The first prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 1416
"The recent news from Khitan shows that Khitan has been very strict on the management of horses leaving the country recently. The cost of our phone bills is getting higher and higher, which is not good for us. Zhou Yu is also under great pressure now."

Zhou Yu was the one sent out by Zhao Xu. Now he has brought more than 2000 horses to Song Dynasty. These are all good horses from Khitan. What Zhou Yu showed in Khitan was a profiteer. The nobles all thought so, and they all scolded this profiteer for being too treacherous.

But they had no choice, because they couldn't resist the exquisite silk brought by Zhou Yu. These silks were luxury goods and status symbols, and the Khitan nobles rushed to buy them.

In this way, Zhou Yu got in touch with some nobles of Khitan and sent more than 2000 horses to Song Dynasty. Zhao Xu also knew this.

"Zhou Yu did a good job. Under such circumstances, it is indeed a great achievement to bring more than 2000 horses to Da Song. Now Khitan should have noticed it. If this is the case, let him temporarily give up the delivery of horses. , we must ensure our own safety and inquire about more information about Khitan, Zhou Yu is more familiar with Khitan than we are, we can let these horses raise the next generation, and we will have tens of thousands of war horses in a few months."

Zhao Xu had used good-bred horses to transform the horses of Song Dynasty very early on, and there should be tens of thousands of them now, but if he wanted to build an invincible cavalry, there were enough horses, and the more the better.

It took Zhou Yu several months to get more than 2000 horses. This is already the limit. Khitan's border management is strict, and they should have discovered something.

Zhao Xu would rather not have a horse than Zhou Yu. This man is bold and careful, and Zhao Xu wants to keep him for other uses. These horses will be available in the first half of the year.

"Why did you make such a decision, Young Master? If Zhou Yu doesn't transport the horses for us, what role does he have?"

"A thousand soldiers are easy to get, but a general is hard to find. Zhou Yu and I have other uses. It would be a pity if such a talent is not used." Zhao Xu said with narrowed eyes.

Talent is not so easy to get, and people like Zhou Yu are not easy to get, and people who dare to do anything for the benefit are not ordinary people.

"By the way, I saw you transporting so many large boxes just now. Is that our business income this time?" Zhao Xu was referring to the people he saw coming out from behind. Dozens of them escorted several big boxes. The box looks very laborious.

"Yes, sir, according to Zhang Ziqiang's rules, we ship our income to our treasury twice a month, and this is the first time this month." Zhao San replied honestly.

"It's too inconvenient, and people are not used to carrying so many things. It would be great if these things could be put on people's bodies like handkerchiefs." Zhao San inadvertently sighed, he said These words do make sense.

The main currency in circulation in the Song Dynasty is mainly copper coins. Sometimes it takes a lot of copper coins to buy the same thing. It is no exaggeration to say that it is common to take a bag.

In this era when silver was not the main currency in circulation, it was indeed not so convenient to carry copper coins. The bulkiness brought great trouble to people. Everyone knew that there was such a trouble, but no one had a good solution.

"It's really inconvenient. It's not convenient at all to buy and sell bulk goods. By the way, you can ask people to investigate whether there are many such behaviors. It seems like a trivial matter, but it is actually related to the country's economic security. You don't need to do anything else." Ask, let's investigate."

Zhao Xu also knew about the restrictions in ancient times, but this was also a normal phenomenon in society, and he had no choice but to see if the situation was serious now.

"Young Master, we have noticed this matter a long time ago, and now some big businessmen in the private sector have spontaneously organized and issued a thing they call Jiaozi."

Zhao San said that he took out a so-called jiaozi in his mouth, which is a piece of paper with a pattern printed on it, probably for people to distinguish.

"Young master, this is Jiaozi. It says a hundred guan on it, and the name of the guarantor on the bottom. This is to prevent someone from forging. Just take this Jiaozi to the above address and you can get a hundred guan. Money." Zhao San was afraid that Zhao Xu would not understand, so he explained it in detail.

And Zhao Xu didn't speak, and nothing showed on his face, but he was quite shocked in his heart. Isn't this Jiaozi the ancestor of the later paper money?Has this advanced thing appeared at this time?
What Zhao Xu didn't know was that Jiaozi was actually issued among the people in the first place, not the first one made by the government.In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, "Jiaozi shopkeepers" appeared in Chengdu to operate cash custody business for merchants carrying huge sums of money.Later, 16 government and business associations in Chengdu printed vouchers on mulberry bark paper, with patterns, passwords, marks, seals, etc. on them, and the denomination was temporarily filled in according to the cash handed in by the recipient, and circulated as payment vouchers.

The depositor delivers the cash to the store, and the store temporarily fills in the amount of cash deposited by the depositor on the roll made of mulberry paper, and then returns it to the depositor. When the depositor withdraws cash, a handling fee of 1000 wen is charged for every 30 wen.

This kind of Chu paper coupons for temporarily filling in the deposit amount is called "Jiaozi" and is customarily called "Jiaozi", also known as "Chu coins".At this time, "Jiaozi" is just a deposit and withdrawal certificate, not a currency.Later, it was banned from publishing because the publisher was found to be in financial difficulty or bankruptcy.

But this trend can no longer be stopped. The government began to officially issue Jiaozi, which greatly facilitated people's lives and the rapid development of the economy.

"Okay, invite me to come here with all the people who invented this thing. They must know my identity, so tell them that I want to see them." Zhao Xu became interested and wanted to meet the businessmen who invented Jiaozi. Da Song can implement it.

Especially when Zhao Xu asked just now, jiaozi was only circulated among several big merchants in Bianjing to facilitate their trading. If it could be promoted to the whole country, it would definitely be convenient for the people of the whole country.

These businessmen are very smart, and Zhao Xu wants to discuss this matter with them in depth. If these businessmen can serve him, they should be happy.

Not only did Zhao Xu want to issue Jiaozi, but he also thought of banks. Banks in later generations would be state-owned, and it was also a good way to make money and concentrate financial resources. These things could appear at this time.

"It's really a good thing to invite Mr. Dou, Minister of the Household Department, this time. This matter can't do without him. It is a major issue related to the survival of the people. It is shameful that he, the Minister of the Household Department, is not present."

(End of this chapter)