Chapter 149 Finalization of Wuzhu
Qiao Yan stroked the surface of the coin with his fingertips.
The faint protrusion on it is most likely not the "mold" used for coin making, which resulted in some irregular shape during the production process, but rather the pattern of the two characters "Wu Zhu".
However, in the late Han Dynasty, there were differences in coin-making technology among various forces, so when the coins were cast with molds, the characters were unclear.
Just like in the tombs unearthed in Eastern Wu, there are very few coins that actually belong to Wu.
The power that Dong Zhuo now controls is obviously not very capable of making coins!
Anyone in Dong Zhuo's position would know that the economy is closely related to people's livelihood and should never be touched lightly.
There is no need to mention the disadvantages brought about by the issuance of such small coins!
Although the standardized Wuzhu coins may have variants such as cyan coins due to the different quality and types of copper mines in different places, it should be noted that issuing Wuzhu coins is ultimately a means to standardize the monetary system and reduce private coin minting.
However, small coins were inferior and light in quantity. Once they were put into the market in large quantities, the small coins named "Wu Zhu" were used by military force to exchange for the real Wu Zhu coins in sufficient quantity. Even if Chang'an had not suffered from Dong Zhuo's looting, it would sooner or later fall into a terrible situation due to the depreciation of small coins and inflation.
While Qiao Yan was glad that Dong Zhuo's move gave her another reason to denounce him, she couldn't help but feel worried about the current situation in Chang'an.
Given Lu Zhi's strong character, he would never have submitted to Dong unless there was a reason to save Liu Xie's life.
Then, given the current situation that has made people's livelihood even more difficult, he probably couldn't help but refute it.
Dong Zhuo now still needs the existence of Lu Zhi and others to prove that Liu Xie in his hands is the orthodox of the Han Dynasty, but who knows what will happen tomorrow?
"Your Excellency, are you thinking about the safety of Lord Lu and others, and how Yecheng will respond after receiving the news of minting small coins?" Xi Zhicai asked.
"Not entirely." Qiao Yan shook his head. "There's no point in being anxious about the former, and the latter... Dong Zhuo minted small coins and issued them in the name of the emperor. In the early days, he could certainly amass a lot of wealth, but in the final analysis, it was an atrocity. As long as Yecheng can remain unchanged in the face of change, it will win."
Because of his contributions in becoming the governor of Qingzhou and protecting the emperor in building the capital in Yecheng, Yuan Shao also gathered a group of advisers under his command.
In the early stages of entrepreneurship, these people are far from competing for credit or factions, and they can still give correct advice.
If Yuan Shao also suggested to Liu Bian that he should establish another monetary system because of the insufficient military rations, he would most likely be persuaded to change his mind.
She continued, "I was thinking that once Dong Zhuo minted his small coins, it was equivalent to telling the people that as long as they held military power, they could exchange it for more copper for minting coins. Not only in Guanzhong, but also in the world, the residents would definitely think that the coins were unreliable. Once there was another war or natural disaster..."
Xi Zhicai's expression also became solemn, and he continued, "Things that preserve their value, such as cloth, salt, and grain, will become bargaining chips for barter."
"We have to prepare early!"
Qiao Yan stood up and paced back and forth in the room. He paused before speaking: "Silk can be used to redeem the dead, which is equivalent to gold. This is a rule that has existed since ancient times. However, if the trend of bartering is really allowed to prevail, it is inevitable that inferior goods will be passed off as good ones, and order will be difficult to maintain."
For example, during the Cao Wei period, wet cloth was mixed with dry cloth, and inferior millet was mixed with good rice. Even with severe punishments, it was difficult to completely curb the speculation of these people.
Since the influence of Dong Zhuo's small coins worth thousands of gold coins spread, the efforts of Cao Wei's successors were only able to barely reintroduce the Wuzhu coins, but the drawbacks were not completely eliminated.
Therefore, the sooner a set of rules and regulations are drawn up, the better.
The appearance of Dong Zhuo and Xiao Qian made her realize that it was time for her to start looking for talents in economics to ensure that Bingzhou could have a suitable economic system in parallel with the development of people's livelihood. Before that, she set the most basic standards.
"What does Qiao Hou mean?"
Qiao Yan replied confidently: "Order the coin minters in Bingzhou to come to see me. No matter what the war situation is, there must be no cutting corners in the minting of coins in our territory. In addition, we will continue to follow the practice of Wuzhu coins and inform the people in the state that if there are inferior coins in the territory-"
“Get to the bottom of it and hold people accountable!”
The four words "get to the bottom of it" sounded resolute and stern when she spoke them, which was enough to make Xi Zhicai confirm that this was the bottom line issue raised by Qiao Yan at this time.
Xi Zhicai thought about it and suggested: "In this case, why not use the late emperor as an excuse again."
If Emperor Ling of Han knew about this in the afterlife, he would probably feel that he could be angered to death.
It would be fine if the two sons were divided into two parts like this, but Qiao Yan intended to occupy Liangzhou under the pretext of purging the emperor's court by his will, and now he is even insisting on using the Wuzhu currency under his name.
How could there be such a ridiculous thing in the world!
But the other person is already dead, and the edict he issued can only be brought out as a cover.
Qiao Yan obviously did not take into account the feelings of the deceased emperor, but simply accepted Xi Zhicai's suggestion "without hesitation".
Adhering to the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty, we will never use Dong Zhuo's small coins and will firmly use Wuzhu coins - this reason is simply upright.
With Qiao Yan's credibility and reputation in Bingzhou, even she said so. Except for some special transactions, such as the resource exchange between her and the Mi family of Donghai, transactions between ordinary people should be fixed within the scope of Wuzhu coins.
Of course, this does not mean that Qiao Yan does not need to face problems.
With the productivity of the Han Dynasty, copper mining was very limited. If the coins are just circulated normally in Bingzhou, the current copper material is sufficient to mint them. However, once wars break out, strategic materials will need to be purchased as quickly as possible, and this amount will not be enough.
Some materials are not suitable for the people to dump outside after surplus production, but should be controlled by the state government and purchased uniformly.
This means that the state government needs to have money.
So she still has to deal with the problem of copper mine production.
After Xi Zhicai left, her eyes fell on the map of the Ten States of the Han Dynasty in front of her.
There are copper mines in the northernmost part of Bingzhou, which is the area of Inner Mongolia in later generations, but this is not the area with the most developed copper resources.
The northwestern border areas of Gansu, Xinjiang, and Tibet, and the southwestern border areas of Yunnan are the real ones!
The former was the barren land outside Liangzhou and the Han Dynasty that had not been incorporated into the country's territory, while the latter was under the jurisdiction of Yizhou.
The only place that Qiao Yan had the opportunity to bring under control at this time was——
Liangzhou!
Ma Teng and Han Sui, who were far away in Jincheng, were discussing how to defend against the enemy in the coming second year of Guangxi, but they didn't know that Qiao Yan had already made up his mind to fight a thunderous battle because of another resource in Liangzhou.
Yuan Shao, who was in Yecheng, also did not know that Qiao Yan had once again publicly expressed his condemnation of Dong Zhuo and was by no means intending to support Liu Bian.
Long before the envoys who went to Chang'an returned to Bingzhou, Qu Yi, who went to Yecheng to deliver gifts, had already reported the news to Qiao Yan.
Although Yuan Shao had already received the news that Han Fu was detained by Qiao Yan, he still held a glimmer of hope and made moves to win over Qu Yi. He even hinted to him that if he could turn around and serve the emperor, at least he would not be just a captain under the General Du Liao like he was in Bingzhou.
Now that Han Fu is detained by Qiao Yan, Qu Yi can only offer a crude gift. Why not make a move and join the light?
No wonder Yuan Shao didn't think Qu Yi had been reserved by Qiao Yan.
Sending one's reading notes as a New Year tribute to an emperor, even if it is not wrong in reason, will inevitably be disliked by the emperor.
If the emperor, who had just ascended the throne, wanted to express his dissatisfaction with this gift, perhaps because of the General of Cavalry's solicitation, he would not hold Qiao Yan accountable, but would most likely punish the person who gave the gift.
"Yuan Qingzhou said that if this was really a good job, it wouldn't be my turn."
Qu Yi reported all this to Qiao Yan, and then she asked, "What do you think?"
What does he think?
The Liangzhou people's habit of admiring the strong is also fully demonstrated in Qu Yi.
He went to Yecheng. He thought that even though the new capital was just established, the furnishings would be a little simple, but the relocation of the imperial capital was expected to be based on a style second only to Luoyang.
But he never expected that the royal capital of Yecheng was not only far away from the capital Luoyang he had seen, but even compared with Jinyang, it lacked a bit of liveliness.
Looking at the emperor's guards again, Qu Yi felt even more absurd.
They don't look like proper guards at all; they are clearly the sons of nobles who accompanied Liu Bian in moving the capital to Ye, and they are just putting together a group for fun!
Coupled with two old and weak soldiers, they really don't look like the royal capital's imperial guards at all.
From this perspective, Yuan Qingzhou seems too unreliable.
However, Qu Yi's idea was a little insulting to Yuan Shao.
He wanted to use the righteousness of the emperor to wash away the loss of his reputation during the campaign against Dong Zhuo, not that he really wanted Liu Bian to have an iron cavalry that could roam Yecheng.
There was no way he could hand over the real elite troops to Liu Bian, as they had already been dispatched away from Yecheng in the name of attacking the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou.
However, Yuan Shao's concealment of his incompetence further strengthened Qu Yi's decision to serve Qiao Yan.
After Qiao Yan asked that question, he knelt down in front of Qiao Yan without hesitation and said, "If you don't mind, Qu Yi is willing to serve you!"
He does have the capital to commit to serving.
A branch of the Xiping Qu family has lived in Jincheng County occupied by Han Sui for several generations. If they were to fight in Liangzhou, Qu Yi would definitely be a qualified general.
The relationship between him and Han Fu was probably torn apart a lot when Qiao Yan forced Qu Yi to participate in the war against Dong Zhuo.
Qiao Yan was not afraid of those subordinates who joined her out of the idea that "people always strive for higher positions", just like Lu Bu now had the same mentality. It was only because of the strength shown by Qiao Yan and the tempting chips she offered that he was like a donkey being hooked by a carrot and running forward.
Once she officially advances into Liang Province, it can be foreseen that people like Lu Bu and Qu Yi will definitely not be a minority.
This is the characteristic of Liangzhou and Bingzhou!
But so what!
What a wise lord should do is to take advantage of the situation and tie these people to his chariot until they can no longer get off, rather than forcing everyone to be irreversibly loyal once they get on.
Qu Yi's loyalty at this time also allowed her to confirm that changing the famous character who switched from one side to another in historical events and making him directly reject the latter's solicitation was also an effective way for her to fool the system and gain achievements.
Qiao Yan reached out and helped Qu Yi up, "Come and see!"
When Qu Yi followed her to the side hall at the back, he saw that a topographic map of Liangzhou had been set up on the table. On it, various flags had traces of being repeatedly inserted and pulled out. It was likely that she had discussed the marching plan for Liangzhou with her advisers for a long time.
One of the most eye-catching flags was standing on Gaoping City in Anding County. 1
With Qu Yi's combat skills, it is impossible for him not to see Qiao Yan's intention, but now is obviously not the time to discuss this matter.
"Zhang Cong was a surrendered general from Liang Province, and his only duty was to persuade his uncle to surrender if I could defeat Dong Zhuo. We can leave that aside for now. Now under my command, Yan Cai is from Beidi County, Mr. Wenhe is from Wuwei, Mr. Yuan Gu is from Wudu and Hanyang, and Anding County has General Huangfu as support. The only thing we lack is someone who knows Jincheng County, the heart of Liang Province. If General Qu is willing to serve, it will be the last piece of the puzzle."
"Liangzhou has a complex terrain and many Qiang tribes. If we fight an unprepared battle, Bingzhou's development in recent years will be wiped out in one battle." Qiao Yan pointed to the narrow strip of land in front of him, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Qu Yi was full of respect that moved him. "Now, the situation is ready for war."
What an honor it is to be considered as the last missing piece of the puzzle!
Even though she knew that Qiao Yan had promised Gai Xun earlier that she would launch a campaign against Liangzhou in April this year. But when it came to the last preparation for war, Qu Yi had no time to care about Han Fu.
It is time to take Han Sui's head for Marquis Qiao!
Han Sui, who was targeted, felt a sense of crisis for some reason.
But he suppressed this thought in an instant.
Huangfu Song was stationed in Chaona County at this time, which was at least 600 miles away from where he was. The battles with the Han army in the past few years must have been enough for the Han army to realize how terrible it would be to pursue the enemy deep into Liangzhou, if they ran out of supplies and were surrounded by the Qiang people.
Now that Dong Zhuo holds the emperor in Chang'an, he has to rely on him and Ma Teng as a barrier for rear support. This not only allows him to escape from the status of a rebel, but also allows him to be properly called a general.
From Chang'an where Dong Zhuo was, through the mountain valley road leading to Chaona via Zuo Fengyi, one could also keep an eye on Huangfu Song's movements.
Therefore, whenever Huangfu Song made any unusual movements, he would be able to know about them.
You should know that Huangfu Song also served as the Left General. But now it is Han Sui, the Left General, who is sitting in Jincheng, while Huangfu Song, the Left General in his early years, has become surrounded from front and back, and may be in danger of disaster.
This is really——
It's very satisfying!
There is no need to say more about the Bingzhou Mu.
After discussing countermeasures, he and Ma Teng felt that the situation was stable and began to celebrate. At this moment, they no longer cared about the difference in rank between the former general and the left general, but declared proudly that whoever could defeat Huangfu Song's troops would ask Dong Zhuo for the position of General of Chariots and Cavalry.
As the wine was being passed, Ma Teng and Han Sui toasted each other and said, "Qiao Bingzhou is just a young man. Even the Southern Xiongnu have people who don't obey orders, so how can they attack our Liangzhou!"
The fact that Huchuquan of the Southern Xiongnu was wandering around the Ziwu Mountains had already been reported to them by the Qiang cavalry.
I'm afraid that in another two months, they will have to start spring plowing on the newly dug fields.
Han Sui smiled and said, "That's right! If she can really march into Liang Province, I will give her this head as compensation!"
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