Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

"By the way, Uncle, how much profit do those merchants who melt down copper to cast artifacts make?"

Yin Hongzhi extended his right hand: "Eighty percent. They can make eighty percent profit, but they must sell the copperware. They can't let it sit unsold, otherwise they'll lose money."

Li Youdao said, "It seems that directly minting coins from copper ingots is more efficient than melting copper to cast artifacts. Moreover, copper coins can be spent directly to purchase various materials and manpower, further expanding the production scale of my mountain stronghold. Alas, if only I knew where there are copper mines now."

Yin Hongzhi smiled slightly, held up three fingers, and then slowly said, "There are three main copper mines in this dynasty."

"The most prominent mining area was Nanling County in Xuanzhou, where tens of thousands of people mined copper, with both government officials and private individuals participating. The second was Tongkuangling in Luoyu, Guanzhong, where there were not only copper mines but also silver mines, which were even more valuable. The third was Jurong County in Runzhou, which had more than fifty copper smelting workshops. Other copper mines were located in Raozhou, Hangzhou, Zizhou, and other places."

Now it was Li You's turn to be shocked.

I never imagined that the information about the copper mine that I had gone to so much trouble to obtain was just lying quietly in my uncle's mind.

In fact, this information is not some kind of secret. You can find out by asking a few merchants who are familiar with copper.

"Haha, now that we know the locations of these copper mines, my Huang Chao army will have no worries about supplies!"

Seeing his nephew's excitement, Yin Hongzhi was also quite pleased.

"You'er, speaking of copper mines, something else comes to mind."

"Uncle, you tell me."

"Your unlucky master, Quan Wanji, once submitted a memorial to the emperor regarding the mining of silver."

"A silver mine?"

"That's right, that happened in the tenth year of the Zhenguan era. At that time, Quan Wanji's official position was Imperial Censor, mainly responsible for reporting rumors and making suggestions to the emperor."

"On one occasion, Quan Wanji submitted a memorial to the emperor, saying that a large silver mine had been discovered in Xuanzhou and Raozhou. If people could be sent into the mountains to mine it, they could make a profit of one million strings of cash every year."

"A million strings of cash, that's definitely a huge silver mine."

"Yes. When the emperor heard the news, he was very unhappy and rebuked Quan Wanji for being short-sighted and derelict in his duties."

"The emperor said that Quan Wanji neither recommended virtuous and capable people to him nor exposed wicked people to him. He only knew how to submit memorials on practical matters such as silver mines, and regarded him as a foolish ruler like Emperors Huan and Ling who only knew how to make money."

"Because of this memorial, Quan Wanji was dismissed from his post and reduced to a commoner. He lived in seclusion at home for two years before being reinstated."

Li You laughed and said, "In my opinion, Old Quan is still too fond of being an official. If it were me, and that stinking emperor didn't take my advice, I would just go to the mountains and mine silver to spend myself, wouldn't that be wonderful? Alas, Old Quan is truly a pitiful man. I accidentally killed him. He was really... too young and naive!"

Yin Hongzhi smiled and said, "You'er, you have indeed made great progress since the uprising began. Let bygones be bygones."

Li You nodded and then said, "This shows that Xuanzhou and Raozhou not only have copper mines, but also unexploited silver mines. These two places are truly good locations for my Huang Chao army. We must go and take a look."

Yin Hongzhi said, "Li Shimin ignored such a great benefit; he was truly a foolish ruler!"

Li You waved his hand and said, "Uncle, we can just talk about such things among ourselves. But Li Shimin is not a fool. We must take his political strategies and tactics seriously so that we don't suffer at his hands."

"Sigh, Uncle, I was just venting. As for Li Shimin... let's not talk about him."

"Uncle, there might be some problems with Quan Wanji's memorial. The main currencies in circulation in our dynasty are copper coins and silk. Few people use silver, and even if it were mined, it would probably be difficult to circulate."

"No, no, no, silver is far more sought after than copper coins. It's just that there's so little of it that ordinary people don't have any. If a large amount of silver were to appear on the market, it would be quickly absorbed and then flow into the hands of the wealthy."

Li You scratched his head: "Uncle, why would a wealthy person hoard silver?"

Yin Hongzhi chuckled, "You'er, it seems you don't know everything after all!"

"Uncle, the world is full of complexities, and the human brain isn't a computer; how can it know everything?"

"A computer? What's a computer?"

"Uh... Uncle, I let it slip. It's alright, please continue."

Yin Hong continued, "The wealthy hoarded silver to trade with merchants from the Western Regions. Some of these merchants came from the Western Regions, while others came from even more distant countries like Arabia, Russia, and Persia. These countries were rich in silver, and their currency was also silver coins, so the merchants preferred to use silver for transactions."

The Abbasid Caliphate is the Arab Empire.

Fulin refers to the Byzantine Empire.

Persia refers to the Sasanian Persian Empire.

The above three countries were the main countries in the Middle East in the early 7th century.

At this time, the powerful kingdom of Gaochang in the Western Regions had been destroyed by the Tang Dynasty, and the court had officially taken control of the entire Western Regions.

The Silk Road, which had been closed since the end of the Sui Dynasty, was finally reopened, and merchants from various countries flocked to it. Many goods from abroad were also sold in the streets of Chang'an and Luoyang.

The Tang Dynasty had very little silver reserves, while the Middle East had much more, especially in the Hindu Kush Mountains, Fergana, Isfahan and other places, where there were super-large silver mines.

People in every country need to use currency, and this is especially true for large empires.

Since they had plenty of silver, minting silver coins became a logical choice.

Among these, the Sasanian silver coins minted by the Sasanian Persian Empire, due to their stable fineness and large issuance volume, occupied a mainstream position in international trade and can be considered the people's currency of today.

Li You said excitedly, "If Heaven offers something, not taking it would be a disgrace. Tomorrow we will arrange for people to go to Xuanzhou and Raozhou to inquire about copper and silver mines. I want both of these minerals."

When family members reunite, they have endless things to talk about, and they don't disperse until late at night.

Early the next morning, Li You dispatched one hundred elite soldiers, divided into two groups, to Xuanzhou and Raozhou respectively, to seize copper and silver mines that Li Shimin had no interest in.

Of the remaining 200 assassins, Li You sent 50 to continue gathering information elsewhere.

The remaining 150 will be on standby to avoid being left without personnel in case of an emergency.

As a rebel, Li You must constantly keep abreast of changes and valuable news throughout the country.

The 300 elite soldiers brought by Yin Hongzhi truly solved Li You's urgent problem.

After arranging things in the camp, Li You finally had some free time in the afternoon, so he took Yin Hongzhi for a walk nearby.

Yin Shaokang and Wang Sanwa followed behind them.

Last night, the uncle and nephew talked a lot, but they didn't finish talking yet.

"You'er, your mother is currently imprisoned by Li Shimin. I've tried every means to get the news that you're still alive to her through assassins."

An image of a gentle-looking, beautiful woman appeared in Li You's mind.

"Can we rescue her?"