Ancient money is different from modern money. The value of ancient money does not focus on the face value of the money, but on the weight. Therefore, the ancient emperors often minted money to deprive the people of benefit. And those who minted copper coins privately also looked at the money.
Because of this, he was repeatedly banned.
Before Li Yuan cast Kaiyuan Tongbao, the Tang Dynasty had been using the five-baht coin of the Sui Dynasty. However, the five-baht coin of the Sui Dynasty was also very confusing. This was related to the chaos in the world before the Sui Dynasty unified the world. Before the Sui Dynasty unified the world,
, the Southern and Northern Dynasties coexisted. The Northern Dynasties went through five dynasties, the Northern Wei, the Eastern Wei, the Western Wei, the Northern Qi, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty. The Southern Dynasties also went through five dynasties, including the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen. There were ten countries in total in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. You can sing and I will appear. There are few good emperors, but there are many bad emperors.
Every emperor who comes to power will face Li Shimin's current problem, lack of money! What to do if he is short of money? After all, emperors like Li Shimin who are so poor that they do not reach out to the people are in the minority. Most emperors cannot control themselves to exploit
common people.
The usual method is to cast money. A standard five-baht coin weighs four grams and contains about 3.5 grams of copper. They recycle the money, melt it, recast it, and add other "base" metals to make up the money, such as lead. It turns out that
Four grams, after recasting, it is still four grams, but the copper in it has changed from 3.5 grams to two grams. The value of the money has naturally decreased. The folk call this method "casting big money".
This is not bad, but what is worse is another method called "casting small coins." Casting big coins is a bit shameless, after all, other metals are mixed into it. But casting small coins is completely shameless.
The same is true of money recycling, melting, and recasting. To cast large coins, base metals are added, while to cast small coins, nothing is added at all. The original five-baht coin weighed four grams, and was divided into two, each weighing two grams. The strict regulations are consistent with
The original money was exchanged on a one-to-one basis, and the benefits were robbed from the people.
Such an approach will naturally arouse public outrage, which is why the Northern and Southern Dynasties lasted for less than two hundred years and went through ten kingdoms. Those who minted big money should hold on for a while. Those who minted small coins, ten or twenty years would be considered too much.
After the Sui Dynasty unified the world, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty also discovered this problem and tried to carry out currency reform. However, the power of the clans at that time was much greater than that of the Tang Dynasty today. Especially the families who had been emperors in the north and south, although they were no longer royal families, they had their own
The power of the currency is still not small. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty's currency reform was met with local opposition at the very beginning. Although they were all called Sui Wu Baht, their currency values were still mixed, and the weight of money in different places was different.
Therefore, after Li Yuan founded the country, he began to carry out currency reform. In the chaos of the late Sui Dynasty, the power of the clan was further weakened. This was also one of the prerequisites for the founding of Kaiyuan Tongbao, but it was inevitable to violate Yin and Yang. Then the Xuanwumen Incident broke out and Li Shimin ascended the throne.
After Li Shimin ascended the throne, natural disasters and man-made disasters and wars followed one after another. The economic situation of the imperial court was not as good as that of the Wude period, so it was unable to continue to mint money, and the currency reform was stopped midway.
In today's private transactions, the most popular currency is of course Kaiyuan Tongbao. But Sui Wu Baht can also be used, but the value depends on the actual situation. No one is a fool, and they all know what they are doing. These people gave Sui Wu Baht to
Li Mu just wanted to get through, how could Li Mu let them succeed?
Each Kaiyuan Tongbao weighs one coin, every ten coins weighs one tael, and each string (i.e. one thousand coins) weighs six pounds and four taels. Each coin weighs two baht and four silk threads, which is equivalent to a mass of about four grams. He has arranged for weighing
Dawei, the money put into the treasury must not only be counted, but also weighed to prevent privately minted counterfeit money from being mixed in. This will be slower, but it can ensure that the amount is sufficient.
As for the small number of people who paid the subscription gold with insufficient silver, Li Mu also had a way. He directly set up a furnace, melted the silver directly, removed the impurities, and poured it into a large gold ingot weighing twelve ounces. Whatever comes out is what you want.
You can take it back. In history, Yuanbao began in the Yuan Dynasty, so it was called Yuanbao. Although Li Mu didn't like this origin, he thought that this was the Tang Dynasty at this time, and the Yuan Dynasty was still hundreds of years later, and he felt a lot less worried.
Few. Moreover, Kaiyuan Tongbao is also called Kaiyuan Tongbao among the people. It is logical to name it Yuanbao.
Pure silver is very soft and easy to wear, so when casting the ingot, Li Mu also added "base metal" to the ingot to increase its strength. He calculated the specific gravity and found that after adding the "base metal", one or two silver ingots would
It happens to be worth a lot of money. In the original private exchange, one tael of silver with higher purity can be exchanged for a lot of Kaiyuan Tongbao. He did this to form a standardized exchange rate to facilitate the implementation of his plan.
As for the more rare gold, it was cast into 'gold bars'. To Li Mu's expectation, many people took gold to pay the subscription fee. Probably because they were in a hurry, some shareholders had no choice but to take it.
A lot of soft stuff to fill up the numbers.
In the blink of an eye, three days have passed. In addition to the shares subscribed with grain, copper coins, gold and silver worth 1.77 million guan have been put into the treasury. In order to protect the money, Li Mu also asked Li Shimin for a battalion of forbidden troops.
They are stationed here and guarded day and night, all equipped with strong bows. Anyone who breaks into the ice cellar within a hundred steps will be killed.
Li Mu also took advantage of the three days of focusing on the warehousing to urgently train a group of people. After the warehousing was completed, Datang Bank was established next to the government office of the Ministry of Industry. Everyone was curious about what Li Mu had done.
What does Datang Bank do? Literally speaking, a bank is like a place where money is stored. But people can’t figure out who’s money would be in Li Mu’s hands instead of at home. Isn’t this just a fantasy?
Some people also asked Li Mu, but he didn't give any explanation. It really seemed like the rumors said that the Datang Bank was just a warehouse for storing money.
Towards evening, after Li Mu finished explaining today's financial knowledge to the staff of Datang Bank, it was time for him to get off work. However, Li Mu did not leave in a hurry, but took Li Chongyi and Dugujiu to the ice cellar.
Within a hundred steps of the entrance of the ice cellar, every ten steps, there is a bluestone-paved 'warning line' on the ground to remind you of the degree of danger. If you do not take the initiative to accept the interrogation, when you walk fifty steps from the entrance,
Arrows will fly over.
Even Li Mu needs to verify. First show the fish symbol, and then the secret code. The secret code will be changed every morning to try to be the most secure.
So far, there are only one pair of fish charms, one in the hands of Li Mu and General Zhenwei who is guarding this place. The authority has not been opened to the second person, and even if General Zhenwei wants to guard it, it is impossible because he cannot enter the ice cellar.
, only Li Mu knows the mechanism.
Li Mu entered the ice cellar alone. There was no ice in the ice cellar. Not only was it not cold, but it was somewhat warm due to the earth's atmosphere. Li Mu lit the oil lamp, and the ice cellar became brighter. More than one million pounds of money only occupied less than a fifth of the ice cellar.
A place of one. When Li Mu designed this ice cellar, he planned it with a storage capacity of 10 million pounds.
Li Mu has been coming here every day these days. He is doing something, something only he can do.
He is 'calibrating' the money.
Because of the existence of the system, Li Mu can freely exchange the money that has been 'recharged' into the system. If he wanted to, he didn't even have to go through the trouble of casting it, he could just put his hand on the money and 'recharge' it into the system.
Then just 'change' it. Of course, just think about it, it's definitely not possible to do this, it would be too shocking.
However, it is still possible to calibrate it.
For example, the silver content of a certain ingot is slightly higher. He can put his hand on it and 'suck away' a little bit of the silver in the ingot. With a system in place, it will be absolutely accurate and foolproof. Similarly, if any
If the silver content of the ingot is lacking, he can make up for it. With the system in charge, there will be no difference at all.
Most of the recast money, whether it is copper coins or silver, is a little overpriced. Li Mu has sucked out more than two thousand coins just by 'sucking' in the past few days.
Li Mu looked at the money neatly stacked on the wooden shelf, like the goods placed on the shelves in a supermarket, and a thought kept coming to his mind. He pounced on it and 'recharged' all the money into the system. It wouldn't work anyway.
Some people believe that the money disappeared out of thin air, causing a supernatural event, and nearly two million yuan was obtained. With this money, do you need to worry about upgrading the system? At least you can upgrade a few advanced skills!
But he endured it, not because morality restrained him, but because reason restrained him. Now that he has a family and a business, it is impossible for him to give up everything he already owns for the money. Without his wife and concubines, he has lost his brothers and friends.
, just have a system and a few advanced skills, what can you do?
Moreover, upgrading the system is not just about having money, it also requires various materials. So rationally speaking, it is not advisable to encourage growth by cutting off the seedlings, and steady development is the right way.
Li Mu secretly converted part of the silver into copper coins, and then came out of the ice cellar. He would convert a little bit every day, because at the moment, copper coins are the main currency circulating in the market, and gold and silver are mostly used in utensils or jewelry.
It appears that the money is not liquid enough and does not meet his needs.
But it’s not possible without it. Some large transactions still require precious metals. It’s just that the proportion is not yet known. But Li Mu is not worried. There is a system in place, and as long as you have money, you can switch at any time.
After leaving the ice cellar, Li Mu and the others got on their horses and went home. As soon as they reached the square gate, they saw a carriage waiting there. Li Chongyi and Dugujiu looked at each other and pulled the reins together. Li Mu had no choice but to stop, his old face turned red.
He turned around and said, "What do you mean? Let's go!"
"Brother, get in the car quickly. I'll hold the horse for you, and I'll teach you when we get home." After Li Chongyi finished speaking, he reached out and grabbed the reins of Li Mu's horse.
Dugujiu nodded. He still didn't like to talk when he was outside.
"Oh, you guys!" Li Mu sighed, reluctantly got off the horse and got into the carriage. Before he could sit firmly, a pair of catkins wrapped around his neck and shoulders like a snake, and gave him a gentle kiss.