Tibet.

Chapter 1414 Currency Reform
Li Ye was in a very good mood these days. The victory of the Western Expedition completed his political deployment. They also got a lot of wealth as they wished, especially the wealth of the Holy Maiden Society, all of which was obtained by Li Chenghua, which was equivalent to the wealth of the Tang Dynasty for five years, which made Li Ye ecstatic.

Of course, there is another thing. Li Chenghua strongly recommended Princess Shiguo to enter the palace, saying that this woman combined the advantages of Eastern and Western beauties and was a rare treasure. Princes from various countries wanted to marry her, and the Caliph of the Arabs also sent people to ask for her many times. Such a description made Li Ye's heart full of expectations.

During this period, Li Ye had been thinking about the currency issue. Last year, he proposed issuing paper money, Jiaozi. After being opposed by civil and military officials in the court, Li Ye realized that the conditions for the Tang Dynasty to issue paper money were not yet mature, so he also canceled the idea of ​​issuing paper money.

But the reality is here. The Tang Dynasty's economy is currently experiencing deflation. Although all parts of the country are recovering vigorously, there is not enough money in the market. It is difficult for farmers, merchants, and ordinary people to make money. Everyone is saying that it is difficult to make money. Where has the money gone?
In fact, Li Ye also knew that nearly half of the world's money was concentrated in Chang'an. When Chang'an built a new city, many wealthy families in the world came to buy land, all wanting to buy a house in the center of power for their children to use when they came to Beijing.

The expansion of Chang'an was like a huge whirlpool, sweeping away millions of copper coins from all over the world, and it was also one of the reasons for the shortage of money in various parts of the world.

But this is not the fundamental reason. The fundamental reason is that the money supply cannot keep up with the economic recovery of the Tang Dynasty.

But the currency of the Tang Dynasty was not paper money. You could print as much as you wanted. Copper coins had to be minted. At the peak of the Tang Dynasty, only 700,000 coins were minted each year. Now it is far from recovering, and only 400,000 coins are minted each year. It cannot keep up!
Another important reason is that the value of copper coins is too low. If gold and silver currencies could be used, one silver coin would be equivalent to five hundred coins, and one gold coin would be equivalent to three strings of coins, the problem of currency deflation could be solved.

It was impossible before because the Tang Dynasty did not have so much gold and silver. But now it is different. With the court's accumulation over the years and the support of the large gold and silver mines in Japan and Hezhong, the conditions for issuing gold and silver coins are ripe.

At this time, the attendant reported at the door: "Your Majesty, the left and right prime ministers and Minister Xiao want to see you!"

Li Ye nodded, "Summon them to the emperor!"

Soon, Wei Jiansu, Zhang Li, and Xiao Hua hurried in, bowed, and saluted, "Your Majesty!"

Li Ye smiled and said, "My three dear ministers, please don't be polite. Please take a seat!"

The three of them sat down, and Li Ye asked again, "Any news about Minister Liu?"

Wei Jiansu nodded, "I got the news yesterday afternoon that he took hundreds of thousands of disaster victims on a boat to Liaodong."

This is Liu Yan's style. He is meticulous and conscientious in his work and likes to personally implement things. So he also has to go to Liaodong. This is of course the best, but Liu Yan is also tired.

"It looks like he won't be back until the end of the year!"

"Your Majesty, Liaodong is a big deal. If the resettlement is not done properly, the victims will flee back from Liaodong. It will be difficult to relocate the people to Liaodong in the future. Minister Liu should have this idea. I fully support him."

Li Ye nodded. "In that case, can the court send some more officials from Hebei? We have no shortage of supplies, but I am worried that Minister Liu will be short of manpower."

"I will obey your order and arrange it today!"

The three of them then turned the conversation to today's topic.

Zhang Li leaned forward and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, there have been rumors in the court recently that a large amount of gold and silver will be shipped to the Western Regions. Can you tell us how much there is?"

"It's a huge amount. The Saint's Society alone has 12 million taels of silver. We demolished a temple built with silver and roughly weighed it. In addition, the Saint's Society has 50 million gold coins."

"So much?" The three were shocked. Li Ye smiled and said, "This is the wealth accumulated by the Holy Maiden Society over the past 70 years. If they don't recruit troops, the wealth will be even greater. People die for wealth, and birds die for food. It is because the Holy Maiden Society has so much wealth that it finally went to extinction. Even if it is not snatched away by the Sogdian countries, it will be snatched away by the Arabs sooner or later."

"Your Majesty, there is more than just the wealth of the Saint Maiden Society, right?"

Li Ye smiled and said, "There is also the gold stockpile of Bakhtinar. I have seen it with my own eyes. There are hundreds of golden Buddhas in the treasury, and the smallest one weighs more than ten kilograms. There are also various gold products, shining with golden light, which is simply dazzling. In the past, they also paid tribute to the emperor with a large golden tripod weighing more than a thousand kilograms, which is still in my inner treasury. In addition, there is the silver stockpile of the Shi Kingdom, which is about 6.5 million taels, as well as other wealth, the wealth seized from Sabah, and so on."

As the Minister of Revenue, Xiao Hua was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. This was equivalent to the financial revenue of the Tang Dynasty for many years!

He suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly, "Your Majesty, can it be transported back in one go?"

"Of course, one hundred thousand camels are enough!"

At this time, Wei Jiansu smiled and said, "In this case, we can start issuing gold and silver coins. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Li Ye nodded. "Issuing new currency is a big deal. It means the redistribution of wealth. We must consider it carefully and have clear rules. We must take all consequences into consideration. I am most worried about two things. One is that after it is put on the market, it will be stored by big households and will not play a role in regulating the currency value. The second is that there will be loopholes in the exchange rate. Someone will take advantage of the loopholes and make a fortune. I think these two problems are the first big problems we will encounter after issuing gold and silver currency."

The three of them looked at each other, and Wei Jiansu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, we discussed these two issues this morning."

"Oh? Tell me what you think about these two questions."

Wei Jiansu winked at Xiao Hua, and Xiao Hua bowed and said, "Your Majesty, gold and silver coins will definitely be stored by wealthy families when they are put on the market, because it is more convenient, easier to carry and pass down from generation to generation. This is inevitable. I believe that even a humble minister will not store a cellar of copper coins without exchanging them for gold and silver, but this is just our assumption. The reality may not be like this, because there is a major problem, that is, the currency value. Now one tael of gold can be exchanged for thirty strings of money, and one tael of silver can be exchanged for three strings of money. But during the Tianbao period, one tael of gold could only be exchanged for ten strings of money, and one tael of silver could only be exchanged for one string of money. It was the war that caused the rise in gold and silver. With the gradual stabilization and revival of the Tang Dynasty and the influx of a large amount of gold and silver, gold and silver will definitely return to the level of the Tianbao period.

In fact, this trend has been seen a long time ago. It is not obvious for gold, but it is most obvious for silver. In the year when An Lushan occupied Chang'an, the silver price rose to 1:7, and one tael of silver was exchanged for seven strings of money. After the An Lushan Rebellion ended, it slowly dropped to 1:5, and the year before last it dropped to 1:3. So those who exchanged for silver that year suffered a huge loss. These people are wealthy families. If gold and silver coins are issued, will they still hoard them?"

Wei Jiansu smiled and said, "Minister Xiao is right. It's not just silver, gold is the same. I remember that at its peak, one ounce of gold could be exchanged for fifty strings of coins. Now, one ounce of gold has fallen to thirty strings of coins. Although it hasn't been cut in half like silver, it's still a heavy loss. On the contrary, the value of copper coins is very stable. Since Your Majesty entered Chang'an, the price of a dou of rice has remained at fifty coins. I spent fifty coins to buy a pair of cloth shoes in the eighth year of Tianbao. Now, the same pair of cloth shoes still costs fifty coins."

Li Ye nodded. "As long as people believe that the exchange rate of gold and silver for copper coins is gradually decreasing, no one will hoard gold and silver anymore?"

Zhang Li smiled and said, "So we need to spread the word that the imperial court has acquired a huge gold and silver mine in Hezhong, and there will be a steady supply of gold and silver shipped to Chang'an. As long as everyone has this understanding, the hoarding of gold and silver will not happen."

Xiao Hua added: "After several years, when the exchange rate of gold and copper coins returns to 1:10, consistent with the Tianbao period, some people may start to hoard gold and silver. But by then, there will be enough gold and silver in the market, so there will be no need to worry about hoarding. After all, hoarding gold and silver requires more copper coins."

Li Ye walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said, "I need a stable currency value. The currency value must be controlled by the court and should not be easily increased or decreased. Even if it is restored to the rate during the Tianbao period, I hope it will take a long time, one or two generations. Only when the currency is stable will no one speculate."

Wei Jiansu smiled bitterly and said, "In fact, what we are really worried about is the instability of the source of gold and silver. If the war in the river breaks out again, it will definitely affect the mining and smelting of gold and silver."

Li Ye smiled and said, "My fleet is searching for gold and silver all over the world. Don't worry! There will be more and more gold and silver in the future."

(End of this chapter)