Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 588

Taihang Mountains.

Jingxing, one of the Eight Xings of the Taihang, is an important channel connecting Shanxi and Hebei. By the Taohe River under Niangziguan, Yang Guohai, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty Zhending, brought a team of troops and escorted a lot of salt to trade.

Zhang Ji, the governor of Shanxi Liang Road, also brought his own road signs, and escorted many horses and horses to go out of the customs to trade.

In the distance, the lady is closed, and the green flag is fluttering, but the Qing troops stationed there turn a blind eye to it.

The Ming and Qing armies openly traded under this important military town.

"Master Zhang, ten thousand rock salts are here."

Zhang Ji sent his servants to check.

Break open a few packets of salt and get some salt out of it.

"My lord, they are all high-quality reed salt, and the quality is very good."

Zhang Ji was very satisfied.

"General Yang really keeps his word."

"That's natural. I, Yang Guohai, have been in business for many years, and I have always been innocent. Mr. Zhang, where are your grain and horses?"

Zhang Ji waved.

"I brought them all too, five thousand shiguzi, and two thousand good horses."

Yang Guohai also sent someone to check. The millet and grains were indeed the new grain for this year, and the horses were also in good condition, very energetic.

Both parties were very satisfied, so in the end they handed over the food and salt, exchanged supplies, and then bid farewell.

"When will the next batch be traded? How about this price and this amount?"

Zhang Ji was amazed that these people had great appetites and skills, and they had just taken two thousand horses, and they wanted so many more.

"Isn't General Yang planning to attack Zhending Fucheng? You want so many horses, can you afford them?"

"Don't worry about this, Mr. Zhang. Let's do business for mutual benefit. If you don't lose money, I will make money. As for the others, I don't ask. But since you ask, I won't hide it from you. We are going to take Jingxing County Take it, it's getting colder and colder this day, and you have to find a place to shelter from the wind for the winter, right, Master Zhang won't come and beat us, will he?"

Zhang Ji chuckled.

"General Yang, don't be kidding. I'm from Shanxi Liangdao. Jingxing County is the city of Beizhili. I don't care about it. Besides, I'm not a general who leads troops to fight. Those are none of my business."

"General Yang, let me introduce a few friends to you. They are all Shanxi Shanxi merchants. They also bought the horses this time. Let's make friends and see each other more in the future."

Yang Guohai and Tu Guobao are also from Daibei, and they know these Shanxi merchants very well. This is a group that has milk and mothers. , Aliens or thieves.They used to do business with the Mongols and Houjin, and they made a lot of money.

Especially in the years of Chongzhen, the Tartars robbed countless gold and silver, but they were short of food and famine. These Shanxi merchants transported food, iron materials, and even tendons and horns for war to Houjin in exchange for the money in Houjin's hands. Gold and silver jewelry, as well as cattle and horses, mink fur and ginseng, etc., can make a lot of money in one transaction.

In the later Jin Dynasty, all the people were soldiers, and food, grass and military supplies can be said to be provided by Shanxi merchants.

For these people, Yang Guohai felt that he could trust them. They only had money in their eyes, so they didn't have to worry about telling the Qing court or anything.

Now that the Ming army controls the salt, the Tartars rely on salt from Xiechi in Shanxi and some salt ponds in Ningxia, which is not enough at all. Even if they smuggle from him, the price is higher than the cost of salt from Jiechi, not to mention The quantity is still large.

Yang Guohai chatted with the shopkeepers of the Shanxi merchants for a while, and reached a few more orders, not only to exchange salt for horses, but also to exchange silver dollars for armaments.

Shanxi merchants guaranteed to provide the armaments Yang Guohai wanted, whether it was cotton armor or muskets, or cannons, gunpowder, bows and arrows, shields, etc.

As long as the price is right, they can provide what is needed.

As for the source, they just laughed and said they had their own way.

They even wanted to sell Liaodong ginseng to Yang Guohai, saying that they could have as much as they wanted.

Yang Guohai can guess some of the ordnance, such as those in charge of military supplies in the army who directly stole and sold them, or generals who secretly sold the supplies they received, or even soldiers who directly sold their own equipment. , Now many soldiers in Shanxi can't even eat, and haven't been paid for more than a year.

Some of the rebels who were defeated and routed into mountainous areas such as Mount Wutai were surrounded and captured by the Tartars, and were even eaten directly by them.

Those who are hungry eat people, not only captives, but sometimes they even secretly capture civilians and eat them as two-legged sheep.

People are hungry, they can do anything, and the common people will change their sons to eat. This soldier has swords and guns, how can he be polite?

Encountering officials like Zhang Ji, soldiers are even more unlucky for eight lifetimes. Originally, due to wars, natural disasters, etc., the grain production was insufficient, and these people even sold the grain.

The soldiers and the people were hungry, but they still sold their food, even to the Ming army, the enemy of the Qing army.

"When is the next transaction, can you still get food?" Although Yang Guohai was happy to trade a few more orders, he doubted that Zhang Ji would not be able to get food.

"Don't worry about this. This time the imperial court also has a decree to collect and investigate. It happens to be able to collect all the food. Although Shanxi was in chaos before, it is now in order. Shanxi's gentry and powerful still have a lot of plugs, and there are still some grains in their hands. Yes, if you dig these mouse holes, there is still food."

When Zhang Ji said this, he didn't feel ashamed at all.

What shame do officials need?

How can you be an official if you are ashamed!

Zhang Ji also made several requests to Yang Guohai this time, that is, in addition to exchanging salt for food and horses, he also planned to exchange copper coins and silver for some gold.

For this request, Yang Guohai did not refuse. Zhang Ji mentioned this matter before, and he said that he would go back to discuss it.

After reporting to Tokyo, the above replied that it was ok.

Copper coins and copper materials, as well as silver, are also valuable things. Of course, it is no problem to exchange them for gold. Even how to exchange them, they can still make a fortune.

Zhang Ji and others wanted to exchange for gold, but the purpose is easy to guess, but gold is precious and easy to carry and preserve value.

It's not really a secret that Zhang Ji is now trading with the Ming army. At least the governors and generals in Shanxi know about it. Zhang Ji is even a trade representative they put out. Just a scapegoat.

Everyone has a share of the money earned from trading.

In case something happens in the future, he will be the one to take the blame for the dead ghost.

Zhang Ji actually knew his own risk, but he wanted to earn money but didn't want to take the risk. How could such a good thing happen? He took some risks and worked hard for two years. At that time, Jinpen washed his hands and left with the exchanged gold. , and even save wealth that could not be earned in several lifetimes.

"We don't have a lot of gold, but we can find a way to exchange some, but it's more troublesome, and gold in troubled times, and others are not willing to exchange silver for gold. There is a lot of cost in it," Yang Guohai took out a piece of paper A list, which lists in detail the specific ratios of gold, silver, and gold and copper exchanges.

Different silver, rising and falling.

One tael of gold can be exchanged for 16 taels of silver.It's not 100 grain silver, nor [-] silver, but [-]% pure silver.Of course, real silver is hard to come by, so Zhang Ji wants to exchange silver for gold, and his silver will have to be paid according to its fineness and water.

For example, if the quality is ninety-four, the 100 taels must be added with an additional six taels.

One tael of gold is exchanged for 16 taels of silver, which is an extremely high ratio.

Zhang Ji just hesitated and agreed.

As for copper coins or copper materials, various copper coins also have different exchange ratios, which are first converted into pure silver and then converted into gold.Different copper coins contain different amounts of copper, so they are exchanged for silver only by copper, not by face value.

Copper material is directly calculated by copper price.

In the end, Yang Guohai had to deduct an exchange fee, and Zhang Ji agreed.

"We have just one request. We hope that the gold exchanged can be the gold coins with dragon carvings in the south."

The Mint Bureau of the Household Department of the Shaotian Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty issued and minted dragon pattern silver coins. With exquisite craftsmanship, good anti-counterfeiting technology, and easy use based on the denomination, it is now very popular among merchants and common people.

The Royal Mint also minted and issued Jinlong Yuan, a pure gold coin worth one tael, with Zhu Yihai's head on the front, a golden dragon relief on the back, and tooth patterns on the side to prevent scratching, etc. These gold coins are also exquisitely minted.

Especially pure gold one or two whole, which is more convenient to use, no need to identify the fineness, exchange for premium, etc., which is better than large and small yellow croakers.After all, a small piece of gold is easier to make, but this kind of one-two gold coin has these embossed tooth patterns, so it is not so easy to counterfeit it.

"Yes, one piece of gold emperor can be exchanged for 16 taels of silver."

Today, the exchange rate between gold and silver in the south is about one gold for thirteen silver, while in the north it is about one gold for fourteen or more, and one gold for sixteen silver. The profit here is already very high.

As for the exchange of copper coins and materials into gold, Yang Guohai will not lose money.

In fact, Daming has always been short of copper, especially now that the war has affected Yunnan, the main copper producing area of ​​Ming Dynasty, and Japan’s previous trade in copper materials to Ming Dynasty has been less, which has caused copper shortage in Daming, and the price of copper materials has risen sharply.

And copper is an important raw material for casting money and even casting guns.

If the Shaotian Dynasty had not implemented the silver standard system and minted silver dollars as the main currency, if it still used copper coins as the main currency like the Tang and Song Dynasties, there would definitely be a serious money shortage. Cloth also doubled as currency.

As a small currency, copper coins are essential, otherwise daily transactions are very inconvenient.

On the other hand, the copper coins and copper coins cast by the Shaotian Dynasty are all anchored to silver dollars, and it is stipulated that one silver dollar is converted into one thousand copper coins. Therefore, according to the current price of copper materials, the weight, size, and copper content of copper coins will be adjusted accordingly. Let a thousand copper coins be worth almost one silver dollar.

If copper is expensive, reduce the copper content, and if copper falls, increase the copper content to maintain the exchange rate of silver and copper.

Of course, the copper content of a thousand copper coins is actually not worth one silver dollar, and the addition of tin and lead still leaves a minting profit, just like the silver emperor, which actually contains only eighty-nine silver coins. When copper is added to cast, all materials and labor are deducted. In terms of cost, minting actually has about five points of profit, which is equivalent to seigniorage.

Copper coins and copper coins, as small coins, are actually much more profitable than silver coins. The Shaotian Tongbao copper coins issued now weigh one cent and two cents, and the ratio is copper 50.00%, white lead 41, and black lead 160 , Tin two percent. More than 150 catties of copper, lead and tin, the fire consumption is about [-]% during casting, and finally [-] catties of money are paid out, which is [-] yuan, which is exactly one coin and two coins each.

To purchase materials, there are more than ten taels of copper per hundred catties, plus lead and tin, and freight. In the end, 12 yuan is made into money. Consumption cost, etc., 15.00 Wen, the cost is about [-], and there is about [-]% minting profit.

Of course, the prices of copper and tin fluctuate greatly, especially copper is mainly imported from overseas, so the price fluctuations are relatively large and are greatly affected by supply relations.

And if it is casting copper coins, especially those with large denominations, the profit is actually higher, about 100 copper coins, the profit is about two and five silver dollars, and casting 500 million copper coins, can have a profit of 100 silver dollars.If 80 million copper dollars are minted every day, there will be at least [-] million silver dollars in a year.

So Zhang Ji and the others wanted to exchange the various copper coins and copper materials they had collected for gold coins, and Daming was happy to exchange them.

Not only the ratio of exchange is relatively high, but you can earn a lot of exchange fees, and the silver and copper you get back can earn a sum of seigniorage after recasting. The more the better, the better.

For Zhang Ji and others, although there will be some exchange fees, but silver ingots, copper coins, and copper materials, how can there be golden golden emperors that make people like it.

No one planned to stay in Shanxi forever.

Just like Zhang Ji, he had already prepared in his heart that this Shanxi grain road and post post road can be used for at most two years, and the fat job will have to give way at that time, so hurry up now, and exchange it for gold coins so that it is convenient to take away .

"I want as much silver and copper as I have." Yang Guohai said with a smile, he can make a fortune by doing this business, and the more he trades, the more he can earn.

So for this matter, he is very positive.

The exchange ratio he gave Zhang Ji and the others was much higher than the exchange ratio given to him by the Ministry of Household Affairs, and most of it was his benefit fee.

Who thinks too much.

(End of this chapter)