Seeing that Qiao Xingjian seemed a little scared, Cheng Ju couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, we are doing this for the sake of the stability of the country. Even if the officials are angry, as ministers, we cannot just cater to them.
How can I respond to the teachings of a saint if I am so flattering?"
Qiao Xingjian nodded, deeply convinced.
However, Cheng Jui still made Zhao Yun's thinking simple. He stuck Zhao Yun's neck, thinking that Zhao Yun had nothing to do, but was Zhao Yun the kind of person who would let others choke his neck?
Time passed, and a few days passed. When the court paid salaries to the officials, many officials were very happy. They all came in carriages on this day to avoid too much money and the sedan could not fit in it.
First, they were given to senior officials such as Qiao Xingjian, Yuan Shao, Cheng Ju, Zhen Dexiu, Zhu Zhu, Wei Liaoweng, Fan Chu, etc. However, when they saw the salary, they were dumbfounded, because all their salaries were
Became Jiaozi!
Qiao Xingjian raised his eyes and looked at Cheng Jue, saying, "Your Majesty, what do you mean?"
Yuan Shao, Zhen Dexiu, Zhu Zhu, Wei Liaoweng, and Fan Chu also looked at him one after another. Zhu Zhu sounded dissatisfied and said: "Cheng Shijun, I have not offended you, have I?"
Cheng Jueling didn't even react, and quickly denied it, "Envoys, what are you talking about? You are all colleagues, can I still attack you?"
While talking, Cheng Ju ordered people to find Zhao Miao, the Cangbu envoy, and said to him: "Cangbu envoy, what is going on? Why are the salaries of many envoys coming from your treasury turned into exchanges?"
son?"
Zhao Miao carefully replied: "The official took the handover and asked the subordinate to exchange the copper coins. The official said that if anyone has any questions about the salary, you need to answer it. The official said that all this is done in accordance with the three regulations.
The envoy will do what you want, but the subordinates will speak lightly, so I would like to ask the three envoys not to embarrass the subordinates."
"Do what I want?"
Cheng Jue was dumbfounded now, how could he be so involved in it? He didn't even tell him if he would be given a handover as part of his salary, okay?
While Cheng Jue was stunned, Zhao Miao slipped away quietly.
Qiao Xingjian had already realized what was going on, and said: "It seems that the officials are still worried about the salary of the new army. This is why Zhao Miao is asking Zhao Miao to use Jiaozi to pay our salaries as a counterattack."
Zhu Zhu was not involved in this matter and had no knowledge of it. He asked: "Mr. Qiao, what is going on?"
Qiao Xingjian had no choice but to talk about the military pay. Finally, he said with emotion: "The officials bypassed the Privy Council and the Political Hall to establish a new army. For such a big event, if anything goes wrong, it will endanger the country, the country, and the country. We, as human ministers,
, how can we just ignore it? Why don't we go to the officials to ask for orders and let the officials make changes to the new army."
When Zhu Zhu heard this, he said: "I am not involved in the affairs of the New Army. If you go, you can go. If you don't go, you can't go. Now I want to know how to deal with this salary. It's not that you don't know my wife's temper. If you want me to
If the officer goes back with this thing, his family will never have peace."
After saying that, Zhu Zhu looked at Cheng Ju and said: "Cheng Shijun, you are the one who started this matter. I can only look for you. The officials also said they are looking for you. If you don't deal with it, I will never finish it with you."
Cheng Jue had a grimace on his face, "Zhu Shijun, I am doing this for the sake of the country and the country."
"I don't care about that. Anyway, you have to deal with it properly."
While talking, Wei Liaoweng and seven or eight officials surrounded Cheng Ju and asked him to exchange the money for copper coins. If he didn't exchange it, they would go to Cheng Ju's house to eat and drink and never leave again.
Cheng Jue was surrounded by many officials and realized that no matter what he said, it would be useless, so he looked at Qiao Xingjian for help.
Qiao Xingjian was on good terms with Cheng Jue, and he was also involved in this matter. At this time, he had to come out to smooth things over for Cheng Jue and let other officials go back first. He and Cheng Jue would discuss it again and decide to handle the matter well.
Then they dispersed.
Yuan Shao on the side watched this scene that was almost like a farce. When everyone dispersed, he said to Qiao Xingjian and Cheng Jue: "Shijun Qiao, Shijun Cheng, how can the official family be the kind of king who can be manipulated by others?
The new army has become inevitable, so why bother making the officials uncomfortable? I think it’s better to forget it and go and admit your mistake to the officials, and this matter will be over."
Cheng Ju was furious and said: "Mr. Yuan, as the Prime Minister of the Left, you turned a deaf ear to the arbitrary actions of the officials and the establishment of the new army without authorization. How can you have the confidence to speak out against me? The new army is not controlled by the Privy Council and is not under the jurisdiction of the imperial court.
Such an army has endless troubles, and the others are powerless due to their status. As the head of a government office and a senior official in the ministry, how can we stand by and watch?"
Yuan Shao was treated like a donkey because of his good intentions, so he naturally said no more, shook his head and left.
After Yuan Shao left, Cheng Jue looked at Qiao Xingjian and Zhen Dexiu, and said: "Two envoys, how do you think this salary matter should be handled? The Cangbu envoy has obviously been ordered by the officials, and there is no way he can do it again.
The one who exchanged the jiaozi for copper coins."
Qiao Xingjian was helpless for a moment and raised his eyes to look at Zhen Dexiu, the Minister of Household Affairs.
Zhen Dexiu thought for a while and said to Cheng Jue: "It's really helpless. You can make up the difference yourself. I will suffer some losses, so you don't have to make up for my share."
After saying that, Zhen Dexiu turned around and left.
"Envoy, envoy."
Cheng Jue became a stranger inside and out, and in the end he had no choice but to ask for money from his own pocket and make up the 30% difference for a group of senior officials in the ministry, and then he managed to cope with it.
However, after this incident, Cheng Jue's family fortune was greatly emptied, and he felt quite sad that he wanted to cry without tears.
Zhao Yun got angry after hearing Gao Shi's report and knowing that Cheng Jue had paid for his salary out of his own pocket. However, a question was put in front of Zhao Yun, which made Zhao Yun realize the seriousness of the matter.
Yes, it is the devaluation of Jiaozi caused by over-issuance.
Zhao Yun picked up a piece of Jiaozi with a face value of one hundred guan in front of the case and frowned.
No one understands the meaning of Jiaozi better than Zhao Yun. It can be said that this is the paper currency of this era.
As long as paper money is done well, it can be comprehensively promoted and gradually replace metal currencies such as gold, silver, and copper coins. Not only will the manufacturing cost be greatly reduced, but transactions will also be convenient and fast, and commerce will be more developed.
The more important point is that paper money is an adjustable currency. If the court is in financial difficulty, it can secretly create some inflation to generate more paper money and relieve financial pressure. It is ten times more convenient to operate than gold, silver and copper coins.
More than a hundred times.
But if it is not done well, it will be a big problem. The reason why banknotes are valuable is because the people believe in the court, and the court is using its own credit and authority as a guarantee.
If no one dares to use banknotes, it actually means the collapse of the court's credibility, and the consequences will be unimaginable.