***

In various parts of Daqin, silver coins and related laws are being vigorously promoted.

Under the mint's overtime day and night, the first batch of 200,000 silver coins has been put on the market in Nanjing;

Because the silver coins minted this time contain as much as 90% silver, and the casting is exquisite, it has been recognized and accepted by the people as soon as it is put into the market.

Also because there is a dragon wrapped around the outer edge of the silver coin on the obverse of the silver coin, it was soon called a dragon coin by the people.

In the past, due to the different fineness of the silver on the market, there were many kinds of copper coins, what boss money, new board money, ordinary people always suffered a lot when they were huàn, and it can be said that they suffered greatly.

As soon as this dragon coin came out, the color was so sufficient, with the tips of the thumb and index finger two fingernails to pinch the center of the silver round, blow hard, you can hear a slight rhyme, easy to distinguish the real from the fake. The people welcomed it.

Seeing that the dragon coin was put into the market and the response was good, Qin Mu ordered the mint to increase the minting efforts, in addition to Nanjing, Wuchang, Beijing, and Xijing each opened a mint, and strive to replace the current chaotic currency on the market with dragon coins within half a year.

Although copper coins were also minted this time, the quantity was very small, only as a change for silver coins, and after the credit of the banknotes was further consolidated, Qin Mu also planned to completely cancel the copper coins after a year.

Because as long as you deposit the two hard currencies of zài, you will have the problem of exchanging zài for huàn.

The price of silver and copper in the market has changed, sometimes silver is expensive and copper is cheap, and vice versa may also occur when silver and copper are expensive.

Even if the government mandated the equivalent ratio of silver coins to copper coins, that would not help.

For example, if the official stipulates that one silver coin is equal to ten copper coins, and when there is a phenomenon that silver is cheap and expensive in the market, the copper weight contained in ten copper coins is actually worth two silver coins, then the copper coins are melted into copper nuggets and used to trade silver coins in the form of a commodity, and ten copper coins can be dissolved to earn a silver coin.

Contrarily. When encountering cheap silver and copper, you can also melt silver to earn copper.

If you can use paper money instead of copper money, you don't have to worry about this phenomenon, paper money is a complete credit currency, it is linked to silver coins, which is equivalent to a credit currency issued on the silver standard, and there is no need to worry about the disadvantages of silver and copper to huàn.

From the middle and late Ming Dynasty in China, the amount of silver that flowed into China from the West alone exceeded 100 million taels, and the amount of silver produced in China was also quite large. In the case of large transactions, traders have become accustomed to using Huitong Bank's checks. With silver as a single currency, there should be no deflation;

To put it bluntly, that is, silver coins should be basically enough. What's more, as Great Qin further opens up its foreign trade, the amount of silver flowing into Great Qin will only increase.

There is no doubt about the benefits of a single currency, and Qin Mu hopes to speed up the progress of coinage, so that the currency of Great Qin tends to be unified, and then the imperial court will issue a decree that has been formulated, prohibiting anyone from trading gold and silver, and prohibiting private coinage. If the order is violated, the family will be raided at the light level, and the family will be exterminated at the worst level.

The money that ordinary people have in their homes can be obtained from Huitong Bank. The standard of 1 cent and 5 cents of silver taels is exchanged for huàn. The dragon coins issued by the imperial court are minted strictly according to the ratio of 1 yuan weighing seven coins and 2, including silver and nine bronze and 1, and you can't lose much.

It's good to be able to get this far.

There are not many gold mines in China. And most of them are difficult to mine in this era;

Therefore, only before the Han Dynasty, when the commodity economy was not yet developed, could gold be used as currency. And it's not a single currency, it has to be used in combination with silver and copper.

In Qin Mu's opinion, even if you dig the Baguio Gold Mine and the Rand Gold Mine in South Africa, because you can't mine all the gold from the two gold mines in a short period of time, with such a large economic aggregate as Great Qin, it is impossible to use gold coins like small Western countries.

If the Industrial Revolution can be truly promoted in these two decades, the total economic volume will increase further, and the demand for money will also increase exponentially, and it is simply not practical to issue gold coins in China.

At that time, the only way out is to issue credit money based on gold.

Credit money, sooner or later, is inevitable.

It's better to do it later than to do it early, so now Qin Mu will not abolish the banknotes that have been issued, and will find ways to strengthen its credibility and make it linked to silver coins;

When the time comes, slowly reduce the amount of silver coins minted and increase the amount of paper money issued, so that the people can slowly make the transition from silver coins to paper money in a way that boils frogs in warm water.

***

These days, Xu Yongshun is not only busy preparing a dowry for his sister, but also does not forget to speed up the development progress of the new ship, because he knows that an advanced new ship is the best dowry for his sister.

On this day, there were still three days before the auspicious day of the concubine, and Xu Yongshun personally came to the noon gate and asked the emperor to go to the Longjiang Shipyard to watch the launch of the new ship.

Qin Mu didn't say a word, put down his hand and took a breath of government affairs, drove out of the palace, and went to Longjiang Shipyard with Xu Yongshun.

On the way, Qin Mu heard Xu Yongshun mention that Liu Changzuo wanted to open a cement factory in Nanxiang, and although the quality of cement could not be compared with later generations, it was much better than other building materials and was very versatile;

The imperial court is ready to build roads on a large scale, and a large amount of cement will be used at that time, so Liu Changzuo wants to intervene in cement, of course, Qin Mu believes that Xu Yongshun will definitely get involved in this emerging industry.

After hearing this, Qin Mu said to Xu Yongshun: "If you want to open a cement factory, I naturally support it, but Nanxiang can't, around the capital, and around the cities, no cement factory is allowed." You have to open it, find some places where the waterways are convenient and far away from the city. ”

Nanxiang is the southern suburb of the capital, the Department of Internal Supervision originally only for convenience, only to choose here for trial production, if you also let you open a cement factory in the southern suburbs, I have to eat cement ash every day, then I have to go?

"Your Majesty, rest assured, the minister will tell Liu Changzuo when he turns around."

There is no doubt that these old Ming magnates are the representatives of the capitalist class secretly supported by Qin Mu.

They have abundant capital, have the title of a loose official, vigorously invest in various real economies, and have opened a lot of factories in all walks of life, which is what Qin Mu is happy to see.

Qin Mu wasted no time in knocking and said: "Xiao Shunzi, don't blame me for not reminding you, you still have to be honest in business, if you don't pay attention to integrity, even if you can get a temporary profit, but after all, it can't last long." In particular, don't use your brains on the little tax money in the imperial court, otherwise don't blame me for being ruthless. ”

Xu Yongshun's expression was dazed, and he replied sincerely: "Your Majesty rest assured, the ministers know in their hearts that the trust of your majesty is the most important wealth of the ministers." ”

"It's good that you understand. I only say that once. I have given you a lot of convenience, and once something goes wrong with you, the officials of the DPRK and the Central Committee will definitely not let me have a good time. I'm not going to have a good time, think for yourself what will happen to you. ”

"The minister dares to promise that he will never think about taxes and silver, and he will never cause trouble for His Majesty."

Qin Mu bowed his head and stopped talking, Qin Mu would never let him give him a guarantee, he really believed that they would clean themselves. Which one doesn't have long eyes, once it is caught, it is not too late to kill the chicken.

When the royal driver arrived at the Longjiang Shipyard, the factory was already full of red and hanging colors, beating gongs and drums, as if Daqing, the managers and researchers in the factory knelt down at the factory gate to greet them.

Xu Yongshun was beaming with joy and led Qin Mu to the dry dock. A ship about 20 zhang long, only about 4 zhang wide, and about 3 zhang high was parked in the dry dock, and the hull was tied with red ribbons. The new lacquer reflects the light in the sun.

The first impression it gives people is slender, and the overall lines are full of a different kind of beauty, Qin Mu is most concerned about its bow design, and now all kinds of ships. The bow is mostly square;

Like Zheng He's treasure ship, although the bow is slightly inclined inward, the angle is not large. As a result, the bow of the ship is subject to a lot of resistance when sailing, and of course, most of the ships of various countries are now more or less the same.

Xu Yongshun has been in the shipyard day and night for a while, attaching great importance to the new ship, and the various characteristics of the new ship, he is like a few treasures, and introduced them to Qin Mu one by one: "Your Majesty, please see, compared with the original ship shape, we have made heavy improvements on this new ship, first of all, the proportion of its top and bottom, which has been greatly adjusted, and the proportion of width at the top and narrowness at the bottom is greater;

The most important thing is the bow of his ship, the bow of the original ship is square, please see, this new ship, we have narrowed the bow below the waterline to almost a blade;

At the same time, the bow and freeboard should drift outward as much as possible, forming a long diagonal line up and down, so that the bow is like a sharp blade diagonally forward, improving the ability to break waves and reducing navigation resistance;

In addition, the height of the ship has also been adjusted to minimize the superstructure, which not only increases the stability of the ship, but also effectively reduces the wind surface. ”

Xu Yongshun explained, Qin Mu watched, very satisfied, the new ship adopts a Western-style soft sail, three masts, the height of the mast, fully up to three-quarters of the length of the ship, there is a head column in front, along the head of the column stretched out an oblique carry, can be hung in the head of the more support rope spinnaker, is conducive to expanding the capacity of the sail.

Its outward bow and freeboard ensure that the ship will not have severe waves when sailing at high speeds, and ensure that the ship's strong power can be converted to high speed to the greatest extent.

Although it has not yet been officially launched for sea trials, from Qin Mu's point of view, the design of this ship has made revolutionary improvements in reducing drag and increasing wind power, and the speed will definitely make a qualitative leap.

More importantly, this qiē did not have the guidance of his later generations, and was completely the crystallization of the wisdom of the shipyard's craftsmen, which made Qin Mu very pleased.

Don't say anything, let's get into the water and see the actual effect.

When the auspicious time came, Qin Mu personally presided over the launching ceremony, which was a necessary ceremony for every ship, and the significance of this ship was more serious, and the ceremony was more grand.

After the ceremony, the shipyard workers opened the sluice gates of the dock to the sound of gongs and drums, and the surging river water poured into the dock, which soon overflowed the bottom of the ship's hull.

The craftsmen of the shipyard skillfully loosened the huge cables that held the hull in place, and as the water level in the dock continued to rise, the hull slowly floated, and the craftsmen also loosened the ropes unsteadily;

This process is simple to say, but it is the most crucial part of the process of getting into the water. If the operation is not good, it is easy to lead the whole ship to roll over in the dock.

The craftsmen of the Longmen shipyard are experienced and skillful, and there are no accidents in the process of launching the water, and when the hull is completely floated, the sailors are steered on the ship, and the sails cannot be raised at this time, and the front is pulled by a towing boat, and one or two hundred workers are separated on both sides of the dock, and they begin to shout the trumpet, and the new ship is pulled out of the dock little by little with a cable.

Because the dock was a mile long and relatively narrow, the whole towing process took half an hour before the brand-new guy was finally towed into the Longjiang River.

"Raise the sails!"

"Raise the sails!"

"Raise the sails!"

In the loud shouts of the sailors, the huge cloud sails slowly rose, Qin Mu is okay, Xu Yongshun is already nervous and sweaty at this time, how about this new ship, this is related to his future, can he not be nervous?

Qin Mu smiled and said, "Xiao Shunzi, relax, it's good to look at it, there must be no big problems." ”

"Borrowing His Majesty's auspicious words, it will definitely be fine." Xu Yongshun unconsciously scratched his head and said, "Your Majesty doesn't know, the minister has been guarding the shipyard day and night these days, and this ship has placed the minister's full expectations." Don't hide it from Your Majesty, when the first child was born, he was not so nervous. ”

"Hahaha"

"Let His Majesty smile."

"Okay, I can understand that you are nervous, but don't add oil and vinegar, you must know that it is too much, and I will not be able to do your credit."

Xu Yongshun smiled wryly: "Your Majesty is aware of everything, Weichen is in front of His Majesty, alas, anyway, he is so careful, and he is not afraid that His Majesty will know, hehe"

This new ship is of great significance, it will probably bring about a revolution in sailing, Qin Mu was in a good mood, and asked casually: "Say, what reward do you want?" ”

"The minister doesn't dare to take credit." Xu Yongshun bowed and replied.

Qin Mu glanced at him with some surprise, feeling that his words did not seem to be false, and when he thought about it, he quickly understood what he wanted.

******************************

PS: The third more, nearly 4,000 words are presented, I have worked hard, all the officials, please cheer me up, let me harvest a few more monthly passes, watching being broken off half a street, this month's monthly pass award is getting slimmer and slimmer, I am anxious, I am a sling author, just such a little income, a thousand monthly pass award is really a big income for me. Kneel and beg for a monthly pass! Ask for a monthly pass!.

(To be continued......)