Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 359 Money, Oh Money (5.2K chapters combined)

Dongpingling, Jinan.

Le Jin stood by the official road, staring blankly at the 'notice area' outside the west gate.

Cheng Yu had just come out of the city and was squatting at the city gate, looking worried.

This is a unique announcement area at the city gates of various counties in Qingzhou.

In fact, there were also notices outside the city gates of various counties in the Han Dynasty, but most of them were just wooden signs with a wanted notice or something similar.

These arrest warrants were of little use to ordinary people because they were written in extremely concise language that most people could not understand. They were only useful for officials and scholars to pass on the information among themselves.

In contrast, the bulletin boards in Qingzhou clearly distinguish between various announcements.

The issued government orders, major announcements (including arrest warrants), job postings, market information, etc., are divided into many regions.

These notices were set up a few hundred paces outside the city gate, on both sides of the official road. Clearly, they were specially erected wooden boards, and the posted documents were all paper documents with very detailed content.

If you don't understand it, there are experts who can explain it to you...

The people on duty in the notice area were all young scholars, who appeared to be students from various colleges in Qingzhou.

If you can't understand the text, you can ask these young students.

If you want to learn something, ask for directions, or have any other needs, you can ask them.

The city gate guards only needed to guard the gate and do their job.

The real business wasn't collecting taxes, but rather maintaining public order and patrols.

The county seat of Qingzhou does not collect taxes, and they do not even ask where people come from. However, people are not allowed to carry weapons, drive cars, or ride horses when entering the city.

Only vehicles with special permits are allowed to enter the city to transport goods.

At the same time, setting up camp or parking vehicles is not allowed within the visible range around the city. If anyone is seen setting up camp, the city gate guards will go to stop them.

This is easy to understand. On the one hand, it is for the safety of residents and to prevent criminals from causing damage.

On the other hand, there are fertile fields and notice areas around the city, and there are many people coming and going. Cars parked on the road affect traffic, and horses left outside the city are likely to be stolen... and they will also eat the crops.

Because students were on duty in the bulletin board area, many people came to inquire about various matters, and the crowd was quite dense.

However, this place is several hundred steps away from the city gate, so it won't affect the city gate.

Moreover, professionals like Le Jin could tell at a glance that the various notice boards outside the city were spaced dozens of steps apart, a distance that had been meticulously planned—most likely the anchoring distance for each observation mark of the city's defensive crossbows.

But these scenes were not enough to leave Le Jin stunned; what surprised him was the 'Market Information' bulletin board.

"Today's market prices... millet is 300 coins per bushel, beans are 220 coins per bushel, wheat..."

Le Jin muttered to himself, “Mutton is sixty coins a pound, pork is twenty-five coins a pound… Qingzhou has actually made all the prices public, and the price of grain is indeed very low… Is the Right General’s territory so prosperous?”

Actually, the price of grain wasn't low; it was just particularly low compared to other states.

In the truly peaceful years of the Han Dynasty, the price of millet was between fifty and one hundred coins per bushel, and mutton was about twenty coins per pound.

However, at present, grain prices in most prefectures of Henan are in the five figures, which means there are prices but no grain.

Meat will not be traded at all... In the case of widespread food shortages, it is impossible for anyone to buy meat.

“Wenqian…the price of grain is indeed not high, but Qingzhou only accepts large sums of money for selling grain, and we don’t have those large sums of money from Qingzhou…”

Cheng Yu, standing nearby, paid no attention to whether Qingzhou was rich or not. With a worried expression, he said, "I have already asked Guo Fengxiao at the money exchange in Jinan. In his eyes, all the money we brought is worthless. A pound of worthless money is only worth twenty Qingzhou coins... not even worth a pound of pork."

"A pound of currency is only worth 100 zhu? Isn't this blatant robbery?!"

Le Jin was stunned for a moment, then became furious: "We've been charged for everything along the way – barracks, stables, food, lodging, transportation… I never expected to be so swindled when exchanging large sums of money. General Right, your greed is outrageous!"

One Han jin was 384 zhu (approximately 258 grams). The large coins minted by Liu Bei were standard 5 zhu, and 20 qian were 100 zhu...

To be fair, it would be reasonable to exchange one pound of inferior coins for fifty large coins, which means exchanging 384 baht of low-copper-content scrap for 250 baht of high-quality copper coins with extremely high copper content.

After deducting costs such as fire damage and labor, the cost of recasting new coins is roughly the same.

Exchanging one jin for twenty coins is indeed bullying people... it's not much different from robbery.

"There's nothing we can do; after all, we need their help."

Cheng Yu squatted by the roadside, covering his cheek and sighing, "Besides, we've already incurred huge expenses along the way, we can't just return empty-handed. The army has run out of food... We must buy food and go back as soon as possible."

"Sigh... I thought the journey would be smooth sailing, and I was even looking forward to returning with a full load, but I never expected..."

Le Jin also squatted down by the roadside, clutching his cheek, his eyes filled with helplessness and sorrow: "Traitor...traitor!"

They carried several hundred cartloads of money... an countless amount of money, yet they both felt heartbrokenly poor...

Le Jin and Cheng Yu's expenses along the way were indeed quite high.

They brought a large number of people to Qingzhou, a total of three thousand.

Among them were more than 2,000 laborers and more than 800 elite troops who accompanied and protected them.

There were also many carriages and horses, nearly eight hundred large carts, all loaded with money.

As soon as these three thousand men entered Dongjun, Zhang Liao received the news and sent people to escort them... which could also be considered a form of reception.

Zhang Liao's troops politely escorted Le Jin and his men all the way to Jinan, and then charged them a large "escort fee"... more than twenty cartloads.

It was indeed priced per vehicle, because Cheng Yu and Le Jin themselves didn't know how much a vehicle cost, so they couldn't count it.

The weight is finite, around 1,000 jin per truck.

But this reward was indeed due, because Zhang Liao bought them crucial time. Cao Cao's troops were not part of the imperial guards; without Zhang Liao's guidance, troops from other prefectures could not freely enter Qingzhou.

Zhang Liao was indeed a great help in enabling the convoy to reach Jinan so quickly.

When a bridge in Dongjun was flooded, Zhang Liao led his troops to build a pontoon bridge overnight, which did not delay Yue Jin and Cheng Yu's journey at all. The service was excellent.

Upon arriving in Jinan, Zhang Fei's troops took over the follow-up services...

Large groups are not allowed to set up camp at will within Qingzhou—in fact, this is the case in any prefecture or county. If they do not report to the government, they deserve to be treated as bandits and wiped out.

Le Jin and Cheng Yu came to buy grain, and they dared not cause trouble, so they had to stay at the garrison camp designated by Zhang Fei.

This garrison... charges a fee.

Zhang Fei generously provided them with food and lodging, and even protected their safety, so it was only right that he accepted some money...

The horses in the caravan also needed to be taken care of, and Zhang Fei arranged for horse feed and a horse farm, which of course couldn't be paid for by Zhang Fei himself.

However, Zhang Fei stated that he was only in charge of military affairs and did not concern himself with business matters; matters such as purchasing grain had to be handled at the official granary and the money exchange.

Tian Yu was in charge of the official granaries, and Guo Jia was in charge of the money exchange. Both of them were in Jinan recently—Jinan had more convenient transportation, and it also had the most military settlements and the largest grain reserves.

Since Zhang Fei could no longer provide follow-up services, he only charged the garrison fees, so Le Jin and Cheng Yu quickly took their entourage to Dongpingling.

Since camping was not allowed outside the city, and riding horses or driving cars into the city was prohibited, and there was no charge for entering or leaving the city, some 'stables' were set up at the gate of Dongpingling City...

This stable was actually the former wine shop, but the stables were specially enlarged to provide services such as parking, horse care, horse grooming, and car repair.

Recently, a large number of people have come to Dongpingling, including merchants and nobles. The wine shops and stables are doing particularly well.

—The largest winery, Mashejia, was run by Zhang Fei's family...after all, his family used to run wineries.

Le Jin and Cheng Yu's carriages are currently at Zhang's stables—Manager Zhang has collected money from them for horse feed and parking fees.

The horse feed isn't expensive, but the parking fee is really not cheap...

Le Jin and Cheng Yu had never heard of 'parking fees' before... but there was nothing they could do; when you're on someone else's turf, you have to follow their rules.

Liu Bei didn't have anyone forcibly seize their several hundred cartloads of money; he earned it all through services, which was both reasonable and legal.

But the problem is...

More than 700 trucks carrying money are currently parked at Zhang Fei's garrison. I'm afraid they'll have to charge parking fees too.

The stable owner's surname is also Zhang...

"We still need to get this done quickly, Wenqian, what do you say?"

Cheng Yu asked Le Jin with some hesitation.

Le Jin and Cheng Yu were from the same hometown and usually got along well. Moreover, Cheng Yu was the one in charge of this mission, but Le Jin had never seen Cheng Yu hesitate like this before.

"Only twenty coins for a pound... Ugh! Fine, let's trade, what else can we do... Buy the grain and get out of here, there are too many scoundrels in this place!"

Le Jin gritted his teeth and spat at Dongpingling County.

……

In the afternoon, the two arrived at Dongpingling City.

The largest building in the city, formerly the Jinan Prince's Mansion, now bears the sign "Qingzhou Official Treasury".

The front hall has three doors, one main and two side doors, and now all of them have new door frames.

The main gate is the "exchange gate," where people who bring inferior money enter to exchange it for cash.

The door on the left is for exchanging large sums of money; it's a one-way street for both entry and exit.

The door on the right leads to the office passageway, and inside is the Qianku office area, where various other business is handled.

The courtyard and side rooms behind the main hall are currently under renovation; only the storeroom is in use. The area in front of the vault is bustling with activity, as many people are exchanging large sums of money.

Most of these people were officials, scholars, students, and artisans living in the city. They were also a relatively cooperative group. The decree that Qingzhou's official grain shops would only accept large sums of money had been issued for half a month, and they needed to exchange their money for large sums of money to buy grain and eat.

A large number of soldiers guarded the treasury inside and out.

In the morning, Cheng Yu entered through the right-hand gate to meet Guo Jia. After all, this was a major business transaction for them, so they didn't have to queue like the ordinary people in the city.

The rear hall was originally the residence of a prince, but now it has been set up with many workstations. Many young people have abacuses on their desks and are writing documents, probably keeping accounts.

"Prefect Cheng is here again?"

Guo Jia greeted Cheng Yu with a beaming smile as he entered, asking, "Are you willing to exchange a large sum of money?"

“Fengxiao, send someone to General Zhang’s camp to weigh the grain… Also, Fengxiao, could you buy the grain directly and load it onto carts?”

Cheng Yu didn't waste any words and directly instructed Guo Jia to do the work.

“Prefect Cheng, I only handle cash payments... To buy grain, you need to go to the official granary and find Tian Guorang.”

Guo Jia held a fan, shaking his clothes to fan himself, and did indeed look like a merchant.

It was indeed very hot in early June.

"Can't all these things be done in one place? Zhang Wenyuan is only in charge of escorting, Zhang Yide is only in charge of stationing troops, and you, Guo Fengxiao, are only in charge of exchanging money... Is there no one in Qingzhou who can get things done directly?!"

Cheng Yu was very dissatisfied and threw a tantrum, puffing out his cheeks and glaring at his opponent.

"Don't get angry, calm down. We have no choice... The Right General said that everyone must follow their own path in order to prevent chaos..."

Guo Jia considerately fanned Cheng Yu, saying, "My task is to manage the money exchange, which is a civil matter. Tian Guorang's task is to manage the grain and supplies, which is military supplies... As a civil official, I certainly cannot interfere in military affairs..."

"Then exchange a lot more money for me!"

Cheng Yu bared his teeth, about to bite someone.

"Alright! General You said there are discounts for large orders, and we guarantee our customers won't lose out... I'll give you an extra 10%, and charge you 22 qian per jin for inferior goods, how about that?"

Guo Jia then kindly offered a discount.

"...Alright, alright, quickly send someone to Zhang Yide's garrison to weigh the goods, we can't afford to be short a single coin!"

Cheng Yu yanked Guo Jia's fan away; he was very angry.

……

With over 700 vehicles, this is a large client, so naturally Guo Jia had to lead a team to the military camp where the convoy was stationed to provide door-to-door service.

To prevent corruption, Liu Bei's Right General's Office also added financial supervisors... or rather, auditors, with Bian Bing in charge.

Bian Bing personally took charge of the audit this time, which shows that Cao Cao attached great importance to sending someone to do business.

In fact, Bian Bingzhen felt that this business was just a 'small business'.

Because he knew how much those hundreds of cartloads of inferior currency could be exchanged for... Bian Bing was probably the person with the best concept of the amount of money; back then, he counted money so many times that he would vomit whenever he saw it.

"With boxes, it weighs 134 jin... Excluding the leather, it weighs 16 jin, and the inferior coins weigh 118 jin... The total net weight of the inferior coins in this cart is 996 jin."

The money exchange clerks were weighing the boxes one by one, and each cartload had to be loaded back after weighing, which took a considerable amount of time.

762 trucks, each with eight boxes, that's a huge quantity; it's impossible to finish it in one day.

Bian Bing, as the auditing inspector, watched the bank clerks with considerable sympathy.

Fortunately, Bian Bing is now the inspector of the Right General's Office, so he no longer needs to count money; it's the graduates of Qingzhou Economic College who are doing this job.

Mi Zhu had previously recommended that his family members take the special exam, but they failed. However, quite a few students in the college still passed the regular policy exam.

"Weigh it out properly, let's say a thousand jin, and then tow this truck away..."

Guo Jia was quite kind, and the minor officials who came from Qingzhou Economic Academy were very efficient. Every time a cart was weighed, they would take away the inferior coins and then use the same cart to load up the corresponding large coins and send it back.

This avoids mistakes and saves time, enabling assembly line operations.

Le Jin planned to verify the information and also visit the official granary to discuss purchasing grain. He then went with the clerk to the money exchange in the city.

After dumping a cartload of inferior coins directly into the courtyard of the money shop like unloading garbage, the officials took out a box of brand-new, pure copper-colored Wuzhu coins from the money shop's vault.

To be precise, it was only half a box.

The money in the money shop was all strung together, one thousand coins per string, neatly stacked, making it quite convenient to count by string.

"Does Commander Yue wish to inspect it personally?"

The clerk pushed the money box over and asked.

Le Jin frowned as he looked at the good money in the box.

What's the point of checking this?

One pound of inferior coins could only be exchanged for twenty-two large coins.

A cartload of inferior currency, weighing about a thousand catties, could only be exchanged for twenty-two thousand coins, or twenty-two strings of cash.

In other words, more than 700 cars can only be exchanged for a little over 10 million yuan.

Eight boxes, but only half a box in return...

Le Jin felt his heart trembling.

Thinking about the drastically reduced military funds, Le Jin walked out of the money shop with a heavy heart.

By this time, the sky was already dusky. Just as they turned the corner, a lean man wearing a turban and with eyes as lively as an eel approached them.

"Is it Commander Yue? Judging from your expression, you suffered a loss at the treasury?"

The lean man smiled and lowered his voice: "The Right General is ruthless, only giving twenty coins a pound of old money... I have connections, this amount is possible."

The man looked around twice, then reached out from his sleeve and held up four fingers towards Yue Jin.

Le Jin's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained impassive: "What connections do you have?"

"Master Yue is a wise man."

The man leaned closer, his expression sly and worldly: "My ways of making money certainly can't be told to others... As long as I can offer a lot of money, isn't that enough? Master Le can get more, and I can also make a living. It's a win-win situation..."

Le Jin looked the skinny man up and down, then shook his head: "You can't handle such a big business..."

"Yes, yes, Master Yue has a good eye."

The man nodded and smiled: "Would Master Le be willing to come with me to meet my master?"

Le Jin raised his hand, and the man quickly led the way to a small tavern outside the city.

……

Inside the tavern sat a slightly overweight scholar with somewhat red eyes.

The lean man entered the tavern, bowing deeply: "My lord, the person has been brought..."

The people in the tavern casually hummed in agreement, their gazes sweeping over Yue Jin with a peculiar smile: "Does Commander Yue recognize me?"

"And who are you...?"

Le Jin looked at the man, but felt he had no recollection of him at all.

"It's good that they don't recognize me. I prefer doing business with people who don't know me, so that the news won't leak out..."

The slightly plump scholar grinned: "Minister Yue, don't bother looking for Guo Fengxiao... I'll exchange the money you brought to Qingzhou with you, one pound of inferior currency for forty large coins. This deal... are you in?"

"...Now that I have already agreed to Guo Fengxiao's deal, if I were to do the same thing with you again, I fear the Right General would not allow me to leave Qingzhou..."

Le Jin was somewhat wary of this person: "Besides, I don't even know who you are, how dare I deal with you?"

"Seven hundred and sixty-two cartloads of money, each cart only worth about twenty thousand coins... a total of more than ten million coins, but only about fifty thousand bushels of grain... If you can get thirty thousand bushels left after you transport them back to Yingchuan, that would be a stroke of luck."

The slightly plump scholar grinned again: "Thirty thousand bushels, Cao Cao's thirty thousand troops in the east only lasted a month... Is that enough?"

Le Jin fell silent; this was indeed the truth.

This person knows so much about this, and deliberately sent someone to find me; it seems he's likely from the Jinan money exchange.

Why are you able to double your trade with me?

Le Jin couldn't help but ask.

"Because the Right General's troops or the civilian households in the Qingzhou military settlement exchanged money at a rate of one jin of inferior coins for fifty large coins... I won't hide it from you, I just want to take a cut..."

The slightly plump scholar readily agreed, "I'll go exchange the money, and I'll give you forty cents a pound... Shall we do this deal?"

"This matter still needs to be decided by Prefect Cheng."

Le Jin glanced at the man and memorized the slightly plump scholar's appearance: "I will go and report now... I will come back here at midnight tonight to give you an answer."

“Cheng Yu? Le Sima, I don’t do business with Cheng Yu. He knows me… If I get reported, it won’t be worth it…”

The slightly plump scholar shook his head and smiled: "If you are interested in doing business with me, take your caravan out of the camp tonight and head to Tugu County in the east. I will be waiting for you there... I've said my piece, the decision is yours."

(End of this chapter)