Guo Song thought for a while and asked, "Do you know the origin of calligraphy and painting?" It stands to reason that a merchant could not have such a thing. ”

"Didn't I just ask? My father-in-law also asked me to ask about the origin of the calligraphy and paintings, and she said that her husband's grandfather bought them during the Anshi Rebellion, and that it only cost 3,000 yuan at that time, and it was purchased from a general under An Lushan. ”

Guo Song was relieved that after An Lushan occupied Chang'an, many precious collections in the imperial palace and the mansions of the magnates were lost to the people, which is right.

If it is a sketch calligraphy and painting, 50,000 guan is a little more expensive, but a large Zhongtang calligraphy and painting, 50,000 guan is really not expensive, not to mention the calligraphy and painting of Yu Shinan and Yan Liben, as my father-in-law said, I can't buy it with money.

"Can I buy it?" Guo Song asked.

Guo Ping said with a smile: "Mrs. Liu came to me just now because of this meaning, they think that my interest rate is too high, they can't make money, but they can't borrow so much money from other people, the cabinet shop only borrows 10,000 yuan at most, and they also want a mortgage on the house in Chang'an, they mean to ask me if I want to buy calligraphy and paintings." ”

"Fifty thousand yuan to buy?"

"No, they want 50,000 taels of silver or 5,000 taels of gold, or 60,000 taels of gold."

"If the eldest sister is not short of money, she can buy it."

"Okay! Since that is the case, I will buy it. ”

Guo Song gave all the seventy percent of his Meishou wine to his eldest sister Guo Ping, she has a strong net worth in the past two years, and she will not give these two calligraphy and paintings to her children, she plans to give them to her nephew Guo Jincheng, which can be regarded as a little bit of his heart to his nephew, as for Xue Tao is willing to lend it to his father for a few years, she doesn't care.

The two came to the inner hall and sat down, and Guo Song smiled again: "Where is the marriage of Junyu and Yu'er?" ”

"Everything that needs to be done has been done, the Zhang family's financial gifts have been delivered, and I have prepared Yu'er's dowry, we all think that the two will officially get married in three years."

Guo Ping said this, but her eyes looked at her brother, she was waiting for Guo Song to agree!

Guo Song smiled slightly: "This matter has been decided by themselves, otherwise you can discuss it with the princess, she represents my opinion, and I will not participate." ”

Guo Song is very smart on this point, since he has handed over his wife's plenipotentiary representative, he will not express his opinions indiscriminately, so as not to make it difficult for his wife to be a person.

"Let's get down to business!"

Guo Song changed the topic back, "I actually came here today for something. ”

After speaking, he put ten Hexi silver coins on the table and pushed them to Guo Ping, Guo Ping was the first time to see silver coins, and she was immediately full of interest.

"There's really money made of silver!"

She hurriedly picked up the money and looked at it carefully, she could already recognize a lot of words, "This is Hexi silver coin, is it minted in Hexi?" ”

"The eldest sister can read?" Guo Song asked with a surprised smile.

"Why does this guy look down on people? Tell me, I now not only know more than a thousand words, but also can write, I have finished learning the thousand-word essay, and now whoever wants to lie to me again, there is no way. ”

Guo Song also knows that the eldest sister is very smart and has an amazing memory, as long as she is willing to learn, she will be able to get started soon, and she will be able to read and write freely in a year or two at most.

Guo Song smiled and nodded, "This is the silver coins that were minted before, and it has long been stopped, but the Counsellor's Hall has decided to mint a new batch of gold and silver coins, what does the eldest sister think will be the problem?" ”

"Are you consulting me?"

Guo Song nodded, "I think I am a businessman and I am from the bottom, so I should have more experience than me." ”

Guo Ping pondered for a long time and said: "As soon as I said that the minting of gold and silver coins, I immediately thought that copper coins were going to depreciate, which is generally the case, I remember that twenty years ago, the imperial court issued a lot of money, and the price of rice doubled the next day, and I was caught off guard!" ”

"But it's not a lot of money!"

"Of course I know that silver money is not big money, but it feels like copper money is worthless, just like being six feet tall, everyone thinks it is very high, and suddenly one day a person with a height of seven feet comes, everyone will not feel very high, this is what I said last time, there is a comparison, there is harm."

Guo Song understood, in fact, his expectations were different, with more valuable silver coins, of course copper coins would be worthless, and prices would naturally rise.

"Does the eldest sister think this price increase can be avoided?"

"It's easy! Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, plus food, clothing, housing, and transportation, as long as the government controls the prices of these basic goods, not many people care about other things even if they rise to the sky. ”

"I see, I've been taught, and there is another question, what if someone pays fake money to buy wine in Meishou Wine Shop?"

Guo Ping said with a smile: "Don't worry, our wine shop deals with money every day, and has not received a fake money, our buddies and shopkeepers have practiced it, and the fake money will be known as soon as it starts, and the feel is different. ”

..........

On the way back, Guo Song was very emotional, they didn't think of many things, but the eldest sister thought of it, it seems that it can't be done behind closed doors, and the opinions of the people must be widely solicited.

When Guo Song returned to the official office, he immediately called Pan Liao, Du You, and Zhang Qianyi, and the three of them formed a temporary team to be fully responsible for the minting and issuance of gold and silver coins.

The three of them sat down, and Guo Song told the three of them Guo Ping's suggestion to control prices.

Pan Liao nodded, "This suggestion is very timely, the amount of gold and silver money issued is not large, and a large part of it will be collected by powerful merchants, not much really flows into the market, and the impact on prices is not large, but it will cause a kind of psychological tension, which will lead to soaring prices."

First, try to keep a low profile and control public opinion, so that gold and silver money cannot become a topic of concern to everyone; Second, to lower grain prices, on the one hand, we must sell official grain at a low price, and on the other hand, we must publicize a bumper grain harvest, and at the same time publicize that we have seized a large amount of grain in Hebei, so that the ordinary people will feel that the price of grain should be reduced, and as long as the price of grain falls, nothing else will rise. ”

Zhang Qianyi also smiled: "Not only food, but also several other aspects can also be considered, such as publicity, next year's official rental rent will be reduced, and it is not impossible to really reduce ten or twenty wen per month, as long as the rent of official rental housing does not rise, other rents will not rise."

Then there are the 200,000 old coarse cloth in the Youzhou warehouse, anyway, the time is too long, and the quality is not good, so they simply sell it at a low price in the Chang'an market, as for the line, 10,000 old horses can be transferred from Hexi to pull the cart, so that there are countermeasures in the four aspects of clothing, food, housing and transportation, and there are no worries at all. ”

Du You also smiled: "I thought about it last night, in fact, this year is not a big problem, everyone likes gold and silver, such as the Du family, as long as it is issued, the Du family will definitely buy tens of thousands of gold and silver coins, replacing the previous copper money storage, other families are similar, I suspect that there is no gold and silver money in the market at all."

And we got these three million copper coins, which were used to build ships and buy camels, and they will not circulate in the market for a while, what I mean is that we have all kinds of plans ready, but we don't necessarily have to implement them, as long as we pay close attention to market trends. ”

The so-called three stinkers, one Zhuge Liang, and the three of them are worthy of being experienced and wise-minded ministers, each expressing his own opinion, and arranging Guo Song's worries to the letter.

.........

Five days later, Pan Liao placed a box containing 100 gold and silver samples on Guo Song's table, along with a bronze weight.

"This is a batch of gold and silver coins minted by Dr. Li Weijin of Taixue, each made fifty pieces, the silver money is silver nine bronze one, the money is the same, not pure gold and pure silver, we still use the mold of Kaiyuan Tongbao, without making any changes, from the material can clearly distinguish the difference between it and copper coins, Your Highness, please take a look."

Guo Song took out a closer look from the box, it was a silver shining Kaiyuan Tongbao, the feel was obviously heavier than the copper coin, after all, it was new money, it had not been polished by thousands of people, and it was slightly rough.

"Does each one weigh the same?" Guo Song asked.

"It's basically exactly the same, and the difference is negligible."

Guo Song took out another piece of money to watch, the golden light was shining and extremely tempting.

"Your Highness, these gold and silver coins all contain copper, although one tael of silver can mint eleven silver coins, and gold is the same, but considering the cost of minting, we decided to still exchange ten silver coins for one tael of silver, and ten coins for one tael of gold."

"It's not a big deal, don't think too much about it."

Guo Song took the copper weight on the table and looked at it carefully, the weight was square, the four corners were polished round, and there was a hole in the middle to facilitate the rope, which was very exquisite.

Guo Song took out a delicate small copper balance from the drawer, he put the copper weight on the weighing pan, and put the twenty silver coins on the other side of the weight, and sure enough, it was balanced.

Guo Song said excitedly: "Have you ever tried to make a fake silver coin with six bronze and four silver?" ”

"Back to Your Highness, we are making ten fake gold and silver coins, which will come out soon."