Seeing that Xu Ping was stunned and didn't speak, Kou Ying smiled and said, "Okay, Deputy Envoy Xu doesn't need to bother anymore, since you have such a wonderful method, how can you use it as ordinary iron money?" For any minister in the court, at least one copper coin is required. However, with the previous lesson that Xu Shen failed to cast money, this time you can't be sloppy, when you preside, we will watch it together and then play. ”

Xu Ping thought for a while and said: "Of course, there is no problem with the trial casting, just set a date." However, if you exchange iron money and copper money for one, what will happen to the copper money that was originally distributed by the people? ”

"Miscellaneous can be used, what's here!" Kou Ying said with a smile.

Xu Ping shook his head: "I'm afraid it's not so simple, iron is cheap and copper is expensive, and the people are not fools after all, I'm afraid that they will put away the copper money in their hands and only trade with iron money." After a long time, only iron coins must be distributed in the market, and copper coins must be stored in the cellar. At that time, what is the comparison between iron and copper coins, and is it still meaningful? ”

"How so?" Li Hong is the deputy envoy of the degree branch, so naturally there is a way, "The government collects taxes, just collect copper money, not iron money." Otherwise, you will set a score, lose a few copper coins, a few iron coins, and be afraid of hiding the copper coins! ”

Coming, coming, Xu Ping secretly said in his heart, this is what he is afraid of. It does not matter what ratio the iron money and copper money are, the key is that if the proportion with the copper money is distorted, the newly minted iron money becomes credit money, unlike the previous copper coins that have real value. For a credit currency to be stable, it is necessary for the government to maintain credit. As a result, they can't even pay taxes, and the government that issues the currency doesn't collect it themselves, so how can the people recognize this currency? How is credit maintained?

How did the money shortage come about again and again in this era? Is it really because there are few copper coins circulating in the market? It's not because of the seasonal taxation, the people who pay the taxes lack copper coins in their hands, and those who have copper coins hide and don't go out, showing a shortage of fake money!

According to Li Hong, the end result may be that the iron money will not last long, the credit will collapse, and the people will spontaneously resume using copper money. The government does not mint copper coins, so naturally there are people who mint them themselves, and the physical currency circulates like physical money.

Sichuan has always used iron money, although it has slowly depreciated to the extent that it is five to one with copper money, but because it does not allow the inflow of copper money from outside, there has been no major economic turmoil. The key is that in Sichuan, the government collects iron money, whether it is collecting taxes or selling it, it can use iron money without restrictions, and the government maintains the credit of iron money.

The most feared thing is to mix physical money and credit currency together and circulate, and the government will overdraw its own credit and use forcible means to rob the people's physical currency, which will eventually lead to the collapse of the money law. For the Great Song Dynasty, which was constantly facing financial crises, this prospect was almost unavoidable, and it was only a matter of what extent.

But how do we make this clear? Not to mention facing two officials who read poetry and books, even in the face of many people who studied political economy in Xu Ping's previous life, this truth is also difficult to explain for a while.

Fortunately, the iron case is in charge of the world's minerals such as gold, silver, copper, etc., up to limestone, and is in charge of drum casting, this matter is still under the control of Xu Ping, and the reason is not clear for a while, so it will be explained slowly. Just take this opportunity to sort out the ancient and modern money laws plus the understanding of the previous life, and sort it out, which can be regarded as your contribution to this era.

After figuring this out, Xu Ping no longer bothered about this problem, and said to Kou Ying and Li Hong: "How should the new cast iron money circulate, or think about it again, try to think it thoroughly, and don't leave hidden dangers." As for the trial casting, there are still some secret medicines left over from the last time, and on a fixed date, everyone can go to the coinage prison to watch. ”

Seeing that Xu Ping was still entangled in the ratio of iron money to copper money, Kou Ying and Li Hong looked at each other and smiled, only as Xu Ping's young and stubborn habits. It's better to be brainless than treacherous, and Kou Ying won't talk about it anymore.

A few people sat down again, and the miscellaneous officials outside came in to serve tea and gossip together.

When Li Hongxin returned from the Khitan mission, he naturally wanted to tell some about what he had seen and heard about his trip to the Khitan.

In Xu Ping's previous life, the Khitans were generally referred to as Liao, as if calling them Khitan was discrimination against minority regimes. In fact, in this era, their country names fluctuated between Liao and Khitan. Generally speaking, whether it is their self-name or the Song people's name for them, they are still mainly Khitan, and there are very few times when they are called Liao.

Seriously speaking, the Khitan was founded much earlier than the Song Dynasty, but the Song Dynasty was orthodox in the Central Plains and inherited the world of the Central Plains Dynasty, while the Khitan was a frontier country, no matter from which point of view, there is no doubt about this.

In the two dynasties of Taizu and Taizong, the Song Dynasty brought the spirit of unifying the world, and it was inevitable to win the sixteen states of Yanyun, which was basically the main attack of the Song Dynasty and the main defense of the Khitan. The offensive was unfavorable, especially the defeat of several Northern Expeditions of the Taizong Dynasty, the offensive and defensive momentum reversed, and when it came to the Battle of Shanzhou of the Zhenzong Dynasty, the Song Dynasty could basically only be on the defensive.

Now, the two countries have been reconciled for decades, and the border has been stable for decades. Every year, the envoys come and go, and they maintain a minimum of courtesy respect for each other, and they look peaceful.

Of course, in private, it is another matter, the Great Song Dynasty court has always regarded the Khitan in the north as the biggest threat, and the deployment of troops has always been focused on the north. Although some officials have been reminding the party in the northwest in the past two years, at the court level, they did not take the rise of the party seriously, and their energy was still focused on preventing the Liao army from moving south.

In this context, when officials went to the Khitan as envoys, the priority was the military and political affairs in the north.

Most of Li Hong's words revolved around the military deployment of the two sides, and he paid special attention to the situation on Hebei Road.

After picking and hearing what he could say about his line, Li Hong suddenly remembered and said to Xu Ping: "Deputy Envoy Xu has been in Yongzhou for six years, has traveled to the border for a long time, and has even led troops to break the toe, I don't know what to think of the Khitan?" The next time he goes on an envoy, he may send Deputy Envoy Xu. Although Deputy Xu is a young hero, he still needs to know more about Khitan. ”

I don't know what the reason is, several deputy envoys of the Third Division often send envoys to Khitan as envoys, maybe because the official position is just right? However, Xu Ping was not interested in the envoy, the Khitan was an enemy country, and it was better to meet on the battlefield to get used to it.

Li Hong asked, Xu Ping said: "Jiaozhi is in Tiannan, and it is a small country, so naturally it cannot be compared with the Khitan. I'm a casual person, and I'm not familiar with the Khitan, but I can't be an envoy. ”

Li Hong sighed: "Alas, it's really not a good errand to envoy the Khitan. Although it is the country of Tibet, but the poetry and articles are particularly important, when Li Wei made the Khitan, Fu "Two Dynasties Long Poems", won the Khitan master, the two countries are good, Li Wei contributed a lot. But after all, it is a state of Fan, Hu Feng is difficult to change, and he attaches great importance to martial arts, and often uses archery and fishing as a difficult envoy. How many people can do it? Only Wang Shuxiang, whose literary name is all over the world, made the Khitan break with one arrow, and the people there still talk about it from time to time. ”

Wang used to be a weak scholar, but now he is old, his face is still clear, and he is kind from the inside out. It is said that when he was young, people described his appearance as picturesque, and it was rare to find a woman more beautiful than him.

is such a person, the envoy to the Khitan, those martial artists all know that he is even in the three yuan, and the article and poetry will definitely not fail to test him, and he actually competes with Wang Zeng in archery. The king once took a bow in his hand, and when an arrow broke it, it shocked the eyes of the ground, and no one dared to underestimate him again.

This story is very graphic, and every time Xu Ping hears someone tell it, it is as if he has seen it with his own eyes. A scholar whose face is more beautiful than a woman, in the grassland desert, opens his bow like a full moon, shoots an arrow in the middle of the red heart, and the arrow shoots out of the target, which is simply the plot of Xu Ping's martial arts talent in his previous life.

Xu Ping pondered it for himself, these envoys who created legends in the Khitan actually relied on their own literary talents. On this basis, if you show your martial arts, you will have a special effect. His literary talent is really not on the stage in this era, and there is no need to go to a foreign land to find it uncomfortable.

Moreover, the envoy to the Khitan must be accompanied by people from the Imperial City Division, these people are the emperor's spies, monitoring the envoys' every move at any time, and if they accidentally offend them, they may not be unlucky. Although with Xu Ping's background, it is estimated that no one in the Imperial City Division would dare to trouble him, but who can say this kind of thing well?

When Li Hong came back, the very important thing was to rehabilitate Liu Sui, who was falsely accused by the Imperial City Detective last time, but although the evidence was conclusive, the case still could not be turned over.

After some gossip, Li Hong suddenly said: "Since returning to the capital, I have often heard people say that Deputy Envoy Xu is very proficient in agricultural affairs. In Yongzhou that year, not only did he open a sugar business, but also trimmed the farmland, so that there was no shortage of food along the entire Yonglang Road. I went to the Khitan border this time and brought back some seeds of the crops there, each with miraculous effects, I wonder if I can plant them in our Han land. “

Xu Ping asked casually, "I don't know what seeds there are?" The Khitan and my Great Song Dynasty are geographically close, and there is a perennial trade exchange, what crops do they have that we don't have? ”

"I can't say this, the Khitan has a cold climate and is close to the Western Regions, and there are some crops that I don't have in the Great Song Dynasty." Li Hong said as he took out two small bags from his sleeve. "I happened to have two kinds with me, here is a bag of Hui beans introduced by the Khitan people from the Western Regions, and one is a melon and fruit called watermelon."

"Watermelon? How did I forget this! Xu Ping quickly took the two bags in his hand, opened them, and nodded again and again. Yes, yes, it's watermelon seeds, it's a good thing! ”

Li Hong smiled and asked, "Oh, it turns out that Deputy Envoy Xu also knows?" I heard that the watermelon was big and sweet, but unfortunately it was winter when I went, so I couldn't taste it. I just don't know if we can plant it in the Central Plains? ”

"Yes, of course!" Xu Ping couldn't put it down while holding the bag. In the previous life, this was the most popular melon and fruit in summer, and the watermelon here in Kaifeng is still very famous, why can't it be planted. (To be continued.) )