Off the coast of Quanzhou Port, there are many ships of all kinds. Except for the fishing boats drifting with the waves, the rest are merchant ships and transport ships coming from all over.
Among them, there were ships that were fast and overtook Nanhai Ship No. 46 and ran ahead, such as the five three-masted sailing ships just now. There were also ships that were slower and were slowly overtaken by Ship No. 46.
The six ships that John refers to are such ships.
It is a circle longer than the Nanhai Bing 46 ship, and looks like the fattened No. 46 ship. But there are still three masts, and the hard sail only has two more sides. It can be seen that the forward sprit mast originally had one hanging side.
The soft sail was just furled early.
No. 46 has a displacement of 260 tons. The six fat piers in front of it are at least 400 tons or more. They are also entering the harbor with half-reefed sails and moving slowly.
Duda looked over with his fingers and saw the ships clearly, "Oh, the big-bellied ship is a copper ship."
"Express - ship?"
"Copper-carrying ship, copper-carrying ship. Two large copper mines were discovered in the north of Luzon Island the year before last. The imperial court auctioned the mining rights to Nanhai Fuyou Mining Co., Ltd. The ore began to be produced last year. I heard that the quality is very good. It is slightly
Copper can be produced in just one smelting. These ships transport copper ore from Luzon Island, and some are crude copper ingots that have been first refined, to Quanzhou Port. There is a smelting plant in Nan'an Town."
"Copper is smelted here?" Yin Sak came over early and asked curiously after listening to Da Geer's explanation.
"Yes, Minhai County was originally a place where copper and silver were produced. There are several silver mines and copper mines in Jianning, and there are tens of thousands of miners and smelters. There are people from the court and private households. I heard that Mr. Zhang, Xu
Both the old Xianggong and Cai Xianggong have connections in their families."
"After the copper was produced in Luzon Island, the smelters were moved over and a blast furnace was set up. Copper ore or crude copper ingots were transported by big-bellied ships, and coal was transported from Guangning Port by big-bellied ships to refine the copper ingots.
The output is very high. I heard that the copper ore from Luzon Island is mixed with gold, and it is refined out of it. Mom's spicy cake is really profitable!"
John frowned and asked: "Brother Da, I heard in Guangzhou that the money of the Song Dynasty is mainly copper coins. If these people refine copper ingots, can't they make their own money?"
"Make your own money? Mr. Zhang doesn't even dare to do it. Who is so brave? The Judicial Investigation Bureau's nose is sharper than a dog. In the past two years, I heard that hundreds of people were killed because of counterfeiting money.
"
"Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer people making counterfeit money. Firstly, they are afraid of being killed. Secondly, our copper coins from the Song Dynasty are becoming more and more exquisite now. They are not easy to make and will cost money if they are made."
"I heard that the Baoquan Bureau that makes copper coins and silver coins uses what kind of water... It presses and presses the machine. It just puts the mold there, and with a bang, the copper coins come out. By the way, this is it...
"
Duda took out several copper coins of different sizes from his pocket.
The smallest one is only as big as a fingernail, with the words "Da Song Tong Bao, Pawn Money". Behind it is an image, a simple flower, with a few strokes. There is also a line of small words below, "Apocalypse Four Year System"
.
The larger one is as big as a quail egg and thicker, with the words "Da Song Tong Bao, Pawn Money" written on it. There are also flowers on the back, which is a bit more complicated. There is also a line of small words below, "Apocalypse Three Year System".
The largest copper coin is as big as an egg and much thicker. It has the words "Tongbao of the Song Dynasty, the current ten texts" written on it. There is also an image on the back, but it is much more complicated, it is actually a landscape.
In John's opinion, it was just a picture of a real scene, lifelike. There was also a line of small words below, "Apocalypse Five-Year System."
Both John and Yin Sak touched it and found that there were patterns and words on the edges of the copper coins that were used as coins. After looking at each other, they knew it in their minds. It was so exquisite, much more exquisite than the gold coins cast by their own empire. .
Such exquisite copper coins are very troublesome to make.
If private individuals try to imitate, not only will the imitation not look like it, but the cost will probably exceed the money made by the government. If you consider the cost, then the fake money you make is far from real money. Anyone who has come into contact with real money, as long as they are not fools, Everyone can recognize it.
If you have to make it look like real money, I'm afraid the cost will kill you.
The purpose of counterfeiting money is to make money. Who would be willing to do it if you lose a little by making one?
"One cent, one penny?" Yin Sak looked at the face value on the copper coins and was a little confused. In Guangzhou, they only stayed in Guangzhou for a short time and used hired interpreters to buy things, so the two of them didn't know much about the copper coins of the Song Dynasty. value.
"Yes, in the Song Dynasty, we used to use one penny to calculate money. But the amount was sometimes too large. A steamed bun cost two penny, why not one and a half penny? So the imperial court introduced one penny, and ten cents were regarded as one penny. .From now on, a steamed bun can be sold for one penny and fifty cents, or one penny and six cents."
"Every penny is a copper coin. Did the Song Dynasty only use copper coins? I have also seen people using silver coins." Yin Sak asked curiously.
He had dealt with a group of shrewd businessmen in Venice and knew some economic knowledge.
"For us ordinary people, it would be great to have this. We carry dozens or hundreds of coins with us, which is enough. If we are really rich, we can just bring a few silver coins."
Duda showed off a bit and took out two silver coins from his wallet and showed them to John and Yinsak.
"The salary I just paid... 1 yuan is worth two hundred copper coins. The calculation of five yuan is the same as before. However, the money has been changed in the past two years, so it can't be converted so easily."
John and Yin Sak didn't care about what salary was for the moment. They took two silver coins and looked at them carefully.
The silver dollar in Yin Sak's hand is not big, smaller than an egg, but larger than a quail egg, a little thick, and has a little weight in his hand. There is also a line of words on the front, "Da Song Tong Bao, 1 yuan as money."
On the reverse side is a picture of a building, tall and majestic, with extraordinary momentum. The bottom line of small words is "The Six Years of Apocalypse"
"Where is this?" Yinsak asked curiously, pointing to the picture.
"Donghua Gate, the east gate of the imperial city, where civil and military officials go to and from court."
"Oh," Yinsak responded.
John continued to look at the silver coin in his hand.
The silver dollar in his hand is slightly larger and thicker, with a line of words on the front, "Tongbao of the Song Dynasty, when the money is two yuan." On the back is a majestic mountain, standing on the plain, well, it should be a grassland, because you can see There were sheep and horses.
"Dago, where is this?"
"Yanran Mountain, Yanran Mountain that Leshi Yanran."
There is an allusion! John's eyes were wide open and his curiosity for knowledge was very strong. Dudalian talked with him and gave him an overview.
"Under this mountain, it used to be the royal court of the Huns and Turks, but now it is the Hening City of the Song Dynasty?" John understood a little bit.
He spoke a few words in Greek to Yinsak Didi Gugu, and his eyes looked particularly complicated. In order not to attract Duda's attention, the two of them returned to the topic of silver coins.
There are also words and patterns on the edge of the silver circle, which is even more exquisite. According to John's knowledge, this is definitely not cast, but should be a new manufacturing process - the stamping that Dagor mentioned just now.
"Dago," Yin Sak asked again, "Apart from 1 yuan and 2 yuan, are there any other denominations?"
"Yes, there are also Wu Yuan and Shi Yuan."
"But when I was at the Guangzhou market, I saw that in addition to using silver coins for transactions, people also used pieces of paper? Can paper also be used to buy things?" This chapter has been completed!