The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 37 I betrayed you again

The other party is not trying to make money at all.

There is actually no profit in destroying the Wuzhu coin and minting small coins. The only purpose of the other party doing this is to obstruct Jia Xu's decree.

In order to achieve their goal, the other party even did not hesitate to do a loss-making business and exchanged their own grain for five-zhu coins to increase the raw materials for their own private minting of small coins...

According to the other party's practice, the Wuzhu coins would indeed become less and less, making it impossible to implement Jia Xu's policy of stabilizing the market price, and eventually causing inferior small coins to prevail in the market.

but!

but!

What was Jia Xu's purpose in restoring the Wuzhu currency and abolishing small coins?
Isn't it for the purpose of stabilizing the market price in the hope that trade in Guanzhong will be restored so that grain from Guandong can be purchased?
Liu Xie himself wants to laugh now!
You should have told me earlier!

Why didn’t you say so earlier!

If you are willing to exchange grain for coins, the government will give it to you directly! Why bother to collect small coins, recast them into five-zhu coins and let them flow into the market?
What is the difference between the other party's behavior and Dong Zhuo's practice of "printing more money"?
Money, it's worthless!

The most valuable things are food, cloth, and productivity!

Liu Xie also knew that Guanzhong was about to suffer a severe drought and would face a food crisis for one to two years.

At that time, the money in Guanzhong would definitely have to be transported to Guandong and exchanged for food from Guandong.

Even Liu Xie felt a little panicked when he thought about the transportation cost from Guanzhong to Guandong.

Often, of the seven stones of grain transported, three stones would be consumed on the way.

But now, the person behind the scenes has simply saved the money?

What kind of sacrifice is this, that one would not hesitate to use one's own treasury to fill the gaps for the country!

If Dong Zhuo, Lu Bu, and a group of irrelevant people were not here, Liu Xie would have laughed out loud.

But even though he tried his best to suppress it, Liu Xie's tone still sounded obviously cheerful: "Okay, I get it, you stand up and talk."

Liu Xie raised his hand and called Zhang Liao again: "Wenyuan, go find Jia Lingjun. He is right here and ask him to come directly over."

Zhang Liao was nimble and quick, and in just a moment he called Jia Xu back from the Secretariat.

"I greet your majesty and the Grand Master."

When Jia Xu heard that they were going to the market, he guessed what the outcome would be.

Now that he had seen those boxes of small change with his own eyes, his thoughts were further confirmed.

But Jia Xu didn't know that since the person was caught red-handed, it would be easy to find the person behind the scenes. Why did Your Majesty have to come to the market in person?
Just when Jia Xu was trying to guess what Liu Xie was thinking, he heard Dong Zhuo's first words when he saw him:

"Wenhe, you did a good job this time!"

"It's a good thing you thought of checking the shops first, and you found the clues!"

My idea?

Jia Xu was puzzled, and looked up, only to find Liu Xie showing a brilliant smile -

That’s right, Jia Lingjun, it was me who betrayed you again!

……

Liu Xie restrained the smile on his face and said, "Lord Jia, I think this is a decree issued by your Shangshutai after all. Now that there are some mistakes, you should also find a way to improve it."

Then, Liu Xie repeated all the tactics used by the other party and told Jia Xu.

Use food... to exchange for small money?

When Jia Xu heard this, he thought that the emperor was playing a joke on him.

How can there be such stupid people in the world?
Compared with them, Dong Zhuo, who minted the Wuzhu coins into small coins, was considered smart!

Although Jia Xu did not understand the principle, he still knew the underlying operating rules. What is the use of money?

Food is king!

When Jia Xu read Han Feizi's Wai Chu Shuo Zuo Shang in the past, he always felt that he did not understand the story of buying the box and returning the pearl.

But what happened today is even more unbelievable than buying the casket and returning the pearl!
Then, Jia Xu immediately understood Liu Xie’s intention!
Why are we still minting Wuzhu coins?
Wouldn't it be better to just use a small amount of money to buy food?

Jia Xu has begun preparing to plant sorghum and beans in the past few days.

After actual investigation, he found that the situation in Guanzhong was far worse than he had imagined.

Even if all millet and beans were planted, at least one-third of the people in Guanzhong would still go hungry after the autumn harvest.

Even if we survive this winter, next year's severe drought will come as expected, causing even worse disasters in Guanzhong!
It is no exaggeration to say that now all Jia Xu thinks about is food, whether he opens his eyes or closes his eyes. Even his wives and concubines at home have become the shape of food.

But today, someone took the initiative to deliver food to him...

If Jia Xu had not been so calm, the corners of his mouth would have curled up like Liu Xie's.

"Grandmaster, I have something to say!"

After understanding everything that happened here, Jia Xu also understood Liu Xie's intention of calling him here -

"I think that since the other party is willing to use grain to buy five zhu, it is better to go with the flow and store up grain!"

Dong Zhuo looked displeased.

"Why!"

Dong Zhuo had been in the army for many years and had become accustomed to being overbearing. He would not allow others to disagree with him.

If Jia Xu had not been the Minister of the Chancellery whom Dong Zhuo had just promoted, Dong Zhuo would have probably called him "noisy" long ago.

Seeing that Dong Zhuo seemed to be angry, Jia Xu was not afraid. Instead, he responded calmly and carefully explained the reason to Dong Zhuo.

"I heard that during the Spring and Autumn Period, a merchant from the State of Chu took a precious pearl to the State of Zheng to sell it. He also put a precious wooden box on the pearl in order to sell it at a higher price."

"In the end, although the man from Zheng bought the precious wooden box, he returned the precious pearl inside to the merchant from Chu, becoming a laughing stock of the world."

"Now, some people are using grain to buy five-zhu coins. Isn't that just like the people of Zheng who don't know the difference between the primary and the secondary?"

"Master, you come from the military, so you should understand the value of food."

"On the battlefield, you can do without money to motivate the soldiers, but you cannot do without food and fodder to feed them."

"Governing a country is not much different from governing an army. If the people have no food, will anyone care about money that can't fill their stomachs?"

Jia Xu did not discuss big principles or government affairs with Dong Zhuo because he knew that Dong Zhuo was not familiar with those matters.

But if the same thing happened in the army, Dong Zhuo would immediately understand!
As Jia Xu said, an army can be without money but it cannot be without food.

Now the enemy is using food to exchange for the copper coins in our hands. Isn't that extremely foolish?
Dong Zhuo laughed and clapped his hands: "It is just as Wenhe said! We can do without money and goods, but we cannot do without food!"

"In this case, we should go with the flow and store up food and fodder!"

Jia Xu also showed his true colors at this moment, and began to plead with Dong Zhuo -

"Therefore, I hope that the Grand Tutor can use the property of Meibao and take the opportunity to purchase a large amount of food and grass!"

The smile that had just appeared on Dong Zhuo's face suddenly froze.

Jia Xu also glanced at Liu Xie with resentment: "Your Majesty!"

"I really don't want to do such an offensive thing again!"

(End of this chapter)