Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

The gold and silver dollars have been issued in Tokyo for six months.

Although many impurities were mixed in

It is not as pure as traditional silver ingots.

However, due to its exquisite craftsmanship and the fact that it was provided by the imperial court,

It immediately became popular among the wealthy.

They took them and stored them in the cellar.

Chapter 1843 Minting

Fortunately, the imperial court had made preparations in advance.

It was not widely distributed nationwide.

The pilot program will only be conducted in Kaifeng, Luoyang, Chang'an, Hanzhong, and Chengdu.

Mints across the country are working at full capacity to produce coins.

The wealthy are stockpiling a batch this month.

The imperial court will issue even more next month.

Due to inconvenient transportation,

After a continuous release lasting six months,

The craze for collecting new coins in several major cities has finally subsided.

Gradually, due to the large volume of silver dollars issued,

The number of silver dollars in circulation also increased—gold dollars still could not circulate.

No matter how many are issued

They all ended up in the cellars of wealthy families.

With available liquidity,

Counterfeit silver dollars also appeared as a result.

From New Year's Day until now,

Over a hundred people have been arrested in just half a month.

The Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Kaifeng Prefecture jointly established a special task force.

Zhao Yuan immediately expressed his opinion.

The people who manufacture and ship the products.

The main culprits were all executed along with their entire families.

Accomplices were exiled to the Northwest after their property was confiscated!

To be honest, the case is a bit difficult to try.

When tracing the source of counterfeit money,

Often, it is A who confesses to B's involvement.

B, however, vehemently denied ever using counterfeit money.

Even if B admits it,

The confession identified C or D.

The two people who came after them were also unwilling to admit it.

It's difficult to tell who's making baseless accusations.

Or perhaps someone genuinely doesn't remember.

They've already started to torture people.

Some suspects were even beaten to death.

The royal family also watched the lanterns from the city tower.

Zhao Yuan also waved to the people from afar.

This drew shouts of "Your Majesty!" and "Long live the Emperor!"

Zhao Yuan held his daughter Zhu Xiang in his arms.

Someone ran down to the city walls to report.

Bai Sheng quickly arrived at Zhao Yuan's side.

"Your Highness, there's been a breakthrough in the case of the counterfeit silver coins,"

"Many people identified their counterfeit money as coming from 'Zao Wang Jia Gold and Silver Shop'."

"The Military Command sealed off this shop yesterday,"

"They knew it was a capital offense,"

"No matter how much they tortured her, she wouldn't confess."

"Today, the gold and silver shop clerks were interrogated separately again,"

"The first one to confess to the crime,"

"Not only can it absolve one of guilt,"

"And they can even receive rewards,"

"Six men quickly confessed."

Zhao Yuan sneered.

Some people are really tired of living.

Bai Sheng continued, "Those six guys don't know much."

"I don't know where the counterfeit money is made."

"They only knew it was outside the city,"

"Letting the staff come and go every day,"

"They brought the counterfeit silver dollars into the city in batches."

"The one who gave them the counterfeit silver dollars was the 'Wei Family Silver Shop' on the outskirts of the city."

"These two silver shops, one inside and one outside the city,"

"In the old Song Dynasty, there was a business of brokering prostitution,"

"Our new Ming Dynasty didn't give them these kinds of businesses."

Zhao Yuan asked, "Have the people from the Wei family's silver shop been caught?"

Bai Sheng said, "The Wei family fled last night."

"Only some servants and helpers are left,"

"The interrogation is being intensified."

That means only two companies were found to have shipped the goods.

"One of them even ran away as soon as they heard the news,"

"The real counterfeiters are still unknown."

Since they had engaged in brokerage business...

That must involve powerful figures from the previous dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty had the "open-market method" (开中法).

The Song Dynasty also had a system for entering the imperial court.

That is, military supplies and other materials for the border regions.

Relying entirely on the army's transport was too troublesome.

So they encouraged merchants to come and help.

No matter where you are a merchant,

As long as the border troops receive the urgently needed supplies...

Once the goods are delivered to the designated location, the "exchange token" can be obtained.

After the merchants obtained the "introduction",

They could then exchange real gold and silver, rare commodities, or tea, salt, and paper money at the Imperial Trade Office in the capital.

To prevent fraudulent claims or falsified documents, the Bureau of Customs and Excise has taken measures to prevent such claims.

Let the powerful and well-connected shops in the capital...

To act as guarantors for these merchants entering China.

Why should shops in the capital provide guarantees for merchants entering the capital?

Of course it's profitable!

Gradually, incentivized transactions began: tea incentivized transactions, salt incentivized transactions, paper money incentivized transactions...

These valuable certificates

They were all turned into futures contracts.

The border troops' provisions were rarely actually transported anymore.

The exchange business in the Song Dynasty

Most of these were done by gold and silver shops.

They became futures trading centers.

Now that the new Ming Dynasty has been established

The salt and tea permit systems are still in effect.

But everything was done according to the rules.

It broke through the middleman role of the powerful and wealthy.

The system of exchanging gifts was temporarily abolished.

Those gold and silver shops inside and outside the city,

Losing the most profitable business

They actually took the risk of distributing counterfeit money!

.....

Dali Temple Prison.

Besides detaining officials, this place is also a place for...

They were also responsible for detaining high-ranking criminals of the imperial court.

And the prisoners who caused quite a stir in the Gyeonggi region.

Wang Bao is over fifty years old this year.

Because it is well maintained,

Surprisingly, he has a rather handsome, mature vibe.

Unfortunately, he was beaten to a bloody pulp.

Chen Zhifang, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, personally presided over the interrogation.

The moment I stepped inside, I smelled the stench of blood and couldn't help but wrinkle my nose and cover it.

"Your sons,"

"The third son is the weakest,"