The Shaofu Household Director and the Shaofu Bronze Secretary walked into the palace on the snow, one step deep and one step shallow.
"The snow was not cleared in time enough!" muttered the Shaofu household steward.
Gu Zhixin, the Minister of Coppers, said, "The snow is too heavy to clear. My Lord, I will support you."
"No need! Although I'm old, I'm still very strong."
The Shaofu Household Manager refused the help of the Shaofu Bronze Clerk Gu Zhixin.
Once you enter the palace, the closer you get to Xingqing Palace, the less snow there is.
When we arrived at Xingqing Palace, there were only a few freshly fallen snowflakes on the ground, not a single drop of snow.
Palace servants held brooms to keep the ground clean at all times and ensure that there was no snow on the ground.
After being informed, the two finally walked into the Zhengyang Palace which was as warm as spring.
"Your humble servant pays respect to His Majesty!"
"No need to be polite!"
The Shaofu Housekeeper pointed to the account books in the basket and said, "The accounts Your Majesty wants are all here."
Emperor Wende hummed a sound, his gaze lingering on the face of Gu Zhixin, the Minister of Copper Affairs, for two seconds before he said, "Bring up the bank's account books first!"
A stack of account books was placed in front of Emperor Wende.
Emperor Wende flipped through the account books and soon came to the final general ledger.
"Oh, they collected 30 million copper coins last month alone? That's a lot?"
The Minister of the Imperial Household said hurriedly, "This is still a small amount. This month, more people are depositing money. In less than half a month, the amount of copper coins collected has exceeded that of last month. I estimate that at least 50 million copper coins can be collected this month."
Lord Gu Zhixin, the Minister of Bronze of the Shaofu, looks at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, and is as quiet as a chicken.
He thought to himself, the copper coins collected this month must be more than 50 million. Of the twelve months of the year, the twelfth month is the busiest. If only 50 million copper coins were collected in the entire twelfth month, then the system of paying interest on deposits would only be considered mediocre, definitely not a stroke of genius.
He thought so in his heart, but didn't say a word.
It is for everyone's good that the Shaofu Household Order compresses the data.
Everyone can brag, but they are afraid of failing to complete the task and being blamed by His Majesty later.
Therefore, the approach of the Shaofu Household Order is truly mature and steady.
Emperor Wende asked, "How many new coins can be minted from these recovered copper coins?"
Emperor Wende's gaze fell on the face of Gu Zhixin, the Minister of Copper Affairs.
The Shaofu household steward winked at Gu Zhixin.
Gu Zhixin gathered himself and stepped forward. "Your Majesty, according to tradition, when copper coins are recycled and recast, there's a 30% loss. However, after the Chief of Works modified the casting process, the loss can now be basically controlled to around 25%."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Wende frowned, "Such a huge loss, wouldn't it be a heavy loss for the imperial court?"
"Your Majesty, rest assured. Once the newly minted coins are released to the people, we will be able to earn back many times over."
"How do you make money? Tell me in detail."
Emperor Wende really didn't know how to make money from coin minting.
Gu Zhixin looked at the Shaofu Household Order and decided to let the Shaofu Household Order answer this question.
The Minister of the Imperial Household considered the matter for a while before saying, "Your Majesty, the reason why privately minted coins are rampant among the people is, firstly, that the official coins of the imperial court are scarce, and secondly, privately minted coins are extremely profitable.
For example, a small copper coin can be sold at the market for one penny and can buy goods worth one penny. But in reality, the brass contained in this copper coin is not worth a penny..."
The Shaofu Household Official spoke eloquently and briefly explained the concept of currency to Emperor Wende, saying that the country always makes a profit when issuing currency.
Even the copper coins with the highest brass content minted during the Taizu period can still make money.
Why is it that once the official coins are in short supply, privately minted coins will flood the market? Because there are really huge profits in this.
All copper coins, whether official or private, are actually copper alloys.
The official copper coins contained about 70% copper.
If privately minted coins can contain 50% copper, even 55%, that would be considered a great conscience.
What's more, a privately minted copper coin only contains 30% copper. This is not a copper coin at all, it's more appropriate to call it a lead coin, or even a zinc coin.
According to the court's coin-making method, one pound of brass, taking into account damage, can be used to cast approximately 205 copper coins, which is 205 coins.
Privately minting coins was very powerful. One pound of brass could be used to mint three hundred copper coins.
On the market, the price of unrefined brass is about fifty to seventy cents per pound, and the transportation cost must be taken into account.
After refining, taking into account various losses, it will not exceed one hundred and twenty coins per catty.
One pound of brass, used to mint coins, costs two hundred and five coins, and this is the official price.
If this isn’t huge profits, what is?
The profit from privately minting coins is higher.
From ancient times to the present, whoever controls the right to issue currency controls the purse.
In the past, the imperial court suffered from insufficient brass reserves, and coupled with the tradition of people hoarding money, the coins minted by the imperial court every year were simply in short supply.
The coin market was gradually dominated by privately minted coins.
A large part of the profits in this market flows to various banks.
The Ministry of Revenue had privately calculated that the official coins minted by the imperial court accounted for less than 20% of the coin market, resulting in a loss of at least one million taels each year.
However, various interest groups are involved here.
Even the Ministry of Revenue did not dare to lift the lid.
It was not until the Shaofu Money House started paying interest on deposits that the tip of the iceberg was revealed.
Do you really think that money houses make money by lending at high interest rates?
These days, the bulk of money shops’ profits come from privately minting coins.
Even at the foot of the emperor's city, if you go out to the market, you can come across privately minted coins of various models, styles and weights.
Not to mention the South where privately minted coins were rampant.
The south, especially the Jiangnan region, had become a major base for private coinage, with official coins practically unseen.
It is easy to imagine how huge the losses the court suffered in the currency market were.
After the in-depth and easy-to-understand explanation by the Shaofu Household Official, Emperor Wende realized for the first time the importance of official coinage.
There is also a vague awareness that whoever controls the right to mint coins controls the purse.
Emperor Wende put his hands behind his back, looking solemn.
"So, the imperial court loses millions of taels every year just in currency?"
The Minister of the Imperial Household bowed his head and said, "Your humble servant is incompetent."
Emperor Wende waved his hand. "It has nothing to do with you. This is a chronic problem that has accumulated over decades and centuries in the imperial court. The previous emperor, after all, lacked a truly capable financial advisor. He failed to realize that even a small copper coin could hold such a huge stake, hiding such enormous profits."
If the late emperor had realized this problem earlier, I wouldn't have to worry about money every day.
In the past, court officials blindly suppressed commerce, saying that merchants were lowly. Now it seems that the court officials' suppression of commerce was not necessarily because merchants were lowly, but because they wanted to monopolize the market and have exclusive business.
Once the imperial court cracked down, ordinary merchants had no chance of survival. Only the big merchants, those with the support of aristocratic families, could continue to be active in the market.
However, when the imperial court is in trouble, these big businessmen never give money to me, but instead they try to steal my business.
The court officials only knew how to impose taxes on the common people, forcing them to lose their families, become bandits, and kill officials in rebellion.
Haha... Thinking about all these things together, I am the biggest fool, deaf, blind, and pauper in the world when I sit in this position.
Now that I think about it, someone always said that problems that can be solved with money are not big problems. This statement is really true. The key is that I have no money!
Grandma's legs.
As an emperor, he was rich, but he ended up spending more than he earned every year.
The Ministry of Revenue collected more taxes this year, but still had no surplus. It had to make up for the deficits of previous years, to cover the salaries of officials, and to cover the monthly wages of the soldiers.
You wouldn't know until you checked. Once you checked, you found out that the soldiers in some places haven't received a penny of monthly salary for five years.
In other words, the imperial court owed the soldiers money and food for five full years.
Accumulated over five years, it's an astronomical figure.
Not to mention that they haven't changed their uniforms or weapons for five years.
With the Ministry of Revenue's withholding, it's unclear when the deficit will be recouped and the army's uniforms and weapons will be replaced.
How can we expect the army to be combat-ready if we don’t have money to support it?
Emperor Wende was worried!
When you count them all, there are only a handful of truly combat-capable armies in the Great Zhou.
The Shaofu Household Director and the Shaofu Bronze Clerk Gu Zhixin both lowered their heads and dared not say a word.
The Shaofu Household Order guessed that the person Emperor Wende was referring to was probably Gu Jiu.
Only Gu Jiu could say that any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem.
Bang!
Emperor Wende slammed the table.
"Are you two dumb? I have no money, what do you think I should do?"
Gu Zhixin, the Minister of Bronze of the Shaofu: "..." The emperor is also poor, and there is nothing I can do about it.
The Shaofu Housekeeper coughed lightly and said, "Your Majesty, the income will increase next year, and the situation will be even better."
"I know things will get better, but it's not enough. There's still not enough money! The salaries of the officials in the capital haven't been paid yet this year. Are they still owed two months' salary?"
The Minister of the Imperial Household nodded and said, "This year, there has been heavy snowfall, and many areas have suffered snowstorms. The Ministry of Revenue is currently unable to provide funds for salary payments."
Emperor Wende snorted coldly, "So I say, your Shaofu is too slow. Privately minting coins is a violation of the law. Isn't there a better way to suppress private minting? If that doesn't work, I will send the Jinwu Guards out."
"Your Majesty, please think twice! You absolutely must not mobilize the Jinwu Guards! If they do, the people will be in complete chaos. I, as I said before, must proceed with this matter slowly and steadily."
Bang!
Emperor Wende slammed his hand on the table. "I can't wait any longer. First, we must drive out all the illegally minted coins in the capital. What good ideas do you two have?"
Gu Zhixin, the Minister of Coppers, considered the matter and said, "The only solution is to increase the number of coins minted by the government. However, with the amount of brass minted by the court, the amount of coins minted is simply not enough to completely drive out the privately minted coins from the capital."
Emperor Wende angrily asked, "Where does the private sector get the brass used to mint coins? Why is it that the imperial court cannot match the private sector's reserves of brass?"
The Minister of the Imperial Household hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, you may not know that since the reign of Emperor Zhongzong, private mining has become rampant. Most of these people belong to prominent families. To be honest, Your Majesty, many of the ministers in the court are secretly mining.
In addition, many families of the royal family, nobles, and military generals were also secretly mining. Most of the copper they mined flowed into private banks.
"As a court official, mining copper, why didn't you sell it to the court?"
The Shaofu Housekeeper gave a bitter laugh, "Firstly, they're afraid of leaving any evidence and being held accountable later. Secondly, the price paid by the private sector is often higher than the imperial court's."
"Ridiculous! These bastards, parasites, don't forget who supports them. Instead of helping the court and me, they even dare to secretly steal my women. Damn them all, damn them!"
Emperor Wende kicked over the stool, smashed the teacup and threw the inkstone.
The hall was in a mess.
All the palace servants held their breath, not daring to breathe.
The Shaofu Household Manager was nervous inside, but he looked calm on the surface.
Gu Zhixin, the Minister of Bronze of the Imperial Household, saw Emperor Wende angry for the first time and was so frightened that he couldn't stop trembling.
Oh my god!
The position of Shaofu Tongcheng seemed splendid and promising, but who could have imagined that he would have to endure the wrath of Emperor Wende at all times?
The court officials also said that Emperor Wende had a good temper.
That's because they have never seen Emperor Wende get angry.
After venting his anger, Emperor Wende angrily asked, "Is there no way to deal with them?"
The Shaofu Household Director gave a wry smile. He was the brother of Emperor Zhongzong, and had come from that era, so he knew the situation back then all too well.
He said, "Your Majesty, please calm down! I have something extremely treasonous to say. The reason why illegal mining has become so rampant is entirely the fault of King Zhongzong.
Emperor Zhongzong, who favored a concubine named Su in his harem, granted permission for Su's father and brother to open a mine, allowing them to choose the mine they wanted. Local officials fully cooperated, marking the beginning of the public opening of private mining.
Later, when the late emperor ascended the throne, the Su family was confiscated and beheaded, and Concubine Su was imprisoned in Ganye Temple. However, the trend of private mining had already spread, and the late emperor failed to curb it immediately. Over the decades, the current situation has emerged.
Emperor Wende: “…”
I want to cry!
what to do?
In other families, it’s always the sons who betray their fathers.
In his case, it's the father who cheats his son, and the son who cheats his grandson.
He is the grandson who was cheated!
MMP, the ancestor of bullshit.
At this moment, Emperor Wende even had an urge to move Zhongzong's tablet out of Fengxian Hall and smash it to pieces!
Emperor Wende was so rebellious, there was nothing wrong with that!
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