Chapter 273: Few Fools Among Chang'an Officials

In Fang Chongyong's impression, Li Linfu likes to favor his own faction and suppress dissent, and has many mediocre subordinates. So Fang Chongyong regards the so‑called "talents" recommended by Li Linfu with contempt.

Li Linfu is nothing but honeyed words and a dagger in the belly!

He had originally thought so.

Fang Chongyong even considered issuing a "bounty" to exceptionally select outstanding talent within the Tang bureaucracy. Whether self‑recommended or nominated, once hired they would immediately receive generous rewards.

Of course, before that he still needed to meet the people Li Linfu recommended, see what their quality is, and then make a judgment.

The next day, in a private room on the second floor of Xinghua Lou, Fang Chongyong saw a middle‑aged man and two youths, all recommended by Li Linfu for an "interview".

However, the one who brought them was not Li Linfu himself, but Li Xiu, the eldest son of the Tang Right Prime Minister.

According to Li Xiu, he is the court‑appointed Supervisor of Manufacturing, assigned by his father Li Linfu, and is specifically responsible for archiving and improving the Jiaozi woodblock technology!

Fang Chongyong had not failed to consider that Li Linfu might send trusted aides or offspring to take part in Jiaozi issuance. Yet the direct control of printing technology still surprised him.

Anyone who can become the Tang Right Prime Minister is certainly no fool!

Fang Chongyong thought about it and felt relieved.

Compared with copper coins, the barrier to reproducing Jiaozi lies not in material limits but in papermaking and printing.

As long as one controls the technology of printing Jiaozi and the method of making special paper, the biggest hurdle to issuing Jiaozi is cleared.

It can be said to be mastering core technology!

"I am Grand Minister of the Treasury Yang Shenjin."

"I am Assistant Director of the Ministry of Personnel Liu Yan."

"I am Assistant Director of the Ministry of Revenue Diwu Qi."

The three each bowed to Fang Chongyong.

"I am Jiedushi of Hexi and also Envoy for Western Regions, Fang Chongyong. Pleased to meet you, pleased to meet you."

Fang Chongyong returned the salute to the three in front of him.

Yang Shenjin knew that he was Ji Ge's confidant, in charge of Ji Ge's petty treasury.

The remaining two, one from the Ministry of Personnel and one from the Ministry of Revenue, were probably in charge of personnel and administration. One must admit, Li Linfu truly is a prime minister who works earnestly, and this clearly shows his intention to set up an entirely new department.

"Jiedushi Fang, these are oranges sent from my hometown, a cheap local specialty."

Liu Yan took a bag of oranges from behind, smiled, and handed them directly to Fang Chongyong.

"Alright, alright, Assistant Director Liu, you're being courteous, courteous."

Fang Chongyong smiled as he took the oranges, calmly weighing them in his hand.

It seemed to be just the weight of ordinary oranges! Surely they weren't really sending oranges?

Fang Chongyong muttered to himself, his face bearing a professional smile.

"Back then, Jiedushi Fang suggested to Zheng Shuqing that a checkpoint be set up at Kui Gate to collect taxes; the entire court opposed, and only Assistant Director Liu submitted a supporting petition, which later led to his demotion and exile as a county magistrate."

Li Xiu said calmly into Fang Chongyong's ear.

Seeing Liu Yan's ingratiating smile, Fang Chongyong realized that times had changed; now he was inevitably the high‑ranking official that others would fawn over.

No wonder so many people like to be Ji Ge's lapdogs.

Fang Chongyong nodded with a hint of emotion.

Li Xiu pointed at Diwu Qi and said, "Back then Wei Jian served as Transport Commissioner, and he was a commander under Wei Jian. Later, when Wei Jian was implicated in Li Heng's rebellion, Diwu Qi began serving under my father."

Fang Chongyong nodded again; Wei Jian, unlike the way the histories of his previous life paired him directly with Li Linfu, is now merely a cousin to Li Linfu. So Li Linfu gathering Wei Jian's former troops for his own use is a commonplace matter.

"Grand Minister Yang, no introduction is needed."

Li Xiu sneered.

Yang Shenjin's relationship with Li Linfu was very delicate, but he was a person trusted by Ji Ge and sent by Ji Ge to balance Li Linfu, so indeed Li Xiu's introduction was unnecessary.

Fang Chongyong instantly understood that all this was Ji Ge's arrangement, and it was under Ji Ge's surveillance.

After sending away the staff of Xinghua Lou and the servants of the four before him, Fang Chongyong slipped his hands into his sleeves and asked leisurely, "Gentlemen, if you have any questions, feel free to ask without restraint."

"Jiedushi Fang, I have a matter I do not understand."

"Our Tang realm is vast; how should this Jiaozi be issued?"

"If it is issued only in Chang'an, then Jiaozi can only circulate around Chang'an."

Diwu Qi, who had handled administration under the Transport Commissioner, asked a very crucial question.

"Jiaozi can only be printed in Chang'an; for safety, the printing woodblocks must never leave Chang'an.

After printing is complete, they will be transported to a first‑level prefectural city to set up a dedicated warehouse for stockpiling Jiaozi.

Using the prefecture as a hub, it will spread to surrounding provinces. In each provincial capital, a Jiaozi money shop will be established."

Fang Chongyong said lightly, this kind of question is probably just a "small test of the sword", and Diwu Qi, as a veteran bureaucrat, wouldn't be at a loss about how to solve even such a problem.

This was Diwu Qi testing him.

Fang Chongyong didn't mind such matters; after all, the three in front were not working under his command, so it didn't concern him!

"Jiedushi Fang indeed has an overall plan.

However, I would like to know, besides circulating around the first‑level prefectural cities, can Jiaozi also flow across regions?"

"For example, Jiaozi issued in the Two Huai region—if someone brings it to Chang'an, can it be used without hindrance?"

Diwu Qi's sharp gaze fixed on Fang Chongyong as he asked a difficult question.

The Tang realm stretches far beyond ten thousand li, from the verdant Congling in the west to Guangzhou in the south, all part of the empire. Printing Jiaozi in Chang'an is understandable, for printing the same Jiaozi elsewhere could easily cause the printing technology to leak out!

If counterfeit "official" notes appear, the trouble will be huge!

However, Jiaozi must always circulate within local areas; whether Jiaozi circulating between regions can be exchanged, or whether there is only a single version of Jiaozi throughout the Tang, is not only crucial but determines the success or failure of Jiaozi's operation!

Regional circulation with cross‑region non‑exchange certainly restricts Jiaozi's promotion.

At the same time, it adds a "firewall"; if trouble arises later, a failing Jiaozi would only fail in one locale!

The safety is far higher than that of a unified currency circulating nationwide.

If exchange notes are issued without regional division, then once a problem occurs in any link, even places where the exchange notes operate normally will be dragged down by the problematic area!

By then the trouble will be huge! It could even be said that you won't be able to walk away with the bag!

It can be done in two steps.

First, divide the Tang into six regions: Guanzhong, Henan, Lianghuai, Jiangnan, Lingnan, and Shu. Each region issues its own version of the exchange note; if different regional notes need to be exchanged, they can only be exchanged at the prefecture-level exchange note shops.

After the exchange notes have been operating orderly for a few years, we will then recall the old versions and issue a new nationwide version, once and for all.

Fang Chongyong proposed an intermediate step: first run a trial operation for a few years, then we'll talk.

His remarks weren't very detailed, but they involved many concepts.

Such as exchange rates, regional currencies, economic regionalization, etc.

Except for Li Xiu, who didn't quite understand, the other three were professionals who dealt with money all day. After hearing Fang Chongyong's remarks, they all lowered their heads and thought silently, weighing the pros and cons.

If Fang Chongyong were still living in his previous life, without all those years of experience in the Tang, he would certainly think that a single national paper currency is a perfectly normal thing.

But in an era without rapid technological advancement, regionalized currency naturally has a "firewall" function; this is actually the norm for currency operation.

Even in modern times, a unified currency across different regions is prone to problems.

For example, the European Union; some countries, such as Greece and some Eastern European nations, after abandoning their own currency for the euro, lost their minting rights and could no longer use inflation to ease their own economic crises.

This also allows economically developed regions to plunder wealth from economically backward regions through currency!

Fang Chongyong has seen many similar cases.

The Tang is such a huge board; regional economic development itself is extremely unbalanced.

If the same exchange note were used as currency from south to north and east to west, the end result would be something truly terrifying!

As expected, Yang Shenqin nodded and said, "Lord Jiedushi Fang's method is indeed very steady. Let the exchange notes operate locally, and it's better for regions not to interconnect at first."

The other two also nodded slightly in agreement. The ancients simply lacked experience; they are not any less intelligent than modern people.

Hearing this, Fang Chongyong felt somewhat relieved.

"Lord Jiedushi, how should we denominate the exchange note's value? It says ten bolts of silk, but it may not actually be redeemable for ten bolts of silk."

Liu Yan frowned slightly and asked.

"For each bolt of silk collected from the populace, we issue one bolt's worth of exchange note; this is the reserve system.

When purchasing grain, we simply use exchange notes instead of silk, while also collecting large amounts of silk from aristocratic families and merchants as reserves. In the future, officials' salaries will be paid in exchange notes, and the court will also disburse exchange notes for road and bridge projects, and we will allow free redemption of exchange notes for silk at the money shops.

Implementing this method nationwide would not be difficult.

Fang Chongyong said confidently.

Seeing that everyone was still not entirely convinced, he added:

"Each exchange note bears an issue date, and it can only be redeemed for silk one month after issuance, or even several months later. This way, the exchange note shops in each region will be able to cope.

Moreover, silk is not popular among the populace to begin with; now that we have exchange notes that don't wear out, promotion shouldn't be difficult, right?

"Indeed, Lord Jiedushi's invented exchange note is truly impressive.

Liu Yan, with a round face and a smiling grin, couldn't help but give a thumbs up and said.

"However, if the exchange notes circulate smoothly in the future, surely someone will envy them; preventing counterfeiting is therefore the top priority."

Fifth Qi interjected; he is upright and has offended many people in his daily life. If he weren't talented, he would have died countless times already.

Everyone present knows that the exchange note's weak point is actually counterfeit notes.

Once papermaking and printing technology are broken, printing counterfeit notes becomes essentially a zero‑cost venture, far more gratifying than being a mountain bandit!

Fifth Qi's question hits the nail on the head!

"It's like this: when I designed the exchange note, I built in five layers of anti‑counterfeiting.

Fang Chongyong laid out exactly how the exchange notes issued in Hexi are anti‑counterfeited, from paper to ink to imprinting, holding nothing back.

Of course, he only gave a rough outline; anyway, even if he didn't say it, comparing a few of those Hexi‑issued exchange notes would reveal the clues.

It would be better to be straightforward; hiding things is pointless.

Even if Fang Chongyong gave only a general idea, the specific details of the note‑anti‑counterfeiting technology cannot truly be understood by the few people before him. From another angle, keeping those technical details secret is itself a form of economic protection.

After all, the technical details of the Chang'an exchange notes will not be disclosed to Fang Chongyong by these few technical officials before him.

You don't speak, I don't speak — it's as if we're even.

This amounts to mutual confidentiality.

Yesterday, while conducting a political deal with Li Linfu, Fang Chongyong had already gauged the bottom line of this Tang right chancellor.

Is Li Linfu unable to reclaim the minting rights over Hexi?

No, Li Linfu could easily thwart Fang Chongyong's grand plan; doing so would merely harm others without benefiting himself.

Power and responsibility are the two sides of a coin. Abandoning Hexi's minting rights also means the Tang will not be dragged down by the economic black hole of the northwest.

As long as the Hexi exchange notes collapse, this side of Chang'an can immediately halt the interchange between Chang'an exchange notes and Hexi exchange notes.

In other words, no matter how the Hexi exchange notes fluctuate, the Chang'an side can always control the risk at any time.

Cutting off redemption is thus a permanent solution.

Granting Fang Chongyong the issuance rights for the Hexi exchange notes would both win the support of the Hexi military leaders and prevent Hexi's financial risk from spilling over into Chang'an.

With such a good deal, what reason is there not to do it?

Li Linfu's mind is very clear; in his speculation, Fang Chongyong will surely take advantage of the expedition to the Western Regions to madly print exchange notes and plunder Western Region goods!

Then, after obtaining those goods, what will this Western Region pacification envoy do?

The answer is to reward the frontier troops, purchase grain supplies, pacify the Western Regions, resist the Tubo, and so on — all of which require money.

If the exchange notes of the two sides could be mutually redeemed, then when Fang Chongyong madly prints notes and secretly sends people to circulate them in Chang'an, and then uses them to purchase military supplies there, even Li Linfu couldn't stop this bunch of "obsessed fanatics"!

Anyone capable of becoming the Tang right chancellor could hardly be a fool!

Seeing Yang Shenqin, Liu Yan, Fifth Qi, and the others in high spirits, drinking while discussing the details of issuing exchange notes, Fang Chongyong felt a surge of emotion.

Fortunately I didn't regard these people before me as fools. Those who serve the right chancellor are truly a gathering of talent.

Fang Chongyong had just heard Liu Yan say they also wanted to issue a small-denomination copper-coin exchange note in sync with the silk-backed exchange note, and he instantly felt this person was truly a financial genius, not to be underestimated.

This move Fang Chongyong had already been contemplating; he planned to, after returning to Hexi, produce a batch of 10-wen, 50-wen, and 100-wen exchange notes as a supplement to the silk-backed exchange note.

Unexpectedly, someone could extrapolate from one example to three; before he even proposed it, someone was already considering issuing it simultaneously in Chang'an.

The Tang central authority, from the junior clerk to the Right Minister Li Linfu, and then all levels of bureaucrats from top to bottom.

If you say they're corrupt to the point of rotting, that's indeed accurate. But among them, fools who can be easily duped are truly few!

This meal was thoroughly enjoyable; Fang Chongyong almost poured out all the monetary knowledge he had mastered in his previous life, saying everything he could without omission.

Especially the principle of inflation, he explained it clearly to Yang Shenjin and the others.

However, these people seemed to understand, yet they acted indifferent, not at all considering inflation a problem.

On the other hand, Liu Yan asked Fang Chongyong a question he could not answer at the moment:

In the Tang dynasty, silk originally existed as money, and nine out of ten people holding it would avoid using it if possible. Now that exchange notes replace silk in circulation, silk's price will surely plummet!

Because silk has deteriorated from commodity money to an ordinary necessity, yet its quantity remains enormous!

How should these silks be handled?

If silk plummets, it actually means the exchange notes plummet too! The two are two sides of the same coin!

After finishing the drink, it was already when the lanterns were first lit; Fang Chongyong, accompanied by his guard A Duan, staggered toward his residence in Yongjia Ward, his mind continually on that question Liu Yan had casually asked.

Fang Chongyong laughed it off at the time, but he did not think of a suitable solution. If this problem is not solved, the silk "supply crisis" will inevitably erupt, causing the exchange notes' natural value to plummet! Only after the excess silk on the market is digested to normal levels will the exchange notes' currency value gradually return to a reasonable state.

Fang Chongyong, his mind fuzzy from drink, was walking while thinking. Suddenly, a coarse-clothed man several meters away ran wildly, covered the mouth and nose of a man in brocade robe ahead, and stabbed him repeatedly in the abdomen!

Then he threw down the knife, turned, and fled!

Fang Chongyong instantly sobered up from fright, pointing at the fleeing thief, he told A Duan: "Quickly go after him, don't shoot arrows!"

(End of chapter)