It’s mid-February in the blink of an eye.
In the early spring of Qingzhou Fucheng, the cold wind was still blowing. Pedestrians were walking on the streets, still wearing winter clothes.
This month, all battalions of the New Army and all the officials of the shogunate were issued silver coins. Many industries in the Ministry of Commerce also issued silver coins to craftsmen and apprentices. All transactions with merchants were also settled with silver coins.
For a time, exquisite silver coins could be seen circulating in various markets in Qinglai Town.
Naturally, people couldn't put it down for this exquisite currency. At first, some people wanted to keep it in their hands and spend the scraps of money at home. But then the people discovered that when they went to the shops of the Ministry of Commerce and the Chamber of Commerce to make purchases, they only accepted silver coins and copper coins, not scraps of silver at all. So people everywhere had to go to Shandong Bank in Qingzhou Prefecture to exchange money.
From the time Liu Yan ordered the establishment of a bank, within a month, the main bank account of Shandong was opened in Qingzhou Fucheng, one branch each in Laizhou Fucheng, Dengzhou Fucheng, Yanzhou Fucheng, and also in various prefectures and counties. Got a semicolon.
In this way, Liu Yan relied on the bank network throughout Qinglai Town, as well as a large number of silver coins minted in advance, as well as a large amount of copper coins hoarded, to make the market very stable. A large amount of broken silver and silver ingots were collected through various banks. The silver coins and copper coins were exchanged by the people and began to circulate among the people in Qinglai Town.
In fact, the common people don't use much silver coins. They basically use copper coins. Even the people in the countryside mostly barter.
However, as the Ministry of Commerce opened more and more industries, the businesses and workshops in Qinglai Town became more and more developed.
More and more people are being hired into workshops and shops everywhere, and the wages they receive are silver coins.
This makes the people in Qinglai Town far wealthier than other places. At least many people can find one or two silver coins in their homes, which is unimaginable outside Qinglai Town.
In addition, the shogunate has begun to implement the New Deal in Yanzhou Prefecture and Dengzhou City, and the guards of the two prefectures have begun to reorganize on a large scale. Water conservancy facilities, city repairs, and new industries are being built everywhere. Soap workshops, salt drying fields, etc. all sent people to the two provinces to investigate and open branches.
In just over a month, Yanzhou Prefecture and Dengzhou Prefecture were full of vitality.
Of course, unlike the joy of the people in the two prefectures, the officials and soldiers in Yanzhou and Dengzhou Prefectures were very anxious. A large number of unqualified Dunjun and guard soldiers were dismissed, and a large number of generals and officials who had embezzled military land were dismissed. After being imprisoned, many powerful people began to be suppressed. The magistrates of Yanzhou Prefecture and Dengzhou Prefecture closed their doors to accept guests, for fear that they would be implicated.
After all, Liu Yan is no longer just a general military officer, but has been expressly appointed by the imperial court to take charge of the military and civilian affairs of the four prefectures of Qinglai Town. The prefects everywhere are all Liu Yan's subordinates. Who dares to seek death at this time?
Qingzhou Fucheng, General Military Mansion.
Wang Wenzhen was reporting to Liu Yan on the implementation of the New Deal during this period, and Liu Yan was very satisfied. As his power grew, the old forces in various places no longer wanted to resist, and the New Deal was implemented very smoothly in Yanzhou Prefecture and Dengzhou Prefecture.
"Headquarters, it is estimated that in another two months, Yanzhou Prefecture and Dengzhou Prefecture will be reorganized. The Ministry of Civil Affairs will
The household registration and yellow rolls of the two prefectures have been sorted out. Next, Minister Zhang will lead the Ministry of Agriculture to inspect the two prefectures and organize manpower to prepare for spring plowing. "
Liu Yan said: "Tell Zhang Lei that it is too late for Yanzhou Prefecture and Dengzhou Prefecture to reclaim wasteland this year. They must first restore all the cultivated land in the military camps returned from the clearance. After the autumn harvest, they must reclaim wasteland on a large scale, at least. Let the people in the two governments who have lost and have little land be given land."
"yes."
While he was talking, Minister of Finance Yue Ming came to the main hall. After saluting, he handed over a silver coin: "Headquarters, please take a look, there are fake silver coins on the market!"
"What!"
Wang Wenzhen was startled and looked at Liu Yan hurriedly, but Liu Yan was not surprised and just took it over to take a look.
I saw that the workmanship of this silver coin was very poor, and the writing on it was not clear. It was cast by myself according to the style of the silver coin.
Then Liu Yan said coldly: "There are really people who are not afraid of death. Have you found out who did it?"
"I found it, but there are many sources. They can be found in Qingzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture. They are mainly profiteers and gentry."
Yue Ming said: "My subordinates have sent people to verify, but those who made the fraud were not afraid at all. Instead, they admitted it openly. Because in the past, except for the snowflake silver cast by the imperial court, when broken silver was in circulation, the people It can be cast by oneself, silver cakes, silver coins, silver beads, anyone can cast them as long as they are willing, and they can cast them at will."
"Those who are now making counterfeits believe that the silver coins issued by the shogunate are the same as the previous silver cakes and silver beads, but in different shapes and are still broken silver in essence, so they do not count them as counterfeiters and do not consider themselves guilty.
. "
"Hmph! Strong words."
Liu Yan understood that some of them must have such thoughts, but he could not let others mint silver coins at will. A large number of low-quality silver coins circulating in the market will completely destroy your layout.
Liu Yan's promotion of silver coins was not only for convenience, but also to play a big game of chess. Liu Yan wanted to slowly transition silver from a unit of weight to a unit of amount, laying the foundation for the implementation of a unified currency based on the silver standard in the future.
Therefore, Liu Yanning would not let go if he was killed by mistake, and immediately said: "The Ministry of Finance will not care about this matter. You draw up a specific list and give it to the Guards Battalion General Miao Shao, and ask Miao Shao to directly send troops to suppress it!"
Yue Ming and Wang Wenzhen were both shocked. Things were different from what they expected. Liu Yan did not use any means at all and just drew his sword.
"Headquarters, is it too drastic to send troops?"
Liu Yan said coldly: "This town wants to use the heads of these people to declare that silver coins are the economic lifeline of Qinglai Town. No one is allowed to make them privately, and no one is allowed to disrupt the economic order of Qinglai Town. Otherwise, there is only a dead end." !”
On the same day, Miao Shao, the general of the Guards Battalion, received the order and immediately mobilized troops and horses to prepare for the attack.
Now the new army battalions in Qinglai Town have been redeployed. Chen Xun leads the front battalion to guard various places in Laizhou Prefecture, Wang Yue leads the rear battalion to guard various places in Dengzhou Prefecture, and Zhang Yi leads the left battalion to guard various places in Yanzhou Prefecture.
After Miao Shao gathered his guard camp for hundreds of nights and guarded it, he sent troops to notify the front camp, rear camp, and left camp, and asked the three generals to send troops to assist.
For a time, the entire Qinglai Town was trembling, and soldiers of the new army could be seen dispatched almost everywhere in the city.
In Laizhou Prefecture, Chen
Xun led his troops to surround a house, which was the residence of a wealthy businessman in Laizhou Fucheng. A large group of new army soldiers had broken into the house and were arresting people and property inside.
"grown ups!"
A scream came, and a fat, middle-aged man in rich clothes ran out with a mournful face, and knelt down in front of Chen Xun with a plop.
"Sir, my Li family has done something wrong. I have to ransack the house. Please show me your kindness!"
Chen Xun said coldly: "Just because you mint silver coins privately, this is a dead end!"
"That silver coin is just broken silver. What kind of crime is this? Please..."
"nonsense!"
Chen Xun reprimanded: "Silver coins are the same as copper coins. They are money. Do you understand? How can everyone make it by themselves? That would be a chaotic start!"
"Yesterday, I sent someone to notify you, asking you to hand over all the silver coins you minted privately, hand over all the utensils used to mint silver coins, and go to my chief officer's office to accept your charges. But you turned a deaf ear and continued to drink and have fun in the house. I heard that last night Your boy also found two girls aged thirteen or fourteen to sleep with, which is absolutely crazy!"
The more Chen Xun talked, the angrier he became. He kicked the fat man down and shouted, "Tie him up!"
So amidst a scream like a slaughtered pig, the fat man was tied up, and all the family members were also tied up and brought out.
This time, Chen Xunguang just raided this house and gained more than 50,000 taels of privately minted silver coins. In addition, there were various broken silver, silver ingots, copper coins, etc., amounting to about hundreds of thousands taels of silver, as well as a large amount of silk, silk and other items. House deeds, land deeds, etc.
Chen Xun looked at the mountains of property piled up in the yard and couldn't help but cursed angrily. All of these merchants were family members.
Although he has a lot of money, he still wants to poach the corners of Qinglai Town.
The silver coins that the fat man minted were only 60% silver, and the remaining 40% were made of lead, nickel, aluminum, etc., but he wanted to use them as one tael of silver. It was obvious that he did this deliberately, hoping to use this to plunder the people's wealth.
"No wonder the headquarter directly ordered homes to be ransacked and people arrested. If these profiteers don't die, wouldn't it be unreasonable?"
Chen Xun shouted angrily: "Put everyone in prison and take custody. The seized money will be shipped immediately to Qingzhou Mansion and handed over to the Ministry of Finance for storage."
"yes!"
Like Chen Xun, Miao Shao, Wang Yue and Zhang Yi were also busy, constantly ransacking homes and arresting people in Qingzhou Prefecture, Dengzhou and Yanzhou. These two states are different from Laizhou Prefecture and Qingzhou Prefecture. Liu Yan has been deeply involved in those two places for many years. Even if there are profiteers, they are only sporadic.
In Dengzhou and Yanzhou, there were many profiteers and gentry involved in counterfeiting. In just a few days, Zhang Yi and Wang Yue raided dozens of houses and mobilized thousands of soldiers to participate.
Even in Yanzhou Prefecture, two wealthy merchants gathered their servants to resist. Hundreds of servants armed with spears and swords actually knew how to form formations and gathered together to rush out and attack the new army soldiers in the front yard. go out.
Zhang Yi, who personally led the troops, was so angry that he shouted: "If you dare to die, I will bury you and open fire!"
There was a roar, and the hundreds of servants who came in formation never expected that the New Army soldiers in front of them actually dared to fire a gun, and hundreds of them were shot dead immediately, and the remaining servants dispersed in a rush.
"Search for me, and those who resist will be killed without mercy!"
The new army soldiers of the brigade rushed into the back house and shouted at the man from the wealthy businessman.
He was beaten, scolded, and then killed on the spot by the angry New Army soldiers.
A moment later, amidst the screams of the female family members, a large number of family members were tied up and brought out. Many bloody corpses were also carried out. Soon the front yard became very crowded.
"Everyone is imprisoned, and everything seized is registered and shipped to Qingzhou Fucheng!"
"yes."
A few days later, Liu Yan received a report from the garrison in each prefecture. A total of 121 counterfeiters were investigated and punished in the four prefectures, and all their homes had been ransacked and imprisoned.
From the homes of these 121 thieves, the New Army officers and soldiers confiscated a total of 980,000 taels of silver, including counterfeit silver coins, broken silver, silver ingots, copper coins and other various properties.
In addition, nearly two thousand prisoners are being held in various hells, awaiting further processing.
Wang Wenzhen broke into a cold sweat when he looked at so many numbers. Liu Yan made such a big noise with just one order, which was really a decisive move.
"Headquarters, during this period, more than 570 people were killed and injured in various places who resisted the thieves. How should we arrange the aftermath?"
Liu Yan thought for a moment and said: "Send an order to Miao Shao, Chen Xun, Wang Yue, and Zhang Yi to publicly behead the principal criminals on the spot to deter the greedy villains from all parties. As for the remaining family members and accomplices, they will all be sentenced to three He was sentenced to one year in prison and sent to a mine under the Ministry of Commerce to perform hard labor."
Wang Wenzhen wrote them down one by one, and at the same time sighed in his heart: "The main town is too ruthless. Not only did they steal the family property, but they also used these people as free labor. Now the Ministry of Commerce can have a lot of expenses left."
"Headquarters, the Ministry of Finance is still asking what to do with the more than 900,000 taels of silver seized?"
"Make them all into silver coins, and then spend them first according to the budget
Pay for project expenses in Dengzhou and Yanzhou. "
"yes."
