"It can't be!" Xu Ping listened to Shi Quanbin's words and said categorically.

Copper and iron are difficult to miscible with each other in their liquid state, and can only be physically mixed, what are you kidding about the physical mixing of metals in this era? Copper-iron alloy was also difficult to do in Xu Ping's previous life, and this era was purely delusional.

Shi Quanbin saw that Xu Ping said so categorically, but it was beyond his expectations, and hurriedly asked: "You are so sure, Yun Xing, can you hold this matter firmly?" ”

"Of course you hold it safely! Cabinet Chief, you can rest assured, this method will definitely not work. From the Qin Quanbu to the Han five-baht coin, in one or two thousand years, have you ever heard that iron can be cast together with copper? It's just whimsical! ”

Xu Ping has been a human being in two lives, and he has more or less learned about copper alloys in his previous life, and he knows that the solubility of iron in copper is very low, and it is far from being an alloy in the conventional sense. If a homogeneous alloy cannot be formed, the coinage will lose its stability and have no practical value. The reason why alloys form alloys is that one metal is dissolved in another, not simply mixed together. Iron does not dissolve in copper, and neither can form new crystals.

Seeing that Xu Ping said it so confidently, Shi Quanbin breathed a sigh of relief. Now the palace is also the moment of the handover of the old and the new, and Yan Wen should be promoted to the deputy governor of the palace, and he is hot. If he succeeds in making a proposal this time and casts copper and iron coins, Shi Quanbin doesn't know when he will come out.

The emperor has soft ears and attaches great importance to feelings, but he has lived in the shadow of the Empress Dowager Liu for many years and is not confident enough. On the one hand, the pro-government wanted to make a big deal and replace the original ruler, but as a result, he quickly doubted his ability to govern. A few days later, Lu Yijian was pulled back.

Although Shi Quanbin has been with the emperor for many years. But the emperor's lack of confidence in himself has also spread to the disbelief of the people around him. I always feel that these people are incompetent. I thought I wanted to use my own people, but I was afraid of doing things badly, in order to be safe, it was the people who were actually in power when the Queen Mother was there, but they just chose it.

Xu Ping was also dragged down by Zhao Zhen's peculiar psychology, and his official rose rapidly, but his ministry arrangements were very cautious. Do not influence national affairs with his likes and dislikes, Zhao Zhen implements this principle very seriously. But he doesn't have enough insight, nor does he have the courage to do things resolutely.

After talking about business, the two chatted for a while, and Shi Quanbin said goodbye and left. When he arrived at the door, he took Xu Ping's hand and said: "Yun Xing, this matter is not trivial to me, you are also a judge of salt and iron at this time, and the matter of minting money is reasonable, and everything is for my brother." No matter what, Yan Wen must not be allowed to deserve the power! ”

Xu Ping agreed. If it's something else. He still had to think about it, but he decided that it would not be successful. It's just a few more words, which embarrass Yan Wenying and Xu Shen.

After sending Shi Quanbin away, Xu Ping seriously considered the current controversy between the DPRK and China about coinage. Is there a shortage of money in Da Song at present? Seriously, there is no shortage at all. In all dynasties, there has never been so much money as the Song Dynasty, and it has become a recognized fact that the goods are heavy and the money is light. But on the other hand, the imperial court always felt that the money was not enough due to the promotion of interests.

Everything has to be attributed to a strange fiscal system. The income of pit metallurgy, the benefits of the mountains, are attributed to the private collection of the Son of Heaven. Although the coinage supervisors in the world are distributed in various states, the coinage must be sent to the capital division and included in the inner treasury. The money in the left treasury of the state treasury under the name of the three divisions was insufficient, so they borrowed money from the inner treasury, and part of the money came out. Another big one is the reward of national gifts such as suburbs, and part of the money comes out. Another is disaster relief, the Son of Heaven out of private collection, or buy items from all over the place, and part of the money comes out. However, the annual profits of the workshop still belong to the inner treasury, and a large part of the money collected goes into the inner treasury.

Therefore, no matter how much money is minted, the big head sleeps in the inner treasury and does not participate in circulation. However, the three departments of the world's finances do not have the power to supervise the treasury, and when the state uses money, it will feel that there is little money.

This time, it was proposed that the lack of copper should be minted with money, one reason was that the queen mother spent too much in the later period of her reign, and then the queen mother was mourned, the emperor was in power, and Bude had to throw money in the world, and there was an upcoming prisoner to reward the officers and soldiers, and the three divisions had no money in their hands.

In short, it is not that the world is really short of money, but that the court lacks the means to pay. As a descendant, Xu Ping can naturally see it clearly, but now the ruling ministers, in this era when the art of mentioning has not even developed, are blinded by all kinds of chaos. If you are short of money, you will find a way to find money, and the fastest and easiest way to get money is to cast false money. Whether it is ten coins or copper coins, they are essentially a kind of virtual money, but the copper and iron coins are more confusing.

The real minting of money has actually been at a loss, the most obvious is that the people have repeatedly banned the sale of money, if it is not profitable, who will do this illegal and forbidden thing? It's nothing more than a copper ban, and the fact that this loss is covered up.

In Xu Ping's view, whether it is Ren Bu's proposal to cast ten coins, or Xu Shen's intentional copper and iron miscellaneous casting, it is a means for the imperial court to use inflation to collect wealth from the people, but it is just naked, naked, and hidden.

That is, now that the iron case is under Xu Shen's hands, Xu Ping can't get involved, and there will be no such bad thing under his control.

Minting new money is a major matter of government affairs, and it is impossible for one person to have the final say. Generally speaking, the salt and iron division will be convened first, then by the three divisions, and then there will be the two governments, the three divisions, the bachelors and the emperor's designated personnel, and finally the emperor will decide.

Even Shi Quanbin came to the door, which shows that things are imperative, and Xu Ping also has to make some preparations for the internal meeting of the Salt and Iron Division. His belly of theories of the afterlife, although only at the level of middle school political textbooks in his previous life, is still difficult for people to accept in this era, and a set of arguments must be prepared.

The next day, there was a Chinese book, and the three divisions gathered to discuss the matter of minting new money. Cheng Lin, the envoy of the third division, sent a post to the Salt and Iron Division, and it was scheduled to be discussed in the Salt and Iron Division two days later.

These days, Xu Ping is relatively lazy, although he also follows the court, he only listens with his ears, and it is not his turn to do things. The main hall is a work, but there are only five shifts a day, and the daily Zhongshu Menxia, the Privy Council, the Three Divisions, the Kaifeng Mansion and the Taiji will divide these five shifts, and other courtiers will actually have no chance to talk to the emperor. As for the emperor's apse to sit again, that is the time for the minister, and a petty official like Xu Ping is not qualified at all except for special events.

As for the Shangzhang chapter, Xu Ping saw that the court was full of problems, but if he wanted to sort out the problems clearly and explain them, he was troubled, so he was simply exempted. Every day is just to deal with daily affairs, go to and from work, and get away with it.

On the day of the assembly, Xu Ping went down to the court, went to his own office to draw a charge, signed some daily documents, and saw that the time was almost up, so he went out and went to the official hall of Ren Bu, the deputy envoy of Yantie.

The guards guarding the door had received orders, and when they saw Xu Ping coming, they led him into the door.

Before Cheng Lin arrived, the deputy envoy Ren Bu sat at the bottom, and below was Xu Shen, the judge of salt and iron, and Guo Quan, the judge of salt and iron. These are all people that Xu Ping deals with on a daily basis, and when he came up to see him, he sat down at the head of Guo Quan.

The four people in the room are the leaders of the Salt and Iron Division, and the other petty officials who do specific things are not involved. Among the four, Guo persuaded the official to serve the imperial history, and he was still under Xu Ping, and he accompanied the last seat. Moreover, the Gou Yuan is in charge of audit and supervision, and his work is also different from the other three, and he belongs to the people who are in attendance.

After sitting down, the four of them chatted for a while, and Xu Shen asked Xu Ping: "A few days ago, the deputy envoy asked for ten coins, and there were many discussions between the DPRK and China, what do you think of Xu Shiguan?" ”

Xu Ping looked at Ren Bu, and then at Xu Shendao: "Casting a lot of money, inflating its value, is nothing more than taking people's wealth to help the country. ”

Xu Shen stroked his beard under his chin and nodded: "Yes, the ministers of the DPRK and China are also talking about it. The fifth Qi of the Tang Dynasty made a lot of money, causing the people to have a bad life, and it should be the ring of future generations! ”

Xu Ping smiled reluctantly and did not answer again.

Ren Bu, who was at the top, had a serious face and did not squint, as if he had not heard the two talking.

Although the deputy envoy is above the judge, he has always said that the relationship between superiors and subordinates is not strict. More importantly, if the deputy envoy did not grasp the appointment and dismissal of judges and the evaluation of their political performance, his authority would be much lighter, and Xu Shen would not have many scruples.

Xu Ping looked at Guo Quan, sitting upright, his eyes seemed to be open and closed, as if he was seated. As a newcomer, it is more reliable to learn from these old fritters in officialdom, but he also learns from Guo Quan's appearance and does not say a word.

Only Xu Shen couldn't calm down, constantly looking left and right, and no one talked to him uncomfortably.

Xu Ping didn't know why Ren Bu proposed to cast ten coins, making himself a target for the government and the opposition. Since the Anshi Rebellion of the Tang Dynasty was in financial difficulties, the Fifth Qi was in charge of finance, and made great contributions to the resurrection of the Tang Dynasty.

The Song people, especially the officials, are very familiar with the history of the Tang Dynasty, and when it comes to casting a lot of money, the first thing that comes to mind is the Fifth Qi, and anyone can use this history to criticize it. Ren Bu Jinshi was born, it is impossible not to know this history, it is really incomprehensible.

The only explanation is that Ren Bu is not liked by Prime Minister Lu Yijian, and wants to use this reason to go out as an official?

Time passed little by little, Xu Ping felt that he was about to wander out of the world and enter a state of meditation, and finally heard the report from the guard at the door: "The provincial lord has arrived, and all the officials have come out to greet him!" ”

Xu Ping got up and secretly sighed, and the third envoy Cheng Lin finally came, and went out with a few other people.

(Note: The deputy envoy Ren Bu asked to mint a lot of money, and the judge Xu Shen proposed to cast money with copper and iron, which happened in the early years of Jing You, which is about this time in the book.) In the "Monetary History of the Two Song Dynasty", Mr. Wang Shengduo guessed that Xu Shen's proposal was actually to use bile copper mixed with real copper to cast coins, which was the beginning of the bile copper method. Referring to other sources, I am afraid that this possibility is unlikely, and this reference is not used in the book, and it is still believed that it is a mixture of iron and copper. Everything else is romance, and readers don't have to take it seriously. (To be continued.) )