There is actually another important reason why Zhang Fei did not directly monetize it. He did not tell Sima Guang, but Sima Guang must be able to understand it.
Because the reason is Sima Guang.
Zhang Fei has been walking between Sima Guang and Wang Anshi. This is also a technical job.
When Zhang Fei was helping Wang Anshi to do things, he would try his best to get things done, but he would not break through Sima Guang's bottom line. Just like this, he still left one step aside and did not directly monetize it.
vice versa.
When helping Sima Guang, he would not break Wang Anshi's bottom line.
This is why both Sima Guang and Wang Anshi still trust Zhang Fei very much.
I still remember that at the beginning, when the imperial court announced that the price of official salt would be reduced, the people were overjoyed. It was a great thing for the imperial court to do.
But gradually...
The people discovered that the salt banknotes had nothing to do with them.
Nowadays, it has become a game for the rich. Not to mention the high price of a sixty-penny salt note, the key point is that they have no channels to buy it.
The result is that in the past, the price of salt was high and they were reluctant to buy it. Now, even if they have money, they can't buy salt. What's even worse is that the price of the salt banknotes is almost the same as the price of salt at that time.
Salt is a necessity, how can you play like this?
Many ministers filed memorials to impeach Sinong Temple, which made the people unable to buy salt, and public resentment was already boiling.
Zhao Xu ignored it at first, and waited until all the salt banknotes in his hands were sold before convening a key meeting.
"how so?"
Zhao Xu asked with a serious face.
Han Jiang immediately stood up and said: "Your Majesty, this matter has nothing to do with our Sinong Temple. The imperial court issued salt banknotes originally to benefit the people, but someone secretly hoarded salt banknotes. As a result, the people had no salt banknotes in their hands. At the same time, Those salt shops still have a lot of salt that they can’t sell.”
Zhao Xu asked: "Really?"
Sima Guang immediately said: "Your Majesty, although it is true that Sinong Temple is not to blame, there is a problem with this policy, that is, the people cannot obtain salt banknotes."
Wang Anshi said slowly: "The fault is not in policy, but in human nature!"
Sima Guang immediately said: "Although this is due to human nature, no one knows how many salt banknotes Sinong Temple issued and how much salt the court had. This led to everyone hoarding salt banknotes and waiting for the price."
Wang Anshi retorted: "Don't forget why the imperial court issued salt banknotes. If these are announced, I'm afraid they will intensify their efforts."
Sima Guang said: "But this is against the laws of our ancestors because the court lacks supervision in this regard."
"You two gentlemen, please stop arguing."
Zhao Xu, who felt guilty, quickly spoke up to stop the quarrel between the two, because this was definitely against the laws of his ancestors, because all the reserves were through the finances of Sinong Temple and the emperor's inner treasury, and did not go through Zhongshu's men and the third division. , none of their prime ministers knew anything about it.
This doesn’t make sense!
The key point was that he was also involved and said: "The most urgent task is how to solve the current problem?"
Sima Guang remained silent. He knew the answer, but he also wanted to see how Wang Anshi would choose.
Wang Anshi hesitated for a moment and then said: "Reporting to your Majesty, the reason why salt banknotes were issued in the first place was only because there was a lack of coins in the market, and the price of salt remained high. Now that there is no shortage of coins in the market, I suggest that everyone be allowed to use coins to buy salt."
Sima Guang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
But what he didn't know was that Wang Anshi was by no means conservative, but in his heart he agreed more with securitization than monetization, because for monetization, currency is the key, but there are a lot of currencies in the market, and this weapon may be used by the other party. , but if securitization is directly linked to salt, the salt is in the hands of the court and there is no fixed price, which can be better utilized.
Fu Bi, who had been silent all this time, suddenly asked: "Is the price of salt still set at twenty-five cents?"
Wang Anshi hesitated for a moment and then said: "Actually, the imperial court did not set the price of salt at twenty-five cents. It only stipulated that a dime of salt banknotes can be exchanged for a pound of salt. It can be set at thirty-five cents first. After all, now Coins are not as valuable as they used to be.”
Fu Bi was slightly startled and looked at Wen Yanbo.
They expected Wang Anshi to adjust back to forty-five, but they did not expect that it would only adjust back to thirty-five. You must know that the court purchased the salt from those salt merchants for fifty cents.
The price is still very impressive.
Fu Bi worried again: "But salt banknotes have been issued. If coins are allowed to be purchased at the same time, will the court have so much salt?"
Han Jiang replied: "Sinong Temple has enough salt. When the salt is sold out, the next batch of official salt will arrive. There will be no problem."
Wang Anshi said: "But the imperial court lowered the price of salt just to benefit the people. Therefore, everyone should be restricted to buying a pound of salt at most, but the salt banknotes can be exchanged at will."
Fu Bi didn't believe this, and thought, even if it's a pound per person, how do you know how many people will come to buy salt?
Sima Guang suddenly said: "Your Majesty, this matter has proved that issuing salt banknotes will cause many problems. It can only be used this time, and it cannot be used next time."
Wang Anshi immediately said: "Sima's words are wrong. The salt banknotes have solved the problem of money shortage very successfully. The court should improve the salt banknote system."
Zhao Xu nodded and said: "Scholar Wang is right. Salt banknotes have indeed solved the crisis of money shortage and can be used."
Sima Guang said: "Your Majesty, the reason why salt banknotes can solve the problem is not because of salt banknotes, but because Sinong Temple conceals everything and uses the government decree to stipulate that salt can only be purchased with salt banknotes. This is also the cause of public resentment. This It is absolutely impossible to violate the laws of our ancestors.”
Wang Anshi said: "This time we just responded to the crisis, so we adopted extraordinary measures, but it does not prove that the salt banknotes should not be used. The court can improve the system and issue salt banknotes according to the situation."
Zhao Xu nodded again and said: "I also think that salt banknotes are still feasible, especially when the coins are insufficient, they can be used to pay the salaries of the Royal Police and the Forbidden Army. This is more trouble-free than giving them salt before. As for how to improve this Let’s leave the salt banknote system to Zhongshu Province for the time being.”
The salt banknotes will still continue, but the system will be formulated by Fu Bi and others.
Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, the enemies, looked at each other with some confusion in their eyes. It was obvious that neither one believed the other!
However, this money is a necessity for people's daily lives, but it is not a joke.
After the discussion, the court immediately decided to reopen the salt shop and allow people to buy salt with coins, but each person could only buy one pound. At the same time, salt banknotes could also be exchanged for salt. There was no limit. A dime of salt banknotes could be exchanged for one pound. Salt.
Morning time.
Fu Bi, Wen Yanbo, Sima Guang and Lu Gongzhu came to the salt shop.
Although they don't know how many salt banknotes Sinong Temple has released, it is at least almost 400,000 salt. At the same time, coins are available for purchase. Is there really so much salt?
But I saw a sea of people in front of the shop.
"I will meet my four gentlemen."
The clerk in charge of the salt shop saw the four prime ministers coming and hurried out to welcome them.
Fu Bi asked: "How many people exchange salt banknotes for salt?"
The clerk replied: "I haven't calculated the details yet, but there are no more than ten people, and they can only exchange less than a pound of salt."
"How is this possible?" Wen Yanbo asked.
The little official said sarcastically: "Mr. Wen doesn't know. Now all the salt banknotes were bought at high prices. They can't exchange them all for salt, and they won't be able to eat them all. They definitely still want to exchange money, but thirty-five The price of salt is a bit too low, and everyone knows that the price of salt is bound to rise."
"I see."
Fu Bi and the others suddenly realized.
They finally understood why Wang Anshi set such a price, just to bet that they wouldn't come to exchange.
Wouldn't it be a big loss if we exchanged this sixty-wen package now? If we exchange it for salt, it's not easy to store the salt. We can only wait until the price is high before selling it.
Xiangguo Temple.
"We should have listened to Master Lu at that time and stopped in time. Now our hands are full of salt banknotes, but now the price of salt is only worth thirty-five cents. This is really a loss."
Fu Chengshou choked up after speaking.
The son's hard-earned money from Feng Yue Bao can be fully compensated this time.
The others also had tears in their eyes.
yes!
They stopped the salt money policy, but when they looked back, they found that their pants were almost gone.
What on earth is that for?
Xu Ji still seemed unwilling to give up, "I don't believe they use so much salt, otherwise...!"
"Forget it!"
Fu Chengshou waved his hands repeatedly, "I don't dare to bet any more. I even asked around. No one knows how much salt the imperial court has. If the imperial court really knows how much salt it has, will it buy it and keep it at home? Moreover, If the court lowers the price, we will really lose everything!"
Chen Zhidao: "Yes, this matter has ended here, but it cannot continue. We don't know anything now, so how can we continue to fight with them. Now we can only wait. I think the price of salt will definitely rise. By then If we take action again, we can reduce some losses."
"It's hard to raise it to sixty cents! Ouch! It's my money!"
They have always been the only ones to cut off others, but this time they have become the real unjust ones, directly taking over from a high position. This feels really sour!
This quiet place is filled with howls.
On the other hand, Bianjing Law Firm, which smelled of copper, was full of laughter.
"You really have an insight into human nature. Yesterday, the major salt shops received a total of more than 800 jiao salt notes, but they received 6,000 guan coins. I guess they will not use the salt notes to exchange for salt for a while. ." Wang Anshi smiled happily.
At present, the purchasing power of money has declined slightly, and the price of salt is only thirty-five cents. Everyone uses coins to buy salt.
As long as this salt banknote is not exchanged for salt, it is only twenty-five cents, and the court will make money with blood.
Zhang Fei estimated that they were unlikely to exchange salt on a large scale in the future, because they would soon discover the monetary function of salt banknotes, and asked: "How much does Sinong Temple earn now?"
Wang Anshi opened his mouth and couldn't close his mouth with joy, "If you include the profits that the officials promised us before, Sinong Temple has made about 200,000 yuan. If all the salt now is converted into coins, Sinong Temple's The amount of grain and coins can reach one million. If we choose to price the salt banknotes at twenty-five cents, they may lose more, but Sinong Temple cannot have so much money."
He was extremely happy. The money from Sinong Temple was the start-up capital for his reform, and the next thing to be promulgated was the Green Crops Law. He purchased so much grain. This was really a perfect start!
good sign.
Zhang Fei smiled and said: "Now that Sinong Temple has strong financial resources, I am no longer afraid of them, and I can retire with success."
"Don't retire after your success!"
Wang Anshi's expression changed and he said seriously: "You also said at that time that the salt policy is crucial to whether the salt banknote can be implemented. Now that Xue Xiang has been transferred to Southeast Sixth Road, he can no longer preside over the northwest salt policy. Now many people Everyone recommends you to go to the northwest?"
Zhang Fei hesitated and said: "Senior Sima also told me about this issue. I still have to think about it. The key is that I still have a lot of things to deal with here."
Wang Anshi nodded, "You should think about it carefully. If you have any ideas, please let me know and I will support you."
Zhang Fei cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Bachelor Wang."
At this moment, Lu Huiqing suddenly walked in, first bowed to Zhang Fei, and then said to Wang Anshi: "Teacher, you can go."
Zhang Fei asked curiously: "Scholar Wang, Collector Lu, where do you plan to go?"
Wang Anshi chuckled: "We plan to go to Xiangguo Temple to fulfill our vows."
"You still wish?"
Zhang Fei was immediately dumbfounded.
"Yes, with the blessing of the Buddha, Sinong Temple has made so much money. Of course I have to fulfill my wish." Wang Anshi said seriously.
Lu Huiqing chuckled and said, "This Buddha is almost like a boy who spreads his wealth."
You are going to kill people and punish their hearts! Zhang Fei said sarcastically: "Scholar Wang, there is no need for you."
Wang Anshi said: "It is very necessary. Buddhist thought is originally to save all sentient beings, and the temple should be a quiet place, but the group of bald donkeys made it a smoky mess, no different from the market, it is simply lawless."
Lu Huiqing asked with a smile: "Sanlang, why don't we go together?"
"I'm not going."
Zhang Fei said hurriedly: "I can't afford to offend Xiangguo Temple."
Are you kidding me? Xiangguosi is his financial backer and father, so he must continue to cooperate in the future.
(End of chapter)
