Zhu Si's Minister of Household Affairs, Wang Ling, did not receive the same treatment as last time during his mission to Chang'an. Last time, Prime Minister Zhang Qiu'an specially received him, but this time no one paid attention to him at all.
He entered Chang'an City with more than a dozen followers on Chunmingmen Street. The city was bustling with people, and the whole Chang'an City seemed very prosperous and lively.
"Sir, compared to last time, it seems to be a little more lively!" A follower said to Wang Ling.
Wang Ling sighed secretly in his heart. Compared with the ruin and desolation of Luoyang, Chang'an was so full of vitality. It would be unfair to use destiny to judge things. Basically, it was the problem of the superior himself.
If the ruler is wise, his ministers will be virtuous, and if his ministers are virtuous, his officials will be clear. If the top and bottom are well connected, and the government will be clear and clear, then the whole rule will appear so vibrant.
When Wang Ling thought that he had to negotiate with Guo Song on behalf of Zhu Si, he suddenly became a little listless and his future was bleak.
The group of people came to Daming Palace. Wangxian Gate of Daming Palace is the reception area of Honglu Temple. There is a small building of Honglu Temple inside the gate, where there are special officials to receive them.
Honglu Temple usually receives envoys from small countries in the Western Regions or northern nomadic regimes and arranges for princes from small countries in the Western Regions to study and live in Chang'an.
The official on duty at Honglu Temple today was Shaoqing Liu Zhen, the son of Li Mi. He heard from the soldiers that Zhu Si's envoy had arrived. He was deeply surprised and rushed out to greet him.
"It turns out to be Wang Shangshu!"
Liu Zhen knew Wang Ling and walked out with a smile, "Wang Shangshu is coming, but we don't know at all."
Wang Ling smiled bitterly. Last time he came, Zhang Qiu'an personally received him and made very thoughtful arrangements. But this time, he was like an ordinary visitor, and the other party didn't even know he was coming.
"I have come to your country as an envoy on the order of my emperor. I hope you will receive me normally."
"No problem, I'll take you to the inn to stay first, and then I'll report it to you."
Liu Zhen was not too rude. He personally sent Wang Ling and his entourage to live in the VIP guest house in Guanyi, and then rushed back to Honglu Temple to report to the chief official Li Chan.
At dusk, Prime Minister Zhang Qiu'an arrived at the hotel. Wang Ling was overjoyed by Zhang Qiu'an's arrival and hurriedly welcomed him out.
"Zhang Xiangguo, long time no see!"
Zhang Qiu'an smiled slightly and said: "This is not the time to talk about business. How about we go have a drink?"
Wang Ling nodded quickly, and the two of them came to Chunhui Restaurant diagonally opposite Guanyi. It was dinner time, and there were many guests, most of whom were residents of our house.
The two went up to the second floor and found a seat by the window. Zhang Qiu'an ordered wine and food, and soon two pots of hot wine were delivered. Zhang Qiu'an poured a full glass for Wang Ling and asked with a smile: "I heard that Zhu
The Si court changed officials very quickly, I thought Wang Shangshu had been promoted?"
Wang Ling smiled bitterly and said: "Now Zhu Si's court is a stagnant place. Liu Feng's staff are the ministers. We have nothing to do all day long. Especially when the Jin army captured Puzhou and other places, the people in the court were distracted and everyone was
Start thinking about your future."
This is the most depressing thing about Wang Ling. He was the governor of Puzhou last year and was forcibly summoned to Luoyang by Zhu Si to be the minister of household affairs. Now the Jin army has captured Puzhou. If he doesn't leave, then he will be the new governor of Puzhou.
.
Zhang Qiu'an smiled slightly, "His Royal Highness the King of Jin was still talking about Wang Shangshu two days ago!"
Wang Ling perked up and asked quickly: "What did His Highness King Jin say about me?"
"The governor of Puzhou should be called Xie Qun!"
"Exactly, this person is an old follower of Zhu Si. He has a bad character. I heard that he has a bad reputation in Puzhou!"
Zhang Qiu'an nodded, "This man exploited the people in Puzhou, enriched himself, and was greedy. He occupied hundreds of shops in Puyang alone. When he heard that the Jin army was coming, he prepared to flee Puyang, but was killed by thousands of people.
The angry people caught up with him and pushed the carriage into the river. His whole family drowned in the river. After the Jin army occupied Puzhou, they specially surveyed the public opinion. Wang Shijun was very popular in Puzhou. His Highness the King of Jin talked about you, if
If you wish, you can continue to serve as the governor of Puzhou, and of course you will be the governor appointed by His Highness the King of Jin."
Wang Ling was immediately overjoyed and immediately stood up and said: "I am very willing to serve His Highness King Jin!"
Zhang Qiu'an waved his hand and asked him to sit down, and said with a smile: "Let's wait until you finish your mission. These are two things. Now you still have to work well for Zhu Si. You can't betray your old master for the sake of your future, and neither does His Highness King Jin."
I like people like this.”
Wang Ling's originally dark clouded future suddenly became bright and sunny, which made him extremely happy. He nodded and said: "I understand that the public is public and the private is private. I cannot abolish the public because of private interests!"
"Is Wang Shijun's visit this time related to the battle in the Central Plains?"
"Exactly! Zhu Si is very worried right now. He wants to destroy Qiu Jingzhong with all his strength, but he is afraid that the Jin army will send troops to interfere, so he wants to ask you for peace."
"Seek peace?"
Zhang Qiu'an laughed, "What kind of sincerity can he show?"
"Five.6 million catties of copper, this is Zhu Si's sincerity."
Zhang Qiu'an was startled, "How come there is so much copper in Luoyang?"
"It has been placed in Dongluocang for decades, and a layer of patina has developed on it. It is said that it is related to Anlu Mountain. Liu Sigu said, you must be short of copper coins now, and you should not refuse this batch of copper."
Zhang Qiu'an nodded. Liu Sigu was indeed right. The separatist forces in the vassal towns, including the Qi State, the Wei State, and the Zhusi Dynasty, all cast their own copper coins. In order to isolate the imperial court, the method they adopted was to confiscate copper coins from the people.
Kaiyuan Tongbao, a huge amount of copper coins was confiscated, melted and cast into their money. Qi and Wei called it Xiaoqian, and the Zhusi Dynasty called it new money. They all contained very low copper content and were of poor quality.
Now the Jin army is gradually unifying the world. Because too many copper coins were melted down in the past, there is a shortage of copper coins in many places. Now they really have a huge demand for copper. The copper mines in Pozhou and Ezhou have tripled their production capacity.
, but it is still a bit far away and the water cannot quench the near thirst.
Zhang Qiu'an quickly calculated and found that a typical copper coin is six pounds and forty taels. Based on the copper content of 90%, 5.6 million pounds of copper can be minted into about one million coins, which can solve an urgent need.
Zhang Qiu'an said happily: "I will report to His Highness the King of Jin that it is okay not to interfere in the civil war in the Central Plains. It depends on how we negotiate."
Early the next morning, Guo Song listened to Zhang Qiu'an's report and said with a smile: "Zhu Si is willing to show his sincerity this time. It seems that he really hurt him. Unexpectedly, they still have 5.6 million kilograms of copper."
The inventory is amazing!”
Zhang Qiu'an added: "According to Wang Ling, Zhu Si plans to conquer Chou Jingzhong personally. I'm afraid he will bring the Tiger Guards with him. Without our support, Chou Jingzhong may not be his opponent."
Guo Song took a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "How is the defense situation in Songcheng County?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, Songcheng County is a majestic city. The city is tall and strong, and the moat is extremely wide. If there is enough food in the city, there will be no problem in defending it for one or two years."
Guo Song nodded, "Qiu Jingzhong is not short of food, but he is still relatively short of city defense materials. Before reaching an agreement, we still need to provide Qiu Jingzhong with a large amount of city defense materials, so that Songcheng County can become a meat grinder for Zhu Si's army."
"Your Highness still decides to sign the agreement with Zhu Si?"
Guo Song smiled and said: "Since Zhu Si has shown the sincerity we need most, of course this agreement can be signed."
Speaking of this, Guo Song asked Pan Liao and Du You next to him: "Do you two have anything else to add?"
Pan Liao smiled and said: "There are three hundred coin makers in Luoyang Coin Mining Department. They are highly skilled and are the craftsmen we need most. We might as well ask them to send them together, along with their families."
Guo Song nodded, "Then add this one."
Du You added: "The terms should be as broad as possible, not too detailed, but the materials and personnel we need must be delivered immediately."
Zhang Qiu'an said with a smile: "Zhu Si is begging us now. I believe they will send people and materials as quickly as possible. I will go and negotiate now."
Zhang Qiu'an stood up and left. Guo Song asked Pan Liao again: "How much money is there now?"
The main reason for the money shortage in the imperial court was that after the conquest of Qi and the Central Plains states, the circulation of small money and new money was stopped, but the old money was insufficient. As a result, the imperial court was unable to invest enough old money, and money shortages generally occurred in various places.
Pan Liao bowed and said: "At least three million more coins are needed. The Zhengshitang is considering increasing the minting of silver coins, allowing them to circulate in Chang'an and Guanzhong, and sending copper coins to the Central Plains."
Guo Song pondered for a while and said: "We don't have a large silver mine, so we still have to be cautious in the use of silver coins. I suggest that for the time being, we should mainly use copper coins. If there is no copper, we can collect it from temples and purchase it from the private sector. Gold and silver should still be used as reserves in the future.
After we have a large silver mine, we can expand the use of silver."
Du You smiled and said: "Actually, there is still copper. At least I know there are two sources. One is the small money and new money we collected. We can melt them and re-cast money. It just takes time. In fact, the money shortage is a time lag.
question."
"Is there another source?" Guo Song asked.
"Wei Chen went to the Armory Supervisor today and talked with the Supervisor Zhuo Zangyu. He told me that there are indeed 30,000 copper shields in the armory."
Before Du You could finish speaking, Guo Song waved his hands and said: "Bronze shields are unrealistic. Each copper shield is thirty kilograms, which adds up to only one million kilograms of copper. Even two hundred thousand guan is not enough. Forget it, let's go
Let’s collect them from various temples! Bronze Buddha statues and bells are required to be shipped to Chang’an.”
Pan Liao still wanted to speak, but Du You winked at him, and Pan Liao fell silent.
"Okay! Let's retire first and speed up the time to make money." Pan Liao and Du You bowed and retreated.