Of course that's okay. No, no matter you say it or not, of course you have to shoulder this matter. But Li Qi said hypocritically: "Then how can I do it? I must share your worries with you. If anything happens, I will

The Emperor will definitely take the blame."

Zhao Kai said impatiently: "Don't play this trick with me here. Let's talk about it."

"oh."

Li Qi said to Qin Hui: "Young Master. In fact, the emperor cannot be blamed for this matter, because I have mentioned this matter to the emperor a long time ago, but the emperor has always been hesitant. It was not until last year that the emperor made a decision, but this matter is related to

It's important. The emperor and I knew about it from the beginning. The three ministers and the economic envoy also found out when the coinage was increased. The emperor originally planned to talk to you, but this matter is of great importance. The fewer people know about it, the better.

Therefore, the emperor avoided the three provinces and six departments and issued it directly through the Legislative Yuan. Moreover, if he had made it clear to Shaozai in advance, Shaozai might object. The emperor did not want to cause more trouble, so he planned to issue it first and then explain everything to Shaozai."

Qin Hui said in surprise: "Would I object?"

Li Qi nodded and said: "To put it simply, this is a big gamble. If we lose, the situation may be very bad. Maybe the three of us will have to take the blame and resign, but this is another big gamble that we have to take."

.”

When Qin Hui heard these words, he felt the cold wind whistling behind him. Maybe the three giants would all take the blame and resign. What kind of gamble is this? But Qin Hui is Qin Hui after all. He then thought about it, you are not afraid of the Privy Council, I am still

What are you afraid of? Our bare feet are not afraid of those who wear shoes. And now that the matter has come to an end, it is useless to say anything. Thinking of this, he smiled calmly and said: "If the emperor thinks it is feasible, then Wei Chen is willing to accompany the emperor to take this gamble."

.”

When Zhao Kai heard this, he felt a little guilty in his heart. He nodded and said, "Young Zai, I have something wrong with this matter. I should have discussed it with you in advance."

Day. What are you doing, making it seem like I am the sinner behind the scenes? Li Qi was a little unhappy, and turned around and said: "Secretary Commander, please start with me first. What I just said made me feel a little dry.

Drink some tea to moisten your throat first."

I knew you would pull me out to support you. Zheng Yi showed a wry smile, and then said: "Qin Shaozai, you should also know that since the glass came out, the price of copper has begun to fall. From that time on, the imperial court has been secretly purchasing copper.

device."

Qin Hui nodded and said: "I know this. Now that several years have passed, the imperial court should have a lot of copper."

"Don't you already know how much there is?"

"I know?"

Qin Hui was stunned. He only knew how much money there was in the treasury, but he didn't know exactly how much copper was in stock. Suddenly he opened his eyes and said: "It can't be ---."

Zheng Yi nodded and said: "That's it. Apart from the copper needed for military use, the rest of the copper has been minted into currency, a total of 15 million coins."

Qin Hui was shocked when he heard this and said: "You mean, there is no copper in the treasury now?"

Zheng Yi hummed and said: "There is only a little bit left as a backup. Although the national treasury has been making profits in the past two years, there are actually very few copper coins recovered, because the copper coins on the market are already very few, and the people are

They used grain or cloth to pay taxes, and many merchants did the same. The court relied on foreign trade to exchange these excess grain and cloth into gold, silver, cattle, horses, sheep and other goods. Most of these newly issued currencies were recovered copper.

It is made from newly dug copper ore."

Qin Hui asked again: "How much copper can be mined every year now?"

Zheng Yidao: "Originally, we could still maintain the annual issuance of one million coins by relying on the newly excavated copper every year. However, in recent years, the extensive mining of copper mines has reached its limit. Many copper mines have been exhausted. In addition, every year

Military copper. I am afraid that in the future, only about 300,000 guan of currency will be issued every year, maybe even less."

Li Qi was tired after hearing this, and said: "Qin Shaozai, don't forget what kind of difficulties the emperor faced when he first came to the throne. The national treasury has already reached the bottom. If you really collect taxes, you can get 10 million

After all, this also includes the copper mines that are mined every year. In the past few years, we have dug out all the copper mines for the next five or six years at once, which can be said to be a huge profit."

What he said was extremely generous.

But Qin Hui was surprised and panicked when he heard this. He said: "But why is this? Once the currency flows into the market, it will quickly flow abroad. Not to mention that the imperial court has not issued a ban on copper. Even if it was issued, it would not be able to stop it at all.

, the more coins we mint, the more frantically countries like Xixia, Jin, Japan and other countries will buy our currency. Then the currency will be in short supply, but we will not be able to mint coins. If one million coins are issued every year, then the people will

Cherish the currency in your hands. Foreign countries may have to waste a lot of effort if they want to buy it. Although it is still impossible to stop it, at least it can reduce the loss of currency."

Cai Jing narrowed his eyes and said, "This is Li Qi's purpose."

"What?"

Qin Hui looked at Li Qi in surprise.

Li Qi nodded and said: "That's it. Otherwise, how can it be called a big gamble? I want to increase the outflow of currency and reduce the use of domestic copper coins. I will make plans for new currencies in the future."

"New currency?"

Qin Hui asked uncertainly: "Is the new currency money bills?"

"Of course not. Without copper, the notes are worthless."

Qin Hui asked again: "Is it gold and silver?"

"Exactly."

Li Qi nodded and said: "In the past three years, we will use our currency advantage to exchange gold and silver from other countries. In fact, setting up a flying money bureau at the border to avoid currency chaos is just one of the reasons. The main reason is

To be exchanged for gold and silver.”

Qin Hui said: "But why do we use gold and silver to make currency? I remember you said before, Privy Council, that our country has always been a copper-producing country. In terms of copper, Xixia and the Jin Kingdom cannot compare with us. If it is gold and silver,

, then we have to rely on other countries, which is equivalent to handing over this advantage to others."

Li Qi smiled and said: "You are right, but facts have proven that copper coins are not a long-term solution. When our country's economy was relatively sluggish, copper coins could not meet economic needs. Now that our country's economy is booming, copper coins are even more important.

It pales in comparison. The key reason is that copper coins are too cheap. They can only satisfy the small peasant economy, that is, the daily life of ordinary people. However, as people become richer and richer and their consumption becomes higher and higher, sooner or later copper coins will also suffer.

disuse.

It can be said that after three years, even if our country can mint two million copper coins every year, I am afraid it will only be a drop in the bucket, because copper coins can no longer meet economic needs. The shortage of currency will constrain economic development and cause the economy to stagnate or even regress.

Therefore, we should look for currencies with higher value as soon as possible. The value of silver is much higher than that of copper coins.

This is a simple math question. One copper coin weighs two cents. A thousand copper coins weigh seven and a half kilograms. Today’s silver price is because we rely on high-quality goods and universal currency to force it down. The real

Value, one tael of silver is worth one thousand copper coins, sixteen taels is equal to one catty, seven and a half catties is one hundred and twenty taels, one tael of silver is worth one hundred and twenty taels of copper coins, one catty of silver is equal to

For one hundred and twenty kilograms of copper coins, the court needs to mint one million kilograms of coins every year, which means 7.5 million kilograms of copper coins to meet the market demand. If it were converted into silver, it would only require 62,500 kilograms of silver."

This is not unknown. Once he calculated it, Qin Hui couldn't help being shocked. There was too much difference.

Li Qi continued: "As people go higher, money actually goes higher. Why has there never been such a serious currency crisis from the Qin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty? Moreover, our coinage is several times that of theirs, and even

More than ten times, but we have been stuck in a currency crisis. That is because their economy is only a small farmer economy, the economic scale is very limited, and there are not many places to spend money. However, our economy is developing too fast, and business is blooming. Yanshan Prefecture

Farmers in the previous dynasty are almost taking it than the landlords in the previous dynasty. There are so many places that need money. Just like the people in the previous dynasty would not spend hundreds of money to go to the theater to watch a play. Now Jinlou, Fanlou, Zhou

The family's workshop and Uncle He Jiu's grocery store all make a fortune every day.

The problem now is that it's not that his goods can't be sold, but that others don't have money to sell them. But having no money doesn't mean they are poor. They have a lot of valuable goods, but they just don't have enough currency to operate these goods. They only have money to sell them.

The currency can no longer meet the demand of the market. It can be said that our country's current economic exchange can only be met by gold and silver. Gold seems to be a little more, and silver is just right. If we continue to use copper coins, sooner or later we will

When a more serious crisis breaks out, you will see people everywhere pushing large amounts of goods on the streets to buy firewood, rice, oil, and salt, because without currency, only goods can be exchanged. This is not progress, but a regression."

Although Qin Hui did not think of using silver to replace copper, Li Qi said it in such detail. Of course he understood that there is a supply and demand relationship in everything, and currency exists for the economy, but copper coins cannot meet economic needs. When the demand is huge

If the supply is insufficient, then another currency will appear to meet the needs of the economy.

Throughout history, currencies have evolved from shell coins to copper coins, to silver coins in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and then to gold coins. It can be seen that the economic demand for currency is getting higher and higher because the economy is becoming more and more developed.

Cai Jing nodded and said: "I also think that silver can be a good substitute for copper, but the prerequisite is that we have more silver. Regardless of these things for the time being, what I don't understand is that this matter can be done slowly, and the risk will not be so

Da, why are you in such a hurry?"

Li Qi sighed: "Do you really think that fifteen million is a lot?"

Qin Hui said: "But it is definitely a lot. Even if it is issued in three years, I actually think eight million guan is enough. In the first year, five million guan will be issued to repay the debts of the previous years, and then one hundred million guan will be issued every year."

Wan Guan, in fact, one million Guan can be satisfied without any loss. The reason why Xining implemented the reform was because the court did not want to see the loss of currency, not because this million Guan was too little."

He values ​​his status more. Now his status is rising steadily. Stability is an ideal situation for him. Once this happens, there will be too many variables, and Li Qi's status will be more stable. This is also the reason why Zhao Kai

The reason for not discussing with him in advance was because Zhao Kai knew that he would definitely object. After all, he was the prime minister, and the emperor could not turn a blind eye to his opinions.

Li Qi shook his head and said: "Shao Zai, that was during the Xining period, but now it is the Revitalization year, and the satisfaction you are talking about is a kind of satisfaction that hinders economic development. I looked at it in detail at the beginning of last year.

Looking at the Commerce Bureau’s records, our economy is actually going backwards, not forward.”

"This---how is this possible?" Qin Hui said in surprise.

Li Qidao: "Economic growth does not depend on how much money the treasury earns, but on the growth trend. If the growth trend weakens or flattens, it is going backwards. According to my survey, if there is enough currency on the market,

Our economy in the Song Dynasty will be nearly twice as high as it is now."

"Double?"

Qin Hui and Cai Jing were both shocked.

What kind of concept is this? If it were doubled on the current basis, it would simply be impossible to budget.

No wonder the emperor was tempted. Qin Hui now vaguely understood why Zhao Kai would take this gamble, because the temptation was too great, but the premise was that what Li Qi said was true, but he still couldn't believe it, and said:

"Privy Councilor, this seems to be a bit exaggerated."

Li Qi shook his head and said: "Nothing at all. You can see it from the drop in prices."

Qin Hui said: "Isn't the price drop due to the imperial court's policies?"

Li Qi smiled and said: "It used to be true, but not anymore. The current price drop heralds an economic recession."
Chapter completed!