The days when I pretended to be a cat in the Forbidden City[Comprehensive]

After learning the investigation results of the matter, Xia Anran let out a sigh of relief, and then began to have a headache about how to deal with the follow-up questions.

He hadn't really worried about counterfeit money before, because the fifteen counties in Zhongshan belonged to the formal county system, and they were relatively close to Wu, so they basically used the former Wu's currency.

The Emperor Wen’s indulgence in making money privately made the currency used by the big Han at that time basically only Wu Guobi or Dengtong coins. Later, Deng Tong’s illegal property was searched. After the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, King Wu was destroyed, and Emperor Jing also confiscated it from him. A large number of unissued coins, which were rewarded to the sons or used as circulating funds in the counties.

At that time, after he got the Copper Mountain, he only thought about preventing inflation, but he really didn't think about whether there was any problem with the currency circulating in Zhongshan.

All the half taels minted before were exchanged for building materials abroad, but they were not circulated in the country.But Xia Anran considered that this batch of money would probably be circulated back to Zhongshan through trade, so there was a small mark on the mold to facilitate market statistics and traceability. It was relatively easy to find out.

In addition, there is also a logo on the Dengtong coin itself, so the accident is the Wu Guobi that has no logo and is easy to forge, and has a huge circulation in the Kanto region.

Now that counterfeit currency has appeared in Beiping County, other counties must also be affected, and it is not necessarily just the counties in Zhongshan that are affected.Because Beiping County itself belongs to the end of the avenue, any caravan that wants to go north will pass through this section, and the impact is not small.

Xia Anran sighed, although he did not do this, but the label of lax supervision will definitely not be taken off, and he will probably be scolded by his old father.

With a mournful face, the little king drafted a letter called a letter from home, but it was actually a letter of criticism, and handed it to Han Ying to check it before sending it out.

After reading the whole article, Han Yushi said that there was no problem, but looking at the expression of the little king, there was something wrong - it turned out that their Highness usually talked to His Majesty in this way, so I couldn't tell.

Cough cough, the little king glanced at this MAX-obedient letter, and said that of course he didn't talk like that at ordinary times, but now that he made a mistake, of course he had to be more well-behaved, lest the old father read more and get angry.

In addition to this letter, Xia Anran also sent a letter of proposal, suggesting that the old father should nationalize the right to mint coins and order a severe crackdown on piracy, otherwise there will be more and more problems left over from history.

Liu Qi was enjoying the cool air in Yangling when he received this letter.

The Hanzhong Plain has reached the hottest time of the year. Chang'an City has a superior geographical location, but the palace complex has almost no shade for safety reasons. The floor tiles used absorb a lot of heat during the day and release it at night.The palace also basically opens the door on one side and does not pass through the wind. Even if there is an ice mirror, it is like a stove in summer.

So basically in the summer, the most distinguished family members of this dynasty spent their time in the lush Shanglin Garden or the steamy Ganquan Palace.

But this year Liu Qi has another place to go, and that is Yangling Township.

His mausoleum, Yangling, has completed infrastructure construction.

When the imperial tombs of the Han Dynasty were built, a unique administrative unit was added, called "Yi".Lingyi is attached to the cemetery and serves the cemetery.And its status changes with the construction time of the cemetery.

The early mausoleums took on the role of providing manpower and material support for the construction of the cemetery, which in simple terms was logistics.And when the cemetery is basically formed, high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen from all over the country will purchase properties locally and move their capitals here.

After the emperor is buried, the mausoleum will undertake the work of serving, and undertake the task of supplying materials during the annual sacrifice of the emperor.

The urban planning of Lingyi itself belongs to the county seat, but compared with other cities and counties, the main body of Lingyi is the city, and it does not have the situation of villages outside the city.

When Gaozu's mausoleum was being built, Gaozu had to move some of the population from Kanto to fill it, but when Emperor Jing's Yangling was being built, some people took the initiative to sign up to live in Yangling.

Why is there such a change?In fact, the reason is very simple.

The living space in Chang'an City is already extremely crowded, and due to the unsound urban planning at the beginning and long-term use, the residential areas in Chang'an City have actually experienced some inevitable aging problems, such as sewer pipe congestion, and low-lying areas during rainy days The area is prone to water accumulation and so on.

Although this situation only exists in a small number of areas, it is difficult to start this part of the project if the problem is not so serious that it cannot be tolerated.

Relatively speaking, the existence of Mausoleum is undoubtedly similar to the outer ring area of ​​the current imperial capital, where the Fengshui is good, the environment is good, and all the houses are newly built, and the infrastructure is also built and designed by the best craftsmen in the country. The housing price is low, and His Majesty can see your filial piety if you live in it. The benefits are simply not more.

As for the inconvenient transportation to work?This can’t be said to be a problem in the Western Han Dynasty. Don’t forget that the bureaucrats in the Western Han Dynasty are on call around the clock, and they are originally based on accommodation.In this way, you only need to find a place in Chang'an City to settle down and get ready to go to and from get off work, and then return to Lingyi after rest and holidays.

The construction of Yangling Town itself has been basically completed, and it is about to enter the stage of moving in.But at this sensitive time, Emperor Han Jing suddenly stopped the migration of the population and resumed the construction of Gongling Town. The main task was to widen and regularize the roads.

This made the prime minister in charge of the construction of the mausoleum and the master craftsman very troublesome, especially since His Majesty was not satisfied with the several plans submitted.It wasn't until the lawsuit-ridden master craftsman got a suggestion from Chun Tuo Ruoyou that he realized what Emperor Jing really wanted.

To put it bluntly, the old father envied his son to have a city that he could plan by himself.

It's a bit ridiculous to say this, after all, this world belongs to Liu Qi himself, but the layout of Chang'an City is limited, and the population inside has become crowded.

In addition, the main building of Chang'an City was decided by his grandfather and father, so Liu Qigai had some psychological burden on him.

...The main reason is that he is too lazy to argue with officials, and he has been acting a lot recently. Being an emperor is not a lot of trouble, just once in a while, and this year, because of the efforts of the governors who have just taken up posts in various places to create "performance", it directly leads to a large shortage of low-level officials. However, there is also a gap in the middle-level officials. In order to stabilize the place, the management of Chang'an City has also been sent out a lot.

In the case of lack of personnel, if he still wants to repair Chang'an City, it will be a rhythm that requires people to work overtime and never return home.

But it doesn't matter if you are repairing your own mausoleum. After all, mausoleum is part of the emperor's mausoleum and serves the emperor's mausoleum.And the imperial mausoleum itself is an existence to show off the achievements of the emperor and the comprehensive national strength, no matter how extravagant it is built, no one will object.

Moreover, the mausoleum's team of craftsmen and related departments are the only departments that have not been affected by the dispatch of officials by the central government this time, and they have ample labor force.

If people don't find something to do they will become a thorn in the side of other officials.

——Liu Qi pretended to make an excuse.

After figuring out the direction, Jiang Zuo and Zhou Yafu hurriedly found a way to find the topographic map of Lunu County in Zhongshan Kingdom as a reference, and then adjusted it, finally finishing it in place before the arrival of summer.

In fact, Yangling City pays more attention to symmetrical aesthetics in the construction site itself, so the final adjustment is not much, but some houses have been demolished and a central gathering area has been added.Considering the location of Yangling Town, this place is not like Zhongshan Kingdom, which is mainly for parties and leisure, but a large temple for incense and sacrifices. Of course, there is nothing in it now, just an ordinary house.

After seeing the manuscript paper, Liu Qi expressed his satisfaction, and even took a carriage to inspect the place where he will guard the mausoleum in the future after the completion of the project.

Yangling Township is located further east than the main burial area of ​​Yangling, and beside them, the Wei River and the Jing River will meet here, forming the famous landscape of "distinctive distinction between Wei and Wei".

Abundant river resources not only brought convenience in transportation to the construction of Yangling, but also brought pressure on flood control and anti-seepage. Therefore, when selecting the site, the whole part of Yangling was selected at a high place.If the weather is fine, maybe you can look down at Chang'an City from a high place and cross the Weihe River.Its location is similar to that of Emperor Gao's Changling.

In fact, the position that Emperor Jing chose for himself was to the left of Emperor Gao.

The tomb system of the Western Han Dynasty is the "Zhaomu system". The father's left is Zhao, and the son's right is Mu. Gaozu Liu Bang is the ancestor, Huidi's Anling is his son, and Wendi Liu Heng is also the son of Gaozu. It would be a bit strange if it was next to Anling, so the mausoleum that Liu Heng arranged for himself was not on the Xianyang Plain, but on the Bailu Plain to the east of Chang'an City, and he chose mountain burial instead of artificial sealing.

But this move of the old father undoubtedly brought trouble to his son Liu Qi.The location of Bailuyuan is not big. Emperor Wen also buried his mother, Empress Dowager Bo, and reserved a place for Empress Dowager Dou. According to the layout of the emperor's mausoleum, it is obviously impossible for Emperor Jing to put himself in it.

But he was also a little awkward when he was buried next to Anling.As for why he was chosen to the left of Emperor Gao, this secret is only known to him.

The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, and the Qin people favored the east. The mausoleum chosen for himself by the future emperor with the posthumous title Jing is located in the easternmost part of Xianyangyuan.In later generations, Emperor Jing's Yangling was the "leader" in the tomb area of ​​the entire Western Han Dynasty.Interestingly, the mausoleum of his son Liu Che is located in the westernmost part of the mausoleum of the Western Han Emperor.When the two men built the cemetery, they naturally failed to imagine this future scene. This is also a historical coincidence.

But although the two don't talk about it, they can also see the subtle similarities in their personalities from the location of their tombs.

The location of Yangling Township is high, and it is in a place with abundant water vapor. In addition, it is facing the wind, which also makes it cool in summer.Therefore, after the completion of Yangling Town, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty Liu Qi chose it as a summer resort for this year.

But even though he chose here, the old mother was very cold. Empress Dowager Dou said that she still planned to go to a more traditional place for summer vacation, so she took a group of female relatives to Ganquan Palace.

Liu Qi naturally didn't dare to express any objection to his mother's statement. He simply waved his hand and sent all the queen and concubines to Ganquan Palace. You can also go shopping on the street, and point out where you need to change things, and the small life is also very beautiful.

Although I am escaping the summer heat, I still have to do the political affairs that should be dealt with.Seeing people coming and going back and forth between Chang'an and Yangling City was troublesome, so Liu Qi simply gave his beloved courtiers a flat for each of them, so that everyone could move here together.

At this time, the aristocratic families in the Kanto region have not yet moved in, and there is quite a gap in the streets. Now the family members of the courtiers are very lively as soon as they enter.

Yangling Town had only a small number of residents before, most of whom were rich and powerful merchants. After they arrived, they immediately expanded the supply of goods in Yangling Town, and because the place is more spacious, the residents are all dignitaries, and the fashion trend is completely different. It is inferior to Chang'an City.

A smart vegetable merchant seized the business opportunity and brought in a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, all of which were beautiful in appearance, and the price would be doubled if they crossed a river. Buy the expensive one and not the right one.

Since everyone was here for vacation, Emperor Jing simply asked these courtiers not to live in the office, and to go home after sunset.If there is something urgent, we live close to each other anyway, unlike the Changle Palace where there is a palace that needs to get off the horse and gallop all the way here on horseback, the waiting time is about the same.

Therefore, when he received his son's letter, the humerus ministers of the Han Dynasty were quickly summoned to the conference hall.

Everyone on the road still had some guesses about what happened, and after passing the letter of King Zhongshan to each other, they felt a little relieved.

In their view, the conflict over coinage has always existed, and it will explode sooner or later. As for when and how it will be dealt with, it all depends on the emperor's mood.

Seeing that His Majesty is also strictly investigating this time, the courtiers immediately said that what His Majesty said is very good and very reasonable, and we all agree with it.

Liu Qi snorted, he put the bamboo slips written by his son on the table, adjusted a more casual sitting posture and asked: "Sheng'er is young, so it is inevitable that he is not thoughtful and radical in thinking about problems, and everyone here is young. Yu Shenger, I wonder if there is a better way to deal with this matter?"

If Liu Qi's words were taken seriously as a criticism of his son, it would be a big mistake.What the Emperor actually meant was—my son can think of this at such a young age, why didn't you guys who are so much older than people think of it?Have you eaten all the rice and salt for nothing for so many years?

In fact, it is really not easy for the courtiers to open their mouths about this matter. After all, there are problems left over from history, and the main cause of this result is the former emperor.

Your Majesty is benevolent and filial, but you know that you will not hit the muzzle of a gun.What's more, after the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, the private minting of coins has been ordered to be banned. The courtiers saw that His Majesty's intentions also showed a little sign of taking back the rights, so of course they would not mention it, otherwise this would be robbing the emperor of his labor and ideological achievements.

Cough, this is the political wisdom of being a courtier.

And now that His Majesty said so... Of course, everyone would not tell the reason straightforwardly. Anyway, His Majesty just wanted to hear others praise his son, and the caring courtiers all blew rainbow farts at Liu Qi.

There is only one exception-Zhou Yafu, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty.

The prime minister who just came to power last year and the emperor Liu Qi did not get along well, the primary reason being that their personalities did not match.Moreover, Zhou Yafu strongly opposed Liu Qi's abolition of the crown prince last year, which made Liu Qi very dissatisfied with this person who opposed him on key issues.In addition, Zhou Yafu's attitude towards the current crown prince, Liu Che, was not respectful enough, and some eyes were not eyes and noses, and he was picky in every possible way, which made Liu Qi very uncomfortable.

After spending the "honeymoon period" with Zhou Yafu, in Liu Qi's eyes, everything about Zhou Yafu was a minus point.

However, a conversation with his son Liu Che a few days ago slightly changed his opinion.

His two sons looked at the courtiers with a bit of cold eyes, which were purely rational, and what the four courtiers said was even more refreshing in Liu Qi's view.But indeed, if you look at a few courtiers with this kind of perspective... Liu Qi suddenly realized that his tolerance for these courtiers was much higher.

After all, in terms of ability, these individuals are indeed capable after all, but some people... are too capable.

The emperor's fingertips tapped silently on the low couch, while Zhou Yafu was speaking freely in front of him, "His Royal Highness, I think the words of King Zhongshan are mostly exaggerated. It has been decades since the first emperor, and in these decades The country is safe and peaceful, and the people accumulate wealth and have abundant currency.”

Zhou Yafu’s meaning is actually very simple. It has been in operation for decades to relax the currency to be minted by the people themselves. The reason why Emperor Wen relaxed this point was because the central government of the Han Dynasty was unable to meet the national currency minting.

Today's coins can mint at most one hundred or two copper coins at a time, and a skilled hand can only mint a hundred coins a day, and most of the time is spent on making clay models and drying and calcining in the shade.And how many craftsmen does the central government have to support to complete the casting volume supplied to the whole country?

Even if the central government can afford it, it can do it, so how much labor is needed to transport these copper coins to various places?Copper coins are extremely heavy, and if they need to be transported, they can only use ox carts, and the ox carts move slowly, only in the Guanzhong and Kanto areas, but what about the south?Among other things, let's take Changsha as an example. The avenue is broken in Yunmengze, and it will have to be transshipped at that time.

In this way, the cost of transporting a batch of copper coins is too high, and it is not cost-effective at all.

What he meant was: His Royal Highness King Zhongshan's idea is actually to be lazy and push all the responsibility for minting currency to the central government, so it has nothing to do with him if there are counterfeit currency in the future.

But in fact such a move is completely unworthy of advocacy, not only unworthy of advocacy, but also needs to be criticized.

Liu Qi patiently listened to what Zhou Yafu said, but he smiled lightly. He nodded at Zhou Yafu and said, "These are the only things the Prime Minister is worried about?"

The emperor's attitude was really abnormal, and many courtiers were taken aback by His Highness's kind attitude, and they tried to stop Zhou Yafu from saying anything more with their eyes.However, if eye-stopping can be effective, it is not Zhou Yafu.

The upright Prime Minister Zhou thought about it seriously, and shook his head to express that there were only these two reasons for the time being.

So Liu Qi laughed loudly, he called out the crown prince Liu Che, pointed to the officials and said, "Quickly read the things written by your brother Sheng to all the adults."

The little prince stepped forward with his head held high. He held the bamboo scroll that had been prepared in his hand to promise, and then unfolded it.

The young boy's voice was clear and clear, without any stage fright: "I have heard that there are two disadvantages in minting coins in the country. One is that there is not enough manpower, and the reason for the lack of manpower is that the method of minting coins is outdated. Therefore, I have asked domestic craftsmen to develop a new method of minting coins. There is no need for clay-making boards, one filling can start at [-] coins, and the consumables can continue to be used, and one person can mint more than [-] coins a day. The method is simple and easy to use, and if more people cooperate with each other, you can get more."

"Another disadvantage is the inconvenience of transportation. Therefore, Erchen suggested that the minting place should not be fixed in one place. It can be the same as the governor's system. A coinage place should be built in several areas, and it will be supplied by it, and the place where the coins belong Central jurisdiction, so that it is convenient for control and transportation of currency.”

"My son believes that the value of currency in the whole country is now chaotic, and there are many bad and counterfeit coins, which will cause great harm to the people. At the beginning of the official minting, the currency in the hands of the people should not be considered, and it should be exchanged one by one according to the currency type, so as not to Hurt the people. First stop the counterfeiters, and then severely punish the use of bad money after it is confirmed that the circulation of good money among the people is no longer hindered.”

"My son's knowledge is shallow. There are many capable ministers and officials in the father's dynasty. There must be another explanation. My son throws bricks to attract jade, so that my father can laugh."

"Liu Sheng, my respects."

After the little prince finished reading, he returned to his original place with his head held high and his chest held high. He couldn't be more proud.

He thinks his brother is simply amazing!The two answers perfectly solved Prime Minister Zhou's problem. Liu Che thought that Zhou Yafu was the best before, but now he is completely biased.

Because Zhou Yafu said bad things about his brother, hey, just like my father said, no one is perfect.Prime Minister Zhou is indeed capable, but he is still not as good as his imperial brother in this respect.

However, Liu Xiaozhu thinks this is normal, after all, Brother Huang is his elder brother duck.

Liu Qi smiled as warmly as a spring breeze. He nodded at Zhou Yafu and said with a bit of hypocrisy: "Sheng'er is a little bit of a mind, and he may be exaggerating in many things. I am a little worried. Let's do this, Sheng'er will introduce the method of minting coins." They were sent to Chang'an together with the craftsmen. Prime Minister, you send someone to look at these, but to see if the so-called "sand-turning method" is really so easy to use.If Sheng'er is not exaggerating, I will bother the prime minister to see how many craftsmen are needed to recast the national currency. "

When the emperor's words are spoken, the subordinates will have to run away.

Zhou Yafu himself has several roles, and now his main responsibility is to build the mausoleum for the emperor.Just now he was relieved of the heavy burden of Yangling City, but now he is given this task again, and it is clearly stated that this matter must be watched by him, and it cannot be shirked.

What can Zhou Yafu say?He could only obey obediently.

Although Zhou Yafu is upright, he is not stupid. From Liu Qi's attitude, he can see that His Majesty could not be more satisfied with Zhongshan King's memorial, and entrusting the matter to him is actually to prove that Zhongshan King This time it is true.

In fact, he still felt that this matter was unreliable, especially when King Zhongshan said that one person can make so many coins in a day... I am afraid it is not a sensationalist?

Therefore, with a heart of wanting to find fault, Zhou Yafu led his subordinates to watch the craftsman of Zhongshan Kingdom experiment this new coinage method for them, and finally he came back with a face full of blood.

King Zhongshan is really an honest man... Zhou Yafu thought while reporting to Liu Qi, this is the first time he met a courtier who lowered the number when reporting to the emperor.

With the help of assistants, the craftsman can make nearly [-] copper coins a day.If the unskilled work such as final polishing is assigned to small craftsmen, the speed will be faster.

The advantage of this coinage process called "sand foundry" is that the coinage equipment is changed from the original clay as the carrier to fine sand, which can be used without restriction, and as long as it is compacted, there is no need for redundant processing, so it is convenient. Widely reduced minting preparation time and raw material costs.

It is indeed a good way.

But Zhou Yafu also has other worries.

This method of minting coins is too simple and fast, and if there is no need to dry and dry the clay boards, it means that while the official minting speed is accelerated, imitators can also mint coins at a faster speed and with less movement.

No wonder the king of Zhongshan demanded that the method of coinage be nationalized. If such a rapid coinage method is spread to the people, according to the current possession rate of Tongshan, the speed of central coinage may not be as fast as that of private coinage.At that time, it is very likely that even if the central government takes back the right to make coins, most of the "counterfeit coins" minted by the local people will be used by the people.

Zhou Yafu immediately reported the situation truthfully. At the same time, he asked Liu Qi to order that all craftsmen in Zhongshan who mastered this method be arrested. "This method must not be introduced to the people."

"Oh!" Liu Qi responded indifferently, leaning forward slightly, and asked in a seemingly casual manner, "Then, according to the prime minister, is it feasible to mint coins with this method?"

Zhou Yafu was at a loss for words for a while, but after a long time he bowed his head and said, "I think, yes."

"Good!" Liu Qi's face was calm, he sat upright slowly, folded his hands on his front abdomen, and said in a rather reserved manner, "Then leave this matter to the prime minister, as for the craftsman, the prime minister doesn't have to Don't worry, Sheng'er has made arrangements for this matter."

Hey, seeing Zhou Yafu's expression of unwillingness but forced by the facts, why does this feel so good.

No way, who made me have a good son, hahaha!

The author has something to say:

Zhou Yafu and Han Jingdi had a honeymoon period. In fact, Zhou Yafu was actually promoted by Emperor Jing.Emperor Wen passed away not long after "Zhou Yafu's Army Xiliu", and the subsequent bold appointments and decentralization were all from Emperor Jing.

It turned out that Zhou Yafu's temper was really grumpy.

He offended all the members of the Han royal family.

During the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, he placed Liu Wu, instead of saving Liu Wu, he cut off the food supply of the coalition army and offended Queen Mother Dou.

After Wang Zhi became queen, Dou Dou suggested that Wang Zhi's elder brother should be made a marquis, but Zhou Yafu rejected it, which offended the queen.

He strongly opposed Liu Rong's matter, which slightly offended Emperor Jing (indirectly offended Queen Wang and Liu Che), but it was the honeymoon period at that time, so Emperor Jing endured it.

But later some of the Huns returned to the Han, and Emperor Jing wanted to confer titles on them as a demonstration to encourage more Huns to vote for the Han, but Zhou Yafu strongly opposed them. He believed that these people were traitors, and conferring them a title would have a negative educational meaning for the Han. Jingdi enforced it.

In fact, if you take a closer look at this matter, Zhou Yafu represents the military group (his father is Zhou Bo, the founding hero) and he is also the prime minister.The prime minister of the Han Dynasty and the imperial power have always been in a state of wrestling, no matter which emperor is the same.

Moreover, the few things that Zhou Yafu objected to were actually quite subtle.Let's not talk about the abolition of Liu Rong.

Opposing the king and queen's family to become a marquis is actually opposing the start of the power of the royal family's relatives. For the early Han Dynasty, the relatives were absolutely attached to the existence of the emperor, and the relationship between the relatives and the prime minister was naturally unfriendly.

Those who oppose the return of the Huns to the Han are waiting.

The Xiongnu had no power at all when they returned to the Han, and the only thing they could rely on was the emperor, so in Liu Qi's view, these people were definitely the imperial thugs.And this group of people relies on the emperor's authorization, so it is impossible to have too much connection with the regional group.

Considering that the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion happened not long ago, it is extremely important for this group of people to concentrate on Liu Qi's forces against the locality.

But Zhou Yafu objected to these two things. Emperor Jing was a suspicious person, so it was hard not to think about something.

On the other hand, in addition to clearing the way for Liu Che, there is another point - Liu Wu.

Liang Wang Liu Wu is Liu Qi's good brother, but he is also the successor to his son's throne.After the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, Liu Wu made great contributions, and his power was overwhelming. Before that, Liu used the crown prince to hang Liu Wu, and now the situation is even worse. He couldn't really give Liu Wu the bait, so he was naturally hostile and straightforward with Liu Wu. Zhou Yafu became prime minister.

The two wrestled with each other, Liu Qi could be relatively relaxed, but then Liu Wu died, and Zhou Yafu became a unique force.So he felt at ease to add trouble to Liu Qi...

In fact, his character is really not suitable for politics, he is too straightforward and straightforward.In this respect, he is not at all like his old father, Zhou Bo...