Three Kingdoms

A bright hall, a thin bamboo mat, a table, and one person sitting alone.

Yuan Wei had maintained this posture for a long time, until a figure stood in front of him.

"Meet Mr. Yuan!" Wang Yun bowed his hand.

Yuan Wei raised his eyelids and said in a neutral tone: "Wang Situ has free time today. Will he see me, a dying person?"

Wang Yun didn't say anything about this, but smiled, walked over slowly, and gently sat down next to the table.

The waiter who followed Wang Yun was kneeling beside the two of them. Then he arranged the red clay stove, charcoal, copper cauldron, water ladle and other items one by one, then bowed and retreated, leaving the space for Yuan Wei. and Wang Yun.

Wang Yun rolled up his sleeves, added some charcoal himself, and then heated the copper cauldron on the red clay stove.

Yuan Wei lowered his eyes, as if he didn't care about anything around him or what Wang Yun was doing, just like an outsider who completely forgot himself.

Wang Yun didn't speak. He just looked after the small red clay stove and watched the water in the copper cauldron. It started from calm and stirred up waves, and then the overlapping bubbles became denser. For a moment, only the water in the bright hall was left. The sound of water gurgling gradually began.

When the water was about to boil, Wang Yun took a carved lacquer box and put the tea powder that had been ground and selected with a radish sieve into the water. At the same time, he gently stirred the tea powder with a long-handled copper spoon in the kettle. The water fully contacts and blends together.

The water temperature continued to rise, and some bubbles began to appear. The color of the entire copper cauldron slowly began to change as the tea leaves were added. Wang Yun took a small carved pot and poured it into the pot with a silver spoon. He scooped out some green salt from the spoon and then sprinkled it into the copper cauldron.

This is the first boil.

After a while, some foam began to appear in the copper cauldron. Wang Yun slowly turned his wrist, scooped out the foam against the water, and placed it in a cooked bowl aside.

After almost all the foam was scooped out, Wang Yun added another spoonful of cold water to the copper cauldron, and then continued to stir slowly with a spoon.

This is the second boil.

Although there was a spoonful of cold water suppressing it, the temperature of the water had actually risen quite high. The aroma of tea slowly spread, and the water surface was like waves. Wang Yun took a spoonful of the foam cake that had just been poured out of the bowl. He poured it into the copper cauldron to stop the boiling, and then took out the copper cauldron with his hands covered with brocade cloth.

This is the third boil.

After three boils, the tea soup is ready.

Wang Yun poured out the tea soup and said: "Master Ge Tianshi's tea is clear, elegant and upright. It would be unsightly to add too many vulgar things, so only a little of the source of all flavors is enough... Master Yuan, please give me some tea."

The tea soup is neither too much nor too little, just divided into two bowls. As Wang Yun spoke, he slowly pushed the tea bowl placed on the wooden support to one side of Yuan Kai along the table.

The wisp of burnt aroma after roasting the tea leaves just right, mixed with the fragrance of the boiled tea leaves, blended together and lingered on the tip of the nose, causing Yuan Wei's nostrils to involuntarily inflame twice: "Wang Situ, as expected, It’s a good idea to move the capital to the west and still have the Celestial Master’s tea..."

Wang Yun smiled, then picked up the small lacquer box containing the tea, opened it, gestured to Yuan Wei, and said, "It's all in this cauldron."

Yuan Wei twitched his eyebrows slightly, then picked up the tea bowl and began to sip slowly.

After drinking the tea, Yuan Wei put down the tea bowl, suddenly tapped the table gently, and chanted slowly: "The underworld is drinking, the body is broken, the soul is gone, the heaven and the earth are dead, the past is chasing me, The time has come..." His tone sounded resentful at first, then confused, and finally revealed a trace of sadness, and his voice gradually weakened and became inaudible.

"Why did Mr. Yuan do this?" Wang Yun said with relief.

Yuan Wei was silent for a long time and then said: "When will the execution be carried out? Jiujiu, or Bai Ling?"

Wang Yun was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "That's right! That's wrong, Master! You have a heavy responsibility now, why should you talk about life and death lightly?"

Yuan Wei was also stunned for a moment, rolled his eyes a few times, and said: "Situ Mo is going to make fun of you. With such maoci earth steps, mirage gray chalk walls, and unruly tiled roof, how can you look like you have a heavy responsibility?"

Wang Yun laughed and said: "The bright hall is five feet tall, there are soft hairs for eating, and quilted mats for sleeping. How can it be biased?"

Yuan Wei paused, stroked his beard, and said with some expectation: "Shandong...how is it going?"

"Luoyang has been burned, Shandong..." This matter is just that Yuan Wei is under house arrest and the information is not well-informed, but it is not a secret, and he will know it sooner or later, so Wang Yun did not hide it and said directly, "...Yisan That’s it!”

Yuan Wei raised his head, and then his waist slowly slumped a little, and his head drooped, "In this way, the highway, the origin..."

“The road originated in Henan, and its origin was in Hebei.”

Yuan Wei let out a haha, shook his head with a wry smile, and muttered: "Hey, little star, I came from the west and he came from the east, ha, ha, ha... I will never die..."

"Why should Mr. Yuan be so humble..."

Wang Yun was still waiting for the authority, but unexpectedly Yuan Wei said directly: "Why is the Prime Minister looking for me?"

Suddenly, Wang Yun paused, and then said: "Without him, I would like to ask the Taifu to also serve as Dasi Nong'er..."

"Da Sinong?" Yuan Wei repeated, his triangular eyes suddenly widened, "Master, please tell the truth."

Wang Yun sighed and was silent for a while before saying: "The Prime Minister wants to re-establish the position of Captain of Shuiheng."

"Captain Shui Heng..." Yuan Wei murmured again, his face darkened, and he said, "Wang Situ, do you want me to sin against all the people? I will never accept it!"

What?

you are not willing?

If you are not willing, this position may fall on my head! Then I have to do the things that offend the people!

Therefore, fellow Taoist, please go on your way...

Wang Yun came after accepting this order. He already had a clue about the current situation, so he slowly said: "In the past, King Wen was imprisoned and sat in the Book of Changes, Zhongni went on an ascetic journey and wrote the Analects, and Lingjun was slandered and wrote Li Sao. It can be seen that everything in the world can't be fulfilled every time. How can you get white lotus roots without black mud? Or maybe Mr. Yuan wants to get three feet of white silk from Xiatai?"

They all want to do what they want, and they only want to do things that feel good. How can there be such a bargain in the world? !

"One thought can lead to life, one thought can lead to death." Wang Yun lowered his voice and continued, "Only when you have the courage to take responsibility can you have a chance of survival. If you live here..."

Fellow Taoist, do you know that if you refuse, if I step forward, someone will bring you some gifts?

If Yuan Wei was really not afraid of death, why would he delay and endure such humiliation?

Many people, including Wang Yun, understand this.

Wang Yun looked at Yuan Wei and signaled Yuan Wei to make a choice.

Yuan Wei closed his eyes, his beard moved without any wind, and after a long time he sighed and said: "In this case, I can just let you be driven..."

Wang Yun nodded and said: "Good! I will report back to the Prime Minister immediately... After a few days, I will have a drink with Mr. Yuan again, and let me take my leave first..."

So, how did currency keep the dynasty running?

After the currency was minted, the court had to pay salaries to ministers, remuneration to craftsmen and servants, and pay to generals and soldiers.

Then, these "royal ration eaters" used the money they received to buy things in the market.

Ordinary people also take grain or other products to the market to sell.

Between buying and selling, money is transferred to the hands of the people.

Finally, the court passed taxes and returned part of the currency in the hands of the people to the government.

Salaries, market circulation and taxation form a whole, in which currency completes cycles after cycles.

If there is a war, the court will issue more currency to plunder the wealth of the whole society.

Since currency is the tool used by the emperor to maintain the operation of the dynasty, it is natural for the emperor to have the final say as to what is used to mint it. Copper is not a precious metal and has no scarcity value, so the cost of casting and issuance is relatively low.

Using copper coins, the court and government could maximize the "seigniorage".

This "seigniorage" is the difference between the cost of minting coins and the scalar value of the coins. For example, the casting cost of a hundred copper coins may be only 10 yuan, but you can buy a product for 100 yuan, and the difference of 90 yuan is the seigniorage tax.

Compared with gold and silver, the cost of copper is low, and the price difference that can be formed is naturally large.

The emperor forced the use of copper coins as legal tender, so he could plunder the people at will without restrictions.

So it's not that China doesn't use the gold and silver standard, but that many smart people deliberately don't use it...