The first thousand and three chapters reward deep meaning
Guo Song took a sip of tea and was thinking about how to chat with the current head of the family, Liu Shangdong. At this moment, he caught a glimpse of Liu Shangdong with a piece of Khotanese jade hanging on his waist. He started to care about it and smiled slightly: "Liu Shangdong
Does the head of the family also like jade?"
Liu Shangdong quickly leaned over and said with a smile: "Your Highness is right, I am obsessed with jade. I have been obsessed with it for twenty years and collected countless jade stones. I didn't know it until I read a column about Pinyu in Chang'an Express recently.
I don’t have a collection of Khotanese jade, which is a pity!”
Guo Song did not explicitly say that the column on jade was written by him. He smiled and asked, "Would you be honored to visit Dongzhu Liu's jade collection?"
"Your Highness is so elegant, how dare you disobey."
Liu Shangdong glanced at his father quickly, and Liu Xun winked at him, meaning to ask him to bring out good things.
Liu Shangdong stood up and said: "Your Highness, please!"
He led Guo Song to a large separate house in the back house. Liu Xun and Dugu Lingqiu followed behind and chatted. The two had known each other for many years. Dugu Lingqiu had a close relationship with the Liu family. The Liu family was the richest man in Yangzhou, and the Dugu family
Business in Yangzhou is inseparable from cooperation with the Liu family.
Liu Shangdong opened two iron doors and entered a large warehouse. The warehouse was filled with rows of wooden shelves filled with all kinds of jade, ranging from several kilograms of large ones to several kilograms of small ones.
A variety of expressions.
At this time, Guo Song stopped in front of a screen. It was a four-leaf sapphire screen with a red sandalwood base and eight scenes of Chang'an engraved on it. Guo Song recognized this screen as a collection of Dezong Li Shi.
, in order to raise military expenses, this screen was also put up for auction. He remembered clearly that this screen was auctioned off by Dugu Changqiu, Dugu Changqiu's brother, for 50,000 yuan. Unexpectedly, it ended up in the hands of Liu Shangdong.
.
"This was transferred to me by a friend in Chang'an for 50,000 yuan. It is said that it came from the palace."
Guo Song nodded, "Not bad!"
He glanced quickly at Duqiu and continued walking forward.
Guo Song quickly went through Liu Shangdong's collection. Frankly speaking, Liu Shangdong's collection could not catch Guo Song's attention. He mainly collected Xiu jade, Dushan jade, Lantian jade, some agate, and a small amount.
Kunlun jade, and even a large amount of quartz jade.
"Didn't Mr. Liu like Khotan jade? Why didn't you see it?" Guo Song asked with a smile.
Liu Shangdong quickly brought a box and opened it on the table. There were only a dozen pieces of jade in it, the size of a fist, and most of them were green and white jade. Guo Song glanced at the white jade on his waist that looked like a brand, and unexpectedly this piece
Still the best.
Liu Shangdong smiled awkwardly and said: "The main reason is that Hotan seed jade cannot be bought. These are almost bought for one thousand guan, and they are collected in the entire jewelry store in Chang'an, that's all."
Guo Song took out a piece of red leather seed jade that he had been playing with in his arms, handed it to him and said with a smile: "This piece is good, give it to you!"
"How can this be done? I can't accept His Highness's things."
With his polite words, Liu Shangdong couldn't put it down as soon as he got it. He was fascinated by the white, delicate, smooth, and gorgeous red skin.
Liu Xun's face sank and he said: "Shang Dong, why don't you thank His Highness for the beautiful jade?"
Liu Shangdong quickly bowed to thank him, and Guo Song chuckled and said, "No need to thank you much, it's almost time. I'll come visit you when I have time next time."
Liu and his son respectfully sent Guo Song and Du Lingqiu out of the gate. Watching their carriage go away, Liu Shangdong said with some suspicion: "Father"
Liu Xun waved his hand to interrupt him, "This is not the place to talk. Let's go to the study to talk!"
The father and son came to Liu Shangdong's outer study. Liu Xun sat down and said, "Can you see the purpose of King Jin's visit this time?"
Liu Shangdong shook his head, "He never talked about business!"
Liu Xun sighed: "His coming to visit the Liu Mansion is a gesture in itself. He shows favor to the Liu Mansion. Normally, he is not here to discuss business matters, but in isolation and isolation."
Liu Shangdong asked quickly: "My father and Dugu Xiangguo had a long talk just now. Did they talk about business?"
Liu Xun shook his head, "He just said that His Highness the King of Jin values the Liu family very much. He didn't say much else, but I guess the King of Jin wants to use our ship."
"Then King Jin rewarded me with beautiful jade, did he also want to do that?"
Liu Xun sneered and said, "Is that because you underestimated him and traded you a piece of jade for a ship? He is not that mean. He is trying to win over you and visit your jade house just to reward you with beautiful jade."
It will look more natural when I give it to you."
Liu Shangdong nodded silently. He could indeed feel Guo Song's win over him. Speaking of win over, he suddenly remembered something and asked: "Father, should we apply to purchase the garden house?"
Liu Xun hesitated and said, "Go and find out. If Zhang Lei and Li An really bought it, then we will also apply!"
The two carriages drove out of Anshanfang. Guo Song's carriage in front stopped. A book boy who was accompanying the carriage got out of the car and ran over: "Prime Minister Dugu, Your Highness, please come over and have a chat."
Du Guqiu got off the carriage and, with the support of the child, got on Guo Song's carriage.
"Your Highness is looking for a minister to deal with the Liu family?" Du Guqiu asked with a smile.
"Xiang Guo should be very familiar with the Liu family!"
Guo Song smiled and said: "I saw a sapphire screen. When the palace property was auctioned, I remember that your brother Changqiu bought it, but it ended up in the hands of Liu Shangshu."
Du Guqiu chuckled, "I did have a good relationship with Liu Xun in the past, but I know about the screen. I passed it on to Liu Shangdong. Last time we bought ten large ships from the Liu family, the screen was sold for 50,000 yuan.
He said, the price is not expensive, there are already businessmen willing to pay 80,000 yuan to buy that screen,"
"That screen should have been used by Queen Zhenyi back then!"
"no!"
Du Lingqiu shook his head and said: "If it was used by Queen Zhenyi, I would not transfer it. It was used by Concubine Cui. There is an inscription on the base that Liu Shangdong is a jade fanatic, so I transferred it to him."
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "Actually, I want to ask the Prime Minister whether it is possible for the Liu family to sell some of their ships, say about a hundred ships."
Du Guqiu smiled slightly and said: "The Liu family is a businessman. In business, there has never been a saying that businessmen are unwilling to sell things. There is only a problem of not meeting the price. If your highness has something that makes the Liu family excited, I think they will
selling."
"What does Xiangguo mean by the things that make your heart beat?"
"I don't know the details, but I can talk to the Liu family. I think the Liu family chose Chang'an instead of Yuezhou or Hangzhou, which means they don't want to bet all their wealth on maritime trade. They should also
Observe, choose, I’ll try to get my mouth shut tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.”
Guo Song nodded and asked: "I feel that Prime Minister Dugu is already quite good at developing industry and mining. So the Prime Minister should know what is the biggest shortcoming of the current court?"
Du Guqiu pondered for a moment and said: "Frankly speaking, the biggest shortcoming of the imperial court at present is the lack of money. Business is developing rapidly and there are more and more large-scale transactions. The amount of money in the market can no longer satisfy it.
It stands to reason that from the beginning of the Tang Dynasty to the present, a total of nearly 50 million copper coins have been minted, but I estimate that there are at most 20 million copper coins circulating in the market. Where have the other 30 million copper coins gone?"
"It should all be in the hands of the people!"
Guo Song smiled slightly and said: "Several of my children have piggy banks. It is estimated that every household has the same piggy bank, or the big families have stored it in a hoard. But it doesn't matter. You can exchange gold and silver, or auction valuables to replace the copper coins.
Part of it.”
"Actually, humble work means casting a large amount of gold and silver coins, or casting silver dimes. Bashu is rich in gold and silver. Secondly, the beet sugar produced in Anxi is used to exchange for gold and silver in Sogdiana and Dashi. As long as the gold and silver from the West continue to be imported into the Tang Dynasty,
, our current situation of insufficient copper coins can be greatly improved."
Guo Song thought for a long time and said: "Actually, what I am considering is to issue bank notes, using the large amount of gold and silver in stock as guarantee, and the Ministry of Household Affairs to issue corresponding bank notes. This kind of bank notes can be recognized by the government in any place."
"What is a bank note?" Du Lingqiu asked puzzledly.
Guo Song smiled slightly and said: "It's just a flying ticket from a cashier's shop, but it's issued by the Ministry of Accounts, and the money exchanged on it is silver. It's universal, not limited to a certain cashier's shop."
"That's it!"
Du Guqiu thought for a moment and said, "I'm just afraid that counterfeit banknotes will appear."
"This is not difficult. The first is to enact severe punishments. Anyone who dares to forge banknotes will have his whole family beheaded. The second is to use special paper. Except for Shaofu Temple, no one can copy it. Counterfeiting will naturally be eliminated.
Already."
"This is feasible. It saves a lot of links in the circulation of gold and silver. However, I think silver coins are very convenient and should be minted in large quantities."
Guo Song nodded, "This suggestion is feasible. Let's discuss it with the Political Affairs Hall and come up with a formal plan."