The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 808 The Counterfeit Money Incident (Part 1)

"Your Majesty is right. As long as we are quick-witted and adaptable, we can find many good solutions. For example, in the fourth edition of the daily prices, we only need to change the typeface for the date and price; we don't need to change the other typefaces."

The fourth edition of "People's Livelihood" mainly focuses on news related to the practical interests of ordinary people, such as market conditions, new product launches, and new store openings. Xiao Xia also saw an interesting piece of news: Luoshui Grand Restaurant is recruiting one manager and seven bartenders, with excellent benefits.

They've even started advertising.

Xiao Xia pointed at the advertisement and laughed, "These recruitment notices or opening announcements can be placed in the middle section. The middle section is blank, so it can be fully utilized. You can also charge the store owners a reasonable fee."

"Wei Chen understands!"

Xiao Xia flipped to the second page, the literature section, and was somewhat stunned. The poem printed there was actually her own, "Thinking of My Loved Ones More During Festivals."

"What's going on?"

Pei Ju smiled slightly and said, "The Double Ninth Festival is just a few days away. Your Majesty's poem is the most fitting piece to be published as the first of its kind."

Xiao Xia shook his head with a wry smile, "From now on, I can write articles, but please don't force me to write poems and essays."

"Your Majesty is a great talent, it would be a pity to waste him!"

At this moment, Chu Suiliang said at the door, "Your Majesty, Commander Shi of the Inner Guard urgently requests an audience!"

"Announce him to come in!"

Xiao Xia gestured for Pei Ju to sit to the side. A moment later, Shi Xiaozhen hurriedly entered, bowed, and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"What's the matter?"

"Your Majesty, please look at this!"

Shi Xiaozhen presented an envelope to Xiao Xia. Xiao Xia took the envelope, which was quite heavy. He poured out more than a dozen silver coins, which were Daye Tongbao silver coins.

The Daye Tongbao coins currently come in three types: gold, silver, and copper. One gold coin can be exchanged for thirty silver coins or three thousand copper coins. The first batch of coins, consisting of one hundred thousand gold coins and one million silver coins, was very popular in the market and quickly replaced the Sogdian gold and silver coins that were previously in circulation.

However, gold and silver coins soon became scarce again, and many households replaced their stored copper coins with gold and silver coins. As a result, the supply of copper coins in the market increased significantly, and gold and silver coins became rare.

Xiao Xia knew there was something wrong as soon as he picked them up; these dozen or so silver coins were quite light.

"Prime Minister Pei, take a look!" Xiao Xia handed several coins to Pei Ju.

Pei Ju took it and said, "It's a bit too light!"

"Yes! This is definitely counterfeit money."

Xiao Xia took out a magnifying glass from the drawer and carefully examined the Daye Tongbao silver coins. They were very similar to the originals, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that they were counterfeit, since the templates were different.

"Is this cupronickel?"

Cupronickel is a copper-nickel alloy. When the nickel content exceeds 16%, it looks just like silver.

Shi Xiaozhen nodded, "Your Majesty is right, this is indeed white bronze!"

"How did you find out?"

"It was Qingfeng Restaurant that reported the case. Several foreign merchants paid their bill with these fifteen silver coins after their meal. The restaurant manager didn't notice at the time, but later compared them with real silver coins and found that the weight was not much, so he reported it to the authorities." Pei Ju slowly said, "Your Majesty, if someone only minted a few dozen silver coins, the cost would be much higher than real silver coins. This is only what has been discovered. There must be a large number of silver coins that have not yet been discovered."

Xiao Xia nodded and handed ten silver coins to Shi Xiaozhen, saying, "Go and trace the source immediately!"

"Your subordinate obeys!"

After Shi Xiaozhen left, Xiao Xia said to Pei Ju, "Notify the newspaper to publish this article tomorrow and have those with money verify it at the bank counter!"

"Your Majesty, the key question is how to verify it?"

"Currently, weighing is the only method, and it's very effective!"

Xiao Xia thought for a moment and then said, "Wait a moment, let's publish it in the newspaper after we've figured out the identification method!"

Xiao Xia then ordered a meeting to be held in the Council of State Affairs.

In fact, this was not the first time they had encountered counterfeit money. In the third year after Xiao Xia led his army to Yangzhou, they had encountered a counterfeit money incident. They later discovered that it was private money minted by the Baoguo Society. They could not cut off the source, but it was this incident that gave them the idea of ​​minting their own coins. The following year, the Daye Tongbao was finally born.

With its superior quality and condition, the Daye Tongbao coin continuously conquered new territories and, within just a few years, became a currency recognized by the entire world.

Now Xiao Xia is also facing a currency counterfeiting crisis.

"I urge all ministers to take this matter seriously!"

Xiao Xia struck the bell and said, "Judging from the condition and casting process of the silver coins, they are very similar to our early Daye Tongbao coins. I am worried that the other side has already started counterfeiting Daye Tongbao coins, but it was exposed through the silver coins of Daye Tongbao coins."

The Daye Tongbao coin was redesigned and recast two years ago when Xiao Xia ascended the throne. The main differences are twofold: firstly, the shape of the hole was slightly modified, from a square hole to an arc at the top, reflecting the idea of ​​a round heaven and a square earth; secondly, the calligraphy of Yu Shinan was adopted instead of Gao Jiong's calligraphy.

The changes weren't actually that significant; you wouldn't notice them unless you looked closely. Now that Xiao Xia had discovered the counterfeit silver coins were the old version of the Daye Tongbao, he was very worried that the other side had started mass-producing Daye Tongbao coins long before he ascended the throne.

At this time, Fang Xuanling, the Minister of Revenue, said: "Starting from the eleventh year of the Daye era, counterfeit money has been rampant all over the country. Almost every rebel force is casting Daye Wuzhu coins and Kaihuang Wuzhu coins, and the technology is getting more and more advanced. By the thirteenth year of the Daye era, they can basically be mistaken for the real thing. In particular, the coins made by Dou Jiande are no different from Daye Wuzhu coins except for a slightly lower copper content."

"What I mean is that there are many skilled counterfeiters remaining among the people, and the source is likely not just one place. It's just that some of these coins didn't circulate in the capital, so we don't know about them yet. The problem now is, we don't know how many counterfeit coins are circulating outside."

Liu Wenjing also said, "Prime Minister Fang is right. Counterfeiting coins has always been a major problem in every dynasty. I believe that to solve this problem, we must address both the symptoms and the root cause. Since we need to find the source, we also need to teach the people how to distinguish them. Thirdly, we must use severe punishment. Once caught, we should immediately and publicly behead them to warn other counterfeiters."

At this moment, Wei Zheng also raised his hand and said, "Your Majesty, I also have an idea!"

"Prime Minister Wei, please speak!"

"Your Majesty, counterfeit money is usually quite well-hidden. Many people discover it but let it go because the loss is not significant. Some people know that their neighbors are making counterfeit money but dare not report it for fear of retaliation. Therefore, we should encourage people to report it. Anyone who reports counterfeit money will be given a generous reward. In addition, those who receive counterfeit money can exchange it for ten times the amount. This way, it will be much easier to find clues."

Xiao Xia nodded and said, "Counterfeiting money is the same as selling smuggled salt. If we don't crack down on it, it will endanger the Sui Dynasty. Let's take this money as a starting point and launch a crackdown on counterfeit money, kill a group of counterfeiters, and make an example of them!"

At this moment, a guard entered the council hall and placed a small balance on the table. Xiao Xia stepped down and said to everyone, "This is a Han-style balance used by Baiyun Hall for weighing. It has been slightly modified. The Han-style wooden balance is a bronze balance. I think it will be very effective in distinguishing genuine from counterfeit money. Let's give it a try."

Xiao Xia took out a real silver coin and placed it on the balance scale. On the other side, she placed the fake silver coin she had just discovered. The side with the real silver coin sank very quickly.

"It's obvious, isn't it! If Qingfeng Restaurant had had such a scale back then, they wouldn't have accepted counterfeit money at all, which would have greatly reduced the circulation of counterfeit money. They would be more careful with small vendors. The same goes for copper coins. Counterfeit copper coins mainly contain iron and are significantly lighter than copper coins. If a large amount of counterfeit money is used, it will be easy to detect. Also, local money changers need to take action. They are the easiest places to detect large amounts of counterfeit money. A small scale can play a huge role."

Minister of Works He Chou immediately bowed and said, "Your humble servant will immediately arrange for the Imperial Workshop to produce a large number of balance scales!"

(End of this chapter)