Chapter 2728 The Smallest Coin

Chang'an.

Dahan Chamber of Commerce.

When Cui Hou received the order conveyed by the hussar guard, he couldn't help but feel a headache.

"Price increases for spices, jade, and wine?" ” The big shopkeeper under Cui Hou asked, “How much is the price going to be raised? 』

Cui Hou shook his head, "I didn't say anything." 』

The big shopkeeper suddenly didn't know what to say. He paused for a moment and then said: "Master, although the price can go up or down, there must be a reason for raising the price. You can't just raise the price if you like it." , isn’t this a loss of credibility..."

The pace of life in the Han Dynasty was actually very slow. Some people would never travel more than ten miles in their lifetime, so many shops were open for a lifetime. It was not impossible for old customers of decades to temporarily raise prices, but there must always be an explanation. , otherwise you will inevitably be criticized by customers.

Cui Hou's headache is not the price increase, but what is behind the price increase.

After all, isn't it a very common thing for a businessman to raise prices? Needless to say, prices fluctuate when spring, summer, autumn and winter change. Sometimes there are three prices in the morning, lunch and evening in one day. It is not unheard of.

There is no problem in raising the price, but Cui Hou doesn't know how to raise the price and how much is appropriate.

And the most critical question, why raise prices?

"Why don't you... go and ask?" ” the big shopkeeper said tentatively.

Cui Hou pondered and did not answer immediately.

In the Han Chamber of Commerce, Cui Hou always boasted about his friendship with Hussar, but in fact Cui Hou was a little afraid of seeing General Hussar.

He feels that Fei Qian today is no longer Fei Qian back then.

Although what Cui Hou occasionally said cannot be completely bragging, he did sit at the same table with Fei Qian for a while in Luoyang City, drinking and chatting, but now Luoyang City, which is said to be unbreakable for thousands of years, has been destroyed. How could the friendship between this person never change?

Moreover, there was a problem within the Cui family's caravan last time and after being caught by Fei Qian, Cui Hou became more and more reluctant to see Fei Qian. If not, Cui Hou can pretend to be an ostrich. Every time they met, Cui Hou deeply felt the gap in status.

But it doesn't work if you don't see it. After all, if you don't know the goal, how can you do things?

So Cui Hou could only hesitate for a while, and then went to the Husband's Yamen to ask for an audience.

Fei Qian did not come out in person, but sent Xu Chu to come.

This is okay, after all, with Fei Qian's current status, it is impossible to come to greet Cui Hou in person. Of course Cui Hou wouldn't complain about anything, but he felt a little sour in his heart.

Xu Chu did not directly take Cui Hou into the inner courtyard, but led Cui Hou to the side of the corridor. When some Cui Hou felt something was wrong, he smiled and explained to Cui Hou: "President Cui, the lord asked me to speak. Sorry, he has something to do now and it is not convenient to see you. If you are here because of the price of commodities in the Western Regions, you might as well go and see Mr. Zhen..."

"Zhen is engaged?" ” Only then did Cui Hou realize. Going forward and out of the corner gate, there was the residence of the foreign officials.

Emotions just go around in circles?

Xu Chu smiled and squinted, looking like he was very kind and harmless to humans and animals, but Cui Hou knew in his heart that this kindness was just Xu Chu's mask.

"Ah, it doesn't matter... Ah, no, I should not come to disturb the hussar. If I can get the hussar's advice, I can do anything I can. I hope Captain Xu will pay my respects and thank the hussar on my behalf..." Cui Hou himself was still hesitating whether to meet him before, but now he can't even meet him? But there was nothing Cui Hou could say, so he could only thank Xu Chu, then walked out of the corner gate along the road and turned towards the official house.

Cui Hou rarely comes to Guanse, because Cui Hou believes that the Dahan Chamber of Commerce is his territory, so Guanse is still somewhat strange to him.

Along the corridor, Cui Hou walked into the official mansion. He saw blue bricks and white walls, red railings and black tiles in front of him. The houses were arranged in rows. Officials of all sizes were coming and going. Those who walked in a hurry were sweating, those who walked slowly were calm and composed, and those who were panicked were in a hurry. , is simply a miniature picture of life.

Cui Hou suddenly felt a little out of place.

After standing still for a while, Cui Hou moved forward, looked at the wooden sign erected in front of the official house, and then found Zhen Mi. When Cui Hou saw Zhen Mi, he could hardly recognize him...

Zhen Mi was wearing a red and black official uniform and was sitting on a white thatch mat. She was asking a small official something. Her face was serious, which was completely different from the gorgeous impression left by Cui Hou before. If you want to use a simple word to describe it, , that is clear. Like colored glaze, although she was not completely undressed, the light application of pink and white did not cover her jade-like skin. Coupled with the red and black official robes on her body, the upright Jinxian crown, and her bright eyes and white teeth, Cui Hou actually felt a little... Not angry but mighty.

What surprised Cui Hou the most was that almost all the utensils in Zhenmi's house were ordinary, that is, used by ordinary officials. There was neither elaborate decoration nor grace. Even the white-thatched mat Zhen Mi was sitting on didn't look like it was new. Cui Hou could see ink marks on the mat that might have been left by previous users. There were even some scattered and scattered marks on the edge of the mat. Tiny holes...

Zhen Mi can actually sit on such a thing?

Doesn’t she have an appetite for food, beauty, luxury, and a fetish for cleanliness?

Is this really Zhen Mi?

Cui Hou had heard before that Zhen Mi entered the official house, but he didn't pay much attention to it. Cui Hou felt that with Zhen Mi's habits, she might not be able to stay in the officialdom for long before she would be ostracized, bullied, or demoted, and she wouldn't last long anyway.

It's like the boss of a company in later generations only drives a four-wheel A4 to work, and then his employees not only drive briefs, but also drive big G-model cars. So what will other people think?

When in the countryside, do as the Romans do, not just for the "countryside".

Based on his previous impression, Cui Hou felt that Zhen Mi would definitely be uncomfortable even if she could stay in the official residence. Either Zhen Mi herself was uncomfortable, or it was making other officials uncomfortable. But he never expected that Zhen Mi would change so much. If he hadn't seen Zhen Mi many times before and never admitted her mistake, he would have almost thought that the person in front of him was just another person with a similar appearance!

Cui Hou was a little stunned for a moment, but Zhen Mi looked up and saw Cui Hou standing outside the house.

"Since we are old acquaintances, why do we feel awkward?" Zhen Mi said with a smile, "President Cui is a rare visitor!" Don’t be surprised if you are not welcomed! 』

"How dare you, how dare you!" ” Cui Hou hurriedly stepped forward and held his hand, “Cui, a common man, should not dare to come and disturb you... Now I can see Madam Zhen... Well, Zhen is more elegant in her work than in the past, but outside, she is still in a precarious state, and her fortune and misfortune are uncertain. , I am really envious of you..."

Cui Hou's words were not purely for the purpose of inviting favor, but indeed he spoke from his feelings.

When Zhen Mi first came to Chang'an, she had to pay a special visit to Cui Hou. If she wanted to say something to please Cui Hou, she would look at Cui Hou's face carefully, but now it's the other way around.

As for Cui Hou, at the beginning, he prided himself on being an old acquaintance of Qiusi, and he also felt that he was doing business for Qiusi and had great achievements in hard work, but in the end he almost became a prisoner.

Now it seems that Zhen Mi's choice was the right one. Although Cui Hou seemed to be the master of all things in the Han Dynasty Chamber of Commerce, when he got here, he still had to be polite to Zhen Mi, nodding and bowing. Although this position is not high, the authority is enviable enough.

In addition to her position, Cui Hou was also surprised and moved by the change in Zhen Mi's appearance.

Cui Hou looked at the robe he was wearing and the jade pendant hanging around his waist. He thought it was quite good before, but now it seems that no matter how he looks at it, he feels it is very tacky...

"President Cui is very polite," Zhen Mi invited Cui Hou to sit down, and then asked the servant outside to bring some tea in, and then said to Cui Hou, "Is everything okay in the chamber of commerce?" 』

"Yes, yes, everything is fine..." Cui Hou said generally, and it was not a lie, because during this period of time, the overall business operations have been relatively stable, and there are no special issues. In addition, Cui Hou was also a veteran in business, so he didn't find it difficult to do it. After narrating for a while, Cui Hou mentioned the price increase order of the Hussar on the Western Regions, and then asked, "I am impetuous and foolish. I am unable to understand the deep meaning of the Hussar. I am afraid that I will do something wrong and miss the important event of the Husband. I have no choice." I went to see the hussar, but the hussar ordered me to come down to find Zhen Zhenzhi... So I came here with a shy face, hoping that Zhen Zhen would not hesitate to teach me..."

Hearing what Cui Hou said, Zhen Mi couldn't help but smile.

To be honest, Cui Hou had never been so polite to her before.

However, Zhen Mi would not go out of her way to make it difficult. After all, Cui Hou also specifically mentioned Hussar to take advantage of it, indicating that he also had someone behind him...

Specifically, is it better to have someone above you or someone behind you? There is really no need to distinguish between high and low strength at the moment.

Then Zhen Mi smiled and said: "It is a good thing that President Cui can be sent by Qiaoqi to send errands, no matter how difficult or difficult it is." Since I am a minister, I naturally have to fulfill my duty and do my best. Please also ask Chairman Cui to speak frankly, what are you worried about? 』

As soon as Cui Hou explained the matter, Zhen Mi suddenly understood, "I understand, my lord asked President Cui to come here, I'm afraid it's because of my performance..."

In fact, Zhen Mi was notified before Cui Hou arrived.

Zhen Mi stood up, went to the bookshelf behind her, found an archived memorial, then put it on the table, pushed it forward slightly, motioned Cui Hou to read it, and said at the same time: "I was here some time ago." , I was aware of the economic and trade exchanges between Shandong and Shanxi, commodity trading, trading bazaars, etc., so I wrote a memorial, focusing on the key points of commercial goods... Hussar asked President Cui to come here, most likely because he wanted President Cui to read it. One look at this table..."

Zhen Mi seemed to be talking about just taking a look, but in fact it was not.

What Fei Qian meant was that Zhen Mi obviously had more research and understood the key points in the Western Region goods, and even the trading of things in the Han Dynasty Chamber of Commerce, so he asked Cui Hou to learn from it and followed Zhen Mi's advice. It’s not just a glance at the memorial written by Zhen Mi before.

Otherwise, would it be enough to just have someone hand over the memorial to Cui Hou to read?

Cui Hou was surprised to see that Zhen Mi didn't go out of his way to make things difficult. He was stunned for a moment, then handed over his hand to express his thanks, then took the archived memorial and read it. As a businessman, you are always accustomed to having rare goods. It is also a habit to always want to sell good things at a high price. However, if you go too far, it will often make people think that you are treacherous and deliberately making things difficult. Zhen Mi has almost completely abandoned the traces of a businessman in this aspect. While Cui Hou was surprised, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

"Gold, silver, copper?" Cui Hou looked at the items written by Zhen Mi that seemed to occupy a large space. He couldn't help but repeat softly, "Shandong is so luxurious. It likes gold and silver. It melts into ingots and has many hoards... See Guanzhong again." Copper is expensive, transport it more, spin it less, mint money privately, and you are often proud...Zhen is engaged in this... Excuse me, what does this mean? 』

Zhen Mi nodded, and her face gradually became serious, "President Cui, although I was born in Ji, but now I live in Guanzhong and serve as a hussar, I should naturally focus on the great cause of hussar. I don't know what President Cui thinks." Or not? 』

Cui Hou was stunned and nodded repeatedly, "Of course!" As it should be! 』

"Shandong has been suffering for a long time. ” Zhen Mi said slowly, “Can President Cui say that he doesn’t know about the import of inferior copper from Shandong? ! 』

"This..." Cui Hou shook his hands slightly, and then said with a wry smile, "This matter is indeed... but..."

Cui Hou hesitated to speak.

Zhen Mi's eyes moved, and she took out a few coins from the side of the table and dropped them on the table with a clank.

"This is an imitation coin from Shandong. It is slightly lighter and has a slightly thin flesh. It is prone to black rust when exposed to rain and moisture..." Zhen Mi pointed at the coin and said, "This is the Zhengxi coin... The flesh is good and the outline is round. The lines are clear, not afraid of wind and rain, and not easy to rust... President Cui, is it possible that you really don’t know about this copper coin? 』

Looking at the small copper coins on the table, Cui Hou couldn't help but sweat on his head.

"As for the copper coins, there are more imitations..." Zhen Mi took out some small copper coins that were used for change under the copper coins, and said with disgust, "Look, these are, they are worse than bad money." Not as good as that! 』

Gold and silver coins are basically invisible and unusable to ordinary people. Even copper coins must be exchanged in smaller monetary units, namely coppers, in some small transactions. Come. This copper coin is the smallest coin of the Han Dynasty. It usually has no patterns and is usually a small round copper coin of one or two baht.

Because this kind of small-denomination copper coin is easy to cast and has no anti-counterfeiting measures, compared with the previous Zhengxi coins and the later Qiaoqi coins that were more difficult to imitate, they are naturally the hardest hit area for counterfeiting in Shandong. Although the profit is very small, However, if the quantity is large, there will naturally be profits.

In addition, because these imitation small copper coins are also used in Shandong, there is a gap in copper prices between Guanzhong and Shandong. The east is cheaper and the west is more expensive. Therefore, Guanzhong exports gold, silver, copper coins and other good money to Shandong, while Shandong exports gold, silver, copper coins and other good money to Shandong. Guanzhong keeps looking for various opportunities to import bad money.

"It's not that President Cui doesn't know about it, he just doesn't investigate the matter in detail..." Zhen Mi looked at Cui Hou meaningfully, "I'm afraid it's because of the number of trade, and it will be cited as a problem... If we investigate deeply, it will definitely affect the trade, reduce trade, and make the big man The income of the Chamber of Commerce has decreased, which has damaged the reputation of President Cui..."

"No no no!" ” Cui Hou waved his hands repeatedly, “I definitely don’t mean this! I... I do know about this, and I am collecting relevant information... I definitely did not hide it from the hussar on purpose! I am preparing to report this matter to Hussar! 』

Cui Hou almost shouted loudly.

At best, he can only pretend to be stupid. How can he be said to be deliberately deceiving?

This is a completely different meaning, okay!

Zhen Mi stared at Cui Hou seriously, and after a moment, she suddenly smiled, like the frost melting and the spring breeze blowing on her face, "President Cui is in charge of the Han Chamber of Commerce. President Cui has the final say on such matters." There is no need to say too much to me, I am just discussing the matter... But what does President Cui think about these gold, silver, copper coins and goods from the Western Regions? 』

Cui Hou wiped his sweat, exhaled a long breath, his head started to wander quickly, and then he realized, "Most of the goods from the Western Regions are used by the nobles, and now the price is increased to bring back the gold and silver coins that have escaped." ? Zhen is engaged, I wonder if what I say is correct? 』

Zhen Mi smiled and said, "I am just a little girl with little knowledge... It is natural that President Cui will make the decision on this matter..."

"No, no, Zhen Zheng, I sincerely ask for advice!" ” Cui Hou repeatedly raised his hands to Zhen Mi and said, “Please Zhen Cheng, please give me some advice! 』

Zhen Mi smiled gently and said, "President Cui has gained something, but he doesn't know whether to accept it or not. Why don't you just send the memorial to the hussar... Isn't it a thousand times better than my lie?" President Cui, I still have official duties here, so I won’t leave Cui to sit here for a long time. I hope you will forgive me for being disrespectful. 』

"This, uh, okay..." Cui Hou subconsciously wanted to take the watch stamp away for filing, but was stopped by Zhen Mi. He couldn't help handing it back with some embarrassment, and then left. On the surface, he remained polite, but He was scolding Zhen Mi in his heart.

Only a boy is so difficult to raise!

Is it bad money? When is it not?

Didn't Qiusi do this before?

Besides, bad money cannot be used in the regular market in Chang'an. At most, it can only be exchanged for usable money in Qingyin Shop. The loss will be huge, so it is usually used secretly in the countryside. Cui He doesn't go to the countryside every day. Isn't that normal?

Moreover, regardless of whether it is exporting or importing, they all purchase goods and trade, and they are all included in the trade volume of the Dahan Chamber of Commerce. The higher the trade volume, the better the effectiveness of Cui Hou in running the Dahan Chamber of Commerce. As for these counterfeit currencies, there are inspections and inspections in the market anyway. If found, it is the guilt of those who use the currency, and they are also responsible for the Dahan Chamber of Commerce. What does the Chamber of Commerce have to do with it? What does it have to do with Cui Hou? It’s not like he asked people from Shandong to cast it privately, and he didn’t get a single penny from it!

How could this be considered his fault?

Besides, does Dahan Chamber of Commerce have the power to enforce the law?

No, so what's the problem?

Cui Hou groaned in his heart and felt a little angry, but when he got to the back, he looked up at the eaves of the official residence and stood there for a long time. Then he let out a long sigh, lowered his head, and slowly continued to move forward. .

『ε=(′ο｀*)))Alas...』

I need to write a good letter when I get back.

Not only do we need to explain clearly the matter of gold, silver and copper coins, but we also need to talk about the pricing arrangements for goods from the Western Regions...

Cui Hou was covered in sweat just now. When he walked out of the official house, a gust of autumn wind blew, making him shiver and quickly wrapped his collar tightly with his hands.

Cui Hou looked back and suddenly felt that he was getting further and further away from Hussar.

Before, we could still sit at the same table, laugh and talk to each other, but now...

The world is changing, nothing better than that.

But Cui Hou was still mumbling, what is this hussar busy with?