Zhang Yue understood what happened, and he felt a little better.
Zhang Yue said to Zhang Kongmu: "To make it easy to reduce the price of salt banknotes, we can just ask the Shaanxi Transport Department to issue banknotes. But the Shaanxi Transport Department now refuses to issue banknotes. The right to make banknotes lies with the Shaanxi Transport Department, and the northwest salt profits also belong to Shaanxi."
Zhang Kongmu said: "That's right. Although the Capital Salt Institute is under the control of the Shaanxi Transportation Department, the accounts are all owned by the third department. Therefore, the Transportation Department is unwilling to put money here, let alone stabilize the price of salt in the capital."
Zhang Yue and Zhang Kongmu were talking, but at this moment, a sudden change occurred. More than a dozen vendors cursed in front of the door: "Duyanyuan promised to give you money, but why can't I buy money with cash!"
"I couldn't exchange banknotes for money before, but now I can't exchange money for banknotes. What's the use of this yamen?"
"If you don't sell money, we will smash this yamen."
After saying this, hundreds of vendors outside the door started shouting. Seeing that the situation was not good, the doorman couldn't help but blow the horn.
The horn sounded, and at this moment two groups of Western army men rushed out from the left and right of the Yamen Gate and surrounded all the vendors in front.
The leading general said: "Don't look at where this place is! Arrest all those who are causing trouble for you!"
More than a dozen vendors in front of the door were captured. The Western Army soldiers beat the vendors with knife handles. The leading general shouted: "These people will have their money confiscated and they will all be sent to Kaifeng Mansion!"
"Yes, it was hard to exchange a penny before, and now it's hard to exchange a single note again."
"Not even a few words."
“I’ve always heard that Kansai people are arrogant, which is really true!”
Several vendors beside Zhang Yue couldn't help but say something.
At this time, the Western troops guarding the Yamen came again one after another. Several traders saw that the situation was not good and wanted to leave, but were stopped.
One man was harassed by a big man from the Western Army and said quickly: "Why don't I wait and buy it?"
The Western soldier said: "I suspect that you are an accomplice, so I will torture you together."
The merchant struggled, but was dragged away by the Western soldier on the spot. The merchant couldn't help struggling and kicked dust all over the floor. Several merchants and his companions were about to come forward to rescue them, but the Western army thought they were coming to rob people, so they all drew their swords.
Unsheath.
Zhang Yue shouted: "Stay here!"
The Western soldier heard Zhang Yue's words and immediately threw the merchant hard. The soldiers on the left and right surrounded him and punched and kicked the merchant.
The Western soldier looked at Zhang Yue.
Another person said: "Hey, this person seems to be a scholar. Don't cause trouble."
"It's just a big deal!"
Zhang Yue said: "Let these traders go immediately! Call your superiors here!"
The Western soldier hesitated immediately. The other man's aura was not that of an ordinary scholar.
At this time, the general of the Western Army strode forward. He looked at Zhang Yue and said, "I dare to ask you..."
Zhang Yue interrupted: "There are two supervisors in Duyanyuan, one civil servant is an official from the capital, and one military general is an envoy from the third class! Are you an ambassador or a junior envoy?"
The Western Army general was stunned for a moment, clasped his fists and said: "The last general will serve in the third squad!"
Zhang Yue said: "Is it because you are observing Jiedu? How to deal with these traders?"
The Western Army general immediately said: "Let them all go."
After several Western soldiers put all the vendors who were dragged to the ground away, Zhang Yue said: "I will not pursue this matter. I want to see the prison!"
Zhang Kongmu on the side came forward and said: "We are from the Sansi Yamen!"
The general of the Western Army looked at him and said quickly: "The general is too blind to see Mount Tai. Please come here!"
After saying that, they surrounded Zhang Yue and Zhang Kongmu and entered the Capital Salt Courtyard.
Some soldiers had already arrived at the courtyard, but they saw a green-robed official coming out to welcome him. He seemed to recognize Zhang Kongmu and said, "Brother Zhang, why are you here?"
Zhang Kongmu said: "This Luo Jianyuan is the new judge of our third division, Zhiji Xianyuan, Bachelor Zhang!"
The other party was stunned for a moment after hearing this, wondering how could there be such a young bachelor in the imperial court? Could it be...
Luo Supervisor quickly said: "I have seen the Number One Scholar before!"
Zhang Yue waved his hand and said, "Go inside and talk."
The generals of the Western Army on the side heard this and followed him inside anxiously.
Zhang Yue and Luo Jianyuan sat down, while the generals of the Western Army and Zhang Kongmu stood aside, and the court officials served tea.
Zhang Yue said: "Luo Supervisory Academy, may I ask how many people there are in the Capital Salt Academy now?"
Supervisor Luo said: "There are five people under the command and eight people in charge of the scale... Are you here today to check the accounts?"
Duyanyuan is under the jurisdiction of the Shaanxi Transportation Department, but the accounts are handled by the third department.
Zhang Yue put down the tea soup and said: "I'm not here to check the accounts, but I just want to ask Luo Supervisory Yuan. There are so many vendors outside asking for salt notes. Why don't you ask the Transportation Secretary for more salt notes? This is not a difficult task."
Supervisor Luo said: "Xueshi Zhang didn't know something. It's not that he didn't give it, but that Commander Cao ordered him to release salt banknotes from the pond before. There were too many empty banknotes but too little salt. Therefore, we postponed printing more empty banknotes to realize the benefits of salt in the northwest."
Zhang Yue knew that the current envoy to Shanxi was Xue Xiang, who was known as a minister with good fortune and wealth. This actually gave him some face, and Sima Guang directly criticized Xue Xiang as a deceitful and cunning person.
After he took office, he first abolished tolls for salt sales in states and counties on the Western Road. Another move was to use salt banknotes to replace silver silk to buy horses in the northwest border market.
Xue Xiang's move was scolded by the Third Division.
The power to make banknotes was in the hands of the Shaanxi Transport Department. Xue Xiang wasted no time in issuing salt banknotes to buy horses. He did not contribute a penny, so he was doing nothing. The indiscriminate issuance of salt banknotes led to the corruption of banknotes and led to the collapse of the northwest.
When the traders took the banknotes to the Capital Salt Garden to exchange them for money, they couldn't get the money.
In the past, the Shaanxi Transfer Department had some restraint in printing banknotes, but after the establishment of the Capital Salt Institute, the Third Department of the imperial court paid to buy back the salt banknotes at a low price, and Xue Xiang's northwest banknote printing machine began to operate.
What should I do if there are too many empty money for Jieyan? It doesn’t matter, the Third Division will pay the bill in the end anyway. The Sansi Yamen is unwilling to be taken advantage of, which leads to the current situation of Duyanyuan.
Cai Xiang scolded Xue Xiang for being eager for success and forcing the central government's revenue to provide for his political achievements in the northwest. Fan Chunren, the deputy magistrate, also expressed opposition.
However, Xue Xiang was thick-skinned and pretended not to hear it. He had a background. It was Wang Anshi who recommended him as the transfer envoy to Shaanxi.
Later, the salt banknote law was corrupted, and the imperial court sent people to Xue Xiang's account to check and found something wrong, but Xue Xiang saved it for Wang Anshi. Later, when Wang Anshi fell ill, Xue Xiang gave Wang Anshi precious ginseng. Wang Anshi looked at it and said, "I won't eat this ginseng."
After living this long, I decided not to eat when I returned.
Xue Xiang's even more extraordinary method was that after he was promoted to the Third Secretary Envoy in the future, he would give up the Salt Palace of the Capital. When he was in Shaanxi Province, he wasted so much salt money, and he had to pay the Third Secretary to pay for it.
, he did not use it when he served as the third envoy.
This defrauded countless businessmen who bought salt banknotes, and it can be regarded as the realization of "the people do not add taxes, but the country uses enough".
Supervisor Luo said: "Shuai Xue Cao has told me several times that this banknote must be strong enough so that the people do not doubt the banknote, and then the banknote can be used as currency!"
Zhang Yue thought to himself, you are the one who prints money, and you are the one who does not print money.
He said to Luo Supervisor: "Luo Supervisor, I am not here to tell you this. If Xue Caoshuai does not give you any more money, the price of salt in the capital will continue to soar. Yes, the salt banknotes from Shaanxi Province can be saved and sold at a high price. If
Once the Queen Mother's official family becomes angry, we cannot afford it!"
Luo Supervisor hesitated and said: "Let me ask the Salt Bureau? I don't know how much money it will take to solve this urgent need."
Zhang Yue stretched out five fingers and said: "At least fifty thousand seats first!"
Luo Supervisor changed his color and said: "That can't be done."
Zhang Yue said: "I see that last year the Jieyan Institute produced 1,175,000 seats, but the banknotes printed by Shaanxi Yunshi Tong were 1,770,000 seats, and the banknotes were nearly 600,000 seats. Our three
I don’t want too many seats, just give me 50,000 seats from the 600,000 seats in empty money, temporarily lower the price of salt in the capital, and let me communicate with the Queen Mother!"
Supervisor Luo shook his head and said: "Fifty thousand seats are too many, we really can't give them. I will decide for Xue Caoshuai that the maximum number is 5,000 seats!"
Zhang Kongmu winked at Luo Jianyuan frequently, but the other party kept shaking his head.
Zhang Yue said: "Then there is nothing we can do..."
Zhang Yue stood up, and Supervisor Luo said: "Master Zhang really has no choice. Even Xue Caoshuai can't give more here."
Zhang Yue said: "Who is going to ask Commander Xue Cao? I will report to the officials and return the money-making power of the Shaanxi Transportation Department to the imperial court..."
…
When Zhang Yue said this, he saw Luo Supervisor's expression change and said quickly: "Scholar Zhang, you can't do it! You can't do it!"
Just after Luo Supervisor finished speaking, the general of the Western Army on the side knelt down and said: "Scholar Zhang, have mercy on us who are fighting for our lives!"
"The money and food given to us by the imperial court for the Western Army was never fully allocated. It was all thanks to Xue Caoshuai who tried every means to turn salt banknotes into money, so that we, the fighting men, could survive, and our wives and children could have something to eat."
of!"
"This salt banknote is dearer to our Western Army than our biological father and mother!"
Zhang Yue said angrily: "Your Western Army has more than just salt banknotes!"
The general of the Western Army cried like a child. He hugged Zhang Yue's leg and said repeatedly: "Scholar Zhang, our Western Army's life is hard! We all rely on salt money to support us."
Zhang Yue knew that he couldn't be soft-hearted at the moment. If he did, he would take the blame, and Han Qi would have no way to explain it. But he also thought that the imperial guards could earn eleven million yuan by doing nothing.
However, the Western Army bears the heaviest pressure on the country's national defense. The soldiers are stationed on the long border to fight with the Qing, Tang and Tubo parties. The Western Army is not comparable to the Forbidden Army. It is the most elite force in the Song Dynasty, but the treatment given by the court is not
It's a world of difference.
As for Xue Xiang, yes, his method is very shameless and he blames others everywhere.
But Xue Xiang didn't want to think of ways to make money. With the money given by the court, how could he maintain such a large-scale border defense field force? How to carry out a shallow attack? All the wars cost was money!
Sima Guang and Fan Chunren saw Xue Xiang's despicable methods, but they did not see the importance of the northwest to the national defense of the Song Dynasty.
Zhang Yue thought of this, and finally relented and asked Luo Supervisor: "How many seats of salt money did you give me?"
Luo Supervisor's joy flashed away, and he continued to say distressedly: "The maximum is seven thousand seats...it can't be more."
Zhang Yue thought to himself, a woman's kindness can kill people! Seven thousand seats is just a drop in the bucket!
…
"That's it for now!"
After Zhang Yue finished speaking, all the generals of the Western Army and all the officials in the courtyard, except Luo Supervisory Court, bowed to Zhang Yue!
Zhang Yue said: "What is this?"
Everyone said: "Let's thank Bachelor Zhang on behalf of the soldiers and people of Shaanxi!"
Zhang Yue smiled bitterly, "If you thank me, it will be difficult for me to do business when I go back."
