Chapter 20 Money is as cheap as dirt

Chapter 20 Money is as cheap as dirt

"The situation is not good!" Li Tai stood in front of the South City Residence, looking at the carriage going farther and farther away, with mixed feelings. The onlooker who solicited business he met in the city before was named Liu Gong. His service was indeed warm and thoughtful. Not only did he prepare all the food and groceries they needed to buy at one time, but he also took the initiative to bring people to deliver the goods to their door, and promised to deliver the goods on time every month, so that they would not have to go to the market again. But such warm and thoughtful service is also expensive. This person sent a month's rations and fresh vegetables for the family, while Li Tai and his friends spent 100 pieces of silk and 1.8 jin of gold. Li Tai had no way to judge whether this price was expensive or cheap, because Guanzhong didn't have a standard price scale at all! In addition to delivering goods to the door, this person also gave Li Tai an economic lesson in Guanzhong. Since the Five Barbarians' Invasion of China, the world has been divided for hundreds of years. As long as the world has been in chaos, Guanzhong has been in chaos. Frequent regime changes not only greatly harmed people's livelihood, but also caused the entire Guanzhong currency system to collapse several times, and the credit was almost exhausted.

Liu Gong told Li Tai that when Guanzhong was still using money, there were all kinds of coins such as Han Wuzhu, Wei Wuzhu, Hou Zhao Fenghuo Money, Taihe Wuzhu, Yongping Wuzhu, etc. In addition to these official coins, there are also a large number of privately minted local coins in various states.

Most of these coins are crude and have serious weight loss. Even if good money is issued for a while, they will be melted and recast into weight-reduced bad money by profit-seekers.

Although human life is cheap in troubled times, no one is a fool who is willing to exchange the fruits of his labor for a pile of bad money. So gradually, copper coins withdrew from the trading market. People would rather tear cloth into strips for trading than exchange for bad money that can't be spent at all.

A few years ago, the Western Wei court did mint a batch of new coins, but the quality was also very poor. It was mainly used to buy pirated Yong'an Wuzhu coins from the Eastern Wei Dynasty in Hedong, Hebei and other places, and to reward meritorious officials. The share that flowed into the market was very small.

Yuwen Tai rewarded Gao Zhongmi with pirated Wuzhu coins that were newly minted a few years ago. Probably because the Eastern Wei Dynasty was too cautious and could not spend it, he rewarded 500,000 coins at a time.

Li Tai also looked at the money. It was really a good thing for water skipping. It could not sink even after being thrown on the water for more than a dozen times. It could basically be said to be waste money.

The purchasing power of currency dropped sharply. This was a problem that the Eastern Wei, Western Wei, and even the Northern Wei Dynasty had to face.

In recent decades, the highest purchasing power was still the Taihe Wuzhu coins minted by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty after the capital was moved to Luoyang. At one time, it reached the level of two hundred coins per piece of silk, but the Taihe Wuzhu coins were only circulated in the Luoyang area. When it arrived in other places, counterfeiting was serious, and private money was still used in various places.

Of course, there were also scenes of using money in the Western Wei Dynasty, but it was mainly official forced purchases, and inflation was very serious. Compared with the premium of ten or even dozens of times during the Taihe period, the price of money was even much lower than the price of the same amount of copper.

This is really a great spectacle. The purpose of minting money is to make money, but with the artificial smelting materials, the final money is not as valuable as the original copper material. It can be seen how bad the monetary policy of the Northern Dynasty has been played, and the people have reached the point of seeing money.

Yuwen Tai rewarded a total of 500,000 coins, and spent more than 20,000 on the account. Li Tai found out that the money spent was not used to buy things, but to offer to Buddha. It can be seen that the Buddhist sect is ultimately highly conscious, and they accept all the bad money that everyone is unwilling to take.

Liu Gong did express that he could also accept money, but it could only be used to buy and sell livestock such as cattle, horses, and sheep and fodder.

He did not hide his way of selling money, which was to transport it to the states in northern Shaanxi, where there were many mixed Hu people and many city dwellers, and there was almost no output of agricultural and weaving products. The price of grain and silk was extremely expensive. The city dwellers could only trade with money to survive, so all kinds of animal husbandry could only be sold for money.

Li Tai did not know the price of goods in the northern states, but he could not accept the price offered by Liu Gong. A foal cost more than 30,000 coins. The price of sheep was a little lower, but it also cost thousands of coins.

More than 400,000 coins sounded like a lot, but it was only a few baskets. Li Tai would rather leave it at home than be this obvious sucker. If the money could not be spent, then the only thing they could use was gold and silk.

Although gold was not a circulating currency in Guanzhong, there were many Hu merchants in Hexi who used gold and silver coins for transactions. As long as the business was big enough, they would not worry about not being able to spend it.

During the conversation, Li Tai also questioned Liu Gong's background. His family was a wealthy local tyrant in Nanbaishui County on the west bank of Luoshui River. They had hundreds of hectares of fertile land. Most of the land sent to the mansion for trading was produced by his family. This made Li Tai very excited.

"Huazhou Residence is not easy. It turns out that farming is the future!"

Li Tai sighed in his heart and turned back to the mansion. He saw Gao Bailing coming towards him in the front hall: "Shisanlang, the goods have been put into the warehouse. But this is really not a long-term solution. Do you want to consider the deal that Liu Gong mentioned?"

Li Tai shook his head and said, "I have my own plan for these soldiers. I will never sell them!"

Before, when Liu Gong came to the mansion, he saw the full house of soldiers and people, so he proposed to buy some and pay with rice, which not only reduced the pressure of supporting the family, but also increased income.

But Li Tai refused directly, saying that he was hypocritical or falsely noble. He could accept soldiers from others, but he did not want to make a living by trafficking in people.

Putting aside the issue of whether human rights were respected, Liu Gong was willing to offer a considerable price to buy soldiers, which showed that these manpower were also very profitable, and there was still a shortage of labor in the countryside of Guanzhong.

The Western Wei Dynasty was in a tight financial situation and did not have much wealth to reward meritorious servicemen, so giving gifts to soldiers has always been an important aspect. Therefore, He Basheng, Shuo Hui and other generals each had a large number of soldiers, and it would not hurt to give dozens of them to Li Tai.

But at any time, people are the most precious social resources.

The generals were away at war and had no time to manage their affairs carefully, so they felt that the army was bloated and a burden. But when the foreign wars stop for a while and they have the energy to purchase industries and utilize manpower, they may not be so generous.

Why can Gao Huan achieve dominance in Hebei? It was precisely because of the acceptance of the citizens of the Six Towns who were regarded as a burden and a huge headache by the Erzhu family that the military strength of the Eastern Wei Dynasty always surpassed that of the Western Wei Dynasty. It was also precisely because a large number of the citizens of the Six Towns stayed in Hebei.

"Living in the city for a long time with nothing to do is indeed not a good plan for businessmen. Since the Western Dynasty has granted farmland, I plan to lead a group of soldiers out of the city tomorrow morning to eat in the countryside. It is already early summer in April, and the farming season is coming to an end. I miss it. During this farming season, it will be even more difficult to make a living next time!”

At dinner, Li Tai told Gao Zhongmi about his inner plan.

"Apan, since you have such a long-term plan, I won't stop you. Fortunately, the place you are going to is not far away. If you have any difficulties, just come back to your residence and complain."

Although Gao Zhongmi didn't care about family affairs, he saw that so much money was spent on one purchase, and he no longer confidently said that he would have no worries about his livelihood for a year. After saying this, he just held the wine glass and drank silently alone.

Although the Western Wei Dynasty officially banned alcohol and did not sell distilled yeast to the public, the most they could control was in the city market.

If you don't pursue quality and taste, the technical threshold for moonshine water is not high. The wine Gao Zhongmi is drinking is exactly what Liu Gong gave as a gift in this transaction.

Since Gao Zhongmi had no objection, the matter was settled.

In the early morning, after breakfast, Li Tai gathered his troops again and selected 80 strong men and 20 women as the first batch of followers to follow him to the manor outside the city. These people are either loyal and reliable, or have rich working skills and can be put into production as soon as possible.

"Twenty knives, thirty spears and staffs, ten bows, tents, felts, fire drills, sharpening stones and other miscellaneous items have been prepared and can be packed when the cart arrives. There are also other items needed for the wild stay. List the items in detail and purchase them locally. Thirteenth Lang will definitely collect them."

Gao Bailing checked his luggage over and over again. Li Tai looked at the equipment and felt that going out of the city was like robbing a house instead of farming in the countryside. However, considering the fierce folk customs in Guanzhong, bringing these weapons can be regarded as a precaution.

Gao Zhongmi was in a low and sensitive mood, feeling sad and tired of separation. Although he got up very early, he did not enter the front hall. The staff only told Li Tai to send someone to report as soon as possible after he arrived in the country.

I have too much luggage and not enough cars at home, so I have to rent it from the Governor's Office in the south of the city. Days and miles are calculated for long-distance and short-distance, but the price is clearly marked and there is no deception. However, no copper coins were accepted and payment was made in cloth.

It can be seen that the Western Wei Dynasty was really careless and refused to accept broken money.

In addition, the Dudu Mansion also provides another service, which is gold and silver exchange.

Precious metals are not circulated in Guanzhong. If Li Tai wants to buy materials and tools in the countryside, he must prepare cloth.

Gao Zhongmi provided five kilograms of gold as a farming fund. Li Tai exchanged three kilograms of gold at the Governor's Mansion, but he only got fifty bolts of silk, one hundred and twenty bolts of cloth, and twenty kilograms of cotton. It is naturally impossible to measure whether the price is high or low, but considering the poverty of the Western Wei Dynasty, it is obvious that it will not benefit the people.

In the morning, the carriages rented by the Governor's Office were distributed. They were not standard official carriages, but were requisitioned civilian husbands and carriage equipment. When Li Tai saw this scene, he couldn't help but sigh that no matter when the government is good, this business without capital is comfortable.

After loading the truck, the group headed out of the city, accompanied by a Wuxiang County official who was responsible for contacting the township and measuring the number of acres of land granted.

There are few records about money and prices in the Western Wei Dynasty. One of them is that "it costs ten thousand guan to fry Yu Xiangze." During the Taihe period of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen rewarded the imperial doctor who treated him with 10,000 guan. Due to insufficient treasury, Replace it with groceries: two thousand bolts of silk, one hundred bolts of sundries, two thousand bushels of grain, ten slaves, ten horses, and ten cattle. The purchasing power of the Taihe Five Baht was considered to be relatively high in the Northern Dynasties, but it was only used in the Luoyang area. During the Western Wei Dynasty, just one imperial spice cost tens of thousands of dollars, so the monetary policy during the Western Wei Dynasty was basically in a state of collapse. It was not until the Hexi Corridor was reopened and Shannan and Bashu were returned to the Western Wei Dynasty that the commodity economy developed. During the Northern Zhou Dynasty, large amounts of money worth five or ten dollars were minted, which should mainly be used for Silk Road trade in exchange for gold and silver coins in the Hexi Corridor. There are many records of Yuwen Yong in the Northern Zhou Dynasty rewarding heroes with gold and silver coins, which shows that Silk Road trade was very effective. . I majored in finance, and paid more attention to currency and commerce. It can be regarded as a side description of people's livelihood at that time, and there will be some related plots in the follow-up. . .