Guo Song took a sip of tea, and was thinking about how to chat with the current head of the family, Liu Shangdong, when he caught a glimpse of Liu Shangdong's waist and hung a piece of Khotanese seed jade, he had a plan in his heart, and said with a slight smile: "The head of the Liu family also likes jade?" ”

Liu Shangdong hurriedly bowed and smiled: "Your Highness is right, the villain is very obsessed with jade, obsessed with it for twenty years, and has collected countless jade, until I recently read a column article on Pinyu in the "Chang'an Express", I didn't know that I didn't collect too much Khotanese seed jade, it's a pity!" ”

Guo Song didn't explicitly say that Pinyu's column was an article written by him, and he smiled and asked, "Can you have the honor to visit Liu Dongzhu's jade collection?" ”

"Your Highness has this Yaxing, how dare you disobey."

Liu Shangdong glanced at his father quickly, and Liu Xun glanced at him, meaning to let him take out good things.

Liu Shangdong got up and said, "Your Highness, please!" ”

He led Guo Song to a separate big house in the back house, Liu Xun and Dugu Qiu followed behind and chatted, the two have known each other for many years, Dugu Qiu and the Liu family have a deep relationship, the Liu family is the richest man in Yangzhou, and the Dugu family's business in Yangzhou is inseparable from the cooperation with the Liu family.

Liu Shangdong opened two iron doors and entered a large warehouse, which was full of rows of wooden shelves, which were filled with all kinds of jade, the large ones amounted to thousands of catties, and the small ones were several catties, carved in a variety of ways.

At this time, Guo Song stopped in front of a screen, this is a four-leaf green jade screen, red sandalwood base, engraved with eight scenes of Chang'an, Guo Song recognized this screen, it is the collection of Dezong Li Shi, in order to raise military expenses, this screen was also taken out for auction, he remembered very clearly, this screen was taken away by Dugu Changqiu's brother Dugu Changqiu at a price of 50,000 yuan, but he didn't expect it to fall into the hands of Liu Shangdong in the end.

"This was transferred to me by a friend in Chang'an for 50,000 yuan, and it is said that it flowed out of the palace."

Guo Song nodded, "Not bad!" ”

He glanced quickly at Duqiu and walked on.

Guo Song quickly finished reading Liu Shangdong's collection, frankly speaking, Liu Shangdong's collection can't get into Guo Song's eyes, he mainly collects Xiuyu, as well as Dushan jade and Lantian jade, some agate, a small amount of Kunlun jade, and even a large amount of quartz jade.

"Doesn't proprietor Liu like Khotanese seed jade? Why didn't you see it? Guo Song asked with a smile.

Liu Shangdong hurriedly took a box and opened it on the table, there were only a dozen pieces of seed jade in it, the size was like a fist, and most of them were green and white jade, Guo Song glanced at the white jade shaped like a brand on his waist, and this piece was still the best.

Liu Shangdong smiled a little embarrassedly: "The main thing is that Hetian seed jade can't be bought, these are almost all bought for a thousand yuan, and the entire jewelry store in Chang'an is collected, so much." ”

Guo Song took out a piece of red-skinned seed jade that he was playing with in his arms, handed it to him and said with a smile: "This piece is good, give it to you!" ”

"This.... How does this work? I can't take anything from His Highness. ”

is polite, Liu Shangdong can't let go as soon as he starts it, the kind of fat white delicate, extremely smooth, and gorgeous red skin, he is simply fascinated.

Liu Xun's face sank and said, "Shang Dong, don't you thank Your Highness for rewarding the beautiful jade?" ”

Liu Shangdong hurriedly bowed down to thank him, and Guo Song smiled and said, "No thanks, the time is almost up, and I will come to visit next time I have time." ”

The Liu father and son respectfully sent Guo Song and Duqiu out of the gate, and watched their carriage go away, Liu Shangdong said with some suspicion: "Father ......."

Liu Xun waved his hand to interrupt him, "This is not the place to talk, go to the study and talk about it!" ”

The father and son came to Liu Shangdong's outer study, Liu Xun sat down and said, "Can you see the purpose of King Jin's visit this time?" ”

Liu Shangdong shook his head, "He never talked about business!" ”

Liu Xun sighed: "His visit to Liu's Mansion is a gesture in itself, and his favor for Liu's Mansion is generally not for him to talk about, but to be alone." ”

Liu Shangdong hurriedly asked: "Just now, my father and Dugu Xiangguo talked for a long time, did they talk about business?" ”

Liu Xun shook his head, "He just said that His Royal Highness the King of Jin values the Liu family very much, and he didn't say much else, but I guess the King of Jin wants to use our ship." ”

"Then the king of Jin rewarded me with beautiful jade, did he also want to ......?"

Liu Xun sneered and said, "Is that because you underestimated him too much, you used a piece of jade to exchange ships with you?" He didn't do that, he was trying to woo you and visit your jade room, just to be more natural when he rewarded you with beautiful jade. ”

Liu Shangdong nodded silently, he could indeed feel Guo Song's envelopment of him, speaking of enveloping, he suddenly remembered something, and asked again: "Father, should we apply to buy the garden house?" ”

Liu Xun hesitated and said, "You go and inquire, if Zhang Lei and Li An really buy it, then we will also apply!" ”

.........

The two carriages drove out of Anshanfang, Guo Song's carriage in front stopped, and a scholar with the carriage got out of the car and ran over: "Dugu Xiangguo, Your Highness, please come over and talk about it." ”

Du Isolated Qiu got out of the carriage, and with the support of Xiao Tong, got into Guo Song's carriage.

"Your Highness is looking for Weichen for the affairs of the Liu family?" Du Qiu asked with a smile.

"Xiangguo should be very familiar with the Liu family!"

Guo Song said with a smile: "I saw a green jade screen, when the palace property was auctioned back then, I remember that your brother Changqiu bought it, but in the end it was in the hands of Liu Shangshu." ”

Dugu Qiu smiled, "I did have a good relationship with Liu Xun in the past, but I know about the screen, it was I who transferred it to Liu Shangdong, last time we bought ten big ships of the Liu family, and the screen was sold to him for 50,000 guan, this price is not expensive, there are already businessmen who are willing to pay 80,000 guan to buy that screen,"

"That screen should have been used by Empress Zhenyi at the beginning!"

"It's not!"

Dugu Qiu shook his head and said: "If it is used by Empress Zhenyi, I will not transfer it, it is used by Cui Guifei, and there is an inscription on the base, this Liu Shangdong is a jade idiot, so I will transfer it to him." ”

Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "Actually, I want to ask Xiangguo if it is possible for the Liu family to sell some sea ships, such as about a hundred." ”

Du Gu Qiu smiled slightly: "The Liu family is a businessman, in business, there has never been a saying that a businessman is unwilling to sell things, only the price is not in place, if His Royal Highness has something that makes the Liu family happy, I think they will sell it." ”

"What do you mean by what Xiang Guo said?"

"I don't know the specifics, but I can talk to the Liu family, I think the Liu family chose Chang'an, and did not choose Yuezhou or Hangzhou, which means that they don't want to bet all their wealth on maritime business, they should also be observing, choosing, and going to set up a trick tomorrow."

Guo Song nodded and asked: "I feel that Dugu Xiangguo is already quite handy in the development of industry and mining, so Xiangguo should know what is the biggest deficiency of the imperial court now?" ”

Du Guqiu pondered for a moment and said: "Frankly speaking, the biggest deficiency of the imperial court at present is the lack of money, the business is developing rapidly, there are more and more large transactions of all kinds, and the amount of money in the market can no longer be satisfied.

It stands to reason that from the beginning of the Tang Dynasty to the present, a total of nearly 50 million copper coins have been minted, but I estimate that the market has a maximum of 20 million copper coins in circulation, and where are the 30 million copper coins gone? ”

"It should all be in the hands of the people!"

Guo Song smiled slightly: "Several of my children have piggy banks, it is estimated that every family is the same, or the big families have hidden them, but it doesn't matter, you can exchange them for gold and silver, or auction valuables, and replace some of the copper coins." ”

"In fact, the meaning of lowly duty is to mint a large number of gold and silver coins, or to cast silver slots, Bashu is rich in gold and silver, and secondly, use the beet sugar produced in Anxi to go to Sogdia and eat in exchange for gold and silver, as long as the gold and silver from the West continue to import into the Tang Dynasty, our current situation of insufficient copper coins can be greatly improved."

Guo Song pondered for a long time and said: "Actually, what I am thinking about is to issue silver tickets, using a large amount of gold and silver in stock as a guarantee, and the corresponding silver bills will be issued by the household department, which can be recognized by any local government. ”

"What is a silver ticket?" Du Guqiu asked puzzled.

Guo Song smiled slightly: "It's the ticket of the cabinet shop, but it is issued by the household department, and it is exchanged for silver, which is common in the world, not limited to a certain cabinet." ”

"That's it!"

Dugu Qiu pondered for a moment and said, "I'm afraid that counterfeit silver tickets will appear." ”

"This is not difficult, the first is to formulate a strict punishment law, dare to imitate the silver ticket, the whole family is full of copying, and the second is to use special paper to make, except for the Shaofu Temple can be made, no one can imitate it, and the counterfeiting will naturally be eliminated."

"This is feasible, saving a lot of links in the circulation of gold and silver, but I think that silver slots are very convenient, and they should be minted in large quantities."

Guo Song nodded, "This suggestion is feasible, the political hall will discuss it and come up with a formal plan." ”