Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 247 Currency Loophole, Li Yuanji's Preparation

Li Yuanji looked at Zhong Kui with murderous eyes. The loopholes in the monetary system were no small matter and would directly affect his entire fiefdom.

At the same time, Li Yuanji was thinking about the monetary system. After a moment, he thought about everything, but couldn't find anything wrong. He looked at Zhong Kui with an even colder look.

Cen Wenben on the side was also frowning and thinking, but still couldn't figure out any loopholes. In the end, he could only look deeply at Zhong Kui.

"Zhong Kui, you must be responsible for your words and actions in front of the king. If you speak nonsense just to get the king's attention, you should know the consequences!"

Cen Wenben's eyes also looked unhappy. This monetary system was proposed by Li Yuanji. He and Li Yuanji improved it together, and now he was the one taking the lead in its implementation.

If there is any loophole here, it will be a big problem.

Zhong Kui listened to Cen Wenben's words without changing his expression at all. He raised his head and looked at Li Yuanji firmly.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to take full responsibility for what I said today. If what I said is false, Your Majesty, you can take my head!"

Looking at the fearless Zhong Kui, Li Yuanji's expression did not improve at all, and he spoke slowly.

"Tell me the truth in detail, and I will judge right from wrong."

Zhong Kui stood up and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, since Prime Minister Cen sent the document to the county government, I have organized Zhanjiang to start implementing it, clearing out copper coins and fully implementing silver currency.

However, during the implementation process, I discovered an extremely important problem, that is, small transactions cannot be conducted using silver.

The transaction amounts of the vendors in the city were very small, such as three cents for a pancake, five cents for a candied haws, and so on. If they were traded in silver, even if it was small change, it would be difficult to make change.

This led to the people in the city coming to me for this matter. After two days of visits and understanding the whole matter, I discovered that it was extremely difficult for the people to get change in these extremely small transactions.

The people did not have much money, and the smallest coin was one penny. One penny of silver, according to the current exchange rate, was equivalent to one hundred coins.

In other words, if the common people were unable to get change or make up for the goods worth less than one hundred coins, the money in their hands would be unusable.

Even if you cut a penny of silver in half, it would still be fifty cents, and half a penny of silver cannot be cut any further.

For the common people, half a penny of silver would be extremely inconspicuous after being cut into pieces and would be very easy to lose. Moreover, even if it was fifty cents, how could the common people spend fifty cents on daily purchases?

I reported this matter to the state and the prefecture, but they replied that the royal court would definitely make arrangements for this matter and told me not to worry about it.

But I really cannot help but worry, because once copper coins are completely cleared out of the market, people's lives will be completely disrupted, and the silver in their hands will be useless.

I am incompetent and unable to resolve this matter. The copper coins are about to be depleted, and I cannot bear the people's livelihood. I have come to the palace to ask the king for a decision.

After Zhong Kui finished speaking, he knelt down in front of Li Yuanji, waiting for Li Yuanji's decision.

Li Yuanji heaved a sigh of relief when he heard what Zhong Kui said. He thought there were other problems with the monetary system, but he didn't expect it to be this.

Li Yuanji looked at Zhong Kui with admiration. In fact, low-level officials were most likely to notice the problem, but Zhong Kui was the only one who dared to point it out and even came to him to talk about it. This kind of heart was very rare in Li Yuanji's opinion.

As for what Zhong Kui said, didn’t Li Yuanji know?

Li Yuanji knew very well in his mind that he did this because he had only implemented most of the silver currency system, and there was still a small and more important part that had not yet been implemented.

This was also the reason why after hearing Zhong Kui's words, he was not only very calm, but also felt like appreciating Zhong Kui.

At this moment, Cen Wenben was sweating coldly. In fact, when Zhong Kui said it, even if Zhong Kui had not finished speaking, he had already thought of it. But just because he thought of it, Cen Wenben suddenly felt heavy in his heart.

There was such a big loophole in the silver currency system, but he, as the top leader here, did not point it out. This was a serious dereliction of duty on his part.

Cen Wenben immediately stood up and knelt on the ground.

"Your Majesty, this omission is due to my lack of consideration. As the person who carried it out, I was unable to discover it. I bear an unshirkable responsibility. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

Li Yuanji looked at the two of them and immediately smiled.

"hehe."

Hearing Li Yuanji's laughter, Cen Wenben broke out in cold sweat on his forehead, and Zhong Kui's breathing became tense. In the eyes of both of them, Li Yuanji's laughter sounded chilling no matter how they listened to it. This laughter made both of them feel a little creepy.

Seeing the two people becoming more nervous, Li Yuanji realized that Cen Wenben and Zhong Kui had misunderstood him, so he spoke up immediately.

"Both of you please stand up. I have known about this for a long time."

After hearing this, Cen Wenben and Zhong Kui looked at Li Yuanji in surprise and doubt. They were both confused at the moment, really confused. How could Li Yuanji have known this a long time ago?
But then both of them couldn't figure it out. Since they already knew it, why did they still do it this way?
Especially Cen Wenben, at this moment he immediately thought that Li Yuanji must have prepared some backup plan, but after frowning and thinking for a long time, he still couldn't figure it out.

Cen Wenben did not get up in the end. Although he couldn't figure out whether Li Yuanji had any backup plan, he felt that it was indeed his dereliction of duty because he had not thought of this serious problem at the beginning.

As a minister, he was supposed to find out the shortcomings and fill in the gaps for Li Yuanji, but he didn't notice such a big omission at all. Although Li Yuanji had a backup plan and had thought of it long ago, his mistake was still there.

"Your Majesty, regardless of whether you have a plan or not, my negligence this time is real. Please punish me."

Li Yuanji looked at Cen Wenben seriously. He was indeed a little disappointed with Cen Wenben because he did not find any problems in this matter and was indeed derelict in his duty. Such an important issue required the officials under him to remind him. It could be said that the responsibility was very heavy.

After a moment's silence, Li Yuanji suddenly spoke.

"You have failed to fulfill your duty. As for the punishment, we will discuss it later. Now I will take you to a place and you will understand."

Li Yuanji stood up and walked out with the two of them.

Cen Wenben must be punished, but not now. Now he also needs to appease Zhong Kui's heart. After all, Zhong Kui came for the people, and Li Yuanji admired this very much.

It is very rare to be able to resolutely choose to come to him and bear the unknown consequences when the state and government have not dealt with it and she is unaware of the situation. This kind of heart is very rare.

Li Yuanji brought Cen Wenben and Zhong Kui to the Ironware Bureau, where Liu San had been waiting.

"See you, Your Majesty."

Li Yuanji waved his hand and signaled to stand up.

"Mian, I asked you to make it before, how is it going now?"

Upon hearing this, Liu San immediately knew the purpose of Li Yuanji's visit and spoke respectfully.

"Your Majesty, please follow me."

Liu San led the way and took Li Yuanji to a separate courtyard, then brought a wooden box, which Liu San then opened. Li Yuanji sat in the main seat and watched quietly, only to see the box open and the items inside would soon appear in front of Li Yuanji.

Li Yuanji took out the items in the wooden box, looked at them carefully, and his face was immediately filled with smiles.

"Yes, very well done."

What Li Yuanji was holding in his hand was silver money. When he first came to the Ironware Bureau, Li Yuanji asked Liu San to start making it. The drawings and production techniques were all exchanged from the system and given to Liu San.

Li Yuanji then looked at Cen Wenben and Zhong Kui.

"Come and take a look."

Cen Wenben and Zhong Kui immediately walked over, picked up the silver and money on the table and began to look at them.

After taking a closer look, they were both very surprised. This round coin, which was only the size of a thumb, was actually so exquisitely made, with many patterns on it, and most importantly, a lot of words on it.

"September 23, the fourth year of the reign of King Qi of the Tang Dynasty, number one."

Cen Wenben looked at the words above and read them out loud. Li Yuanji just smiled and didn't say anything. After the two of them looked at all the silver coins, Li Yuanji looked at Liu San.

When Liu San saw Li Yuanji's eyes, he immediately ordered his men to seal the room. Cen Wenben and Zhong Kui looked confused. When all the sunlight was blocked out in the room, it was as dark as night. Only spots of light could be seen on the silver and money on the table.

Cen Wenben and Zhong Kui were shocked. They looked at it repeatedly in their hands and were filled with amazement.

Then Liu San opened all the doors and windows, and the house was immediately bright again. He asked someone to light a lamp and bring it over. Li Yuanji picked up the silver coin and looked up. Liu San moved the lamp closer and saw the image of Li Yuanji's statue appear in the middle of the silver coin.

Cen Wenben and Zhong Kui were even more surprised when they saw it. However, when they turned away the light, the image disappeared. Even though Cen Wenben and Zhong Kui looked carefully, they could not make out any trace of it.

Cen Wenben and Zhong Kui looked at Li Yuanji in horror. At this moment, they seemed to be eager to know.

Li Yuanji looked at the two of them and immediately smiled.

“What you are seeing now is the silver coin that I have prepared. This silver coin can be used for not only small transactions, but also large transactions.

However, due to the denomination issue, it is mainly suitable for small and medium-sized transactions.

First of all, there are amounts on the silver coins. You should have noticed that they are one cent, five cents, ten cents, twenty, fifty, one hundred, five hundred, and one thousand. The corresponding amounts represent the value of these silver coins.

One thousand means one thousand coins, which is equivalent to one string of copper coins and one tael of silver. The largest amount is one thousand. "

Li Yuanji looked at the silver coins with a smile on his face. The reason why these silver coins are more suitable for small and medium-sized transactions is nothing more than recognition. For example, for a silver coin with a face value of one thousand Wen, not everyone would really leave the silver alone and choose silver coins instead.

Visually speaking, how many silver coins can be minted with one tael of silver, even taking into account the fire consumption?
Ideologically, not many people would be willing to store this silver coin. He made it just to give people more choices.

Silver coins below one hundred will become a must-have for everyone, because they are very common in daily purchases, especially among ordinary people.

Seeing that Cen Wenben and Zhong Kui were still watching, Li Yuanji continued to speak.

"The words you just read, Jingren, are the minting time of this batch of silver coins. Each batch of silver coins has a corresponding minting time and number.

The three spots of light on each silver coin are the result of adding a little fluorite to it. These silver coins cannot be made anywhere else except here.

Although they look exquisite and compact, they actually require a lot of technical support to achieve. Therefore, there is no need to worry about someone minting counterfeit coins outside. Many features of these silver coins add an insurance to the safety of the silver coins, making them more difficult to counterfeit.

If this silver coin is implemented, do you still think the things Zhong Kui said will happen?"

Zhong Kui was very excited after hearing this, but he also felt a little ashamed. He thought this was a huge loophole in the currency, but he didn't expect that his king had already thought of it and made such exquisite silver coins.

This silver coin, even if it was used as a decoration, would cost a lot of money to buy, but now it has become a direct currency.

Now thinking about how the state and government told him not to meddle in other people's business, Zhong Kui felt extremely ashamed. At this moment he realized that he was just a county magistrate. If he could think of something, how could so many people above him in high positions, especially Li Yuanji, not think of it?

Zhong Kui immediately bowed deeply to Li Yuanji.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty of making such a fuss over this matter, thinking that I was the only one who was clear-headed. I have disturbed Your Majesty, and I ask Your Majesty to punish me."

Li Yuanji helped Zhong Kui up.

"What are you guilty of?

You didn't know these things in the first place, and now that you have discovered a big problem, you have made up your mind to come here in person instead of continuing to hide the matter. You are very good.

On the contrary, the officials at the state and prefecture levels are the ones who are at fault. When they discover a problem, they do not report it in a timely manner, but instead put pressure on their subordinates and continue to conceal it. How can such officials truly govern an area?

Now that you have figured it out, go back. After you go back, pack your things and you will have a new appointment.

This king hopes that you can always keep your original intention and not get lost in your future career."

Zhong Kui was deeply moved and agreed immediately.

He was not a stupid man, and he knew very well that he was blessed this time because of this incident. Li Yuanji's new appointment to him must mean that he would be promoted.

Zhong Kui suppressed his inner excitement and said solemnly: "I, your Majesty, thank you very much.

No matter where I am or what position I hold, I will never forget the king's instructions, and I will always put the people first when governing. I swear to be loyal to the king until death, and I will never let the king down. "

Li Yuanji nodded, and then let Zhong Kui go.

Li Yuanji then looked at Cen Wenben, and Cen Wenben also looked at Li Yuanji.

"Your Majesty is a man of foresight and foresight, and I am ashamed to be inferior to him."

Li Yuanji waved his hand to interrupt Cen Wenben.

"Let's not talk about these anymore. Now tell me, what do you think about this silver coin?"

Cen Wenben immediately became extremely serious.

"My lord, silver coins are very good in every way, but there is only one thing, that is, the denominations of less than fifty coins. Is it really worth using silver coins?"

(End of this chapter)