.
Ma Tianhao said: "Then you can still eat?"
Lu Bin raised his head and asked, "Do you know what the problem is?"
Ma Tianhao shook his head, "I don't know about this, but I have told you a long time ago that Zhang San is not someone to be trifled with. He was the one who started that lawsuit. If you go after this matter, he will definitely not stand idly by."
, I suspect this matter is also related to him."
Lu Bin threw his elbow into the plate and said: "I didn't agree with it at the beginning, but they insisted on doing it like this. I was just following orders. Whether it succeeds or fails, it has nothing to do with me. This matter is mine.
I don’t even understand, so what can I do?”
really.
This series of actions by the imperial court indeed left many people stunned for a moment.
It was completely beyond their expectations.
When did the imperial court engage in loss-making business? Looking at the new law, which one is not to make money for the imperial court? This is not a lesson!
At the same time, many truly ambitious ministers in the court gave Wang Anshi a thumbs up, such as Zhao Pian, Xu Zun, and Zeng Gong.
Sima Guang, Fu Bi, and Wen Yanbo were also very supportive.
This will not wrong the salt merchants, but also take care of the people, impeccably.
So much tax exemption is used to take care of the people, so what?
Take it from the people, use it for the people!
Everyone supported it, and the money was in the hands of Sinong Temple, so the implementation went very smoothly.
After the imperial court purchased the official salt, it immediately closed all the salt shops, saying that it would be sold after coordination. The people already knew that the imperial court would sell the salt at the previous price, and they were very happy. The imperial court had done something good.
It's a great thing, and everyone is patiently waiting for it.
But in fact, Wang Anshi was waiting for Jiaozi. Since he had to use salt as a reserve, the previous design for Jiaozi would naturally not be used. This had to be redesigned. However, he asked Zhao Xu to send the Imperial City Secretary to strictly guard it, and there would be no ventilation for the time being.
At the same time, it increased from the initial 300,000 guan to 500,000 guan. The current issuance quota does not depend on the reserve fund, but on how much salt there is.
At the same time, Zhang Fei was also non-stop acquiring private salt.
The reason for doing this drama is actually to provide an environment for Zhang Fei to acquire private salt. The key to this plan is to control all the salt.
The court's operation made it impossible for those private salts to hide. As long as the salt was sold, it would definitely be private salt, and all legal salt was bought by the court.
At the same time, the police department is intensifying its investigation efforts. Once it is discovered, it will lose both people and money.
Private salt dealers are also eager to get rid of it.
This made Zhang Fei's acquisition very smooth.
Bianjing Law Firm.
"How are you doing there?"
Wang Anshi asked Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Most of the private salt is in our hands, we can start."
Wang Anshi seemed a little hesitant.
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Does Master Wang plan to raise the price of salt again?"
Wang Anshi said hurriedly: "It's not that you raised it up, but you lowered it a little too much. If we sell it for forty cents, many people will come to buy it, but you have to sell it directly for twenty-five cents. This
It’s not much more expensive than private salt.”
Zhang Fei chuckled and said: "Scholar Wang, I have calculated this for you before. In terms of the price of salt, we may have lost money, but at the same time, the imperial court issued hundreds of thousands of Jiaozi.
Once a jiaozi worth twenty-five cents can buy a pound of salt, the jiaozi will definitely be very popular, and at the same time, the jiaozi will be able to buy all the goods.
But if the difference is not big, why don't the people use coins? Some businessmen have said before that once the imperial court issues Jiaozi, they will only count it at 70%. This is actually reasonable, after all, it is a risk."
Wang Anshi nodded and said: "I understand this, but..."
This price drop is too ridiculous, he feels distressed!
Zhang Fei said again: "Master Wang, you can't have your cake and eat it too. If Master Wang wants to protect Jiaozi, he will definitely lose a large part of the salt profits. If he wants to protect the salt profits, it will be difficult for Jiaozi to play its role."
.
If both Yan and Jiaozi make money, then who will lose the money? But in my opinion, it is a very cost-effective way to exchange salt profits for the world's goods."
In the whole world, only Wang Anshi understood Zhang Fei best. He immediately understood the relationship and said: "In this case, the court must strictly guard this salt."
Businessmen want to make money. Once Jiaozi is linked to salt, salt is an anchor. For the court, it is necessary to lower the price of salt to make Jiaozi strong. The profits are all on Jiaozi's side, but
Jiaozi was not issued by merchants. Why should merchants pay for the imperial court?
The entire system must change.
Zhang Fei nodded.
This is actually the reason why Zhang Fei struggled before, because in this case, he must go to the northwest. This source must be controlled, and the salt policy has become the core of finance.
After everything was prepared, Wang Anshi first announced the salt purchase policy in the official bookstore. After three days, all salt shops will open, but salt must be purchased with salt banknotes.
Since it is anchored by salt, it is natural that it cannot be called Jiaozi and should be renamed Yanchao.
The unit cannot be Guan, but should be changed to one cent, one jiao or one yuan.
One jiao can buy a pound of salt, and it is stipulated that twenty-five copper coins can be exchanged for one jiao salt banknote.
Five cents is one dime, and five cents is one yuan.
One cent is equal to five cents, one dime is equal to twenty-five cents, and one yuan is equal to one hundred and twenty-five cents.
When the people heard the news, they couldn't help but feel happy and anxious.
Fortunately, the price is amazing.
The price of official salt is almost the same as that of private salt. This is pie in the sky!
But the urgent thing is, where can I exchange salt notes?
Where are the salt notes?
It's not mentioned above.
Three days later, all salt shops in the capital were opened.
But I saw a crowd of people in front of the store. Without exception, they were all in uniform. They were either royal police, tax police, or prosecutors.
It turns out that the first batch of salt banknotes were all used as salary to the newly recruited police officers, including many, many officials.
In fact, this news came out early, but it was said to be Jiaozi at the time, but it frightened the Royal Police and the tax police. They sent Jiaozi to us, and no outside merchants wanted it.
But now!
So delicious!
In the huge capital city, they are the only ones who can buy salt. This can only be said to be the great favor of the emperor!
So they hurried over and exchanged all the salt banknotes for salt.
"Don't worry! Don't worry! We have enough salt. As long as there are salt banknotes, everyone can get salt."
The clerk at the counter was hoarse for a moment. Seeing that each of these royal police officers was exchanging more than ten kilograms of salt, he couldn't help but said: "Police officers, you have exchanged so much salt, can you finish it?"
"Why are you nagging? It's none of your business whether I can finish eating or not. Quickly change it for me."
"Okay, okay!"
The guy nodded.
But when I saw these royal policemen, after exchanging salt for salt, they immediately rushed into the small alley, and a small number of citizens immediately surrounded them. "This official salt is very good. If you want it, it's thirty cents a pound, so hurry up and get the money."
"Here, thirty coins."
One of the citizens threw money into the hands of the police and complained: "This is really unfair. Only you police officers are given the salt banknotes."
Another citizen said: "Yes! The imperial court is trying to make your Royal Police rich!"
The royal police officer said: "We have been very tired these days, so we should be given a reward."
Compared with before, 30 cents was already very low. Of course, the public was willing to buy it, but the problem was that the Royal Police only paid for these salt notes with 25 cents of salary.
Really make money while lying down!
Who is not jealous!
If I can exchange salt notes, then I can only spend twenty-five cents.
At this time, Cao Dongdong and several royal police officers were sitting in the tea shop opposite, drinking tea.
One of the royal police officers said: "Ya Nei, if we do this, will the superiors blame us?"
Cao Dongdong exclaimed: "You go ahead and sell it. If something happens, I will take care of it for you."
"Oh! Thank you so much Yanei!"
The royal police officers quickly clasped their fists and thanked them.
This is just like celebrating a festival. In one word, it’s great!
In fact, Cao Dongdong was told by his superiors that they were allowed to do this, but they could only raise thirty coins.
And standing under the big willow tree not far away were three or five old men, none other than Sima Guang and others.
"Look! Look!"
Sima Guang said: "I said there must be something fishy in this, but you still don't believe it."
Lu Gongzhu said blankly: "It's true that Mao Ni is fake, but the problem is, if Wang Jiefu does this, won't he have to pay more."
As soon as these words came out, they looked at each other.
When Wang Anshi was in the palace, he said he would sell it for forty-five cents, but this time he broke his bones.
But you bought it for fifty cents, and you lost twenty-five cents per pound.
They were also confused.
Sima Guang suddenly cursed: "This stinky boy."
"Brat?"
Everyone looked at Sima Guang at the same time.
Wen Yanbo said: "You mean, this was Zhang San's idea again?"
Sima Guang said: "Nine times out of ten it has something to do with him."
Lu Gongzhu asked: "Why do you say that?"
Sima Guang snorted: "If it's Wang Jiefu's idea, I can't possibly guess it, but that brat's idea is always hard for me to understand."
He knew very well Wang Anshi's character and purpose, which was to make money for the country, so as long as he grasped a little bit, he could think of what Wang Anshi was doing.
But he often couldn't figure out some of Zhang Fei's ideas.
They who shout every day not to compete with the people for profit are still feeling sorry for the imperial court. Can they sustain the financial support with so much loss on the sale?
But this is all Sinong Temple's money, and if they are willing to lose money, they have nothing to do with it.
However, there are too many people coming to exchange for salt. Tens of thousands of people come to exchange for salt at the same time. However, there are not so many shops, and many people cannot exchange for salt. Since salt banknotes can indeed be exchanged for salt, why not just exchange them for salt? Salt banknotes for sale.
The next day, a secondary market for salt banknotes was immediately formed.
This would make the Forbidden Army next door envious.
Why!
The Royal Police are just lying around and making money.
We also want salt banknotes.
satisfy them.
Sinong Temple allocated another 300,000 guan of salt notes and exchanged 300,000 guan of coins from the finances of the three government agencies.
Tens of thousands of Forbidden Army soldiers received salt banknotes at the same time, and they were unable to save money. They only had so much money every month, and they had to exchange it immediately. The salt banknotes immediately began to be monetized from the secondary market.
Bianjing Law Firm.
"Scholar Wang, how many coins does Sinong Temple have now?"
Zhang Fei asked.
Wang Anshi said: "Four hundred thousand guan."
Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "Now it's our turn to take revenge on them."
Wang Anshi was slightly startled and said, "Do you still have a backup plan?"
Zhang Fei said: "I won that lawsuit resoundingly, but in the end I didn't lose my prestige. They even stuffed a piece of shit into my mouth. How could I let them go?"
Zhang Fei, who is determined to retaliate, will not let them go so easily.
If the key is to do this, he will have to go to the northwest, and he will definitely take revenge.
Wang Anshi asked with great interest: "What are you going to do?"
Zhang Fei said: "Sinong Temple can use the liquidation method to fully purchase their grain, raise the price of grain, and lower the price of coins. Aren't they converting grain into currency? That's fine, let them die. In hand."
Wang Anshi hesitated and said, "But Sinong Temple also needs coins!"
Zhang Fei said with a smile: "Master Wang went outside to take a look. Everyone was exchanging coins for salt banknotes. If a large number of coins appear at this time, the purchasing power of the coins will inevitably decline, which will further make the salt banknotes more popular. After the coins are knocked down, we can look at the situation and exchange the salt banknotes for coins."
Wang Anshi's eyes lit up and he said: "I, Wang Anshi, are not convinced by others, but I will obey you, kid! This time we have to vent our grievances."
Zhang Fei chuckled: "It must be done."
I'm going to visit a grave tomorrow, so I'll post two chapters together. The chapter tomorrow morning is still to be decided, because I have to go to the ancestral hall for dinner in the evening, and I don't know when I'll be back.