big song poppi

Chapter 665 0662 [Silver Coin]

Winter goes and spring comes, summer disappears and autumn arrives.

There was a cold wind above the sea. Li Nanjia stood on the deck, looking a little melancholy.

She was homesick.

In Japan, Juefa is just a puppet, and she, the commander-in-chief of the Great Qi Navy, is the real uncrowned king.

A single sentence can determine the rise and fall of a family, and a frown can make the Japanese ministers tremble with fear.

Li Nanjia really got a taste of being an emperor.

But after a few days of novelty, she got bored.

If Japan still needed her to guard it and the officials taking office needed time to adapt, Li Nanjia would have ordered her to return home long ago.

After persevering for half a year and waiting until the first batch of silver ore was refined, he left Sun Zhi and three thousand navy to garrison and led the army back to the capital.

I have to say that Japan does have an alarming number of silver mines.

After those master craftsmen arrived, they discovered a shallow mineral vein on Kyushu Island in just a few days, which made mining extremely easy.

In the following days, silver mines were discovered one after another.

When Li Nanjia left Japan, twenty-six silver mines had been found, and according to the master craftsman of the General Construction Supervisor, this was only a small part, and more silver mines were buried deep underground.

In addition to 120,000 kilograms of silver, more than 30 Japanese children returned with her.

These children were all sons of royal families and powerful people. The oldest were only seven or eight years old, and the youngest were only four or five years old.

After returning to their country, they will be sent to the Imperial Academy, and only when they reach adulthood will they be allowed to return to Japan and take over the official positions of their fathers.

As we enter early winter, the weather is getting colder.

I heard from the ministers in the cabinet that this is what His Majesty calls the Little Ice Age.

As time goes by, the winters will become colder and colder until a thick layer of ice forms on the West Lake.

In fact, she could feel this.

When I was a child, winters were cold, but there was a limit. It was not like today, when in the coldest days of winter, if you pour a basin of water on it, the water would immediately freeze onto the ground.

Facing the biting sea breeze, Li Nanjia's heart was burning with heat.

This year's grand court meeting should qualify me to have a banquet in the main hall as a minister, right?
Suddenly, Han Zhen's teasing from that day came to her mind again.

Li Nanjia's heart trembled, and he quickly shook his head to get rid of the strange thoughts that arose in his mind.

At this time, a guard reported: "General, we will soon enter the port."

"Well, lower the sails and raise the flags."

Li Nanjia nodded and gave the order.

Soon, the three huge sails on the Shenzhou battleship slowly fell down and were replaced by flags of different colors.

This was a proposal discussed by many naval generals and was quickly passed after being submitted to the cabinet.

The way the harbor identifies ships is that before merchant ships and warships enter the port, they must raise flags to identify themselves, otherwise they will be greeted by several siege cannons.

Moreover, the flag is not fixed and needs to be coordinated with flag signals.

As for whether the defenders in the harbor can see clearly, there is no need to worry because they have large telescopes.

Thanks to the efforts of a group of craftsmen, the technology for manufacturing lenses has been improved. Although it is still not as pure and transparent as those in later generations, it does not affect its use.

Several Shenzhou battle groups entered the port and after unloading, they were immediately pulled into the dock and began inspection and maintenance.

The 120,000 taels of silver were pulled to Bian Jing along the highway by ox carts.

……

The warm sun in the winter afternoon is particularly comfortable. Bathing in the sun, I feel warm all over.

Zhao Ji leaned against a stone tablet, basking in the sun and taking a nap.

Since Zhao Fujin gave birth to a healthy little prince for Han Zhen, his treatment has improved and his monthly salary has been increased by one more string of coins.

You can't become rich with your salary, but you can have enough food and clothing.

You can also eat out from time to time.

Moreover, the job of sweeping the Imperial Street is actually very leisurely.

Although the Imperial Street was ten miles long, there was no garbage at all in Tokyo city. Even cow dung and horse feces were not his turn to clean up. They had long been picked up by the people and dried for firewood.

There is a saying that goes, even a branch can be sold at a high price in Tokyo.

"This old guy."

Han Zhen was riding on a horse and couldn't help shaking his head and laughing at the leisurely Zhao Ji.

But they didn't kill him, so the effect of having him sweep the Imperial Street was exceptionally good.

Over the past two years, not to mention the former ministers of the Zhao Song Dynasty, even the common people in Tokyo City shook their heads when they mentioned the old Zhao family.

Among all the princes and princesses, the one who did the best was Zhao Gou.

Relying on his Cuju skills, this guy became a celebrity in the community, bought a small courtyard in the outer city, and lived a colorful life.

Retracting his gaze, Han Zhen rode his horse towards the Supervisor of Works.

He received news yesterday that Li Nanjia had arrived at Jiaozhou Port and was escorting 120,000 kilograms of silver to the capital.

This news excited all the ministers. Even those who had previously opposed the attack on Japan grinned and praised Your Majesty for his wisdom.

After all, money is still a word.

120,000 jin of silver may not sound like a lot, but it is actually half of Fujian's total annual silver production.

Moreover, this was because Japan had just been pacified, and prospecting, mining, and building smelters took a lot of time.

It will only increase in the future. According to estimates, the amount of silver transported to the Central Plains every year will not be less than one million kilograms.

So Han Zhen waved his hand and ordered the Printing Department under the Ministry of Works to start minting coins.

Today, the first batch of sample coins was minted, so naturally he wanted to take a look.

The Banknote Printing Department was transferred to the General Administration of Works last year, but the location has not changed. It is located in the corner of the outer west city, adjacent to the Wuzhang River. It is secluded and heavily guarded.

If you want to enter the banknote printing department, you need to pass three rounds of inspection by the guards, each one stricter than the last.

Yu Bozhuang was waiting outside the door early, and when he saw Han Zhen, he immediately went to greet him.

"I have met your Majesty."

"No need to be so polite, Yu Qing."

Han Zhen dismounted and threw the reins to the guard beside him.

Yu Bozhuang extended his hand and gestured: "Everything is ready, Your Majesty, please come in."

Originally, the Banknote Printing Department was only responsible for printing blue money, but now a new department has been added to mint coins.

Under the guidance of Yu Bozhuang, Han Zhen passed through two more lines of guards before arriving at a courtyard.

As soon as he entered the door, his eyes were attracted by a huge machine.

It is about ten feet high, with a huge hammer on each of the east, west and south sides. According to the size of the hammer, it can stamp out hundreds of coins at a time.

The efficiency is not fast, but it is not slow either.

After all, the power comes from the water power of the Wuzhang River. As long as the water of the Wuzhang River is still flowing, casting can be carried out day and night.

Prior to this, the Zhao Song Dynasty used the method of recasting mother coins.

As the name suggests, the craftsman first uses a piece of copper plate to hand-carve it into a mother coin, and then uses the mother coin as a template to print the front and back sides on a sand mold, and finally pours it in batches.

It’s not that our predecessors had not thought about the stamping coinage method, but they gave it up because of material problems.

Copper coins are too hard, and the previous iron smelting technology was not enough to support the production of a forging hammer that can punch copper coins. Today, iron smelting technology has developed rapidly, and silver coins are much softer than copper coins, so they can be punched and cast.

The working principle of this coin minting machine is to rely on hydraulic pressure, which drives the coin minting hammer through the lever principle and multiple gears.

From the perspective of future generations, it is of course extremely simple, but this is already a cutting-edge scientific and technological achievement second only to the water-powered astronomical observatory.

The materials also include rubber from Southeast Asia and lubricants extracted from petroleum.

It can be said that even with these new materials, the water-powered astronomical observatory is still not as good as the coin-minting machine.

Craftsman Yuan did not disappoint him. The military industry institute deep in Mount Tai, with abundant financial support from the treasury and a relaxed scientific research environment, had produced many good things in the past two years.

Unfortunately, there has been little progress in the refining of gasoline.

The main reason is that refining gasoline is too dangerous. It is extremely easy to explode under high temperature and high pressure. There have been five explosions this year alone. Fortunately, there were no casualties, which is a blessing in disguise.

"Your Majesty, please look, this is the raw material of the silver coin."

A craftsman came over with a tray, and Yu Bozhuang picked up one from the tray and handed it to him.

Read more latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

After taking it, Han Zhen read it carefully.

It is only one millimeter thick, similar to the silver dollars of the Republic of China period. Both sides are smooth and reflect dazzling brilliance in the sun.

Pure silver is gray in color and obviously does not have such luster and hardness. Instead, it is an alloy with copper, lead, tin and zinc added.

The ratio was determined after repeated experiments by the master craftsmen.

I weighed it in my hand and it was lighter than a silver dollar.

Yu Bozhuang introduced: "After the blast furnace is fired, it is rolled and straightened repeatedly with rollers before it cools down, and finally pressed into large silver sheets of uniform thickness, and then sent to the hydraulic forging hammer to be cut into raw materials of the same size."

Playing with the raw material in his hand, Han Zhen asked, "How many can be produced in a day?"

Yu Bozhuang replied: "There are enough silver ingots, and we can produce a thousand a day."

This output is already very high. Although there is a hydraulic forging hammer, it is still somewhat difficult to cut silver coins.

"good."

Han Zhen had a smile on his face.

Yu Bozhuang glanced at the sundial and asked, "Your Majesty, the auspicious time has arrived. Can we start minting coins?"

Han Zhen nodded: "Let's get started."

His Majesty has spoken, and Yu Bozhuang waved his hand.

The silver coin rough was not immediately sent to the coin minting machine, but was put into a blast furnace not far away.

Han Zhen asked curiously, "What does this mean?"

Yu Bozhuang explained: "Your Majesty, other gold objects have been added to the silver coin, making it harder than before. The forging hammer of the coin casting machine is not strong enough after all, so it needs to be tempered before casting to soften it. In this way, the pattern of the silver coin will be clearer and more beautiful after casting."

Hearing this, Han Zhen's face showed surprise.

Tsk!
Although the hydraulic forging hammer is pollution-free and consumption-free, its shortcomings are also obvious. That is, the power is ultimately limited. Although it is much higher than human power, it is completely incomparable with steam hydraulics.

The tempering time is not long. By the time the craftsman uses large pliers to clamp out the tray, the raw material has turned bright red all over.

Using a pair of pliers, the craftsman placed the rough pieces one by one on the grooves of the coin-making machine. When the grooves were full, he waved his hand and shouted, "Open the gate!"

The next moment, the hammer hoisted high up smashed down heavily under the traction of water.

boom!
After a while, the hammer slowly rose again.

The coin minting process is not over yet. The craftsmen put the pressed silver coins into buckets of water to cool them down, and then send them to the room opposite for the next step of grinding and polishing.

About a quarter of an hour later, the craftsman came back with a tray.

Ten silver coins were lying quietly on the tray. Han Zhen picked up one. The front side was engraved with the huge Chinese characters "Two Guan" and there was a line of small characters just above it, "Made in the third year of the Da Qi Dynasty". The surrounding edges were decorated with twined floral patterns.

On the reverse side is a Chi dragon, which is extremely exquisite.

Han Zhen smiled with satisfaction and said, "Yu Qing really did not disappoint me!"

The current types of silver coins are divided into two strings, one string, five hundred coins, two hundred coins, and one hundred coins.

In addition, silver coins will be used in the future, with one string equaling one thousand wen.

As for the previous copper coins, they will continue to be used, and banks in various places will open copper coin exchange services for silver coins.

It was simply impossible for private merchants to make a profit by exchanging inferior copper coins or even iron coins for equivalent silver coins. Therefore, before this, the court had already held many discussions and came up with a complete set of countermeasures.

Su Zhaode, the president of the College of Commerce, collected copper coins, iron coins and lead coins from various dynasties that are currently circulating in the market, and based on the manufacturing costs of various types of silver coins, he developed a set of detailed and strict exchange standards.

As for the promotion of silver coins, we still use the old method, from top to bottom.

Officials used it first, followed by merchants who had business dealings with the court, and part of the payment was made in silver coins during settlement.

Everything is easier from the top down.

After chatting with Yu Bozhuang for a few more words, Han Zhen turned and left. Naturally, Yu Bozhuang gave him the ten first-batch silver coins.

After leaving the printing department, Han Zhen rode on his horse and walked towards the palace in the warm sunshine.

"Here, this is a reward for you."

Han Zhen took out three silver coins and threw them to Liu Chang and the guards Ouyang Deng and Zhang He.

For them, two strings of cash were nothing. His Majesty was usually generous and gave generous rewards.

However, this is the first batch of silver coins minted. In addition to its commemorative significance, it is also very novel.

Ouyang Deng played with the silver coin and liked it more and more. He suddenly said, "Your Majesty, this silver coin is very exquisite. Moreover, it is made of silver. If it flows into the market, I am afraid it will attract merchants and people to hoard it."

Silver is scarce at this time and is totally insufficient.

Not only officials and dignitaries were short of it, but ordinary people were even more so, because silver was not only a valuable currency, but could also be used to forge luxury goods such as jewelry.

Who doesn’t want to get a silver hairpin for the bride when getting married?

Who wouldn’t want to give their child a longevity lock when they have a baby?

The domestic population is too large and the demand is too great.

Han Zhen chuckled and said, "It doesn't matter. With the green money as a base, even if the people hoard it, they can't hoard much."

After a few years, merchants and officials have completely adapted to green money.

Convenient, safe, and easy to hide.

Silver coins are so exquisite that many people will definitely hoard them when they are first issued. However, officials and merchants have green money, so even if they hoard them, they will not hoard much, and ordinary people cannot afford it.

Moreover, in the future, millions of kilograms of silver will be shipped back to the country from Japan every year, and the amount of silver coins will only increase.

……

……

Wow!
The sound of waves echoes on the boundless sea.

Three passenger ships were floating on the sea.

Under the scorching sun, each ship suffered varying degrees of damage, some had broken masts, and some had cracked cabins.

The crew on the ship are busy repairing it.

Fan Heng was wearing a short linen shirt, standing on the deck, holding a binoculars, constantly looking at the sea in the distance.

There was a bloody streak on his cheek and bruises on his arms.

They were hit by a storm last night.

The storm came suddenly and was extremely violent. Of the eighteen ships, only three were left, and the rest sank into the deep sea in the storm.

(End of this chapter)