Chapter 8: The Osmanthus Palace

  "Gold coins, silver coins and copper coins form a new currency system!"

  Liu Xuan very succinctly moved over a system that would become extremely popular later (popular in various games), and fixed the exchange rate of one gold coin equal to ten silver coins, one silver coin equal to one hundred copper coins without any changes.

  Xun Yu was completely unaware of the origin of these things, so after listening to them, he didn't think there was anything strange about them. On the contrary, he felt that such a straightforward system would be more easily accepted by the common people.

  At the same time, gold coins were positioned as the basic circulating currency of the Han Dynasty, and silver and copper coins were used as auxiliary currencies to solve the current problem of currency collapse - gold and silver are recognized by large families, while copper coins have lost their purchasing power. Therefore, using gold coins will not worry about these big families not recognizing them.

  "So will the copper coins use existing currency?" Xun Yu was only considering how to implement this system as soon as possible, so using the existing currency seemed like the most convenient method.

  However, this method also has a flaw, that is, the existing currency has been rejected by the people of the world, and they no longer recognize the purchasing power of these currencies.

  Liu Xuan also roughly knew this, so he directly proposed: "Exchange all copper coins for grain and re-mint them. From now on, currency must be strictly minted according to specifications, not a single bit of shoddy work or reduction in materials... This matter should have been handled together with the Ministry of Works, but the Ministry of Works is currently..."

  Xun Yu also knew that the current Ministry of Works could only guarantee the supply of military equipment, let alone promote technical innovation... Ma Rong was clearly not good at this.

  Originally under the nine ministers, there was also a department called Jiangzuo Temple, but the things that Jiangzuo Temple was responsible for were basically maintaining the imperial palace, repairing palaces, planting trees and other things, which were not good at innovation in technology.

  Liu Xuan proposed a new currency system, so new molds are needed for casting, and suitable specifications need to be formulated. All of these require talent, which is exactly what Xun Yu is now worried about.

  However, these things should have been a headache for these officials. Liu Xuan only put forward a general concept and it was already not easy. If he had to handle everything well, what would these civil and military officials do? Therefore, Xun Yu did not ask much, but simply thought about how to do his best.

  He also reported some side matters to the Emperor, and finally Xun Yu took his leave and left.

  Liu Xuan didn't keep him, he knew that Xun Yu, the Minister of Revenue, had a lot to deal with after returning, and compared to himself, the emperor who could make those below busy with just one casual remark, after determining the direction of development for the imperial court in the next year or two, he actually relaxed.

  As long as there are no sudden changes, he will be fine even if he hides in the palace every day and doesn't show his face.

  Of course he couldn't really do it, but the time for going to court was undoubtedly revised by him as follows:

  Three days is enough for a small meeting, with only six Shangshu, nine Qing and three Gong as well as Taifu attending.

  Every seven days, there is a grand court meeting, at which all officials of the imperial court are present. Seeing that things in the imperial court have now taken a turn for the better, all the officials of the imperial court agree with the emperor's suggestion.

  Because in this way they can show their ability, if they ask the emperor every day, these old courtiers also feel that they will show themselves to be incompetent.

  The emperor's move was in line with their intentions.

  They were unaware that Liu Xuan had already found the general direction and target, and the remaining trivial matters would be too cumbersome for him to handle personally. He simply let these officials handle them on their own, which could also reveal their abilities - besides, he himself hoped that the imperial court would become like this.

  The emperor is only responsible for making major decisions, so don't bother him with trivial matters!

  Returning to his palace, Liu Xuan turned around in a circle but couldn't find Cai Yan. He was puzzled: "Usually, Wenji would just stay quietly in the palace, even if I let her go out for a stroll, she rarely agreed. Why can't I see her shadow today?"

  The invisible natural beauty is also Diao Chan, who has been inseparable from Cai Yan since she entered the palace, as if they were conjoined twin sisters.

  Liu Xuan naturally had no opinion on this. The two people's feelings were good, and after giving Diaochan a name later, they wouldn't make any trouble either.

  However, the trouble is here, if you can't catch anyone, neither of the two people can be found.

  Looking at the palace maid standing beside him, Liu Xuan cursed under his breath: "Stupid!" He couldn't find her himself, but these palace maids must know. He turned around and called one of them over: "Do you know where the Empress went?"

  The palace maid, upon being questioned by the emperor, appeared to be very happy and hastily replied: "Her Majesty the Empress and Princess Wan Year have gone to the Osmanthus Palace for a stroll."

  Liu Xuan only then found out that Cai Yan had actually gone off with his own sister, which was also a good thing. After all, his sister and his wife, if they got along well, would have each other as companions to talk to. In the imperial palace, with their identities, it wasn't easy for them to find suitable friends.

  Nodding his head, Liu Xuan waved his hand and had the palace maid retreat. Although the palace maid still wore a smile on her face, Liu Xuan noticed that she seemed slightly disappointed.

  Although Liu Xuan saw it clearly, he wouldn't feel any sympathy or anything like that - the palace was so big and there were countless palace maids, would he sympathize with each one individually?

  Although he likes beauties, it's not to this extent - let alone Liu Xuan's vision is still quite high, plus the 'celebrity control' brought by his previous life, this unknown palace maid can't even arouse half of his interest.

  Having learned where the Empress was, Liu Xuan took Cao Jiao and several attendants with him and hurried to the Gui Palace.

  That is the Weiyang Palace, also in the Weiyang Palace, located in the northernmost part, although it is also considered one of the palaces in the Weiyang Palace, but actually it is an independent palace outside, connected with the Weiyang Palace by a purple house and a complex road. Because of its remote location, after the capital was moved to Chang'an, it did not go through repairs for the first time.

  Even at the beginning of this year, Gui Palace was still not suitable for people to live in, which made the palace that was also the emperor's residence abandoned like this.

  Until the Weiyang Palace and most of the palaces were renovated, Zhaoren sent people to start cleaning up the Guiyuan Palace - the structure of the Guiyuan Palace itself was not a problem, just repairing and cleaning it carefully, and it could be inhabited. It's easy to say that, but the emperor's palace is such a huge building, and even such simple work takes a long time to complete.

  Now that he thought about it, the Osmanthus Palace had already been tidied up, and Liu Xuan felt that since there was nothing else to do at present, going to take a stroll around the Osmanthus Palace would be good too.

  According to the records of the classics, this palace was also known as the Four Treasures Palace because of the four treasures that Emperor Wu loved. The four treasures were the Seven Treasure Bed, the Miscellaneous Treasure Case, the Treasure Screen Fan and the Row of Treasure Curtains.

  Although the name gave him a general idea of what it was, Liu Xuan didn't know what it looked like. At this moment, he thought of it and had an idea to take a peek, so his footsteps quickened, which made things difficult for the few attendants following behind him.

  After walking for a while, Liu Xuan finally arrived at the Gui Palace. However, despite its size, he wasn't very familiar with it. As for where Cai Yan and Liu Zi had run off to, he really didn't know.

  Fortunately, after the Palace of Guigong was sorted out and people were sent to stay here, the first thing the palace maids and eunuchs did when they took office was to figure out the inside and outside of this palace, so Liu Xuan didn't need to worry about it.

  Cao Guo directly called over a small eunuch and had him lead the way.

  As expected, it didn't take long for Liu Xuan to hear the voices of Cai Yan and Liu Zi coming from inside a magnificent palace after he stepped forward.

  As he turned a corner and entered, it was clear that he had walked into a bedroom. Three women suddenly appeared before his eyes.

  "You actually ran all the way here, it took me a while to find you!"

  Liu Xuan suddenly appeared, which startled several women, who hastily paid their respects. Liu Zi suddenly asked: "Big brother, how did you find this place?"

  Originally, Liu Zi was still quite reserved in front of Liu Xuan, but since that time when she took the initiative to share his worries, Liu Xuan also gradually became closer to this younger sister, and their daily conversations became more casual. When there were no outsiders around, they would address each other as 'big brother' - which made Liu Xuan feel awkward for a while, feeling like he was some kind of gang leader.

  "After dealing with things, I wanted to find Wenji to clear my mind, but couldn't find her anywhere. It turns out she was brought here by you!"

  He walked a few steps forward, and Liu Xuan also saw the legendary Seven Treasures Bed: it was nothing special, just looking very luxurious, using gold, silver, amber, coral and other treasures as decorations, it's hard not to look luxurious.

  Liu Xuan stroked it lightly, then curled his lip: "I thought there was something special about this treasure, but it's just nice to look at!" In fact, he had some expectations for these legendary four treasures, but unfortunately, after seeing them, he felt extremely disappointed. Although these things were gorgeous, they didn't have any practical use at all, and even the Seven Treasures Bed... he still found it uncomfortable to sleep on.

  However, Liu Xuan didn't think much of it, but Liu Zi liked it very much. It's not clear if it's because women are naturally fond of such shiny and beautiful things, so the way she couldn't bear to part with it was obvious even to a blind person.

  Liu Xuan saw that she was genuinely fond of it, so he said: "Since this Gui Palace has been renovated, leaving it empty would be a waste. Little sister, if you like it, why not move in and live here?"

  "Ah?" Liu Zi was taken aback, and immediately felt that this seemed to be somewhat improper - because the furnishings in the Palace of Osmanthus were basically arranged according to imperial standards, and she living here seemed to be against etiquette: "Isn't this not right?"

  "What's wrong? I said it's nothing, then it's nothing! Besides, the place you're living in now can't even show your princess identity, and you should have changed to a palace long ago."

  Liu Zi still lived in the palace that was originally arranged for her, although it was also clean, but it really didn't count as luxurious, and for a princess, it seemed a bit cramped. She just felt that she couldn't trouble her older brother, so she never mentioned this issue.

  Who would have thought that his elder brother was so generous and directly gave him the entire Kwei Palace to live in?

  Just as he was suspicious, Liu Xuan muttered: "However, the name of Gui Palace doesn't sound good, let's change it too. How about Wan Nian Palace?"

  Just then, Zhang Liao arrived and whispered something to Cao Ang at the door before coming to Liu Xuan's side and reporting: "Your Majesty, the Yellow Turbans have risen again and are now occupying several territories in Yu Province!"