Three Kingdoms.

  Chapter 1443 Gold and Silver Diplomacy

There seems to be a relationship between people. Some people seem to be able to get along with everyone, but they can’t get along with only a certain person, and some people can only get along with a certain person and can’t get along with anyone else. .

   Inexplicably, there seems to be some kind of providence.

  Xu You is such a person.

Xu You is generally an unpopular person, maybe because he speaks too directly, maybe because his greed is too utilitarian, or for other reasons, many people are unwilling to get too close to Xu You in order to show their innocence , causing himself to be contaminated with the smell of copper.

  But Xu You basically didn't care about this matter. In Xu You's point of view, how many five baht coins do other people's evaluation of him have? Well, by the way, it’s all Zhengxi copper coins now...

The premise for bad money to drive out good money is that bad money and good money must circulate in the market at the same time, and then they are also used as general equivalents of commodities with the same settlement function, and then bad money will gradually drive out good money, resulting in Filled with a lot of bad money...

  But there is a word called extremes must reverse.

  When the large-scale flood of bad money caused serious damage to the market economy, both the government and the people urgently needed a reform and change to revive the commodity economy. Therefore, when Dong Zhuo cast inferior five baht coins on a large scale, and then under the leadership of Fei Qian, the princes from all over the country couldn't help but invest in the great business of printing money, the economic market was completely destroyed by the inferior five baht coins.

  Five baht coins, the casting process is actually not complicated, and the anti-counterfeiting function is almost non-existent. If you think about it, the Han Dynasty was established for three or four hundred years, and then the currency was used for three or four hundred years without any major revisions, and you still expect the princes from all over the country to be honest and not take advantage of loopholes?

No one is a fool, and they are all at a time when huge expenses are needed. Casting inferior five baht coins to plunder folk wealth has become a well-known, secret, but widely known secret among princes everywhere. .

Under such circumstances, the value of the five-baht coin quickly dropped to freezing point. There are a lot of people who want to use it, but no one is willing to accept it. It is like buying a bag of straw paper in later generations and bringing a bag of banknotes, which is worthless. It can be said that the market is gradually becoming like a pool of stagnant water, many goods cannot be circulated, some may still be stored, and some can only be watched as they rot day by day...

Under such circumstances, Fei Qian, General of Zhengxi, brought a new alternative currency because of the huge circulation of caravans. Jiaozi made of bamboo paper temporarily became a new credit currency unit. Anyway, many bulk goods They are all traded with caravans, so accepting Jiaozi as a general equivalent is not completely unacceptable.

However, with the expansion of Zhengxi's territory, Jiaozi's system is too advanced, and there are some limitations in terms of preservation and usability. Therefore, Fei Qian, the general of Zhengxi, introduced a new currency system. Foreshadowing, merchants everywhere naturally accepted the more reassuring three-level metal currency of gold, silver and copper.

Just like a country has developed for a long time, inflation is always unavoidable, and the face value of the currency circulating in the market is always getting bigger and bigger. In the three or four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, the people have long needed a currency that exceeds the value system of copper coins. , But the officials of the Han Dynasty in the past only knew how to make copper coins worth tens, hundreds, or even thousands, which had no effect except to increase the violent inflation and make the princes of all places make a fortune.

…

In any case, the gold, silver and copper coins that Zhengxi now has just adapted to the needs of the market and conformed to the value habits of the people of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, they are more popular than Jiaozi, because they are considered insufficient currencies in terms of weight. Coupled with the sophisticated pressing process, the cost of imitation is very high. Even if it is deliberately imitated, it is not easy to imitate it.

Coupled with the lessons learned from the five baht coins, many merchants have learned to behave, but all low-quality coins will be rejected. This will also invisibly help the circulation of Zhengxi coins, even in Jizhou and other gentry Haoyou. At the time, it has become a climate and a habit, and it is not easy to change it.

  The Dahan economy is divided into two regions, one in Shandong and one in Shanxi. Naturally, Shanxi is mainly the land of promoting agriculture in Guanzhong, while Shandong is focusing on Jizhou, Yanzhou, and Yuzhou. Then let’s not talk about Shanxi. Shandong is because Yanzhou and Yuzhou have been fighting for a while, and Jizhou is because of the war with Gongsun Zan. , and did not free up their hands to manage the matter of currency, and Jingzhou on the Yuzhou side, half of Zhengxi’s hometown, readily accepted the currency of Zhengxi, so it was not until the Jizhou gentry Haoyou thought about dealing with it in two days , It has been found that almost all merchants on the market accept Zhengxi currency.

Then some smart people, such as Xu You, discovered the profit difference between the Zhengxi gold, silver and copper coins, and couldn't wait to start investing in the original financial currency, exchanging copper coins for gold and silver coins, and then Exchanging gold and silver coins for copper coins in Jizhou and other places can only be done once or twice a year, but the high profit of nearly 50% makes many people crazy about it.

Many people think that the exchange ratio of gold, silver and copper coins designated by Zhengxi General Feiqian is just like a fool, but many people including Xu You have never thought that this is actually a big hole left by Zhengxi General Feiqian . Relying on the newly discovered gold mine in the north of the Yin Mountain, General Fei Qian of Zhengxi can use slave mining to obtain almost cheap gold and silver, and then add hydraulic pressure to produce a large amount of gold and silver coins, completely ignoring the exchange rate These spread losses, and then through the hands of these investors, invisibly expanded the circulation speed and scale of use of currency...

   Therefore, Xu You, who was happily lighting gold and silver coins every day, became Zheng Xifei's potential assistant in the economic war without knowing it at all.

  Of course, even if Xu You knew this fact, Xu You would not care about it, because in Xu You's view, everything in the world is illusory, and only gold and silver are the most real.

   "Lang Jun..." Xu You's butler smiled and walked down the hall, reporting, "Cai Yu, Cai Langjun, please see me..." After speaking, he handed over a famous card.

   "Cai Chengxi?" Xu You reached out to take it, without looking at the inscription on the front, skillfully flipped the name badge to the attached page at the back, then glanced up and down, showing a satisfied look, "Please! Please!"

  Xu You suddenly glanced at the butler, and said, "You old man, did you accept Cai Langjun's favor again?"

  The butler's eyebrows twitched, and he wanted to shake his head in disbelief, but seeing Xu You staring at him, he had no choice but to take out a money bag from his sleeve and put it in Xu You's outstretched hand.

Xu You shook the purse, estimated the amount roughly, opened the purse, took a few coins from it, and threw the purse to the housekeeper, saying, "Tithes are not much, why do you always hide away?" ...Be more conscious next time, really, why don't you hurry up and invite Cai Shuzuo to come..."

  Tithes, how can it be considered too much?

   Don’t you know that it’s because of yourself that you have these benefits, and don’t you have any problem taking one-tenth of these incomes and dedicating them to yourself?

  Why don't these people pay automatically?

"Brother Ziyuan!" Cai Yu saw Xu You, looking familiar, cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Brother Ziyuan looks so good, could it be that he has done some big business again? "

  Xu You laughed loudly, without the taboo of most Qingliu in the Han Dynasty who were ashamed of Yan Tong, and said: "It's just the blessing of the lord, it's nothing..."

  Cai Yu said: "I have long heard that brother Ziyuan is highly regarded by the general, but now that I see it, it is as expected!"

  Xu You laughed loudly, and stretched out his hand to invite Cai Yu to drink tea.

  The two chatted for a while, before Cai Yucai said: "Brother Ziyuan, I don't know what the general wants to buy? If I can help you, I will not forget the benefits of Brother Ziyuan..."

Xu You glanced at the famous assassin on the side of the table case, took a piece of cloth sample from under the table case and handed it to Cai Yu, and said with a smile: "They are all ministers under the general's account, so naturally they share the general's worries... Well, in fact, the general needs... a large amount of dark blue cloth, um... an extremely large amount... at least a thousand pieces! If Brother Chengxi can find a way to get some, is this price easy to say, easy to say..."

  Xu You has a characteristic, if he takes money from others, he will definitely do things for others. This characteristic is at least reassuring, unlike some people in later generations. Of course, General Yuan Shao needed a lot of supplies, and the dark blue cloth was just one of them, but because the demand was huge, Xu You didn't mind disclosing it to Cai Yu so that he could get a share of it.

   "Blue cloth?" Cai Yu frowned and said, "Why do you need black cloth? Are other colors not available?"

  Water virtue, color is still black. But absolutely black, in ancient times, there was no such thing as black cyan. Because of the dyeing process in the Han Dynasty, it was impossible to have a relatively bright and pure color like later generations. Therefore, most of the cyan is blue-purple, or Blue-black is a relatively deep color.

   Just like what Xunzi said, blue is taken from blue, and the blue color here belongs to blue-purple, and it is said that the student's robes of Qingqing Zijin, this blue color is blue-black. Therefore, cyan cloth is not a specific color, but represents a darker mixed color that is biased towards the blue spectrum, and black cyan basically refers to the dark blue and black color.

Due to the limitations of the dyeing process in the Han Dynasty, the dark blue cloth was not easy to dye and was easy to fade, so it gradually became a light color after wearing it for a long time. Therefore, when Yuan Shao wanted to engage in formalism, he needed a lot of dark blue cloth. The best ones should be given to officials, and the poor ones should be given to soldiers. Although it is said that black blue is a common stock among the people, the demand for it is too high at the moment, and it is also a difficult matter...

   "Other colors are not acceptable!" Xu You rejected Cai Yu's suggestion. Xu You likes money, but he also needs to meet Yuan Shao's requirements, so there may be kickbacks on the price, but at least the material should not be too bad.

   "Why?" Cai Yu couldn't understand.

  Xu You moved his eyeballs and said, "This...how can you know this..."

"..." Cai Yu skillfully took out a jade Zhang from his bosom, and said, "Someone got a new jade Zhang, but because of his inferior position, he dare not use it, I hereby present it to the General, and I would like to ask Brother Ziyuan to present it on your behalf." report..."

Yuzhang and Yugui are both sacrificial items. Different titles have different specifications, and they cannot be used by ordinary people. Therefore, there is no problem with Cai Yu saying this. As for whether Xu You will really dedicate this jade to Yuan Shao , that is not something Cai Yu cares about.

Xu You's brows and eyes widened, and he took Yuzhang to look at it up and down, and praised: "Young brother Chengxi is so loyal, I should report to the general... In fact, the general purchased such a large amount of green cloth for the sake of water." Virtue... this is a confidential matter, Brother Chengxi must never pass it on to others..."

  Cai Yu naturally agreed quickly, and then couldn't help but feel a move...

  ………………

   "Pfft...cough cough, water, water virtue?" Wang Ming was drinking tea, and after hearing Cai Yu's words, he spurted out a mouthful of tea soup.

  Cai Yu frowned. Although he disliked Wang Ming's behavior, he still nodded, indicating that what Wang Ming heard was true.

   "The big man is Huode!" Wang Ming lowered his voice and shouted.

  Cai Yu nodded.

   "Huode!" Wang Ming emphasized again.

"I know, what's your name..." Cai Yu covered his mouth and said in a low voice, "It is said that when the fire is strong, the earth will be born, so there is the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and when the earth is exhausted, gold will be born, so there is the prosperity of conquering the west... However, the virtue of fire is not Decline, the soil is exhausted, so gold cannot last long..."

   "So the general wants to take gold to generate water, and then water can overcome..." Wang Ming frowned and said, "This, this...really...really..." Wang Ming couldn't find words to describe his feeling for a while.

   "Is there any difference in the current situation?" Cai Yu said hesitantly, "I just want to say, do you want to tell me about this... eh?"

   "This..." Wang Ming pondered. Wang Ming understood what Cai Yu meant. After all, this matter is both big and small.

  If you look at it from a small point of view, this change to Shangshui Virtue is not a big deal. After all, the big man has changed his Virtue several times from the beginning to now, and it is not a problem to change it again.

   If you want to look at it from a big perspective, then the problem is big.

  Because most people in the Han Dynasty believed in some gods and gods, so many people believed in the theory of reincarnation of the five virtues, but now Yuan Shao said that he would change it to the water virtue, which is a signal to many people.

   "Report!" Wang Ming said, "A certain person should contact the staff and report this matter!"

  (end of this chapter)