In addition to trump cards, the Han Dynasty now also has many good cards that can be played.
Among them are salt and tea.
As early as last year at the end of the Battle of Yanji, when Xia Yi went to Longcheng, Liu Che had already ordered the Zhongyong Army and the Loufan Army to completely control several famous salt producing areas in the Munan area.
The northern grasslands are already severely lacking in salt.
Now, the few salt fields are all under the control of the Han Dynasty.
If they want to eat salt, they have to go to Longcheng to buy it.
Salt is the source of life for both herders and their livestock.
Without salt, both humans and animals will get sick!
As for tea…
Anyone who is familiar with the living habits of nomadic people will know the importance of this magical plant drink to the nomadic people in the north.
Without tea, the herdsmen may not die, but they will definitely feel uncomfortable!
Controlling salt and tea means controlling the weaknesses of many tribes.
In addition, corn, wheat, and alcohol produced in China are also commodities that the Han Dynasty can currently exert influence on the tribes in the Munan region.
As for luxury goods such as iron pots, they have been sought after by various Xiongnu tribes since the third year of Yuande.
Liu Cheke heard that owning an iron pot and a kitchen knife was a symbol of status among the Xiongnu tribes.
Thinking like this, Liu Che knocked on the table: "Maybe you can add five baht..."
The five-baht coin minted by the Han Dynasty was highly sought after and trusted by Han subjects because of its exquisite appearance, moderate weight, and high copper content.
Even among Mitsukoshi and Nannan Yi, it has become popular.
As for the Xiongnu, Liu Che had also heard of a story about a certain tribe of Xiongnu who was negotiating trade with the Han family and insisted on asking for five baht coins.
Quietly, the five-baht coin swept across the world like a hurricane.
In just eight or nine years, it occupied the top spot as a credit currency.
Unfortunately, the circulation of five-baht coins has always been a big problem.
The reality of China's serious shortage of copper actually means that the annual output of copper materials is far less than the rate of increased currency issuance.
Last year’s copper ingot production was less than 20% of the new currency!
This is so embarrassing.
The young man almost went crazy trying to mint money.
If it hadn't been for the gift package sent by the Five Kings of Qilu and the Chang'an bureaucracy, I'm afraid Liu She, the young minister, would have gone crazy by now.
"Continue to increase the amount of gold and silver baht casted..." Liu Che was thinking in his mind.
Since its inception in the fourth year of Yuan De, Jin Wu Baht has gone through a bumpy and arduous road.
Unlike the five-baht coin, China has never had any gold and silver currency in circulation since ancient times.
For the past thousands of years, gold has been regarded as a precious metal rather than a general equivalent.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, although the role of gold began to be valued.
However, its circulation scope has always been limited to nobles and scholar-bureaucrats.
It was not until the Battle of Mayi that the Shaofu minted the first batch of one million gold baht as a reward for officers and soldiers.
Liu Che originally thought that this would be a good start and lay the foundation for the circulation of gold currency.
But who would have known that he almost shot himself in the foot. Most of the soldiers and officers received the gold and five baht, but instead of spending it on consumption, they just like the landlords and old money, spent these cute little yellow-orange things.
He dug a hole and hid it.
Moreover, most people's idea is that after they die, their children and grandchildren will bring these gold and five bahts into their coffins as funerary objects...
This really made Liu Che so angry that he almost vomited blood.
He racked his brains and tried his best to dig out the gold bit by bit from the hands of the princes and ministers, intending to use it as a reserve fund for the future gold standard currency. However, in the end, he still could not escape the fate of being buried as a funerary...
At that time, Liu Che almost gave up the idea of continuing to issue gold baht.
Fortunately, he gritted his teeth and persevered.
And it continues to expand and increase the issuance of gold baht.
In the fourth year of Yuande, for a whole year, the Han Dynasty only minted one million gold five-baht coins, consuming about eight thousand gold coins (theoretically speaking, one pound of gold can only cast ninety-six five-baht coins, or even less
, but the Shaofu went to great lengths to add various impurities into the gold baht during the casting process. In fact, the impurities in today's gold baht account for about 30%).
In the fifth year of Yuande, in order to pay the rewards and rewards for the Battle of Gaoque, the Shaofu once again minted more than two hundred five-baht coins each. In addition, due to the reduction in the amount of five-baht coins minted that year, in order to pay wages, Liu Che instructed the Shaofu to mint additional coins.
Two million gold and five baht were used to pay officials' salaries.
In the sixth year of Yuande's reign, the Shaofu's minting amount of gold and five baht reached an unprecedented six million!
It has only been ten months since this year, and the minting volume of gold baht has already reached 7 million!
The huge stock of gold and baht has finally given this high-grade currency a circulation market and conditions.
At least in Chang'an and Luoyang, merchants began to use gold and five baht in daily transactions.
The public was also exposed to this gold currency.
People began to accept it and were happy to use it.
At this point, the Han Dynasty's gold standard strategy finally took a solid first step.
"Next, it's time to develop the Nihong gold mine..." Liu Che was thinking about the plan in his mind. At present, the only use value of the Neon Islands for the Han Dynasty may be this archipelago.
Precious metals are brought to the surface from deep underground due to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and various other reasons.
However, Liu Che has never been able to make up his mind to develop Neon's gold resources.
Because he knows very well that the neon gold is cute, but there is a huge devil schistosomiasis hidden in the neon river water!
In fact, the current schistosomiasis in the Han Dynasty was brought back from Nihong by someone unknown.
Archaeological evidence from later generations proves that before the early Han Dynasty, there was no schistosomiasis in China.
One day after the early Han Dynasty, schistosomiasis suddenly appeared.
In the following decades, this terrible parasite multiplied rapidly, occupying the vast water network in Wuyue area, and continued to spread with human activities.
Fortunately, Liu Che discovered it in time and ordered Kuaiji, Jiangdu and other schistosomiasis-stricken areas to begin eradicating and controlling these terrible parasites.
The vigorous oleander planting movement is in full swing.
Thousands of oleander trees are planted in fields, ponds, rivers and streams.
Every summer and autumn, fallen leaves and fruits of oleander fall into the water, killing a large number of snails.
This terrible disease has begun to be under preliminary control.
However, eradication requires further development of medical technology, or at least the development of drugs specifically targeting this parasite and its host.
Liu Che didn't want to think that he had finally managed to control schistosomiasis.
As a result, all previous efforts were wasted just to get some gold.
