Tibet

Li Ye was in a very good mood these days. The victory of the Western Expedition completed his political deployment. They also got a lot of wealth as they wished, especially the wealth of the Saint Girl Society, which was all obtained by Li Chenghua, equivalent to the wealth of the Tang Dynasty for five years, which made Li Ye ecstatic.

Of course, there is another thing. Li Chenghua strongly recommended Princess Shiguo to enter the palace, saying that this woman combines the advantages of Eastern and Western beauties and is a rare treasure. Princes from all countries want to marry her, and the Caliph of the Arabs has also sent people to ask for her many times. Such a description makes Li Ye's heart full of expectations.

During this period, Li Ye has been thinking about the currency issue. Last year, he proposed to issue paper money Jiaozi. After being opposed by the civil and military officials of the whole court, Li Ye also realized that the conditions for the Tang Dynasty to find paper money were not yet mature, so he also cancelled the idea of ​​issuing paper money.

But the reality is here. The current economy of the Tang Dynasty is experiencing deflation. Seeing that all parts of the world are recovering vigorously, but there is not enough money in the market. It is difficult for farmers to make money, merchants to make money, and ordinary people to make money. Everyone shouts that it is difficult to make money. Where did the money go?

In fact, Li Ye also knew that nearly half of the world's money was concentrated in Chang'an. Chang'an built a new city, and many wealthy families in the world came to buy land, all wanting to buy a house in the power center for their children to come to Beijing.

The expansion of Chang'an was like a huge whirlpool, sweeping away millions of copper coins in the world, which was also a reason for the shortage of money in various parts of the world.

But this was not the fundamental reason. The fundamental reason was that the money supply could not keep up with the economic recovery of the Tang Dynasty.

But the currency of the Tang Dynasty was not paper money, and you could print as much as you wanted. Copper coins had to be minted. At the peak of the Tang Dynasty, only 700,000 coins were minted a year. Now it is far from recovering, and only 400,000 coins are minted a year. It can't keep up!

Another important reason is that the value of copper coins is too low. If gold and silver currencies can be used, one silver coin is equivalent to 500 Wen, and one gold coin is equivalent to three Guan of money, and the problem of currency deflation can be solved.

It was impossible before, because the Tang Dynasty did not have so much gold and silver, but now it is different. With the accumulation of the court for many years and the support of the gold and silver mines in Japan and Hezhong, the conditions for issuing gold and silver coins have matured.

At this time, the attendant reported at the door: "Your Majesty, the left and right prime ministers and Minister Xiao want to see you!"

Li Ye nodded, "Call them to see you!"

Soon, Wei Jiansu, Zhang Li and Xiao Hua hurried in, bowed and saluted, "Your Majesty!"

Li Ye smiled and said, "No need to be polite, my three ministers, please sit down!"

The three sat down, and Li Ye asked again, "Is there any news about Minister Liu?"

Wei Jiansu nodded, "I got the news yesterday afternoon that he took hundreds of thousands of disaster victims to Liaodong by boat."

This is Liu Yan's style. He is meticulous and serious in doing things and likes to personally implement them, so he also wants to go to Liaodong, which is of course the best, but Liu Yan is also tired.

"It looks like he won't be back until the end of the year!"

"Your Majesty, Liaodong is a big deal. If the resettlement is not done properly, the victims will flee back from Liaodong. It will be difficult to relocate the people to Liaodong in the future. Minister Liu should have this idea. I fully support him."

Li Ye nodded, "In that case, will the court dispatch more officials from Hebei? There is no shortage of supplies, but I am worried that Minister Liu will be short of manpower."

"I obey your order and arrange it today!"

The three of them turned the topic to today's topic.

Zhang Li leaned forward and smiled, "Your Majesty, there are rumors in the court recently that a large amount of gold and silver will be transported from the Western Regions. Can you tell us how much it is?"

"It's a lot. The silver of the Saint Maiden Society alone is 12 million taels. A temple built with silver was demolished and weighed. In addition, the Saint Maiden Society has 50 million gold coins."

"So many?" The three were shocked.

Li Ye smiled and said, "This is the wealth accumulated by the Holy Maiden Society for seventy years. If they don't recruit troops, the wealth will be even greater. People die for wealth, and birds die for food. It is because the Holy Maiden Society has so much wealth that it finally went to extinction. Even if it is not robbed by the Sogdian countries, it will be robbed by the Arabs sooner or later."

"Your Majesty, it is not just the wealth of the Holy Maiden Society, right?"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said, "There is also the gold inventory of Bukhara. I have seen it with my own eyes. There are hundreds of golden Buddhas in the vault, and the smallest one weighs more than ten kilograms. There are also various gold products, shining with golden light, which is simply dazzling. In the past, they also paid tribute to the emperor with a large golden tripod weighing more than a thousand kilograms. It is still in my inner treasury. In addition, there is a silver inventory of the Shi Kingdom, which is about 6.5 million taels, and other wealth, the wealth seized from Sabah, etc."

As the Minister of Revenue, Xiao Hua was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth. This is equivalent to the financial income of the Tang Dynasty for many years!

He suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly: "Your Majesty, can it be transported back at once?"

"Of course, 100,000 camels are enough!"

At this time, Wei Jiansu smiled and said: "In this case, we can start issuing gold and silver coins. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Li Ye nodded, "Issuing new currency is a big deal, which means the redistribution of wealth. We must consider it carefully and have clear regulations. All consequences must be considered. I am most worried about two things. One is that after it is put on the market, it will be stored by big households and cannot play the role of regulating the currency value. The second is that I am worried that there will be loopholes in the exchange rate. People will seize the loopholes and make a fortune. These two problems, I estimate, are the first big problems to be encountered after issuing gold and silver currencies."

The three looked at each other, and Wei Jiansu smiled and said: "Your Majesty, these two problems were also discussed in our discussion this morning."

"Oh? What do you think of these two problems? Tell me?"

Wei Jiansu winked at Xiao Hua, and Xiao Hua bowed and said, "Your Majesty, gold and silver coins will definitely be stored by wealthy families when they are put on the market, because they are more convenient, easier to carry and pass down from generation to generation. This is inevitable. I believe that even a humble minister will not store a cellar of copper coins without exchanging them for gold and silver. But this is just our assumption. The reality may not be like this, because there is a major problem, that is, the currency value. Now one tael of gold can be exchanged for thirty strings of money, and one tael of silver can be exchanged for three strings of money. But during the Tianbao period, one tael of gold could only be exchanged for ten strings of money, and one tael of silver could only be exchanged for one string of money. It was the war that caused the rise in gold and silver. With the gradual stabilization and revival of the Tang Dynasty and the influx of a large amount of gold and silver, gold and silver will certainly It will definitely return to the level during the Tianbao period.

In fact, this trend has been seen for a long time. It is not obvious for gold, but the most obvious for silver. In the year when An Lushan occupied Chang'an, the price of silver rose to 1:7, and one tael of silver was exchanged for seven strings of money. After the An-Shi Rebellion ended, it slowly dropped to 1:5, and the year before last it dropped to 1:3. So the people who exchanged for silver that year suffered a big loss. These people are wealthy families. If gold and silver coins are issued, will they still hoard them? "

Wei Jiansu smiled and said, "Minister Xiao is right. It's not just silver, but also gold. I remember that at the highest point, one tael of gold could be exchanged for fifty strings of money. Now one tael of gold has fallen to thirty strings of money. Although it has not been cut in half like silver, it has also suffered heavy losses. On the contrary, the value of copper coins is very stable. Since your majesty entered Chang'an, the price of a dou of rice has remained at fifty wen. I spent fifty wen to buy a pair of cloth shoes in the eighth year of Tianbao, and now I still spend fifty wen to buy the same pair of cloth shoes. "

Li Ye nodded, "As long as people believe that the exchange rate of gold and silver for copper coins is gradually decreasing, no one will hoard gold and silver?"

Zhang Li smiled and said, "So we need to publicize that the court has acquired huge gold and silver mines in Hezhong, and there will be a steady stream of gold and silver shipped to Chang'an. As long as everyone has this understanding, the hoarding of gold and silver will not happen. "

Xiao Hua added, "After several years, when the exchange rate of gold and copper coins returns to 1:10, the same as during the Tianbao period, then perhaps some people will start to hoard gold and silver But at that time, there was enough gold and silver in the market, so there was no need to worry about hoarding. After all, hoarding gold and silver requires more copper coins. "

Li Ye walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said: "I need a stable currency value. The currency value must be controlled by the court and should not be easily increased or decreased. Even if it is restored to the rate during the Tianbao period, I hope it will take a long time, one generation or two generations. Only when the currency is stable, no one will speculate. "

Wei Jiansu smiled bitterly and said: "In fact, what we are really worried about is the instability of the source of gold and silver. If the war in Hezhong breaks out again, it will definitely affect the mining and smelting of gold and silver. "

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "My fleet is looking for gold and silver all over the world. Don't worry! There will be more and more gold and silver in the future. "