On the sixth day of the first month of March, the sky was fine. Qipan Street, Yunbin Building. The entrance of the five-room restaurant was guarded by a team of sergeants transferred from the household department.

Anyone who did not receive an invitation was not allowed to enter. Editors of more than 20 newspapers in Beijing, as well as practitioners in the financial industry (ticket numbers, money banks, pawnshops, etc.), were waiting outside the Yunbin Building.

The editors of the well-capitalized newspaper sat around the "Chengfeng Teahouse" opposite, drinking tea, exchanging and waiting for news. The editors of the tabloid newspaper can only wait for the sun to fall. I want to get this news that shakes the court, the Jingshi, and the world as soon as possible.

In fact, since the boom of newspapers, the low-to-medium teahouses in the capital have been the distribution center of all kinds of news. True and false news is published in various newspapers every day. But because of censorship, newspapers are still in their most primitive stage: disseminating information. As for media surveillance, this responsibility has not evolved for the time being. Who dares to talk about the government and wait to be sealed. At this time, the editor-in-chief of Pravda was Wei Hanlin, who was strong.

To put it mildly: the minting and issuance of silver coins allows the people of the world to feel a general trend of the wheels of history rolling forward. The so-called general trend of history, the vast soup, those who go along with it prosper, and those who go against it die.

Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, for more than 200 years, all the people in the world have used silver. Now it will be changed to silver coins. How can the powerful, the scholars, the gentry, and the businessmen not pay attention?

On the street outside Yunbin Building, next door to the left and right, and in several teahouses opposite the door, newspaper editors and banking practitioners who are familiar with each other greet each other and talk. Staring at the visitors from all walks of life who entered the Yunbin Building. In front of the restaurant, it is very lively.

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Around eight o'clock in the morning, the spring was in full swing.

One after another, officials, children of powerful families, housekeepers, and giant businessmen came. The working hours of the yamen are from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The folk also followed. Almost every visitor will be recognized in a very short time.

In the elegant seats and lobby of the Chengfeng Teahouse on the second floor, exclamations sounded from time to time. At this time, it is also something to show off if you can meet some celebrities.

"Look, the Zongren Mansion of the Zongren ordered the eldest son of the King of Han to be knighted Ning Plating of the Duke of Zhenguo. He went in. ”

"Look over there, the one who got out of the carriage was a yellow-bearded Qing Dian and a short middle-aged man, and it was Hu Chi, the king of southwest money. He was in the capital last spring. It is rumored to have befriended Governor Annan Bozi. ”

"Another one. Over there, the old man who came down from the green sedan chair. Horse-faced, pointed beak. Wu Guanheng, a wealthy merchant leader in Guangzhou. It is said that his net worth is more than 2 million taels of silver. Alas, Brother Huang, you and I work hard all day long, and it is only 3 taels of silver a month. When and when can I earn such a net worth? It's two worlds altogether! ”

In the lobby, the three editors who gathered together with this benevolent brother all sighed in agreement.

At this time, a fat editor from the next table who didn't know which newspaper it was: "Now the price of rice in Beijing is only eight yuan and one stone, and your brother has 3 taels of silver a month, which is enough to feed a family of six." Contentment. I'm much better than the little coolies outside the city. ”

"So I want to read!"

In the lobby, about two dozen editors burst into laughter. The rest, people of all capacities, drink tea separately.

Leng Zixing, who opened a pawnshop on Chongwenmen Street in Beijing, sat in the corner with his companions, watching the high-spirited scholars (most of the newspaper editors were scholars) and listening to their discussions.

They are all bosses in the pawnshop in Beijing. It belongs to the "very small" scale of banking practitioners. Most of their business scale is around a few hundred taels of silver. In Yunbin Building, the business of hundreds of thousands or millions of taels of silver is very far away for them.

However, the impact is significant. In their line of work, they are playing with money. If you give the wrong valuation of silver and silver coins, it is easy to lose money in a business of a few hundred taels of silver.

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Wait for the laughter to stop. Someone in the lobby said loudly: "Brother Gao is so arrogant! He even said that one stone of rice is only eight coins of silver! You know, ten years ago, one stone of rice was only five dollars of silver. This was also the case during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. The reform of the currency system this time will inevitably lead to an increase in prices. I don't know how many tragedies will be born. ”

"Hmph, the chapter editor is worried about the country and the people, and he should also spray it in the right place. The currency reform, designed by me Chao Jia Tanhua, has been in the Wuying Palace, how can there be the situation you said? Silver coins and silver will go hand in hand in the future. The official price is one tael of silver to 10 silver dollars.

Today, the household department gathers the world's powerful and giant businessmen, which is to rely on their high turnover. Convert the silver in society. Cashiers, spit out silver coins, and gradually make silver coins dominate the market. A silver coin of 1 cent of silver can be minted for 8 cents of silver, and the profit can be 20%, which drives the powerful and the great merchants to do this. ”

"Don't argue with each other. Say Cao Cao, Cao Cao will arrive. Look outside, the people from Jia Mansion are coming. It is the second master of Lian who donated the title of Tongzhi to deal with miscellaneous things in his house. There are also the four rank lords of Ningguo Mansion, Mingwei General Jia Rong, and Jia Qiang, a student. ”

Jia Lian, Jia Rong, and Jia Qiang are all powerful figures in Jiafu. With the current power of Jiafu, in terms of the middle class in the capital, it can be said to be a leading figure. Of course, it is not enough to compare the power figures.

A newspaper editor said strangely: "Eh, such a big event, why don't you see Jia Tanhua?" He is not in the officialdom now, so why should he be afraid of anything? ”

It is said that Jia Tanhua went to Dongzhuang Town to petition friends and go out. The plan to mint silver coins was initiated by him, who can not follow the rules and not give Jia Fu a place? ”

"That's it." There was a chorus of echoes from these words.

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While everyone was talking, someone exclaimed, "What a majesty, so magnificent." A large sedan chair carried by eight people. Don't know who it is? When he saw it clearly, it was a middle-aged man with a scarred face, short and fat as a ball, "It turned out to be him." ”

If there are good deeds, the news will be exposed, "The order of the Taihu Lake giant businessman." As soon as he arrived in Beijing, he bought the two most popular girls in the teaching department for 12,000 taels of silver. Serve as a maid. When I saw it today, sure enough, the pomp was huge. ”

"This man shall not be long."

". This high-ranking officer is very arrogant when he is in Suzhou, why didn't he fall? On the contrary, it is claimed to be a high million. Since entering Beijing, the silver has been spent like flowing water. It is said that last night, the king of Chu held a banquet in Jingyuan to entertain him. ”

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Chengfeng Teahouse and everywhere on the street, when there was a lot of discussion. The short and fat Gao Zhiling took his entourage, and after checking the invitation, he walked into the Yunbin Building.

The retinue were all waiting on the first floor. Only one representative from each family can go to the second floor to participate in the consultation with the household.

The meeting was presided over by Zhao Heling, the secretary of the household department. The specs are high. For example, a giant businessman like Gao Zhiling needs to be looked up to outside, but in front of the high-ranking officials of the second grade, he needs to bow his head.

"Today's advertisement, it's worth it!" Gao Zhiling thought in his heart, took an invitation worth 200,000 taels of silver, and went up to the second floor.

He's just a high-profile guy in the eyes of outsiders. But doing business is about giving your business partners confidence: I have money! And in front of powerful people, the skin he wears is lustful. No one is afraid of a womanizer. Moreover, he knows proportion. For example, the two oirans he bought were both transferred to the core figure of the Suzhou party: Han Jin.

So, his business is getting bigger and bigger.

In the hall on the second floor of the Yunbin Building, it has been rearranged. Everyone chatted around the table of eight immortals that was set up. Directly ahead, the top spot is still empty.

After the arrival of Gao Zhiling, then people came up one after another, at the beginning of the year (nine o'clock), the time of the meeting written on the invitation, representatives of all magnates and giant merchants gathered: Jin merchants, Hui merchants, Southwest Hu Chi, Guangzhou merchants, Wu Wangfu, Jia Mansion, Han Wang, Chu King (Gao Zhiling).

In a short time, Zhao Heling, the secretary of the household department, walked in from the corridor surrounded by Tang Daobin, the head of the household department, Ji Ming, the director of the Ministry of Industry, He Yijian and other officials, miscellaneous officials, and officials. Today's meeting was led and presided over by the Ministry of Households, with the support of the Ministry of Industry.

For a while, everyone got up one after another to salute and greet each other. After the façade work was completed, Zhao Heling sat behind the first table and said the opening remarks, "The matter of minting and issuing silver coins depends on the power of you. Therefore, we are meeting today. It was rumored in the newspapers that the right to mint money was granted to each family. That's a big deal. The Imperial Court's plan was to distribute the share of the coinage each year to you. ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Heling paused. Then, there was a commotion on the second floor of Yunbin Building. Too unexpected.

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