Chapter 4 fourth quarter

In the late October of the 17th year of Xining, after the emperor summoned Wang Anshi, he quickly issued an imperial decree, worshiping Wang Anshi as a servant and a military affairs officer.The new party, which was in a panic after Lu Huiqing was dismissed, finally calmed down.Shi Yue and Sima Guang wrote another letter, reviewing the history of the Tang Dynasty in unison, denouncing the party struggle for harming the country, and affirming that only the prime ministers work together to bring about peace in the country.Both of them kept silent about the disputes caused by Wang Anshi when he was in power, and only praised Wang Anshi's virtue and talent.Shi Yue even hinted that it was Sima Guang who recommended Wang Anshi as prime minister.

These two letters were quickly published in the "Xin Yi Bao", which caused a huge shock.People who have deep prejudices against the New Party and Wang Anshi will inevitably be worried. Some people worry that Sima Guang and Shi Yue will repeat the same mistakes, some people will overthrow Wang Anshi's old background, and some radicals will even curse Sima Guang and Shi Yue; He was skeptical, but he was sure of Shi Yue and Sima Guang's attitude.Disgust and worry about party strife have overwhelmed distrust of Wang Anshi in the hearts of many people—especially when the Song Dynasty was once again in crisis.

On the one hand, it was Shi Yue and Sima Guang's statement, and on the other hand, the reforms of more than ten years had indeed achieved results. In short, this time, there was no such wave of opposition as when Wang Anshi made his first visit to Prime Minister in the early years of Xining. This really made both Shi Yue and Sima Guang heave a sigh of relief. Immediately afterwards, a few days later, Zishantang directly said that Sang Chongguo resigned because he was suspected of his relatives. , can be a teacher.Cheng Yi thus became the only direct speaker of Zishantang. This can be regarded as a happy ending. The decent resignation of Sang Chongguo, the dissatisfaction and criticism of Sang Chongguo between the government and the opposition, disappeared before the outbreak. The emperor not only handed over his successor to someone he relatively trusts In the hands of his teacher, he also avoided the danger of Zhao servants being affected after the intensification of conflicts - any criticism of the prince's teacher will spread to the prince himself sooner or later - this made the emperor and Shi Yue heave a sigh of relief; and Cheng Yi's supporters They can see that the future emperor can receive the education they want, and this small victory can also temporarily satisfy them.

However, obviously no one has considered the preferences of Zhao Gong and Zhao Wei; no one has cared about the hidden dissatisfaction of the students of Sangchong Kingdom... In short, even the ordinary people in Bianjing were full of hope in October of the seventeenth year of Xining, although there were also many complaints mixed with this optimism.The average banknotes owned by the people in Kaifeng Prefecture may be ten times, or even dozens of times, that of the people in other areas, but they can only watch their own banknotes being rejected by merchants under various names every day, or Devaluation in disguise.Of course, they are not completely inactive. People began to try their best to turn the banknotes they own into copper coins, but the more they do this, the more people will find that there is an extreme shortage of copper coins in the market, so the price ratio of copper coins to banknotes is getting higher and higher. .Among the people, there are various rumors circulating everywhere, and most of these rumors imply the same thing: the imperial court may no longer accept the payment of banknotes for taxation, and may even officially abolish the payment of banknotes.

Many people believe that handing in money was invented by Lu Xianggong. Now that Lu Xianggong has stepped down and Sima Xianggong and Shi Xueshi have become the prime ministers of the Zhao family, it is also "reasonable" for Lu Xianggong's "invention" to be abolished. . The citizens of Bianjing are in favor of Sima Xianggong and Shi Xueshi from the bottom of their hearts.The opinions of the middle and lower gentry classes often influenced the opinions of ordinary people. If a prime minister was widely praised by this class, under the influence of these people's public opinion, ordinary people would also think that prime minister was good.Sima Xianggong and Shi Xueshi not only received the praise of this indirect influence of public opinion, but also directly recognized by ordinary citizens.Every Bianjing citizen will admire Sima Guang's noble character; similarly, every Bianjing citizen will admire Shi Yue's ability to become a prime minister.If you ask ordinary people in Bianjing, they will all say that the Zhao family should have made Sima Xianggong and Shi Xueshi long ago.They believed that Sima Guang and Shi Yue could govern the country well.Relatively speaking, the support Wang Anshi received was limited to knowledgeable scholars, or officials who wanted radical reforms.

However, although the majority of the people trusted Sima Guang and Shi Yue, amidst their optimism, there was still apprehension.And this kind of mentality even permeates every class in Bianjing.Handing in banknotes is related to everyone's vital interests, and people have to care about its preservation or waste.In Bianjing, people have begun to treat banknotes as a hot potato, trying every means to turn them into copper coins or other real objects, but merchants refuse to accept them. There are long queues in front of the banks to exchange them every day, so that many banks want to reduce the risk. , began to limit the amount of exchange, and applied to the Banknote Delivery Bureau for copper coins at a frequency much faster than normal.

The treasury is also becoming more and more distressed. To make matters worse, the fake banknotes that appeared in the Kaifeng government circles made the trust of banknotes even worse. Perhaps at this time, only a few speculators think that this is paradise. This is a vicious cycle. In history, when the government failed to issue a new currency, it hastily abolished it and passed the burden on to the people. It has happened many times.But this time, if Song Ting adopted the same method, it would obviously be the worst one.Because of the new currencies in history, even if they are abolished, the currency itself may still be able to convert some money, but this time, the abolished banknotes are too hard to take home and paste the wall.

Panic spread quietly, and burned from the people to the temples. The treasury's reserves of copper coins are getting less and less, which makes many officials start to lose their temper.Some officials, like ordinary people in Bianjing, believed that handing in banknotes was an "invention" of Lu Huiqing, and it was worthy of re-examination just like Xining's naturalization.Moreover, this is politically beating a dog in the water, and there is no risk.They attacked the payment of banknotes and the naturalization of Xining together, counted the harm it caused with a sense of superiority after the fact, and loudly called on the court to abolish it.

This attack is by no means without market.In the Song court, a considerable number of officials who came from Jinshi lack professional knowledge and are not used to investigating and analyzing real problems. They are easily confused by superficial phenomena, and even listen to rumors, thinking that they are standing for the interests of the people. For the sake of the country, for the sake of the national interest, began to echo this attack. It seems that the handover of banknotes and the naturalization of Xining are the root of all evil. As long as these two policies are abolished, everything will be better.

What's more complicated is that some officials with financial experience and reputation in government affairs have also begun to discuss whether to take decisive measures to abolish the policy of handing over banknotes and stopping Xining's naturalization. Some officials who served as local officials in the north were the first to completely lose confidence in banknotes. They believed that they had to take decisive measures to completely abolish the payment of banknotes and restore the original currency system before the situation deteriorated to the point of no return... Some officials from the southeast, as well as many officials who had supported the new law, opposed the abolition of paper money.They believe that the Song Dynasty needs banknotes, but they also think that the Song Dynasty issued too many banknotes without capital, so they pessimistically believe that the collapse of banknotes is only a matter of time. If the Song Dynasty continues to support it, the country's finances will only follow suit. Collapse... Therefore, they also advocated resolutely abandoning the payment of banknotes and re-establishing a more cautious paper currency system, that is, re-issuing a new paper currency with sufficient reserves of gold, silver and copper!

Therefore, the voice of abolishing banknotes seems to have become the loudest and loudest voice in the Song court.Worse, these discussions are completely uncontrolled.Memorials, newspapers, private parties, whispers... everyone wants their voice to be as loud as possible! The public's confidence in handing over banknotes quickly fell to the bottom amidst these voices. In just a few days, almost all the money houses in Bianjing City stopped exchanging banknotes one after another; shops and workshops, large and small, also refused to accept any banknotes; despite this, people still flocked to the streets, wanting to use their own banknotes in exchange for money. Everything that can be exchanged for.The front of the Taifu Temple was even more crowded with big merchants carrying boxes and boxes of banknotes for exchange... Although due to the limitation of the speed of information transmission, it has not yet spread to other areas, but it is only a matter of time. And all of this, in turn, became evidence for those officials who advocated the abolition of banknote delivery, as if they did not cause all this, as if they had the foresight, and the voice of Bianjing advocating the abolition of banknote delivery became louder and louder. So, within less than a month of paying homage to the prime minister, new troubles followed one after another, and Shi Yue fell into a state of desperation. But God seems to think that the situation in the Song Dynasty is not chaotic enough. At the beginning of November, two important members of the New Party, Xue Xiang and Chang Zhi, died of illness in Bianjing. , but it can't help but make the new party in Bianjing feel sad.And Xue Xiangsu is famous for his financial management. His death caused a very bad psychological hint in people's hearts, and it even added a lot of ominous atmosphere to the panicked Bianjing. This winter in Bianjing is gloomy and depressing. Shifu. Shi Jian saw a maid quietly retreating from Shi Yue's study with a tray, the girl didn't dare to speak when she saw Shi Jian's questioning gaze, and just shook her head sadly.Shi Jian couldn't help but sighed, and waved his hand helplessly, telling the girl to back down.Shi Yue hasn't bothered to eat for two days. "Servant Sword..." "Uncle An?" Shi Jian turned around, but saw Shi An holding a name card in his hand, and he glanced at Shi An in surprise.In the past ten days or so, Shi Yue had to meet at least ten or twenty officials and scholars every day when he returned to the mansion, not counting his duty in the political affairs hall.Pan Zhaolin had no choice but to make a rule that every day from the time when the lights were lit in the mansion, guests would be declined.At this time, it was past Xuchu, and the lights in Shi's mansion were already brightly lit. Although Shi An was the oldest servant in the mansion, he was usually very cautious, how dare he break Mr. Pan's rules? Shi Anxian knew what Shi Jian was thinking, and said with a smile: "If this person doesn't pass it on, he will be blamed if he neglects..." while handing over the post to Shi Jian. Shi Jian took the name card suspiciously, opened it for a look, and said in surprise: "Zhang Shangying? He came to Beijing?" He quickly closed the name card as he spoke, and said, "Uncle An, go to the living room to wait. I'll report right away." This was the first time Shi Yue saw Zhang Shangying since leaving Hangzhou.In Shi Yue's memory, Zhang Shangying is still the suave and arrogant son of the troubled times. Zhang Shangying and Shi Yue have a deep relationship - it was precisely because of Shi Yue's recommendation that Zhang Shangying was exceptionally appointed as the prefect of Hangzhou, and was able to make a quick comeback.Although Shi Yue also heard some rumors - Zhang Shangying once recommended Shu Quan, but was later impeached by Shu Quan because he was suspected of asking Shu Quan for his relatives, and was almost demoted to prison for salt tax again... Shi Yue didn't know Whether Zhang Shangying was wronged in this matter, he didn't take it too seriously.In Shi Yue's mind, Zhang Shangying was considered an outstanding magistrate. It was Zhang Shangying who, together with Cai Jing and others, carried out various policies established by Shi Yue in Hangzhou and extended them to Liangzhe Road, Huainan Dongxi Road, and Fujian Road; For more than ten years, he could only be a local official, but he and Shi Yue have exchanged letters for so many years, and he has never complained. With these two items, Zhang Shangying has a place in Shi Yue's heart.This time Zhang Shangying was able to return to Bianjing to serve as the young minister of the Taifu, and Shi Yue played a big role in the dark. However, the process of Zhang Shangying's return to Beijing was full of twists and turns.Although he got up immediately after receiving the edict, unexpectedly he fell seriously ill on the way, so that he was unable to take up his new post for a long time. Of course, he also avoided the turmoil in Bianjing because of this. peace of mind. The banknote delivery crisis intensified, but Li Qingchen, who also served as the secretary of the Taifu Temple, really couldn't reassure Shi Yue.Li Qingchen is good at everything - he supports the reform, the old party can accept him, and he is also very capable. Whether it is arresting robbers and suppressing rebellion, breaking prisons and governing the people, or etiquette allusions, articles and edicts, people can't pick out half of them. No words - but it happened to be a little short on financial management.It is no wonder that Li Qingchen has never been an official in the southeast roads in his life, nor has he held any official position related to finance and accounting in his resume. The ability to manage money.Even though Shi Yue knew something was wrong, he couldn't replace Li Qingchen.Li Qingchen did not make any mistakes, and he was trusted by the emperor. Shi Yue wanted to replace him, not only would he not be able to convince the emperor, Sima Guang, and Wang Anshi, but it would also make Li Qingchen think it was an insult—this would make him even more unable to exert influence on the Taifu Temple. force. After Cai Jing was transferred to the household department, Shi Yue could only count on Zhang Shangying. "When did Tianjue arrive? Have you seen the emperor?" Shi Yue asked while looking at Zhang Shangying.Zhang Shangying's figure is similar to Shi Yue's. He is actually a few years older than Shi Yue, but because of proper maintenance, he looks younger than Shi Yue. "The next official will enter the city in the afternoon, and I haven't been summoned yet." Zhang Shangying moved her slightly fat body, with a slightly uneasy look on her face.After he returned to Beijing, he didn't meet the emperor first, he didn't visit the two mansions first, but first visited the prime minister's private residence.If Sima Guang was sitting in front of him, he would be kicked out immediately.But he has a reason why he must see the stone. "Hmm." Shi Yue's face also changed slightly, "I think the emperor will summon Tianjue soon, Taifu Temple plays a very important role and has a great relationship, and now it's an eventful time, so Tianjue needs to worry a lot." "The head of the Taifu is still Li Bangzhi..." Zhang Shangying raised his eyes to peek at Shi Yue's expression, and at the same time considered his choice of words, "This is actually the reason why the lower officials came to see my husband." "Li Bangzhi is a good person to work with, Tianjue doesn't have to worry." Knowing that Shi Yue had misunderstood, Zhang Shangying laughed quickly, "What I'm worried about isn't whether Li Bangzhi can work well with me. It's because I heard that Li Bangzhi is advocating against the abolition of banknotes in the court..." Shi Yue looked at Zhang Shangying unexpectedly. "Nowadays, the first priority of Taifu Temple is to hand over banknotes. The officials have heard a lot of disputes about handing over banknotes between the court and China before entering Bianjing. I think it is inevitable whether it is summoned by the emperor or the government affairs hall. Ask the officer for his opinion..." "The meaning of Tianjue is..." Shi Yue listened to his implication, but the more he listened, the more he felt that something was wrong.Li Qingchen opposed the abolition of banknotes, which was a well-known fact, and Shi Yue could guess his real motive.Li Qingchen was ordered to recover the banknotes lost in the Yongshun bank case. He was very effective and was praised repeatedly.Many of these banknotes are still on the way back to Bianjing. If they are abolished before they can be stored in the warehouse, isn't this a joke?What's more, the ministers in the court who really control the financial planning know that the handover of banknotes is very important to the Song court's finances. If it is easily abolished, it will definitely become an earth-shattering event. Li Qingchen can't afford such a big responsibility.It is precisely because of Shima Wang Li and others' cautious or opposing attitude towards the abolition of banknotes that the abolition of banknotes has never been really put on the agenda of the Zhengshitang under the raging discussions.Shi Yue was looking forward to Zhang Shangying's return, hoping to use his ability to find a way out of the banknote delivery crisis, but at this time, listening to what Zhang Shangying said, it seemed that Zhang Shangying advocated the abolition of banknote delivery.This was beyond Ishikoshi's expectation. Sure enough, I heard Zhang Shangying say: "Your Majesty came to Beijing today, and I deliberately went to the gates of the biggest banks in the city to have a look - if you don't cut the mess quickly and delay it, there will be a hundred harms but no benefits..." "You want to abolish the payment of banknotes?!" Shi Yue's expression turned ugly. Zhang Shangying avoided Shi Yue's gaze, and said: "Outside the three banks on Panlou Street, several streets were blocked by people holding banknotes and wanting to exchange them for copper coins; the merchants in Bianjing City were less than the number of merchants in Bianjing when Xiaguan left Beijing that year. Half; 500 ren in banknotes, but you can't buy a big cake! Mr. Xiang, unless Taifu Temple can open the exchange of banknotes, otherwise, the situation in Bianjing will spread to the whole country like a plague!" If Taifu Temple has enough reserves of gold, silver and copper, is there still a need to waste words here?Shi Yue felt even more impatient.Li Qingchen has lowered the maximum daily exchange amount of the bank several times, but even so, according to the current daily exchange scale, at most one and a half months, Taifu Temple will not be able to find even half a copper. "The imperial court is trying to guarantee the exchange." Shi Yue's tone became stiff. "Limited exchange is just lingering." Zhang Shangying still didn't dare to meet Shi Yue's gaze, but she didn't flinch in her words, "Every time the exchange limit is lowered, it will be a blow to the delivery of banknotes, which is already scarred. Before Lu Jifu stepped down In Kaifeng Mansion, Han Zhongyan can still rely on selling rice and cloth at a low price to stabilize the price - but until now, he can only watch helplessly, there is nothing he can do. Now even Kaifeng Mansion does not dare to just collect and pay the autumn tax I don’t pay for food and rice! I remember that Xianggong once said that handing over banknotes depends entirely on the credit of the government, and now the credit is gone. Forgive me for saying it bluntly, Xianggong does not have the art of turning stones into gold..." What Zhang Shangying said was the truth, but this made Shi Yue even more annoyed.The so-called "economics" principle that is universally applicable was originally just a myth.What's more, he even has a limited understanding of these basic theories, let alone face such intricate practical problems. Han Zhongyan used a very traditional method, paid a huge price, and finally stabilized the price. Seeing that everything was about to improve, then, almost overnight, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse, completely uncontrollable and turned into the current situation. .During this process, Shi Yue, like Sima Guang and Wang Anshi, could only stare dumbfounded, helpless. How about knowing that the credit of the banknote should be maintained?So what about knowing that full exchange should be met?Just as Zhang Shangying said, Shi Yue did not have the art of turning stones into gold.There are countless families of high-ranking officials, family members of the imperial army, and merchants in Bianjing... How many banknotes issued by the Song court over the years have finally fallen into their hands?Shi Yue didn't even dare to think about this number. "...At this point, we should continue to make decisions and not accept the chaos. Mr. Xiang must make a decision quickly and abolish the payment of banknotes!" "Do you know how many people will be ruined by the abolition of banknotes?" Disappointed anger welled up in his head, and the huge sense of frustration made Shi Yue unable to tolerate Zhang Shangying's "betrayal" of his previous expectations for a while. It was only years of habits that made Shi Yue try his best to control He didn't vent his anger on Zhang Shangying, Shi Yue tightened his lips, his eyes were full of anger. "This is robbery! This is robbery!" Shi Yue's anger made Zhang Shangying feel a little timid in vain, but he was silent for a while, finally pursed his lips, and replied in a low voice: "I only know that if the banknotes are abolished in a month or two, the court will You won’t even be able to pay your military salary!” "Did you know that day that half of the salary of the Imperial Army is paid out in banknotes?" The anger in Shi Yue's voice became more and more obvious.He was looking forward to Zhang Shangying's return, because he came to help him tide over the difficulties.In the new official system, there are two Shaoqing in the structure of Taifu Temple, maybe it is time to consider appointing another Shaoqing. In Shi Yue's study room, there was a sudden silence.After guarding outside the study for nearly an hour, Shi Jian finally saw the door of the study opened, and Shi Yue and Zhang Shangying came out one after the other, but to Shi Jian's surprise, Shi Yue sent Zhang Shangying out of the study, and stopped immediately. It was not delivered to the middle gate as usual. Shangshu Zuopu shoots at the mansion. An old servant with a slightly hunchback held an oil lamp and led four officials in their twenties and thirties to the side hall.Along the way, I saw an oil lamp hanging on both sides of the road corridor in the mansion, only a long distance away. The dim light can only barely illuminate.The old servant led these people to sit in the side hall, and then he left. Two veteran soldiers brought tea, and an official in his thirties lifted the lid of the bowl, put it under his nose and smelled it, and said: "This is the tea from the Xinyang Army." The person sitting next to him sighed: "What kind of good tea is this? This is the majestic residence of Prime Minister Zuo, and you can't even see a candle..." "Brother Chang doesn't know how expensive candles are now?" The tea-smelling official put the tea bowl back on the case and said, "Prices are expensive now, and Luzhou is the main production place of candles in the Song Dynasty. There are fewer incense candles in the house." "Hey, troubled times." The official surnamed Chang sighed slightly, and stopped talking. The left servant shoots the book pavilion of the government office. Sima Guang flipped through the famous post in his hand—he was very familiar with Xing Shu and Chang Anmin. Xing Shu was a student of Cheng Hao, and also a disciple of Sima Guang and Lu Gong. He was very talented and was awarded Jinshi very early , and was even appreciated by Wang Anshi for a time, but because he criticized the new law against Wang Yu and offended Wang Anshi, he was expelled from the capital in the early years of Xining and became the magistrate of a small county. His county was abolished, because Lu Huiqing obstructed it, and Xingshu has been idle. During these years, Xingshu began to teach at Songyang Academy while studying; at the same time, he also wrote some articles for "Xijing Review", and Sima Kang has a great relationship.When Shi Yue was visiting Shanxi, it is said that Xingshu once wanted to go to the Shiyue shogunate to seek a post because of Fu Shaoting's introduction, but for some reason, Shi Yue was very indifferent to him. He only stayed in Shaanxi for a month, and then returned to Luoyang angrily. Until not long ago, because of Sima Guang's recommendation, he returned to Chongwen College to study—it can be regarded as a pavilion. Chang Anmin is also an elite among the younger generation of the old party. He was a student of the Imperial Academy in the early years of Xining. He was only fourteen years old when he entered the Imperial Academy. Moved.Later, because of offending An Dun with his words, he was repeatedly suppressed.It was not long ago that he was recommended as a member of the warehouse department Uiro.During the Xining period, 70% of the imperial students belonged to the New Party, and 30% belonged to the Stone Party. Chang Anmin had a very high reputation among the imperial students, but he happened to be from the Old Party.What's more, Chang Anmin is also brother-in-law with Cai.This made Sima Guang and others look at him even more favorably. But the other two names are very strange.Li Wan in Jianzhou, Lu Zhang in Fuzhou—the "Fujian sons" again, a thought suddenly came up, Sima Guang suppressed the inexplicable disgust in his heart, put the famous post in his hand on the case, and looked up Cai Jing, who was in front of him, asked in a gentle voice: "Chang Yuan, does Li Wan and Lu Zhang recognize Li Wan?" "It's Li Wan, Li Gongquan, Lu Zhang, and Lu Boyang that Mr. Xiang asked?" Cai Jing laughed, "It's a coincidence, I just met them yesterday." "It turned out that Yuan Chang recognized it." "Does my husband know that there is a food club in Hangzhou West Lake College?" "Food shop?" "It's a society with a very small number of people. I heard that there are no more than twenty people, but because they are all famous people from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huai, and Fujian, they are quite influential in the southeast. This society also published a book "Food and Goods" , The lower officials have slightly turned it over, probably advocating the unity of righteousness and profit, emphasizing meritorious service, and paying attention to economical use. Lightly corvee and lightly pay, but also protect the rich. According to what the officials saw, they are very concerned about the payment of banknotes, banks, mutual markets, and overseas trade..." "This is nothing more than the Shixue branch." Sima Guang said disapprovingly. Cai Jing smiled, shook his head and said: "The following officials have seen that although this food and goods club has similarities with Shixiang's ideas, they are very different. They have criticisms of Neo-Confucianism, Xinxue, and Shixue, and even Mencius and Dong. There are a lot of accusations from the disciples. The officials saw that some of them said that the study of Dacheng and Xiaocheng is a study that does not know the pain and pain; they also think that the Six Classics are all history, and the new study interprets the meaning of the scriptures. In the final analysis, it is just useless words; some people laugh at Shi Xue In fact, there is no system at all, it is just a few pieces of broken pieces, and some people even say that Shi Xiang is only good at "The Analects of Confucius", but it is all loose words; Distorting Confucianism..." Sima Guang listened to Cai Jing's introduction, he is an upright gentleman, and he was disgusted with this kind of arrogant and frivolous person all his life, so he couldn't help but sneered: "Then they think there is still learning in the world?" "That's for sure." Cai Jing said with a smile, "It's their study of food and goods. They want to establish a general outline for Confucianism. They say that the art of Confucius is the study of governing the country and bringing peace to all generations. If you want to govern the country and the world to achieve peace for all generations, if you talk too much about morality and life, you can only go in the opposite direction, and you will go further and further away. The only way to achieve the learning of other kings is to focus on meritorious deeds and do useful learning. And this food and money management The technique is the useful knowledge they value most.” These words coincided with Sima Guang's academics quite a bit.But Sima Guang still felt that the people in this "food and goods club" were too arrogant, so he shook his head and said, "This is really biased." But Sima Guang didn't completely deny the food and goods company, but it can't help but surprised Cai Jing.He couldn't figure out Sima Guang's true attitude, so he laughed again: "Actually, the officials don't know much about them, even these things were what Li Wan, Lu Zhang and the officials said yesterday. Li Wan, Lu Zhang Both were from West Lake College. Xining, who has been Jinshi for fifteen years, was already a member of the Shihuo Club when it was not well-known at all. Because the two of them understand accounts and are very familiar with accounting regulations, they also It was not released to the outside world, but was left by Mr. Lu Jifu as the head of the Taifu Temple..." When Sima Guang heard that these two were actually used by Lu Huiqing, his face suddenly turned ugly. Cai Jing pretended not to see it, and said with a smile: "According to my opinion, the two of them came to see my husband, probably to lobby for the payment of money." In the side hall. Li Wan and Lu Zhang exchanged awkward looks.When asking to see the prime minister, even if you are arranged to wait in the side hall for an hour or two, it is considered preferential treatment.When they asked to see Lu Huiqing before, they waited outside the door for three days.However, for Li Wan and Lu Zhang, defecting to Sima Guang was an extremely helpless choice.Before that, they tried to get Cai Jing and Li Qingchen to meet.Those were two not so pleasant experiences.Cai Jing is very familiar with Shihuo Club, even Li Wan and Lu Zhang once wrote an article in "Shihuo" to ridicule Shihuo and Xinxue. However, they dared not go to see Shi Yue and Wang Anshi, but instead had to bite the bullet and come to see Sima Guang's reason-so, the result can be imagined, they received only ridicule and ridicule in Cai's mansion.And their immediate boss Li Qingchen, after knowing that they were the so-called "Lu Party", the door of the Li Mansion was completely closed to them, and Li Qingchen was not interested in hearing anything from them at all.If the same thing happened again in Sima Guang's mansion, neither Li Wan nor Lu Zhang would be too surprised. No one knew how much humiliation Li Wan and Lu Zhang had endured to come to Shangshu Zuo Pushe's Mansion. They didn't want to get involved in any party disputes, they just hoped to have the opportunity to display what they had learned.Lu Huiqing once gave them an opportunity they couldn't refuse. When they were in West Lake College, they studied all paper currencies from Jiaozi to handover, and even dabbled in Wang Mang's currency system; For the advocates and promoters of banknotes, he gave them a chance to understand and observe the operation of banknote delivery at the banknote delivery bureau instead of going to the state and county to be the bookkeeper... How could they refuse such an opportunity? This cannot be a crime.Li Wan and Lu Zhang's gratitude to Lu Huiqing is also true in their hearts. Facing the loud voices of abolishing the banknotes, they defended the banknotes and Lu Huiqing's policy of handing over banknotes in the gathering of their colleagues. A crime? For Li Wan and Lu Zhang, trust in Sima Guang's character is almost their last chance. The two people were already a little stiff due to excessive tension, and they could only encourage each other with their eyes. On the opposite side, Xing Shu and Chang Anmin were chatting easily one after another. "...Mr. Xiao Cheng may not be as good as Sang Changqing." Xing Shu snorted softly, "Brother Chang has heard that there are rumors in Bianjing that the sixth brother in the inner head often pretends to be sick and skips class..." Chang Anmin frowned and said, "This is just a rumor after all, how can it be taken seriously?" "I think there is no reason for it. In my opinion, it is Mr. Da Cheng who speaks directly at Zi Shan Tang. He has the strengths of Sang Changqing and Mr. Xiao Cheng, and he has no shortcomings. It is a pity that Da Cheng Mr. Cheng is not in good health." Xing Shu shook his head, then smiled at Li Wan and Lu Zhang, "Gong Quan, Bo Yang, don't be too cautious, Mr. Gong is busy with business, so we won't be able to see you so soon. When I can see you, the servants will come to report." Chang Anmin also said: "Mr. Sima is an extremely courteous and virtuous corporal. Gongquan and Boyang don't need to be too restrictive." "Yes." Li Wan and Lu Zhang hurriedly responded in unison. Seeing the expressions of the two of them, Xing Shu couldn't help laughing, and said: "Brother Chang and I think the high opinions of Gong Quan and Bo Yang are quite reasonable, so we dare to recommend you here. It is your food school, Although I can't completely agree with it, but if you pay attention to economical use, Sima Xianggong will definitely appreciate it. Originally, the governance of the country is inseparable from financial management and food. I really don't know how much knowledge is hidden in it. What's more, what you two said , its root is inseparable from the teachings of saints. Now handing over banknotes is a serious problem for the country. If the two strategies can really solve this problem, the road ahead is the road to Qingyun..." "Wealth and prosperity are not those who dare to expect extravagance..." Li Wan and Lu Zhang became energetic immediately when they mentioned handing over the banknotes. "...Bianjing today is not actually because of the high prices. The most expensive ones are mainly Yizhou and Shaanxi." In the Book Pavilion, Cai Jing carefully analyzed to Sima Guang, "Originally Bianjing was also expensive, but now everyone If you refuse to accept the banknotes, the copper coins will become more expensive. On the streets of Bianjing, if you use copper coins to buy things, the prices are actually quite stable. There are a few goods that are cheaper than last year. Originally, this year is considered a good year. It is said that goods in the southeast are piled up like a mountain. Even if they can’t be transported to Bianjing, there is no reason for the high prices. The root cause of this disaster, I’m sorry to say it bluntly, is the disaster caused by the remarks in the court to abolish the payment of banknotes.” "I'm afraid that's not the case at all." Sima Guang frowned, and said, "If according to what Ziming said, the imperial court issued too much banknotes without capital, even if there were no such discussions, prices would still rise sharply." "That's much easier to handle than it is now. Now the imperial court is in a dilemma. Let's not talk about abolishing the banknotes. Now the court has no rice to cook. If you continue to issue banknotes, whether it's in the army or officials, How can there be no complaints? Even using banknotes to buy people’s goods is almost equivalent to exorbitant taxes; but if banknotes are abolished, within half a year, the imperial court may not even be able to raise enough military expenses..." "If the situation in Bianjing spreads..." Shi Yue has described these terrible scenes to Sima Guang many times. "Xianggong thinks that Li Wan and Lu Zhang's countermeasure..." "Issuing more small-denomination banknotes and completely prohibiting the circulation of copper coins? Don't say whether this can be done. Just doing this will not take a year or a half." Sima Guang shook his head almost subconsciously, " This is not as good as Xing Heshu's proposition. Xing Heshu suggested that, on the one hand, recycle banknotes as much as possible to reduce the total amount of banknotes handed in; on the other hand, try to increase the output of gold, silver and copper mines, so that the mint can mint more copper coins..." Cai Jing laughed again: "The two of them also said that they can take the lead in prohibiting the circulation of copper coins and iron coins in Liangzhe, Fujian, and Guangnan East Roads, which can not only control the spread of chaos in Bianjing to the local area, but also reduce the spread of the chaos in Bianjing. The local gold, silver, and copper were transported back to Bianjing to solve the predicament of Bianjing..." Sima Guang couldn't help but sighed with a wry smile.In the case that the banknote credit is almost bankrupt, how can the Song court ban copper coins in a certain place?Not to mention the recycling of copper coins.Another two guys who only know big words but don't know the reality.Sima Guang just wanted to ask his family to go out to thank the guests, but he heard Cai Jing say again: "However, I have an idea..." "If Xianggong thinks that handing over money is unavoidable, the next official suggests that Xianggong go out to meet these two people, and accept them warmly, encourage them more, and best promote them..." Sima Guang was stunned for a moment, but immediately understood, he couldn't help clapping his hands and praised: "A wonderful strategy!" After leaving Sima Guang's mansion, Cai Jing got into the carriage and couldn't help covering his mouth and yawning big.The Hubu Duzhi doctor is in charge of the income and expenditure of the Song Dynasty, accounting plans, annual expense audits, etc., which is not only an important position, but also a beautiful position; and Cai Jing himself is also a celebrity in front of Shi Yue and Sima Guang. With such an identity, he will naturally become a very busy person in this troubled city of Bianjing. In such a short period of time, such a big crisis broke out suddenly, which made everyone unexpected.However, in Cai Jing’s view, the troubles of the ministers of the political affairs hall and those participating in politics are also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—if the country is safe and sound, no matter how good he is, no matter how well he can do it, under the leadership of Shi Yue and Sima Guang, at least It will take another 20 years before he can become the highest official minister.If you want to be below one person and above ten thousand people, you need more opportunities. Others will not know the deep sense of humiliation that Cai Jing buried in his heart. He was once rejected by Wang Anshi for inexplicable reasons, and was ridiculed because he called himself a member of Cai Xiang's clan. He felt that he was talented, but But Cai Bian often steals all the limelight... In his dreams, Cai Jing dreamed countless times that he was a bigger official than Wang Anshi. , everyone wants to flatter themselves... If you want to make your dream come true, you must not be satisfied with a mere doctor.Although Duzhi Langzhong is a beautiful job, it is only a springboard for his promotion. Cai Jing has begun to approach the core of power step by step.What seemed out of reach before can now be clearly seen in its outline.But that's not enough, a little closer... What is Duzhi Langzhong?Shaoqing?Even a servant or a minister? If he can help Shi Yue and Sima Guang overcome the current predicament, it is absolutely not a fantasy.Moreover, he can also accumulate enough political capital to enter the political hall! If all this can be achieved, Cai Jing will spare no effort, even if he is made to bow his knees in front of Wang Anshi again, he will still be humiliated. However, when walking between Shi Yue and Sima Guang, one must be extra cautious at all times. Of course Cai Jing knew exactly which side he had to stand on. He couldn’t do without a magnificent carriage, let alone a luxurious life. To be as simple and frugal as Sima Guang was, in Cai Jing’s eyes, it was tantamount to masochistic—in his carriage Inside, there is a transparent glazed lampshade, burning candles mixed with precious spices, which can make the whole compartment fragrant and bright as day - even if Sima Guang knew that he would not like his behavior, he couldn't resist it The temptation of this kind of life is ten thousand times harder than apologizing to Wang Anshi.Fortunately, he doesn't need to give up this way of life, at least he can be sure that Shi Yue doesn't care about it.And Sima Guang's attention can further improve his status in Shi Yue's heart. Cai Jing leaned on the soft couch in the car, took a sip of hot soup, pulled himself together, picked up a copy of "Shihuo", and read it carefully.