My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 591: The new trick just came up, and the second brother is eagerly waiting to use it
"I miscalculated! The strategy of using Shu brocade to bind Zhibai coins was indeed too hasty. I didn't expect such a big mistake. I'm embarrassed in front of the general... I wonder if I will have another chance to show my strengths."

After listening to Zhuge Jin's analysis and leak prevention, Liu Ba was amazed at Zhuge Jin's quick response and was completely impressed. At the same time, he couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart, regretting his crude performance and worrying whether Liu Bei would still use him right away.

After all, Liu Ba once refused Liu Bei's call to serve, and then stayed at home for five or six years. Once such a person has finished the "nurturing hope" stage and is really ready to do something, he still pays great attention to making a splash.

If the first strategy you take when you leave the mountain does not work well, it will definitely affect the starting point of your career.

Fortunately, Liu Bei's emotional intelligence was first-rate. As soon as he saw Liu Ba's expression, he knew that he had been completely convinced by Zhuge Jin's advice. So Liu Bei also comforted him at the right time:

"Zichu has not been an official for many years, so it is inevitable that there will be some mistakes in his first proposal. With time and practice, he will surely make progress. Besides, how many people in the world can come up with a strategy that even Ziyu can't find fault with?
It is already very good to be able to do this. Now that we know where the problem lies, let's continue to work together and think about how to take a two-pronged approach to create a coin that is both anti-counterfeiting and can be used as a large sum of money."

After hearing this, Liu Ba knew that Liu Bei still valued him and let him continue to be in charge of the affairs. He just had to work under Zhuge Jin's leadership, especially in terms of technology, he had to listen to Zhuge Jin completely.

Liu Ba was naturally convinced by this result. After all, he had personally witnessed Zhuge Jin's quick response and accurate judgment. When working with such a leader, why would he worry about the blind orders of an amateur? This leader was even more knowledgeable than him.

"General Meng and the Minister of Justice trust me, how dare I disobey your orders?" Liu Ba took over the task humbly, his whole body revealing a sense of sincere submission.

Liu Bei nodded and said, "Okay, I will temporarily appoint you as the Western Cao Yuan of the Situ Mansion, and temporarily be responsible for the minting of new coins."

The Cao Yuan and Zhu Bu of the Three Dukes' Offices were all minor officials with a rank lower than 400 dan. However, Liu Bei's appointment was definitely quite generous.

Official positions in the Eastern Han Dynasty were not determined solely by rank. The Cao Yuan of the Situ Mansion could always ask for instructions and report to Zhuge Jin, which was a great convenience.

Liu Ba declined hastily, and the others talked about some government details, discussed other problems and troubles that might be encountered in minting new coins, and then dispersed after some deductions.

……

Influenced by the "catfish effect" of Liu Bazhi's 100-coin plan, Zhuge Jin's ideas on minting new coins became clearer.

Some points that I hadn't quite figured out before were gradually sorted out with Liu Ba's reference and confirmation.

This is how things are done in many cases. It is not necessary for the other party's ideas to be correct and directly help you. But as long as there are one or two good points in what the other party says and they can keep up with the rhythm of the discussion, then it can have the effect of brainstorming.

Zhuge Jin's slow progress was mainly because none of Jiangxia's other staff and civil servants could keep up with his thinking, and his second brother and Pang Tong had gone to Shuzhong, while Lu Su and Mi Zhu were not around. Zhuge Jin wanted to find someone to discuss this, but the other party could only listen.

After Liu Ba came, although it was almost impossible for him to surpass Zhuge Jin in terms of originality, at least he could understand what Zhuge Jin said, react quickly, and sometimes even draw inferences from one example to another, which was enough to greatly improve the efficiency of advancing things.

Throughout July, Zhuge Jin spent most of his energy on minting new coins. Occasionally, he would discuss with Liu Ba and the craftsmen, and when he came up with a plan, he would carefully demonstrate its feasibility and conduct some trial production experiments.

Of course, as Si Tu, he certainly had some other daily government affairs to deal with, but they were not that complicated and were not groundbreaking work, so they only took up about 30% to 40% of his energy.

After a month of work, we have made quite a few breakthroughs.

Zhuge Jin had basic knowledge of chemistry for later generations, and his vision and ideas were certainly far beyond those of the craftsmen of the Han Dynasty. After simple experiments, he also knew which technologies produced coins that other princes might imitate, and which technologies were absolutely impossible to imitate.

By the end of the month, he finally came up with a final plan and reported to Liu Bei again.

Liu Ba also went to report.

……

"My Lord, this is our improved plan. Please review it. Our new plan is to issue two types of large coins.

One is pure silver, which is only issued in small quantities to control the scale of circulation. The main purpose is to anchor the value of silver, gold and copper, and to convince the people and other princes of the price of silver.

The other type is copper coated with silver, and it is plated in a way that even Cao thieves cannot imitate, ensuring that others cannot forge it. This type is mainly minted in large quantities, because it actually consumes very little silver and can greatly increase the total value of private coins. "

When Zhuge Jin met Liu Bei, he first briefly stated the key points.

There is nothing much to explain about pure silver coins. Some of them do need to be issued, but not in large quantities. This is mainly because the Han Dynasty did not originally use silver as a circulating currency, and the people had no idea about the price of silver.

Therefore, a number of anchors for promotional purposes are needed to help the people anchor their psychological price.

During the Qin Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty, the gold-silver exchange rate was once officially set at about one to four, but it was never actually implemented by the public and there was no such circulation environment.

As time went on, the Han people liked to bury horseshoe gold in tombs, which resulted in the amount of gold in the Eastern Han Dynasty being less than that in the Western Han Dynasty. Therefore, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, gold actually appreciated compared to silver and copper.

For example, in the Western Han Dynasty, one gold was worth 10,000 coins. By the time of the Huan and Ling Dynasties in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the value of gold had risen to about 16,000 to 17,000 coins. This means that the value of gold increased by two-thirds in more than 300 years.

In contrast, the proportion of silver used as burial objects in the Han Dynasty was lower, and the smelting technology of silver developed with the times. Unlike gold, which exists naturally as a single substance and does not need to be smelted, the total amount of silver increased significantly faster than gold. If there was still a gold-silver exchange rate in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is estimated that it would have fallen to 1:5 to 1:6.

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the gold-silver exchange rate was basically 1:10, and in the late Qing Dynasty, it was in line with international standards, with a ratio of 1:12 to 14. This was also caused by the advancement of silver smelting technology and the continuous influx of silver from Japan and America.

Therefore, after conducting sufficient research and discussing and reviewing with Liu Ba, Zhuge Jin finally made a prudent decision to announce the current gold-silver exchange rate as one to five.

It was originally quite difficult to maintain this price ratio.

But because most of the Han Dynasty's silver smelting is now in the hands of Liu Bei's camp, Zhuge Jin can use that "reserve silver" for storage.

If there is too much silver in the market, it will be released slowly. If there is too little silver and the price rises, it will be released quickly. This will help to control the exchange rate at a macro level. Anyway, he didn't plan to release much, just treat it as a "commemorative coin".

According to the current exchange rate of 1 gold to 17,000 coins, if the gold-silver exchange rate is temporarily set at 1:5, silver can be exchanged for about 3,500 coins. At the same time, the silver coin process is relatively simple, and it is only valuable because of the genuine raw materials, so it is not afraid of counterfeiting. Anyway, if the enemy wants to counterfeit, they have to come up with so much precious metals.

Of course, Zhuge Jin did not intend to use pure silver to make the silver coins he asked people to mint. That was impossible as the texture was too soft and it would turn black easily.

Generally, they would learn from the silver coins of later generations, using 90% silver, 7% copper, and 3% lead-zinc mixture. Anyway, there is ready-made experience to learn from. (In ancient times, silver coins were mixed with a small amount of lead-zinc ore smelting products to increase hardness. In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, lead was no longer added, and zinc and nickel were used directly. However, it was difficult for ancient metallurgical technology to purify zinc alone, so even brass in ancient times was a mixture of copper, lead, and zinc.)
Moreover, Zhuge Jin was sure that the silver coins would look more shiny and beautiful. With 90% silver as the base, there was no need to worry about the value of the currency itself. If the metal formula was slightly adjusted, the color could easily change.

Therefore, as long as Zhuge Jin strictly keeps the ratio secret, it can add another layer of anti-counterfeiting security. Even if other forces want to forge it, it can be easily seen because of the difference in the ratio.

……

After listening to Zhuge Jin's explanation of the benefits of the 90% silver coin, Liu Bei was also quite curious, so he asked Zhuge Jin if he had made a real sample to see.

Zhuge Jin was obviously well prepared. He clapped his hands and signaled the servant outside the door to come in with a plate.

Liu Ba stepped forward quickly and helped the attendant to uncover the Shu brocade covering the tray, revealing a layer of shining silver coins underneath.

These silver coins are simple to mint, with only the formula ratio needing to be kept secret, so they can be produced quickly as long as there is enough silver in stock.

Liu Bei picked up a few and held them in his palms, examining them again and again, nodding his head from time to time, obviously very satisfied with them. As he was looking at them, he suddenly thought of a question, so he asked casually:
"According to you, there is no rush to distribute this batch of coins to the public. It is only used to make the people recognize the value of silver coins. So, what means should be used to carry out the initial promotion? I am afraid that if the wind is too loud, too much will be leaked out. If the wind is too quiet, it will not have any effect."

Zhuge Jin was also confident about this and gave a direct answer: "My lord, you can negotiate with some of your civil and military confidants in the near future, saying that after the end of the Battle of Hanzhong last year, due to the merit of defeating Cao, many rewards were issued at once, resulting in a shortage of copper coins among the people.

In the spirit of benevolence and benefiting the people, the lord is willing to exchange newly minted silver coins for meritorious officials who saved more money last year. For those who are willing to hand in copper coins in exchange for silver coins, a discount can be given based on the number of people or the amount of money.

For example, the normal exchange rate is 3,500 coins per silver. The first ten who respond can exchange it at a rate of 3,000 coins for one silver. The first fifty can exchange it at 3,200 coins, and so on. The lord can let people consider the specific numbers, and can also set a limit to avoid resentment from those who come later. "

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei stroked his mustache and thought for a while. He felt that he could not think of any problem with it and it was too safe.

Zhuge Jin's move was equivalent to directly turning pure silver coins into "commemorative coins", just like when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty issued horseshoe gold and unicorn gold coins after his victory over the Xiongnu. With the credit endorsement of senior management, the promotion effect will naturally spread quickly.

Moreover, in order to avoid gossip, Zhuge Jin also set a "limit" as a precaution, that is, giving each meritorious official an upper limit on the amount of copper coins that could be exchanged for silver coins.

No matter how many copper coins you have, you can only exchange a part of it. In this way, the first few who respond quickly get a more favorable price, and will not get too much advantage over the latecomers, thus avoiding the people's worry about inequality rather than scarcity.

Liu Bei could not help but sigh: "Zi Yu is really far-sighted. He even thought of how to win the support of the people and how to avoid inequality. I have nothing to worry about now.

Let's talk about the second type of coin, the copper coin containing silver. Are there any samples of that coin? How was it minted? Why haven't I seen the real thing?

While Liu Bei was expressing his feelings, he changed the subject and became concerned about the second currency in Zhuge Jin's plan, and he became more and more curious.

Zhuge Jin could only explain: "This second type of silver-plated currency is more complicated to manufacture, and is more suitable for use during the purification of the raw ore of the Yuzhang Copper Mine. It is difficult to explain the specific changes to you at the moment... I currently only have a few that are not plated very well, but I am still improving the technique and will be able to fix it soon."

The silver-plated copper coin scheme devised by Zhuge Jin involved some technological steps of replacement reaction, similar to what Ge Hong later wrote in "Baopuzi" in history, "Coating iron with red copper". Liu Bei didn't understand it even after I explained it to him, so there was no need to explain it in too much detail.

Big bosses don't care about technical details at all.

Of course, the Han Dynasty also had the technology to silver and gold plate bronze objects.

The process of directly attaching solid gold and silver is called "gold engraving", but it is too labor-intensive. The labor cost is much more expensive than the money itself. It requires skilled craftsmen to attach it bit by bit, and mass production is impossible. So there is no need to worry about someone using the gold engraving method to forge silver coins in the future.

As for the process of directly using liquid method to plate gold and silver onto the surface of copper, the requirements for craftsmanship are relatively low. It mainly uses mercury as a medium, and takes advantage of the fact that gold and silver are easily soluble in mercury. With the help of mercury, gold and silver are plated onto the surface of copper, and then the temperature is lowered to precipitate the gold and silver and allow the mercury to flow away.

The specific technical details are not important, but it is important to know that this technology will produce a lot of toxic mercury vapor, and mercury will also be lost, so it only requires low craftsmanship from the craftsmen, and the cost of consumables is definitely not low. Using this method to forge coins is definitely a loss. It may cost thousands of coins to forge a coin worth hundreds of coins.

The method chosen by Zhuge Jin must ensure good process stability, low production costs, and a high yield rate.

In addition, since the silver-plated coin has a relatively thin coating, it is also necessary to prevent the outer coating from being worn away, which would cause the coin to lose value and become invalid. Given the inefficiency of the replacement method during the Han Dynasty, Zhuge Jin estimated that it might be necessary to collect natural resin, heat and dilute it, and use it as varnish to apply another protective layer on the outside of the silver-plated coin.

Although this type of coin does not use much silver, the craftsmanship is complex and it is absolutely difficult to forge. There is also a protective layer on the outside to ensure that the appearance is long-lasting.

In addition, in order to allow people to see the texture of the money clearly, the center part of the copper coin can be covered with white wax before replacement, just like the "lost wax method" casting.

When it comes to replacement, the silver cannot be plated on the areas covered by the white wax, revealing the red copper-colored words or the center part inside, making it look more complicated and having a better anti-counterfeiting effect.

According to the plan, one coin of this kind would use about half a penny of silver and one ounce of red copper. After it was cast, it would be priced relatively high, and it would be absolutely reasonable to spend it as 500 coins.

(Note: Because it is made of silver and uses so many advanced chemical processes, if it is still only worth 100 coins, there will not be much profit. Considering the technical difficulty, the final price is 500 coins)
Anyway, Liu Bei's camp intends to use Shu brocade and high-quality steel tools from the official workshops as value anchors. As long as he uses this silver-plated coin to buy things, Liu Bei will really allow him to buy goods worth 500 coins.

Over time, no one else could make this kind of currency, and Liu Bei absolutely recognized its purchasing power, so everyone would gradually accept that this kind of money was really worth five hundred coins per coin.

After Liu Bei reviewed Zhuge Jin and Liu Ba's plans, he felt that this time they were finally appropriate enough, so he ordered them to start trial production and sample determination, and then send a batch of samples to Jiangzhou for Zhuge Liang to observe.

"Zi Yu, when you send samples to your brother, remember to clearly write down the pricing and expected output of the new currency in the official document. This will also make it easier for Kong Ming to assess the gap in circulating currency on the market when he pilots the substitute currency in Jiangzhou." Liu Bei gave his final instructions.

"Don't worry, my lord. I will make careful arrangements for all of this."

Zhuge Jin's answer made him feel relieved.

(End of this chapter)