Chapter 2013 The Gold of the Western Regions, the County of Nanzhong
The sky above Chang'an is still gloomy.
But in the yamen of General Hussar's Mansion, the room was filled with splendor.
This kind of brilliance is not the light of sunlight and candles, but golden light.
A golden light.
The reflection makes people's eyes look dizzy.
The table top is covered with large and small alluvial gold nuggets, either bright or deep gold, which shine directly into people's eyes and people's hearts.
Fei Qian took Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang down from the high platform and entered the government office, and then asked someone to deliver the latest batch of gold from the Western Regions.
Gold sand is found from the mud of the river bed. Generally speaking, it is relatively fine and can even be stained on your fingers, just like the golden light falling from the stars in the sky.
Half gold and half stone is a mixed gold mine. On the exposed surface, you can see natural gold crystals, creating many reflective surfaces. Even if there is no bright sun today, it is still shining brightly and dazzlingly.
And with strange-shaped holes and structures, there are gold nuggets of different sizes. Although this kind of gold is generally not very pure, it is also bright and heavy, demonstrating a power called wealth.
Of course, money is not everything, but without money, many things cannot be accomplished.
"These things are all gold from the Western Regions!"
Fei Qian has seen these golds before, and he has also seen many big scenes in later generations. After all, in later generations, if you walk into a large-scale gold store, you will inevitably undergo a shining test, so his tone is comparative
smooth.
"If someone's prediction is true...the gold from the Western Region should be one million taels..."
"One million taels!" Pang Tong held a piece of nugget gold in his hands, his eyes wandering, as if he wanted to stuff a piece into his sleeve while Fei Qian was not paying attention, and he refused to put it down.
Although the little carrot-head Zhuge Liang still looks a bit cold and ascetic, his aura is a little unstable in the face of so much frivolous wealth.
The weight of one kilogram in the Eastern Han Dynasty was about a little over two hundred grams, sixteen taels per kilogram, so the million taels of gold that Fei Qian mentioned was actually not much. When converted into later units, it was about a dozen tons.
In fact, the gold reserves contained in the Western Region far exceed this value. A dozen tons may only be the gold production of future generations in one year, or at most two years.
After all, in the crustal movement, there are a large number of non-ferrous minerals in areas such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Therefore, Fei Qian sent people to search along the Kunlun Mountains to find various minerals, the greater the possibility.
Now we have only found the Kunlun Mountains area, and the Altun Mountains have not yet been visited...
You must know that later generations called the Jungar Basin the basin with a gold rim, and it was not just a casual saying.
Fei Qian looked at Zhuge Liang and said, "Kong Ming, if you have this gold, what should you do with it?"
Zhuge Liang seemed to notice something, he also raised his eyes and glanced at Fei Qian, and began to frown in thought.
Pang Tong held the gold nugget in his hands, his eyes were rolling, and he refused to put it down.
Fei Qian turned his head and glared at Pang Tongyi, "Shiyuan, stop pretending! If you are really greedy for money, your eyes will be fixed on it, and you won't be able to move it away! Why, here, you have to filthy yourself to protect yourself?"
?』
Pang Tong laughed and threw the gold nugget on the table, making a dull, unique banging sound of gold, "Hey! I'm so familiar that I can't even pretend... No, I still have to pretend, my lord, please wait."
I’ll give you a piece and I’ll take it back with you…”
"Okay! I'll give you the biggest piece!" Fei Qian also knew what Pang Tong meant.
Zhuge Liang smiled slightly, obviously feeling very comfortable and relaxed in such an atmosphere. After thinking for a moment, he said: "Could it be that the general wants to use gold as a guide to stir up the sediment?"
Gold, regardless of its metallic properties, does not mention its application in the industrial field. Just speaking of its economic properties, or money, of course it cannot be eaten directly, but it can produce many additional effects, even in later generations.
, in an era dominated by paper money, gold is still an indispensable precious metal and has unique utility in the economic field.
Gold is very heavy. Once it is thrown into the pass, it will hit the pool like a heavy cannonball, stirring up all the sediments at the bottom of the pool...
Fei Qian nodded and said with a smile: "This matter... I have already asked Gongda to take care of it... However, since Kong Ming has some free time these days, he might as well formulate a strategy... mainly for Guanzhong."
place……"
Now under Fei Qian, Pang Tong is mainly in charge of supervising personnel, while Xun You focuses on the economy. However, Fei Qian cannot let the Yingchuan faction focus too much on the economy, so he cultivates Zhuge Liang's economic skills earlier.
Ability is the current topic.
Zhuge Liang obviously understood a little bit, so he didn't say anything like his lack of talent and knowledge, but he responded happily.
Fei Qian pointed to the gold on the table and said, "Actually, the gold in the Western Regions is not the most abundant, and there is gold in the Western Regions but little silver... It's a pity that Yuyang can't get it yet..."
Fei Qian sighed, "There is a vast ocean to the east of Yuyang, and there are islands like giant snakes in it, and there is silver in it... Well, about 20,000 taels..."
As for the silver in the Americas, there is naturally more silver, but if we can barely cross to Japan, it is probably possible, but we have to cross the Pacific Ocean, so for the time being...
Hmm? If during the Little Ice Age, the ice area expanded, would the Bering Strait be connected soon?
But this is also troublesome. We need to have a lot of cold-proof items, food security along the way, and transportation is also a problem. Forget it, we can only leave it to future generations, otherwise the silver reserves in America alone are almost four to five times that of Japan.
Navigation...
"Twenty thousand taels of silver?" Upon hearing the amount Fei Qian said, Pang Tong subconsciously touched his chin. This amount didn't seem to be large. Plus the loss on the road, if it could be doubled a hundred times, or ten times, then it wouldn't be a big deal.
It can be said that it is worth sending troops to cross eastward... Uh, wait, something seems wrong?
"How much? Is it...two, twenty million?"
Pang Tong stretched out two chubby fingers, a little confused.
"Only more, twenty million taels." Fei Qian confirmed again.
"Twenty million? Twenty million taels?!" Even Pang Tong, who was used to having a lot of property on his hands, was still a little horrified by the number Fei Qian said, and his heart was beating wildly for a while.
China produces copper, but there is still a large shortage of copper. One of the big reasons is the copper-standard currency system, which makes copper always insufficient, causing money shortages to occur from time to time, and then forcing the successive dynasties to make excessive payments.
Coins were minted in large quantities as "tens", "hundreds", or even "thousands" of coins, which led to the devaluation of coins and greater social turmoil.
If silver and gold are added as buffers, such troubles will be greatly alleviated. Just like if there is no currency with large denominations in later generations, ordinary people can only use one-dollar coins, and then gold and silver can only be used by dignitaries. Naturally,
It is extremely inconvenient. Of course, if all of them are large-denomination currencies, it will often be "pawn" or "pawn" coins, which will greatly disrupt the social economy.
"In addition, there are also gold mines, about ten million taels..." Fei Qian continued, "Yuyang...sooner or later we have to fight...sooner or later..."
Pang Tong swallowed and nodded silently.
Pang Tong had only heard about Fei Qian's mention before, but there was no specific and detailed value. He thought it was just a general gold and silver mine. Then Luliang also had gold and silver mines, and there were gold and silver mines in the north of Yinshan Mountain, so Pang Tong didn't pay much attention.
, but now that we have specific numerical values, we cannot measure them with general concepts.
With such a large amount, there is no need to worry about the shortage of silver and gold for ten years, no, maybe a hundred years.
Zhuge Liang on the side was also surprised, but also a little puzzled. How did Fei Qian know these things outside the East China Sea?
Is there any book that says this?
"What the general said is "Zhenyu Mountain" in the Dongshan Sutra?" Zhuge thought for a moment and suddenly asked.
Fei Qian was stunned for a moment.
"After the Heihe Mountain, nine hundred miles to the south by water, it is called the Heiyu Mountain. There are many plants and trees on it, many gold, jade, and ocher. There is a beast, which looks like an ox and has a horse's tail. It is called Jingjing, and its song is from
"Huh..." Zhuge Liang looked at Fei Qian and said, "Or... Qinshan?"
Fei Qian laughed, waved his hand and said: "The Classic of Mountains and Seas also has unfinished meaning... There were books in the ancient pre-Qin Dynasty, but many of them were destroyed... Someone once saw an orphan copy in the former master's house, and mentioned this
thing……"
In order to prevent Zhuge Liang from getting to the bottom of things, Fei Qian changed the topic and said, "Although there is a slight war in the land of Sichuan and Sichuan, it has been in peace for a long time. It contains grain, tea, iron, medicine, incense, silk, and silk."
, pottery, porcelain, wood, bamboo, etc. are all plentiful. If you buy them with gold from the Western Regions..."
The land of Sichuan and Shu is itself a small China. Although the Central Plains region suffered from war, the relatively isolated Sichuan and Shu were not greatly affected. Otherwise, there would be no way to support the repeated struggles of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang in history. But these Sichuan and Shu
It cannot be said that Fei Qian plundered the supplies in Shu without a bottom line, so purchasing them with coins can naturally be used as a way to supplement the shortage of supplies in Guanzhong.
At the same time, the addition of Western Region Gold can also supplement Fei Qian's finances, which were originally reduced due to the weather, so that Fei Qian will not be in the embarrassing situation of being unable to produce coins even if he wants to buy or sell.
After all, the trade around Chang'an is gradually increasing. Large-scale transactions can easily cause a troublesome problem, that is, not enough copper coins. Although some businessmen are willing to accept the "Jiaozi" issued by Fei Qianxia's bank.
Check-type bills are used for transactions, but there are still many merchants who are only willing to accept metal currency and are unwilling to accept delivery notes.
With a large amount of precious metals as collateral, Fei Qian's "Qingyin Shop" can naturally operate more smoothly...
At the same time, it can also solve the phenomenon of some shortage of coins.
Because of the name Zhengxi Qian, everyone called it that when it was first issued. Now they are used to it and have not changed their name. The quality is relatively good, so there are many places where both Wu Baht Qian and Zhengxi Qian can be used.
People like to use five baht coins first, but it is said that now Zhengxi money has gradually replaced five baht coins and has become the currency used in most areas.
Therefore, no matter how much Fei Qian produces, there is still not enough.
This situation often occurred in history, and once the currency circulation was insufficient, deflation would occur. The court would not even be able to pay officials' salaries, and then mint counterfeit coins, and the nobles would join in the carnival feast.
Climbing on the country's soil and sucking blood...
Those copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins that were usually circulated disappeared after a period of circulation. Where did they go? Most of them were cast into various bronzes, silver melons, gold ingots, etc. by the rich and powerful in the countryside, and then stored.
So why are these rich and powerful people in the countryside able to accumulate these coins?
Because taxation is unreasonable, the wealth exploited by these large households cannot flow back in time, but is deposited in the hands of these large households. However, it is not easy to change the tax system.
Even if the tax laws in later generations become more and more detailed, a rich man may have to pay a large amount of money according to the tax laws, but he can reduce or reduce it in various ways, and eventually pay less, or even not pay at all, which is the same as in China.
During the feudal dynasty, these noble families had many ways to evade taxes.
Fei Qian's "Juetian Law" is aimed at the fundamental weakness of these rural surnames in the feudal dynasty, but this "Juedian Law" will only slowly develop its power after a few years, so now, try to reduce it as much as possible
The self-sufficiency of these noble families forced these people to put money into circulation, which was an important means at the moment. This was also the reason why Fei Qian deliberately planned to break the "small peasant economy" of these noble families.
Note that this is not a small-scale peasant economy for ordinary people, because for a common people at the most basic level, there is absolutely no way to achieve the so-called ideal state of "self-sufficiency between men farming and women weaving." If the hoe is broken, can you still build it yourself? I'm sick,
Are you still dragging your body up the mountain to collect herbs? Therefore, the idea of small-scale peasant economy instilled in the feudal dynasty will always be the big manor and big landowners. Only these people can achieve a certain degree of "men farming and women weaving" to be self-sufficient.
Self-sufficient'.
Therefore, once the gold from the Western Regions is replenished into Feiqian's economic circle, it can not only make waves in Guanzhong, but also penetrate into Sichuan and Shu. Although these Sichuan and Shu rural tyrants may obtain a large amount of gold and silver from this transaction,
Fei Qian can also use luxury goods such as jade war horses for hedging, and he can collect more transaction taxes between buying and selling...
"In addition..." Fei Qian continued, "Besides Sichuan and Shu, there is also Nanzhong..."
Pang Tong immediately nodded and said with a smile, stroking his palms: "There are many cow and horse leathers and red paint horns in Nanzhong, which are indeed of great use..."
Historically, Nanzhong refers to later Yunnan, Guizhou, southwestern Sichuan, and northern Myanmar. During the Three Kingdoms period, Nanzhong became part of Jihan. In the Tang Dynasty, the Nanzhong area was firmly occupied by the Laotian ancestors, and the Houbai people established the Dali regime here.
The Yelang Kingdom mentioned in the well-known idiom "Yelang is arrogant" is located in Nanzhong.
Fei Qian couldn't help but look at Zhuge Liang again. After all, it was Zhuge's credit for exploiting... well, co-prospering the South Central Circle.
Zhuge Liang naturally couldn't understand the meaning behind Fei Qian's eyes. After pondering for a moment, he said: "In this way, the place will consolidate the transfer of men and horses..."
Fei Qian raised his head and looked at the sky, which was already getting gloomier. He nodded and said, "Presumably at this time, Liu Jiaozhou has arrived in central Sichuan and is preparing to enter Nanzhong... Well, there is no need to rush this matter...
It's already getting late, why don't you two stay and have dinner together?"
"You have your wish but don't dare to ask for help!" Pang Tong laughed and said, "In such weather, you should eat Qiang cooking! Qiang cooking!"
……ヽ(^o^)丿……
While Fei was lurking in Chang'an, planning how to deal with the arrival of Xiaobinghe, the three Liu Bei brothers were also planning how to march into Jiaozhi based on Nanzhong.
"Second and third brothers, look..." Liu Bei laid a map in front of him, then pointed at the map and said, "Now there are five counties in the South Central Plains... Have you noticed? In fact, this division is very bad..."
Zhang Fei stared at the map with wide eyes, trying to see what was wrong with what Liu Bei said, but he couldn't. Then he felt a little dizzy. It seemed that the words on the map began to twist. He couldn't help but raise his head and looked at Liu Bei.
Then he turned to look at Guan Yu...
Guan Yu frowned, stroked his long beard slightly, and said, "Is it because of the region?"
"Exactly, exactly, you see..." Liu Bei nodded and said with his finger on the map, "In the sixth year of Yuanding, Zangke was opened, divided into counties and established Zangke County..."
Liu Bei's finger moved once, "In the same year, the Qiong capital was established and Yueqi County was established..." and then moved again, "Later, in the second year of Yuanfeng, Dianchi Lake was used as Yizhou County, and the Zangke County was divided and merged into Yizhou."
The county was merged with Zhuti County. In the twelfth year of Yongping, Yongchang County was established..."
"After Guangwu, all the counties in Nanzhong also gradually declined..." Liu Bei stood up straight, then walked with his hands behind his back in the tent and said, "If the heroes of the counties collude, the county governance will be in vain. If you don't find a new way,
, I’m afraid it’s hard for you and me, brothers, to stretch our arms and legs alone..."
"Brother! You said...ah..." Zhang Fei straightened up suddenly, stood up and wanted to follow him, but bumped into the knife rest on the side. He was about to fall over, and he couldn't help but hurriedly went to hold the knife rest.
Guan Yu pressed the map on the desk, still frowning, and said: "If this is the case... what's the plan?"
Liu Bei laughed, turned around and said: "Five counties are too few, six counties are about the same, eight counties are better!"
Guan Yu pinched his long beard and pondered slightly, "These extra counties and counties...are they "two peaches"?"
Liu Bei laughed, walked back, patted Guan Yu on the shoulder, sat down and asked, "What do you think, second brother?"
"You should give it a try!" Guan Yu said.
Liu Bei nodded, "In addition, I would like to recommend the Cuan family and the Meng family for use. Remember that your attitude should be better when the time comes..."
Guan Yu frowned slightly, and a cold smell spread out.
"Nanzhong has always been a place outside the law..." Liu Bei patted Guan Yu's shoulder again, taking away a lot of the coldness that Guan Yu had just exuded, "These guys don't understand what etiquette is and what ethics are."
If you surrender, you will surrender, if you rebel, you will rebel... But we are different. If we want to establish rules, we must abide by them... If we don't abide by the rules, no one will be willing to listen to our rules in the future..."
"Emperor Xiaowu destroyed the Yelang Kingdom because Yelang broke the rules..." Liu Bei continued, "But after Guangwu, no one took care of Nanzhong, so these people gradually forgot the rules of the Han Dynasty..."
…』
Liu Bei's eyes turned to the side where Zhang Fei had just held up the sword rest, "If it were like Xiao Wu's move, destroying the country in a moment, it would be able to scare Xiao Xiao, but... the two wise brothers have also seen the current situation, Nanzhong
How many people still remember the strength and majesty of the Han Dynasty?"
I have to say that Liu Bei is a person who is very good at learning.
I learned how to fight from the battle with the Yellow Turbans, learned tactics from the intrigues of the Shandong nobles, and now I have learned new skills under the rule of the Hussar General...
"So, you still have to hold the knife in one hand!" Liu Bei pointed to the knife holder, and then pressed the other hand on the table, "You still have to hold the book in the other hand... You two wise brothers, do you know what is going on with the Southern Huns now? Such a situation
