Wu Yu, who was busy buying silk at a lower price, was dumbfounded when he saw the notice posted by the Tang Bank.
For the exchange of silk, the bank was only offering 80% of the original value. A bolt of silk that was once worth 200 copper coins could only be exchanged for 160 copper coins.
If one did not want to depreciate, one had to save it for five years. Before the five years were up, the silk would be worth 80% of its original value.
Wu Feng was not in the mood to care about the Jade Sea Silver Sand. He hurriedly found Wu Yu and the two began to discuss.
"Brother, is Zhang Xiaobao sick? Silk has always been used as a currency. He suddenly reduced the value of silk. What can so many people with silk do? This is equivalent to making people with silk lose 20% of their money. How much profit can the goods make? "
Wu Yu now knew a lot of things. With a little analysis, he knew where the drawbacks of the bank were. If they followed the bank's notice, the Tang Empire would be in chaos.
Wu Feng nodded to show that he understood. His eyes blinked a few times, and he suddenly said happily, "Maybe Zhang Xiaobao no longer cares about the lives of the people. It's a good time to find trouble with him. Now, no one can protect him, not even the Emperor."
"Yes, let Her Highness find trouble with him. Aiya, I'm still using money to buy silk. 90% of the price. Oh no, I don't have any cash."
Wu Yu was happy when he suddenly thought of a very serious problem. He raised the money with great difficulty and was still buying silk. Now that the bank was using 80% of the price to buy silk, wouldn't his money be gone in the blink of an eye?
*****
Wu Huifei was happy when she found out about the Tang Bank's notice. Opportunity, the opportunity was right in front of her. Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan had always been careful. This time, there was a loophole.
Didn't they always say that they were thinking of the people? How should the bank explain buying silk at a lower price?
Soon, Wu Huifei found her officials and prepared to impeach Zhang Xiaobao for disrupting the Tang Empire's economy and destroying the foundation of the country. Once the impeachment was successful, even if Zhang Xiaobao did not die, he would lose a lot of skin.
Wu Huifei and Zhang Shuo, who was also waiting for an opportunity, almost coincidentally had the same idea. After a private discussion, they decided to launch the attack at the morning court the next day.
"Empress, it's not good. Something big has happened. The Great Tang Bank is in trouble." Xiao Zhu, who had just received the news, found Empress Wang while panting. Her chest heaved up and down as she told Empress Wang everything.
After hearing Xiao Zhu's words, Empress Wang could no longer remain calm. Her expression changed as she said, "How could Xiao Bao come up with such an idea? You want to push me into the fire pit? Was someone trying to frame Xiao Bao? Quick, go find Gao Lishi. "
While many people were either happy or anxious, Li Longji was very calm as he played Go with Gao Lishi. Seeing that Gao Lishi was only able to parry and had no strength to counterattack, Li Longji used his hand to lightly twirl a Go piece and said, "Starting from this year's autumn harvest, it will not be difficult for the people to wear clothes."
Gao Lishi was thinking hard about the Go game and also had to deal with Li Longji's words. He frowned and randomly placed the black Go piece. Wiping the sweat on his forehead, he replied, "Your Majesty's words are correct. This official estimates that many people will impeach Xiao Bao tomorrow morning. Your Majesty had better quickly release the news."
"There's no rush. Xiao Bao has said in his heart that we must wait until all the officials are impeached before we act. If we act too early, there will be people who will deliberately oppose us. This step was originally difficult to take, but with the announcement from the bank, it actually went smoothly."
Li Longji placed a Go piece and continued to force Gao Lishi to defend as he spoke casually.
The next morning, just as Gao Lishi and Li Longji had guessed, the officials from the Censorate and the Head of the Secretariat both impeached Zhang Xiaobao at the same time.
Some said that Zhang Xiaobao should not continue to manage the bank, some said that he wanted to harm the country and the people, and some even said that he wanted to shake the foundation of the Great Tang.
At this moment, no one was speaking up for Zhang Xiaobao. Sitting on the platform, Li Longji looked at the officials on the two sides of the platform. Some were silent, some were whispering to the people beside them, and some were following the Censorate and the Head of the Secretariat in impeaching Zhang Xiaobao. His face remained calm throughout.
Only when some people said that they were tired and others said that their legs were numb from standing did the crowd realize that there was something wrong with the Emperor's attitude.
Zhang Shuo, who had been silent all this while and had been waiting for the Emperor to get angry, decided to step forward and list Zhang Xiaobao's crimes.
After thinking for a while, he finally stepped forward and said to Li Longji, "Your Majesty, does the manager of the Great Tang Bank, Zhang Xiaobao, have any other tricks that he has not used yet? Currency is an important matter for the people and must be investigated. "
As soon as Zhang Shuo said those words, the officials from the Censorate and the Head of the Secretariat looked at each other. What did he mean? Didn't they say that they would impeach Zhang Xiaobao together? Why did they suddenly change their minds?
Li Longji was waiting for others to ask. Otherwise, how could he show off his ability? He nodded, indicating for Zhang Shuo to step back, and then opened his mouth.
"What does the Great Tang Bank's eighty percent revenue have to do with currency? It's not like We don't allow silk to be used as money. It's fine as long as we don't deposit it in the bank. Can it be that when the bank puts up a notice saying that it's buying silk at ten percent, there will still be people fighting to deposit it? "
After hearing this, the officials felt that it was very reasonable, but why did it feel like this reasoning did not hold water? Where did it go wrong?
That's right, the bank was buying silk at a low price, so there was no need to deposit it. No one was forcing anyone to deposit it, but this matter should not be so simple. Eh? What was going on?
Zhang Shuo did not immediately react and stood there in a daze.
At this time, Li Linfu, who had returned to the court, stood up and said to Li Longji, "Your Majesty, firstly, the bank's name is Great Tang, and the people all know that most of the bank's wealth belongs to the imperial court. The bank's notice is issued on behalf of the imperial court. The people do not know the Emperor's words, so they only hear it for Your Majesty.
Secondly, the transaction is four to six qian of silk, and the bank is willing to deposit it far and take it near. However, silk is cheap, so how can there be silk in the market? If silk does not exist, how can there be business? Hence, it is cheap and has left the money of the market. It can only become goods, or the people will riot. "
When the others who wanted to impeach Zhang Xiaobao heard this, they suddenly understood. That's right, the bank's name was Great Tang, and everyone knew that the Great Tang Bank was under the control of the imperial court. Wasn't the bank's notice the Emperor's intention? How could it be separated?
Also, those who did not deposit silk in the bank would leave it behind. They would only deposit their money in the bank here and go to the place where they needed it. It had always been forty percent of the silk and sixty percent of the money. If there was no silk left, how could they trade with others? If everyone did not want silk, the price would be even lower.
It was estimated that it would not be long before silk could no longer be used as a currency, and it would become ordinary cloth to be traded. If things went wrong, the people would be in chaos.
Finally, they found the root of the problem. Those who wanted to impeach Zhang Xiaobao were eager to give it a try again.
Li Longji, who was originally trying to deceive the officials, did not care when he saw a smart person appear. He went along with Li Linfu's words and said, "What you said is very true, and we also know that. Therefore, we want to collect silk to fill the national treasury. The time limit is five years. The difference between this and the bank is that we will pay interest. Every silk sold will be one qian, and we will return it after five years. Does everyone agree?"
"Does Your Majesty want to lend money to the people?" Zhang Shuo stood up and asked.
"No, we are using money to give to the people. Now that the national treasury is full, it will be even more in five years. We will return the money to the people and hide the wealth from the people. When the people are rich, they will be healthy, and when the people are healthy, the country will be strong."
Li Longji did not admit that he wanted to borrow from the national treasury. He also wanted to sell the silk sold to the neighboring countries in exchange for better resources. He wanted to abolish the use of silk as a currency.
Zhang Shuo thought about it and felt that it was reasonable. The national treasury was not lacking in money, and there was no need to cheat the people of their money. However, there was a problem with this, so he said, "Your Majesty, every silk sold will be one qian per month. If it is one qian per year, it will be at least 12 qian per year, or 13 qian per year. If it is five years, it will be at least 60 qian per year. Does the national treasury have that much money?"
"We are using money to make money. It is not like we are always keeping the money in the national treasury. We can buy goods from the neighboring countries. As long as we earn more than what is given in five years, it will be fine."
Li Longji explained the problem. In fact, there was something he did not say, and that was that the currency would gradually depreciate. The more productive the economy was, the higher the price of luxury goods would be. When that time came, the price of currency would also fluctuate, and the general trend would be to depreciate.
As the number of goods increased, the income of the people would also increase. This could balance out the value of the currency that was depreciating. However, the national treasury was really cheap.
This was especially so for Xinyuan Island. The island was not small. From Zhang Xiaobao and the merchants who went there, they knew that there were many good things there. However, the local people were very poor in terms of daily necessities, especially clothes and beds. The local tribe leader was willing to send a hundred people to work for a month for a beautiful piece of clothing. How could there be such a good thing in the Great Tang?
After hearing Li Longji's words, the person who had just accused Zhang Xiaobao was speechless. Zhang Shuo was a little unwilling. Just as he was about to continue arguing for the Emperor to punish Zhang Xiaobao, Li Longji spoke again.
"The printing of banknotes cannot be done in Jili Province. It needs to be moved to the capital. Who do you think should be in charge of it?"
Printing money?
These two words suddenly appeared in their minds. It was not only the person who had accused Zhang Xiaobao. Everyone focused their attention.
Everyone wanted a share. In the end, Zhang Xiaobao was selectively forgotten. Even Zhang Shuo did not have the heart to continue to pay attention to Zhang Xiaobao.
After a series of arguments, a balance was finally reached when the court was about to leave. The Secretary of the Palace took the lead, the Ministry of Revenue would do the work, the Ministry of Military Affairs would send people to guard the banknotes, the Ministry of Justice would set the punishment, the Ministry of Rites would think of a design that would conform to etiquette in the future, the Ministry of Works would provide the equipment, and the Ministry of Appointments would arrange the official positions.
When everyone returned to their own departments after the court, they found that no one had taken advantage of the situation. They were all in charge of each other, and it was impossible to print any private money.
Very soon, the imperial court's notice was sent to the local government offices and people were posted.
The court set a time limit of four months. It would only take four months for the banknotes to be collected. After four months, it would not be collected. The court urged people to dispose of the banknotes in their hands as quickly as possible.
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