Officials from Zhongshu Sheng, Menxia Sheng, Shangshu Sheng, Six Ministries, Nine Temples, Five Supervisors, Yushitai, Jingzhao Mansion, and other officials in Chang'an City, wealthy nobles, great scholars, and relatives of the emperor belong to the Xuanzheng Hall. Stand in your own place.
As the official's loud voice sounded again, the morning court began at this moment.
The historian was on one side, with the brush in his hand already prepared. It was a supreme honor to have the honor of recording today's events.
Zhongshu Province Zhongshu ordered Pei Yan to lead hundreds of officials to pay homage, which opened the curtain of today's court.
Just as Pei Yan was about to open his mouth and continue to express the various classes above the court in front of the court, he was interrupted coldly by Li Hong: "No need to go to all the trouble. Let's get straight to the point. Everyone with status sitting here has thought about it in the past few days. I have met with His Majesty and complained about it. I think you are willing to get straight to the topic of today: the exchange of new money and old money. Since the imperial court has banned the transaction of old money and can only exchange it, I believe you are planning to do it right away during the New Year. , have all the plans to make a huge fortune come to nothing? The distinguished nobles, empresses, great scholars, etc. who have established the foundation of our Tang Dynasty are all here. Should you recommend someone to speak out, or should I ask questions one by one? It’s time for tea, we’ve agreed to start.”
As Li Hong's words fell, the entire main hall of Xuanzheng Hall suddenly seemed to be filled with countless flies, and the buzzing sound was endless. They were still a little unprepared for Li Hong's straightforward entry into the topic. Everyone thought that , Li Hong should have taken into account the large number of people in Xuanzheng Palace and adopted a softer strategy, but he did not expect that it seemed that one person could fight against everyone.
The discussion gradually subsided after a unanimous decision was made in Xuanzheng Hall. What Li Hong did not expect was that the first person to stand up was Kong Zhiyue, a bachelor of Hongwen Hall.
"My minister Kong Zhiyue would like to ask Your Highness, do you know what the "Kaiyuan Tongbao" money in the Tang Dynasty means? How many kinds are there? What are the differences between each kind? How much does each kind of "Kaiyuan Tongbao" money weigh?" Kong Zhiyue Standing in the center of the main hall, he behaves like a teacher.
Li Hong raised his head and glanced at Kong Zhiyue, and said calmly: "In the fourth year of Wude, the five-baht coin was abolished and the new coin Kaiyuan Tongbao was used. The new coin has about 20% more copper than the five-baht coin. One coin weighs two. Four bahts, one thousand penny, which is the traditional currency, weighs six pounds and four taels. The decimal system of centimeters, cents, qian, and liang was adopted. Because of the increase in copper materials and the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the five-baht coin was originally abolished. At that time, we did not encounter such great resistance as now. Counting the gold and silver coins used by the palace as rewards, there were four kinds of Kaiyuan Tongbao. The difference was big characters, small characters, etc., but no matter what kind of money it was, every money was worth it. The weight is strictly controlled at the standard of two baht and four silk. Of course, if you add some people's privately minted Tongbao, there will be more than fourteen kinds of money. Kaiyuan Tongbao means the founding of the country and the circulation of treasures."
After finishing speaking, Li Hong looked at the silent crowd below. Kong Zhiyue's expression did not change much. It would be strange if His Majesty the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty did not even know the meaning of the Kaiyuan Tongbao of the Tang Dynasty.
"Since His Highness the Crown Prince knows that the Kaiyuan Tongbao was made when the Tang Dynasty was founded, why do you want to abolish the meaning of the Kaiyuan Tongbao cast by the great ancestor? The founding of the country and the circulation of treasures were Emperor Gaozu's expectations for the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. When the late emperor was still alive, He is a man of great wisdom and skill, and has never thought of making new money or abolishing Tongbao. Why does His Highness insist on abolishing the money that circulates treasures? "Kong Zhiyue's words were sharp, but his attitude was respectful. Obviously he didn't want to let it go. Li Hong grabbed his handle from other places.
"Times are progressing and things are developing. Nothing can remain unchanged. Kaiyuan Tongbao is an old system since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. Just like the jade pendant you wear today is different from the crystal pendant you wore yesterday. We need to develop in innovation, not Whether the new money has had a profound significance and influence on Datang in recent years, whether it can make transactions more convenient than Kaiyuan Tongbao, everyone here has a say. You all can see it with your own eyes. See, if we use old money as the basis, how can we carry out large transactions with different sizes and quantities? Since the Zhenguan period, there has been a problem of less than a thousand coins, but there is no good way to implement it. That’s all. Do you think that if we continue to use the old system, we can continue to use the same amount of money to reach one thousand coins? "
Kong Zhiyue's face was red. He went to court today and even changed his jade pendant to wear it. He just wanted to be manipulated by His Highness the Crown Prince, but unexpectedly His Highness the Crown Prince saw the problem.
As for topics such as the development of things and the progress of the times, no one has ever discussed these issues in the Imperial College or the Hongwen Hall. Only the Chongwen Hall of the Prince has students quarreling around these issues every day with red faces.
"As for the fact that the money is always less than one thousand yuan, this is something that no one can do. No one even knows when this phenomenon began. With the advent of some natural and man-made disasters, during the Migui period in Chang'an, the people were naturally In order to be able to fill his stomach, he is willing to do something with money." Wang Yifang, the censor, stood up and saluted while Kong Zhiyue was thinking.
Li Hongyang held the paper in his hand, and Yang Wu took it and handed it to Wang Yifang. Seeing Wang Yifang flipping through it, Li Hong looked at the crowd and said, "Statistics from the Royal Bank show that in the past two years, in terms of exchanging old money for new money, the Li people The amount of money exchanged is far more than the number of wealthy people, merits, etc. Wang Yifang, you are also recommended as an official by the Wang family in Jinyang. It is said that half of the old money in Jinyang was exchanged for new money by you. One exchange, but there is a handling fee of ten yuan for each exchange, but this? "
"This..." Wang Yifang did not expect that the affairs of Jinyang were already under the control of His Highness the Crown Prince. He hesitated, thought for a while and said: "I don't know much about this matter. If it is true, I think the old money is too heavy and we need Just pay some freight.”
"As the censor, it is your duty to report the news. Why didn't you know? Or did you conceal it? Fang Xianzhong, you just accompanied your mother to Jinyang a few days ago. Do you know about this?" Li Hong asked with a raised eyebrow.
He discovered that the people who took the lead in attacking him today, whether it was Kong Zhiyue, Wang Yifang or Fang Xianzhong, were all closely related to the Wang family in Jinyang. Kong Zhiyue had always been with the Five Surnames and Seven Families. More recently, because of the imperial examination system, it is no longer a secret that the five surnames and seven families are now involved in cheating in the imperial examination.
Needless to say, Wang Yifang was recommended by the Wang family of Jinyang. Fang Xianzhong may have always been relatively low-key, but his mother was from the Wang family of Jinyang, and he had a daughter who was the future imperial concubine of Li Xian.
From this, we can know that the Taiyuan Wang family used the concubine women in their own family to make friends with officials and win over the court, while the direct line maintained the marriage order with other families, married wealthy families to wealthy families, and concubine women to win over the court. This is the aristocratic family. The failure of a wealthy family to stand still is the reason why it can always influence the direction of the court.
"My minister Xianzhong didn't know about it," Xianzhong, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, said calmly after Yan Liben resigned.
Li Hong waved his hand casually, indicating that he should go back. Sooner or later, the Wang family will be declined. Now, although the other four surnames are standing with them, some people have already begun to secretly give him discounts.
"Your Highness, we are all very aware of the pros and cons of new money and old money, but there are many people who own old money. Our country, the Tang Dynasty, is short of copper to make new money. You have stopped scrapping old money, but new money cannot satisfy the daily needs. If it is used more frequently, wouldn't it put our business in Datang in trouble? I think it would be better for Your Highness to allow the Ministry of Accounts to open exchanges with the Royal Bank, and exchange the old money as usual." One person from the royal clan asked. Tan Tan said, it was Cao Wang Li Ming.
"Uncle Cao Wang, the Tang Dynasty is the country of the Li family, and the old money has always been less than 700 coins. Why do you have the heart to watch the royal family suffer such a loss? Or have you hoarded too much old money?" Li Hong asked.
Li Ming shook his head, still smiling, and said: "I do have a lot of old money in my hand. I even have a lot of gold Tongbao and silver Tongbao rewarded by the late emperor. But this money cannot be traded, it is just a Just as a souvenir or for fun. Besides, I'm not the only one in the royal family. Princess Yiyang and Princess Gao'an are said to have exchanged a lot of old money in other places. I wonder what you plan to do with it? That the royal family is treated alone?”
Li Xian, a little bastard, was close to some people, so how could someone who was close to him come out to cause trouble
Li Hong looked at King Cao Li Ming quietly, trying to figure out who gave him the courage to speak like this to him
"Not only Princess Yiyang and Princess Gao'an, but also the royal relatives Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi also hoarded a large amount of old money last year, at least hundreds of thousands." Yue Wang Li Zhen also said He stood up and said.
Kong Zhiyue and Yan Zhaofu looked at each other, and they both saw a hint of fun in each other's eyes. The corners of their mouths slightly curved, and then they immediately began to close their eyes seriously and rest.
Li Hong sneered as he watched the two Wang uncles singing together. He thought that these people would use Yiyang and Gao'an as an excuse to silence him. Unexpectedly, they only started to attack after the Jinyang Wang family took the lead. Started to run out to talk to Yiyang and Gao An.
But having said that, this was also his weakness. Until now, he didn't know whether Yiyang and Gao An had disposed of all the old money.
As for Wu Sansi and Wu Chengsi, I never knew much about them from their mother. Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang were demoted to Lingnan. Their sons, Wu Sansi and Wu Chengsi, were demoted to Lingnan after the death of their Korean wife Yang. He was left behind in Chang'an by his mother, and now he has become another two idlers in Chang'an City after He Lanmin.
(End of chapter)