Spring and Autumn I Am King

ps: I have something to do today, the big chapter is one and two, and there will be two updates tomorrow.

Zhao Wuxi stroked the Qi State knife coin in his hand. It was modeled on copper-cut coins. The handle of the knife was slightly curved. The front of the blade had three small characters "Qi Fahua", and it weighed about half a tael. (Baidu search network updates the fastest and most stable)

"How many knife coins are in circulation in Xilu, does anyone know?"

Ji Qiao was speechless: "It's impossible to measure, there is no unified coinage in the state of Lu, usually shells or copper shells are used, gold is used for bulk trade, and grain and salt are used for the rest of the time. So there was a lot of inflow.”

Zhao Wuxi nodded, but his expression became serious.

These knives are at best a lubricant for transactions, and most of the time, physical exchange is still the mainstream.

But must not ignore the difference that currencies make in cross-border transactions!

Money is a non-violent tool for one class to exploit and oppress another! Currency is a non-offensive means for one country to control and disintegrate another.

The current situation in the state of Lu is very dangerous, because the knife has to be used in the transaction. In this case, the silk, silk, lacquer wood and other products of the state of Lu have to be exchanged for the pitiful knife coins. This is the first exploitation. Then use Qi knife coins to buy expensive salt, this is the second exploitation!

Before this war of goods and colonialism, the region in charge of Zhao Wuxi had to carry out such an exchange. Currency can be described as a great weapon for invisible plunder. This is the case in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the same is true for national trade after more than two thousand years!

But isn't this an opportunity? Rather than letting Qi exploit the Lu people with knives and coins, it is better for Zhao Wuxi to go into battle and exploit himself.

"I plan to mint coins." So Zhao Wuxi spoke bluntly and expressed his heart to Ji Qiao.

...

"Wu Guo brought in more than 2,000 catties of bronze, plus the 2,000 catties in the previous treasury, making a total of 5,000 catties. Zihua said that he would let me cast his own five cauldrons. I refused, this kind of thing is not urgent. Since the reserves are sufficient, I have a plan. That is to mint the currency belonging to the state of Lu, and it is also the only currency circulating in the territory!"

"The minister seconded the reads;."

Ji Qiao was not surprised by this. Jin State has been circulating currency for many years, but after coming to Lu State, he has to face those rough shells, which makes him feel very uncomfortable. Every time I count the shells within my means, it's like a child playing a family drama. Even if Zhao Wuxi doesn't mention it, when the time is ripe, Ji Qiao will make this suggestion.

He is proficient in the method of calculating light and heavy, remember Guan Zi once said. Pearl jade gold knife coins are the three types of exchangeable currencies. They can't be used to keep warm and eat, but they have an extremely important role. They are used to control property, master civilian use, and then govern the sky!

"Five grains and rice are the commander of the people's orders, and the golden knife and coins are the people's best. Therefore, the good people execute their skills and control their commands. Therefore, they can get all their power." Guanzi regards grain as the master of people's lives, and currency is the means of people's transactions. A monarch who is good at governing a country should master the means of circulation to control the grain that dominates their lives. That way you can maximize the use of people's power.

Therefore, Guan Yiwu set up the "Nine Houses of Light and Heavy" in Qi State to mint Qi Dao coins, and at the same time strengthened the management of financial coins, Qi State became an economic power, dominates the feudal lords, and is rich and famous all over the world.

Therefore, currency casting is indeed imperative. He has also thought about it, so he asked in an orderly manner: "Gold is listed as a coin. It is unnecessary to say, but I don't know. What kind of copper coins Si Kou wants to cast."

"Is it Chengzhou's Daquan coin? Or is it Jin's tiptoe coin?"

Wu Tie smiled and said, "Neither."

Ji Qiao was stunned: "Do you want to use Chu's ant nose money?"

Wu Xie continued to shake his head: "No."

Zhao Wuxi was like a coin collector, playing with Qi's sword coins in his hand. On the table in front of him were the collected coins of various countries.

If the Confucian scholars are involved, I don't know if they will be excited to "become the ritual of the week". Take the flat-shouldered cloth coin (shovel coin) named "Daquan" minted by King Zhou Jing more than 20 years ago as the benchmark.

If Ji Qiao was allowed to decide by himself, he would probably use Jin's pointed-head cloth coin (another type of shovel coin).

If Zhao Wuxi can come, he will definitely take a short cut in history.

"The currency I want is not a parody of the copper shovel and shell, but a good coin that is cast according to the rules of heaven and earth and can be passed down through the ages!"

These words were so lofty that Ji Qiao couldn't help swallowing, and he didn't know what new attention Zhao Xiaosikou had.

Zhao Wuxi took a pen and drew a model on the paper: "Outside circle and inside square, this is the way of moderation and prudence, and it's what coins should look like!"

...

In order to facilitate the transportation of copper and tin materials, the copper casting workshop was also moved from Linqiu to Yuncheng, and the six gold-conquering workers who were brought from Lucheng by Zhao Wuxi when Yanghu fell, naturally moved along with it. . Half of them were moved to Taoqiu to study the technology tree of iron smelting and wrought iron, and the rest were doing some tinkering work. After all, there was not much copper to cast. Who let Zhao Wuxi be a man who didn't pay attention to casting dinggui What about the doctor who waits for the large bronze ritual vessel?

Therefore, Mrs. Fu and Mrs. Duan, who were in charge of casting ritual vessels, were very worried. They watched Mrs. Ye’s Tao, who made killing arrows and swords and spears, go about their business, repairing weapons, and making small daily copper wares such as copper cutters. Also, Mr. Liang, who was authorized by Zhao Wuxi to cast standard measuring instruments such as bucket kettles, was also not allowed to relax.

Only the two families, the Fu family and the Duan family, were very busy, which was very incompatible with Xilu's busyness in all walks of life after the beginning of summer.

They are also very worried. After all, they are subordinate workers who are fed by the government. If they cannot exert their specialties for a long time, they will not be paid less and do lower-priced work reads; They have seen it with their own eyes. After paper gradually became popular in Xilu and replaced the status of bamboo slips, all the craftsmen who made bamboo slips lost their jobs and had to change their jobs to participate in the work of harvesting wood and bamboo.

Finally, at the end of April, Mrs. Fu and Mrs. Duan were finally assigned to the long-lost task, and Xiao Sikou personally drove them, making them both frightened and uneasy, and Zhao Wuxi's request made him They were stunned.

"coin?"

"Qufu sometimes casts some copper shells. I think you should be able to come here."

meeting! of course! It's so easy to get the task. How could the two generations of craftsmen, the Fu and Duan families, not seize this opportunity. They did do it, but only rarely. It's not that they are arrogant, but the method of coinage. In fact, it is not much different from casting bells and casting utensils. It is even simpler. It is still made of pottery or stone. Can you figure out the shape of the required utensils on the fan, and then cast it?

However, some questions must be asked beforehand. So Duan Shi asked sternly: "I don't know what coins are made. What is the geometry of copper and tin?"

The so-called "Qi" is the ratio of copper and tin in the bronze alloy, and the ratio of utensils for different purposes is different: for example, the Qi of Zhongding contains 5/6 copper and 1/6 of tin; 5. Tin 1/5...

But the coin is different. It does not need to consider the toughness when it is used to dig soil and stones, and it does not need to consider the hardness of piercing the skin of the armor. So you can mix some cheap things to reduce the cost of casting.

"There is not only copper and tin in the coin, but also some lead."

The preparation of three alloys is more difficult than the preparation of two alloys, and how much should this ratio be? Zhao Wuxi didn't know much either, so he looked at Ji Qiao who accompanied him here. This is a planner who has counted money for most of his life, and he also knows a little about the coinage ratios of Zhou, Jinqi and other countries.

Ji Qiao coughed lightly and pulled out a booklet that had been prepared for a long time. This was after Zhao Wuxi had it bound. It was given to him for taking notes.

"The alloy of Zhou Zhengkong's first cloth is: 60% copper, 30% lead, and 10% tin..."

Zhao Wuxi nodded slightly. This should be a relatively scientific alloy composition of bronze coins. Although Zhou Shi cast "Daquan as a thousand" to make money, and Zheng Guo is notorious for his dynasties and twilights, he still has a conscience in the currency ratio. .

Ji Qiao continued to read: "The alloy of Jin's pointed foot cloth is: 40% copper, 50% lead, and half tin..."

At the end of his voice, Zhao Wuxi was startled: "There is actually less copper than lead, so Jin's pointed cloth is very light and brittle?"

Ji Qiao couldn't help but smile bitterly, he knew the reason best. In fact, the Jin Dynasty originally copied the first cloth made by Zhou Shi, and cloth coins replaced the shells. The success of its distribution made Jin's commerce more developed. The more developed the commerce, the greater the demand for currency, so it soon became the main currency in Jin's stores. But soon its shortcomings were exposed.

Due to its large size and high purchasing power, micro-payment cannot be applied. At that time, when production increased and prices fell, the poor people felt the pain of money, so they soon produced small "pointy cloth", or a kind of "light money". . Its weight is only one-third of the empty head cloth, and its feet are dovetail-shaped, so it is called pointed feet.

But precisely because it is lighter, it gives great convenience to the carrier, so everyone is happy to use it. At this time, the places where "pointed-foot cloth" was minted were Handan, Jinyang, Chaoge, Anyi, Pingyang, etc., and the coin shapes privately minted by ministers and officials were slightly different.

But as a result, the empty first cloth issued by the office has been greatly crowded out, the casting is less and less, and the circulation is more and more difficult. Jin Gongshi did not pay attention to the coinage right, and did not pay attention to it after losing it. As a result, the finances belonged to Liuqing.

This is similar to the situation in the state of Lu. Marquis of Lu and Sanhuan did not understand economics, so they foolishly tried to increase the tax rate, but they never thought of issuing currency, so they were penetrated by the sword coins of the state of Qi. This also gave Zhao Wuxi a good opportunity to obtain the coinage rights of the State of Lu.

If you want to steal your country, you must first steal its wealth, and then steal its government!

Back to the coins of the Jin state, because they were minted by the Qing clan, each family made efforts to save costs in order to make their own money crowd out the money of other families, so the proportion of copper with high price is getting lower and lower, and the price of copper is low. The lead ratio is getting higher and higher, and it has become the strange ratio today.

As far as Ji Qiao himself is concerned, he is extremely dissatisfied with the current Jin coins: the copper material used in the pointed foot cloth contains too much lead, lacks elasticity, has poor bearing capacity, and is light and thin, so it is widely used in international large-scale trade. , foreign businessmen would rather use a sufficient amount of Qi Dao.

Zhao Wuxi remembered that during the Warring States Period, the currency of the Sanjin was also a mess, and Zhao Guo seemed to use knife coins after the Qi country?

"What's the ratio of Qi Dao?"

Speaking of the best among the currencies of all countries, Ji Qiao was very excited: "Qi Dao is very special. It has basically remained unchanged in the shape, size and style of the characters since the Guanzi era. The alloy is 50% copper and 45% lead. Half-tin."

Compared with Jin Shoubu, it is a little bit more conscientious, but its stability and Qi's strong economic capacity have led to the knife coin becoming the main coin in the north.

With Linzi, the capital of Qi State as the center, knife coins radiate in all directions. Now it is popular in the east of Taihang of Qi State, Yan State, Ju State, Lu State, Cao State, Xianyu Jin State, etc. This vast area can be called "knife coin area".

What Zhao Wuxi wanted to do was to let Xilu first. Then Cao Lu exited the knife currency area.

So after consulting the opinions of the craftsmen, he finalized the final ratio: "Our competitors are mainly Qi people, with 50% copper, 40% lead and half tin."

Xilu also lacks copper. I can't afford to be squandered. Anyway, Zhao Wuxi felt that the competitiveness of the coins he issued was still based on the shape and size of the denomination.

At the end, Zhao Wuxi asked again: "By the way, where is Chu's ant nose money?"

"Copper 7 Lead 2 Tin 1..."

Zhao Wuxi was choked abruptly. Although the state of Chu was hit hard by the state of Wu, its national strength was still prosperous, and the territory was rich in copper and tin. Therefore, the coinage is not only of high quality, but also of fine quality.

He murmured in his heart: "A country with big resources is just enough confidence and arrogance. We can't compare to a small family with less than 200,000 people."

However, Wu Xie is also itching in his heart. The black iron era is still a long way to go. When will he be able to own a big copper mountain!

...

The problem of proportion was solved. Mrs. Fu took the list given to him by Ji Qiao and ran to the treasury to collect the copper, tin, and lead that had been smelted into ingots, and to prepare the liquid gold. And Duan continued to surround Zhao Wuxi. Report how you intend to cast.

Different countries have different shapes of coins, and their casting techniques are also different, but most of them are not separated from the Tao Fan casting method. There are two kinds of casting method and Shifan casting method.

"The villain knows both. Of course, he learned it when he made ritual vessels before, but it's always inseparable from its purpose. I don't know how much the coins need to be minted?"

Zhao Wuchen thought about it, and remembered the half liang of Qin State, but then he remembered the tragic tragedy of Jin State's big cloth being eliminated by light cloth, so he decided to count the reads in one step.

"I want to cast two kinds. One tael for big money and five baht for small money."

The so-called one or two. In fact, it is twenty-four baht, and one baht is twenty-fourth of a week. That is, 065 grams of later generations. So one tael is about 16 grams in later generations, which is only a little heavier than Jin's tiptoe cloth, barely able to compete with the Qi knife weighing twenty taels, and five baht is about 4, which is circulated as a small denomination currency...

No shirts are not sure which one is more suitable now, they are all created and put on the market to try it out!

Of course, he imagined that the value of coins would be directly marked like coinage in later generations, such as 1 cent, 5 cents, 1 jiao, 1 yuan, etc., as much as the official set, and minting a 1000 jin, in fact, only a few baht in exchange for a piece Gold, how cool would that be!

However, this is an idiot's dream. He has not even grasped the government of Lu, not to mention dozens of states, merchants and officials are all clever ghosts, who is more stupid than the other? Will you also exchange a large amount of goods for your small amount of large denomination copper coins? Back then, when King Zhou Jing's large denomination "Daquan Dangqian" failed in the issuance of currency, the hurdles are still in front of his eyes. How could Zhao Wuxi be able to easily do things that even the emperor could not do?

Before the word of mouth of coinage starts, before it can control the economic lifeline of the whole day, don't think about such a huge profit, and it is better to take historical shortcuts honestly.

After that, Mr. Duan skillfully followed the shape of the coin on the piece of paper that Zhao Wuqi showed, and scratched a few times on the hard clay, and then copied it exactly as it was.

"With this size and thickness, the minted coins are one or two."

Then he found another clay fan, and carved out a five-baht money fan, asking Zhao Wuxi to watch it.

Looking at it, it's not right.

"A fan only has one coin?"

Duan was stunned: "In the past, copper shells were cast like this, and it is said that the Jin State cast pointed foot cloth like this."

Wu Xie felt inappropriate: "It's too inefficient for you to do it this way. This kind of round money doesn't need to be as big as knife coins and big spring cloth. It is completely feasible for one Tao Fan to make ten pieces, and it can be used continuously."

Duan's first attempt turned out to be the case~www.wuxiahere.com~ couldn't help but patted his head and said that he was too stupid. From the point of view of efficiency, it was indeed the easiest to mint round money, which was also one of the advantages of round money.

...

The proportion of the liquid gold has been set, and Tao Fan has also made them one after another. That evening, in the steaming minting workshop, Zhao Wuxi saw the newly minted coins that were freshly baked.

The color is bright golden, slightly gray because of the lead content, and the shape is round with a square hole in the middle. The coin also has a raised outer guo. Character.

Ji Qiao frowned and looked at it for a while, but had to admit that this kind of coin shape that he had never seen before was indeed more pleasing to the eye.

And Zhao Wuxi smiled and said hello to the currency prototype that can bring him a sense of intimacy:

"It's been a long time, Brother Kong Fang!"

ps: Thanks to the book friends Dozing Otter, Xunlang, Xiaoqi Civilization Miracle, Only Love Big Smash, Brother Flying Dragon, book friend 100421200847863 for the reward! Thank you for your monthly pass!

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