After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 620 - 614 Feeling Great

Fu Tinghan said, "I came back today just to tell you that the people sent out to find iron ore couldn’t find it, but they did find a copper mine."

"Instead of selling the copper, it’s better to make coins directly. But are you going to make the same ’Five Coin Money’ as the current court, or issue your own new currency?" He said, "I’ve understood from the people below that the currency market is quite chaotic; copper coins, grains, cloth, and gold and silver can all circulate as currency in the market."

"Gold and silver are the most stable, followed by copper coins, cloth, and grains; but after checking the accounts and visiting the market stalls and fairs, I’ve seen that it’s rare to use gold and silver for transactions, even small transactions with copper coins are infrequent, while cloth is the most circulated, followed by copper coins, and there are quite a few transactions using grains."

"Regardless of whether it’s cloth or grains, their values are very unstable."

Zhao Hanzhang understood, "You want me to issue a new monetary policy?"

Fu Tinghan said, "With the market so chaotic, perhaps you can give it a try."

Monetary issuance can’t be done casually, and Zhao Hanzhang wasn’t lacking in circulating materials, especially now during the summer harvest. In the Yu State, a lot of winter wheat was planted last year and has now been harvested. Currently, crops like millet and beans are being harvested.

Besides the agricultural products, there are numerous other goods, but the trading market is very chaotic, with bartering being prevalent among the populace. When Prince East Sea left Luoyang, he took half of the court and noble families, along with a large amount of gold, silver, and copper coins, most of which were snatched away by Shi Le.

As a result, refugees are returning to Luoyang but find themselves without usable money.

Nobles trade goods with cloth and retained jewelry, while the common people mostly barter; however, it’s hard to determine the value of those things, and the cloth and jewelry carried in trades aren’t popular with outside merchants because of their fluctuating value.

Compared with the fluctuating values of cloth and jewelry, merchants prefer gold, silver, and copper coins.

So, Zhao Hanzhang can make coins and then require her jurisdiction to use money as a medium to unify the market.

But the question arises: should she print her own currency or align with the court and also print their ’Five Coin Money’?

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t decide immediately. She walked along the steps from one end to the other, finally suppressing her excitement and said with a slap on the railing, "Let’s mint the court’s ’Five Coin Money’."

Fu Tinghan smiled and said, "Alright, we can first mint the court’s ’Five Coin Money.’ Once the domain is stable in the future, if you wish to mint your own currency, we can plan again." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, thinking that she’d soon have money, and got excited again, "Where is the copper mine? We can put other matters aside for now, but let’s mine copper and mint coins first."

Right now, she is very short of money.

Fu Tinghan: "Not far, it’s more than eighty li away from Luoyang."

So if they were to smelt copper, he estimated he’d have to leave for a while, and molds also need to be made, implying he’d be very busy and likely stay outside the city for a long time.

Zhao Hanzhang had also thought of this and looked at him with her head tilted, eagerly saying, "I happen to be free; I’ll go help you."

She’s not interested in other things but is quite taken with minting coins.

Fu Tinghan laughed softly and nodded, "Come when I’m not too busy."

Zhao Hanzhang also informed him that four officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Department were going to help him, "Among them, Shen Ruhui, whom my uncle recommended, is not only proficient in farming but also in building water mills. He built two in Yongzhou, which are still in use."

"Then let him be my deputy when he arrives."

Zhao Hanzhang agreed readily, "Okay."

When the Emperor left, he took everything he could; after he left, Zhao Erlang and Xun Xiu had sneaked in with people and searched but found no treasures on the surface.

But Zhao Erlang is now very good at treasure hunting, and Ting He and Fu An, as servants, considered where they’d hide things if they were to hide them themselves.

From this thought process, they managed to find some items within the palace. The three played until the setting sun, only leaving reluctantly when Zhao Hanzhang’s voice called out from outside, heading towards the front hall.

Zhao Hanzhang stood with hands on her hips in front of the main hall, shouting towards the direction of the rear palaces, while Fu Tinghan leaned against the railing, watching her with amusement.

She was about to shout for the eighth time when Zhao Erlang led Ting He and Fu An speeding out from the left corridor, one hand clutching his chest, almost unable to stop as he rushed over.

Seeing his sweat-covered forehead, Zhao Hanzhang took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his brow, "Haven’t you visited several times? How come you still played for so long?"

Zhao Erlang’s eyes shone as he showed Zhao Hanzhang what he found, "Sister, I found these."

They were mostly trivial items, including silver hairpins, a jade piece slightly larger than a copper coin, and the most striking were two pieces of gold foil, very thin but as large as a child’s palm.

Zhao Hanzhang held them to the sunlight and couldn’t help but smile, "Not bad luck; today wasn’t a wasted trip after all—just one piece is about half a year’s salary for you."

Zhao Erlang nodded joyfully, "Sister, if you’re ever feeling down again, remember to call me along to the palace; I’ll search again and surely find more things."

Zhao Hanzhang: "...You wish for me to be sad?"

"No, not at all," Zhao Erlang quickly denied, hesitantly giving her one piece of gold foil, "Sister, this is for you."

Zhao Hanzhang accepted it.

Zhao Erlang watched wide-eyed as his sister tucked the gold foil into her bosom, then turned to say, "Let’s go home."

Zhao Hanzhang, feeling very happy, returned home; indeed, visiting the Imperial Palace could bring surprises during gloomy moods.

The kitchen prepared the rabbit meat as Zhao Hanzhang had instructed; the chef’s craftsmanship was good, making her savor the meal joyfully. With the money situation showing promise, after walking briefly around the courtyard to aid digestion, she returned to the study, reviewed the appointments sent by Fan Ying, stamped them, and processed the remaining documents. Once all was done, she couldn’t resist taking out her purse and emptying the copper coins inside.

She had only twenty-three copper coins in her purse, but despite being only twenty-three, they still held purchasing power in Luoyang.

Without buying anything expensive, just eating and drinking tea would last her two to three days.

Currently, a bowl of noodles in Luoyang City, with minced meat, costs six cents, and tea allows you to sit and drink all day for two cents.

Zhao Hanzhang laid out the copper coins one by one; the ’Five Coin Money’ was the currency issued during Emperor Wu of Han’s time. Before him, the Ducal States would privately mint copper coins for distribution within their territories.

Emperor Qin Shi Huang had unified the currency once, but unfortunately, the Qin Dynasty lived shortly, and after it, in times of chaos, various localities began privately minting copper coins again. It wasn’t until Emperor Wu of Han that the order to ban private minting by counties and states came, enforcing the use of the court-issued ’Five Coin Money.’