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The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching. In faraway Siberia, the temperature has dropped below 10 degrees, but in the city of Nanjing, it is still scorching hot during the day.
It seemed that God was destined not to let Qin Mu have a happy Mid-Autumn Festival. It was not because the generals fighting abroad were defeated, but because the country encountered an almost unsolvable problem.
At the court meeting that day, Qin Mu was preparing to announce that some benefits would be given to all officials during the holidays. This was a custom throughout the dynasties. During festivals, the court always had to show some appreciation and give out some things as an encouragement.
Xu Yingjie, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, came out first and said, "Your Majesty, according to reports from local branches, the phenomenon of bad money replacing good money in counties and prefectures is becoming more and more serious. I am incompetent and have no good solution after thinking hard. I can only report to the court. Please discuss with your majesty and other ministers so that you can come up with a good solution to solve this problem as soon as possible."
The so-called bad money driving out good money is an almost unavoidable phenomenon in this coinage era: when those coins with weight or fineness below the legal limit - "bad money" enter circulation, people tend to collect those with full value - "good money".
Eventually, good money will be driven out and gradually withdrawn from circulation, leaving only bad money circulating in the market.
In addition, if two metal currencies are both legal tender, such as silver coins and copper coins, the imperial court stipulates that one silver coin can be exchanged for ten copper coins. However, due to changes in supply and demand in the market, the price ratio of silver to copper in the private sector cannot always be maintained at one to ten.
When a large amount of silver flows into the country, causing silver to become cheap and copper to become expensive, silver coins will inevitably be regarded as "bad coins" and copper coins will be regarded as "good coins". People will tend to collect the good coins or melt the good coins into copper to exchange for more "bad coins".
This phenomenon has occurred in every dynasty and is a stubborn problem that is difficult to solve. As soon as Xu Yingjie finished speaking, all the officials in the court became a little restless.
Qin Mu asked slowly, "Xu Qing, please tell me in detail. What is the main reason why bad money is driving out good money in our dynasty?"
Xu Yingjie held the tablet and bowed, saying: "Your Majesty, the current phenomenon of bad money driving out good money has multiple causes. With the continuous increase in the volume of Qin's maritime trade, the amount of gold and silver imported from overseas has increased rapidly each year, while the copper production has been low, resulting in the low price of silver and the high price of copper in the market..."
Qin Mu couldn't help but interrupt him and said, "Xu Qing, the copper coins issued by our Great Qin are not many, they are just used to assist circulation. Silver is cheap and copper is expensive, so it shouldn't cause serious problems, right?"
"Your Majesty, this is only secondary. The most important reason is that the silver dragon coins are of sufficient quality. After they are circulated in the market, some lawless people will grind off some silver flakes from the silver coins. As long as a little bit is ground off, it will not be easy to detect, and it can still be used as sufficient silver coins.
These criminals use this method to accumulate a little bit, and as long as they grind a hundred dragon coins, they can get one more dragon coin's worth of silver flakes. Eventually, you grind, and I grind. Over time, all the silver coins circulating in the market are worn-out silver coins. People refuse to accept them, and banks also lose money if they take them back. "
Qin Mu asked doubtfully, "In order to prevent this kind of phenomenon, weren't there vertical teeth pressed on the edge of the silver coin?"
"Your Majesty, it is these vertical teeth that are being worn away. If you wear down a little at a time, it will still be difficult to detect."
"Can those vertical teeth on this edge be made of lead instead of silver?"
"Your Majesty, I have tried it. This will not only increase the cost of coinage, but it is also difficult to ensure that the silver coins will still vibrate when blown. In addition, there are two flat surfaces now, and they will be worn out just the same."
Qin Mu glanced at the ministers in the hall and asked, "Do you have any good ideas?"
Song Yingxing, the Minister of the Song Ministry, said, "Your Majesty, I suggest that the side teeth be cast thinner and shorter. This way, if the lawbreakers only need to grind off a little, it will be very obvious and difficult to spend again. Even if someone still grinds off, the loss of the court can be minimized."
Xu Yingjie replied: "I have also thought about what Minister Song proposed. Although this can reduce some of the court's losses, it is still a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution."
Cabinet Minister Lu Zhenfei said: "Bad money drives out good money, which is a stubborn disease that has been difficult to eradicate in all dynasties. It is not easy to minimize the losses. If we want to completely eradicate it, we can only replace the circulation of silver dragon coins with paper dragon coins.
But this can only be done step by step. If we hastily withdraw all the silver coins and issue paper money, it may cause a credibility crisis. I suggest that we adopt the strategy of Minister Song first, try to reduce the losses of the court, and then gradually increase the issuance of paper money to replace silver coins when the time is right. "
What Lu Zhenfei said was supported by many ministers.
Qin Mu also nodded.
In his mind, a scene emerged: after receiving the silver coins, countless people would secretly grind off some silver flakes. Countless people were grinding, countless intact silver coins were rapidly becoming thinner, and countless silver flakes were falling off... ... ...
Damn it! I live frugally, but you guys get something for nothing, and put all the money I save into your own pockets... ... ... I can't accept this.
"Don't you have any better ideas, ministers?"
There was no better way, Marichenkonov could only gather two thousand soldiers and go to meet Arsalan to block the enemy. The two sides fought a thrilling bloody battle on the grassland.
After Li Ding received the report and learned that Arsalan had successfully forced the enemy's main force out for a bloody battle, considering that there were not many defenders in Qiumen City, he immediately sent Lieutenant General Zhang Yao to lead 2,000 troops to bypass the battlefield where the two sides were fighting and head straight for Qiumen City.
The city of Tyumen was built in the eighth year of the Wanli reign. Currently, the city has a population of about 10,000, but there are only 400 defenders left in the city. The city wall is based on stone slabs and made of adobe. The Tobol River, a tributary of the Ob River, flows by the city. When the city was built, the Tobol River was used as a moat, which is eight feet wide.
Wu Shandong led his troops to the outside of the city quickly. Although it had not snowed yet, the weather was already very cold. If they swam across the moat, many people would probably catch a cold.
So he ordered his men to cut down logs, drag them by war horses, and build a bridge. The defenders on the city wall, because of their small numbers, did not dare to attack rashly and could only watch.
"Boom..." After the wooden bridge was built, Wu Dongshan gave an order and ten rockets were fired fiercely at the south gate of Qiumen City. Flames shot up into the sky and the sound was deafening.
The wooden gate was blown away, and the gate tower on the gate collapsed, falling down with a crash, smoke and dust billowing, tiles flying everywhere. The defenders near the gate tower were blown to pieces, and no one was left with a complete body.
This was an asymmetric war. The defenders, who should have had the advantage, were so vulnerable under the powerful firepower of the Qin army.
After the city gate tower was blown to pieces, the smoke had not yet cleared when the Qin army outside the city rushed to the moat with a long wooden bridge, shouting and driving the wooden bridge over the moat. Then, thousands of troops rushed over, with the sound of killing like a tide.
Marichenkonov, who was fighting a bloody battle with Arsalan twenty miles away, saw black smoke rising from the direction of Tyumen City. He thought to himself that something was wrong and quickly ordered a retreat.
At this time, both sides were already blood-thirsty. The grassland was filled with the sound of iron hooves, which was earth-shaking. Shouts, neighs, and the sounds of swords and knives were intertwined like waves. There were corpses everywhere, and blood flowed like rivers. Both sides were evenly matched, and both suffered heavy casualties.
As soon as Marichenkonov gave the order to retreat, the Cossack cavalry was about to leave the battlefield. Arsalan shouted in time: "Brothers, charge, the enemy is about to escape, Tyumen has been captured by the general's troops, charge, defeat them..."
Arsalan led the soldiers and took the lead, chasing the Cossacks closely. The Cossacks who wanted to retreat had no intention of fighting and their morale plummeted, but they could not escape the entanglement of the Mongolian army. The situation changed drastically.
Thousands of Mongolian cavalry rushed forward like a wave, becoming more and more courageous as the battle went on. "Ala!" "Ala!" Waves of shouts rose up into the clouds, and bursts of arrows swept through the sky, covering the sky and the sun.
Bang! Arsleng's huge mace smashed down fiercely, smashing an enemy's helmet into pieces, and his entire head burst open like a watermelon;
Without even a second glance, he urged his horse forward and rushed towards an enemy in front of him like a hungry tiger.
The Mongolian soldiers around him were like a pack of wolves on the grassland chasing the running Huang Ban, biting him tightly and charging fiercely with their morale high.
Seeing that he could not escape Arsalan's pursuit, Marichenkonov was so anxious that his eyes were blazing with anger. He understood that he had made a fatal mistake and should not have ordered a retreat. He should not have...
There is no such thing as regret. In fact, even if Marichenkonov did not order a retreat, his men’s morale would have dropped when they saw the black smoke rising from Tyumen, and they would still be defeated in the end...
What does it mean to lose? It may mean being slaughtered...
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