Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 410 0405 [Comprehensive New Deal]

The use of blacksmiths to make silver and copper coins was, of course, the best way of reforming the coinage system.

But there is an obvious problem, I have neither egg nor rice in hand, how can I cook egg fried rice?
There is indeed a Tongshan County in Sichuan that produces copper, and it is true that some areas produce silver.But with that little silver and copper output, it disappeared instantly after it was issued.The finer the coins were forged, the faster they disappeared, and they were all hidden in the cellars of the rich.

In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, iron coins circulated throughout the country, and gradually changed to copper coins.

Sichuan can't change it, because the copper coins issued by the Zhuqianjian are all issued in the copper-producing areas nearby, and the cost of all cross-regional transportation is too high.

As a result, no matter how many copper coins were issued by the money minting supervisors in Sichuan and surrounding areas, because the quantity was too small compared to the market, once they were issued, they would disappear without even a single splash.As long as those copper coins are in the pockets of big households, there is no need to take them out again.

Even high-quality iron coins are kept at home by rich households, and they are specially used for those rotten iron coins.

This is the literal meaning of bad money driving out good money.

In the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, due to the shortage of money, the area where iron money was used continued to expand.

At the beginning, iron money was distributed to the Western Army. The imperial court used iron money to purchase military supplies in Shaanxi, and then gradually expanded to the Nanxiang Basin.In the Southern Song Dynasty, Lianghuai also began to use iron coins.

Since Cai Jing started with iron money, he would naturally not let paper money go.

Jiaozi was completely abolished by Cai Jing, and Qianyin was used instead.This is also a kind of banknote, and it is issued nationwide, except for Gyeonggi, Liangzhe, Jinghu, Guangdong, and Fujian. Even Jiangdong and Jiangxi are also banknote areas.

Then it blew up and there was not much reserve at all.

However, the copper-producing area in the Southern Song Dynasty was occupied by the Kingdom of Jin, and Zhao Gou could only use iron coins and banknotes to support his finances.Not only let iron money circulate in Lianghuai, but also issue banknotes nationwide. The banknotes in the Southern Song Dynasty are called Huizi.It has been used until the demise of the Song Dynasty, and then picked up and inherited by the Yuan and Ming dynasties.

In ancient China, the effective use time of banknotes was at least 300 years!

"It is not necessary to use Shu brocade. Silk is more common and is also a hard currency," Zhu Ming suggested. "Salt can also be used for endorsement. Sichuan salt is an important economic guarantee."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "There is also gold. Gold is produced in Yangzhou and Jinzhou, and Fangzhou also produces gold. Gold, grain, silk cloth, and Sichuan salt are used as reserves, which are enough to ensure the credibility of banknotes. There is also the problem of anti-counterfeiting, which must be used Printing on special paper, special patterns, and special inks, it is best to invent color printing technology."

Fangzhou's gold production ranks first in the country, far greater than Yangzhou and Jinzhou.

"Jinghu and Jiangxi must be captured as soon as possible, both are important copper and silver producing areas," Zhu Ming said. "Occupying these two places will allow copper and silver coins to be forged and circulated in parallel with banknotes. It would be better if we can capture Yunnan. There are enough copper mines."

Zhu Guoxiang shook his head: "It's difficult."

At this time, the whole of Guizhou was in the hands of barbarians, and there were also a large number of barbarians in southern Sichuan. Yunnan was surrounded by barbarians.

The degree of Sinicization of Dali Kingdom is extremely high, but it is only in the main cities, and there are barbarians everywhere in the country.

It may be easy to fight, but it is extremely difficult to govern, and the administrative cost is too high, so the chieftain system can only be used to overdo it.At the same time as the canonization of the chieftain, the army and the people were relocated to reclamation, allowing the Han to occupy key areas and radiating influence towards the surrounding barbarians.

Immigrant settlements were very difficult in the early Song Dynasty, mainly because of the high mortality rate caused by miasma.

Now that experience is gradually being worked out, officials already know how to prevent miasma, and many decoctions have also been explored and summarized by doctors.

But even if you want to immigrate and settle down, you will give priority to Hunan and Hubei. Are there even sparsely populated areas there?If there is population, money and food to engage in immigration, of course the core areas must be developed first, and places such as southern Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan must be left behind.

The father and son began to discuss this. Zhu Guoxiang said: "First, gradually Sinicize in southern Sichuan, especially in the salt-producing areas. Even Yibin and Luzhou are full of barbarians. What are you talking about in Guizhou and Yunnan? I plan to open schools in these places and let the barbarian leaders send them home." Children who come to study are not only hostages, but also able to spread Han culture. All barbarian leaders and Shuman must change their Chinese surnames and take Chinese names. Especially Shuman who are close to each other must be registered as the same household as the people."

Zhu Ming said: "It may provoke a rebellion. There are only three armies in southern Sichuan. I don't know if there are enough troops."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "When a rebellion is stirred up, it will be suppressed. There is still an army in the east of Sichuan, which can be transferred at any time. In Lizhou you have governed, the five tribes took the lead in registering households. They are all familiar with Qiang. Not only can they speak Chinese, but they have long been The hereditary system of chiefs was abolished, and many of the five tribes of barbarians are still serving as soldiers. As long as a certain tax reduction is given, the work of registering households and Qimin is relatively easy. Let the soldiers of the five tribes of the Tengxiang Army write letters to their families."

When Zhu Ming was in Lizhou, he had already made the five savages make up households.

But that's just pretending to hide a lot of population and land.

This time it is serious, and the population and land must not be concealed.But after all, these tribes take the lead in taking refuge, and they can't go too far. Taxes must be reduced accordingly, and they must be given some autonomy.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I plan to set up an agricultural department this year and train specialized agricultural officials. The priority is to promote corn and sweet potatoes in mountainous areas. Those barbarians are mostly in mountainous areas. When the core areas are promoted, agricultural officials will be sent to barbarian settlements. Treat The barbarians can’t just be tough, especially Shuman. They were oppressed miserably by the officials of the Song Dynasty. Give them benefits and let them have enough to eat. Some of the barbarians will be grateful. With this kindness, we can win over the division and crack down on the stubborn. molecular."

Ju Ming's thinking was extremely jumpy. He was talking about the barbarians just now, but suddenly thought of other places: "Get me some horses, and I want good horses in the northwest."

Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile: "It is necessary to make friends with Yao Gu, and also to make friends with the newly appointed Tijudu Dacha Masi."

It is to cooperate with the tea and horse department of the imperial court, exchange Sichuan tea for war horses in the northwest, and smuggle them all the way.

There is a lot of tea and horses, and the recent promotions have all been big teas and horses, all of which are the prime minister's confidantes.In order to make money, most of them are willing to cooperate. When the time comes to buy horses from each other, they will definitely sell the good horses to Sichuan, and then hand over the bad horses to the Song army.

This kind of operation is too normal, like those warlords in the Ming Dynasty, who quietly sold the healthy official horses, claimed to the outside world that they were raised to death, and kept begging the court to allocate funds to buy horses.Then cooperate with Mongolia and Houjin, first sell the bad horses to Mongolia and Houjin, and then use the money from the court to buy bad horses for kickbacks.

Anyway, one is more fun than the other, and in the end, I don’t bother to make complicated operations, save all kinds of intermediate links, and directly ask for money to buy horses for money.

Zhu Ming said: "The land in the Nanxiang Basin is vast and sparsely populated, and many places are barren and grassy. In addition to distributing the land to soldiers and refugees, I also plan to temporarily reserve some for pasture. The Tengxiang Army transferred there, and there is a large pasture for They have fun. But they are only light cavalry, and I want to get some heavy cavalry, so I need a large number of northwest horses. Forming elite cavalry is not a matter of overnight, and it has to be put on the agenda now. What is the best pasture?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "There are alfalfa all over the country, and this thing was originally introduced as pasture."

"Then arrange some refugees to be horse farmers and let them grow alfalfa in large quantities," Zhu Ming asked again, "How is the ordnance factory doing?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The Ordnance Department is about to be formally established. Qian Chen is good. Let him take charge of the Ordnance Department. You can rest assured, so can I. I plan to set up seven ordnance stations in various states and counties, and issue private mining and smelting licenses. Provide them with advanced smelting technology. Half of the pig iron and wrought iron smelted privately must be sold to the government. The government only needs to purchase raw and wrought iron, and then let the ordnance make armor, which can not only improve efficiency, but also Reduce financial expenses. And when issuing smelting licenses, it can also reward and control local wealthy households, allowing them to cooperate with the population and land inventory.”

The Northern Song Dynasty also thought about the salt and iron state-run business. Facts have proved that the efficiency is extremely poor and corruption is rampant.

After each rectification, it will be broken again for more than ten years.

In the end, it could only be changed to a monopoly of salt and iron, and business licenses were issued to merchants. The imperial court only controlled the key processes, and the output of salt and iron could be greatly increased immediately.

Even Song Huizong's imperial tea garden is in a mess now, purchasing a large amount of private tea as imperial tea tribute.

Because the quality of the tea from the imperial tea garden is far inferior to private tea.

Even though many new teas are actually developed by the imperial tea garden, after two or three years of new product development, private tea gardens can complete learning, imitation and overtaking.

The father and son chatted for several hours, and the final conversation was about sharing everything.

Zhu Guoxiang already has a plan, and after the completion of the land inventory, he will immediately implement the full implementation of the allocation of land into acres.

This is to increase the land tax in a disguised form, but it can reduce the apportionment, which has advantages and disadvantages for the landlord.

If the government can ensure that apportionment is not indiscriminate, the landlords are extremely willing and supportive, but it is a pity that ancient dynasties could not do so.The final result is that the apportionment will be gradually restored, and the landlord will need to pay two shares.This is the fundamental reason why the landlords object to sharing the land into the mu.

Various military and political measures, the father and son communicated for several days.

After confirming each other, each will do its own thing, and at the same time, there will be some cooperation.

Today, the armor production factory in the site has temporarily stopped making ordnance, and is frantically making farm tools.

There are also a large number of farming cattle. Each county provides ten to fifty cattle according to the level of wealth, and all of them have to be transported to the Nanxiang Basin together with farm tools.Some cattle and agricultural tools have already arrived, and a large number of refugees are waiting for spring plowing.

All the captives from their native places on South Jingxi Road have been released back to their hometowns.

The local refugees were also resettled. Every day, farmers on the Northwest Road of Beijing fled in groups from the court's territory to the Zhu thief's territory.

In particular, the landlords on Jingxi South Road are extremely loyal to the Zhu thief.

Just because Zhu Guoxiang ordered that there would be no more things like Xicheng, which would directly cut the taxes of many landlords in half.

Landlords who got benefits sent their children to Hanzhong to express their loyalty and to seek official positions.

(End of this chapter)