Chapter five hundred and sixty-one copper money crisis
When Guo Song heard about Yan Zhenqing's arrival, he was overjoyed and hurriedly came out to welcome him. He complained, "Why didn't you tell me that Yan Zhenqing was coming so that I could go to Liangzhou to greet him?"
Yan Zhenqing chuckled, "You are in a high position now and are busy with work. I don't need to trouble you with this little thing. I can come here myself, but I have to trouble you to arrange food and lodging."
"You don't have to say anything publicly, I will definitely make arrangements!"
Guo Song gave Du Siye a few words, and Du Siye immediately went to the post house to arrange room and board for Yan Zhenqing.
"Xiao Du is a pretty kid, isn't he!" Yan Zhenqing looked at Du Siye's back and said with a smile.
"It's really good. I adapt quickly, have a flexible mind, and am very capable. Now I can stand alone."
"What about Qianyi?"
"I have arranged for him to serve as the director of the Northern Court. Mr. Yan, please come in! Let's talk slowly."
Guo Song invited Yan Zhenqing into the official room and asked the tea boy to serve tea. Yan Zhenqing took a sip of hot tea and said with a smile: "Coming from Kongtong Mountain, the road was very desolate, but after entering Liangzhou, I felt alive, especially in Zhangye.
The city is beyond my expectation, it is probably the most prosperous city west of Chang'an."
"Mr. Yan came here from Kongtong Mountain. How is my senior brother?"
"Tianshi Li is a man of his word in Kongtong Mountain. Some time ago, a group of Taoist temple masters went to Chang'an to ask Zhu Si for money, but they were beaten and kicked out of Chang'an. Now all the Taoist temples are counting on your senior brother for help!
Next month, your senior brother will become the master of Zixiao Palace."
Guo Song was surprised, "I really can't tell! My senior brother is actually going to become the master of the Zixiao Palace quietly."
Yan Zhenqing waved his hand, "Let's not talk about him, let's talk about you! I was invited by Du Lingqiu this time. I was the matchmaker for you last time, and I am the matchmaker this time. How about it? You won't look down on it.
The Dugu family, right?"
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said, "I'm a little confused about this marriage. Can Mr. Yan give me some advice?"
"Let me tell you this! I was hiding in Kongtong Mountain, thinking that no one knew about it, but Du Lingqiu knew about it. Do you know why?"
"Is it... the Yuanzhou government?"
Yan Zhenqing nodded, "Wang Zhu, the governor of Yuanzhou, is loyal to Chang'an on the surface, but in fact? He is a disciple of the Dugu family. Do you know how many disciples the Dugu family has, all over the country? The imperial examination has been suspended for more than 30 years, so many
How are officials promoted? Banning, Du Guqiu's sister-in-law, has been the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs for eight years and holds great power. How many people have he promoted? Despite the commotion among the warlords in various vassal towns, there are not many local officials who are truly loyal to them.
, so the Dugu family wants to marry you because they are optimistic about your future, which is also a good thing for you."
Guo Song pondered for a moment, nodded and said: "I can marry the daughter of the Dugu family, but I can only marry her as my concubine."
Yan Zhenqing shook his head, "I am not marrying her as a concubine, but recognizing her as a concubine. Her status is second only to your wife. If you marry someone else in the future, even a princess, you cannot surpass her. Do you understand? This belongs to the Dugu family.
In terms of dignity, they are already making the biggest concession by not seeking the position of head wife."
Guo Song walked a few steps: "Everything has two sides. The Dugu family may be my help now, but I am afraid there will be trouble in the future. I am mainly worried about the unrest in the family in the future."
"It all depends on you. If you are determined, no one can influence your decision."
After thinking for a long time, Guo Song finally nodded, "I can marry her!"
"That's good. I have to write a letter. You can send someone to send it to Chengdu for me."
Guo Song nodded and said with a smile: "Just stay in Zhangye, Mr. Yan!"
Yan Zhenqing smiled and said: "Why should I stay in Hexi? Do you want me to be the chief historian?"
"Gong Yan is old, and it takes too much energy to be a long history, so he will be the elder of Hexi. He has a high status. If anything is wrong, Gong Yan will point it out in time. In addition, everyone can also ask Gong Yan for advice on government affairs."
Guo Song wanted to keep Yan Zhenqing as a consultant and use his experience to help Hexi.
Yan Zhenqing smiled slightly and said, "Since you want to reward me with a bite of food so that I won't have to suffer from traveling around in my later years, of course I can't ask for it, okay! I'll just stay in Zhangye. I finally have a place to escape the military disaster."
Guo Song was overjoyed, "I'll arrange the official residence!"
Yan Zhenqing waved her hand, "Wait a moment, I have something important to say to you."
"Mr. Yan, please speak!"
Yan Zhenqing said slowly: "I encountered something at the tax card in the south of Xiedan County. A group of businessmen bought hundreds of horses. When they paid the tax card, they used money minted by Weibo Fan Town, but the tax collector
They were smarter and refused to take their small money, so they had to take out the real Kaiyuan Tongbao to pay the tax."
Yan Zhenqing took out a piece of money and handed it to Guo Song, "It's a small piece of money like this. I found one in Xiedan County. Take a look."
Guo Song took the money and looked at it carefully, and said for a long time: "This money contains very low copper content!"
"This is bad money, even worse than the iron money minted by Bashu in the past. Now some businessmen use this kind of money to buy large quantities of war horses and sheepskins from Hexi. Don't you think the consequences will be serious?"
Guo Song was surprised, "Is there a lot of this kind of money on the market?"
"I don't know if it exists in Zhangye, but it does in Xiedan County. I stayed in Xiedan County for one night, and the innkeeper had a lot of this kind of money, at least a dozen guan. What about other shops? Sir, this is equivalent to
Use rubbish in exchange for your precious resources, and I advise you not to sell the war horses to outsiders. Those horse buyers are probably from Hebei."
Guo Song's expression became serious, and he immediately ordered the outside officials: "Go quickly and bring Liu Cao to join the army, Pan Changshi and Zhang Lushi to join the army together for a meeting. Go now!"
The two managers went to look for people separately. Yan Zhenqing smiled and said, "Why don't you go to the market to find out in person?"
"I will go, but things have to be arranged. Recently, the number of people coming to Zhangye to buy horses has suddenly increased. I suspect it is related to this matter."
Guo Song brought Yan Zhenqing to the meeting hall. All the officials had already arrived. Guo Song introduced everyone: "This old man is Mr. Yan, Prime Minister. Let's meet him!"
Yan Zhenqing smiled slightly and said: "I, Yan Zhenqing, is no longer the prime minister. After three years of retirement, he is just a commoner."
When everyone heard that this old man turned out to be the famous Yan Zhenqing, they were immediately in awe and stood up to salute. Pan Liao said excitedly: "Old Prime Minister, please remember me!"
Yan Zhenqing looked at him for a moment and suddenly said: "You are Xiao Pan County Lieutenant!"
"Exactly a humble job!"
Yan Zhenqing smiled and said to Guo Song: "In the second year of Guangde, I served as the propaganda envoy to Shuofang camp. When passing through Wulan County, I encountered a group of thieves and robbed a box of my luggage. I severely reprimanded the local county captain.
Fan, this is Xiao Pan County Lieutenant. He just took office, knew his shame and then became brave. He led a group of government officials to arrest all the thieves. I praised him again, but when I left, I found inside the luggage that was recovered.
It was all money, and it should all be books. I went back and scolded this little Pan again, and then he told me that he found an empty box with nothing left, so he had to put all the thief's money in it.
Apologize, it has been more than 20 years since this happened, and I am deeply impressed!"
Pan Liao also said with emotion: "The old prime minister taught me to be honest and not to be too smart. I will remember my humble position in my heart and will never forget it."
Guo Song said to everyone again: "From now on, the old prime minister will stay in Zhangye. As the elder of our Jiedu Mansion, he will teach us a lesson at any time when he finds something wrong, including me. This is the old prime minister guiding us and teaching us how to behave."
In the way of governance, everyone must cherish this opportunity."
Everyone saluted together, "I am willing to humbly accept the supervision and criticism of the old prime minister!"
Guo Song waved his hand and asked everyone to sit down. He took out the copper coin and said, "This is the first suggestion Mr. Yan Ge gave us. Let's take a look at this copper coin."
Guo Song passed the copper coins on, and Pan Liao frowned, "This money seems wrong! It's too small and too light, just like fake money."
Yan Zhenqing said slowly: "This is the money minted in Wei Bo Town. It is called Wei Qian. Chang'an is called Xiao Qian. But the small coins in Chang'an are not only Wei Qian, but also include Qi Qian from Ziqing Town, Ji Qian from Lulong Town, and Li Xilie."
They all minted Huai money privately, with similar appearance. They were collectively called small money in Chang'an. Now Zhu Si has also begun to mint money. Although the appearance is the same as Kaiyuan Tongbao, the copper content is much less. The people in Chang'an call it new money.
, they minted copper coins without restraint, and the circulation volume was very huge. In Chang'an, only three coins of small coins or three coins of new coins could be exchanged for one coin of old coins. The old coins were the former Kaiyuan Tongbao."
Everyone understood Yan Zhenqing's words and couldn't sit still. They didn't know this situation and they all made transactions on a one-to-one basis.
Guo Songdao: "We must take action immediately to find out the situation clearly, and then take measures to reverse this passivity. Now everyone will investigate separately. Pan Changshi, you will arrange it. Investigations from different industries will be carried out. The investigation results will be available early the day after tomorrow."
Come, I want to know how much of this low-quality small money and new money are there in Zhangye City."