On the dining table, Li You asked: "Master Gao, Master Du, you said, what is the biggest problem that troubles your Ministry of Revenue now?"

When talking about this, Gao Jingming was frowning. He said, "Your Highness, the Ministry of Revenue minted a large amount of coins every year. Most of the copper collected from various copper ores were used for minting, but the money was getting less and less. It was really a headache.

The annual tax revenue of the Ministry of Revenue cannot collect money, and can only charge physical goods. The pricing of these things alone is very troublesome, and transportation and storage require additional expenses."

Du Xinyuan said: "There is another problem, that is, the people privately minted coins, which was strictly prohibited by the court, but the results were very little."

Wu Yu, who was accompanying him, interrupted and said, "Yes, Prince, Magpie Trading Company encounters such problems every day. First, there are not so many copper coins available, and bulk goods are basically bartered, which is very inconvenient. If there is no equivalent exchange of goods, the business may not even be completed.

There are also counterfeit coins. The coins minted by the private sector seem to be almost the same as those minted by the Ministry of Revenue. Many people are using them. If they do not collect them, business will be even more difficult. The collected money can be circulated, but if it is used to pay taxes, the government will definitely not collect them. Some customers refuse to accept them, which is very troublesome."

Li You asked: "Do you know what the reason?"

Du Xinyuan said: "Your Highness, the Ministry of Revenue has conducted special investigations. One is the problem of the people's living habits. People like to save money. After making money, in addition to the necessary expenses, the excess money is put into jars or boxes and stored. As a result, the people have more money in their hands and less money circulating on the market.

The coins minted by the Ministry of Revenue are limited, so where can they withstand such storage? As a result, the number of coins circulating on the market is constantly decreasing."

Gao Jingming said: "There is another problem. The amount of copper in Kaiyuan Tongbao reaches 60%, and the value of these copper is not lower than the face value of the coins. Some people specially purchase coins, re-smel them, extract copper, and process them into other products. The sales price is much higher than the face value of Kaiyuan Tongbao itself."

The metal components of Kaiyuan Tongbao are: copper 5924, lead 2695, tin 121, zinc 00, and iron 012. The melting points of these metals are different, so it is not difficult for the folk masters to separate them.

Li You asked: "Do you have any solution?"

Gao Jingming asked: "Your Highness, this problem has not only started now. These problems have existed during the Han Dynasty. These problems have not been solved for thousands of years. I am powerless to do anything about it."

After saying that, he looked at Li You with hope and asked, "Your Highness, do you have a solution?"

Xiao Gan and Zhang Baogui, who were eating and drinking, also listened to it. They also looked at Li You to see what solutions he could propose.

Li You smiled and said, "This is not difficult."

"What? Your Highness, do you really have a way?" Gao Jingming said in surprise.

Li You said: "Let's talk about the first question of the two issues of no money available and the private minting of money among the people."

He shouted, "Baihu, come in."

Baihu hurried in and he asked, "Prince, what are your instructions?"

Li You asked, "Baihu, where do you usually put your money?"

Baihu is a rich man. He and Magpie both have salaries, and the prince often rewards them. Magpie also has the income from publishing the "Li You Poetry Collection". In Chang'an, he can be considered a rich man.

For Baihu, the place where their money is hidden in their family is a secret and cannot be revealed to the outside. However, he believed that the prince did not look down on his little money. He said, "The prince, the money in the little family was filled with a jar. He dug a few secret passages in the yard and the house, and they were all hidden. In order to prevent the secret from being stolen by others, no one told anyone the money hidden by the little one and my magpies were stolen. If one of the money hidden was stolen by others, half of the family could be left."

"Hahahaha", everyone burst into laughter.

Li You asked Zhang Baogui again and said, "Baogui, where is your money hidden?"

Zhang Baogui said: "It's similar to Baihu's house, under the bed, on the roof, in the yard, in the horse shed, and some of them are hidden by Du Mei, so I don't know."

Everyone burst into laughter again because even Gao Jingming and Du Xinyuan's houses were similar.

Li You asked Wu Xi and said, "Tell me, how many people did the Magpie Trading Company hire in order to keep the money treasury?"

Wu Yu said: "In order to store coins, the trading company has built a lot of money treasurys. There are dozens of people in charge of the security guards, and they have to spend a lot of money every month. This is often a worrying thing."

Li You said: "Okay, I'll ask you now. If there is an absolutely reliable institution, such as the Ministry of Revenue, builds a large warehouse. Anyone can deposit their own money. If it is lost, the Ministry of Revenue will compensate you all.

You can withdraw it at any time when you need it. Moreover, you will pay a portion of the interest according to the amount and time you save. Will you deposit the money in?"

Baihu was the first to say: "Prince, if there is such a good thing, the young one will of course be willing. However, if you save money for others, you have to pay interest. How can you do such a good thing in the world? Is there such a stupid person?!"

Speaking of this, he felt that he was bald. Isn’t this saying that the prince was stupid? He hurriedly slapped his mouth and said, “Look at the little one’s stinky mouth! Prince, the little one doesn’t mean that, he just doesn’t understand.”

"Prince, you are so smart!" Wu Yu clapped his hands in surprise and shouted. She was very smart and suddenly thought of the key to the problem.

"This, this, oh, Your Highness, I am a pig's brain, why can't I think of it?!" Gao Jingming thought about these things all day long and immediately understood. He stood up excitedly and bowed and said, "Your Highness, I admire you so much!"

Zhang Baogui didn't figure it out, but when he saw that others understood, he stopped questioning it. Didn't he seem stupid? So he suppressed his curiosity, picked up a chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth, blocking the question he was going to ask.

Du Xinyuan quickly figured it out, and he said excitedly: "Your Highness, if the Ministry of Revenue establishes such an institution, with this institution, the people can deposit their own money, so that the Ministry of Revenue will have money available. With this money, you can lend money like private lending, collect interest higher than the interest rate of the money deposited, and make money. This is a big source of income. Your Highness is really a fantasy!"
Chapter completed!