Du Zhongxiao looked at the two officials, each carrying a big bag in his hand, hiding behind him, hurriedly passed over with his head down, and said to Chen Xiliang: "Sign the judgment to inform Chen Tiju, let's go to the mall to have a look." Today's shopping mall is very lively. ”

Chen Xiliang agreed, walked out of the yamen quickly, and went to Changping Division to invite Chen Xu.

Since yesterday, Hequ Road has officially issued money citations, completely replacing copper coins in circulation. In principle, the government no longer issued copper coins unless they were exchanged in large amounts, and small coins were replaced by tin-plated iron coins. It's a long process. On the one hand, the society should realize that the role of copper coins will be completely replaced by money and iron coins, and it is useless to save copper coins. On the other hand, after the passage of money and iron money, it will slowly get rid of the copper price limit, and the real currency value will gradually change. On the one hand, the value of the currency is related to the amount of money issued by the government, the actual situation of the economy, and the convenience of transactions. The purchasing power of the smallest coin should not be too high, and it should match the real trading habits.

As enamel products have become popular in the market, replacing many of the original uses of copper, the value of copper has actually been declining. In the western part of Beijing, where enamel is most popular, it is no longer profitable to destroy copper coins, and the huge price difference between copper coins and copper coins is gradually disappearing.

The decline in the value of copper will inevitably lead to a decline in the purchasing power of copper coins, and the purchasing power of money based on copper coins will also decline, and there is a natural depreciation process. The process will be very slow, and there will be no synchronization across the country, in fact, there is room for speculation. At present, the most suitable materials for speculation are gold and silver, but the government restricts the buying and selling of gold and silver, and most people are not aware of this.

The issuance of money leads, there is no buffer in the middle, and one step in place will inevitably cause chaos, which Du Zhongxiao understands, Bao Zheng, Chen Xu and others also understand, and they have already made arrangements. One hand is put, insisting on official use only with money to lead. One hand is to collect, as the largest commercial institution, the shopping malls in Shengzhou City have stable prices, so they can't afford to make waves.

Not long after, Chen Xu and Chen Xiliang arrived together and saluted Du Zhongxiao.

Du Zhongxiao said: "For your own money, there was no chaos during the day yesterday, but it was very lively at night." The person who received the money was desperately wanted to spend it, but the businessman did not want to take it. Shops are closed, and the streets are full of people who want to spend money, and people are loitering until curfew. I didn't spend the money last night, and I think I will go to the mall to buy things today and spend it as soon as possible. It's a rare bustle, let's take a look together. ”

The two agreed, took their entourage, and left the Shuaifu.

Walking to the road, Du Zhongxiao said to Chen Xu: "Tiju, do you guess what will sell best in the mall today?" ”

Chen Xu thought for a while and said: "First, grain, no matter how it is exchanged for food, it is not a loss." In addition to food, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea are all daily needs. The salt and tea in it are indispensable every day, and they will not perish, and I guess they are the most important. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "What you said is good. But there is one more thing that is better than salt and tea, and that is sugar. ”

Chen Xu nodded again and again after hearing this: "Jie Shuai is right, it is the negligence of the lower officials!" Sugar will also not perish, and the price is high, whether it is for personal use or giving away, there is no worry that it will be useless in the future. ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled and nodded. Today, he saw that many officials in the yamen carried large paper bags, which were clearly the packaging when selling sugar in the shopping mall. Even the officials in the yamen couldn't believe the money, so they hurriedly changed it to sugar, let alone ordinary people.

Chen Xu sighed: "Fortunately, we estimated this matter in advance and instructed the mall to stock up in advance, and all the goods that are not perishable are available." These days there is enough food stored and there is no fear of rising food prices. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Now the officers and soldiers and people on Hequ Road are actually raised by the imperial court, and how much grain do the people buy?" Food prices don't fluctuate anyway. Is it salt and sugar—"

Chen Xu was taken aback: "What does the festival mean, I'm afraid that the people won't be able to believe in the money, so they will really push the price up?" ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled when he heard this: "On the contrary, I'm not afraid that they will push the price up, but I'm afraid that the price will drop in the future, and these people will regret it!" ”

Chen Xu frowned when he heard this: "Is the price of sugar and salt going to be reduced?" Xia Guan didn't hear about it. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "In the first two years, the railway was built to Jiangling, and the transportation was convenient, and many sugar merchants from Shu went to Lingnan to plant sugarcane. Now several years have passed, and it is time for Lingnan's sugar to be marketed all over the world. In addition, this year, the railway from Jiangning to Mingzhou was built on the Liangzhejiang Road, and the cost of transporting Mingzhou cane sugar into the Central Plains dropped significantly. In addition, the Northwest Railway arrived at Fengxiang Mansion, and the sugar in Shu was also cheaper. Add them up, and the price of sugar will drop in a few months. If you save too much sugar, you will regret it. ”

Du Zhongxiao's own family grows sugarcane to make sugar, and a few years ago, Chen Xun went to Lingnan with some sugar merchants. The rebellion of Nong Zhigao was pacified, the water system of the Li River was connected to the water system of the Yangtze River, and the freight was much lower than that of Sichuan and Shu. With more acreage and cheaper freight, the sugar industry is now bursting out. At this time, saving sugar to avoid risks, isn't it difficult to get along with yourself.

Chen Xu didn't know much about this, and after listening to Du Zhongxiao's words, he thought so. And he said, "If sugar is so, why is the salt lowered?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Now the area around Hequ Road sells salt, although it is transported by railway, the freight is not high, but the price of salt is there." Why do we have to sell anti-salt? I forgot, why is the White Horse Military Department located in Lou Bobei? There is a salt pond there, and the salt is inexhaustible, and it is much easier to fry than to solve the salt. How many salt ponds are there in the land of several states on the meandering road? After a busy few months, it's time to produce salt. ”

Chen Xu nodded a little blankly, he still came too short a day, and he didn't know much about Hequ Road. Of course, now that the three divisions have been separated, the salt industry is under the management of the salt and iron division, and the Changping division is under the household department, and no one told Chen Xu.

The high price of salt is largely due to the fact that the imperial court used the method of controlling the price of salt to collect a poll tax from the people. The cost of this tax is very high, and salt is not something that can be solved by a decree. With the development of industry and commerce, this form of poll tax became less and less necessary, and the price of salt fell everywhere in the world. Hequ Road is even more so here, Lou Bobei is one of the few salt ponds in the world, and there are coal mines, and once the railway is built there, the price of salt will drop to the price of soil. In addition to Lou Bobei, there are several salt ponds on Hequ Road, and there is no need to mine them at all.

The issuance of money will inevitably cause price turmoil. In order to avoid danger, people will try to exchange the money in their hands for supplies. A few materials that can be exchanged Du Zhongxiao thought about it, and made arrangements early, how many are needed in the mall. If these bulk prices are stabilized, there will be no major turmoil.

It is the most cost-effective to exchange it for grain, which is now equivalent to currency, and the price will not fluctuate greatly. If you change salt and sugar, you can only consider yourself unlucky, and pass this long memory. Du Zhongxiao didn't mean to do this, the time was just in time. Of course, deliberately not saying it is a deliberate punishment for those who do not trust the money. Qian Yin represents the credit of the Shuaifu, doubting his own credit, where will there be good fruits to eat.

The issuance of money is not only a monetary reform, but also a test of the government's credibility in the private sector. If you don't cooperate, of course, you will have to suffer some hardships.