Chapter 180: Like a painting

In May, the construction of five cities east of Yibohai has begun. Geluo immediately transferred 20,000 people from each department, and Beiting recruited 5,000 migrant workers. The staff was sufficient, and the construction of the city was very smooth. In the afternoon, Li Qing'an returned from inspecting the five cities. He returned from Beiting City first. As soon as he entered the city gate, he asked Wang Changling anxiously: "Where is the money furnace from Chang'an?"

He received news halfway that the smelting furnace transported from Chang'an Shaofu Supervisor had arrived in Tingzhou. He quickly rushed back to Tingzhou.

The governors of the towns of the Tang Dynasty generally held reports on their duties, which mainly depends on the degree of trust of the emperor. For example, in addition to the deputy envoy of the Jiedu and the governor of Tingzhou, Li Qing'an also had a series of other titles. The more important one was the Chief Censor, which was the power of supervision; at the same time, he also controlled the land transfer envoy, which was equivalent to mastering the economic lifeline of Beiting. In addition, he also served as the Supervisor of the Hundred-Hebei Branch Office and the Money-Casting Supervisor. The former was the craftsmen of Beiting, while the latter was the power of minting, including the right to mine and smelting.

It is precisely because of these titles that Li Qing'an was able to control the military and political power of Beiting. Of course, he did not have all powers, such as he did not have the most important personnel power, and all the appointments of civil and military officials must be carried out through the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel.

Li Linfu reached an agreement with him to add a coin minting point in Beiting. Considering that Beiting in Anxi is far away and the transportation of copper coins is inconvenient, Li Linfu agreed to install a coin minting furnace in Tingzhou, and the coins minted are used to meet the needs of Beiting and Anxi, which plays a crucial role in Beiting's economic prosperity.

Wang Changling hurriedly said: "They have been here for ten days!"

At this time, a soldier hurried over with a low-level official. He bowed and said, "I am the head of the Longyou Metallurgical Office under the Shaofu Supervisor, Lu Bai, please take care of me."

He was just a small official from the ninth rank and was transferred to Beiting to assist Li Qing'an in managing the coin minting furnace. He was actually a technical supervisor.

Although the position of this technical supervisor is low, Li Qing'an still asks him for help and quickly replied with a smile: "It turns out to be Lu Yecheng, welcome to Beiting. I wonder if Lu Yecheng is planning to stay in Beiting for a long time or come temporarily to assist in guidance."

"Report to the envoy, the appointment letter said that it would be temporarily stayed for one year, and please ask the envoy to take care of him in the future."

Lu Bai was not from a professional background, and had nothing to do with the Lu family, a famous family in the Tang Dynasty. His family has been poor for generations, but only became an official because he had been a minor official for twenty years and accumulated qualifications. This was the first official from the Five Dynasties of the Lu family. Therefore, he cherished himself very much, a small official hat from the ninth rank, which was reflected in his attitude towards those in power, and even a little flattering.

"Empress, please follow me to see the money smelting furnace."

He took Li Qing'an to an idle courtyard near the city wall. This was the temporary coin minting place of Beiting Metallurgical Administration. There were more than a dozen houses. The coin minting was actually a series of projects. The middle Tang Dynasty had adopted the method of sand casting, copper smelting, mold making, melting, molding, polishing, selection, and penetration of coins, etc., and there were about 30 craftsmen. However, Beiting copper materials were inconvenient to transport, so they had to be mined and smelted on site, which required at least a few thousand people. Therefore, the court agreed that Beiting coin was actually giving it a large industry.

Li Qing'an walked into the yard and glanced around. He saw a dark copper smelting furnace in the corner of the yard, with tools sprinkled around it, dozens of molten copper crucibles, and stone foundations used for moulding money.

Only then did he realize that the so-called furnace is just an earthen kiln made of bricks and mud, not the iron furnace he imagined.

Li Qingan walked up and looked carefully. Seeing that there were more than a dozen iron money models in the iron box next to him, that is, working molds, he picked up a money model. It was obvious that it had been a long time ago, covered with rust and the shape was not standard. Li Qingan reached out and peeled it, and immediately a large piece of rust peeled off, which was so rusted. Almost every money model was like this. He couldn't help but frowned and said to himself, "How could it be so ragged?"

Lu Bai blushed and quickly explained: "This is an old money model that was eliminated by the Longyou Money Making Office a few years ago. It has been stored for several years and has become rusted. Now we all use mother money to turn sand to make money. These money models are just for experiments."

Seeing that Li Qing'an's brows stretched without his explanation, he murmured, "Is there a saying that I don't know if it should be said or not?"

"you say!"

"The envoy, whether it is a money style or a mother's money, you can make it yourself. As far as I know, many people privately cast copper coins, which is better than an official furnace. The key is that Beiting has the power to cast money. As for the fan! It doesn't have to be made by an official."

Li Qingan immediately understood what he meant. There is no difference between the technical official and private coin minting. The key is whether it is illegal or not. He also heard that the cost of minting coins is only 700 yuan. Many people have privately cast copper coins to make huge profits. Some of them have made private coins more exquisite than official coins. Of course, there are also inferior coins with insufficient copper materials. The Kaiyuan Tongbao of the Tang Dynasty did not have any anti-counterfeiting technology, and the only way to prevent was torture. Civilians will pay the price of beheading if they privately cast copper coins.

But in fact, many powerful families are secretly making private money to make huge profits. As long as no one reports it, the court can only turn a blind eye. However, Beiting is different. Beiting does not have ready-made copper materials and can only be mined and smelted. This way, it cannot be kept low-key. Once the construction starts, it will be known immediately. Therefore, it is particularly important for Beiting to obtain the right to mint money. Li Qing'an can now openly and mint money on a large scale.

As for changing the mold privately or the mother's money, it is not a big problem. Instead, Lu Yecheng's idea is very pragmatic, which surprised Li Qing'an.

Li Qingan smiled and said, "I don't know when I will be able to refine the first furnace of money?"

Lu Bai hurriedly said: "I tried two furnaces the day before yesterday and cast a hundred stagnant of coins. Please follow me."

Lu Bai took Li Qing'an to the warehouse again, and several soldiers guarded the door. They walked into the house. There were two large bamboo baskets in the middle of the house. The bamboo baskets were filled with yellow copper coins. Two craftsmen with naked upper bodies were busy running through money, that is, they were threading scattered copper coins one by one with rope. One thousand coins were a one-piece, which was not the most primitive method. If one was worn by one, it would be inefficient, and it would be easy to make mistakes. Generally, they put money into a wooden mold. One mold was a thousand coins, and if one was filled with rope, it was a one-piece.

Lu Bai pointed to the basket and continued: "The Tang Dynasty cast 320,000 guan coins every year, with a total of 99 coin minting agencies. Each coin minting agency only casts about 3,300 guan coins a year. In fact, as long as there is sufficient copper material, we can cast 20,000 guan coins a year."

Speaking of this, he looked at Li Qing'an's face, then quickly smiled and said, "Of course, the Shaofu Supervisor issued an order to cast a little more. It would be fine if Li Envoy wanted to make a little more."

He knew that such important frontier towns were not in mainland prefectures and counties, and there were not so many restrictions on supervision. How much money was actually determined by the Jiedushi. He heard that the actual amount of money was minted in Youzhou was three times the amount given by the Shaofujian, and there was no problem. What's more, Beiting, where the sky was high and the emperor was far away, it was said that the supervision power was in the hands of the Jiedushi. In this way, it was not up to him to decide how much money Li Qingan wanted to cast.

The amount of money that Shaofu Supervisor gave to Beiting is 10,000 jin per year, including 5,000 jin of coins given to Anxi. In fact, Beiting only has 5,000 jin per year, which is enough to deal with daily administrative expenses. In addition, cloth can also be used as currency to supplement the shortcomings of copper coins. The army is mainly food and food, and does not consume much money and silk. Therefore, the court only gives 10,000 jin of coins, which is actually a financial restriction to prevent the governor from recruiting private soldiers.

But in fact, this amount is just a piece of paper. The governors in the middle and late Tang Dynasty had no right to mint money and even had to make private money. What's more, Li Qing'an got the right to mint money. Of course, he would not stop at the tens of thousands of coins every year. Li Qing'an did not say it out loud, but just asked with a smile: "If I want to make a batch of money and silver, I don't know if there is a mold."

‘Gold, silver and money?’ Lu Bai was stunned and he hurriedly said: “Yes! Yes!”

He quickly ran into the house, took a small wooden box, and handed it to Li Qing'an: "Eunuch, this is the mother's money I received from the Shaofu Supervisor. There are ten pieces of gold, silver and copper in total. The envoy is a coin minting supervisor, and the mother's money should be kept by the envoy."

Li Qingan took the box, opened it and looked at it. There were indeed thirty mother coins with exquisite shapes inside. The money was slightly thicker than ordinary coins, with deep words, beautiful and slender fonts, and delicate copper.

He closed the box and handed it to Wang Changling next to him and smiled: "This one needs to be used every day. It is inconvenient to keep it by my side, so let's join the army to keep it!"

Wang Changling accepted it, Li Qing'an nodded and smiled, "Tomorrow, there are 80,000 kilograms of copper, wax and lead in Beiting warehouse. In addition, I will send 300 soldiers to help cast, there is no problem with Shi Cheng Lu!"

Lu Bai understood what Li Qing'an meant, and in fact he was sending someone to learn the skills of minting money. He didn't dare to refuse and quickly said, "No problem, please send someone to help."

The arrival of the money-casting craftsman made Li Qing'an very proud. He could mint money on a large scale with the right to mint money. Of course, ten thousand coins a year is not enough. The key is that he also obtained the mining rights. There is a large copper mine in Yizhou and a gold and silver mine in Jinshan. As long as the machine is activated, will the money come rolling in?

Of course, insufficient mining labor is still a big problem. He is not worried about this. The Han people are not enough, and the Hu people can still take over.

Li Qing'an has been inspecting the construction of the five cities for a month and has not returned home. He is eager to see his family. After inspecting the money minting office, he turned around and returned home.

Walking on the streets of Jinman County, the streets seemed to be more crowded than before, bustling and bustling. Li Qing'an couldn't help but think of Chen Zhonghe, the magistrate of Jinman County. It is said that this man resigned from office and went to Chang'an to sue him for the emperor. He refused to hesitate and left his mother, wife and children alone. He couldn't help but sigh that although this man was capable, he was a scholar after all. Under the plan to restore the shattered leaves, how could Li Longji listen to his complaint?

"Hurry up! Hurry up! I'll sell it if I go late."

Seeing that he was about to reach his house, several women shouted suddenly from behind him. Li Qingan couldn't help but turn around and saw three or five young Hu girls holding purses in their hands and running forward hurriedly. Everyone's eyes were filled with a look of expectation.

Li Qingan couldn't help but wonder, what are they going to buy?

After turning a corner, Li Qingan was stunned. From a distance, he saw that his mansion was filled with young women, and everyone was fighting for something like a crowd? He saw clearly that many women were holding a long skirt in their hands and gestured on their bodies.

"Don't snatch them. These skirts are guaranteed to be the best goods from Chang'an West City. Look at the workmanship, the silk of this skirt will not be seen in Beiting."

A picturesque sound came from afar. Through the gaps of women's heads, Li Qing'an saw Ruhua. She stood on a high table, rolled up her sleeves, combed her hair in a bun, revealing her long and white neck, and her pretty face looked particularly rosy under the sunlight.

"Sister, your skirt is three guan, right! You can't lose a penny, it's already very cheap. When I bought it, I had three guan. I've never worn this skirt. Look at how bright the color is, I won't make any penny you have. OK! Xiaolian, collect some money for me."

Xiaolian came out of the crowd, took a bag of money from a Hu girl, and counted it seriously. Li Qingan became more and more surprised. He saw that Yu Nu, the maid in the dance style, seemed to be helping.

The three of them were busy selling a bunch of long skirts and some daily necessities, all brought from Chang'an. Li Qing'an waved his hand gently and pointed to the side door. The soldiers understood and walked towards the side door one after another. He turned over and got off the horse, walked slowly to the front door with his hands behind his back, and stood on the steps and smiled at the grand scene.

At this time, Xiaolian had ordered the money and handed over the long skirt to Hu Niang. Hu Niang looked left and right with the pomegranate skirt, and left happily.

Xiaolian turned around with the money and was about to go back when she suddenly saw Li Qing'an. She was surprised in her eyes. She was about to run up, but Li Qing'an raised her index finger, shrewd at her, and pointed at her like a painting.

"Okay!" A picture-like and crisp laughter came from the crowd, "Two silos and five hundred documents, we will make a deal, Xiaolian, take the money from this beautiful lady."

Ruhua reached another business and was urging her. Xiaolian had no choice but to turn around and collect the money.

"Hey! Xiaoma, how much does this tea set cost?"

A woman took a fancy to a set of porcelain, and Ruhua immediately smiled and said, "Sister, you have a good vision. That's the best white porcelain in Dayi. It's only available in the old Zhangjia store in Dongcheng City, Chang'an. I only have three sets of tea sets. If you like it, take it away for ten cents of money."

Li Qingan looked at the tea set and suddenly remembered that it seemed that they bought a new house in Chang'an when they moved to a new house. He remembered that he bought six cents of money at that time, but the little girl actually offered a price of ten cents of money.

Shiguanqian seemed to be a little expensive for this woman, but she couldn't let go of it. After hesitating, she shouted: "Xiaoma, will you sell Baguanqianqian?"

Ruhua smiled and said, "Sister, I basically don't make money. I can't see this kind of high-quality white porcelain in Beiting market. It's sold in the porcelain shop next to Xianyang winery, but the texture is much worse than mine, but it costs twelve cents. Sister, if you don't believe it, go and take a look."

Speaking of this, she turned around and smiled at a woman, "That is an embroidered gold louver skirt. Every woman should have a box bottom. I bought five silos and five hundred cents and sold them to you six silos and only earn five hundred cents."

The woman who bought porcelain here was very moved. She wanted to buy it but felt it was a bit expensive. After all, ten-ton coins of money is a big amount. Ruhua turned around and smiled, "Sister, let's do this! I'll give you another pack of good tea, worth 500 cents of money, how about it?"

The woman's eyes lit up and she finally nodded, "Okay, we've made a deal. I didn't bring so much money. You put away the porcelain first and I'll go back and get it. By the way, is the silver okay?"

"Yes, nine taels of silver."

The woman squeezed out of the crowd, rode a small donkey, and hurried back to withdraw money.

At this time, Ruhua finally saw Li Qing'an. She jumped up in surprise. She didn't care about doing business anymore. She jumped off the table and rushed towards Li Qing'an.

She held Li Qing'an's arm and said coquettishly: "Brother, when did you come back? Don't let someone say it first."

Her intimate behavior caused laughter from the women behind her. Li Qingan wiped the sweat from her forehead lovingly and said with a smile: "Where is Rushi? Why don't she come to help you?"

"She is shy, so she won't come!"

Ruhua chuckled at Li Qing'an with her ears and said in a low voice: "The one she has come once a month, and she can't go anywhere."

Li Qing'an understood and smiled and said, "Please continue to work hard by the shopkeeper Ruhua. I will report your business to the owner in the evening."

Ruhua gave him a blank look and pouted, "What's the shopkeeper Ruhua? It sounds so ugly. My surname is Li, Storekeeper Li."

"Yes, Manager Li, go and do it!"

"Okay! I'm going, I'll come with you again tonight."

Ruhua blinked at him mischievously, then went back and jumped onto the big table, laughing at the women rushing to the top, saying, "Don't be anxious! Don't be anxious! Come one by one."

"Li Xiaoniang, how much does this shibao cost? My daughter is going to get married, so I want to buy her one, but the county can't find it." A woman asked excitedly, holding a narrow and beautiful scarf with a jade pendant underneath.

Ruhua smiled and said, "Sister is really good at it. Your shiki cape is made of top-quality Shu brocade. The price of Chang'an East is 20 jin. I have only used it once, so as long as you have 18 jin, in fact, there are also shops in a shop called Jinshan Satin Shop in the east of the city. You might as well go and take a look. I tell you that their offer is not less than 30 jin, and the bargaining price can only be as high as 28 jin. I will keep this shiki cape for you, and you can compare it and come again."

Li Qingan had never seen Ruhua have such business skills. In his impression,

Ruhua has always been a lively and extroverted girl, a bit similar to Mingzhu, but she does not have the status of Mingzhu. She was a toy raised by An Lushan to give to the powerful. She has never had the chance to go out since she was a child. She only had contact with the outside world after two years of being with her. But she is so flexible and good at selling goods. No one has ever taught her. It can only be explained that she has the talent for doing business.

Li Qingan couldn't help but look at her with admiration. At this time, his brows suddenly frowned slightly. Only then did he notice the picturesque dress. She wore a bright red pomegranate skirt on the bottom, but a thin shirt on the upper body. It was May and the sky was getting hotter. Women basically wore shirts. The shirts were summer clothes and were a single-clothed one that appeared after the Han Dynasty. Most of the Tang Dynasty shirts were wide-collar and large sleeves, sewn with yarn. They were as light as smoke and as thin as cicada wings, and the skin was vaguely visible.

Ruhua was wearing such a shirt. In the sun, she could clearly see the two round and plump breasts on her chest. As her arms swinged, her two plump breasts were jumping elastically like white porcelain jade bowls. When she looked at other women, it was actually the same, but these women did not have the pure and beautiful feeling like paintings.

Li Qingan would also appreciate other women, but his woman's chest was so obvious that he always felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.
Chapter completed!