In the Xuanzheng Hall, the boiler next to it has started to provide warm water, and the entire hall is warm.

This made Wen Yanbo and Fang Xuanling, who didn't know what to do, start sweating on their foreheads.

"Your Majesty, as early as the Western Han Dynasty, Jia Yi said, 'The money that is treacherous becomes more abundant day by day, and the money that is honest is lost.' There are only two ways to solve this problem. The first is to block the illegal minting of copper coins and strictly investigate the illegal minting of copper coins.

Use torture; the other is to increase the casting of Kaiyuan Tongbao so that there will be enough official money circulating in the market."

Although Fang Xuanling is known as a prime minister through the ages, facing this kind of financial dilemma, he could not come up with any fresh opinions for a while.

Scholars in ancient times did not attach much importance to business, and their research on business theory was even more lacking.

Even if some businessmen are proficient in this way, they have no chance to get the attention of the court.

"This low-quality copper coin contains only 60% of the copper of Kaiyuan Tongbao. It can be said to be a huge profit. I am afraid it will be difficult to ban it completely by banning it alone."

Although Dai Zhou's words may not sound good, they are true.

"It's better to clear it than to block it. It would be great if there could be enough official money circulating. But where did so much copper come from?"

After Wen Yanbo finished speaking, the Xuanzheng Hall fell into silence again.

It is said that China has a vast land and abundant resources. It may be true that China has a vast land, but it is hard to say that it is rich in resources.

Take gold, silver, and copper as an example. There is no mine in the Tang Dynasty that has a particularly huge output.

Otherwise, physical objects such as silk will not exist as a transaction medium for a long time.

In fact, the copper coin panic was already a bit serious a few years ago, but no one has found a solution and can only keep dragging it on.

However, for the development of business, the inconvenience caused by not having a proper and suitable transaction currency is really too great.

This gave the soil for inferior copper coins to survive.

"Your Majesty, why not ask His Royal Highness the King of Chu?"

Dai Zhou saw that everyone was silent and put forward his own suggestions.

Over the years, the Ministry of Revenue has been the most able to feel the various changes brought about by Li Kuan.

When it comes to who can make the most money in Chang'an City, Li Kuan dares to say that he is second, but no one dares to say that he is first.

All kinds of endless tricks make money from all over the world flow to the Chu Palace.

This is simply the reincarnation of the God of Wealth, Fan Li.

"Your Majesty, the Prince of Chu's palace should be the one who feels the panic about copper coins the most. His Highness, the Prince of Chu, may have some unexpected insights."

Fang Xuanling also had great confidence in Li Kuan. When Dai Zhou said this, he immediately agreed.

Li Shimin sat there, a little speechless and a little relieved.

"Lan He, hurry up and summon Kuan'er into the palace!"

After a conversation between the big shots in the Xuanzheng Palace, Li Kuan, who had been flirting with women at home, braved the cold wind and left the palace.

"I have met your Majesty, all princes."

When Li Kuan arrived at the Xuanzheng Hall, he was surprised to find that several big shots were waiting for him.

I am just an idle prince, don't look for me if anything big happens in the court.

You can get it done once, and maybe you can get it done the second time, but there are always times when you can’t get it done, right?

There is no merit if you do this well, and you will be punished if you do it badly...

It’s really not as fun as staying at home with my little lover.

"Dai Aiqing, please briefly explain the situation to Kuan'er."

Li Shimin was discussing some other issues with everyone just now. When he saw Li Kuan coming, the topic immediately returned to the money shortage and private minting of copper coins.

Dai Zhou briefly introduced the current situation facing the court, especially the current dilemma as the Ministry of Revenue, and then stared at Li Kuan to see what he had to say.

"Your Majesty, as long as there are low-quality copper coins on the market, it is inevitable that Kaiyuan Tongbao will become increasingly scarce and there will be more and more low-quality copper coins."

Li Kuan understood what happened as soon as he heard it.

It seems that every powerful dynasty will encounter a situation where there is not enough copper money. How is it like in later generations, when there is not enough paper money, just turn on the money printing press.

"Huh? Why is it said to be an inevitable phenomenon?"

Li Kuan said as soon as he came up that the current situation was inevitable, which made Li Shimin a little unhappy.

"It's very simple. When people find that there are low-quality copper coins circulating in the market, they will use them first after receiving them. As for the high-quality Kaiyuan Tongbao, they will store it and try not to use it if they can. Wei Chen

Call this phenomenon bad money driving out good money.”

“Bad money drives out good money?”

Li Shimin pondered for a moment: "Your description is quite appropriate. Is there any way to change this situation?"

"No way!"

As soon as Li Kuan finished speaking, he felt that he was suddenly baptized by sharp eyes.

It seems that these big guys have high expectations for themselves.

"Although there is no way to solve the problem of bad coins driving out good coins, Wei Chen has a way to solve the problem of insufficient copper coins."

Since ancient times, the phenomenon of bad money driving out good money has existed, even if it takes more than a thousand years.

In later generations, even marriage competitions can reflect the law of bad money driving out good money.

For example, when Lao Wang is very handsome and falls in love with the beautiful Lina, he may not pursue her with all his strength because he thinks he has good conditions. However, Lao Song is very ordinary and falls in love with Lina because he knows

If you don't have any advantages, you will probably try your best to show the attitude of "I am only good to you, and I am willing to give everything for you."

After some comparison, Lina may have felt that Lao Song loved her more, and then she followed him.

Actually, it’s hard to say who loves it more.

But, no matter what, in this marriage and love game, Lao Song, the "bad currency", finally won the beauty.

Of course, with some girls thinking everything is about money, this rule doesn't completely work.

Maybe Lao Wang's wallet is thick enough, and Lao Song will be in vain no matter how hard he works.

"How do you solve it? Could it be that you discovered a large amount of copper ore somewhere?"

Li Shimin was slightly relieved when he heard Li Kuan say that the money shortage problem could be solved.

In his opinion, as long as the problem of money shortage is solved, there will be a way to eliminate those low-quality copper coins as long as the investigation and punishment efforts are strengthened.

"No, there are no new copper discoveries."

Li Kuan's answer disappointed everyone again.

Sometimes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

Fang Xuanling looked at Li Kuan with a speechless expression. His Royal Highness, King Chu, was not omnipotent.

"But, Your Majesty, princes, why do we have to limit ourselves to casting copper coins?"

Li Kuan thought of Ishimi Yinshan's daily output of 10,000 taels, plus the millions of taels of gold and silver exchanged from previous trades, which fully met the conditions for casting gold and silver coins.

Why hang yourself on the copper coin tree?

…

Before the Song Dynasty, most areas in China did not use gold and silver as currency. During the entire Zhenguan period, the most commonly used currency was Kaiyuan Tongbao.

You must not think that Kaiyuan Tongbao is a copper coin minted by Tang Xuanzong Li Longji. Although he also has a Kaiyuan era name, Kaiyuan Tongbao was minted when the great ancestor Li Yuan was in power.

The emergence of Kaiyuan Tongbao effectively solved the currency chaos in the world at that time and played an important role in the recovery of the Tang Dynasty's economy.

In addition to Kaiyuan Tongbao, silk fabrics played the most important role in payment during the Zhenguan period, including damask, Luo, brocade, silk, etc., which are all relatively valuable silk fabrics.

It can be said that Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling thought a lot, but they never thought of using gold and silver as currency.

This is probably the inertia of thinking.

Due to the low production of silver in the Tang Dynasty and the previous dynasties, it was not even much more than gold, so it simply did not meet the basic conditions for currency circulation.

However, the situation today has changed.

"Your Highness, King Chu, what can you use without copper coins? You can't use wool thread, right?"

Changsun Wuji had been silent at the side, but now he saw that Li Kuan was acting a bit mysterious, so he couldn't help but sneered at him.

To be honest, the more powerful Li Kuan is, the more Changsun Wuji worries about what happened back then being exposed.

Although I have dealt with all the insiders, who can guarantee that everything is absolutely foolproof?

"Yes, Your Highness King Chu, if we don't mint copper coins, the money shortage will become more and more serious. How do you solve the problem of insufficient copper coins?"

Dai Zhou didn't quite understand what Li Kuan meant.

"It's very simple, mint gold and silver coins!"

Li Kuan gave the answer directly.

"Gold and silver coins?"

Li Shimin immediately thought that among the internal funds there was a lot of gold and silver from Donghai Fisheries dividends, and then thought of Li Zhong's previous report that Shijian Yinshan's daily silver output was as high as ten thousand taels.
To be continued...